Opeweb Business

For most entrepreneurs, it’s a given when we say that starting up a business entails some risk- and when there is risk, insurance is necessary.  Insurance is needed to protect your business against untoward incidents like accident or lawsuit that could drain your funds and inevitably turn you out of business. The type of insurance you need is dependent on the type of your business, whether you are corporation, partnership or sole proprietorship. To help you get the right insurance plan for your business, here are some types of insurance that could minimize the risks and protect your business:

Property or casualty. This type of insurance covers losses from physical damage to your property or loss of use and should cover the contents of your property (building or any physical structure), just like you would insure your own house from damage.

General liability. This insurance protects you if anyone is injured at your place of business and also covers any injuries that might be caused by a product or service you sell.  With this type of insurance, the insurance company is authorized to pay for your legal defense, settle the claim, and pay any judgment within the police limits.

Umbrella liability. This plan is intended to fill in any gaps left by all your other forms of insurance. If your business is complex or exposes you to many risks, for example, this coverage ensures that you will not be stuck with a big bill.

Business interruption. In cases wherein ‘acts of God’ like earthquake or storm interrupts your business for weeks or months, your property or casualty insurance will cover damage to our building, pay your bills, payroll or even a loss of profits.

Before buying a business, it is best to do your research before agreeing to take over to avoid ending up with a lemon. It could be very tempting to conclude a cheap sale on the spot and be able to tell everyone that you are now an entrepreneur.

In choosing what enterprise to buy, make sure that it is right one for you. Select one that you are knowledgeable and passionate about to avoid being duped by opportunistic employees, suppliers, and even customers. It is also recommended to consult other people who own he same kind of business to draw on their experiences to make an accurate assessment and forecast for your own business. You could also avoid making costly errors in your decisions by getting the help of an attorney and accountant to consult with every step of the process.

It is also strongly recommended to obtain and carefully examine the seller’s financial statement and records. Your lawyer and accountant can look into the profit-and-loss records, tax returns, balance sheets, and supplier’s records for the past three years as well as into the current receivables. Have the business appraised including its assets, inventory, and brand. This will provide the basis for the offer that you will make to the seller.

The use of credit cards has brought forth stories of people getting into debt as it may have caused some people to feel a stronger purchasing power and think that they have extra money to spend. In reality, these credits have to be paid for come due date. On the other hand, credit cards can be an effective business tool by learning to manage them well. There are also many entrepreneurs who successfully use credit cards to bankroll their businesses. Here are some tips on how to maximize the benefits of using credit cards as an effective business tool:

-Pay the total amount due on or before the due date. The regular credit card allows a cardholder 3 payment options- pay the total amount due, pay the minimum amount due, or pay an amount more than the minimum amount due but less than the total amount due. In any case, you must make the payment on or before the due date stated in the statement of account for you to stay in good standing.

- Take advantage of 0% installment promotions. Most personal credit card issuers offer 0% installment promotions, allowing you to buy high-ticket items at select appliance and gadget stores at no interest and payable in 6, 9, or 12 months. Use this installment plan to acquire office or computers, cell phones, or other gadgets, and office furniture.

- You can use your credit card for operational expenses. You may use your credit card for operational expenses such as utilities, gasoline, representation, office supplies and vehicle repairs, as long as you are a diligent payer. Your credit card billing statement can then serve as a tool to analyze your expenses and cash flow requirements.

Brands prove to have an emotional connection with people as they most certainly have proven their value and familiarity. However, the emotional factor alone may not be enough, because now is a different marketing field.

Apart from other emerging brands, customers have become more discriminating and their buying behavior has changed. And as technology advances rapidly, customers get easier, less expensive access to information, which helps them directly compare one brand to another.  To succeed, a brand must continuously revitalize and reinvent itself. To stay on top of the minds of your customers, here are some tips that you can do to reinvent your product:

-          Know your market segment and have a deep understanding of their needs, purchase behavior, and preferences.

