Getting out of debt isn’t easy, but it certainly is possible. If you’re sick of owing money to people and are determined to erase your debts, consider these vital dos and don’ts – they will help you to make the right decisions when dealing with your debt.
Don’t borrow any more money
Naturally, the best way to escape debt is to stop borrowing money. The only time you should ever take out a loan when trying to escape debt is for refinancing purposes when you could save money in the long run by paying less interest. Consolidation loans as offered by Lending Tree can also be useful as they can pay off multiple debts so that you’re left with only one single manageable debt to pay off. Never use emergency loans to pay off debts as these loans have high interest rates that will only add to your existing debt. If you have to borrow money for an emergency, try to ask a friend or family member so that you’re not paying interest.
Do make major cutbacks
By making major cutbacks, you’ll have more disposable income and more money to throw at your debts in order to pay them off faster. Think of these cutbacks as temporary measures until you’ve paid your debts off. You could start budgeting your food shop or driving less often. Serious cutbacks will allow you to pay off your debts more quickly – this could include downsizing to a cheaper property or taking your car off road and giving up driving temporarily.
Don’t ignore your creditors
If you’re getting demand letters for debts you can’t currently pay, don’t think that by ignoring these debts that they’ll go away. Tell your creditors about your situation – many creditors will be more understanding and may put off taking things further. This could give you more time to save up the funds to pay off these debts. In other cases, you may be able to negotiate with a creditor and pay off the debt over a longer period in smaller instalments.
Do talk to people
It’s important to talk to people about your debts both for advice and reassurance. There are many professionals who can help with debt management – sites such as The Ascent by the Motley Fool can offer various advice on options for getting rid of debt. Make sure to also open up to your friends and family – it could make it less awkward when you have to turn down social events due to not having the funds.
Don’t cancel your credit cards just yet
Whilst canceling your credit card is a sure way to stop you from using it, you should wait until you’ve paid off all your credit card debts before canceling your card. If you don’t do this, it could have a seriously negative effect on your credit score – which is something you don’t want to reduce further if you’re already in debt.
Don’t stress about it
The most important rule is to not let debts wear you down mentally and physically. Realise that whilst you may not be able to spend frivolously, there’s more to a happy life than money. Go on walks, make the most of free attractions, meet up with friends and enjoy what you have – a positive attitude will help you to get out of debt.
According to some people, the worst thing about running your own business is that you never seem to have enough time for everything. If you have started feeling the heat and would like to focus on the jobs that will take you further, it might be time to automate or outsource some of the lower priority jobs. Running your business should not be about staying up until 10 p.m. to submit your accounts or sending out marketing emails manually, while picking up customer calls late at night. Below you will find a list of seven things you might want to outsource to free up time and let yourself focus on what matters you the most.
Unless you enjoy looking at numbers for days, you might want to outsource your accounting to a local firm. They will start off knowing what they are doing, and have up to date information on the latest legislation. No matter if it is only you in the business, you will have to make sure that all your income and expenditure are accounted for and you are ready for an inspection at any time. If your books are in order, you will also have a better chance of securing larger jobs or tenders.
Tax Planning
In case you have just started your business, you might not be an expert at maximizing your profits and making the most out of your tax allowances. At the same time, you will not be aware of the latest developments in policy. Your tax planning expert will know what to be careful with and which activities can raise a red flag. From state legislation to reporting requirements and the IR35, there are simply too many things to look out for. You can learn more about IR35 here and talk to a taxation professional about the best approach for your business.
Online Marketing
If you are busy building your strategy or developing your product, you are not likely to have time for creating online marketing campaigns. You might want to sit down and brainstorm with a local sales funnel expert to tailor your promotions to the needs of your small business. You can get loads of marketing tasks automated and put set-and-forget systems in place, so you can make the most out of your online presence while working on product creation, joint ventures, and recruiting partners.
