Personal finance is something many people do not take very seriously. That is why so many people are fighting with debt problems. Personal finance is about keeping a balanced debt to income ratio and ensuring that expenses never exceed income. Personal finance is crucial to keeping a good credit record and maintaining credit worthiness.Personal finance starts with a budget. Every person should have a budget to track and mange their income and expenses. A simple budget lists all income and all expenses for a month. The bottom line of a budget is that the income should never be less then the expenses. Should the expenses exceed the income the person is going to have to cut back on expenses. They should start by cutting out non-essential expenses. This can be difficult, but for someone wanting to be serious about their personal loans, it is important. Budgeting takes a lot of self control and little sacrifice.The next step in finance is managing debt. Most people have some debt. Debt is essential for building credit. However debt should never become overwhelming. A person should make a list of all debt. The list should include the name of the creditor, the amount of credit, the amount of debt and the interest rate. If there is any debt problems they should be handled immediately.Next is credit. If a person is easily handling their budget and their debt then they can consider getting more lines of credit. However, if a person is not handling their debt and budget then getting more credit is out of the question. A person should also make sure they understand all of their credit obligations. This includes all terms and conditions.After a person has all of their personal loans in order they need to look them over. They should check to see if they are struggling with anything. If they are then they need to manage their finances to get them back in order. This may involve some credit counseling or debt consolidation. A person should be committed to whatever it takes to get their personal finances back in order, so they do not suffer damaged credit or financial difficulties.Now that a person has organized their personal loans, they need to manage them. Managing personal finance is about sticking to a monthly budget, keeping debt under control and not getting overwhelmed by credit. Management of personal finances is on going. A person has to review every month to ensure they are not over extending themselves or breaking their budget.Personal finance is an important topic. It is something everyone needs to think about and something everyone needs to control. Too often people let their personal loans get out of control. It is this that leads to debt problems and eventually financial difficulties.A person that controls their personal finance will be using their monthly budget, keeping up on debt and not over extending themselves credit wise. A good, well managed personal finance is going to produce someone who can afford their lifestyle and who benefits in the form of a good credit record.
10 Facts About Office Business Centers
In today’s economy, office business centers (OBCs) represent a viable alternative to commercial space for established organizations, professionals and entrepreneurs. Here are 10 facts you should consider in evaluating their relevance for your business.1. OBCs help you to focus on your core competency.
In competitive industries, time becomes a valuable commodity, especially for high-level executives. By using an office business center instead of commercial space, you can focus on critical business matters instead of office maintenance and infrastructure.2. By pooling resources, OBC clients can afford cutting-edge technology and services.
OBCs offer a myriad of high-end telecommunications and Internet options too expensive for most small businesses. For example, high bandwidth capacity, fiber optics, VoIP technology, high-speed printers and scanners are readily available. Videoconferencing, also available at most OBCs, can save a fortune in travel expenses.3. OBC clients include nearly every type of business.
Our clients include international organizations and entrepreneurs, as well as professionals such as accountants, lawyers, doctors and financial consultants.4. OBCs provide flexible working arrangements.
OBCs are perfect for flextime, a concept designed to escape the straitjacket of the standard 9-5 work week. OBCs offer virtual support and office space whenever you need it under a wide variety of terms. For international organizations, this includes support staff at nearly any hour.5. OBCs may be used for temporary staff or during office renovations.
Sometimes, your headquarters needs to be refurbished, and the displacement can affect your company’s productivity. OBCs provide office space for any length of time without the commitment of a lease.6. OBCs offer seamless integration with your company headquarters.
At an OBC, you can keep your email domain or main phone number (with new extensions). Through special technology, connection to your clients will be seamless, and customers will be unable to distinguish your OBC office from your main headquarters. OBCs can even incorporate your company’s I.T. security devices to protect your data.7. OBCs help you to learn from your neighbor.
Clients of OBCs can network with other occupants. Best business practices can be improved through this interaction giving clients a substantial advantage over the competition.8. OBCs can be customized for nearly any need.
