Chosen Thought

Archive for the ‘business lebel’ Category

Whether you’re a CIO considering a switch from Sun to IBM or a manager debating about upgrading your entire Server platform, one thing remains the same: you’ve probably got one eye on your efficiency gain and the other eye on your budget.
Fortunately, there are several financing options available to help you break down large technology acquisitions into more affordable monthly payments.
The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) estimates that eight out of ten U.S. companies lease at least some equipment, but what many people don’t realize is that there are flexible financing options available for almostany kind of technology equipment, including software, services and training.
Equipment financing is a popular way to maximize your purchasing power largely because it is acost-effective way to obtain the newest equipment without a large outlay of cash.
Financing also helps shield you from the effect of equipment obsolescence, a real issue for all those using any type of technology asset. It’s easy to add the latest software version to your master lease so you don’t have to worry about working with outdated technology.
The Benefits Add Up
Some of the other recognized benefits of financing technology equipment include:
• Reduced Tax Burden – The IRS does not consider certain leases, for example, to be a purchase, but rather a tax-deductible overhead expense. Therefore, you may be able to deduct the lease payments from your corporate income.
• 100 percent financing – Some financing options require very little money down – perhaps only the first and last month’s payment are due at the time of the acquisition.
• Immediate write-off of the dollars spent – With some financing options, payments can be treated as expenses on a company income statement, so equipment does not have to be depreciated over the useful life of the equipment.
• Flexibility – As your business grows and your needs change, flexible financing options provide more opportunities for businesses to add or upgrade equipment during the lease term.
• Asset management – Financing provides the use of technology equipment for specific periods of time at fixed payments. With some financing structures, the finance company assumes and manages the obsolescence risk of equipment ownership. At the end of the finance terms, the financing company is responsible for the disposition of the asset.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to reasons to finance technology equipment. Some of the other recognized benefits of financing include:
• Upgraded technology – Equipment that is frequently updated, such as software, should be financed to limit your risk of being stuck with obsolete equipment. It’s easy to add the latest software version to your master lease, for example, so you don’t have to worry about working with outdated technology.
• Speed – Some financing options can allow you to respond quickly to new opportunities with minimal documentation and red tape. Most resellers work with a finance company that can approve applications within twp hours.
• Improved cash flow – Many finance structures can result in a lower monthly payment when compared to a standard loan. In addition, some finance companies offer seasonally adjusted payments to match a company’s needs.
• Simplicity- Financing process and documentation is straight forward and easy to understand.
Finance Services Too

I have been involved in Networking for a long time now. I would like to reflect on the issues I have found over that time.
it seems that wherever I go, people I deal with do not understand what Business Networking is all about. The reason that you Network with others in business is not to sale them on your business. What, wait, not sell them on my business. That’s correct. When you are networking with others in business your primary goal should be to sell them on you. I know everyone has heard it said over and over again, people don’t care about your product, but they will care about you. There is a lot more to it than that. People will care about you, but they will also come to understand you as a person of integrity and honor as well.
At that point they will be interested in the product you have because someone they trust is offering it. Sometimes they do not see a need for themselves, but they will see the need for others and will happily refer you to these others. The referrals are what you are looking for. If your goal is to sell them on your product, that is fine. But, they will know you as pushy and not want to refer you to anyone. If you are that pushy person and want to make connections that can lead to more sales, get a new attitude. If you can’t change, at least try to fake it. If that is not even possible, then best of luck. You will make sales, but you will have to continue to make them one on one.
I really do enjoy going to Networking events. I meet nice people with businesses I would like to know more about. I usually collect a lot of business cards. I can’t figure out though, why they waste their money on cards. The business cards have a contact number and an e-mail address most of the time. I try to contact as many people as I can. When I contact them I usually ask to meet with them and talk about our businesses. I have found that I will get responses from about five percent of the people I contact. Of those I get to meet with maybe one of the five percent. They always say the same thing. It is getting pretty tiring. They say they are too busy and can’t find the time.

You really can’t blame people for getting it all screwed up. They have been taught that way, and we are social animals and we learn from our environment-I mean, this is nature. However, it’s just numerically the case that they were born in that relationship, in that family, in that city, in that society. The truth is absolutely different.What am I referring to? I am referring to how you’re taught and trained to get a job; taught, trained and educated to get a job.And you’re taught, trained and educated that you can get a better job if you want to make more money and have more of the comforts of life, when in fact there isn’t a job that will ever do it for you. A job, which some people say is an acronym for “just over broke,” is, as a matter of fact, what most people are.

What are we talking about? This: it means being in business for yourself. But not just any business. Many business “owners” simply traded their job for a “pay yourself last” chain around their neck.. That could be worse than a job. You’ve got to get away from trading hours for dollars.”Oh, this is a good job. It pays $20 an hour.” (Adjust this figure for your own location and time.)You think so? Hey, on an eight-hour day that’s $160. Now, you can convert that to your own currency, but then by the time you pay 40-50% to the tax person, that ain’t a good job!And what are you going to do? Are you going to put in a little bit of overtime? How much can you do, and how much do you want to do? You’ve got to think leverage. You’ve got to think multiplication.

You know, generally speaking when there is a recession the franchising industry takes off like a rocket ship. This is because so many people are laid off from corporate America, the jobs are not coming back fast enough, and people know that they have to find something to do for a living. Often, if they can’t find a job they turn to starting a business of their own. Indeed, one of the easiest ways to start a business is to just buy a franchise with a perfect business model, and an attached brand name which is already proven in the marketplace.

However, during this last recession things were a little bit different. Franchising never really did take off like it normally does during recessions and this is because the commercial credit markets were so tight. And even as we exit the recession in a jobless recovery those folks out of work cannot afford to purchase a franchise because there are no banks or companies willing to lend the money. Will the franchising industry ever rebound from this conundrum and catch 22?

The answer is yes, absolutely. After all, it makes sense from a banker’s standpoint to lend money at the bottom of recession knowing that they will get the money back as all those businesses grow. It’s a safer bet from a risk standpoint. Therefore, there will be small business banks, and entrepreneurial capitalists who fund the growth of the franchising industry, there is a lot of profit to be made. Where there is profit, there will be investment and cash available.

Promotional merchandise is a great marketing sensation. Mugs, mouse pads, pens, stationary, T shirts and so many other common usage items are used to promote businesses and it works like a miracle. The investment is not as big as buying air time during prime hours on the radio or television but needs to be sufficient to reach out to a selected large group of people at whom you aim these products.

The good thing about promotional merchandise is that it works in a variety of ways and in comparison to other marketing techniques around, the merchandise has a better reach in respect to the spectrum of people it can capture. Most marketing techniques are centered on a narrow group of individuals, but things like promotional clothing can be a really great idea because not only is the brand being promoted to the wearer but also to everybody in their environment when the clothing is worn.

Some products have an inherent potential to be marketed with promotional clothing. Most of such products fall under the category of diminishable items like eatables. Everybody loves food and if you can make your promotional clothing attractive, some people would go as far actually to ‘get’ this type of clothes. This thing actually goes really well along with social marketing and can have a good effect on the perception of your product because it’s becoming a part of the urban culture.

Promotional mugs is also a great idea when it comes to promotional marketing, because of the fact that they fall in the category of daily usage items. Daily usage items are a part of your life. You can not ignore them and you keep looking at each time they are used. It’s a really great idea to have your logo printed on a lot of promotional mugs and giving them to people for free.