10 Valuable Tips For Mastering Time Management
February 26, 2010
Learn as much as you can about time management and put it into practice. All of us could be so much better off if we were more efficient and effective from this point of view and could lead much more enjoyable and productive lives.
1. While you are thinking about this, keep a close eye on everything that you do today, tomorrow and for the next few days. Get a large piece of paper and write each task down that you complete within a 15 minute period. Put it all down, walking the dog, watching TV, even taking a break to go to the bathroom; it has to be comprehensive. This will give you a good idea of where you start.
2. Don’t trust your memory. How often has something just “slipped” and almost been forgotten, putting additional stress on your daily life when you don’t need it? Keep a note of what you need to do by making a list and checking it twice!
3. Isn’t it true that almost everything that lands on your lap that is said to be vital is rarely so? Don’t think that you have to drop everything that you are doing to answer that call and be prepared to put your foot down, gently to start off, with whoever may be suggesting otherwise!
4. Schedule what you have to do well and make sure that you are scheduling your priorities and not the other way around. When you look at the tasks ahead of you, you would refer to a hierarchy of importance and while you should never procrastinate and put it off if it can be done now, you must also be wary of trying to rush any job due to completion, as this can work out to be a bad habit.
5. Delegate effectively. Find out who can do the job for you, trust them to do it and once you have given clear directions, let them do it. They will prioritise it according to their individual schedules.
6. Micromanaging is a bad move. This is a bad habit to have if you’re in management, although many of us exhibit this failure from time to time. If you have entrusted someone to do the job for you, let them do it.
7. Why do you procrastinate? There can be many different reasons – fear, the need for perfectionism, uncertainty or simply becoming overwhelmed. Once you have discovered the source of the problem, take appropriate steps to overcome.
8. Understand how important time management is. If you look at this from a financial point of view, you can work out how each minute of each hour is worth a certain amount of money and this will help you to focus, without wasting those valuable moments.
9. Do not be afraid to say no. This can be very difficult for some and the thought of actually turning down a money related project can appear to be crazy, especially in this stressful financial environment. Do not be tempted to take on more than you can chew, as while you might gain in the short term, you will almost certainly lose out in the longer run.
10. Find out everything you can about online time management, and keep in mind that time tracking software and time management software tools can be a fantastic investment in your future.
Great Pointers On The Incredible Benefits Of Effective Time Management
February 25, 2010
In one way or the other, we’re all used to working with a limited set of resources. For most of us, our most restricted resource appears to be money and one way or the other, through a process of experience or through the school of hard knocks; we all learn to live within our means on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Everything we do seems to have a financial value attached to it unfortunately, and we determine whether individual items, products or services are of interest largely according to the resources that we would have to spend to enable us to “afford it.” While we live our lives in this way, we often tend to overlook the fact that we are wasting an even more valuable resource, one that we do not necessarily apply our value calculations to – and that is time. Sometimes our work or career requirements dictate that we have to be productive and adhere to strict time measurements, but it is true that we could all benefit from adhering to these kinds of standards at almost any time and really try and understand what time management actually represents.
Pause for a moment to think of the benefits of time management. For a moment, eliminate your work environment and just focus on the remainder of your time. It is almost certain that you feel that you work far too much and have almost no time to spend on any of the areas in your life, but if you think about it logically, we all have an average of one third of our available time to play with, when not counting time at work or the time we spend asleep! Imagine what you could do if you applied some of the principles of effective time management to the eight hours or so during every working day that you have available in this way? Just imagine what you could accomplish on your days off, as well.
These days, time management software is becoming very popular as people try and make the most of the time that they have. As more of us are finding that we just don’t have the time that we need – to do what we wanted to do, time tracking software is emerging to help us.
If you feel that you are not sufficiently qualified to make a career change, what are you going to do? What if you had enough time to devote to an educational course of some kind, evening classes or distance learning? Of course, you don’t have time for that. But maybe you do – online time management programs, could really help you to understand where your time is going and enable you to find the time necessary to better yourself and your prospects.
