You’ve Bought Some Land – Now What?

You’ve Bought Some Land – Now What?

You’ve got a hold of some land, and you want to put it to good use. Yes, you want to make some money for yourself, and bulk up your portfolio a little, but you also want to make sure you’re serving your community, and you’ve got other people in mind. What do you do next? Well, we’ve got some ideas to help you plan out your next move below; be sure to read through them if you’re in need of some inspiration or guidance in the world of real estate. 

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Discover the Area

If you want to be able to serve your community, and also give your land the best chance possible for attracting interest from the people around it, make sure you take the time to discover your area. You’ll be able to discover what’s most needed within your local community, and what people are looking for in terms of both entertainment and practicality. Not to mention, you might find other land for sale nearby that could be a smart investment choice too. 

There are a lot of things missing from your average local community, and providing for these multiple needs could make your plot of land very popular. Let’s go through a couple of examples: 

People may be looking for hang out or community spaces, such as setting up allotments or a local garden; giving them the green space to plant and cultivate could be a great way to bring the community together, and all thanks to your efforts. Similarly, people may be looking for storage space; having a place to keep both in home contents they no longer need, as well as giving businesses a space to keep their tangible assets, could work wonders for the local community. 

Put it Up for Rent

At the same time, you’ve got to be making money, to ensure your vinestment was worth all this time and effort. And to make the most amount of money, it’d be best to put your land up for rent, as well as any developments you’ve built on top of it. After all, this won’t be a one time payment – you’ll be collecting rent each and every month, and that’s ongoing and diverse revenue for you. 

Following on from the examples above, it’s important to offer your land for rent to the right groups of people. You can rent out to people looking to build a garden, or people looking for extra farmland. You can offer the land for people looking to host hangouts, festivals, or weekly clubs in the outdoors. 

Allowing these people to pay a fee on a case by case basis ensures you have plenty of money coming in, as well as keeping the price tag affordable for anyone looking for the right space to rent. 

You’ve bought some land, and now’s the time to decide what you’re going to do with it. Make sure you keep the above ideas in mind as you go about this process. 

What Should You Do If Your Business Is Accused Of A Crime?

What Should You Do If Your Business Is Accused Of A Crime?

When you start a business, it’s important that you are aware of the potential legal issues that you may face. There are so many laws and regulations to wrap your head around when you run a business, and it’s easy to go wrong. It is important that you take steps to avoid legal trouble, but it’s also important that you know how to deal with it if you are accused of a crime. Many business owners don’t really think about it because they think it will never happen, and then when it does, they respond badly. These are the important steps that you need to take if your business is accused of a crime. 

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Seek Legal Advice 

The first thing you should always do is seek legal advice. Before you start making statements and speaking to investigators, get in touch with a lawyer and have them present. Any mistakes that you make now could come back to bite you later when you are in court, so it’s important that you deal with a lawyer before anybody else. 

If you have been personally charged with a crime and put in jail, posting bail should be a priority so you can get out and deal with the situation properly. If you are struggling to find the money, you can use a company like Case Closed Bail Bonds to post bail on your behalf. You cannot deal with this situation from jail, so seeking legal advice and getting out is your main priority. 

Keep All Business Records 

If you have been accused of a crime, it is important that you collect as much evidence as possible to build a case in your defense. That’s why it’s so important that you have a good record keeping system in place and as soon as you are accused of a crime, you put a stop on any document shredding or file deletions. You never know what kind of information you will need in your defense, and in some cases, you may face penalties for getting rid of documents that are considered important evidence, so make sure that you keep everything, no matter how trivial it may seem. 

Consider Suspending Employees 

If certain employees in the company are being charged separately because they are believed to have committed crimes, it may be a good idea to suspend them. As a business owner, it is important that you are seen to be distancing yourself from any criminal activity, and if you keep these employees on, it can make you look very bad. 

Improve Your Public Image 

Regardless of whether you are found guilty or not, legal issues will always have a negative effect on your public image. After everything is resolved, you need to start making an effort to improve public relations and win back the trust of your customers. Things like partnering with charities, for example, are great for improving your image. 

It’s never a good situation when your business is accused of a crime, but if you handle it in the right way, you can survive it. 

