February 2021 -

What are Customer Insights?

Consumer insights are your customer’s feelings about the products and services available. You can read more about this when you click here. This is data that contain perceptions and human behaviors that businesses use to identify needs. This is also the reason why specific actions in commercials are carried out.

The insights are the base where successful marketing efforts and campaigns are launched. They help the brands discover their customers’ problems and become an overnight success when their products and services can solve these issues. The right messages and words are placed in the areas where they will cut through the most because of these customers’ perceptions.

Finding the truth behind behaviors and actions relies on understanding the right sets of data, analyzing, and gathering information that can be turned into insights. The insights are then turned into actions on the businesses’ part, which is one of the skills every marketer should develop today.

What Makes the Consumers’ Data Powerful?

Making a decision that will be for the good of the business requires customer-centric approaches and this is where the power comes. After all, the clients are there to keep the business alive through revenues and investments.

Many brands strive to gather data through their websites and other channels like CRMs. However, the problem lies in ensuring that the extracted data truly represents people’s problems. This is where the most valuable puzzle pieces are taken and sculpted so that they can offer a narrative that can touch everyone’s deepest needs. Here are other reasons why you need to have a real and meaningful consumer insight.

1. You Focus on the Real Problem

You’re not just someone who is riding on the current bandwagon in the market. Instead, what you focus on is to get answers to questions and to offer a real level of convenience to the people around you. You can get more information when you delve deeper into customer insights that can be helpful. This is because they are the ones who are looking for products and services. According to Google’s research, more than 95% of marketers believe that you should incorporate Key Performance Indicators and marketing analytics to reach your business goals in no time. It would be best if you focused on customer retention, increased sales, and finding new problems to solve. Some of the things that you may want to ask yourself are the following:

Do you have a particular segment that has shown some considerable dip in sales in the past months?
Is there an immediate need to shift your perception as a brand?
Are you hoping to target a new market or group of people?
Will there be a hope to develop a more understanding of your audiences?

When you have the answers to these questions, you have a clear direction on why you have a business in the first place and where you’re going. You are achieving something that will help everyone around you.

2. Right Gathering of Data

Today, many consumers use phones, laptops, tablets, and other devices when it comes to purchasing a new product. They want everything to be convenient and at the drop of a hat.

When you collect and see these kinds of information, you should also aim to display discount coupons, rewards, points, and loyalty programs where mobile engagements are at their peak. You can delve further into social media platforms to reach audiences that may get the help you need.

When you rely on the leading marketers to provide you with panel data, you can get powerful analytics in the process. Read more about panel data here: https://www.thoughtco.com/panel-data-definition-in-economic-research-1147034/. Staying on top of the market trends is essential to beat your competitors. You may want to work as a team to get quantitative and qualitative data to help you get real insights out there.

The truth is that the success of a company does not rely on a specific platform. It’s about the humans who interact on these sites. You can make a campaign work when you know about running some focus groups, audience analysis, active social participation, and more.

You’re essentially looking for something that can resonate with your potential customers, and this is something that they didn’t know they wanted in their lives. An excellent campaign that has a broad culture and category can be helpful in the long run.

2021 Investment Updates: Managing Uncertainty

Raise your hand if you predicted 2020 would see a global pandemic, massive unemployment caused by the first ever government mandated economic shut down in history, a highly contested election, and a stock market recovery from the lows that was amongst the strongest in U.S. history, all in the same year? Ok, put your hand down, there is always one in a crowd! While the calendar has turned all the pages of 2020, there are many differing opinions as to the current health of the U.S. economy and financial markets, have they come too far too soon, what effects will government stimulus and economic dislocations have on the financial markets in 2021 and beyond?

Widespread uncertainty in 2020 failed to dampen the outlook and recovery of equities in Q2 and Q3 2020, record low interest rates were certainly the fuel and spark the markets needed, however the markets took a pause in early Q4 as election chaos gave investors pause, until positive vaccine news once again provided the spark in November 2020. Stocks across the board have risen to new heights, awakening even value stocks from their multiyear slumber. However, following such an impressive rise some on Wall Street believe the rally has come too far too soon, prompting calls of a “bubble” in both stocks and bonds.

