Category: Business

The Most Common Reasons For Business Success And Failure

Business

Bad/good decisions making
This is the most common reason why business fail as just one bad decision can be a reason for you business failure or success. Decision making is one of the most wanted skills in business and you can learn how to make good business decisions. There are many books written on this topic if you want to improve your decision making skills. Tips on decision making: when making decision do not rush, take some time with every decision and try to analyze advantages and disadvantages of your decision. In beginning this process will take more time but wit a little exercise you will become better.

2) Lack of business experience
You can be the best tradesman in your trade but if you lack some basic business skills you basically have two options: improve your business skills or find some employment. Being in business requires you to have great communication skills, selling skills, some accounting skills, some understanding in general laws and to be passionate about your product or service. This can be learned and the best advice here is to find a good accountant and create a long term relationship with him/her.

3) Compliance and legal issues
If you are running your business without any records you are not compliant and it is just a matter of time until your business will be forced to close. Even worse case could be that you are in some kind of illegal business activity or scheme. Be very careful with some offshore schemes and investing in tax havens as this may be illegal.

4) Bad cash management
Even if you are ticking all the boxes in your business and your business is growing you have to monitor your cash flow daily and use some cash flow tools and have proper cash budget. Remember profit is not the same as cash. Your business may be profitable but without cash you will be forced to borrow or to close down.

6) Competition and market
Always keep your eye on your competition and compare prices. If your competition is selling the same kind of product or service for half the price you do not have any other options than to match them. If you competition is improving their product or service you have to do the same. Not monitoring your market and competitors or not knowing who they are can be fatal. More unique your product/service is less competition you will have.

7) Risk controls
You should know what your biggest risks are and how to prevent them happening. Usually some kind of insurance must be in place. So e.g. the biggest risk for a farmer may be a drought so measures taken may be to ensure there is enough water in the drought season and the crops are insured against loss.

8) No controls or records
Nor having records also means that the business owner does not have any controls on his/her business as it is impossible to make a good business decisions which also bring us to the most common reason for business failure bad decision making.

9) X-factor
It is impossible to predict all the situations possible and sometime we have to expect some unexpected events such as e.g. malfunction of equipment, natural disasters or maybe alien attack!? Therefore it is a must to have some reserves and cash savings in such moments in order to continue business operations as usual.

10) Lack of trade knowledge
Market is dynamic and you should follow and be ready to learn new skills. More skills you have more competitive advantage you have over your competition.

11) Attitude to succeed
Believe in yourself and your products and services and you will succeed. If you expect success you will succeeds or if you think that you are not good enough in what you do your failure is guaranteed.

12) View for a profit
Business is an activity with a view to a profit so if you do not like or want profits than do not have business but a hobby. If you make good profits you will be able to help others in need.

13) Outdated product/service
Example: If you are in business of selling DVDs you should start thinking about switching to Blue Rays as DVDs will be outdated in only few years.

14) Change in laws and policies
Sometimes changes in government policies can cause some businesses to close such as e.g. in Australia government has prohibited use of pop up sprinklers for lawns. Also another example can be that some professions will have to have licenses or additional training.

15) No vision
Your business vision should be formulated and written on paper. Your vision should be clear and without any doubts. If your business has two or three completely different activities this is an obvious example of lack of vision.

16) No succession planning
What happens when a business owner decides to retire or wants to sell his/her business? In order to ensure business succession you should engage professional accountant, financial planner or lawyer for expert help.

17) Fraud
Fraud can be a cause of business failure if not detected on time and if no safeguards were implemented in the business. Assets, business records, procedures, passwords should be safeguarded by implementing relevant policies and procedures. If you engage auditors to audit your financial statements they will detect possible risks and any fraud.

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Nike’s Core Values And Business

Business

A company”s core philosophy has the power to influence, inspire, and challenge employees on a daily basis. Nike, being the progressive company they are, employs an emergent strategy, “one that originates in the interaction of an organization with its environment.” Our CEO Les Kollegian and President Charlie Van Vechten both believe strongly in Nike”s philosophy not only because of the great success it has garnered Nike and their products, but also because of the continuous call to creativity and innovation it facilitates. In fact, Les often quotes the Nike core purpose “experiencing the emotion of winning and crushing your competition” when educating businesses on the importance of a business core purpose to develop the foundation of a brand promise and value proposition. Also, we”re not sure if Nike”s talented creative agency Weiden Kennedy was a part of developing these principles, but we wouldn”t be surprised. Anyway”I digress. Here are the 11 Nike Maxims.

