9 November 2011 0 Comments

How to perceive a good free restaurant business plan

In the food industry, using a well-made and well-configured restaurant business plan is the second most significant initial point once you are capable to identify your target customers. to the right from the usual requirements when starting up a restaurant, business plans are necessary in order to maintain the entire business.

With the start of the Internet, some restaurant owners are kind sufficient to produce some samples of their business plan and distribute them over to internet. But every business has different requirements. So you need to change pre defined business plan as your requirements. However, not all samples of restaurant business plans that can be originate on the web are trustworthy, workable, feasible, and practical. Therefore, it is essential that you identify how to perceive a good restaurant business plan from a bad one.

Here are some tips on how to do it:

1. Detailed description of the business concept

When choosing a model restaurant business plan, attempt to see if it has a detailed description of the business model like target market, products, etc. It is vital that a high-quality business plan must identify all of these things so that you can always explain them to the property-owner or proprietor of the place you want to rent. You must include the products, business theory, owners, target market, and possible flow of the development of the industry

2. Very nature and existence of the business

It should exemplify the very nature and subsistence of the business
It is vital that dependable restaurant business plans should be able to offer details on the very disposition of restaurant businesses. Good quality samples of restaurant business plans should assist you encourage other people about the kind of benefits that you may have once such plans were implemented and carried out.

3. Help you with your money

A practical restaurant business plan can assist you control your money all throughout. It can still help out you focus on your career. Indeed, finding good samples of restaurant business plans can be very boring and difficult. Yet, you can simply detect changes if you can easily spot the dissimilarity.

4. Market analysis

A good restaurant business plan should have Detailed Marketing Analysis of business. It fundamentally has 3 sub sections- marketing, competition, and industry. In the competition section you will be calculate your competition and in the marketing section you will be target your major market with promotion and advertisement. Your business plan should accurately clarify how you plan to magnetize customers to your restaurant. These details are a part of Advertising and promotion.

These sections are important in a good business plan. Presentation of a business plan is vital, try to make your business plan yourself. You know what your requirements are.

31 October 2011 0 Comments

Elements of a Good Business Letter

The essentials which go to make up a good business letter may be divided into two classes – mechanical make-up, and contents. Before a letter can come into existence the mechanical side must be attended to. The subject matter may be pertinent and well composed and yet the letter itself be so arranged typo-graphically and so disposed on the page that the unity of the whole is lost.


The display as a whole should balance. Before the stenographer starts the address, calculation should be made as to how many lines the letter will run and as to how it should be disposed on the page. The body of the letter should neither be crowded near the top nor bottom of the sheet, but should be so placed that, viewed in connection with the letter head, it presents a well balanced and artistic effect.


This effect is often underrated, being in fact passed by without a thought by the average stenographer, and the ordinary business man is so busy seeing that his dictation is correctly transcribed that he gives little thought to this essential. Harmony of color effect should be observed. A yellow paper bearing the firm announcement in blue, the letter in green and signed with purple ink is not to be recommended.


Letters blurred in copying and wet from the press or otherwise violating the rule of neatness cannot help but produce an unfavorable impression. Orthography and capitalization, particularly of proper names, should be exact and uniform.


A misspelled word in the body of a letter, particularly if a mere transposition of letters in typewriting, may occasionally slip in and do no particular damage, but the misspelling of the name of the party addressed may lose an order, and cannot help but militate against the general effect of the letter. Neatness uncompromising neatness – that should be the first effect of a letter, giving the idea that the firm putting out the writing is thorough master of the minor (as well as the major) details of its business.


Contents


In letter-writing, contents may be divided into subject matter and expression. The subject matter is, broadly speaking, what the writer says. This should coincide with two other things:


(1) what the writer wants to say, and

(2) what the one addressed wants to know.


Something which is the a b c of life and a mere matter of routine to the writer in a certain line may be abstruse and complicated to a non-technical reader. To avoid an offensive simplicity of language on the one hand and excessive technicality on the other is one of the tests of a good business correspondent. There is a tendency to slight simple questions asked by different inquirers day after day, which must be avoided by putting oneself in the place of the one asking the question, and giving the knowledge for which he is looking.


One of the most, if not the most, important essentials of a good business letter lies in correct expression. The one thing which causes more failures in business correspondence than any other, is the incorporation of personal peculiarities in a letter. There may be called to mind, in fact, more than one established business backed by ample capital, having a broad field and financed by capable and conservative business men, that is at the mercy of a poor correspondent. This is ably expressed by Forrest Crissy, who says:


“So apparent must be the importance of this branch (tact and tone in business letters) of business systematization, that scarcely a word of argument is needed to enforce its necessity. Very recently a large whole-sale merchant said to me:


‘I have recently been obliged to discharge the head of my credit department – my confidential man. He is honest, conservative and shrewd, but recently I have been awakened to the fact that his incapacity to write a letter which does not leave a sting, a chill, or at least a sense of lofty indifference, is hurting my business more than would some downright reckless blunders. When he writes a letter granting a good customer a larger line of credit he gives it a twist that somehow makes that customer wish he hadn’t asked for credit and thus placed himself under added obligations. And if he refuses to meet the request for such a favor the refusal is so put that it seems a studied effort to conceal a strong unwillingness to give any credit at all.


