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Tuesday, May 1, 2007

10 Proven Tactics for Business Growth


Growing a business requires continuous attention, careful planning and a willingness to take calculated risks. No matter how successful, a business left by its self will go to pot. In the last decade, the cost and risks associated with doing business have risen dramatically, but also opportunities.

1) Give priority to new product or service development. Always seek ways to improve what you have to offer and develop means to reinvigorate your own products or services before someone else does.

2) Find new applications for existing products or services. Be sure to establish a communication means between your company and your product / service users to determine how they really use your products. Offering a financial incentive to surface new applications helps too!

3) Remember the easiest sale of them all. You have already spent the money to acquire your customers and build a relationship with them, why not ask what else we can make or provide for them?

4) Know where to get all the answers. All the answers about how your company is doing, where it should go and what it should stop doing, reside within your own customer base.

5) Buy rather than build. Take a good look at your targeted industry. There usually is a resource limited company that offers viable products and services that relate to yours. Consider buying them versus investing the same money in organic growth alternative.

6) Think out of boundaries. If you just focus on one market, someday you will find your company can no longer effectively compete because someone else beat you to others.

7) Go eCommerce. Establish an effective means, via the Internet for your customers to educate and update themselves, solve their own problems and order your products with a few clicks of the computer mouse.

8) Know when to say "No" and "Stop". Making or doing something that no longer makes financial sense needs to be dealt with decisively, no matter the, "we have always made those, we have always sold those, or we have always done it that way" commentary.

9) Measure and publish everything. Business practices can only be improved upon if they are written, measured, tracked and periodically audited for effectiveness. All results justify being shared with all employees, good or bad. Always celebrate success publicly, criticize poor performance privately.

10) There is always a price to pay for business growth. There is no clear roadmap on how to best grow your company, each company has its own growth challenges.

Source: Business Line Vol. 2

Monday, April 30, 2007

THE 5 LAWS OF GOLD - simplified

From the Richest Man in Babylon
by George S. Clason

This book holds the secrets to acquiring money, keeping money, and making money earn more money. Acclaimed as the greatest of all inspirational works on the subject of thrift and financial planning, these fascinating and informative stories have become a modern classic in their field.

In language as simple as that of the Bible, this book presents a sure path to prosperity and happiness. It offers an understanding of—and a solution to—your personal financial problems which will guide you successfully through a lifetime.



THE FIVE LAWS OF GOLD

  1. "Gold cometh gladly and in increasing quantity to any man who will put by not less than one-tenth of his earnings to create an estate for his future and that of his family." - This first part is very simple, and surprisingly easy, regardless of your income. It's also known as "pay yourself first." Always set 10% of your pay aside into savings. Find a savings account, and dump it in there, every single paycheck. Never fall in the trap of missing a paycheck's worth of savings, and thinking you can dump twice as much in next time. Though it may not seem like much, it amounts to thousands within a short period of time. If you earn only $5/hour, and work a 40 hours week, ($200 pay), then even $20 a week will add up to over $1000 by the end of the year. This does not only apply to paychecks! You must do this with any money you receive, be it a tax refund, a gift of money, winnings, that $10 you found on the street. Pay yourself first, before your bills, before your toys, before your living expenses. ALWAYS SET ASIDE 10%

  2. "Gold laboreth diligently and contentedly for the wise owner who finds for it profitable employment, multiplying even as the flocks of the field." - Everything you save should earn. In other words, putting your money in a mattress isn't going to do much good. In order for your wealth to truly accumulate, you need to put it into an interest bearing account. The interest it earns will, in turn, be added to the total, so that you earn even more interest, which will be added to the total, and earn even more interest, and so on. Start off small. Get a savings account. In the beginning you will only see a few cents added in your monthly statement. But as you add to it with your 10%, and your money earns that interest, it will grow, until those few cents a month turn to a few dollars a month. Those few dollars, in turn, becomes tens of dollars, then hundreds... Think of it as if you were breeding your money. Once you have a few thousand saved, look for more profitable interest-bearing accounts, such as a money-market, or a Ginnie Maes. YOUR MONEY SHOULD ALWAYS EARN INTEREST

  3. "Gold clingeth to the protection of the cautious owner who invests it under the advice of men wise in its handling." - Almost as inevitable as death and taxes, are people who will just be dying to spend your money for you, or give you advice on what to do with it. So you've got this friend, we'll say he's a carpenter, and if you give him a thousand dollars, to join his thousand, he'll go across the border and pick up some jewels that will be worth TEN TIMES the amount. Let me ask you this: if you want the best quality jewels, for the lowest price, who are you going to go to? You go to a jewelry, or a gemologist. If you want quality craftsmanship and quality wood, go to your carpenter friend, but do not trust him with a subject he is not specialized in. DO NOT TAKE INVESTMENT ADVICE ABOUT JEWELRY FROM A CARPENTER.

  4. "Gold slippeth away from the man who invests it in businesses or purposes with which he is not familiar or which are not approved by those skilled in its keep." - There is a reason that most lenders refuse to trust money to someone who has none. They simply can't be assumed to have the skills or knowledge capable of paying it back. After all, if one had the knowledge to manage money wisely enough to be able to pay back a loan, they wouldn't be dirt poor. The same should apply to your money. When you have amassed a comfortable amount of savings, you will be approached by everyone from friends to family members to total strangers, all of whom want to just borrow enough money to get back on their feet, or to start a business. The best help you can give them is the knowledge of The Five Laws of Gold. If they are wise, they will thank you, get a job, and slowly turn their life around to the point where they will never need to borrow again. If they are not, they will demand instant gratification. Should you choose to lend to them anyway, you may as well throw your money into a ditch. Business loans are different. Keeping in line with Law #2, you should arrange for reasonable, timely payments, with interest, and be certain to have the legal paperwork to back it up. Using Law #3, do not give your carpenter friend a business loan so that he can open up a jewelry store. Suggest that, instead, he come up with a plan for a construction company. And always remember, the safest loan you can give is to a person who already has a liquid net worth of at least 4 times what he borrows. NEVER LOAN MONEY TO PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT CAPABLE OF PAYING IT BACK

  5. "Gold flees from the man who would force it to impossible earnings or who follow the alluring advice of tricksters and schemers or who trusts it to his own inexperience and romantic desires in investment." - Gambling is the stupidest investment one can possibly make. If you gamble, do it for fun, and plan on losing that money. Once it is gone, do not grab more, hoping to make up for it. Beware of ridiculously high interest rates, anything past about 11% is almost certainly a scam job. Before you invest, do your research. Make sure you know exactly how it works. If you don't understand, ask a reputable banker to explain it to you. Believe it or not, most of them are more than happy to do so, as a wealthy person makes a better customer. SAFE INVESTMENT ALWAYS PAYS OFF BETTER THAN RISK

source: a post of thelibra (abovetopsecret.com)