money

How to Save Costs for Start-Up Entrepreneurs

Expenses are an integral part of any organization, whether online or offline. It is a simple truth that an online business has lower operating costs than its offline counterpart, but it is not completely free of expenses. While it’s not possible to completely avoid these expenses, business owners can take some specific steps that will significantly reduce them without affecting the operation of the business. Price containment is especially important for new entrepreneurs because they are just starting with a new idea. Here are some tips that startup entrepreneurs can follow to reduce the startup costs of running a business:

Be Reasonable With Office Space

space

Whether you have an online or offline startup, the most important condition is the workspace. As an entrepreneur, you need to decide what kind of infrastructure you need for your business. This way, you can start with a small space that usually has a lower rent than a large and expensive space. You should also try to stock your workspace with the minimal equipment that will be needed quickly, and not hoard items that might come in handy later. Good use of space is the key to saving money on rent.

Minimize the Use of Office Supplies

supply

Specific office equipment and supplies are important to almost every business. If you can lower the prices of these items, you can consider yourself to have won half the battle, as these items may seem cheap, but your total is just what can drive up costs. First, you’ll save on mental storage and archiving costs, since a large number of files can be stored on a single hard drive. Second, you’ll be able to find and retrieve documents more easily rather than storing them as hard copies.

If some essential supplies are needed, you should turn to network providers because they can provide you with supplies and equipment at much lower costs than their offline counterparts. In the above case, overhead costs are reduced and business owners pass these benefits on to their customers in the form of lower prices. You can buy all the essential supplies from online stores and save a lot of money in the process.

But if you’re careful and cautious, there are some expenses you can save, and this isn’t just true for entrepreneurs starting but is often true for many small business owners. Money saved is money earned. Therefore, as a business owner, you should try to find new and advanced ways to run your business and save money at the same time.…

Cash flow and calculator

How to get your payments in from customers

Many businesses today sell products and services on installments. These can be electronics, home appliances, and other items. Some even sell services which can be paid for over an agreed period of time. However, while a company does this to increase the number of sales, the collection of the monthly payments can be a real hassle.

Payment collection optionshundred dollar bills

Many companies will expect their customers to send in the payments on time by either, cheque, money order or bank transfer. However, there are many occasions where a client does not pay and also sometimes forgets the installment altogether. When this happens, the seller or service provider has to resort to follow-up calls and emails to their customers. This can be a tedious task and will require additional staff and a lot of time. It is also not the most effective way to collect payments. Cheques can get lost in the mail and even bounce when cleared. However, there is an option, and that is direct debits.

What is a direct debit?

You may be paying off a contract on your phone or even a large company for a product or service offered on a monthly basis. The money is automatically taken from your account and credited to the sellers account at the bank for a prescribed period. In fact, direct debits happen by the millions each day.

Who can avail of direct debit

Most banks will only offer this service to large companies and the smaller businesses who want to increase sales by offering installments will find it hard to make collections and will not get the direct debit service from a bank easily. This is why it is best to contact a company that offers direct debit service. When this is done, the company will collect the payments from your customers and transfer them to your account with ease.

The benefits

cash flow and calculator Direct debits are a great way to expand your companies horizons. You will not have to worry about cash flows and waiting for payments in the mail. The direct debit service providers are reputed and reliable companies that will help you as a small business get the direct debit service set up through them. Once payment is received, they will send the money to your account instantly or even before the day the money clears. These services will often be glad to give you loans and cash advances in case you are in urgent need of cash.…

Oil dripping facility

A Guide on How to Invest in Oil

With oil being one of the most valuable assets on earth, you might want to know how to invest in oil. Oil has a vital link to the economies of the emerging and developed countries. It can be a driver of the economy and an indicator of economic health. However, oil is a volatile commodity for investors. Just like other products, oil price is intrinsically linked to supply and demand economics.

Investing in Oil oil rig

Nevertheless, with more companies that depend on oil for production purposes emerging in most countries, the global oil supply might come short of meeting the global oil demand in the future. This makes investing in oil a wise move. As an investor, you can invest in oil in the following ways.

Stocks

One of the best ways of investing in oil is investing in a company in the oil industry. For instance, you can buy shares of a company that engages in the exploration, production as well as distribution of oil. However, always remember that commodity stocks are very volatile. Therefore, consider spreading investments to avoid being affected by this volatility. An oil company that diversifies its activities can prevent a fall in its stock prices and this is the best investment option for you.

Funds

Most funds are exposed to oil because companies that deal in resources and commodities play a huge role in Financial Times Stock Exchange Index. Commodities like oil are not easy to avoid for most businesses. This is why many top portfolios have invested heavily in oil or stocks that are related to oil.

Exchange traded funds

oil tankerAnother way of investing in oil is using Exchange Traded Commodity (ETC) whose focus is on oil or Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). Exchange Traded Funds reflect the performance of a particular market or index and as an investor, you can trade them the way you would trade ordinary shares. However, these are not affected by the charges of stamp duty. The popularity of these funds is rising at a very fast rate.

Know when to invest

Perhaps, you might be wondering whether this is the time for investing in oil. This depends on the projection of oil price. If oil price continues to fall, then this is not the right time. However, if oil price indicates an upward trend, this is the time to invest because your investment will bring good returns in the future.…

What you should know about Finance in Business

Finance

Finance in business encompasses various activities revolving around the money management and other value assets.

All businesses need finance to pay for overhead transactions as well as day to day variable expenses.

A new business requires huge amount of finance to buy assets, pay rent, buy stocks as well as pay overhead expenses. Finance used to start a business is called start-up capital.

Expanding business also need more finance to buy more fixed assets, fund a takeover, among other internal expansion activities such as developing new products.

In case of a loss-making business, finance is necessary to acquire more efficient machines and also cover up negative cash flow. However, it is very difficult for a loss making organization to obtain finance from a financial institution.

man juggling coins Business can be financed through different means, which features different advantages and disadvantages.

The most common methods of financing businesses involves taking advantages of credit arrangement offered by financial institutions. Financial institutions such as banks are in the business of financing other businesses.

They have advantageous arrangements that offer capital to other businesses, investors, and consumers, which can help them, achieve their goals.

Properly managed debt is vital for both small and large business as it ensure steady and rapid expansion of business.

Bank loans and credits are designed to allow borrowers with well established reputation to access larger amount of finance at lower interest-rates, which is friendlier for a prosperous business.

Business owners need to find a way and work hard to build credit scores for their companies.

Choosing for a more reliable financial institution, getting financial advices from the financial institution, and repaying loan and credits in time are the main ways of improving credit score.Finance in Business

There are different ways of accessing equity financing. Investment from different venture capitalist can provide influx of capital and expert finance guidance for a start up business.

Established businesses have better ways obtaining finance. For instance, they can incorporate more share holders by selling shares to raise large amount of debt-free capital.

This is done through legal dilution of business ownership among many share holders.

Wise financial decision is vital for any financial investments as wise financial investments results in profitable investments and prosperous financial operations.

Taking financial advise from expertise and Investing in more conservative ventures such as interest-bearing bank deposits, blue-chip bonds, trusted dividend-paying stocks, assist businesses to diversify their income, hedging themselves against risk in the marketplace.