Tis' the season for business and corporate gift-giving! If you believe in the law of reciprocity, and if your business is the least bit successful you must; you know that giving back is not only the right thing to do, but it's very smart business as well. Let's look at some of the benefits and mechanics of Christmas and holiday gift-giving. * WHY DO IT AT ALL? Gift giving is an excellent way to not only say thank you for all the business and...more
OK, so you are up to your head in debt. You are stressed out, it is now affecting the way you function and absorbing most of your daily thoughts. You have no idea what to do. OK, first things first. Take a step back and try and look at things with a clear head. Your debt is manageable. If you have many bills and just can't afford them all, the first thing you should consider is a debt consolidation loan. A debt consolidation loan will help...more
Morningstar now provides Fiduciary Grades on mutual funds. How does Morningstar determine these grades? How can mutual fund investors use these grades to better manage their portfolios?Mutual fund investors use Morningstar Rating™ as a sign post of mutual fund performance. These ratings have proved to be a valuable tool for objectively comparing the performances of different mutual funds.In 2003, New York Attorney General, Elliott Spitzer launched actions against some mutual fund companies for allowing their privileged clients to profit from improper activities such as late trading.In the aftermath of these developments, investors realize that they need more than the historical performance based Morningstar Ratings to evaluate mutual funds. The Morningstar Ratings do not get at critical intangibles. How seriously does the mutual fund company take its fiduciary responsibility to mutual fund investors? How aligned are the interests of the mutual fund manager and the mutual fund company with those of the mutual fund investor?To address this need, Morningstar has embarked on a system called the Fiduciary Grade. Morningstar has so far graded about 635 mutual funds, including 500 of the...more
Putting a piece of paper in a file folder is easy; finding it again is the hard part. There are ways to make your files easier to use and your papers easier to find. Invest in a sturdy, four or five-drawer file cabinet. Spend the extra money it takes to get quality and durability. You'll spend more money replacing a cheaper file cabinet a few times...more
One of the hardest things for most individuals working from home is to stay focused. One of the best ways to stay focused is organization. In addition, being organized will help your time management skills. The two are very much intertwined. Planning out your day is very important. What you will do in the morning, afternoon/and or evening,...more
Every day we get emails and telephone calls from people who want to get started in Real Estate. We hear, I am just checking out your program. Or, I've been researching for the past six months to try and find a program. While researching and checking out programs is an important step, so many of these individuals never follow through to the next step, which is getting started and moving forward. Making a decision on starting a business or a program to help you start a business is the next step people. Otherwise all you have is "Paralysis by Analysis". You can look and dither back and forth, with all the questions: "Will it work for me?; How long will it take? How many calls, letters, emails, (fill in the blank) will I have to send or sell before I start making money? The questions go on and on. Eventually you will come to one that can't be answered and that will be your reason for not proceeding. Oh, I can't do it if I can't have (fill in the blank).The one question I love is: "Can you guarantee I will succeed?" NO! I CAN'T, ONLY YOU CAN DECIDE THAT. In all honesty, if you ask that question, you probably never will. You will never move forward to make a decision, hence the...more
An Ann Landers column "Parenthood is not a job for the weak at heart" caught my interest.Job Description for a ParentPosition: ParentJob Description: Long-term player needed for challenging, permanent work in chaotic environment. Candidates must...more
A big source of managerial churn is lack of clarity around the decision process. The biggest source of confusion is the Team Decision. Does this mean that the boss wants lots of input and discussion before deciding or does it mean that a decision...more
Microsoft Great Plains is main Microsoft Business Solutions product, targeted to mid-size companies. Currently Microsoft is in progress of transforming several ERP products it has: Microsoft Great Plains, Solomon and Navision into several business...more
As a sole proprietor, it*s wise to familiarize yourself with the some key deductions that may reduce your tax bill for 2004. Small-business consultants generally recommend that you hire an accountant to prepare your tax returns, payroll and financial...more
It's a dream I've heard so many people express: "I want to run a bed and breakfast. They are so cute" Or "I want to own a vacation rental property, so I can get a free vacation and make money the rest of the year.But what is really involved in...more
latent (adj.) - Not visible or apparent, but capable of developing or being expressed; dormant.Everyone has leadership qualities. The visible difference lies in the degree those qualities are developed. Each individual chooses their own path and...more