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Could Invoice Financing Benefit Your Business?

Invoice financing can be a highly useful tool for start-ups looking to raise capital quickly, yet a large number of business owners don’t consider it as an option when they’re attempting to increase their available funds. In fact, many don’t even know what it is…

Invoice financing

What is Invoice Financing?

Invoice financing is an asset-based means of borrowing capital. The way it works is that a third party, known as an invoice financier – either a banking or independent financial institution – purchases unpaid invoices from a business, thus granting them instant capital for their customer’s outstanding debts. Many businesses find it useful to use free broker services such as through Touch Financial to assess which lenders will offer the best services and rates.…

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What to Do with an Unwanted Property

The good news for property developers keeps coming as the most recent report from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) has found that the UK housing market is up over 12%. However, it’s not all positive news. The boom has created an increased competition amongst developers for buy-to-sell homes that has led to many investing in riskier ventures.

Abandoned barn

Risky Properties

The property market has long been seen as an ideal get rich quick scheme to outsiders of the trade. The previous boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s inspired a generation of Location Location Location viewers to dust of their tool boxes and get in on the action.…

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Employee Education Questions: Onsite or Offsite Training?

There’s no doubt about it, employee education creates outstanding results for companies, but even so, most businesses aren’t quite sure how to go about it. The questions are many: What exactly should the subject matter include? Who should teach the materials? And the most common question of all: Should workers train onsite or offsite?

Employee education

Onsite vs. Offsite Training: The Pros and Cons

Unfortunately, there is no concrete answer to this question, because it depends on several factors specific to your business. The most obvious reason to consider onsite training is because learning takes place in the actual work space on the same equipment and technology workers use in their day to day operations.…

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7 Essential Considerations for Choosing a Cloud Hosting Service

You’ve probably heard that moving your business to the cloud has its advantages, but where do you start? What options do you have and what are potential pitfalls? You shouldn’t just pick any random cloud host, and preparation and careful consideration will help you avoid data loss when you move. Here are some considerations you should make before you sign a contract with any cloud host.

Cloud hosting

What Type of Reliability is Offered?

Reliability determines your uptime, which you depend on for productivity and servicing customers. If you rely on the cloud host for both public-facing apps and internal apps, any type of downtime results in revenue loss.…

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How to Improve Your Customer Service Through Efficient Process

There are two types of business in the world, there are those that rely solely on the talent of their employees, and then there are those that measure, track and report back on the work done by their talent. By far and away, the second type of business is going to have more success with your customers.

Efficient customer service

Customers don’t care if part of your business is failing; they simply want to know that they’re going to get what they’ve paid for. Businesses that rely on talent alone are unstable and unpredictable, and when there’s a problem with an aspect of the business, there aren’t the processes in place to find it, isolate it, and fix it to get the product to the customer on time.…

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The Pros and Cons of Taking Your Business International

Taking your business international opens up a huge number of markets, but also invites some risks. According to Shahram Shirkhani, your small business can have greater success if you adapt to the global marketplace. Even if your local markets fail, your business can prosper in the international market.

International business growth

Advantages of International Business

You can offer a wider range of products globally than you may be able to offer locally. Even if one or more of your products fail to sell well locally, you can look for new markets where it is in demand. When you are open globally, you won’t need to dump unsold inventory for a loss.…

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Managing your Wealth: Understanding Risk and Maximising Returns

If you are investor, you will no doubt have become accustomed to strained economic climates and fluctuating returns in the wake of the Great Recession. The current economic landscape is no different, as while it will continue to cool throughout the fourth financial quarter it is likely to remain among the strongest in the developed world over the course of the next decade. More specifically, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research revealed that British economy will have grown by 3% by the end of this year, with further expansion of 2.5% forecast for 2015.

Wealth management

Risk and Return: Wealth Management in the Current Climate

These figures stack up well in terms of the global economy, and this should at least make the life of a UK investor a little easier.…

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Three Top Financial Tips for the Self-Employed

Since the financial crisis of 2008, the ranks of the self-employed have gradually been swelling, with widespread job losses prompting people to take their futures into their own hands. Around 1 in 10 people now work for themselves, but what many fail to realise is that moving from an employed position to self-employment requires some careful financial planning. If you’re newly self-employed and not sure where to start, read on to find out.

Business finance for the self-employed

Tip #1: Tax

People who work for themselves need to be extremely proficient when it comes to record keeping. If you take the time to keep accurate records of your set-up costs and ongoing expenditure, then you’ll find it much easier when it comes to drafting your accounts at the end of the year and calculating your potential tax liability.…

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Further Your Business with These 4 Degrees

As an entrepreneur, you know that your business takes hard work and dedication. One of the best things you can do for your business is to get a degree that will help further your knowledge and skills. There are several different types of degrees you can pursue to further your business, no matter what type of business you run.

Businessman

Public Health

While it may seem unnecessary in some cases, consider a degree in public health if your business has anything to do with the medical field. This will help keep you up to date on what is happening in the public health field.…

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The Psychology of Shopping: Shop Floor Marketing

Search the web and there’s endless information about internet marketing and digital media. It seems that business advice for online operations is readily available anywhere you turn. But when it comes to designing a shop floor or a product showroom, there’s not much information to look at it. Many businesses today operate both online and offline so a good understanding of shop floor marketing is just as important as ever.

Sales girl

Whether you trade from a bricks and mortar premises or have a customer showroom for your retail web business, it’s important to think about shopper psychology. Here are some great psychological takeaways to bear in mind.…

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