While it is our opinion that we are not currently experiencing a bubble in equities, we will grant that the most striking characteristic of economic bubbles, the very thing that fuels their existence is our blindness to them! Perhaps we should first define what a bubble is, one definition of a bubble is that an assets price rises rapidly to the point of being disconnected from any reasonable measure of its inherent value. This is typically caused by emotional inertia driving future expectations higher causing an implausible gap between price and value, some might say Bitcoin! Just an observation largely based perhaps on an inability to make a case for its value given many still can’t even determine if it’s a currency or a commodity! If it’s a currency there is not, and cannot ever be enough in supply to serve this role, if it’s to be viewed as a commodity similarly to gold or silver, I’ve yet to find anything that requires Bitcoin in its manufacture. It may very well continue its explosive price ascent, but attempts to determine “what it’s worth” have been difficult, if not futile.

One asset class where we believe weakness will continue is bonds; with rates at record lows and significantly elevated federal spending to support the economy as well as fund party pledges, we are aware the Fed’s desire is to keep short term rates at low levels, this does not preclude the free markets from pulling the intermediate and long end of the yield curve higher. This realization may seem unsettling to some investors, however, if the economy does start to show better growth in the second half of 2021 as we expect it will, we will likely see rates rise and bond prices fall. Alpha Fiduciary has focused on bond allocations largely supported by real assets or special circumstances which we believe are preferable to own, relative to traditional fixed rate bonds, in rising rate environments.

Finally, earning season will likely provide support for stocks as we begin to see the world return to a more normal operating environment, it would not surprise us to see at least a temporary surge in economic growth before settling in to a more gradual and sustainable GDP growth in the 2.5% range as pent-up demand is satisfied in 2021.

While we don’t think most longer-term investors should underweight stocks in this environment, we favor a core/tactical approach to equities as we believe this presents an attractive upside capture while posed to potentially reduce downside exposure should factors signal to reduce equity exposure in the event it’s warranted.

There are many different approaches to the tactical management of equities, designed and employed with the goal to gain exposure to asset classes when they are rising, and to reduce exposure to those asset classes to limit or reduce downside capture.

If you would like to discover if Alpha Fiduciary’s wealth management approach can benefit you, please visit Alphafiduciary.com, or call us at 480-505-4033.

Alpha Fiduciary is a SEC registered investment advisory firm. This blog is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as personalized investment advice and should not be considered as a solicitation to buy or sell any security or investment advisory service. Please refer to the Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website (www.adviserinfo.sec.gov) to review our Form ADV Brochure for more information.

http://www.alphafiduciary.com

3 Questions Worth Asking When You Need Money

The covid-19 pandemic has hit unemployed individuals the hardest as with no savings, they have not been able to prepare for the crisis. Yet, many professionals have found themselves unemployed or on furlough during the pandemic, making it hard to face increasing expenses.

Approximately 50% of the western population now carries credit card debts, which have increased as a result of the pandemic. What is more worrying is that in every country, the response to financial management has been the same. In North America, up to 40% of adults can’t afford to pay more than the minimum balance on their credit cards. In Europe, the figures are similar. There’s been a sudden spike in debts during the pandemic. But even if you’ve been careful with your credit card bills, facing payments you can’t make is an all-too-common situation. What happens when you can’t pay for the things you need?

Can someone else pay for me?

Facing unexpected bills is no walk in the park. Yet, there is help available if you ask. It’s not uncommon for young adults to reach out to their parents to manage their financial situation. Someone who is just starting their professional career may face a lot of expenses as they establish their independence. More often than not, the bank of mom and dad needs to kick in to save the day!

There are other situations where you can ask someone else to pay on your behalf, such as with bail bonds where you rely on a licensed bail bondsman to handle your bail fees. The debt isn’t canceled though; you’ll get to pay in due time.

Do eligibility criteria have the same weight?

When you face necessary expenses, such as linked to the purchase of a house or a car, the easiest approach to keep your finances under control is to apply for a loan. Yet, it’s easier to say than to do. Loan applications have unique criteria defined by money-lenders, which can make it hard to obtain the money you need. For instance, a lot of banks have high age limits, which could exclude younger borrowers. How can you secure a loan when you don’t meet all the criteria? This shouldn’t stop you from applying. Some criteria can be overlooked if others are met. Banks tend to reject young borrowers, not based on age but based on annual income and repayment potential. If you can prove that you have a solid income, you can document your payment history as part of the application. Some banks and money-lenders can also have less restrictive criteria! Take the time to find the best options.

