Avoid the Pitfalls in Recruitment by Factoring

When it comes to the labour market there are many opportunities for companies that can provide the staff a business might need on a temporary, contract or permanent basis. There are a few pitfalls as well that you need to consider. Plenty of people who are in full time employment also register with a recruitment agency just in case a better opportunity comes along. There are unemployed people who do likewise believing that a privately run company with contacts is more likely to find them new employment than the government exchanges.

Some others are available for short term contracts in specialised employment and a fourth element are people available for temporary work which comes up in holiday time but also to cover enforced or paid absences within a company. The opportunities are there for someone with contacts and the determination to build up even more. 

Cash flow issues

It is not all plain sailing if you run a recruitment agency and are responsible for paying everyone on your books yet find yourself waiting for your clients to pay you. Your biggest client could be your slowest payer and that will inevitably cause you cash flow problems, which you need to solve. Without a planned and accurate cash flow you can go out of business quickly.

Much depends on whether you specialise. If you have many weekly paid contractors on your books yet get paid monthly, then that alone needs to be taken into account when you are preparing your forecasts and cash flows. One obvious answer is to factor your invoices so that you receive 90% of the invoice total immediately and the balance when it has been paid. 

Factoring an answer

The factoring company specialises in credit control and will take over that function from you, and will likely be more effective. There are fees involved and you can decide whether you want to pay a smaller fee and do your own credit control, but it is hardly ever worth it.

It may complicate things but there is an argument that you may want to do some of your own invoicing and collection because you are assured prompt payment and it has always happened in the past. You perhaps think it is not worth the trouble for the saving you would make. 

Reduce your administration

You can decide to actually use third party services for everything relating to your payroll including the statutory returns to the taxman, the payments to everyone, and all the paperwork that is involved. If you go further and actually outsource your invoicing, you can get the VAT returns done every quarter as well. It is something that would certainly reduce your own administration.

If you are able to concentrate your energies on finding more clients and placing more people then your turnover will increase. That is surely your area of expertise? Knowing you can leave many of the administrative and financial problems to a specialist is reassuring and one less worry for you on a daily basis.

Recruitment factoring allows you to identify your financial commitments and meet your liabilities on time, even if some of your clients are not so responsible.

Tips for Getting Started with Property Investment

The island of Manhattan, from which the term is derived. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Investment property. Two words that have lived on the lips of those who desire something more from life, for the last five years, since the world economy took a hit and monopolies shifted. So, should you? While there are arguments for and against, I’m not here to convince you either way, rather, should you decide to take the plunge and join the 1.3 million Australians who enjoy the benefits of investment properties, I’ve compiled some tips. Tricks of the trade, common sense or not. Whatever happens, as you set off into investment land, don’t give up or get overwhelmed; yes, there are details and caveats, confusing points of jargon and slippery real estate agents, but you can do it without leaving your mind behind. 

Where Are You Sitting?

Discerning where you’re located on the financial spectrum is the first and most essential step. Stepping back and taking stock of your current debts, assets, expenses against total income figures will instantly give you a clear picture of investment viability. If you’ve had problems paying a credit card or personal loan in the past, check your credit file and analyse where you stand. Will you have trouble making mortgage repayments, maintenance contributions and other ownership fees and taxes, on top of everything else? Defaulting on your loan is the last thing you want to do. If you’re less financially secure then you feel comfortable with, hold off on investing until you knock out a few other debts and build your credit rating. All in good time. On the other hand, if you’re in the clear and enjoy a stable occupation, give yourself a green light, start researching home buyers grants (if it’s your first home) and talk to financial institutions to compare rates. 

What Property? Which Home?

Planning and researching are important components of the investment process. Before you can refine a series of goals or even project how much you need to borrow, figuring out what sort of home or investment you want is important. Do you want to live in it at first? Do you wish for something regionally located? Do you prefer certain suburbs? Would you rather the flexibility of investing in a display home or do you fancy a simple cottage somewhere out of town? Each option has specific advantages, and only you know what you’re looking for. 

Start Planning

By now, you should have figured out whether you qualify for a loan; if not, boost those figures by repaying more than the bare minimum on other debts and try again later. Successful? Great. Now start budgeting – not only to pad your savings account and repay other debts, but to identify a long term strategy when your debts will be significantly higher. Still confident? Good. Now head out into the market, talk to property owners, look at sources like Coral Homes home and land packages and remember, be prudent regarding negotiations and real estate agents. They are there to help you, but some like to help themselves too. Don’t settle on a property you’re not 100% happy with, as you’ll be inheriting its difficulties, flaws and quirks.

Happy hunting!

How Your Facilities Reflect on Your Business

Your facilities most definitely reflect on your business. No matter how well run your business is, how great your products, and even how well priced, if your business facilities are untidy or under par they will negatively impact your business. Appearances count, so do first impressions. Big time! 

