All posts in February 2019

Know The Basics Of International Business Gift Giving

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Businessmen would agree that in the business world, giving gifts once in a while can never be avoided. Be it Christmas or an important client’s birthday, gift-giving is one of the most effective ways of establishing stronger ties to those who matter to you and your business. This may not be totally true but even as this, it is the most common perception. You might not believe this but there are times when giving gifts can be the worst thing that you can do. This is especially true when you are invovled in an international business. This is because each race or nationality has its own belief about business gift giving.

It’s interesting that while some countries may be very open to gift-giving, others can actually take the act to be completely unacceptable. For example, in the Czech Republic, Columbia, Indonesia and some others, giving gifts is a warm gesture between corporate people. This can be misunderstood as bribing when youre on other countries like Australia, Denmark or Uruguay.

It’s interesting that while some countries may be very open to gift-giving, others can actually take the act to be completely unacceptable. For example, in the Czech Republic, Columbia, Indonesia and some others, giving gifts is a warm gesture between corporate people. However, there are other countries like Australia and many others that find this act offensive because they think that this is like a bribe.

Therefore, it is important that you try to find out about different countries and their beliefs when it comes to this kinds of things especially when you are involved in international business. Generally, we feel that when we give a gift to a client or a colleague during his birthday, it can strengthen our business relationship. The effect can be otherwise. It can still make negative vibes that may be considered to affect the business relationship. It is significant to always know the background of the people you consider giving presents for this reason.

The issues around gift giving may not even be purely cultural but religious as well. It will be a good idea to research on peoples cultures you are planning to give presents even when working for a company. For example, you might think of giving your boss a little token on his birthday. Perhaps you cannot give him anything made of cowhide as in India, cows are considered sacred if this person is Indian.

There will be rituals or rules that have to be pursued as giving gifts is not really discouraged in some cases. The Chinese, for instance, consider red a lucky color. The monetary value of a gift may also affect its meaning in almost all cases. Whatever thing that is costly can make the receiver feel uncomfortable or even embarrassed. In other cases, a gift should fit the level of relationship that the giver has with the receiver.

There are more differences among nationalities in terms of their gift-giving customs and it is important to consider these before you give anything, no matter how well-meant.

How To Start Your Own Business Wholesale Cufflink

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Well, here you are. You have taken the first step in owning your own business. Congratulations! I would also like to thank you for purchasing this directory that will catapult your business with the necessary products, that are both fun and functional like fashion cufflink.

Being your own boss is fun. But it is also a lot of hard work. You get to call the shots. You decide how things will be run and when. Starting your own wholesale cufflinks business is a dream come true for a lot of people. You don’t need a big brick and mortar store anymore with the internet being so widely used.

However, a cufflink business plan is still a top priority. It doesn’t have to be real elaborate. Just something that will keep you focused on your goals. Maybe you want to stay home with the kids, and have a little side business that doesn’t require you to go out of your home each day to an office. Maybe selling products for an animal rescue group to get the needed money for the day to day expenses in saving lives, is what you want to do. Or maybe you have a special dog club that needs funds for all those activities.

Whatever it is, a business plan will still help you. Don’t neglect this part of the business. It all starts with an idea. Then keep adding to that. Get help
when you need it. When you feel like you are stagnating, it is probably becausc you arc not sure how to handle something. Remember, you are the boss, and even the boss can ask for help.

When I decided to compile and put these directories into distribution I decided how the layout would be. I wanted the type to be large, as 1 personally hate reading 10 point type, it is just too small. All the details fell to me. Did 1 ask for input when I got stuck? You bet!

I didn”t always follow others advice, but it got me thinking and I stayed on task.

Sometimes just leaving a project for a few hours and coming back to it later can give you a fresh perspective.

Try to think of the whole cufflink idea as fun. Yes, there will be things you don”t know how to do. So what. You can learn to do them. It all takes time. In fact, sometimes, thinking things over can help you eliminate a lot of problems. Don’t feel like you need to have the whole business up and running today. Set yourself some small goals to work toward, and use that as your guide.

Before long, everything will be finished and your business will be ready for its first customer. When that day comes, celebrate!