Market Research
No matter how superior your research skills are, you will have to make sure that you get the right information in front of your eyes at the right time. While you might be able to complete the market research yourself and get the same information, time is money. You might be better off talking to an industry expert who knows which reports and statistics to check to give you a growth prediction, a competitive analysis, and come up with actionable recommendations.
Social Media Management
If you are not a big fan of social media, and can’t see how it will help you succeed in your business, or you get easily distracted and lost looking at forums and blogs, you are better off leaving this job to the professionals. While it takes a lot of trust to let others handle your company’s online presence and monitor your reputation, if you find the right person, you will save a lot of time and make your business more visible and more productive at the same time.
If your work involves work that requires a hundred percent of your focus, you don’t want to lose the thread when the phone rings. Customer service quality, on the other hand, determines your success, so it needs to be taken seriously. If you find a professional virtual assistant who will answer your customer calls and online queries, you will be able to take action once you are not busy working.
Public Relations
Public and media relations take up a lot of time. You might not want to attend every exhibition and convention and chase up local papers with a press release or feature article idea. Thankfully, you don’t have to. There are plenty of professionals who will represent your business and already have established channels to distribute your brand messages.
When there is not enough time to do everything that needs to be done in your business, it might be time to think about outsourcing some of the specialist or lower level jobs to professionals. You will not only save time and money but also reduce your stress levels at the same time.
One of the hallmarks of a thriving business is the ability to present a comprehensive and consistent image across every part of your company. We all know that image has to be front and center of our marketing campaigns, but, what about the rest of the business? Maintaining a consistent image is essential, but how can we be sure that we are doing this properly?
Create A Brand Guide
A definite set of plans and processes contained within a brand guide is one of the simplest and effective ways to establish a consistent image across every part of the business. The more refined the blueprint, the less chance of error and straying away from your business image, and it helps to lay out, in the simplest terms, where image matters; in other words, everywhere! A brand guide can lay out, in basic terms, the tone of voice, the business values, colors, styles, and so forth. Once this has been completed, it’s time to ensure this is circulated among your staff.
Understanding Why It’s Essential Across Every Area
But there is no point in just creating a brand guide; we need to know why this is so essential. Firstly, it provides a clear image, but it also helps when working with clients, and developing trust between them, from the supply chains to the potential business partners. Because image, in the most finite form, isn’t just across your marketing, it should communicate your identity through your product, but when you are working with clients, from marketing specialists to labeling systems providers, the consistency of the image is essential. It helps to nail down your target market and builds that bridge between business and customer, which, over time, creates that all-important trust.
Heal And Grow
Once you have identified the specific reasons, all you have to do then is to monitor the process, and continue to update it as and when is necessary. Healing and growing is essential to building, not just your brand, but your business. A consistent image in every area, from the products to the office floor, communicates that professionalism we expect from every part of a company. It’s beneficial at the very beginning of your business to ensure that the company maintains a consistent image, and if it doesn’t, this will leave keeping holes, which, if it reaches the customer, will potentially cause problems.
And, in addition to these, once you undertake regular audits of your brand, you need to have one eye towards the future. As times and tastes change, we need to make sure we are growing with them. It may be blatantly obvious, but unfortunately, once you’ve established a system that works for you, it may be necessary to change it once in a while. Your processes can be set in stone, but when it comes to the overall business image, there may be meetings upon meetings about typography, color changes, and every small detail. It’s part and parcel of the entrepreneur to have one eye towards the future, and so, by working at making your business image consistent across every part of the company, everybody will be working towards that all-important common goal.
When you are in need of money the Internet can be a great way to find what you need. If you want to try and earn extra cash there are some good ways to do so. Whether you need a loan or just want to work a side job for extra money we have some tips for you. By trying some of these proven methods listed below, you can start easily making a few hundred extra dollars a week:
iPhone Applications for Money
If you’re like many who enjoy spending some of their time online exploring new websites and handy new apps for a smart-phone, it might be a good idea to turn that hobby into a job. Anyone can begin making money by exploring some of the more popular websites such as “Perk.com”. Platforms like this pay anyone willing and able to review the nifty website they have been using. In just 20 minutes, you can make 10 dollars.