Do I need to pay so much?

Not everyone is comfortable negotiating a good deal. Yet, if you understand how to negotiate a discount, you could be able to buy what you need without breaking the bank. It is reasonable to expect up to 30% price reduction on services or items. But, you can’t expect to cut the cost by half without good reasons!

How do you pay when you can’t afford it? There is more than one answer to the questions. More often than not, there are ways to get around financial obstacles and secure what you need. Yet just like with credit card debts, it’s unwise to get the things you need/want if you know you fail to plan future payments!

Payroll Management for Medium Or Small Business – All you need to know

It may be challenging to search for a payroll solution but it’s a need, as a lot of work on payroll management is in the mind of startups or small businesses. Onboarding payments and prioritizing the hiring of the worker is what employers’ first step but eventually, they have to pay their employers for taking their services.

On how to deal with their crucial process of payroll management, every small or medium business will be given a choice. As per the requirements, features, cost, and other related factors, companies will select from the below-mentioned options.

Hiring accountants
Manual processing
Utilizing a payroll management software

It is always advisable to make an informed decision, doesn’t matter how your team plans to go regarding payrolls.

There are various ways with the use of which a small or medium business can run payroll. Let’s see how manual payroll management and payroll management software works.

Manual Payroll Management:

Payroll management doesn’t hurt if the company is fewer than ten people. It becomes easy to manually calculate taxes and pay stubs, pretending that you are aware of every withholding and deductions. Whether you are calculating PF or deducting leaves, every time getting a correct value of deduction can be very critical. In case the subtraction of payroll tax payments is done incorrectly then it may lead to very serious problems.

But these days there is the availability of basics of payroll management on the internet as a video or blog, all you have to do is search for the right tools and learn from it.

It is always useful to use an excel sheet or a calculator when manually calculating the payroll. It sounds easy this way but handling the payroll on your own is very tricky. With the work comes the liability as well. If not done with accuracy, the computation of salary payable with the use of a calculator can lead to various errors on the payroll.

You must be aware of all the deductions and payroll solutions but one incorrect amount can modify the complete end result and that can be very hazardous.

Now, here comes the payroll management software that can minimize the day’s work in just a single click. Therefore, selecting the right payroll solution would be a perfect solution.

Payroll Management Software:

For medium and small businesses, a detailed payroll setup is very valuable. The only problem that occurs is how to search for the best payroll solution.

A payroll solution can save you from high school mathematics and take care of even little details that are beneficial to add.

Keeping the track of all the leaves taken by an employee to adjust the leave balance and deduction of wages based on these details is done by intuitive payroll service.

The best part of this sort of software is that you don’t have to worry regarding the latest updates in government policies or income tax deductions as payroll services like TriNet’s payroll services will update it automatically. So now you know how beneficial the online payroll management software or service is.

Last Words

Going for an online payroll service is anytime beneficial as it saves time as compared to manual payroll management. For the entire company in just a few clicks, you can easily process payroll online. The best part is they are not at all expensive and are available easily online. You only need to keep in mind that the online service you avail for payroll management must-have features like automatic generation of paystubs, assistance in tax form completion, easy integration with in-house software, and direct deposit. If they have then an online payroll solution is the best one for you.

Insurances to Preserve Your Business’s Value

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”

Anais Nin

By the time an entrepreneur starts a business, s/he exposes herself/himself to a set of risk factors. Even before you hire the first-ever employee, your entity is at risk. This factor makes it essential to insure the business using the right plan.

Most small or mid-sized businesses start with BOP (business owner’s policy), which insures all the business’s basic needs. The most common types of insurance covered in this policy type are –

Business income insurance
General liability insurance
Commercial property insurance

Many business insurance agencies offer customizable business owners’ policies or insurance plans. This gives the liberty to choose a plan with maximum or minimum covers within a predefined budget.

Importance of securing your business –

A catastrophic incident like a lawsuit is enough to ruin your business’s entire reputation in seconds. Be it the lawsuit regarding company policies or client contract breach, it leaves a major impact on the venture’s financial condition. Here, one needs to safeguard the business with an insurance plan preserving your entity from external damages.