So what do you do if your business facilities aren’t quite up to scratch and you really can’t afford to upgrade them? What if you only have clients intermittently, so you can’t justify the expense of upgrading your business facility? There is a solution. Servcorp Australia are available from companies like Servcorp, either as part of a virtual office service, or for one-off use for that especially important business meeting. You can impress your clients with beautifully appointed meeting rooms, boardrooms and fancy foyers.
What You See Is What You Get

Human nature being what it is; we are hardwired to absorb visual information and form mental judgements based on what we see. If we see a shabby office we will unconsciously interpret that visual into an assessment that the company inhabiting the facility is also shabby; believing automatically that they probably offer shabby service and shabby merchandise. We really do believe that we see is what we will get. So if you hold that important business meeting in a less than adequate facility, chances are you will not clinch the deal – no matter how whiz bang your presentation is. Shabby does not say successful and it is not likely to engender a response of – I just really want to partner with this company. 

Colours and Layouts Create an Impression

When you are fitting out and painting your facility you really need to consider the impression you are trying to create. Colours and office layout will play a major role in how clients perceive your business, so think about what impression you want them to take away and set about creating it. For instance an open plan layout and shorter office partitioning will create a sense of communication and openness – the right look and feel for an ad agency, but highly unsuitable for a legal office where confidentiality is important. 

Get an Outside Opinion

Because we spend so much time at work, we get very used to our surroundings at work. Just because you are used to the look and feel of your business facility, and feel reasonably comfortable with it, does not mean it will create a good impression on clients. It is a good idea to get an outside opinion when trying to assess the adequacy of your business facility. Ask a number of people, friends and family, business associates and also an expert – an office designer for example. Getting a good cross-section of opinions will give you the best chance to get an unbiased opinion of your facility. They will help your see your space with fresh eyes.

First impressions are vitally important and nowhere more so than in the office where visitors will decide whether or not to do business with you based on what they see.

The High Cost of Living and How to Deal with it

It’s a given fact of life that day follows night and prices increase on a regular basis. For most people in the country, the cost of living is rising far more quickly than wages and pensions.

Insulation

If you look at your gas or electricity meter and it seems to be eating up money more quickly than you can earn then you need to see if there is any way that you can rectify the situation. Double-glazing is an effective way to cut down on drafts that come through the window and the current choice of double glazed windows doesn’t just restrict you to plastic. If your home hasn’t been insulated then see if there is some form of government

help through one of its ‘Green Deal’ schemes. Most of the UK’s energy suppliers also operate charitable trusts where you can apply for assistance. Some companies also include recommendations on their website for the construction of energy efficient commercial buildings, including Colorcoat-online. A badly heated workplace can be just as depressing as a draughty and cold house.

Shop around

Take a look at some of the money saving websites and see if you can find any good deals. Remember, to read all the Ts & Cs, this may be boring but it’s even more tedious to discover that you’re locked into a lengthy phone contract, for example, just because you couldn’t be bothered to read all of the small print. The current advice from the experts at EnergyHelpline is to try and source a long-term deal rather than a short-term contract. Alternatively if you’re trying to save money on food you should also try and shop around but you should weigh up if this is going to cost you more in petrol than the saving you hope you’re going to find.

Holidays

Holidays are absolutely essential to many people, but there are different ways of trying to get a good deal. You could always try and get a cancellation flight discount and as long as you are free to travel at short notice, this is a good option. If you try and book your holiday for a time other than children’s school holidays you may be surprised at the choices on offer.

Some people like taking long weekends in wonderful country house hotels, thanks to the sluggish economy you’ll see that most of these are offering wonderful reductions from their normal prices. If you can’t find a good bargain then ring up the hotel, offer to pay over the phone and haggle. It’s surprising how dew people use this option, but it is invariably successful.

Eating Out

Instead of having a three course a la Carte menu, opt for a taster menu. An increasing number of restaurants offer this choice and it’s a great way of sampling all the dishes on the menu. If you’re ordering dishes that you’ve never sampled before so much the better. The increasing popularity of gastro-pubs means that meals at these venues are first class, and often a lot more competitively priced than restaurant fare.

Bargains do still exist, you’ve just got to use your imagination and employ a spirit of adventure and then you may well be rewarded.

Eight Tactics to Increase Millennial Productivity at your Business

With each business that we have today, a merchant account is required to get the debit/credit card processed. Once the six month trial period is over a reserve amount is returned to the business owner and they transition into what is known as a merchant account with no reserve. Congratulations on making it past the six month trial time. 