Once you have learned the benefits of effective time management and understand what you need to do to be more punctual, focused, attentive and productive, then a whole new world of opportunities will open up to you and make you wonder how you managed over all these years by being so inefficient. If you truly are restricted by financial resources right now, better implementation through regular application of online time management tools will enable you to get much more value out of the time you have.
Great Points For Buying A Profitable Business With Due Diligence
February 24, 2010
If you have not engaged in something like this before, buying business assets can be quite a daunting prospect. While it may be somewhat easier than establishing your own operation from scratch, understand that you are taking on, in many respects, the liabilities of somebody who is a complete stranger to you. To start off, you will be presented with many internal documents and will be able to look at the inner workings of the business for sale, but you must essentially be able to read between the lines and must not veer off-line, so a due diligence checklist is essential.
While a majority of business owners are enthusiastic and diligent people, have put a great deal of effort into their creation and would love nothing more than for the business to be continued and nurtured by a careful owner, you can never assume that this is the case. Please don’t think that this means you have to assume the worst in all cases, but it does unfortunately mean that you cannot take any statement at face value and you must look for proof in all cases to back up claims made. Always ensure that you employ the services of expert analysts as required when you buy a business, including accountants, financiers and business experts.
Primarily, you are now engaged in the process of setting value. Undoubtedly, each of the parties – the buyer and seller, will have a different interpretation of the value of the business. You will not come to an agreement or deal unless both parties are happy, but always bear in mind that you have to set the specifics under which a deal is likely to be made.
If you buy a business, a number of steps have to be taken as you go through your due diligence checklist and as you proceed, all the inner workings of the business will be revealed to you. You may hear references made to industry benchmarks, and they may be useful for information gathering but you should not rely on them. In the majority of cases you will always want to rely on the most recent data and while there are many documents to check, the financials are of paramount importance. Never be tempted to gloss over some of the less palatable financial figures, if a specific business asset appears to be of particular interest to you.
Some of the important factors to consider when assessing the value of a business for sale include the scope and level of services on offer and the potential for expansion, the age and established nature of the organization and, most certainly, its reputation in the marketplace. Get a good impression of the competition in the industry and in the local area and understand that location may be the most important asset of all. If the business you are considering is principally Internet-based, it may not even have a “bricks and mortar” location. While the physical location in this case may be of no consequence, make sure that you understand the importance of conducting a thorough “due diligence” process, come what may.
Time spent going through this process of revelation as you work your way through your due diligence checklist, will be well worthwhile. This entire process may take you weeks rather than days, especially if you need to analyse daily operations, client interaction and staff behaviour, for example. As such, you should never be overly anxious to go ahead to close a deal and should be prepared, rather, for the lengthy process you are likely to endure.
Richard Parker is the President and founder of the Diomo Corporation – The Business Buyer Resource Center. His inspiring materials, seminars and consulting have assisted thousands of business buyers with achieving their life long dream to buy a business.
Clear Ideas On Benchmarks When Buying A Business For Sale
February 23, 2010
Don’t have any confusion about it, buying a business for sale is a multi-step process with each step being essential. You should never think about proceeding to the next position until the preceding step is complete and whatever you do, don’t be tempted to short-cut ever. You can view any time spent in preparation and in the revelation of facts and figures about the business to be well spent and as such you will be ensuring that no horror stories come back to haunt you when you take over.
A lot of information can be revealed before you even talk to a prospective seller. But hold on for just a second, are you really sure that you possess the level of enthusiasm you need for this type of business? Is the industry that you are looking at of particular interest to you and do you really want to get actively involved in everything that it represents? Be advised, that unless you want to be a completely “absentee” owner and are considering the many additional steps that you need to take if this is the case, you should be enthusiastic about the business that you are getting involved in.
When you are conducting your due diligence, make sure that you inspect all documentation:
* Financials: these documents will include balance sheets, payroll records, tax reports, reconciliation documents and profit and loss statements. If the seller claims a considerable amount of “cash sales” but cannot point to these within tax declarations, then they cannot be counted and you must ignore them.