1. “It is our nature to innovate.” The company sees innovation as one of its core organizational competencies.

2. “Nike is a company.”

3. “Nike is a brand.” The “swoosh” logo is instantly recognizable around the world. Nike sees this as the symbol of its global leadership. It will enter only those markets that it thinks it can dominate. It says: “lf we can”t lead it, we don”t need it.”

4. “Simplify and go.” Nike products have short life-cycles in terms both of technology and fashion. The company believes that making quick yet skilful decisions is key to its success. This aspect of Nike”s vision, together with the seventh maxim, is particularly powerful in articulating the company”s hugely successful use of emergent strategy.

5. “The consumer decides.” The company is keenly aware of the sophistication of its customers and it treats them as its key stakeholder.

6. “Be a sponge.” Employees at Nike are encouraged to be curious and open to new ideas, whatever their source.

7. “Evolve immediately.” Nike sees itself as being in perpetual motion””viewing change as a key source of innovation. This attitude can easily be observed in the wide range of products that Nike offers its consumers. It is another example of the company”s use of emergent strategy to good effect.

8. “Do the right thing.” Nike thinks of itself as a responsible global citizen, embracing the stakeholder view of corporate social responsibility. It encourages its people to be honest and transparent and to promote diversity and sustainability.

9. “Master the fundamentals.” All the innovation in the world is useless if you can”t put it into action. A crucial part of Nike”s success is its ability to refine its performance””the recent growth in profits suggests that it”s achieving this.

10. “We are on the offense””always.” To stay ahead in an extremely competitive environment, Nike urges its people to act like leaders in their field to achieve victory.

11. “Remember the Man.” The late Bill Bowerman is still held in high esteem throughout Nike, both for his understanding of athletes” needs and for his innovative spirit. (Jerome Payne, www.cbsmoneywatch.com).”

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Unethical Behavior In Business

Business

The sad truth is there are people who part take in unethical behavior within the workplace. Unethical behavior includes a variety of activities. Some unethical business behavior may include lying and changing the number of hours they have worked, making a long distance phone call on the business phones, and copying business software so they can use it at home. There can be more serious unethical behavior such as altering business records. There are also behaviors which are deemed as unethical and behavior that is illegal but ultimately is up to the business to decide if the behavior is illegal or not.

When a employee discovers someone that is being unethical, it can sometimes test what their own ethical values are. Sometimes behavior that is unethical and not illegal can fall under a grey area such as, what is right or wrong and can make it difficult to know what to do when they encounter it. However, people will also have different opinions on what is ethical and what isn’t. An example could be saying that it okay to say a white lie, and they make it okay because they can justify it their mind.

The employees own sense of what is right or wrong, comes into play when they witness someone else doing something that isn’t part of the companies standards. The employee will need to address how they are feeling about the activity and will they inform on the activity or do they turn a blind eye.

When the employee witness the employee doing something unethical a decision is made in what to do about it and so they are presented with a number of difficult options. Should they go and talk to the person or do they go and speak to the supervisor.

There are techniques that are put in place to make it easier to help with the decision and manage unethical behaviors. The company needs to create a policy for the company, that is signed by each employee so, they are aware on what to do. This will minimize the awakened feeling of what to do when seeing someone act unethically.

The second part is to show a outline of what will be expected of the person when they discover someone doing something unethical. It should also have the person that needs to be contacted and what the process is involved in doing so. Having a clear set instructions, will have a more proactive way on reporting on someone who is doing something unethical. So, by having this it can deal with this issue easily and quickly before it becomes a big issue.

The consequences should be clearly stated of what the unethical behavior is. That way, the person who witness the activity is aware of what to do which lessens the risk of someone not reporting something that is unethical.

Business Landline Importance In The Age Of Smart Phones

Business

So you’ve chosen to switch or set up another business landline and broadband, however you’re not so much beyond any doubt where to begin. Naturally, most business managers consider the expense of their business landline benefit first and foremost, then introduce broadband. On the off chance that you run a business that requires more than one landline, you can lease the same number of lines as you need from your business supplier. For the most part, the more lines you lease, the less expensive the expense is for every line.

