Booklet Tips - Shelf Life Vs. Online

Does it matter to you or your quantity buyers how long your tips booklet content stays in front of people? Or is it more important to get that information out as quickly and inexpensively as possible before moving on and generating more information? Maybe a combination of both functions is really what matters.

There are pluses and minuses to delivering your tips booklet content online and offline, with certain variables dictating how you proceed. While it may cost very little in time or money to deliver a PDF of your tips booklet to a lot of people as a site download or as an email attachment, the value of its content or the presence of the sender can be quickly lost. That PDF may get hastily deleted or automatically stored on the recipients' hard drive, without even looking carefully at what the product is, much less deciding if it's valuable in any way.

Imagine receiving a printed copy of that same tips booklet, with "A gift from XYZ Company at the PDQ Conference" on the bottom of the booklet cover. And the booklet is distributed at a live multi-day educational event. How likely are you to ignore, discard, or automatically store that printed booklet? You see the title and sponsorship on the cover, determine that the booklet size is very approachable, and consider that the production quality is impressive. You make a more conscious decision to at least put it aside within view and revisit it when you've got a moment.

Even if the downloadable version was sponsored by a reputable participant in your industry, was well produced, and took up space calculated only in pixels, how do you balance the extent of impact that PDF is likely to have compared to a printed tips booklet? Yes, the printed booklet may cost more to create, yet it has a good chance of not only resurfacing on someone's radar; it also has a good chance of prompting larger sales for the sponsoring company and for the author's company.

That printed tips booklet lives on way beyond the live multi-day educational event where the booklet was distributed. In fact, it gives the event producer, the booklet sponsor, and the booklet author a very long shelf life and presence way beyond the event itself. Yes, a PDF could pop up on a search of something else on a person's hard drive, likely with much less value at that point.

ACTION - Think about where you want your tips booklet to go to help the most people for the longest period of time. Helping is defined by how the content improves someone's life and also by how the booklet can generate revenue.You can always make your booklet available as both a download and a tangible print version once you get clear about who can best use what you've got and how you want to go about letting those people know it's available. Expanding the shelf life of your booklet extends your reach and your bottom line.

"Turn Your Tips Into Products, Your Tips Products Into Moneymakers.TM"

© 2014

The Benefits of Having Management Accounts Prepared for a Small Business

Small business owners should prepare management accounts alongside financial accounts. Management accounts are important for tracking, recording and reporting financial information for management purposes. There are no set standards for preparing managerial accounts and any business can design their own style according to their operation and business needs. There are several benefits associated with these accounts. Not only can small business owners enjoy the benefits of creating a competitive advantage but can also leverage the way they do business in their markets.

Reduce Expenses

Management accounts can help a small business to lower its operating costs. The information from these accounts will help the business owner to review the economic resources and other business operations. It helps them to understand the cost of doing business in their current situation. They will know the costs of producing goods and services and find out if cheaper raw materials will affect the quality of the final products and how consumers will respond. This will help them to source for cheaper factors of production and reduce the cost of doing business.

Improve Cash Flow

Management accounts involve a review of the budget in comparison with the actual expenditure. This is a good way for small businesses to understand their roadmap to the future. Management accounts will go through the company's financial history and come up with a master budget for the entire business. The owners will then know when to spend money and which items are either necessary or unnecessary.

Business Decision

Management accounts also help the small business owner to make appropriate decisions based on financial facts. Without these accounts, many managers make decisions based on qualitative analysis - this can be dangerous in the long run. Management accounts provide quantitative analysis for several decision making opportunities. Small business managers will be able to have a clear understanding of the implications they expect when they make their business decisions.

Increase Financial Returns

Small businesses can increase their financial returns using managerial accounts. This is because the accountant can prepare a financial forecast showing consumer trends, potential sales and the effects of pricing strategies in the economic marketplace. The small business owner will be in a better position to know the amount of products to produce in the current market prices in an anticipation to beat the competition in any future price changes.

Determining Production Quantities

A company's intention is to produce more than one product or service using the same resources. For example, a baker will produce cookies and bread using the same resources. A good accounting firm will make use of the workers to perform both auditing and preparation of management accounts. This will help business owners to understand which products to produce most and which ones to reduce. This is a complex process that involves market demand analysis, capacity verifications, and costs of production and financial ratios that can be achieved through management accounts.

How Far To Process Products

Small business owners are often unable to clearly tell whether to process a product further or sell it in whatever form. Some think it would be more profitable to add value to the product while others prefer to sell it raw. Management accounts will help a small business owner to understand how far a product or service should be processed to maximize profits. The accounts show what happens when factors of production are increased even by one unit.

Tips on How to Reduce Freight Cost

In general, freight is the cost for transporting merchandise from point A to point B. Freight includes the move's entire cost, from documentation, packaging, insurance costs, carriage costs, and pallet or container costs. The more your business establishment depends on the moving of goods, the more your business will benefit from lowering the overall freight cost. Being aware of the need to reduce freight costs is one important thing. The challenging part is finding a way to actually reduce freight cost.