Yet this man has always considered him-self an adept in letter-writing – and for a time he completely hypnotized me into that view. But at last the steady withdrawal of patronage and the occasional out-spoken retorts which his letters provoked forced upon me a recognition of the real condition of affairs. Then I went out after a man who could write a business letter that had just the right ring to it; that was neither so sloppy that it sounded hypocritical or so stiff and stilted that there was no tone of good hearty business friendliness in it.


I have found him. He comes high, but the difference in results is remarkable. Of course, there are other things required than this form of literary ability – that’s what you’d call it. He must have business experience, business judgment and all the other cardinal business virtues; but the addition of this peculiar capacity to write business letters that hit the mark is a rare gift and makes him a star man.’ “


Simplicity and clearness as an element of expression cannot be rated too highly. The saying of a thing in the plain language of the common people, not only adds to the style and dignity of a letter, but has the most vital element of being understandable. As Chas. R. Weirs says, “Eloquence, either real or imaginary, has no place in a business letter.”


Whatever else may be neglected in writing, courtesy should not be slighted. A man may be told nearly anything face to face – it is qualified by the bearing, tone of voice, manner and earnestness of the speaker. A sentence may be given an entirely different meaning by a tone or gesture – it may even be diplomatically changed after partly spoken, to make it conform to the unconscious demand of the listener, and most of all spoken speech is transient. What is written, on the other hand, is put down in black and white to stay. The record is permanent. It can be offered in evidence, can be dug up years afterwards from a musty file, and discourteously written can queer, not only an immediate sale, but the sales of a decade.


Length


Letters often tend to verbosity from the fact that they are dictated instead of written. Were a man to write his letters himself with pen and ink he would study brevity and conciseness of expression, but having letters written for him, he will dictate more than he would write. Brevity is not always desirable. Some people – particularly those receiving few letters – like to receive lengthy correspondence. Getting few letters, they wish those long and newsy.


A letter is an event to some patrons and cannot be too long for a careful perusal. In this class of letters the party ad-dressed may be often appealed to in conversational style; as, “Judge of the goods yourself, Mr. Brown,” “We ask you, Mr. Smith, if we have not treated you fairly?” etc. At the other extreme is the business man, particularly the city business man. To him, brevity to the point of curtness is always welcome. As someone has alliteratively said, the formula for a business letter to a busy man is: Sir: Say it. Stop!


Judging the Other Man’s Letter.


One of the pre-requisites of a good correspondent is the ability, inherent or acquired to judge the general character and status of the writer by means of his letters. Until the last few years the letter-head of a firm was a considerable guide to the standing of the company putting It out, but good printing is now much more common and many one-horse concerns put out conservative, well-gotten-up stationery.


Ability to recognize the efforts of an amateur or schoolboy inquiring for a catalog with no intention of buying and to treat the writer accordingly, call for almost occult powers. The president of one of the large machinery companies putting out a cement mixer selling at 0.00, relates that one of the company travelers visited Detroit in response to an apparently good lead and found a twelve-year-old boy wanted a dozen cement mixers “to go into the mail-order business with.”


Some companies putting out expensive catalogs write a letter asking a doubtful inquirer to fill out an information blank before sending a catalog. The correct interpretation of the personality of a writer means the saving of dollars of expenditure as well as the ability to write him correctly. In a fire insurance concern employing hundreds of agents it would be easy for a manager to inform himself through his special agents as to each agent’s nationality, education, experience in the business, etc., and vary his correspondence accordingly, while a mail order house might have no means of judging a man but by his bare letter.


Form Letters


A form letter is one of a series of letters, to be sent on similar occasions. Such letters are usually in imitation typewriting with blanks left for the name of the party addressed, and when carefully executed are a close imitation of a typewritten letter. Form letters vary from those not to be distinguished from actual typewriting, to the stock letters of collection agencies, in which no attempt is made to imitate the machine. Some writers use a number of short forms or inserts which they use in dictating to avoid a repetition of dictation.


Letters of Recommendation


The promiscuous writing of letters of recommendation has done much to cheapen the effect of recommends. Many firms refuse such letters entirely. Perhaps the best plan is to have an employee, when leaving, use his former employer’s name as a reference.

