Going Solo

When many people all cluster themselves into one single organization, you become the upper, lower or middle section of the hierarchical organization!

I was discriminated as I was not the great academic achiever; instead, I am a cancer survivor! So, the majority thought of me, as the ‘going to go away’, kind of person.

I will not go away; instead, I went on my own journey to learn other things that I was not ‘shortlisted’ for!

If THEY cannot accept you, YOU make yourself accepted then.

But better still…

The good side of things is there for you to see, so look for it. The door that leads to an opportunity has opened, despite the majority rejection.

They may not have what you are learning, as, they are ‘beyond’ communication.

Learn something different!

]]> http://www.freelancersolutions.com/the-need-to-be/feed/ 0 http://www.freelancersolutions.com/helping-business-owners-understand-their-financial-statements/ http://www.freelancersolutions.com/helping-business-owners-understand-their-financial-statements/#comments Wed, 15 Feb 2012 07:37:20 +0000 admin http://www.freelancersolutions.com/helping-business-owners-understand-their-financial-statements/ There is no doubt that the current recession is as long and as hard as we’ve seen for many years. And hopefully we will not get to see again for quite some time. If you are a business owner whose business is not making a profit and you don’t have the capital to invest and keep the business going, you may be wondering about your options.

The first option is to take a real assessment of where you are at. One of the best ways of doing this is to talk with your accountant. Make sure your accountant is not simply filing your tax return to meet compliance but actually helps you look behind the numbers and understand how your business is performing.

What do you need to know?

Most business owners understand their gross sales. Some are adept at using this number to explain the success of their business. For example, have you spoken to a business owner that said “Sales are up 20% on this time last year.” They say this with great pride but that doesn’t tell the full story.

Some business owners can tell you the net profit of the business. Net profit is simply what they pay taxes on or gross sales less cost of goods less expenses. Some business owners like to say “Our bottom line was up 10% compared to last year.” This is good news but that doesn’t tell the full story.

A few business owners can get into their financial statements and understand what’s happening in their business. For this business owner it’s the Profit and Loss Statement. If they prepare this document themselves they know what’s going on, but most business owners have a resource such as a family member or at least a book-keeper to handle these details for them. However, that leads to a couple of points. The first point is that theft in small businesses, due to the recession, is at its highest in many years as the person handling the books is able to cook the books by stealing funds which the owner doesn’t know about. They can steal funds through a false invoice or buying certain goods, have the business pay for them and then take the goods back and get a refund and keep the money. There are many creative ways for someone to find money if they want to. So how does a business owner protect themselves? One of the ways is for the business owner to do a line by line check of the profit and loss statement at least on a monthly basis. Any item that appears and the owner can’t remember what the expense was for can be challenged to find an acceptable answer. It can then be wise to do random tests to make sure all expenses can be verified such as checking to make sure that new computer the sales person needed is still around or that special order of inventory was needed and did arrive etc. Testing the monthly profit and loss followed up with random checks creates good discipline and helps the owner stay on top of the critical aspect of the business but this doesn’t tell the full story of the financial health of the business.

The health of the business is really revealed by working with the Profit and Loss Statement and the owner that can read and understand the Balance Sheet. The balance sheet is the place that explains how the money coming into and going out of the business was used. It shows what’s owed and it shows what the business owns (or the assets of the business). It reveals the owner draw and investments and basic information about the Accounts Receivables and Accounts Payable and how they are tracking. If Accounts Receivables are growing then Accounts Payable may also grow but they should keep their ratio’s consistent.

If a business owner can understand a healthy balance sheet they are well on their way to maintaining and growing a successful business. Understanding a balance sheet doesn’t mean you need to become a CPA. It means you need to ask questions until you “get it.” Most business owners shy away from understanding the balance sheet as it’s too confusing. However, if you ask the same question month after month it will eventually makes sense.

Andrew is a 5-time business owner that helps entrepreneurs exit or enter business ownership. His services include helping owners sell and/or buyers purchase an existing business or consult on purchasing a franchise. He also provides certified machinery and equipment appraisals and business valuations.