Business insurance plans suitable for almost every business type –

Liability insurance – Also referred to as errors and omissions insurance, the professional liability insurance plan covers a business entity against any negligence claim that may hamper the reputation of the business. The most common types of negligence claims on a business are mistakes or unexpected failure to deliver services. As such, there is no one-size-fits-all procedure in professional liability insurance. Here, every business addresses its own set of customized policies.

Workers’ compensation insurance – Once you have hired the first-ever employee at your workplace, you, as a business owner, become eligible for availing workers’ compensation insurance plan. This covers the medical treatments, death benefits, and disability in employees. The employees are eligible to avail of the claim even if they perform a low-risk job with medical conditions like tunnel syndrome. This can be a pricey claim to bear. Therefore, one must pay attention to the details and terms of a workers’ compensation insurance before handing over the insurance proofs.

Property insurance – No matter you have purchased or have your office property on lease, you would need to have property insurance for both. This insurance type covers the business’s signage, equipment, furniture, and inventory effectively. Here, mass destruction incidents like earthquakes or floods are not covered. According to the standard policy rules, this may vary depending on the insurance plan type. So, just in case your office location is earthquake-prone, then make sure to insure it separately.

Vehicle insurance – There are businesses where the employees use company vehicles to accomplish the field jobs. Here, the business must get auto insurance for all the vehicle issues for its employees. Auto insurance should protect the business against any liability or accident. This industry’s experts recommend going for insurance against third-party injury or comprehensive insurance, which covers the vehicle damages done in the accident. And just in case the employees are using their own vehicles for remote office tasks, those have to be covered by the business at its own cost.

Product liability insurance – This is when you are a product manufacturer bringing new products to the market. If your business manufactures products and puts them on sale for the general public, this type of insurance is a must for your business. One of the biggest examples of this insurance type is – J&J talcum powder lawsuit. It made the giant brand pay a hefty amount to many who raised questions about its talcum powder. The product liability insurance saved the business from damage, making it easy for the brand to neglect any negative impact on its business reputation.

Home-based businesses – Many entrepreneurs prefer to start their venture with minimal investment. Therefore, go for a home-based business setup. With this, they consider it to be saving some money, but that’s not the case in real life. Unfortunately, the homeowner’s business policies do not cover the home-based business. So, if you are running your business from home, consult your insurer and find out which business insurance type would work the best for you.

Business interruption insurance – Be it losing a client or a catastrophic incident, both can damage the business’s reputation in no time. Here, one needs to have business interruption insurance to safeguard the business from unexpected problems. During the adverse phase, businesses often suffer lost income due to the staff members’ inability. This insurance type is applicable to all companies requiring a physical location to commence the operations. One of the biggest examples of this insurance type is a retail store or booth.

The business interruption insurance helps to compensate the business for the lost income suffered during the adverse event. Here, the business can avoid any financial loss due to a lawsuit. This insurance type’s documentation process may vary based on the business nature.

Business income insurance – There are times when a business cannot proceed further due to the property damages done. In such circumstances, a business income insurance plan proves to be of great help. It helps to replace the lost income while helps to cover the ongoing expenses of the business. Generally, this includes – payroll, rent, and utility bills.

Data breach insurance helps a business respond against a data breach case. Many insurers refer to this as a coverage cyber insurance plan. It offers identity theft monitoring services as well.

The bottom line –

Owning and maintaining the business’s reputation comes with a lot of responsibilities and efforts. This requires looking through the different ways to support the financial state while looking upon your business type’s best insurance plans. Here you can seek assistance from a business advisor if required.

Securing a Loan As a 20-Year-Old

Although consumer loans are easy to get, they still require a set of criteria before they can be given out. Some of these include the creditworthiness of the borrower which includes their income and expenses as well as factors such as age and if they pay tax.

When a consumer loan is to be given, age and income are usually a limiting factor for younger people. The borrower is usually required to have a fixed income. They may also be required to have housing as a form of security. In addition to these, the typical lower limit for a borrower’s annual income is expected to be between 120,000Kr and 200,000Kr. It’s simply the higher your income, the greater your chances of granting you a loan.

An average 20-year-old is not likely to be able to meet these requirements. They are likely still in school or just finishing school and the likelihood of having this amount of income is very low. Fortunately, some banks have an exception to these requirements.