8 October 2011 0 Comments

How To Deliver Good Customer Service

worked in customer service in the industry, I know firsthand that this is not an easy task to do. Jobs that require special attention on customer service and provide better service for everyone, staff to attend a regular training customer service. This is to ensure that its employees updated in communication with customers and continue to work in harmony to your existing customers.

Part of customer service training is to make the experience of interaction with the customer when at work. If thrown into the deep part of the service industry, you learn very quickly that you approach people for information or looking to buy a particular product. When you use us to provide good service and to act quickly on their request. There are several ways to be wrong in this simple exercise, and below are some tips from customer service.

A key element of customer service training is a good visual contact with the customer. Imagine if you buy in a store with the intention of a product that apparently were not on the shelves in the foot, is the first thing you would approach a shop to help them find the article. Once you’ve tackled the seller, you’ll notice immediately look away, even if you ask them for help. At that time, you feel they do not listen.

It bothers me if I felt at any point I want to see, one from someone who is very clear to me as part of its work to serve the sentence was. How will you present to a client is important and works on the same principle as the adage “First impressions count. The first impression that you, the customer must be friendly, helpful, friendly and above all with the eye contact. Eye contact will ensure that the customer you have listened and know what they say.

Always greet the customer or make available professional manner. Of course, do not try to control them and to frighten them, but a warm smile and an honest answer to their questions is a good starting point. During your training customer service, you will learn that communication is body language and tone of your voice important customer service. Bad customer service means that the client will not return to their turn, others will say not to use your services.

The other important thing to remember is to be with a quality service to attract customers’ attention and keep your shares. Think about your own experiences, what you have ordered something in the store, took time to travel to the store location and found that it is not yet come to collect. If you ask about this, they say you next week, when it comes next week, the issue is not yet in place and turned around, you’re one and the same thing said .

The screenplay, you can get frustrated and confused. You should always tell customers exactly what is at present have to ask him about his position is, otherwise you could potentially lose their custom. If at any time a customer feels neglected or poorly, they will cancel the procedures or operations that they have with you and move to a rival company. Always be apologetic, why did they not what they have waited so long and if necessary, provide an incentive or discount.

Part of customer service training is to learn, as always, the customer is satisfied, even in situations that are beyond your control. The worst thing you could do is blame someone else or blame “the ball” to happen, how this evidence of a lack of customer service. Rush d’essayer solve the problem is that customers lose confidence in your service.

There is always a good idea to have a professional manner at all times maintain and keep in mind the saying (no matter how much you have with that statement at all) to “The customer is always right”. They are, after all, keep your business running and pay your wages. However, if the customer is always abusive and you feel threatened by them, only then you will be able to take the matter into the hands of government or to ask them to leave.

With customer service training you learn the techniques of approaching a customer for the sale possible, the protection of their interests and the proper way to thank them for their service in order to return soon. Another important customer service is the number of customers to keep and attract new customers. Once you have the reputation of a company that good customer service, your existing customers with your company donated to recommend.

By continuing, training and maintenance of the call will then be easier for your team.

25 September 2011 0 Comments

A Good Restaurant Will Not Only Have a Business plan, but a Restaurant Operations Checklists as well

A bargain is not only a business plan, but a checklist and operations. The same thing applies to a restaurant. You must ensure you have a checklist of operations restaurant, and it encompasses all aspects of your restaurant, and the different situations that may arise.

There could be different types of restaurant transactions list to use. First, you may want a general check-list, the things you need on a daily basis have lists. This may be an important part of the opening, daily functioning, and the closure of your restaurant. You also need to consider a checklist of general information of activity all the things that should be made permanent in your restaurant. Finally, you are on several different operations with checklists that you can use in different situations or unusual thinking.

Checklist daily by

One of the things that your restaurant should have a checklist of daily performance. This should be a list of things that are needed in your restaurant, and this should be done every day. You must leave this list into three parts. The first section should be the opening sequence. This must be what you want in your restaurant, no matter what the employees are responsible for the opening of your restaurant opening hours. This includes all cleaning, storage and everything you need to accomplish so much to prepare the restaurant for service. Overall, this should be a checklist that employees exactly how you want to be your restaurant, when the first customers in.

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The second part of the checklist for daily operations should be a list of position for each layer, or the right for you. You need a list of things that should be done during the day of surgery. This means that all activities must be done and when this should be done, what should be the preparation, cooking and cleaning includes, etc. during the day.
The third part of this list should be good for people who are responsible for the closure of your restaurant. You want to ensure that these activities and do all other things you need to close your restaurant for the night and prepare for tomorrow.