* Employee records: including longevity, pay scales, behavior, and attendance.
* Licenses: including federal, state, city, county as appropriate, plus any certification licenses you must possess to operate the business. Be prepared to consult records independently to see if there have been any discrepancies or problems in the past.
* Equipment records: detailing the age, cost of replacement, any required inspections and associated results and details on maintenance investments.
* Inventory records: including turnover, condition, and re-saleability.
* Supplier contracts: are they transferable, do you have alternatives and is there goodwill?
* Property records: are any rental agreements transferable to you without any problem, as this can be particularly important.
If you find that all records, licenses, contracts and agreements are in order and are workable for you going forward, you may be wondering how to arrive at a good value when you buy business assets. A number of different ways to look at this exist. Here are some of the methods commonly used to calculate:
* Asset-based multipliers, are where a total value of the assets is used to determine a value.
* Rule of thumb, where industry benchmarks are used to establish the value (not recommended).
* Revenue-based multipliers – a percentage is applied to monthly or annual revenues (not recommended).
* Cash flow multiplier, is where a business owner’s profit level is added to his or her salary and any other perks and certain expenses are deducted. This method is most commonly used to determine the value of a business.
While there are many documents and figures that can be proven to backup an owner’s claim, or not as the case may be, you need to take into account significant facts. You need to look at the reputation and age of the business, what level of competition you may expect, the existing legal structure, quality and physical location of the premises and last but by no means least, the difficulty in obtaining a new lease. When it comes to a business for sale, all will help you to determine whether you should buy a business like this, or not.
Richard Parker is the President and founder of the Diomo Corporation – The Business Buyer Resource Center. His inspiring materials, seminars and consulting have assisted thousands of business buyers with achieving their life long dream to buy a business.
Fantastic Suggestions For Conquering The Five Surprising Time Management Myths
February 22, 2010
Acclaimed author Stephen Covey told us that one of the seven habits of highly effective people is the ability to manage time correctly. People look at the management of time from different perspectives and there are lots of misconceptions associated. Here are some of the myths that we hear regularly, associated with time management:
1. The assumption that “plenty of time” is available and you can put something off indefinitely. This is never acceptable, as every block of time is equally valuable to you. If you have something to do and are assuming that you will have “plenty of time” left for this later, you may be forgetting to heed the requirements of “Murphy’s Law.” If you have it scheduled now, get it out of the way.
2. Assuming that you can’t handle every thing that you have to do. You may think that you are unable to handle everything that’s “on your plate,” while others may seem to breeze through this without a problem. The answer is that you are not prioritising correctly and must organise your time much more efficiently. Everything will fit in.
3. Concluding that as you are so busy, you must reallocate tasks to a time in future. It is a fact of life that we all subconsciously tend to place an additional perceived value on the time “right now,” as we all tend to live in the present. In truth, each block of time available to you is of equal importance and you need to stop procrastinating.
4. Believing that we don’t have to do something now, as it is not important. Management of time is all about making a plan and sticking to it. No matter how trivial the task may seem when your mind focuses on it, if you have already scheduled and prepared your plans correctly, it is important that you tick each task off and complete every project in full. Unless you do this, you just cannot be ultimately efficient.
5. Believing that it is impossible to reschedule. From time to time there will definitely be reasons why you must reschedule, so you have to realise this. Additional information or external triggers could come to bear on the project that you are working with, necessitating a reschedule while you get information pertinent to the problem, or for any other variety of reasons. Rescheduling is acceptable, unless you are procrastinating, or are not sure whether the project you are working on has any importance any more, and so on.
At this point, online time management tools can really help you focus on achieving your time management objectives. The highly effective people that we hear about are using time tracking software to ensure that they are “on point.” Don’t believe any of those myths that you may hear. In our modern society, time management software will show you how efficient you are being in your daily life. The author Covey referred to those highly effective people, with the emphasis on the word “highly.” You cannot do anything by halves, especially when it comes to the management of time.
