Category: Tools and Information

California’s high rents undermine tenants’ retirement chances | Fast Company

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One of Bill Ware’s various jobs in recent years was as a part-time insurance salesman. In that role, he has helped people prepare for unexpected hardships—burglaries, falling trees, car accidents, medical emergencies, and even death. But Ware recently faced the unexpected himself when his income took a dive.

Early this year a tax consultancy that works to resolve problems with the IRS and state agencies hit a trough and, in April, he says, the consultancy suddenly cut his income by 60%. Soon after, as the credit card bills piled up, he realized he needed to take action.

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How to Manage Your Business Cash Flow During the Slow Season | AllBusiness.com

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1st in a series of articles exploring how to make 2019 your business’s best year yet.

Getting your business in shape for a successful 2019 starts with cash flow. If your business is a seasonal one, such as a landscaping company, or a home remodeling or construction business in which work slows down during the winter months, year-end cash flow planning is especially important.

Without positive cash flow, you won’t have the working capital you need to finance your operations, pay your vendors, or meet payroll during the slow season.

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The Problems With Working For A Consulting Agency (Do This Instead) | Management Consulting Connection

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You might be losing a lot of money right now.

I’ve worked with hundreds of consultants in many industries all around the world and often I hear about situations where people are losing a lot of money, they’re losing a lot of opportunities. In some cases, they’re aware of it. In other cases, they’re not.

What am I talking about? I’m talking about working with other agencies. I’m talking about you working as a consultant and not a consulting business owner. There’s a very big difference. So let’s look at these. I’ll put it all into play for you.

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Cracking the Code on Heating and Cooling Costs for Your Business | Small Business Trends

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Small businesses across the United States spend a staggering $60 billion on energy every year, most of which is consumed in electricity. Keeping work premises warm in the winter and cool in the summer is a necessary part of running any business but is also energy intensive, equating to one of the biggest energy costs.

Heating and Cooling Costs

Taking steps to reduce heating and cooling costs will significantly help reduce your business’s electricity consumption and therefore energy bills.

If you’re determined to cut back on heating and cooling expenses, take a look at the following ways you might be able to do it.

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What to Include in Your Freelance Contract | Business.com

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Considering freelancing? Here’s everything you need to know about freelance contracts, from what to include in the contract to handling breaches.

When you pursue freelancing, you are choosing an independent career path that requires you to look after yourself. In other words, you’re your own boss, and you need to secure your finances, insurance, retirement savings, etc., on your own terms.

One major responsibility freelancers must prioritize is creating a contract to establish a legal agreement between you and your clients.

“A freelancer needs a contract,” said Drew DuBoff, blogger and chief career coach. “Because they are not full-time employees, they are acting as independent contractors, so this document is an independent contractor agreement.”

If you’re considering taking the freelance route, here’s everything you need to know about freelance contracts.

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Holiday Shopping? Watch Out for This Costly Credit Card Trap | The Simple Dollar

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As the holiday season gets into full swing, so too do the credit card promotions from retail stores far and wide.

This is prime season for enticing shoppers to sign onto the dotted line for cards that offer a discount on your first purchase or a special 0% introductory APR — which to many cash-strapped consumers can sound like an ideal way to finance a holiday extravaganza.

The reality of these deferred-interest retail credit cards however, is that they may not be as helpful as they sound at first blush. In fact, in many cases, signing on for one can cost far more than expected if you’re not clear on how the deferred interest proposition works.

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How Teflon Went From Wartime to Dinner Time | WIRED

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POLYTETRAFLUOROETHYLENE WILL NOT dissolve in acetone or ether or concentrated sulfuric acid. When Roy Plunkett first found it coating some storage canisters in 1938, he tried to destroy the substance with just about every technique known to science. A young employee at DuPont, Plunkett had been hired to develop a new refrigerant. But when he cooled and compressed a gas he was testing, a waxy white powder unexpectedly formed—that stuff he couldn’t eradicate. The material was brought to the attention of US Army general Leslie Groves, director of the Manhattan Project, who commissioned DuPont to design a plant that used polytetrafluoroethylene seals and gaskets.

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Why Your Health Is the Key to Your Success in Business | Entrepreneur

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Be honest: Are you working at your absolute peak? Just look at The Rock. Sure he’s charismatic and a strong actor, but how does he fly across the world to record back-to-back films with barely a moment to rest? It’s because he’s in incredible shape. The Rock gets the most out of his acting chops because he obsesses over his health.

That same idea applies to you as an entrepreneur. Treat your body well — eat right, challenge your body, get proper sleep — and you’ll reward yourself with more energy, greater focus, and a heightened level of discipline. You’ll achieve new levels of productivity while your competition falls behind and watches you scale faster and faster.

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How To Quash Your Fears Of Pitching | Getentrepreneurial.com

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To say that we are in the start-up culture era would be a gross understatement. Start-ups are popping up left, right and centre – and the entrepreneurs behind such companies are reaping in the rewards.

While there are all sorts of characteristics that define leaders, we would hedge a bet that something all of the founders of said companies have in common is that they can pitch. To obtain that elusive initial funding, or funding to take your business to the next level for that matter, pitching is a crucial part of being a modern-day business leader.

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