Always check the list

want to say that there are things that your employees that they must do so forever. This includes permanent settings for lighting and temperature, permanent rules may, in respect of operations of the restaurant and the various strategies that every employee should know. You can consider this as a list of rules for your employees to think. What will you always remember and always busy, whether open or closed, or at work during the day?

specific checklists

Something you must remember is that not every day that the other. There are situations in your restaurant is not the events day by day. You should have a checklist for special events that might occur in your restaurant. You should have a checklist for each of them. This may include a list of what happens when a big party in your restaurant, or if someone has rented part of it for a special event.

You also need about events, think you do not plan. You should have a checklist for any emergency that might come your restaurant, and what to do if this happens.

All your list should be written so that a new employee for his first day at work, they could not understand. This is particularly important for those dealing with daily operations and emergencies. If you set the right kind of checklist for your employees, you will notice that your restaurant is more and more by your own standards, even if you’re not there.

1 September 2011 0 Comments

Double-Sided Business Cards: The Good and The Bad

Have you heard of the term double-sided business cards? If not, you should know that they are basically custom business cards, with prints on both sides. Unlike other business cards, double sided business cards are set basically to have twice the design and content capacity of other color business cards. Let me explain to you the good things and the bad things about using these business cards so that you will have a good idea if you can use them or not.

• Double sided benefits in business cards: There are three main benefits that double sided business cards can give to you.

o More content to communicate – Most obviously, double sided business cards let you have more content on the business cards to communicate to people. With the extra space at the back of the business cards, you should be able to add extra marketing content, maybe more details about your business, or even a personal quotation or design element. The more content you communicate like this, the more impact you have on a reader. This alone makes double-sided business card printing worth investing on actually.

o Better overall design impact – Overall as well, double sided business cards have a better design impact. Traditional business cards concentrate on the front design which has a certain impact. However, double-sided business cards virtually double the impact of course with the back design. You can even develop a design that passes through the front and the back of the business card, making for a greater and more complete looking kind of business card.

o Memorable – Lastly, the benefit of a double sided business card is that it is memorable. Since most people typically only print traditional color business cards with only one side that is printed, they will find double-sided business cards pretty interesting and of course memorable. This is especially advantageous if you really want to impress your potential business contacts, since they will remember you as the man or the woman with the double-sided business card. Believe me, you’ll have more people contacting you when this happens.

• Disadvantages of dual sides: Now, while double sided business cards are great, there are a few disadvantages in printing them.

o Extra costs – Simply put, twice the printed size, means twice the designs and twice the inks. This means that designing double-sided business cards is a lot more expensive, with an extra design needed for the back as well as the extra ink needed for printing. You will probably expect a 20-50% increase in the cost of printing business cards when you do double sided ones. So be sure you have the money to invest in double sided business card printing.

o Tendency to go overboard – Finally, another big disadvantage in printing double-sided business cards is the tendency to go overboard with the back design. Since people think you have a whole new space to add more kinds of elements into the business card, they tend to go overboard and make that section too flashy and commercial.

This has a net negative effect on the impact of your business cards since going overboard in the design is a large sign of a novice in the business. So if you do have the tendency to get TOO CREATIVE when given extra space to work with, you might want to rethink your double sided business cards.

Now you know the good and the bad things about printing double sided business cards. What do you think will be most effective for your personal business cards? Decide carefully.

 

11 August 2011 0 Comments

How To Transition Your Home Based Business From Good To Great!

This week as I traveled from our offices in Wilmington, Delaware to my home and field office in Aurora, CO, I had a chance to pick up the #1 Bestseller, a great business book that has sold over 2 million copies, “Good to Great” by Jim Collins.

The book is about how to turn a good company or business into one that produces sustained great results.

Your home based business might be doing pretty good, but are you just satisfied with just being good, or do you have the desire to move your home business into the rarified air of greatness?

If I was still a Corporate Weenie, I would have made this book mandatory to my management team.

I am certain that in Corporate America this book has been a topic of furious debate along mahogany row, as the leadership tries to determine whether the books rather controversial viewpoints should be applied to a company that from most indicators is doing very well both from a leadership and financial standpoint. The book would describe this company as simply a good company, not necessarily a great one.

How about your business? You might not even think you have a “good” business. Well, in that case, you might be able to pass the good stage and go directly to greatness as you apply the principles in Jim Collins’ book.

The book suggests that there are common denominators that are associated with his definition of “great” companies. In the absence of these common denominators, a company might be really good in all measurable aspects, but never ascend to the books definition of greatness.

The author and his outstanding research team conducted exhaustive, academically sound research in establishing its criteria for greatness. A very strict criterion that resulted in a somewhat surprising and selective group of companies that met the incredibly strict criteria. You would be very surprised I think by the companies that made the list, and those who did not.

As I continue to read this impressive novel I thought about the home based business marketplace and my own personal entrepreneurial efforts with Tiger Trade, LLC. I thought of some of the ideas the book promoted and how I could apply them to my business endeavors and transition from just being a good home based business, to a great one.