Valuable Ideas For Buying A Real World Business For Sale
February 20, 2010
Do you see the prospect of buying an existing business for sale as being a leap in the dark, as this discourages many an enterprising individual? The entire concept can be very alien if you’ve never been involved in these types of transaction before. After all, it is not like buying a more tangible product like a vehicle or a house, where in many respects “what you see is what you get.” To value a business correctly, you need to look at a number of different intangibles as well as assets that need to be inspected and you also need to consider goodwill in many situations. In a service related business, goodwill and a maintainable client list can be critical elements, but the process of due diligence involves the revelation and exploration of numerous areas and documents.
It’s important to remember that there are two distinct and different viewpoints. The seller will be very clear about the business and how much it is worth to him or her. Expect to see a certain amount of natural enthusiasm, as a lot of hard work and dedication has undoubtedly been put into the business by the outgoing seller. While you should always maintain an element of respect for the sellers’ point of view, you must look at all documentation and evidence in the hard light of day and understand that it is up to you to determine if you should buy business interests according to the specific value you set.
After you decide you need to move forward and you have really determined whether you want to buy a business of interest, get ready for a very lengthy process. During the entire process you must maintain a level of common sense and good humor and be prepared to cultivate a strong level of communication with the seller.
This is where expert advisers will come into their own and if you have no real experience with this kind of business, its related market or niche, utilize proven resources and get as much help as you can. Don’t think that you can just hand off all the documentation and essentially the decision-making to these people, however, as the decision must be made, in the end, by you! The financial documents and all of the paperwork must be reviewed by you first to be sure that you have a great feeling initially before you hand them over for further processing by your experts.
Always be wary if some of the financial documents are either missing or incomplete, or are not balanced and reconciled correctly. Accounting traditions and precedents must be maintained at all times. Don’t be surprised if the seller will ask you to sign a non-compete and/or non-disclosure document before any financials are made available to you, because these financials are nevertheless the rock upon which the entire business is set.
No two businesses are alike and every operation is dynamic in its own right. There are so many different events that can come to bear to create such a variety of external influences and situations at any time. Expect to uncover some unusual facts and figures or surprises and remember that, while industry benchmarks are interesting, a lot of the information you discover here will be a function of real-world activities.
Richard Parker is the President and founder of the prestigious Diomo Corporation – The Business Buyer Resource Center. His celebrated materials, seminars and consulting have encouraged thousands of aspiring business buyers from around the World to pursue their dream to buy a business.
Indispensable Entrepreneurial Tips For Buying A Great Business For Sale
February 17, 2010
There certainly is no feeling of freedom to compare with the joy of being self-employed and truly independent. You have the opportunity to determine the amount of time that you put in when you run a business and can prepare for your future accordingly. Nevertheless, there is quite a challenge ahead of you and no guarantees of success! Be aware that there are significant risks associated with buying a business and this concept is not for the faint of heart or for someone who is easily confused.
Those who have never run a business before may be quite confused and will be wondering where they should start. You might like to consider buying an existing business as it is true that a lot of the leg work has already been accomplished and the business is established to a certain degree. Although this may well be true, be sure that you have your eyes wide open whenever you walk into any situation, as you need to do a lot of research, talk to experts and be clear that the business you’re looking at is well valued, and subject to a good degree of diligent checking.
If you have determined that you are going to buy business interests, consider all the steps that you will need to take next. Be advised, there are no short cuts here and you should not let your heart overrule what you know to be correct. You can build up quite a lot of enthusiasm as you consider the prospects that may lay ahead of you and this may lead you to jump in front and short cut the natural process of discovery if you’re not careful. Be warned, this can lead to serious problems if you’re not careful!