Andrew currently holds the Certified Business Intermediary (CBI) designation from the International Business Brokers Association (IBBA), the highest credential awarded by the IBBA and the Certified Business Broker (CBB) designation from the California Association of Business Brokers. He also holds a Brokers License with the California Department of Real Estate, is a member of the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce and the Chair of the Sacramento Chapter of the California Association of Business Brokers.

Andrew is also the published author of four books on buying or selling a business available from Amazon.com or from his website http://www.Andrew-Rogerson.com. There are also free resources for buying or selling a business you can download from this same website at http://www.Andrew-Rogerson.com/sample-documents.

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The best way to describe how your hardwiring can be the underlying cause of your fear is to learn about it through Hazel’s eyes.

There once was a business owner named Hazel. Hazel shied away from conflict in her life. She didn’t realize it, but she worked in fear: fear of conflict and from taking risks. She often says, “I’m afraid or concerned that this or that will happen” and spends a lot of time consumed in what others will think or say and worried about all the things that could go wrong.

Hazel lives in “what if,” and tries to remove all barriers before taking action. She carefully weighs risks, and often delays decisions or takes no action because she has talked herself out of it. She works well in a team environment primarily because that team gives her safety and security she innately needs. She seeks consensus from the team especially if there are risky decisions.

Part of Hazel’s natural hardwiring is her need to remove or retreat from conflict. In fact, when people are in disagreement or disagreeing with her, she will not say anything. In those situations, she walks away often with incorrect perceptions because she wants to avoid the argument. Her employees are left with unresolved feelings that only build up over time.

What To Do

What’s underneath Hazel’s fear is, in part, her natural hardwiring to avoid conflict as well as a fear of taking risks. This hardwiring, if left unmanaged fosters an environment of unresolved conflict, prevents her from going big with her message, and ultimately hurts her business. She often walks away from conversations because she doesn’t think it would accomplish anything to debate a situation anyway. Since debating ideas, comes across as conflict, and that type of interaction is naturally draining for her, she wants to avoid it.

If you feel your blood pressure rise, your face turning red and your first instinct is to shut down and run at the first sign of what you view as conflict, you may have a bit of Hazel in you.

So how do you handle that conflict and risk taking when you’re naturally wired to avoid it?

1. Take a deep breath. If you’re wired this way and when under stressful situations, your breathing shallows placing stress on the body. A deep breath gives you a second to gain some perspective and gather your thoughts.

2. Clarify Assumptions. In situations where there is conflict, your instinct is to shut down and walk away without clarifying your assumptions. Spend more time finding out why the individual feels or thinks they way they do about the situation by asking clarifying questions. Clarifying questions are open ended that require a response. They begin with words like what, who, where, when, and how.

If you find yourself delaying decisions, it could be that the outcome of your decision feels risky to you. In that situation, you need to consider what you could gain versus what you would give up when making decisions. People who naturally want to avoid risk often will look at what they need to give up (time, money, etc.) versus what they will gain. For people who are naturally wired to avoid risk, the fear rises up because they are going into unknown territory and that is unsettling to them. Identifying what you can gain helps to balance your assumptions.

3. Focus on the Problem or Situation Not on the People or the Personal. Resist getting into the blame game or focusing on who’s right or wrong. When you focus on the problem or process that is causing the issue, it focuses the energy in developing constructive solutions.

4. Identify a Plan and Timelines. People who are naturally wired to avoid conflict or risk may never implement a solution because they are fearful that the solution may create more conflict or not work out. Give yourself a time limitation to think through the next steps. Write down the steps creating a plan for yourself. Identify timelines for yourself and stick to them. This gives individuals who are risk averse to create a tangible plan so the solution becomes more real (or known.)

5. Recognize That You May Gravitate Toward What you Know. Because what you learned or what you know, you may stay where you are because it is comfortable and less risky than something new. This causes these entrepreneurs to not implement or invest in those new things that very well could bring in more business, more clients or bring their business to a new level. Simply recognizing this behavior can help you understand why you may be resisting a new idea or solution.