Getting Organized

The best time to get your office organized is right now, before you even start your business.

It makes your productively so much more efficient when things are organized. So I encourage you to get in the habit and start now.

The directory lists only one vendor per page. The reason is so that all orders and notes pertaining to that vendor can be recorded easily. It has a space for who you talked to at that company.

There is also a chart where you can list your orders with each vendor. How you paid for the order, and when it was received. Plus any special notes that you will find helpful. There is also a Master Copy included, that you can photo copy and continue the process once you fill the original chart. As time goes on, these charts will prove very valuable to you for comparing costs, not only for products but also for shipping costs, delays, back orders, how returns are handled, etc. But only if you take the time to fill them out.

File folders will also prove to be very helpful. Make a folder for each vendor and put your invoices into each one. Although most of these vendors are listed on the internet and have a website, some of them may also have a print catalog. If they do have a catalog, I encourage you to order one. These catalogs are useful in comparing products and you can do that while enjoying the fresh outdoors. No need to stay inside on those wonderful days.

After all, you are now your own boss and can do as you like. Put these catalogs into each folder as well.

This is also a good time to decide if any outsourcing will be done.

If you don’t like to do something, and you find that you put it on the back burner and it never gets done, those are the things to outsource. Maybe it”s taxes. Get an accountant to do that. Maybe it’s web design. Although that can be outsourced as well, you will benefit if you get some knowledge in how your website is set-up and how to make changes on it.

Having a separate checking account for your business is a good idea. Do it right from the start. If you are planning on using a credit or debit card, try to only use one. It makes keeping track of finances so much easier.

Also, be sure to follow all guidelines for resale numbers, wholesale business licenses, etc. Run your business like a professional.

Most of your shipping supplies can be obtained right from the post office. When shipping an order to your customer, putting a delivery confirmation on the box will insure that your package is tracked, right up to delivery.

Be sure to use insurance when shipping breakable products. Even with packaging well, breakage may occur. Follow through with your customer to remedy the situation and your customer will be happy with your “service after the sale”. A happy life-long customer is an asset to your business.

Sending updates to your customers, directing them back to your web-site on new arrivals, special offers, close-outs and upcoming holidays, will increase your bottom line. Make a habit of marketing your business. Set aside some time each week to think about advertising your business. Then do it.

To be successful, you need customers. Happy customers will spread the word about your business. Have a link on your website that they can send an announcement to a friend saying, “I thought you would like this site”. Wholesale Fashion Cufflink

Profitable Adult Internet Business Online Opportunity

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STARTING A PROFITABLE ADULT ONLINE INTERNET BUSINESS

I thought to write this because of the hundreds of calls I receive every week regarding horror stories of prospective webmasters spending thousands of dollars to Start A Profitable Adult Online Internet Website Business. The reason their calling me is for me to somehow perform a miracle making them money after they spent thousands of dollars on an Adult Turnkey Website Business that will never make money. Basically they fell victim to ridiculous financial promises that were very unrealistic and could never occur in a million years. This is the typical garbage that some Adult Internet Website Businesses spit out to make it sound as if it is so easy to make a million dollars overnight in this industry. The good news is there is good money to be made in this very profitable Adult Online Business but you need to partner with the correct people that are knowledgeable and resourceful otherwise you could be out of business shortly.

Adult Internet Website Business Online Turnkey Opportunity – 10 Steps To Profitability

I know this from firsthand experience. I am not some writer who is writing about Adult Online Business Opportunities; I am an Adult Internet Business owner writing about the best way to Start a Profitable Adult Internet Business by owning your own Online Website Business.

1.Niche Market Business Opportunity Dont target the typical blonde haired blue eyed girls no mega sites that have 10 different types of content or Adult Online Design Companies that claim that their websites have just shemales when they actually have all types of content in the members section. People are passionate about their own niche market they enjoy. They get pissed when they see other types of content in the members section of the so called niche specific Adult Online Turnkey Business.

2.Keep the Adult Internet Website simplified Easy navigation. Dont have clutter on your adult Internet website or too much happening or moving at once on the website for it turns prospective Adult Online Businessclients off. Adult Turnkey Websites such as this are horrible to the eye and turn people off. There are many studies that show this and they all can’t be lying.