Below are some helpful tips on how to reduce freight cost.

Shop Around
The very first and obvious step to reduce freight cost is to look around for the best rates. There are a lot of different carriers (local, national, or international) available today. You may be tempted to use the same delivery method or carrier company to avoid hassles, but this could cost you more. You'll have to prioritize the most important prior to shopping for and comparing freight rates. Different carrier companies have different strengths and could be able to give lower rates.

Use Express Delivery Only When Needed
If a certain cargo is absolutely needed immediately, use express delivery and ship others which are not really time sensitive. Different carrier companies also have various pricing range, so express delivery might cost more with one carrier compared to another. Also, you can save by a significant amount of money by making sure that all carriers that you use could accept shipments with dimension surcharges or additional oversize without additional charges.

Loyalty and Reward Programs
Use rewards cards as often as possible. Some freight forwarding firms offer loyalty programs that enable their clients to save. You could also earn cash or miles. Some freight forwarders offer more rewards when shipments are processed electronically. Also, ask for volume or group special discounts through memberships with professional associations and leading freight forwarding companies.

Billing Accuracy and Freight Forwarding Brokers
To shop for freight forwarding broker systems, you can browse the internet. This way, you can find the best shipping deals online. Online freight brokers can also help in finding freight supplies sold at a lower cost. This is especially helpful when you are moving goods in bulk.

Billing Accuracy
Another way to reduce freight cost is simply by watching for errors in your billing. Keep in mind that everyone commits mistakes, and such errors could cost you if they're not noticed and corrected. Regularly audit your invoices for accuracy.

Booklet Tips - Absolutely Not

Using absolutes in your tips booklet can sometimes put a truly impossible burden on your reader. Think about the absolutes you might be inclined to use - words like always, all, forever, never - and consider how realistic it is to suggest such things, much less even possible to accomplish in certain circumstances.

Recommending to your reader to always do something a certain way leaves no room for error, creativity, exploration, or uniqueness. You may be using those words more for emphasis than meaning it literally. Your reader might not know that or be able to make that distinction. Your audience may be new to your area of expertise and not be equipped to determine nuances or any distinctions yet. And, after all, you are seen as an expert, and because of that, the assumption is you know what you're talking about and the reader may believe that what you're saying needs to be followed as thoroughly and accurately as possible.

Speaking of possible, telling the reader to look at all the possibilities for solving something is actually impossible. How does anyone know what all the possibilities are, much less if they have identified them? Yes, that is definitely different than referring to all the people in a well-defined group.

Advising the reader to always do something is another potentially impossible piece of advice, if not a great burden. Imagine how they may feel if they miss a beat and don't do something consistently every single time they do it.

"Should" is one of those personal pet peeves, especially when expressed as "you should." It begs the question of "how do you know what I should do?" and can be seen as authoritarian in the extreme, in some situations.

This conversation in this article is more than a matter of semantics. Even if your reader is not conscious of the distinctions noted here when they are reading your tips booklet or particularly sensitive to the concept of absolutes, there is an underlying tone that moves you from being helpful and supportive to something else. That something is less desirable and probably the opposite of what you have in mind in sharing your knowledge and expertise.

ACTION - Review your tips booklet manuscript and everything else you are writing to see if you have included any words that are absolutes - any of those words like always, all, forever, never, or even most. You need to know the entire amount to know if it's accurate to reference most. While you're at it, take a moment to consider how you feel when you encounter an absolute coming at you. It may bother you or not. It could be something that was under the surface that is now easily identified because of what you discovered here. Providing well-guided possibilities is a great gift you have in your power to give. Putting limitations on it is a gift that is less than a full measure. You'll see that the idea of "give them everything you've got" is missing from the suggestion. After all, do you or anyone else know how much you really do have to give? Absolutely not.

"Turn Your Tips Into Products, Your Tips Products Into Moneymakers.TM"

© 2014

The Benefits of Good Credit Control Procedures in a Small Business

Credit control is important in a business especially for small businesses. This means that every small business should ensure that it collects its outstanding invoices. Some small businesses let their uncollected invoices accumulate which ultimately affects their cash flow and also the performance of the general business. This problem can be attributed to poor credit control and lack of knowledge on the benefits of good credit control procedures in a small business.

One of the primary benefits of good credit procedures in a small business is that there will be sufficient funds to ensure that the business runs smoothly. The outstanding uncollected invoices mean that the business has some money which is deemed to be available but cannot be used in the operations of the business. This is especially a major issue in a small business which might not have enough funds to run the various operations without collecting the outstanding invoices as required. This makes it paramount for a business to ensure that it has set down good procedures of credit control so as to ensure the business runs smoothly with sufficient funds available.

Having good procedures is also important since it enables the business to know its reliable and trustworthy clients. This is because having good procedures in place will enable the business to explain to its various clients when and how the invoices will be collected. The reliable clients will keep to the payment terms and will ensure that the invoices are ready by the time stipulated by the credit control procedure. Through this the business can identify the clients that keep to their payment terms and therefore it becomes easier to extend credit to such clients since they keep their word.