A variety of factors will determine whether you as a 20-year-old will get a loan or not. A borrower must at least be of the legal age limit of 18 years before they can apply. Most Norwegian banks have higher age limits up to 25 years.

What To Do As a 20 Year Old to Get a Loan

Except you can prove that you have a solid income coupled with a good history of payment, you are not likely to get a loan. So what do you do in this situation as someone who is between 18 and 20 years old? Below are a few tips on what to do.

Do Not Be Hasty

When anyone is seeking a loan and especially if you are young, you must not make hasty decisions. Take your time to understand what is required and which banks may be favorable to you. You should know that the fact that a particular bank says the age limit is 23 years does not mean that your application will automatically be rejected.

It will most likely still be given consideration. You may be young and still earn enough to qualify for the loan. In fact, the banks will desire to have you as a customer if this is the case.

Part of not being hasty is to take your time and look for a loan with the lowest rates possible. Even if the first offer you come across seems low, you should not rush. This is because banks offer different interest rates. By doing this, you will be able to compare the various loans and get one that has the lowest interest rates than others.

Submit Lots of Application

In continuation of the point above, when seeking a loan as a 20-year-old, you should apply for as many as possible. Granted that you will be rejected in some quarters but it is not a smart idea to stay with one or a few lenders. There are many others. Whatever kind of loan you desire, it is always good to have different options to choose from. You can do this by applying to as many banks as possible. Doing this increases your chances of getting the cheapest rates.

Use Loan Agents

Applying to as many banks as possible can be time-consuming and tedious but you need to do so. Rather than do so by yourself, you can use a loan agent or broker so that it becomes quite easy. Agents are people or companies that work with different banks and collect offers on your behalf. The only thing you have to do is provide your details and fill out a single application.

There are many benefits to using an agent. For one, they work in tandem with many banks which in some cases may be up to 15 to 20 lenders.

Secondly, their services are free. The Norwegian Financial Contracts Act says that agents cannot request payments from a loan applicant. So how do the agents get paid you may ask? They often receive commissions from the lenders.

Thirdly, when you apply through an agent, you will begin to receive offers in your email within 24 hours. You can compare to see which one will be most favorable for you. Even when you get an offer, it is non-binding. Offers typically last for 30 days.

Fourthly, using an agent helps you save time as well as effort you would have used to apply to each bank. You can also get advice and tips from them if you need help.

Finally, some agents accept applications from people who are 20 years of age so you can find such to help you out with your application.

When applying through agents, avoid using multiple leading ones. The banks they represent will receive more than one application from you. Also bear in mind that after the loan agreement has been signed, agents have nothing to do with it again. You have to relate with the bank directly.

How Banks Determine Your Eligibility for A Loan

Virtually all lenders have minimum requirements before they can grant a loan. As mentioned previously, these include age, income, payment history and nationality.

While most have upper age limits of 23 and above, the age is meant to serve as a guideline and not a rule that is cast in stone. If you are 17 years and below, your application will be rejected immediately. As long as you are 18 years and above, you will still get a look in even if their stated age limit is higher.

The major reason for setting the age limit is because generally young people have low incomes. There is a risk that they may not be able to pay back the installment and the interest. There is also the possibility of receiving payment remarks which will be a negative dent on the individual. If a young person has a good income despite their age and has good payment history, then the age limit requirement can be waived.

The only conditions in which an application will immediately be rejected is if the applicant is

Less than 18 years old.
Not Norwegian or not living in Norway. You may not be Norwegian but you must have lived at least 3 years in the country to qualify.
Does not have a fixed income. This is flexible and can be based on how much you intend to borrow
Has payment remarks. For some banks, you also cannot have debt collection cases that are active.

Credit Assessment

If you pass this first stage of sorting, then the next critical stage is your credit assessment. At this stage, your age does not matter as much but it still does in a way. It is one of the factors that is used in calculating your credit score. The younger a person is, the lower the score. Thankfully, there are other factors used asides from age. You should ensure that your financial behavior is “good” as this helps you to improve your score as you grow older. You will also have more opportunities to get cheaper interest rates in the future.

The assessment is typically based on information that is publicly available including from banks, debt registers, tax authorities and many more. It is a measure of how much risk is involved in granting you a loan. It impacts your chances as well as the interest rates you get. In other words, it shows the bank how much you can borrow and the conditions that should be attached to that. You can learn more about it here.