3.Your Adult Online Website Business must have High Definition content or as close to HD as possible. HD = more sign ups. You must also have at least 5 teaser high definition quality video clips to increase conversion to full sign ups. Without content close to High Definition, you are killing off your Opportunity for your Online Business to convert into more cash.

4.You must use Affiliate Website Programs that bring in extra revenue for your Adult Online Website. Make them as niche specific as possible. We like to use scam free affiliate online programs such as cams, personals, toys, video on demand. There are too many to mention but I think you get the point. Again our goal is to make these affiliate website internet programs as niche specific as possible to match the niche theme of the entire Adult Online Turnkey Business.

5.Marketing Do your homework and research, research and research. Dont depend on a marketing company to do all this work for you. The Adult Website is yours not theirs so please get educated in the field. You need to take responsibility for the marketing of your own website. Dont ever think that the marketing company that you hire is going to be able to perform all the marketing on its own. If you owned any other business; I am sure you would get very involved in it. If you want to make money with your Adult Web Site Business you need to treat this as any other type of business. There is a great opportunity to make a good profit from your Adult Online Internet Business with smart Adult Online Marketing.

6.Low Cost Low Risk Online Business Opportunity Adult Internet Turn Key Businesses should not cost what most adult design companies charge. Most of you are new to the business so why jump into some foreign business, spending all your money upfront? Owning your own adult web site business is not gambling; it is long-term business. You have to keep your start up costs low or you will fail miserably. Watch out for hidden costs, such as hosting that adds up quickly. One thing people dont consider is how easy it is for a Website Design Company to increase your hosting fee after only owning your Adult Online Business only a short period of time. Some charge $50 – $100 a month per site for hosting when you purchase your website and then about 3 or 4 months later tell you that you are using too much bandwidth and double your hosting fee. These Adult Hosting Companies are killing off your Terrific Profitable Adult Business Opportunity. The first year in business has to come with FREE hosting or I would stay away from the Internet design company. Keep your money for smart marketing. This is an efficient way to use your money. Do your homework on this long-term Adult Internet Business Opportunity so you dont waste your hard earned marketing money.

7.Watch Out For Sharks If you take the bait they will pounce on you with horrible Adult Internet Website Design and extremely high prices. When online adult design companies make claims such as As Seen On TV or as being a member of the chamber of commerce you need to run like hell. This is the adult website internet business and you don’t get on television for owning one. Also, All you have to do to be listed with the Chamber of Commerce is to have a business and pay the dues. Also, don’t buy into these crazy Testimonials about how the guy has saved their marriage and family. WOW! Watch Profit Charts. $5,000 profit in your 4th month in the adult online web site business from 1 site? So if I purchase 100 sites from the online web design companies that claim this I will be making $500,000.00 in my 4th month in business? At this rate I would make more than 5 Million dollars in my 1st year in business! PEOPLE ACTUALLY FALL FOR THESE PROMISES. DONT BE A VICTIM! GET EDUCATED! GET EMPOWERED! Take full advantage of this Adult Online Internet Business Opportunity and play it smart. Check out the watchdog agencies for the industry such as scam.com, ripoffreport.com. Also go to google and type in the owner of the businesses name, the business name. Also type in the owners name with scam or ripoff after the name. For Example: Jones scam or Teletar SCAM. These are just phrases that come to mind at the moment not actual companies. It is your hard earned money. Dont waste it.

8.Partner with online Internet content companies. Dont buy an Adult Online Website Business that comes with content that you supposedly own. You are getting shitty content. You want good High Definition quality content by partnering with content companies. I can send you a list of them if you desire. Just hit me up on email. The majority of our competition uses live feeds as content. This is megasite content which is not what the average person is looking for. Point is if you don’t partner with the content companies you will have to become one to compete and that is very expensive. If you don’t partner with the online content companies you are missing a terrific Adult Online Business Opportunity that will produce Long-Term Profit for you.