Here is a list of the ideas and concepts gleaned from the book that I have decided to pursue to take my businesses to the next level…a level of greatness.

· Be a Level 5 Leader- The companies that went from good to great did not have the personally dynamic, gregarious leadership you might expect to find. Firms that went from good to great all contained leadership who had a leadership style of personal humility and the professional will to do whatever was required to develop a great company, even if it impacted them financially. It’s not about you; it’s about the business.

· First Who, then What- Good to great leaders did not develop great companies by creating a new dramatic vision or strategy. What they did was to get the right people onboard and the wrong people off-loaded. They flipped the script on the mantra that “People are your most important asset.” That is wrong. The right people are your most important asset. Surround yourself with the right people.

· Confront the Brutal Facts (Yet never lose faith)- Every good to great company embraced what is called the Stockdale Paradox. This paradox was derived from the former prisoner of war Admiral Stockdale. The idea suggests that you must maintain unwavering faith that you can prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, AND at the same time have the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be. Do this in your life and your business in order to be great.

· Use the Hedgehog Concept- Refuse to just be competent. Transcend the curse of just being competent, even if it is your core business area. Find out what you can possibly be the best at, and then over time pursue that, even at the expense of curtailing something you might have done for years, but can never be the best at. Only what you can be the best at can be the core of a great business.

· A Culture of Discipline- In my business we will just not be disciplined, but our business will have a culture of discipline. When you combine a culture of discipline, with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great performance.

· Technology Accelerators- Do not rely on technology to ignite a transformation in the business, but use carefully selected technologies with the understanding that it will not be the primary cause of the businesses greatness or decline.

· The Flywheel and the Doom Loop- There is no single defining action or grand event that transforms a company from good to great. There must be a combination of numerous activities over time. The process is like pushing a flywheel in one direction, turn upon turn, building momentum, until a point of breakthrough and beyond.

These are some incredible ideas on how to transition your good home based business into a great home based business. A business that will be sustained for many years to come. A great home based business that will continue to be an asset for you and your children, and even your children’s children. The Bible says that a “good man” leaves a heritage for his children’s children. That is long term success and opportunities that greatness rewards.

Get Jim Collins book. Read it over and over until the principles in the book become believable to you. Understand it, then confidently implement the principles in the book not only in your business, but also in your life.

Warm regards,

Kenny Anderson

10 July 2011 0 Comments

These Days Good Customer Service Sleeps With the Dinosaurs!

What has happened to providing good customer service? From mortgage lenders, banks, real-estate, telecommunications, and department stores etc. Customer service gets overall grade of D or F. I’m convinced that if any business wants to increase their revenue, this is an area that needs major work and all business could improve. If this area alone is adequately pursued, it could be highly profitable. How you may ask, profitable by doing what so many others are failing to do, by providing good customer service. While working to maintain that all important customers you already have and acquire new customers.

Good customer service is almost like saying; customer service now sleeps with the dinosaurs. Simple things like returning a phone call, or returning the fifth call. Seriously, you would think that a customer or a potential customer call would have been returned before then. Well, I can personally tell you this example happened to me just last week. So, do you think I was a happy customer when I left a message on their answering machine on the fifth call? Needless to say, they have lost me as a customer and I will be sure to tell everyone I know how unprofessional they are and that they should not use their service, because their service is actually no service at all!

Replying to emails; if a customer has contacted the wrong department, then route the customer to the correct dept. This will help the customer service rep not to receive the same customer contacting them over and over again. Spend a couple minutes and find out who should be helping the customer. Provide the customer with a name, and email address of the appropriate person or department. If this is done on the first go around, more than likely there will not be a second and so forth go around.

It was always my goal when I assisted customers to give them everything they needed on their first go around. I did not want to receive another email from the same customer unnecessarily. We have gotten so technical, that we have lost that human connection. The fact that you, instead of a computer replies back to the customer will make you stand out. If a customer feels their request is being handled by a human being and not a computer, I bet he or she is willing to pay a little more for your type of service.

Right now I use a hosting company that I could get for free somewhere else or for a lot less than what I’m paying now. But, I pay more so I can actually speak to a human being and get instant assistance. I don’t have to wait for my email questions to be answered two days later. I’m very happy with their service and continue to purchase more and more products. They are dinosaurs!

16 June 2011 0 Comments

Why Is Good Customer Service Essential And Who Is Responsible For It?

Tempers flare and voices rise, but does your good customer service vanish? These are just a part of your day-to-day life in the market place in any business establishment. Customers and consumers are becoming more and more demanding. They get angry and argumentative when they are not served well by whoever is assigned to entertain them. Big and impersonal companies are sometimes finding it difficult to entertain such difficult-to-please customers and offer them good customer service. But for those small companies who have the skill to be more subjective to customers, I say they have found one of the keys to make their businesses a success.