Network for Social Investments
The world of investing can discourage many people who see it as too risky or something that is only for those on Wall Street, however, with the growing market for trading platforms online, just about anyone can get in on the action. We’ve researched many of the best platforms and have found ones that make it easy for anyone to begin. It is free to start a practice account, and some providers offer new signers up to 15 dollars of funds at no deposit to start off with. With almost 5 million global users, these websites are catching the attention of big named business newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal.
Peer & Online Loans
Peer lending websites have become popular in the past few years. They can be very helpful for those needing smaller loans. When you need money fast the Internet has peer lending sites like Prosper.com. If you are looking for a faster answer you can always try and traditional online lender when you need a loan fast.
Try out eBay
Many people don’t have the time or the space to start a garage sale anymore, but many are finding success online selling clothes and old stuff through websites such as Ebay. By using Ebay, you can leverage the auction method to almost guarantee getting rid of your old sweater you never wear anymore. Some extra savvy online sellers are beginning to study the trends necessary to get ahead of the market and exploit potential buyers. This opens the opportunity to buy some stuff in larger amounts before the demand rises when you can then sell for a handsome profit.
Start Writing Articles
If you can write well, joining a freelance writing website might just be one of the easiest and coolest ways to make extra money online today. Websites are constantly in need of new web content in order to generate visitors to their websites. Websites such as “textbroker” will work with these companies and hire ghost writers to produce this content. The process ends up making everyone involved a little richer.
Start a blog
There are hundreds of thousands of successful blogs on the internet today. These blogs usually tend to be a hobby for most that write them; however, little do people know that these blogs actually generate revenues. What makes this money making method especially attractive is that the blogger does not need to worry about finding readers; this is automated through services such as “Google AdSense”.
To run a successful company, certain things need to be done and there are certain services that you are going to need. As a business owner, you should ensure that you have all the services that your company is going to need for it to run effectively. You need to think about what will benefit your company in the long term rather than just the short term. So, here are four services that you are definitely going to need if your company is going to succeed.
Recruitment
How are you going to gain your employees if you don’t have a recruitment team? These professionals are specially selected and trained to find the best people to fit your company. This will save you a lot of time, and as well as this, you are sure to be getting the best possible candidates for the job. If you have a recruitment team, they will find the right people for the job, even if it means headhunting. They handle interviews too so that you don’t have to worry about this either.
We can’t not mention marketing when it comes to services that your business needs. If you don’t have marketing, then it’s true to say that your company is going to be dead in the water. Marketing is the lifeforce of your business. It will determine if your company can get the level of interest it deserves. This can start with a trade show appearance. When you attend a tradeshow, you need to make sure that you are taking the environment by storm, building your business up to be something unique and special. You should consider investing in technology to do this. Of course, marketing doesn’t end with your first successful tradeshow.
After that, you need to turn your attention towards online marketing. Online marketing provides you with a range of powerful tools that you must take advantage of. Hire a professional marketing company to handle your campaign, and they’ll use them all.
IT
Next, make sure that you do invest in an IT company. An IT company will make sure that you can build your business the right way with technology. With IT consulting, you won’t just get the initial set up though. That’s just the beginning. A consultant can also make sure that your business is on the right track every day it is on the market. As well as this, it will also help you deal with any issues that you might encounter such as a tech failure. Hacks are becoming more common, but with an IT consultant operating on a 24/7 basis, these issues can be solved in minutes.
Human Resources
A human resources team is crucial to your company. You need to have this service. This is there so that your employees have somewhere to go if they have an issue. They are also available for you so that you can seek their help for any related legal issues. They handle everything from employee problems to legal so make sure that you have this service in your company.
We hope you take this advice and include these four services in your company.
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