9.Updates of Content Partnering with internet content companies will assure you that your content will be updated often. With our Adult Online Website Design Business this is what we do. We and the content companies have a vested interest in you making money. We make more money when we assist you in making more. If content companies and design companies do not have a vested interest in you making money why would they update the content for you?? The answer is simple for they wouldnt and so they dont. Do you know how expensive updating content is? If I was not making money by updating your content why would I waste my time doing it? I wouldnt. If you purchase an Adult Online Website Business with content the Adult Design Company manages you will not get your content updated for you. The content will be old and will only get older because the design company has no interest in updating it. When you partner with content companies the content company only makes money by updating your content. This partnering with content companies is our website design business model and as far as we know it is the only model that works. We would not steer you in the wrong direction. Partnering with these content companies produces Profitable Adult Online Business Opportunities that you need to take advantage of.

10. Dont bet the farm on one Turnkey Adult Internet Business. This is an investment in your future; not a job. You are investing your hard earned money. If you were to invest in the stock market it is better to invest in mutual funds than it is to invest in one stock and bet the farm on it. That stock comes with tremendous risk whereas the mutual fund tremendously reduces that risk and provides you a wonderful opportunity to reach profitability as quickly as possible. The point here is dont invest your hard earned money in one revenue stream when you have an Adult Online Business Opportunity to invest it in possibly 10. We do just that for all clients and the others should also otherwise they are just setting you up to fail miserably.

Use Noncompete Agreements To Help Protect Your Business From

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Q: One of my former employees has started a competing business and is calling my clients and trying to steal their business from me. Do I have any legal recourse against him?
— Brad J.

A: I hate to break this to you, Brad, but unless this former employee signed a noncompete agreement while on your payroll, there is probably very little you can do to stop him from wooing your customers. You should discuss the situation with your attorney, but unless this person is also breaking the law in some other way (using stolen trade secrets, for example) your attorney will probably concur with me.

Renegade former employees riding the free enterprise wave is one reason noncompete agreements are gaining in popularity among employers who hope to use them to help protect their business from competitive threats launched by former employees. Many employers are now demanding that key employees sign noncompetes as a stipulation of employment. While signing noncompetes usually doesn’t sit well with employees who view them as potential roadblocks to their upwardly mobile career path, many businesses will not hire a key employee without his or her signature on the dotted line.

A noncompete agreement is a formal contract between you and your employees in which they promise not to use information or contacts pertinent to your business in a competing situation. In other words, they agree not to take everything they learn working for you and put it to use for someone else. This could mean going to work for a competitor or starting a competing business of their own.

While not popular with employees, noncompete agreements are a good way for employers to keep key employees on the payroll and protect the company’s proprietary information. That said, do not go overboard with noncompetes: not every employee should be required to sign one. If an employee does not have access to sensitive information, customer or accounting data, or is integral to the overall success of your business, there is no need to have them sign a noncompete. The janitor, for example, poses very little threat to your business if he gets a job with a competitor. Your sales manager, on the other hand, can devastate your business by hooking his wagon to a competing horse.

Which employees should sign noncompete agreements? While the prerequisites vary from business to business, the following is a good general list. The term “employees” represents executive level, management, supervisory, and non-management personnel relative to that example:

– Employees involved in research or product development. – Employees involved in the design, fabrication, engineering, and manufacturing process. – Employees who service products made and sold by your company. – Sales and service employees who have regular contact with customers or sensitive customer information. – Employees with access to sensitive business information or trade secrets. – Most importantly, employees who have sufficient information about your business that would allow them to start a competing business.

Most business experts agree that noncompete agreements are generally a good way to protect your business. The downside is that noncompete agreements are often difficult to enforce and in some states, may not be enforceable at all. Many state courts have ruled that noncompete agreements are too restrictive on an employee’s right to earn a living.

In California, for instance, noncompetes are generally only enforceable in connection with the sale of a business and not for employees. In Alabama, noncompetes are generally enforceable in only two contexts: the sale of a business and in connection with employment – but even then the enforcement requires that there be a valid interest worthy of protection.

Some states require that the noncompete be signed at the beginning of the employment relationship and will only consider the enforcement of a noncompete signed after the initial employment date if the signing of the noncompete was accompanied by a promotion, raise in pay, or other event that elevated the employee to a more important role within the company.