Like all businesses, we all transition day in and day out, and in order to do that, we have to adapt. Some of the most intelligent kids of this generation are facing challenges with business and personal issues, and in order to move forward to accommodate this challenge, eight tactics to increase Millennial productivity at your business must come into play. (A millennial is a person born sometime between 1982 and 2000 or there about. They have been dubbed some of the most productive of any generation, but only because of the machines they have had in their upbringing and adult life. Most face many challenges balancing their social media life, family life, and keeping healthy lifestyles.)

Here are some things to help businesses with their millennial generation.

1. Nose to the grind stone. Keep this generation busy and teach them the techniques that will help them become stronger intelligent adults that have a wonderful work ethic.

2. Have their job lined out for them. Give them assignments and their requirements for the job. If they know what is expected of them, likely they will have no issue getting the job done.

3. Have creative projects for them. More than any other generation, the Millennial’s know how to express themselves. Better to help them release their creative energy, than to read about it on Facebook with a negative review of your workplace.

4. Don’t punish them. Find a reward system that will increase their productivity and get them goal oriented. The more they reach their goals, the more you get done.

5. Reward them for their work. As stated above, they are more likely to increase their work if they love what they are doing. If it’s not fun anymore, they have no problem moving on to the next job.

6. Training. Make sure that when you train them, you get them to understand that they represent you on the job and they need to be polite and courteous.

7. Remind them to say thank you. A lot of this generation has forgotten their manners. As a constant reminder, say ‘thank you’ and ‘you’re welcome’. Remind them it’s quite alright to have a pleasant demeanor.

8. Gadgets. Have the most advanced gadgets available to them. They will love you for it, and their productivity will continue to soar, as they are the ones that integrate with this kind of technology.

So, now that you have grown your business beyond the probation period, it means you survived the six month period and your company is growing. You have the new generation to train with their hyper and super brains, let’s hope the list helps out a bit and great things are to come your way.

About the Author:


Blair Thomas is an electronic payment expert, who loves all things finance and planning. He is also the co-founder of eMerchantBroker.com, the #1 bad credit merchant account company in the country. But when he’s not running his business he’s more than likely exploring his other passions; music, mountain biking and camping. If you would like to see what he's up to, check him out on Facebook.

Understanding What It Means To Be Eco-Friendly: What To Look For In The Products You Buy

One of the biggest buzzwords of the twenty-first century is “eco-friendly”. Companies of all kinds are trying to tap into the market of those people who care about the environment, but consumers can be taken advantage of if they do not know what they are looking for in an eco-friendly product. If you want to start shopping green and reducing your carbon footprint, then there are several things you should be looking for in any product that claims to be “eco-friendly”. Consumers are learning what concepts like eco-friendly, renewable, sustainable, and eco-conscious really mean in today's world, TD Friends of the Environment donations go a long way to educating people committed to protecting the environment.

Materials

The most important thing to consider is what the item is being made from. There are basically two types of materials that you should look for when you are making an eco-friendly consumer purchase. The first of these is renewable materials, or materials that will come back when they are used. When companies make plastic for a phone case, the oil that is the raw material for the plastic is non-renewable, as it does not come back when it is used. On the other hand, a wooden or bamboo phone case is considered renewable since those items will grow back on their own. Related to the idea of renewable resources is sustainability, the other thing that you should be looking for. Sustainability means that companies can continue to use the materials and processes at a reasonable level for a long period of time without causing damage to the local environment. Clear cutting forests for wooden furniture meets the criteria for renewable resources, but it fails the sustainability check because the companies are cutting down the trees faster than they can regrow.

Durability

The next thing that you will want to look at in the products that you buy is the durability of the item itself. As an eco-conscious consumer you want to protect the environment, but you also want to make sure that the items you purchase will last you a long time, and they will be able to stand up to the wear and tear that you will put them through. Too many times eco-friendly products are made with renewable and sustainable materials, but those materials fall apart with heavy use and you wind up buying that product over and over.

Manufacturing

Finally, you should consider the way that the items are manufactured, if you want to be a true eco-friendly shopper. Most of the chemicals that are causing global warming can be attributed to power production and manufacturing, so you want a manufacturer who works hard to offset this issue. In eco-friendly terms these companies are called “carbon neutral” because they use renewable forms of energy for production, or they take actions, like planting trees, to balance the amount of carbon dioxide they are putting into the atmosphere. While there are many companies that are striving for carbon neutrality, most of the companies that you will have ready access to are not totally carbon neutral. With all other things being equal, if you want to be an eco-friendly consumer, go with the company that claims carbon neutrality or claims to have a lower carbon footprint.
Shopping in an eco-friendly way requires more time and more work than shopping without thinking about the environment; however, once you find those manufacturers that you like, shopping is a breeze. The important thing about eco-friendly shopping is to remember to look at the label and read carefully so you know exactly where the product is coming from.

I am Lindsay Barlow, and I am an eco-conscious shopper and an environmentalist. Sites like Bambooki are great for finding eco-friendly products that are perfect for all of your home needs.