How many times have we heard about a customer service attendant with a sour disposition entertaining the customers? And how many times have this happened to you personally? This does happen. But it shouldn’t! I was at a Western Union office recently and was waiting to get my money when I happen to hear the customer service attendant yelling at a customer to fill up a card before waiting in line to get his money. Good customer service? Not a hope! Now is that a good way to deal with the customers? Now, there are a lot of Western Union outlets scattered across the country, and with that kind of attitude, which customer would have the heart to go back!? Another example is a McDonald’s drive-thru attendant with a negative temperament. Which customer is really going to return to that outlet if they are greeted with an unpleasant, unhappy face? OK… maybe that’s a bad example – but you get my point!

Businesses have to understand that good customer service is what brings the consumers and customers back. Customer service isn’t just a job! It is a sport in the business world that entrepreneurs and employees have to master in order to attract more customers. It is a key element to win over customers and attain success over the competition. A good customer service system obtains more customers through word-of-mouth advertising. Let’s look at it this way. Take the example of the Western Union outlet. The customer the customer service attendant shouted at walked away angry and cantankerous, telling his peers or family members not to do business with that establishment again! And all because of one lousy employee with a sour disposition who didn’t know how to smile once in a while! Can you think of the money that this particular business lost because of one employee? However, if the customer service attendant was pleasant and easy to get along with, the customer would then have walked away thinking how nice it would be to do business with that outlet again. Word of mouth advertising tells people more than anything else that the service was good and the staff there were pleasant. The outlet would then have attracted more customers and more money by simply giving good customer service!

Here is the trick that the companies should apply to their businesses… They should not think that their products alone carry their business to fame. Not at-all. It is the front-line employees who the customers deal with first before they are introduced to the product. They are the ones who deal with the customers personally, and no customer or consumer would want to deal with a negative customer service. If they train well their customer service department, it might mean surpassing customer expectations and might mean more customers. Mastering this skill also means a bigger market share. But who wants just a part of it? Why not win them all? Why not get the majority or most of the market share through not only good but great customer service? A satisfied customer keeps coming back. And sooner or later, your excellent customer service will pay off and you will see it through your income.

3 June 2011 0 Comments

Why real estate is a good investment?

Of all possible investments that are within the reach of the average investor, none ofter the combination of outstanding benefits that are available to real estate investors. And, do you want to know something, banks and life insurance companies recognise this fact!

 

So they invest your money in real estate. While they pay you 1 to 3 percent for the use of your money, they are making 10 to 20 percent on it.

 

Why is real estate such a good investment? It offers the investor at least five different returns or ways of making money, on his investment.

 

Gross spendable income – cash flow

Investors also refer to this as “cash flow” or how much money that you can spend at the end of the month or year after all the operating expenses and mortgage payments have been made. We also call this as “gross” spendable because we have not taken income tax consequences into consideration at this point.

 

We always purchase properties that cash-flow. It takes time to find them, but it is well worth the effort. The simplest definition of positive cash flow is that you collect more revenue, usually in the form of rent, than it takes to pay for and operate the property.

 

A big advantage of real estate over other investments is that it can produce cash flow on a monthly basis. The cash generated by a real estate investment will always be a much larger percentage cash-on-cash return than any other investment.

 

The beauty of a cash-flowing real estate property is that it can help you become financially free. We discussed two real life examples of such real estate property in “How to know if a property investment is worth investing?”

 

Equity income

This is also referred to as equity buildup or principal reduction. Anyone who has had a mortgage on a home or car recognises that each time a payment is made, a certain portion of that payment is for the interest charged by the lender and the balance goes toward reducing the balance on the loan.

 

In a real estate investment, this equity income can be a sizeable amount. Although you cannot spend it each month, when the time comes to sell your property, you owe less on the mortgage, so you will receive more money at closing. It’s like putting money in the bank each month.

 

Making inflation work for you instead of against you – appreciation

Like inflation, you do not see it but it’s there. Only now, it’s working for you instead of against you. How does it work? Each year, because of inflation, your real estate is appreciating in value. Those of you who own a home, for example, would you sell it today at the same price you paid for it five or ten years ago?

 

We keep on having babies but God quit making land a long time ago. The supply is limited.

 

What does this mean in terms of existing land values? It means that existing land is becoming more and more valuable each year. It explains why investment real estate, whether in single family homes, apartment buildings, office buildings, shopping centres, ware houses and even vacant land, has become the most secure and profitable way to beat inflation. Existing land in most parts of the country, is appreciating at a rate greater than that of inflation.

 

How real estate stacks up against other investments – leverage

Leverage is an interesting thing about investing in real estate. It’s more than likely you have heard the term Other People’s Money, or OPM. The concept is simple and powerful.