OBCs let you customize your office instead of trying to fit into a cubic box with a desk and a phone. You can decide how much space to use and change that according to circumstances. You can decide what support structure you need and change that, too.9. OBCs provide office in elegant locations with multiple meeting venues.
OBCs offer a multitude of meeting venues including conference rooms of varying sizes, seminar rooms and auditoriums. Videoconferencing enables virtual meetings, saving both time and money. OBCs are typically located in upscale buildings with attractive grounds and amenities.10. OBCs are particularly valuable when the economy is volatile.
Though a valuable resource at any time, OBCs are particularly in demand during economic recessions or uncertain business environments. The items mentioned above become even more urgent when you are unsure what tomorrow will bring.
Business Loans In Canada: Financing Solutions Via Alternative Finance & Traditional Funding
Business loans and finance for a business just may have gotten good again? The pursuit of credit and funding of cash flow solutions for your business often seems like an eternal challenge, even in the best of times, let alone any industry or economic crisis. Let’s dig in.
Since the 2008 financial crisis there’s been a lot of change in finance options from lenders for corporate loans. Canadian business owners and financial managers have excess from everything from peer-to-peer company loans, varied alternative finance solutions, as well of course as the traditional financing offered by Canadian chartered banks.
Those online business loans referenced above are popular and arose out of the merchant cash advance programs in the United States. Loans are based on a percentage of your annual sales, typically in the 15-20% range. The loans are certainly expensive but are viewed as easy to obtain by many small businesses, including retailers who sell on a cash or credit card basis.
Depending on your firm’s circumstances and your ability to truly understand the different choices available to firms searching for SME COMMERCIAL FINANCE options. Those small to medium sized companies ( the definition of ‘ small business ‘ certainly varies as to what is small – often defined as businesses with less than 500 employees! )
How then do we create our road map for external financing techniques and solutions? A simpler way to look at it is to categorize these different financing options under:
Debt / Loans
Asset Based Financing
Alternative Hybrid type solutions
Many top experts maintain that the alternative financing solutions currently available to your firm, in fact are on par with Canadian chartered bank financing when it comes to a full spectrum of funding. The alternative lender is typically a private commercial finance company with a niche in one of the various asset finance areas
If there is one significant trend that’s ‘ sticking ‘it’s Asset Based Finance. The ability of firms to obtain funding via assets such as accounts receivable, inventory and fixed assets with no major emphasis on balance sheet structure and profits and cash flow ( those three elements drive bank financing approval in no small measure ) is the key to success in ABL ( Asset Based Lending ).
Factoring, aka ‘ Receivable Finance ‘ is the other huge driver in trade finance in Canada. In some cases, it’s the only way for firms to be able to sell and finance clients in other geographies/countries.
The rise of ‘ online finance ‘ also can’t be diminished. Whether it’s accessing ‘ crowdfunding’ or sourcing working capital term loans, the technological pace continues at what seems a feverish pace. One only has to read a business daily such as the Globe & Mail or Financial Post to understand the challenge of small business accessing business capital.
Business owners/financial mgrs often find their company at a ‘ turning point ‘ in their history – that time when financing is needed or opportunities and risks can’t be taken. While putting or getting new equity in the business is often impossible, the reality is that the majority of businesses with SME commercial finance needs aren’t, shall we say, ‘ suited’ to this type of funding and capital raising. Business loan interest rates vary with non-traditional financing but offer more flexibility and ease of access to capital.
We’re also the first to remind clients that they should not forget govt solutions in business capital. Two of the best programs are the GovernmentSmall Business Loan Canada (maximum availability = $ 1,000,000.00) as well as the SR&ED program which allows business owners to recapture R&D capital costs. Sred credits can also be financed once they are filed.
Those latter two finance alternatives are often very well suited to business start up loans. We should not forget that asset finance, often called ‘ ABL ‘ by those Bay Street guys, can even be used as a loan to buy a business.
If you’re looking to get the right balance of liquidity and risk coupled with the flexibility to grow your business seek out and speak to a trusted, credible and experienced Canadian business financing advisor with a track record of business finance success who can assist you with your funding needs.