To be enforceable, noncompete agreements must be reasonable on three accounts: Time, geography and scope. Regarding time, you can’t restrict someone from competing with you forever, so one to three years is the accepted time period for most noncompetes.

As to geography, you can enforce restriction in the general area where you conduct business, but you can not enforce the restriction beyond those boundaries. And for scope, the agreement can restrict certain actions on the part of the employee, but can’t be so generally restrictive that the employee won’t be able to earn a living working in the same industry in a noncompetitive position.

One interesting thing to note: noncompete agreements are not enforceable against certain “professionals,” like doctors, CPAs, and lawyers (who do you think writes all those noncompetes).

At this point, Brad, the best thing you can do is contact your attorney to see if you have other grounds for suit, then contact your customers and let them know what’s going on.

Explain the situation regarding the former employee, but do so calmly and resist the urge to tell them what you really think of this guy. Showing your anger to the customer is not going to help you keep their business .

Reaffirm your relationship with the client, tell him how much you value his business, remind him of your track record and level of service, then ask one simple question: What can I do to make sure your business stays with me?

Here’s to your success!

Choosing An Erp System For Freight Forwarding And Logistics Business

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The complex nature of the shipping and logistics industry combined with the fierce competition that exists in this sector brings unique challenges to the small and medium-sized operators. This makes it imperative that freight forwarding firms, non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCCs), custom house agents, international freight brokers, shipping agents and cargo agents streamline their multifarious business operations to remain competitive. Deploying the right ERP system dedicated to logistics and freight forwarding can help firms efficiently realign and scale up their activities whilst being adaptable to the rapidly changing regulatory environment.

Whilst an ERP framework can go a long way in helping you integrate diverse business and operational functions, choosing an ideal freight forwarding software that allows you to manage, access, and share information coming from and going into various departments is not easy. Before planning and deploying an ERP system, it is important that businesses analyse their potential keeping the following factors in mind:-

Integration of all operational and accounting elements within a single platform

The most important factor to consider is the degree of integration your ERP allows. For instance, a small and medium-sized freight forwarding agent who uses different applications to manage functions, including freight management, customs brokerage, documentation, container tracking, shipment tracking and compliance services would benefit more if all the applications are integrated into a single master application based on Tally ERP 9 platform. This customised Tally solution makes the operation more efficient, cost effective and provides the owner with real-time visibility of in-bound/out-bound shipments and their corresponding payables/receivables.

Avoiding duplication due to centralization of multi-branch tasks

The second parameter to consider is to what extent the ERP system allows the centralization of key multi-branch tasks. Consider each branch of a multi-location shipping agency using a separate business accounting application. This will result in disconnected pools of data independent to each other causing unnecessary delay, disruption and data re-keying whereas the business owner needs real-time business and operations data monitoring. On the other hand, if the same agency decides to partner with a Tally services provider and deploy a centralized software application, it has a greater predictability of its operations. Since this scenario allows the master application to read, write and edit data to and fro from each of the branch offices, it helps business owners track shipment-wise payment, performance, profitability and outstanding details.

Enhanced financial control and greater visibility

The ERP system that you choose to implement should provide a greater financial control by cross-integrating data from operational tasks and data from actual transactions. The system should allow the owner to calculate the expected profit per shipment and then compare it to the shipment’s actual cost and profit (using the data from transactions, receivables, payables and brokerage expenses). This helps the owner to track each jobs profitability which in turn can help them to focus on future shipments/jobs that have a greater profitability ratio.

Quick information access, report generation, and data archiving

Information reporting, data archiving and data storage are all important aspects of the logistics and shipping business. The ERP system should be able to generate and archive reports, including balance sheets, shipping-related MIS reports, packing lists, purchase orders and multiple invoices for different chain partners and quotations. Furthermore, cargo documents, including Cargo Arrival Advice (CAA), Cargo Arrival Notice (CAN), Delivery Order (DO) and House Bill of Lading (HBL) should be directly generated from the application. This helps business owners not only to retrieve but send these documents directly from the system to the logistical chain partners.