Successful entrepreneurs know that time in preparation, while it may be a very lengthy process and therefore somewhat costly, is money well spent. Those individuals who have bought a business for sale before will testify that their upfront efforts pay significant dividends as they move forward. Invest some of your money and educational materials and expect to spend a lot of money researching your business in terms of time allocated; do not be tempted to rush through to completion.
If you’re new to the world of the self-employed and you’re looking to buy a business, understand that you will need to possess certain essential traits and you must maintain a positive but realistic approach throughout. Right at the top of your list should be common sense and a realization that if something appears to be “too good to be true” then it always is, without question. Keep a good sense of humor as you go through this lengthy procedure and keep a positive attitude.
Ensure that your levels of communication are good as you must be able to interact with the seller and other interested parties, while always maintaining your needs and requirements. Being able to ask the right questions at the right time and correctly interpreting the answers is paramount.
Richard Parker is the President and founder of the Diomo Corporation – The Business Buyer Resource Center. His inspiring materials, seminars and consulting have assisted thousands of business buyers with achieving their life long dream to buy a business.
How To Use Virtual Assistant Services To Maximise Your Business
February 15, 2010
In little more than a generation, the Internet has revolutionised the way that we conduct our lives and do business, and virtual assistant services have emerged to help us bridge the gap. Recently, this rapidly growing trend has accelerated beyond comprehension, and we now turn to the Internet through an array of different interfaces to fulfil an incredible number of tasks.
Our communication systems have made amazing progress – the postal services could easily testify, e-mail has now become the most favoured means of communication. Among large corporations around the world, staff may be offered the option of working from home. Costly travel and accommodation expense are being reduced as organisations elect to utilise teleconferencing for necessary sales and client meetings. These fundamental advancements give us an idea of the true power and scope of the Web and its astounding ability to help us communicate far more efficiently – in a global market.
As our continuous advancements in technology are revolutionising the way we do business, today’s online business experts – virtual assistants, have emerged to provide an essential, cost-effective service. In our evolving world-wide markets, website development services make sense from almost every point of view, and here are a few key reasons why you should really consider hiring these valuable professionals:
Whether for a start-up business or an established organisation, the expense required for expansion can be difficult to justify. While it’s hard to acquire new business to begin with, it can be far more difficult when trying to set aside additional resources to bring in another capacity to service newly discovered clientele. If you have to deal with the hiring and training of staff, especially if it’s for short-term projects, you’ll likely come up against extraordinary obstacles. At the least you will have a ramp up period during which the employee will likely not be up to speed and you also run the risk of discovering that the person is truly not up to the job, does not fit in or has external issues. An expert virtual assistant can fulfil all these jobs at a moments notice, and free up your resources so you can work on some other more pressing issue.
The harried entrepreneur quickly finds that he or she cannot be a micro-manager and cannot assume responsibility for everything. There is only so much that one can do in a typical day and you may know that these days already extend to cover all daylight hours and more. Virtual assistant services are ideally placed to free the management from non-essential activities. Imagine a scenario where all of these tasks are covered by an efficient, readily available and reactive virtual assistant. By focusing on core values, direct customer satisfaction and new business development, the entrepreneur may concentrate on bringing more money to the table.
As expenditure has taken on a whole new meaning during our recent economic difficulties, it makes sense to trim all overhead costs as much as possible. With competition very much in mind, the organisation that is able to reduce overheads while taking advantage of virtual assistant services will be much leaner, fitter and able to trade more efficiently, as we emerge into more profitable times.
Give Customers An Uncomplicated Path To Payment
February 10, 2010
As Internet marketers, we spend a great deal of time and effort trying to seduce people to enter our sales funnel by one way or another. We’re always searching for new ways of improving and streamlining this process, refining it to make it as natural as possible, so that we reduce people’s usual resistance to spending money, and get them as new customers, maybe even for life. All of the details which we learn during this process are specifically designed to bypass as many uncertainties as possible and to make it a “obvious choice” for the prospect or soon-to-be customer. For many organizations however, this procedure can hit a giant sized stumbling block when it comes to the actual payment methodology, which can leave much to be desired!