Conclusion

Whilst most banks will usually require a high age limit to give out loans, it is not cast in stone. As a 20-year-old, you can still qualify to get one if you have a good income and a great history of payments. It is important to apply to as many banks as possible and do not be in haste while doing. In addition to this, do all you can to ensure that your credit score is high by ensuring to pay back promptly.

Positively Changing Your Life On A Shoestring Budget

You don’t need money to be happy, but having it can certainly help you to improve various aspects of your life, whether that’s your living conditions or how much time you can spend on certain hobbies. However, there are a few ways you can positively change your life on a shoestring budget.

Below, we’ll give you some ideas so you can work on making a positive change without spending a fortune. Take a look:

1. Be Choosy About Who You Spend Time With

It costs nothing to be choosy about who you spend the most time with. You may not be able to cut ties with toxic family members completely, but if you try to spend more time with positive people who support your endeavors, you should notice a huge difference in your life. We become like the people we spend the most time with, so if you spend time with toxic people you’ll struggle to stay positive and achieve what you want to achieve. Make sure you pick who let into your inner circle carefully.

2. Work On Your Mindset

Your mindset is the most important thing for making the changes you want to make. As Henry Ford once said, ‘whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right.’ A belief that you can achieve anything you set your mind to and the willingness to take inspired action is key. Things like meditation and consistent mindfulness will help with this, so try to become self aware and get into a good routine.

3. Read More

Books can be expensive, but if you have an e-reader you can often find great deals. Ebooks can usually be found for a fraction of the price of physical books, especially if they’ve been out for a while. Then, you have the library where you can take books out for free. You may also be able to arrange book swaps with friends if you have friends who enjoy reading, too. Reading can help you to expand your mind, learning new things, and can even just be an enjoyable pastime.

4. Move House

Is your neighborhood safe? Do you have peace of mind at home? If not, it could be time to move house. Moving house isn’t cheap, but you could consider downsizing to save money in the future if you could do with putting more money away. You’ll need to look into various services, such as hiring movers and companies like Carsrelo.com to get your belongings safely to your new location. Moving to a new home may be beneficial if you’d like your kids to have access to better schools, so consider whether this could benefit them, too.

5. Get Active At Home

You don’t need a gym membership to get fit, nor do you need to spend any money whatsoever, unless you want to buy a few simple pieces of equipment to use at home. You can use YouTube to learn different exercises and routines, and as long as you’re consistent you can improve your fitness. Even walking more than you do now can help to improve your fitness levels, so don’t feel like you need to spend a ton of money to get into shape. Personal trainers, equipment, and gym memberships are entirely optional.

6. Simplify Your Life

Could you potentially simplify your life to make a positive impact on how you live now? Maybe you could have a clear out and sell your items to make money on things that you no longer want. A simple life will give you space in your home and if you get into the right mindset, you won’t feel under pressure to buy things to keep up with friends or people on Instagram. When you let go of the need to have the latest home accessories, gadgets, and clothes, you’ll save so much money and probably feel like a weight has been lifted from your shoulders.

7. Get Creative

How about getting creative? Hobbies are a great way to enjoy life, learn new things, and even meet new people. You never know what a hobby could bring you! See if you can find some cheap arts and crafts supplies or get creative with things you already have at home. Spending more time on your hobbies, whatever they may be, will always make you feel better than focusing on all work and no play.

8. Keep A Journal

Journaling has so many benefits, and there are all kinds of ways you can do this. You could try stream of consciousness journaling, where you just write whatever comes out without censoring yourself. Then, there’s bullet journaling. You don’t need to write beautiful paragraphs of prose for every entry. Stop judging yourself and thinking about the outcome, and instead enjoy the process of journaling and the benefits that can offer you.

9. Utilize YouTube

YouTube is a wonderful resource for people who want to learn new things and expand their minds. You can buy cheap online courses, but Youtube can be a great place to get the basics and figure out if a hobby is something you’d like to stick with long term before investing more money.

10. Know Your Priorities

When you know what your priorities are, you can figure out what’s worth spending money on and what you should probably avoid. If one of your priorities is spending quality time with your family, then you know you can afford to spend a little more money on that. You can’t prioritise everything at once, and your priorities may change depending on the stage you’re at in your life, or even the season.

