Posts Tagged ‘Through’

There are a few ways you can invest in a mutual fund, which is a single payment and the other through regular investments. The named later, will be mutual fund SIP. If you opt for an investment of time, you just hand over the check and receive your fund shares, depending on the value you NAV Mutual (Net Asset Value) of day actions. When you go into this type of investment of a few factors that determine the flow of the number of units you receive. A small percentage of your investments is an administration fee and is designated as an input load. Another objection is raised, the mutual fund NAV, which is the unit price of a fund. Say, if you invest Rs 9000 / and if you in particular unit costs Rs 30 /, then the total number of units you get to purchase 300. The other type of investment will be made at regular intervals instead of one-time payment. This type of investment planning is Mutual Funds SIP (Systematic Investment Planning). This type of investment is made, if you want to go for capital gains and you need to invest a higher amount, but find it difficult to invest a single point in time.

It was then that the concept of systematic investment planning ramp in. If you invest an amount of Rs 10,000 / in a particular mutual fund, but want to keep your current financial obligations as they do, then the concept of SIP, the breakdown of your investment, in principle, in the months equal installments. If a monthly investment of Rs 1000 is the end of the year you invest a sum at the end because 12000. Contrary to the overall investment strategy, where you pay a load input, a rule SIP does not charge a fee if Some companies, from the end in the form of output loads to pay a fee when you sell your units will start. The minimum amount that must be invested over time investment is Rs 5000 /, where, as he could Incase SIP Rs 500 or more (by company). In most cases, payments made monthly SIP for example, but also companies offering their customers the possibility of semi-annual or quarterly. Electronic payments are generally made by your bank clearing service, which is the Fund, according to your instructions, a certain amount from your bank account each month. If you do not have the money in your account, then for this month, no units will be provided for you. But if it continues at regular intervals, the Fund paid the SIP.

This is the constraint that the SOEs long how long you do not want the SIP. After that, over time, if you realize that you do not continue with the SIP, all you have to do is inform the fund 15 days before the distribution. The SIP is interrupted. You can always keep your money with the fund and move it if you want. The amount is considered to be done, the total investment invested. Investing in Fund by SIP allows your budget more disciplined. Each month, you are obliged to set aside a fixed amount. It helps you earn money in the long term. As you get more units when the NAV (per unit fee) drops and fewer when it rises, the cost, on average, over time. Thus, the tide on all the ups and downs of the market without drastic losses. In the case of SIP, in principle No fees are charged, but if you sell your shares within a year you pay and leave loading. Therefore, it pays to invest long term in one. The best way to fund a force on a SIP. But for the benefit of an SIP, you think of at least a period of three years if you do not touch your money.

An investment property is becoming a more popular choice for those seeking to create a revenue stream and also achieve capital growth through the investment property value increasing over time.

This can also be part of a strategic financial plan and should be considered by investors as part of a diversified portfolio. When considering an investment purchase you should also source the best investment loan structure for you. With any investment your investment loan can make a difference to your return. If you are negatively geared through an investment loan the cost to you of that investment loan can effectively be reduced.

If you purchase wisely, once there has been capital growth in the investment property over time there is the option of using this built up equity to move into another investment property, take out another investment loan and thereby continue to further increase your investment portfolio.

Aside from the traditional belief that tax advantages are the key driver for taking out an investment home loan there are many other factors to consider when purchasing an investment property.

Below are some key points for your reference, by using these points as a guide in conjunction with a detailed discussion with your accountant or financial planner you will be in a better position to ensure your investment purchase and investment loan is a financially sound decision for the long term.

In relation to property enquiry therefore, you should consider:

* What is the infrastructure like in the area? Are there enough schools, hospitals, shopping centres, doctors and dentists, freeways or main roads?

* What has the historical capital growth been in the area over the last two decades?

* Is the local council planning to increase housing density or add a new road to increase traffic flow?

* If you are purchasing in a new subdivision, are there more new land blocks and house and land packages planned nearby. New developments can impact on the value of your home as purchasers often prefer a new home to one that might be 2 or 3 years old in the same area.

* What length of time will the investment be held? And will this tie in with planned infrastructure development which will in turn accelerate capital growth?