While you may have done your job famously to attract prospects into that sales funnel in the first place and they may be more than ready to consummate an association with you, the process of payment is still to be completed. This point can be a fairly traumatic experience for many individuals, and it’s certainly the most critical spot in the whole process – and when at this position, more people will bailout here than anywhere else. Therefore, it’s essential that you make sure that every element of security is addressed here, but nevertheless, you still have to find ways of removing as many obstacles as you can, while streamlining this process at every point possible.
If you are dealing with a first-time client, you should never put too many steps in front of them in the overall transaction. While you must adequately describe your product or service within the body of the site and cover shipping and other questions prior to checkout, do not make prospects jump through any unnecessary hoops. This includes the need for them to register and sign up for an account with you before they can go any further. By all means ask them to do this after they have committed to giving you money, but it has been proven time and again that the more steps you put in the process the higher the likelihood that you are going to get bailouts.
Look at your entire checkout process from a neutral point of view and get someone who you trust, who is not directly involved with your site, to go through the process and give you adequate feedback. The whole thing should flow nicely and it should be possible for the transaction to be completed in an almost subconscious manner. The consumer has generally got a good idea of how these things should work and if your online business operation has an unexpected hiccup they will not like it.
You put too much effort into the attraction of a potential client to let him or her disappear due to a cumbersome payment process. If you check your analytics program and see people leaving your site before they get to the confirmation page you need to ask yourself why and find out the reason pretty quickly!
Adam Toren, Co-Founder of Young Entrepreneur, specializes in developing the profitability of struggling businesses with a specialised and ‘bottom line’ approach. Adam, along with his brother, have created, purchased and sold a variety of companies over the years. At the moment, they own and manage a highly successful publishing company and several dedicated online enterprises.
The Pluses And Minuses Of Opting To Buy Into An Evolving Company
February 7, 2010
We often hear of individuals who make their living by investing in newly emerging businesses, seeing just the right opportunities to get involved with and consider whether we could possibly do the same. We see lots of Internet Business enterprises at the moment and wonder whether we should invest. Their guideline is most likely not to invest more than they are willing to lose in any given project, but in the early days not many of us have funds to lose, so how do we make judgements?
We realize that we have to speculate to accumulate, but how can we ensure we are speculating in the right way? How can we ensure we are going for the best Online Jobs? What are the pros for us of each potential investment? I shall detail below some of the up sides and down sides as I see them of making early investment into a growing Internet Business.
If we invest early in a company, we have a chance to have an effect on the way it evolves. We can grow with the company and probably our investment will be less than those who follow on behind, once it is over the initial hurdles. This would mean that our initial outlay may increase considerably, two or threefold perhaps in the first 12 months for anyone wanting to invest a year down the line.
In this way, we could say that we cannot fail. If after a year we wished to remove ourselves from the company, we could sell our interest and make a good profit. Then again, maybe we could see long-term good in remaining an investor in the company and have a say long-term in its running. Many Online Jobs give the option to Work From Home and this might also be seen as a good reason for investment.
Of course, there is a downside to investing too soon, and that is that if the individuals who had the original concept are not business savvy, then the whole venture could fold, losing both their money and ours. Perhaps the company takes off much more slowly than we had originally anticipated and therefore we see no return on our investment for quite some time. Do we stick with it, or pull out?
Perhaps we have been duped and there is no real money to be had, the venture was just a front to get us to part with funds and once enough folk have bought into their scam, they close the doors and take our funds with them. This could be a real issue if we are investing in a Work From Home Internet Business as there may be no official registered offices, so it is difficult to keep tracks on the managers. We have to trust them implicitly and over time build that trust between us.
I think that we could all spot these ventures if we are careful where we select our investments. Be sure we check up on any possible investment thoroughly. We should check and double check everything we are shown – if the company is genuine they will be glad we are taking them so seriously, they have to trust us too. If everything makes sense, then there is less risk involved and hopefully we have found a good occasion to become the new entrepreneurs.
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