The Two Main Reasons People Avoid Financially Planning For Retirement

The Two Main Reasons People Avoid Financially Planning For Retirement

Financial retirement planning is a necessity; something that we all know we should do, and something that we absolutely understand the importance of. However, translating that core theoretical understanding into direct action is often a little trickier. Below, we’ve highlighted the two primary reasons people tend to avoid planning their retirement finances, and how the related concerns can be overcome… 

1) Lack of time

In the modern world, schedules are always full, and keeping up-to-date with your to-do list for actions today is often more than enough to keep you occupied – so finding the time to plan for a future that could be 30 or 40 years away seems impossible. While it’s not possible to create more hours in the day, you may find it beneficial to focus on why starting to financially plan for retirement is so important, even at a young age – essentially, the sooner you start, the greater your savings will be when the time comes for you to give up work. Making the time today can lead to a brighter tomorrow, and it’s also worth remembering that when everything is up and running, the ongoing time investment on your part is relatively minimal.

2) Confusion

The world of retirement finances can often seem like a complex one and there is no doubt that there is some truth to this statement. However, there is help available that can make the process of learning about the various options far simpler; the infographic below is a great way to learn more about IRAs and other avenues are also covered in-depth in online videos or articles. You can therefore take your time and learn at a pace that suits you, before making the decision as to the best route for your future.


Infographic Design By Accuplan
4 Steps for a Sound Financial Future For Your Family

4 Steps for a Sound Financial Future For Your Family

There are many things that we hope for our family, including, of course, that everyone is happy and healthy. In order for that to be the case, however, you need to ensure that the financial aspect of family life has been well taken care of. While it is possible to be happy without millions in the bank, that goal becomes much easier to manage if you’re in a financially stable position. It provides the platform upon which many other positive things can grow. But it’s also true that it can be a little difficult. In this blog, we’re going to take a look at how you can create a secure financial landscape for your family, both now and in the future. 

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Incomings/Outgoings

It doesn’t matter how much you earn: if your outgoings are greater than your incomings, then you’re going to be in trouble sooner or later. As such, one of the best things you can do for your family is to spend an afternoon getting a complete overview of your finances. Take an in-depth look at the money you’ve got flowing into your bank account, and the money flowing outward. You might spot a couple of expenses that are unnecessarily harming your finances. 

Savings

While everything might be fine right now, it’s always important to remember that things could look a little different in the future. If things change for the worse, then you’ll be in a much better position if you have savings. Aside from helping you to stay financially secure if you hit a rough patch, savings can also help with other important and enjoyable things, such as helping to pay your child’s college tuition and taking family trips overseas. You don’t have to put huge chunks of money away each month if you’re not in a position to do so, but it should be something. Every little helps! 

Think of the Future

It’s not something that we like to think about, but it’s important to consider what would happen to your family should something happen to you, the primary breadwinner. While you can’t predict the future, you can take steps to ensure that your family is in a strong position to weather the storm by being prepared. This can involve buying life insurance, so you can have peace of mind that your family would be financially secure if something bad happened. Other types of insurance policies are also recommended, such as home and business insurance, if you’re running your own company.

Teaching Good Practices 

Finally, remember that though there’s a lot you can do to keep your family financially sound, you’ll also want to teach your children good habits too. This isn’t something they’re going to learn about in school! Ultimately, the best way to ensure that your children are financially stable in the future is to give them the tools they need to manage their own money (and, of course, make their own money too). It’ll give you peace of mind that they’ll always be OK. 

Strength Of Character Is An Entrepreneur’s Best Asset

Strength Of Character Is An Entrepreneur’s Best Asset

Anyone can start a business, but the real question one should ask is should you start a business? Creating a business is not like any other form of profession. Normal working hours will no longer apply to you and your hard work will not be acknowledged by a boss, because you answer to yourself. So that also means, no one is there to hold your hand, tell you when to speed up, or instill any kind of discipline in you. However, this new life will come a test of character. Many people pass cognitive tests such as planning and networking but very few pass the tests of mental strength, confidence and self-criticism. 

The test of integrity

Many entrepreneurs lie on their resume or about an aspect of their business. Most investors, B2B partners and even employees expect that. It’s not uncommon for a young hard-charging entrepreneur to boast about how many contacts they have in the industry or how far along a product is in terms of completion. However, some people will not be willing to work with you if you display this sort of behavior. Integrity is simply priceless and so many entrepreneurs don’t understand what the value of having it would do for their success. Remember that your words will carry more weight when they have been consistently true. ‘Just trust me’ doesn’t convince people as much as ‘my track record is impeccable’. When you meet with investors, just be honest. Don’t think you’re going to scare them away by showing them the issues you have. Someone who is truthful is seen as a long-term partner.