Interacting with Hazel

If you interact with someone like Hazel, understand that she has an innate ability to be a team player but may be perceived as not saying what is on her mind, especially if she believes there may be conflict with something she says. She may not feel safe enough in the situation to share her ideas. If you interact with someone like Hazel acknowledge her contributions and consider her ideas without an immediate comeback, which she will see as debate. Instead, consider her contributions thoughtfully watching for tone and pace in your conversation.

As a business owner, if you are naturally hardwired to avoid conflict or risk (as risk is often seen as a conflict to avoid), it can prevent your small business from growing, if left unmanaged. Remember to create awareness about your natural hardwiring and implement these simple techniques to manage it. When you make the investment in yourself to grow personally, you’ll see the investment grow your business exponentially.

Lisa Mininni is best-selling author of Me, Myself, and Why? The Secrets to Navigating Change and President of Excellerate Associates, home of the Entrepreneurial Edge System. Lisa is a sought-after business coach particularly because of her unique systems approach to building a sustainable business. For your free eBook Get Ready, Get Set, Go! 3 Steps to Jump Start Your Start Up, visit http://www.freebusinessplanformat.com

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A web service developer can help to discuss various web service architectures and include its key components and the importance of both syntax and semantics in these services functionality. These developers can provide excellent support for various diagrams and can provide a framework for query optimization in these services. These developers can provide solutions to queries related to service modelling, quality of service, the need to handle multiple quality parameters and the inconsistent environment and hence help organizations to function smoothly. A developer can also help in various optimization queries and analytical models. This helps to provide services across many level scenarios and can help organizations greatly. These developer can provide support in a number of fields and can help to provide support with the use of excellent graphics. This can help to provide an in depth detail of the services and provide the organizations with the desired results.

These developers can provide an authentication for the web services and can integrate a proper security which can benefit organizations greatly. They can integrate a proper set of credentials which can help to secure the server. A web services developer may also provide the organizations with a user name and password which can help organizations to define unique users and can also help to rate organizations according to the requirement. These developers play an important role in the growth of an organization and can help to streamline various projects to help achieve success.

Winston Taylor is an IT recruitment Agency based in London. We supply both contract and permanent IT resources.

There are many different IT recruitment agencies but it is important to partner with an agency that understands technology.

Get in touch with us on 02071833822 to discuss your requirements.

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As entrepreneurs, our business time is especially important. Every hour spent on non-revenue generating tasks is a financial burden. Imagine how many potential clients you could meet, how many clients you could be working with, how much list-building you could do or how many new products/ services you could be creating. If you were to assign a dollar amount for all of these income-producing activities, the numbers could be staggering. Stop leaving all this money on the table and clean out that email!

Tip #1 – Turn off the email notifications so that you do not see a message or hear an audible cue that a message has come in. This is a huge distraction and an invitation to “just check this one message quickly”.

Tip #2 – Do not start your day off with email. You will get sucked into lower priority items for the day. Schedule in the times that you will read or respond to email and stick with that schedule! When the time is up for email, shut it down. Make sure your clients know that you will respond to email within a particular time frame.

Tip #3 – Delegate your email to a VA. Start slowly. At first, both of you can read the emails and your VA can be copied on your responses to get to know your style. Once your VA is responding to your emails, ensure that you are copied until you are comfortable with their responses. If you are not in a position to get a VA yet, then set a timer for how much time you will spend reading and responding to email and stick to that time! Set an alarm, and when the buzzer goes off, the email is shut down.

Tip #4 – Stop subscribing to every newsletter you encounter! While it is a great way to get information and inspiration, this can be one of the biggest time-wasters out there. I love the newsletters that I am subscribed to. They offer a lot of information and useful tips. But, I am subscribed to a select few. Not sure how to weed them out? If there is a newsletter that you simply delete because you do not have the time to read it, or you simply scan over it to see if there is anything useful, unsubscribe! You can always subscribe again if that particular information becomes more relevant to you.

