Are You Still Accepting Online Card Payments?

PayPal has become a hugely popular method of accepting online payment for small to medium size merchants. It’s easy to see why – The setup requirements are minimal and PayPal’s history as an eBay partner means that it has a broad customer base. There are, however, sound reasons for either beginning or continuing to accept payment cards.

Using credit card payment for online purchases

Customer Choice

The more payment methods you support, the more chances there are that you will offer the customer’s preferred method. While PayPal has made its ease of use a major selling point, there are still compelling reasons for customers to prefer credit and debit cards.…

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So Where Will Pension Pots Go if Not Into Annuities?

Baker Tilly, a leading national provider of accounting and business services, explores options such as bricks and mortar for your pension pot after the Budget 2014 bombshell.

Now that the dust has begun to settle after George Osborne’s totally unexpected pension’s bombshell, people are beginning to take stock of the longer term ramifications. Not least amongst these is how the 420,000 Britons who usually buy some £14 billion worth of annuities every year are going to respond.

Old lady golfer

This is a vast amount of money and it is already quite clear that the annuity providers’ loss is going to be a major gain for certain other industries.…

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Five Trendsetting Retail Markets to Watch Out For

Emerging markets are difficult to contain, especially in a retail sphere where everyone is warmly welcomed. But, not all adventure-seekers are created equal. There are those that will stand out from the rest and will struggle before disappearing before the public’s eyes. And, it’s a bloodbath out there.

Zara

The retail industry has experienced tectonic shifts within the last 10 years. Those who survived paid a good price, but are now enjoying success after success. Leaders equipped and empowered their workforce with retail resources and trainings to keep up with the competition.

This year, retailers are looking at market trends that will predominantly dictate the pace of the game.…

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Fight Those Intruders with High-Quality Security for Your SMB

The humble owner of an SMB probably thinks that a burglar wouldn’t bother with them. Imagining that intruders only like to pick on corporate suits or smuggle billion dollar diamonds, your smaller business owners might trick themselves into being lax with their security.

No burglar

But, what you might not be thinking about is the mentality of a scheming burglar. Bigger jobs take a heck of a lot more effort, so why go to the bother of robbing one massive company when you could, with much less preparation, burgle six or seven smaller ones?

The first thing you need to do is take a look at your business and ask yourself, could I break in here easily?…

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Self-Awareness: The Key to Better Educational Leadership

An effective leader exhibits a number of features that motivate people to follow them. Honesty, charisma, confidence, know-how, a willingness to take risks — the qualities of a better leader are myriad and diverse. One of the most important characteristics in an effective leader is also one you can further develop with a bit of effort and reflection: self-awareness.

Self-awareness

Whether you’ve been leading an organization for years or you’re embarking on a path to become a better leader, self-awareness is an essential part of educational leadership success. Knowing your desires, feelings, strengths, weaknesses and motivations will not just help you reach your goals, it will keep you firmly in control of yourself through good times and bad.…

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Disability in the Workplace: What to Expect From Your Employer

Disabled individuals interested in joining the workforce should have certain expectations of their employers. Depending on your disability, your employer will need to provide appropriate amenities. Before starting a new job, don’t be afraid to tell your boss exactly what you’ll need to be comfortably accommodated in your new workplace.

Businesswoman on a wheelchair

Disability Insurance

Before agreeing to work for a certain business, make sure they offer comprehensive disability insurance. This type of insurance is important for nondisabled hires but it is of particular import to disabled employees who are more prone to workplace-related illness and injury. Disability insurance ensures employees who are unable to work as a result of on-the-job ailments are given a monthly cash payment.…

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8 Zero-Cost Invoicing Tools For SMB Startups

Every correspondence you send out has to look professional. Popular full service accounting solutions like Intuit and Freshbooks can cost well into the thousands, and when you’re bootstrapping or working with minimal outside capital, every dollar counts.

Free online invoicing tools

Every online invoicing tool listed on this page is completely free. You’ll find that most will offer “upgrade” options for value-added services like sending email reminders, tracking, and saving/downloading your invoices for future reference.

Generally the self-hosted tools like Simple Invoices, Fusion Invoice, and other open source freebies you can find on SourceForge, come with a very complete back-end, but they’re also less newbie friendly and any problems that arise may require extensive “Googling” to remedy.…

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Using the 3P’s (People, Process, Product) to Make Your Business Successful

I’m sure many of you have heard this standard uttered lately by billionaire entrepreneur, Marcus Lemonis of NBC’s “The Profit”.

Perhaps you mistakenly think he coined the phrase?

Mr. Lemonis is definitely someone to be admired, and he’s successfully used this event-driven business management tool better than most. He defines a good investment as one that has at least two of the three P’s covered.

3P for business success

The truth is, the methodology itself has been around for a long time now. It exists in every successful business, industry, niche, system, etc. Any successful business owner can likely identify this process in their own business, even if they’ve never put their management practises into this context.…

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5 Recruitment Tips to Boost Your Small Business

Employees are the lifeblood of any business.

Indeed, recent figures from the Federation of Small Businesses found 15 per cent of small companies are looking to recruit new employees in the next few months.

recruitment tips

What’s more, with business confidence on the rise, around two thirds of firms expect growth in the course of this year, with one in four planning to increase investment.

But what does this mean for your small business?

Well, with signs pointing to continued expansion, it’s unavoidable that your firm will be hiring new staff in the coming weeks and months.

However, if you’re a little uncertain about what to expect and how to cope with this projected growth, our top five tips are here to ease the pain …

Use a Recruitment Agency

Running a business takes a lot of time and effort – which is why you can relieve some of the strain by using a recruitment agency to source your new staff.…

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3 Loan Alternatives for Small Businesses

Financial capital is an essential but often elusive aspect of running a business. Capital is beneficial on several levels. The obvious is to meet overhead, such as lease payments, utilities and payroll expenses.

However, cash is also leverage to grow your company in ways not otherwise possible. This may be in direct ways that increase revenues, or indirect means that cut costs or taxes.

Alternative business loans

Examples include:

  • Supplier discounts for bulk purchases
  • Seize growth opportunities
  • Increase productivity with upgrades to personnel and equipment
  • Reduce or eliminate interest expense

The challenges to obtaining a business loan can equal the benefits. In particular, startups and new companies often don’t meet the rigid criteria of banks.…

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