11. Be Mindful Of How You Speak

When you speak, you can end up speaking things into existence. If you knew how powerful your words were, you’d probably use them far more carefully! Your life can change drastically when you stop complaining, judging others, and being mean to yourself. It can take a while to break a long habit of speaking negatively, especially when most other people still do this unconsciously. Become more conscious of the language you use and why and you’ll have a better chance of changing it.

Frustrated with negative cash flow? Manage it like a pro!

Did you know that 67% of startups fail within a few years of commencement? Reason? Inadequate management of cash. That is why many entrepreneurs start to get frustrated when their financial statements show negative cash flow.

Collecting finances for your business and managing them are the most challenging tasks that you have to face. Failing at these challenges means endangering the existence of your business.

But, here’s the catch! No one would intentionally fail their company. Right? So, it means that this unintentional mistake is the cause of any loophole in the corporate objectives.

Speaking about corporate objectives, tell us something: According to you, what is the most crucial objective of any organization? If your answer is making profits. Then, our dear reader, sorry to say but you are wrong. Earning profits and leading the market is secondary and tertiary objectives of the organization. The most crucial aim is managing the money available to you.

As Sir Richard Branson has said:

“Never take your eyes off the cash flow because it is the lifeblood of your company.”

So, now the crucial question is how to manage your money to fulfill all the operating expenses and avoid a shortage of monetary resources? To know the answer to this question, keep on scrolling.

Bank loan

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when someone says ‘money’? It is Banks/financial institutions. Right? Banks are made to cater to all the financial needs of every person. So, you can take a bank loan to run your business. There are several types of loans available for companies to select from, such as:

Equipment financing
SBA loan (Small Business Administration’s loan)
Microloans
Startup loan
Fast business loans and many more.

So you can select according to your requirements. However, keep in mind that the financial institution will only provide you the loan if you have the capability to repay it. Moreover, you need to pay regular interest on it as well.

Credit card

Applying for a bank loan and completing all the formalities can take several days. So, when you are in a hurry, it is not quite helpful. However, if you have a business credit card, you will be able to survive this challenge. It will help you improve your working capital and reduce the burden of current/urgent expenses.

Nonetheless, you can’t just take any credit card. As it has been written here https://www.nav.com/business-credit-cards/, you should conduct proper research before choosing the card. However, you can’t do it all on your own. So you can take the help of experts to make the right decision.

Angel investors

A monetary deficit is not a surprise if your business is just a startup. However, because it is a startup, it becomes more than crucial to get the investments. So, you need to pitch your business ideas to angel investors. Make sure not to use jargon and highlight the key benefits of investing in your business while pitching the idea.

Wrapping up!

Even the most successful business ideas fail due to the lack of financial resources. You need to apply for bank loans, credit cards, and investors to manage your cash flow well. Once you get the money, ensure to use it properly.

Strategies for Finding Supply Chain Talents

If your basic recruiting strategy involves posting an opening and praying to get the right applicants, you are shooting yourself in the foot. There are lots of high performers who are content with their current positions and rarely surf job boards. You definitely can’t attract their attention by placing a job advert.

In order to meet the hiring demands within a tight labor market, you need fresh sourcing tactics that go beyond posting jobs. We will show you how to improve your chances of attracting and recruiting the best supply chain talents.

1. Engage the Services of a Recruiter in the Supply Chain Field

Is your company small or medium-sized? Are you struggling to fill key positions and it is affecting your business? Then one of your option should consider hiring a supply chain recruiting firm because your business may not have the capacity to hire full-time recruiters.

Ensure you conduct research about the firm, both online and through the people you know. This will help you determine whether the recruiter is the right one for your business. Some recruiting firms specialize by geographic area, job level, function, and industry while others recruit across all disciplines and industries.

2. Utilize Paid Tools for Recruiting

You could consider paying for tools that can help you expand the way you reach out to potential candidates for a job. You could use tools like LinkedIn to get access to all members of the network. You can search and filter for candidates according to the job criteria. The tool also offers an option of sending a direct message to help you connect with the candidates.

3. Network with Associations in the Industry

There are various associations that are related to the supply chain industry. They include MHI, ISM, CSMP, and APICS. You could consider sponsoring meetings for a local chapter, then send key members in your organization to attend global or national conferences. They can scout for talents there.