There has been recent press to suggest that investment and home property values in Sydney have a potential capital growth of 18% over the next 3 years so buying off the plan as an investor may be an attractive option in the current market. If you find a good property development, suitable for investment, which has a completion date in say 2010 – 2011 then you can exchange contracts with either a 10% cash deposit or a deposit bond (as a guide the cost of a deposit bond of around $86500 for say settlement September 2011 will cost you approximately $9000- $9500 (significantly less than the interest you would pay over the period if you borrow $86,500 at current interest rates of 9% p.a). The general feeling is that direct investment into property as opposed to into managed property funds is a better way to go – you are in control of your investment and avoid the high management fees so often charged by share and property investment funds.

Do some research on the internet to see which areas have the greatest potential for capital gains – remember if you are looking for an investment property you should invest with your head not your heart. An investment property needs to be well located to transport and other facilities so that those renting can easily access these services.

When considering which investment loan would suit you best take the following into account:

1. Does the investment loan allow you to split it into a number of investment loan accounts. This is a good feature to have in an investment loan because you are positioning yourself for the future – if you use the investment property at a later date to gear into another investment purchase then you can split the account so that the investment loan portion relating to the new purchase is clearly identified. This allows you, and your accountant, to easily track the costs associated with the new purchase.

2. If you use your home property (with an existing home loan) as security for the investment loan then it is imperative that you do not mix any home loan debt with your investment loan borrowings. The ATO in Australia requires you to apportion any additional repayments to a loan where the borrowings are “mixed”. You want to apply any additional repayments to your home loan before your investment loan. You are paying your home loan off in after tax dollars – whereas you can deduct the interest you are paying on your investment loan against the income form the investment property.

3. Does the investment loan allow you to capitalise interest? It is always a good idea to include a capitalising feature as a part of your investment loan to protect you against any unexpected costs in relation to the property. It also means that instead of subsidising the investment costs and interest shortfall on your investment loan you can capitalise these and make additional repayments to your non-deductible home loan debt.

4. If you have sufficient equity in your home then you may be better to consider a 100% + costs investment loan for the investment acquisition and use any savings you intended for the investment purchase to pay down your home loan debt.

If you consider all these points your investment loan will be working in your favour at all times.

In the current global business scene, it is important to be highly competitive. Companies’ ability to beat and rise up from competition is considered important because revenues depend on it. Of course, it is apparent that competitive firms are more able to generate good income and profits because consumers and customers are reliant and trusting on them.

Competitiveness and good relationship with customers can be ensured by setting and putting in place good customer service practices. Good customer service levels would help your business achieve the competitiveness it needs. That is because putting into consideration the major perceptions of customers would make your company strive harder to develop good products and improve already existing products and services. To do so, you must adhere to good and working customer service metrics.

If your business has a customer service operations, you must ensure a recommended customer service metrics is in place. Usually, working customer service metrics include the following as main factors.

– Volume of customer inquiries handled per hour. This is a measure of productivity. Of course, the higher the number of customers attended to in an hour, the better. But there is one common and logical setback. If you would force your customer service representatives to take numerous and continuous calls, for sure, the quality of call service would suffer.

– Volume of customer complaints. This is not actually a direct customer service metrics but more of a performance indicator of the business and production operations. The more complaints your company receive, the more it is evident that your company has failed to be efficient in rendering and producing quality goods and services.

– Volume of resolved customer complaints. If you would run a daily tally about the volume of resolved complaints from customers, you would be able to distinguish the effectiveness of the customer service unit. In return, customer satisfaction would be boosted. Customer service metrics should always include this measure.

– Return customers volume. If customers keep on returning or buying your products, that means they are satisfied with the quality of services and products. In the customer service level, if clients keep on coming back despite their complaints, that means they realize that your business is still satisfactory.

Such customer service metrics can be considered more inclined on the quantitative side. Of course, by looking and tallying volumes of satisfied and dissatisfied customers, there are numbers involved. Quantitative metrics like the one described above are easier to handle and interpret.

However, you can also adopt and integrate within your quantitative metrics a good and working qualitative customer service metrics. A qualitative customer service metrics would take note and reflect stated opinions and overall perceptions held by customers. Most of the time, it is much more interesting to look at qualitative customer service metrics because they point more to quality issues. Interpretation would be easier and more convenient. If you would be able to look at qualitative measures and at the same time at quantitative customer service metrics, the better. Customer service metrics are a great way to evaluate the performance of helpdesk or call-center unit of any company.