Tip #5 – Get a handle on the free ebooks or reports! If you do not read them within 2 business days, you do not need them. How many ebooks or reports do you have saved in your email, or lost because you cannot find them? These are often included in subscriptions in exchange for your name and email address, but if they are not enticing enough for you to read right away, you likely don’t need them. Read through the content and if you find a lot of useful information, then by all means, save it for reference. Otherwise, save the space on your laptop or PC.

Tip #6 – Be selective with your notifications. Getting an email every time you get a new Twitter follower or a post is added on Facebook or you have an invitation to another event on LinkedIn is a waste of your time. When you have your scheduled social media time for the day, you will see it all then.

Bonus Tip – Avoid getting sucked into “get rich quick” promotional emails. Reading those sales letters about all the millions you are going to make when you purchase this program or that product can conjure up happy images of jet-setting around the world, but it is not reality. If it were really that easy, wouldn’t we all be sailing around the world right now?

Extra Bonus Tip – Keep on top of your inbox by deleting messages as you finish reading them and only saving those that you WILL need later. Every month, go through your inbox and delete everything that has been sitting there unread.

Spending too much time on your email is like having a cold. Until you purge all the excess, it is going to hang around and make you miserable. Start slowly if you need to, but get your control back over your inbox!

Lisa Fraser works with Coaches and Solo-preneurs who are ready to finally break through the glass ceiling on their business income. By creating a branded business that is highly leveraged and streamlined, Lisa’s clients learn how to joyfully serve their perfect clients in fewer hours while generating a great business income.

For more information on Lisa’s coaching and VIP offers, or to claim a complimentary 30-minute Business Breakthrough Discovery Call, head over to http://www.lisajfraser.com

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Well, let’s take this back to grass roots. It is a scientific fact that everything here on planet earth is made up of matter, we are all made up of the same matter, just that we are vibrating at different speeds. The slower the matter the vibrates, the denser the object seems. So a wooden table is vibrating at a much slower speed than a feather for example.

Where does this matter come from? How does it all work? What keeps the sun in the sky, makes the seeds turn into flowers, the cells in our bodies renew? These are big questions and not ones I am going to debate in this article. But the one thing I do want to be clear on for the purpose of the dilemma of being spiritual and making lots of money, is that there is an innate intelligence, a formless something that is behind all this being and happening.

This is a fact that no one can dispute, there is something far, far greater than we can understand that is behind the running of not just planet earth, but all planets, galaxies, etc. Now whether you want to call it God, the Universe, the Field, the Source, the Divine Spirit, it really doesn’t matter, they are all just labels to describe this something behind life.

So what does this have to do with money and spirituality? Well, this something behind life created everything that is here, it is the source of all that we know here. And if that’s the case and we all come from the same source, then the money is just the same as a piece of wood, or a feather, or an apple. It is made of the same matter and comes from the same source.

The difference is the meaning we place on the money as humans. Money is seen as all sorts of things ranging from a God, to the answer to our prayers, to our security and to the root of all evil.

Different cultures place different values on money, in some it is seen as a sign of having been good in a past life and so enjoying the riches of this life. In others having a lot of money can be seen as being selfish, and all rich people are greedy and mean.

The truth is, money itself, on the physical plane, is just made out of paper and metal. We as human beings give it the importance we choose to, or more to the point, the importance we have been conditioned to by our early education around money.

If money comes from the innate intelligence that is the creator and maintainer of all life including us, and the feathers, and the apples and the flowers, then having lots of money can be no different than having lots of feathers, or lots of apples, or lots of flowers can it?

The only difference is that your experience of lots of money will be different to your experience of lots of flowers, does that make one right or not? Depends on how you think about it and how you feel about it.

So going back to the “is it OK to want lots of money and make lots of money as a spiritual person?” Is it not the same as asking the question “is it OK to want lots of flowers and acquire lots of flowers as a spiritual person?”