Furthermore, some associations have an online directory that could facilitate networking. This provides another means of finding top talents. When you network with associations in the industry, you are creating awareness for your business. On the other hand, you are expanding your network.

You may otherwise not know when someone is looking for another career opportunity. But through your network, you will be among the first to hear.

You can click here to get more info about top associations in the supply chain industry.

4. Develop a Program for Employee Referral

In most firms, candidate referral is the major source of hires. Therefore, developing a program for employment referral is a sure way of improving the quantity and quality of applicant flow in your firm. The HR personnel and your recruiter can lead the program while the most senior executive in the supply chain department will sponsor it.

You can run this program manually, but you could consider automating the process for better results. It will also help you to keep track of hires and referral sources. Providing incentives like a vacation offer or cash could help to produce better results, too.

5. Partner with Supply Chain Learning Institutes

There are different learning institutes that offer degree programs in supply chain. You could partner with them for entry-level openings. Ensure that the institute’s program aligns with your company’s requirements, company culture, and values.

You could attend the institute’s job fairs and develop a rapport with your potential hires. You could also develop a relationship with the staff members of the institute such as professors who teach courses on supply chain management. They usually know the best students in every class.

Additionally, ensure you post job openings in each institute, outlining the advantages of working in your organization. As soon as you hire entry-level applicants from those institutes, you can send them back to the institutes to recruit more students for your company.

Furthermore, you can connect with the students early while waiting for their graduation. This strategy will help to nurture a relationship such that the students will place your company at the top of their list when thinking about companies to target.

You may want to check out https://www.inboundlogistics.com/cms/article/a-hire-purpose-11-strategies-to-recruit-supply-chain-talent/ to find more hiring strategies.

Conclusion

The tips shared in this article are proven strategies that smart employers use when targeting top talents in the field of supply chain. You can merge them with your previous strategies for optimum results.

3 Simple Tips For Retiring Comfortably

Retiring is a beautiful thing, because it shows that after a lifetime of working hard, making your way and trying new career directions, you have seen fit to put a full stop on that story, and to try another new adventure.

Retirement is, of course, defined by how you’ve planned for it. It’s important to think of this, as looking ahead in the long term and considering just where you might like to be and what eventuality you would like to work towards can help you make the incremental effort focused on achieving those dreams.

But in the long run, how do we focus on making the absolute best of our retirement? Using the ARQ Wealth Advisors website, as well as their consultants, for instance, can help you recognise how to make the most of your savings and investments to move forward and live with as much financial backing as possible.

But what kind of lifestyle factors should we consider when planning our tirement? What considerations are we likely to enjoy? Let’s consider those questions (and answers) in the following words:

Retirement Living

It’s important to accept that retirement is not simply a state of mind, but a state of being, and a daily lifestyle reality. How will you fill your days? It might be that asking yourself this question can help you select a location or a house to retire to.

Perhaps living in Spain, as is your deepest desire, can help you retire in a culture you have adored and taken holidays to regularly for years. Perhaps the living pace suits you better there, with daily siesta and food culture that celebrates the local community and life more than anywhere else.

Understanding what tastes you might have in this direction more easily helps you focus on the future, and that in itself can give you purpose.

Living Conditions

It might be that you have roughly ten years until you retire. Perhaps you have some savings tucked away to finally purchase that holiday home abroad, making it your dream place you can visit during the summers and renting during the winter.

Perhaps purchasing a small plot of land in a rural area and slowly building the firmaments of a rural cottage to live in can help you curate your home from the bottom up, helping you live in an environment truly of your own making. Considering proximity from family, your daily lived experience and the costs of this effort can help you curate a plan, making any dream of this nature much more possible and pliable.

A Great Task

It’s very important to stay busy in retirement and to keep active, lest you feel like sitting back and getting bored. Longevity and health in retirement comes from delving into your interests, no matter if that means painting on your patio, taking up a new hobby, or getting involved in charity work that makes the best of your curated professional skills.

Having a great task you can work on (even if that simply means writing the next great American novel) can mean all the difference going forward, as it helps you stay focused and oriented. In that way, you also manage your health carefully.

With this advice, you’re sure to plan for retirement in the best possible sense.