 

The OPM concept is using money generated from someone or something other you in order to start a business or acquire an asset. While it is true that you can do this to an extent with stocks through buying on margin, the fact is that there is no investment where the application of this tool is more powerful than in real estate.

 

In real estate the leverage is based on the asset itself and you can get a bank to loan you the money up to 90 percent, and sometimes even 95 to 100 percent, of the total asset value. Why do banks do this?

 

Because they can repossess the physical asset itself should you default. Buying stocks on margin, however, allows you to borrow no more than 50 percent of the stock portfolio value. Just try to get bank to loan you the money for buying stocks – let alone your margin! Instead, you have to buy through a brokerage – at a high interest rate. In other words, when you buy stocks on margin, you are taking the risk. But when you take out a loan to buy real estate, the bank is assuming the risk.        – Ken McElroy in “The Advance Guide to Real Estate Investing”

 

You can see the power of leveraging demonstrated by real life cases in our article “Why you want to take up a loan for your real estate investment?” No other form of investing allows an investor the opportunity to control so much with a small amount of his own cash.

 

We further discussed in “How to finance your real estate investment for maximum return?” the ways to structure a mortgage loan in order to get the maximum return from your cash investment in real estate.

 

An investment that allows you to control

A unique advantage to real estate is that you can control it. In other types of investments, you give your money to a financial advisor and they place it for you in a company’s stock, a bond, or a mutual fund. What happens after that is completely out of your control. You have no ability to make operating decision for the company you have invested in; you are at the mercy of its managers.

 

Similarly, you have no control over financial markets when you purchase bonds or futures. You make a calculated guess, and then you sit back and watch. With these types of investments, the only control you have is choosing whether to buy or to sell.

 

Real estate is different. You purchase a tangible asset and you manage it. While there are still external market conditions that affect your investment, the difference is that you have the ability to manipulate the operations of your investment to respond to those conditions. Instead of being reactive (buying or selling), you are being proactive.

 

For example, if you are a landlord, you have the ability to manipulate rents based on changing market conditions in order to maximise income. This doesn’t always mean raising rents. The goal is to maximise income. Since it is a dynamic process, that might mean lowering rent or offering an incentive. A property’s occupancy comes into place here.

 

If you have the highest rents in a market, chances are potential tenants will rent from a direct competitor. Then all your high rents become lost potential income. The dynamic of real estate require you to keep occupancy, as well as rents, high.

 

You have the power in real estate to control the operational performance of your asset more than any other investment.

21 May 2011 0 Comments

Are IRA Good Investments?

Are IRA good investments? With the ups and downs of the stock market the growth of IRA investments may not be what you had expected if you only have your IRA invested in the stock market. There are other investments besides the stock market where you can invest your IRA money. I’ll tell you another great investment a little bit later in this article.

If you’ve set your hopes on a carefree retirement without having to worry about money, the growth of IRA investments needs to be good. If you live in the north like I do, one of your dreams may be going south for the winter. That can be a costly dream, so you may want to get your ducks in a row early on in your investment strategy so you will have enough money to get away from the harsh north winters.

When looking at the question are IRA good investments, you need to know the benefits of investing in an IRA. A traditional IRA is tax deferred, which means you don’t pay income taxes on the amount you invest in the year you invest it. Instead you pay income tax on the entire amount you withdraw it.

Another type of IRA is a Roth IRA. With a Roth IRA you invest after tax dollars, which means it is not tax deferred like a traditional IRA, but you don’t pay any taxes when you withdraw your money. So the growth of IRA investments in this scenario can be very advantageous, because you will be withdrawing both principle and interest tax free, which means your growth is tax free.

Both scenarios should answer the question are IRA good investments with a resounding yes. For one thing you are putting aside some money for retirement, which is the first thing you need to do to insure those winters down south. You certainly won’t be getting away from the cold harsh winters if you are living just on Social Security income.

And second with both scenarios, you are realizing a tax savings; either at time of investment or at time of withdrawal. Tax savings mean more money in your pocket to go south for the winter. Both scenarios are good.

One thing you can do with your IRA accounts is to put that money in a self directed IRA. With a self directed IRA you can invest your hard earned money where you want to direct it, not where some stock broker or banker wants you to invest it. Many times the advise of a stockbroker or banker makes money for them, but not necessarily for you.

When you are the one directing your IRA you can be confident that you have it where you want it. One of the places that many investors overlook when looking for growth of IRA investments is real estate. You can have your self directed IRA invested in real estate and earn great returns.

So when asking yourself are IRA good investments, look at real estate. When investing in real estate you can see the growth of IRA investments doing some positive good for communities by providing housing for people. There is a company that offers turnkey investments for a self directed IRA that provides you with everything you need to know about investing for the betterment of communities with Socially-Conscious Investing To Empower Urban Communities.