Another major benefit of having a good credit control procedure in place is that the businesses are able to plan properly. This is because a small business with good control procedures will be able to know the money it has and the money to expect. As a result, the business will be able to budget even on the uncollected invoices since the laid down procedure will ensure that the outstanding invoices are collected on time.

A business can even get outsourced providers of credit control services who will ensure that all the outstanding invoices are collected on time. Having outsourced providers will give the business time to concentrate on other issues regarding the growth of the business. Furthermore, some outsourced providers even pay for the uncollected invoices and then go ahead to collect the invoices after the stipulated dates. This gives the small business the assurance that funds will be available on time to run the various operations of the business.

Good credit control procedures that enhance collection of a businesses outstanding invoices are also beneficial because it allows a business to control credit limits. Small businesses should have a limit of the credit to be extended. This means that these businesses should have a limit of the outstanding invoices. When the outstanding invoices surpass the set limit, the business might not be able to extend credit to other clients.

But with good credit control procedures the small businesses will be able to set limits and therefore be able to extend credit to other customers and also to those whose outstanding invoices have been collected. Therefore, it is paramount for a small business to have good credit control procedures in place which will enhance their collection of outstanding invoices.

Small Businesses Need a Start

As we appear to be living in a period of uncertainty with regards to the economy, employment and European community membership etc., the emphasis is on businesses to generate jobs, wealth and prosperity which is fine although I fail to see how new business ventures are supposed to get started.

We need people to start businesses otherwise there are no employment prospects for tomorrow - we can't just rely on the enterprises existing today. The problem is that if somebody wants to start up and as in most cases has limited funds to pour into their ventures where do they start?

The first thing most will need is a business home - somewhere to trade from and this is where the first obstacle becomes evident. If you're living in rented accommodation more often than not you aren't allowed to use the address for business purposes - this is the case for private landlords as well as council properties - so you need to get business premises which often means a lease or at least longer term commitment. Without a business track record that won't be easy, you'll also need to pay in many instances money 'up front' as a token of goodwill.

Banks despite their advertising campaigns are not very enthusiastic when it comes to new businesses, so money is tight - if possible at all. This leaves our potential job creators of tomorrow with very few options - we're not exactly encouraging them are we? If we're going to encourage people to start businesses, which appears to be inevitable, then it's got to be made easier. I'm not suggesting for a second that running a business is easy, but does the journey have to be quite so obstacle ridden?

With the failings of many 'big businesses' and with public sector jobs being discarded the only option for many will be to run their own enterprise, perhaps not out of choice, but need. Self employment in all its forms can be very rewarding financially and satisfying - although rarely 'plain sailing' - there is much to learn and in the majority of cases a new mind-set to be adopted.

Having been self-employed for 20 years I do understand the pitfalls, and that leads me to the conclusion we're just not helping tomorrow's creators today. This is a massive shame and very short sighted; people who have a 20/30/40 year working life in front of them need a 'leg up' now to start creating the prosperity and opportunities for tomorrow - after all us 40 plus folk will be reliant on the next generation soon, let's make sure they've got a chance.

James Kent,

Flexy office offers a business home, telephone answering, web site construction & full staff team, in fact a complete office infrastructure housed in London's Canary Wharf.

For businesses wishing to get started from as little as £10 per week, no long term commitment or onerous hoops to jump through, starting your own enterprise just got easier, contact us to learn more.

We're supporting tomorrows successes today, after all, our future is in their hands.

Is It Your Time To Be An Independent Business Owner?

Life in general is full of decisions, especially financial ones. We all have issues to deal with and we all have the same opportunity to become an independent business owner. If you are in an unstable job and are worried about your future, now may be the time to consider becoming an independent business owner.

There are four great reasons to take the plunge so to speak.

1. You cannot get fired or laid off. How many times have you heard that someone has worked their whole life for a company and at the end they either get laid off or lose their job because they make too much money? This is becoming a bigger problem today because of the economy and corporate greed.

2. You have no boss that you have to deal with. Being an independent business owner will change your outlook and attitude about going to work. Being your own boss is like being reborn again in the job world. No asking for time off, no punching a time clock and you get to pick what hours that you want to work without the worry of being bumped by someone with more seniority.

3. You can control what income that you make. Let's face it, in the corporate world there is only so much that you can make with a company before you hit what they call the ceiling. As an independent business owner, you get to pick your own salary and you can get a raise whenever you need one. This simply does not happen when you work for someone else. There is no ceiling to the amount of income that you can make as well.

4. The most attractive thing is that you can become rich. Now you have to understand that most independent business owners don't become rich but at least there is a chance. If you are working for someone or some big company, you have no chance of getting rich because that is their goal so they keep all the big money. They are only going to give you enough to survive on a weekly basis also known as working from "paycheck to paycheck".

It take a lot of courage and sometimes risk to become an independent business owner, but there are a lot of businesses that take very little risk and spend very little money in starting up. You can research on line for those opportunities or you can find someone who has done it and is willing to help you do the same.