Money is an energy that is created by the formless innate intelligence and we receive it via people. It is nothing more than an exchange of energy (services/products for money) and the more money we receive, the more people we have helped and that means the more of a difference we are making in this world. A win-win-win.

Sheela Masand was a co-founder and working partner of a multi million Euro business for over 12 years. Having worked through the struggle of how to find clients and make money in her own business, she now specializes in helping other heart-centred service professionals to do just that, all in a very authentic, non sales-y way.

Sheela can help you to attract more clients and make more money in a fun and authentic way. Visit http://www.sheelamasand.com to pick up a special free gift “Top 3 Secrets to Attracting Clients without Spending a Cent”.

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Liability insurance protects the insured with legal issues. If you or your company can taken to court over something, that qualifies as a liability. Self employed liability coverage exists to protect self employed individuals in such cases. If a client sues you because she feels she didn’t get what she paid for, the case could be handled through your liability protection. If someone sustains property damage in the process of you doing your work,.you could be responsible for the cost of repairs and additional related expenses. If your liability insurance covers such cases, your risk in the case is greatly reduced. You can let the insurance company handle the majority of the work and continue doing your job.

Not all self employed liability insurance is the same. It generally falls into one of three categories. General liability covers more general cases such as libel and slander. Small business liability insurance primarily protects against liability in disputes with clients, but it can also be used for other liabilities such as on the job property damage. Contractors liability insurance is specifically for people who do contract work and issues that may arise from performing it. To decide which type of insurance you should get, consider the type of work you do. Ideally, you would want coverage for every type of liability, but it’s more practical if you can target the areas your business is most likely to have liability issues.

People frequently jump into self employment without taking the proper precautions. Many of them don’t appreciate the amount of risk they put themselves and their business under by not having self employed liability insurance. Some don’t think it’s necessary, and others feel like they can’t afford it. In the end, though, any business without liability insurance is taking a major risk. It’s not uncommon for legal action against a small business to be expensive enough to put them out of business. Compared with this risk, the tax deductible cost of liability insurance premiums is a small price to pay.

Are you Self-Employed? Do you have the right insurance coverage? Take action now…

Read more about Affordable Self Employed Insurance at http://www.Self-Employed-Insurance-Help.com/ today!

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Whether you work out of your office or you’re a mobile notary, being easy to do business with is important for:

o acquiring new clients

o retaining existing clients

o getting referral business

Read these five tips to evaluate the ease of doing business with you.

1. Be easy to reach

Can clients and prospects easily reach you at the phone numbers, website, email address and physical address you provide?

If you have a PO Box, but only check it sporadically, you could be missing out on important communications from clients.

If you have ongoing server problems and your website goes down and emails bounce back, this will frustrate people. It gives the impression that your notary business isn’t professional or current.

2. Get back in touch quickly

The contact methods you provide need to be checked frequently.

People will expect to have their communication returned within 24 hours on weekdays. This may be difficult if you’re not a full-time notary. But it’s still important and needs to be part of your business process.

If you have an office number you only check periodically, remove that number from your website and marketing materials. The same is true for email addresses. It’s better to have fewer contact methods, but to check them reliably, than to have more ways of reaching you than you can support.

3. Answer questions appropriately

As a notary, people will come to you with questions. You can’t afford to spend too much time giving away free advice. But you have to be responsive, professional and knowledgeable.

If you shirk their questions, prospects may believe you don’t care about their needs or their business. Can you blame them for going elsewhere?

4. Follow up on leads from referrals

When clients and business partners send you referrals asking you to contact a colleague, do it soon!

If you don’t quickly touch base with these qualified referrals, your business partners and clients will think you don’t value these leads. They’ll stop sending them.

5. Don’t be afraid to apologize

If you aren’t able to return a call or email quickly, let the prospect know you’re sorry. People often respect transparency or honestly. If you were out of the office with a family emergency or broke your cell phone, let the person know what happened. Make sure they know it’s not how you typically work.