You need checklists.  Things in the life of a small business leader are hectic and overwhelming.  There is a seemingly endless list of tasks to be accomplished with constantly changing priorities.  It can be difficult to stay focused and accomplish those objectives that can truly grow your small business.  Checklists help you deal with this challenge.  Checklists are a great tool to help you grow your small business.

There were countless times in the earlier days of the development of my motivational speaking practice that I would forget things.  Let me walk you through a typical scenario so that you can learn from my mistakes.  When I first started planning events for meeting planners I would ask for basic information such as the time of my speech and the address of the hotel. 

I often made mistakes about confirming basic information.  Where was I to park?  If there are 3000 people at a convention that might have keynotes, breakout sessions and other activities at multiple venues, this seemingly simple question sometimes had me literally driving in a circle for an hour.  If “Where should I park?” were on my checklist, I could have invested 1 minute of time to potentially save 1 hour later. 

I have another example.  One client delayed paying an invoice by three months because my staff did not follow their invoicing process.  We combined two invoices into 1 sheet of paper.  This did not work in their accounting process.  In this example, a checklist question of “How would you like to be invoiced?” would have helped us avoid a 3 month delay in payment. 

What are the critical steps in your business process?  Are they all documented?  Does everybody know these steps?  When you have a checklist you help to insure that the critical steps are not overlooked.  This will create greater efficiency in your business.  If you spend less time trying to park and deal with invoice paperwork, you can focus on selling and providing higher value to your clients.

Have checklists for the important steps in your small business.  Having checklists is a great way to grow your small business. 

Could you use more tips like this to accelerate the growth of your small business?  Achievement thinking is a powerful concept that Mark Mikelat, the founder of Building Aspirations, www.BuildingAspirations.com, uses to coach his small business clients to double or even triple the size of their businesses. You can learn more and take advantage of a free strategic analysis at http://www.BuildingAspirations.com/BusinessSuccess.html.  Also, you can view his books on Amazon.com. 

What is customer service? Have you ever stopped to really think about this question? We have trained literally thousands of people and hundreds of organisations in customer service. No matter who the person or what the organisation, the answer to this question is always generic. They will say: “Customer service is about giving customers what they want” or perhaps “it’s about satisfying customers” some times they will say that it is about “making customers happy.”

While at first glance these answers may sound correct, nothing could be further from the truth. Say for example that you ran a restaurant. If a customer were to enter your restaurant and ask for some office supplies would you be able to give the customer what they want? Would you be able to satisfy a customer who was looking for some jewellery if you worked in a hardware store? No, it would be impossible. The best that you could do would be to politely tell the customer where they can go and get Jewry. Obviously, customer service is not about giving customers what they want, or even satisfying customers.

The same is true for the way we give customer service. When we ask the question: what is the most important thing for good customer service, almost everyone we ask will answer: smile. While this may be good in some cases it is not appropriate in all cases. Just imagine if a distressed mother came up to you and told you that she had lost her 2 year old child in your store. Imagine how she would respond if you were to smile at her? Or imagine if a customer told you that he/she slipped while climbing the stairs or escalator in your store and as they explained their excruciating injuries you smiled back at them.

The truth is that customer service is not about practicalities, it’s about principles. The practicalities may change but the principles stay the same. Staff are not meant to smile all the time, to give customers everything they want, or to satisfy all their needs. Staff are meant to promote the organisation and its values. If you want to increase the impact of your customer service teach staff to represent your organisation and its unique traits.

When we teach customer service training modules we first focus on what the organisation values, what it’s all about and what does it want customers to see. Once we have done this, we move on to how to serve in light of these values. This is a very easy way of getting staff to change the way they serve, it produces better results and is a lot more fun to teach.

Here is something you can do to help your staff engage in effective customer service. Take a black/white board and draw a very basic house. Ask staff to take a piece of chalk or the white board marker and to take turns to turn this basic house into your organisation/company. They may add pictures or words to the basic drawing. Some will add words like: quality, professionalism, friendliness, service, money, speed, or simplicity while others may draw things like customers and staff.

Now ask staff this simple question: in light of this picture, what does a good customer service representative do? The participants will now find it easy to see what customer service is really about in your organisation. They may say for example, in light of us being a friendly company we should smile. Or perhaps they will highlight the organisation’s professionalism and explain that it’s professional to stand up straight and to dress appropriately.

Instead of teaching staff practicalities teach them principles and the practicalities will follow naturally.