-          Introduce product variants or extensions that are meaningful to customers, not just for the sake of launching a new product.

-          Consider changing your product with the lifestyle and purchase preferences of your customers as they change a lot. Be sure that your products tackle these changes to keep it relevant to customers.

-          Create excitement through an improved look or product packaging. Remember that the manner a product is presented or packaged is very important in communicating your value proposition to customers.

For entrepreneurs going on for business expansion, the lack of funds is probably one of the biggest issues to finance the construction, production and investment of an enterprise. One effective solution that business owners can opt to is through utilizing a business loan.

By definition, business loans are given out to a registered or incorporated business by a bank, credit union or other financial institutions. Instead of you being personally liable for the loan, your company- with its potential to make profit- becomes responsible for the repayment of the loan. There are many inherent advantages to using business loans for your company. Often, no individual is held liable for paying the loan because the corporation acts as the borrower, and thus is responsible for the repayment of the loan.

Business loans can become additional working capital to finance activities such as the sale of goods and the processing, marketing, storage and distribution of products. It may also be used for administrative supplies and needs such as the purchase of furniture, appliances, and equipment for your business.

Cash flow determines your business’ financial position, the cash that goes in and out of your company. Managing how your cash flows in and out of your bank account depends on how you balance the timing of your cash collections from clients with cash payments to your suppliers. Managing your cash means you need to collect cash from your customers as soon as possible while paying your suppliers as slow as possible. To help you improve your cash flow, here are some tips to consider:

-  Offer discounts to customers who pay you before due dates.

-  Ask customers to make down payments when they order.

-   Mark down slow moving inventory to convert to cash quickly.

-   Make a customer credit policy that will determine credit limits.

-   Monitor receivables regularly by identifying those that are about to become due and those that have become overdue. These items require immediate action.

If you are putting up a business, a great way to manage and monitor your inventory is through the use of a point-of-sale system. Through utilizing this system, you can make your transactions transparent. It is also especially useful to record credit and debit cards and manage inventory through this system.

Securing a POS is necessary for business owners who cannot be in their place of business 24/7. A POS makes it easier for owners to monitor their operations without necessarily being their establishments the whole time. The POS terminal typically has its core a personal computer which is provided with application-specific programs and devices for the particular environment it will serve. A POS system for a restaurant, for example, is likely to have all menu items stored in a database that can be queried for information in a number of ways.

Increasingly, POS terminals are also web-enabled, which makes remote training and operation possible, as well as inventory tracking across geographically dispersed locations.

The objective in managing cash payments is to delay them as long as possible. Managing your cash payments can spell the difference between the success and failure of your business. When you understand to measure and manage this, you will have a sense of order and well being that extends to yourself, not only your business. Below are some tips that you can apply:

-  Pay on the due date, not earlier. If a payment is due on 30 days, don’t pay it in 15 days.

-  Make a track record with your suppliers so that you could request delays in payments in the future, if your business needs it, without them losing their trust in you.

-  Use bank checks instead of cash on the due date unless supplier requires otherwise.

-   Negotiate for flexible payment terms. Sometimes, it is better to pay a little extra on price if you could stretch your payment terms as long as possible.

Customer complaints are unavoidable in any business or enterprise and handling such issues can be very challenging. Even careful operation does not make you immune to having unhappy customers. To handle customer complaints effectively, here are some points that you can follow:

- Listen. Listen and put yourself in the customer’s shoes and understand the situation from his or her point of view. This is the first step in successful resolution of a complaint.

- Show ownership. Avoid referring customers to other departments, blaming others or making excuses. Assure customers that your company will attend to their complaints.

- Empathize and resolve. Apologize to customers for the inconvenience if there was indeed a mistake. Offer solutions to the best of your abilities but make sure that it is still withing the bounds of company policy.

- Learn and improve. Make your company more attuned to customer needs and look for permanent improvements. Complaints point out your company’s shortcomings to help it improve its systems and procedures to satisfy your customers.