Put these tips in place today and make it easy for clients to use you for all of their signing agent needs.

Ann is a notary ninja and is giving away her book, Marketing Secrets of the Notary Ninja at http://www.notaryninja.com

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A business plan gives you the guidelines, a good, but simple marketing plan will bring clients to you, and after that, it is up to your sales conversation to actually convert prospects into profits.

It is a new mindset that we need to adopt today that overturns the notion of selling as we have know it until now.

There are many myths that hang around the words ‘sales’ that most people hold as current. One of them is that “Selling is a numbers game”. Holding on to this myth means that in many business plans created today, you need to push massive numbers into the top of that sales funnel in order to have any chance of ‘converting’ some of those prospects into actual sales.

I believe we are currently doing business in a time when trust is at it’s lowest point. While it is true that you do need to continually build your prospect list, it is more important to build a relationship of trust and respect between you and your prospects. If you make this a focal point of all your conversations, you will find that you are able to make meaningful connections with people who are ready and more importantly, willing, to do business with you, without you feeling ‘salesy’. It is a truly wonderful place to be in when you understand how to create this situation every time you are with a potential client.

By taking this approach you will find that you actually need fewer ‘numbers’ of prospects as your immediate connection with them is made at a deeper level and you allow clients to be attracted to you from your first conversation, and leading to a point where they can’t wait to do business with you.

A sale is actually made or lost at the first ‘hello’ rather than at the end or close of a conversation. It is at this moment that you either gain your prospects trust, or they immediately become wary of what you are trying to ‘sell’ them into.

To make your business plan work effectively you do need an abundance of clients, and then you also need to understand how to convert those prospects into profit for your business.

There are many ways to an abundance of clients and leads that will ensure you make money, but knowing what makes up a successful entrepreneurial business is one of the first things you need to know. Discover how you can create a business with an abundance of clients, providing you with an income that allows you to enjoy greater freedom to do the things that you love by claiming your FREE copy of 7 Steps to Creating More Clients, More Sales and More Profits. Just go here: http://www.TheAussieBusinessCoach.com

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Starting a design business or going freelance, can unleash a stream of thoughts that stop you from calling clients, getting your website live, going to networking events and more: all steps that could be vital to your business. Typical self-critical thoughts for design freelancers and start-ups include:

• I have to set low prices because no-one will pay me anything higher;
• I don’t have enough money/time/contacts to make a go of things;
• People will think badly of me if things go wrong;
• What am I doing, I’d better just go get a proper job;
• I don’t know enough about networking/marketing/sales/contracts/finances/paperwork/clients/etc, to make any money;
• I’m too (insert your own choice of word here!) to succeed;
• If a problem occurs, I won’t know how to handle it.

Any of these sound familiar?

Step 2

Write down five of your unhelpful thoughts. No-one else needs to see them, so do be very honest with yourself. Plus, when we get these thoughts out in the open, the secret sabotage they’ve been doing to our businesses stops.

Step 3

Choose the one that’s holding-back your business the most. (If you’re not exactly sure, use your gut instinct to pick one.)

Step 4

Now let’s turn it on its head, into a positive statement or affirmation:

• For example, if a self-critical thought was “I’m too old to start a business”, an example affirmation could be “I am exactly the right age to start my business, due to all my life experiences”.
• So – start with “I am”, make your statement in the now and make it positive;

Write your affirmation down. As you’re writing, it might feel like you’re being dishonest with yourself – please bear with this feeling for now, there’s a way to get over it, coming-up next.

Step 5

This step may sound kooky, but stick with me, it works when you work it!

• Repeat your positive statement out-loud into a mirror, at the same time every morning or evening. It’s important that it be out-loud and that you can see yourself saying it. Make it part of your routine.
• It may feel dishonest or complete nonsense at first, but that will change over time as you repeat it consistently.
• Repeat your affirmation daily for at least two months, or until you believe the statement even when you’re having a bad day or a difficult time.

You may want to repeat this over time to remove the other self-critical thoughts you noted.

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