Now that you’ve heard about it, check it out and see your retirement dreams come true when you see the power of the growth of IRA investments with real estate. You can earn money for retirement as you help others obtain affordable housing they need.


 

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12 May 2011 0 Comments

How to Recognise Good Small Business Management Software

Finding out which small business management software solution is right for your business can be a long road. The majority of companies that offer this will tell you that their product is the best on the market in order for you to sign up to their service. Whilst it can be very useful to take a look at marketing material for small business management software owners of businesses should know what features to look out for. Here are a few questions which will help owners and managers of small businesses to ascertain if a small business management software solution they are interested in is right for them:

• How many employees can be added to the application? If you are looking at software that will only allow for 10 or 20 employees there is little room for expansion. Instead look towards software that can handle up to 50 employees.
• Is the application web based? Small business management software that is web based has so many advantages over other types of software. It means that owners, managers and even employees can log on from anywhere with an internet connection and check information relating to the business or even carry out their role from another location.
• Do the features on the small business management software solution do everything your business needs them to? For example if you need a quoting and invoicing tool it has to have these as standard, similarly a business needs software with integrated calendars, document storage, project planning tools and reporting features to name but a few. Without these features a small business might need to pay for other applications, which is a waste of funds.
• Is the small business management software solution easy to use? If a new software package is difficult to use and navigate around it can spell big problems for a business. Not only will it take a disproportionate amount of time to train employees on how to use it, it may also be too clumsy to use effectively. It is surprising just how many businesses sign up for software that is incredibly hard to use and requires several hours worth of training per employee. To get the most from small business management software it should take around an hour for employees to get to grips with and from there they can build upon their knowledge.
• Can the software grow with your business? Whilst most businesses start off small there are a large number that do not stay small. With this in mind you need software that can handle a growing customer contacts database and will allow you to add employees as you hire them.
• Does the software offer you a free, no obligation trial? This is essential before you spend money signing up to any software application.

If the small business management software that you are interested in ticks all of these boxes you should think about taking up the trail offer. Then you can see what a difference it could make to your business.

28 April 2011 0 Comments

Keys to Good Customer Service: How to Make Your Customers Buy From You More Often

identify the key to quality service is the secret ingredient for a successful enterprise. Here’s why.

Say there are two shops on both ends of the street. Both the same products or directories. Both stores are clean. However, it appears a company to enjoy more patronage. More satisfied customers through the door of the other store.

What is the company of other prosper?

other store knows the key to customer service, their profits directly from single to double digits. If you enter this business, you will be greeted with a warm smile and friendly greetings from the store owner and his employees. If you see products on the top shelf, they rush to help. If you’re wondering, if a point is, they accompany you to specific training. These little things make a business succeed.

For a business owner, the application of key customer service to more than “Ka-Ching Ka-Ching” for his company! LEAD

with an economic downturn can see, most companies look for ways to attract more customers and higher profits. They develop strategies lucrative advertising and PR, but it does the loss of income and a higher deficit.

customers are the biggest variables in the equation. The companies derive benefits from regular customers, providing excellent customer service should be a priority.

When customers are satisfied, there is no need for fancy advertising, because the number of satisfied customers who are guaranteed to come back for more will increase.

Some keys to good service to your customers happy:

1 Be polite. This is something that is largely rejected today. A little courtesy will feel customers are valuable and important. Make them feel that you are sincere in extending a helping hand. A frown can lead the people, while a smile can bring more people in. Address your customer with “Mrs.” or “Sir”. Dealing with one client at a time when he feels he has your full attention.

2 Be creative. Customers get angry when you tell them you have no right to ask them to, because “it is standard policy of the company.” Customers do not want to hear as excuse.

If you want more customers happy to think creatively. There are legal ways to take your business to go to any political event. Make it a policy to extend service beyond standard procedures to satisfy a customer.

3 Prompt. Never place to keep one of your customers’ demands, especially when it is absolutely clear. A prompt and accurate service can lead referrals. To strengthen your employees so they can make quick decisions and go immediately to the needs of your customers.

4 Under promise and over deliver.

5 Expand your service. Even if it is not part of your standard operating procedures, do something for the customer who shows a genuine concern for their needs.
For example, you can

a customer to their seat, or Run to open doors for older customers. People who like the idea of a greater value for their money.

For companies to successfully lead, and the keys to customer service should be at the forefront of your mission and vision.

It should be clear to everyone that you. Configure the message loud and clear through a point of measuring their performance in terms of number of customers happy and satisfied.

by providing quality customer service, creating an enviable reputation for your company to allow more people to take to attract you. Simply apply these keys to customer service … and a successful business, you’ll be in time.