Persistency before consistency

The biggest challenge you’re going to face is the repeated nature of being knocked back. When you feel as if things are going right, all of a sudden something will push you back to square one. It’s part and parcel of being an entrepreneur. By the very nature of that title, you are making waves, breaking barriers and trying to innovate beyond your competitors. So before you achieve consistent results, you will need to stay persistent. Get used to overcoming odds as an entrepreneur as getting feedback and seeing results from consumers will be something you need to chase after. A mass texting campaign may garner little to no results in the first couple of tries. Eventually, you will learn to get the timing and techniques right and slowly increase your customer engagement skills. During the process of persistency, you will be learning a lot.

Become action-oriented 

If you stop to wait for things to happen, you will be waiting for a long time. In the meantime, you will watch your rivals overtake you. Part of being an entrepreneur is chomping-at-the-bit. You need to be action-oriented. This means you need to make educated but quick decisions. Being adaptable is thwarted by being too slow. Learn to trust your gut which should be making assumptions based on experience. Read books on leadership as you progress as a business owner.

If you want to be successful you must get used to being honest every step of the way. You must learn to make good decisions in a timely fashion. And most of all, be persistent as it will lead to you becoming consistent in many areas. 

Why Skipping Business Maintainance Is A False Economy

Why Skipping Business Maintainance Is A False Economy

Small businesses need to be creative about saving money, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cutting costs down is an essential requirement to protect your staff and keep the business afloat. Therefore, small business owners are looking at a variety of options to reduce their expenses. Remote work is not always a viable solution. As a result, many companies that didn’t perform any essential work during the crisis have been forced to shut down temporarily. Therefore, you may be tempted to delay business expenses to maximize cash flow when you’re ready to re-open for activities. For instance, business maintenance comes at a high cost when you’ve got no revenue for several weeks. However, skipping maintenance duties is a false economy that will come back to bite you in the future! 

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Repairs don’t come for free

Ultimately, your business relies on working equipment. If you’ve had to furlough your team for the lockdown or to reduce employee presence, chances are that your day-to-day equipment has been left untouched for several weeks. Using out-of-sync equipment or tools that might not be in sufficient working condition is going to cost you money in the long run. Corrosion, degraded machinery, devices that have not been upgraded are some of the factors that can dramatically increase your cost. For a start, without regular maintenance, your equipment might break. Additionally, injuries are more likely to happen with damaged tools. Finally, repairing damages will incur a higher cost than maintenance duty. 

You put your employees at risk

We’ve just mentioned it above. Failure to maintain your equipment and workplace can lead to accidents. When your employees and customers are injured due to poor maintenance, you are likely to be found responsible for the accident, which means you will have to pay monetary compensation. Injury experts, such as Krzak Rundio Law Group, are specialized in ensuring that individuals can claim against negligent behaviors. As a company, you can’t afford to fail to maintain equipment and fleet that are in regular use without being liable for the consequences of your decision. 

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Can you afford a production shutdown?

How much are you likely to lose if a fault holds the production? As a rule of thumb, a single hour of downtime could cost a manufacturing business approximately $10,000 in lost revenue. When you have no choice but to be productive to recover from the COVID-19 crisis, skipping maintenance can be the last draw that drags your business down. Giving yourself the best chance to generate revenues post lockdown is detrimental to your survival. 

What will the press say?

Unattended damage and issues that force a business to shut down its production line or pay compensation to workers and clients are not just bad news. They are also bad press about your brand. Boosting your reputation as a company that supports your community economy and takes part in the national effort to rebuild financial stability is the way forward out of lockdown. You can be sure that negative events caused by your negligence to maintain your equipment and workplace will reflect poorly on your reputation. 

Saving money by cutting down unnecessary costs is a smart approach. However, as a business, you need to be very careful about what you perceive as unnecessary. Carrying on maintenance checks on your assets is not a luxury. It is indispensable to the survival of your company and the protection of your team. Don’t be the business that saves money by putting profits before people’s best interests. 

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