It’s convenient to recollect that business landlines are by and large preferable esteem over local landlines. So in the event that you think you’re sparing your business cash by staying with your residential landline, you could be in for astonishment! Business landline packages might be made up of various diverse gimmicks – which imply that the cost of your bundle will depend to a great extent on the peculiarities you requirement for your business.

Very nearly all business landline and broadband web packages will accompany a line rental charge implicit. Line rental does precisely what it says on the tin – its the charge you need to pay the phone organization to utilize their telephone links for landlines and broadband web. Business landline rates will differ relying upon the level of administration you require.

Most business suppliers offer a scope of distinctive sorts of landline. These include:

Single simple lines for the most part utilized for making calls, associating with fax machines and accepting broadband.
Multi line simple will provide for you extra lines on which to get a call. In the event that a call delivers and the first line is locked in, the call will basically reroute to the second line.
ISDN 2e is a solitary, astounding computerized line that uses distinctive channels for voice, feature, faxing or information. You can add extra circuits to your establishment, permitting you to have various associations working in the meantime. Isdn2e further permits you to designate separate telephone numbers to your clients.
ISDN 30 is generally utilized by bigger organizations, as they backing somewhere around 8 and 30 channels with all the gimmicks.
Sparta Telecom offers Business Landline, Business Phone Line and Business Broadband at cheapest rates. The company has the widest range of service plans and years of experience to serve you the best. For more information please visit the website.

What Are Silk Business Cards

Business

Your business card is extremely important, because it is part of the equation when potential clients form their first impression of you and your company. Therefore, a high-quality, professionally-printed card is critical. This is not an area for self-service; always hire a reputable printing company to produce your business cards.

Top-notch business card printers typically offer a variety of cardstocks to choose from. One such cardstock option at the high end of the quality scale is silk, sometimes referred to as silk-satin. This is one of the classiest and most elegant cardstocks you will ever see.

Silk Lamination

First and foremost, lets talk about what exactly the silk is comprised of. The silky coating is accomplished via silk-lamination, typically on 10pt or 15pt cardstock. This laminate coating is completely unnoticeable and invisible unless you try to tear the card. If you try and rip a silk business card, you will see the ultra-thin, transparent layer of silk-laminate peel away from the card.

It is this lamination which gives silk business cards their uniqueness. For one, it makes the cards more durable. The laminate coating makes the cards a little more difficult to tear, and helps minimize the possibility of corners and edges getting frayed.

Additionally, the silk lamination is completely writeable, meaning you can write on the card with pens, pencils, and markers with ease. This is a nice feature and is something that is not possible with glossy business cards. This attribute works well for jotting down appointments, so it is particularly appropriate for doctors, dentists, attorneys, or similar professionals.

No-Gloss Elegance

Another key attribute of silk cards is that they are non-glossy, which eliminates the common inconveniences associated with glossy business cards such as fingerprinting, streaks, smudges, and the cards sticking together.

Glossy business cards are coated with a varnish-like substance known as glossy UV (ultra-violet), which is completely different from the lamination associated with silk business cards. It is this glossy varnish that creates the aforementioned inconveniences. Conversely, non-shiny silk lamination eliminates these types of problems.

Additionally, the non-shiny look is more upscale and elegant. Many people correctly perceive glossy UV business cards to be a relatively low end business card product. The non-shiny look seems to be in these days, which positively influences peoples perception of quality.

Enhancements

Finally, the durability and composition of the silk cardstock make it the best choice for business card enhancement features like spot UV, embossing, and foil stamping.

Spot UV business cards in particular offer a unique look, as the areas treated with the spot UV are slightly raised and shiny compared to the non-shiny silk cardstock. Thus, the treated areas jump off the page and provide a striking visual impact. It would not be possible to produce spot UV business cards on an inherently glossy cardstock.

Embossing also works better on silk business cards. Embossing is the process of raising certain design elements by virtue of them getting pushed through from the backside. The net effect is similar to the account number on a standard credit card, where the numbers are raised on the front and recessed on the back. As you can probably guess, embossing is a delicate process that puts much stress on the cardstock, and thus is a more appropriate enhancement feature for durable business cards like silk.

Summary

To sum it all up, silk business cards are laminated, durable, writable, non-glossy, and support enhancement features. Outside of metal business cards or plastic business cards, silk cards are generally considered the highest-end business cardstock in the market today. They have an elegant look and feel, and do not have the same inconveniences as glossy business cards.

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