06.27
11
by admin ·
No matter what type of service industry you own or manage, presenting a professional workforce to the public is of the utmost importance to the overall image of your company. Choosing a work uniform that is appropriate and appealing will help your workers appear more professional to your consumers. Plus, work uniforms help to promote and advertise your business effortlessly.
As the name suggests, the service industry is all about serving your customers. A professional and attractive work uniform is especially important when dealing with the public because it immediately identifies you as someone who is available to help. When employees wear an identifiable work uniform, they become instantly recognizable to consumers. This promotes a feeling of professionalism and fosters an environment of customer support.
We have all had the experience of wandering around a store looking for someone to help us, not sure who works there because the employees do not have a clear dress code. When customers walk into your store, your employees should be instantly recognizable. There should never been any confusion of who is and is not an employee in your establishment.
Service professionals who work in people’s homes, like electricians, plumbers, and repairmen, should always present themselves in a uniform that indicates the company that they work for. This practice enables homeowners to easily identify the worker when he or she comes to the home. Most people would not let in a stranger without a proper uniform. Plus, wearing an easily identifiable uniform makes you appear more professional and trustworthy.
There are so many options when choosing a uniform for your staff. Listed below are a few things that you should keep in mind when determining the best outfit for your employees.
Appropriate for the job: Your work clothes should be appropriate for the tasks that you must complete. For example, a service industry worker who may be crawling under houses to check piping will need comfortable, stain resistant clothes that will enable him to perform his job effectively. An employee selling high-end furniture may require a more upscale type of uniform. When choosing work attire for your employees, make sure that you select clothes that allow them to do their job comfortably.
Presentable to the public: You want to select work apparel that will present a professional image to the public. Include your business name on the shirts and choose colors that match your company logo. Be sure to select items that are wrinkle-free and easily laundered so that your employees look fresh and refined each day. Remember that they are promoting your company image to the world.
Comfortable: Keep in mind that these are the clothes that your employees will be wearing all day everyday while they wait on customers and perform their job. It is important that you choose fabrics that are comfortable no matter what the season. You may consider offering your employees a few choices in styles. For example, you may have a cold weather uniform to be worn in the winter months and a short sleeves version to wear when it is warm. Breathable fabrics like cotton are usually the most comfortable to wear all year long.
Presenting a professional appearance is essential to the success of your service-based business. For the most impact, choose a uniform that will benefit your employees as well as your bottom line.
06.16
11
by admin ·
Arm Yourself
Credit card fraud can happen to anyone and is becoming more common. You need to arm yourself with the knowledge of how to prevent it and what to do if it happens to you. Hold onto your credit card receipts and dispose of them properly. While most places are now hiding your credit card numbers and only showing the last four digits this is not always the case. Some receipts will still show your entire credit card number and if you have placed your signature on it as well then a thief has enough info to go on with just that alone. They can put in for a change of address to your credit card company and spend it all before you ever know what happens. You’ll wonder why your bill hasn’t come in yet, and if you put it off, the collectors will come calling. Don’t wait, if your bill is late then you need to call your credit card company and find out why, and also to check if there are any charges that you have not placed on the card.
Properly Dispose of Personal Info
So it turns out you have great credit and receive regular offers from credit card companies with great interest rates, but you have enough cards so you toss your junk mail in the trash, sometimes without even opening it. Bad idea. Many thieves will happily dumpster dive to get some good info. They can take those pre approved offers, and often times don’t even need to speak to an actual person. They will open the card in your name through an automated system to make things fast and efficient and start spending your money as quickly as possible. Shred those offers, dunk them in water, burn them, whatever it takes to get your information scattered, hidden, and difficult to contend with. Make it difficult for those thieves so they won’t want to mess with it. You can ‘opt out’ of these offers by sending a request or calling the company and asking them to remove you from the list.
What about those old deposit slips at the back of your checkbook that you never used? You know the ones with your name, complete physical address, your account and routing number. Someone could very easily transfer money to a temporary account, or just write a bad check to deposit and sign for the money in the less cash received section. Black out all the info and shred them before you throw them away. The same goes for voided checks.
Don’t Give Out Your Info Unless Necessary
Your social security number is, unfortunately, your identity when it comes to many things, including your credit. Make sure it is absolutely necessary before giving out this information. If a company calls you, claiming they need to update your information, get their number and call them back before you give any of it out. Many identity thieves will call you, pretending to be some credit company associated or working with your credit card company and ask to ‘update your info’ and you will give them all the info they need to open up accounts and start spending.
Monitor your spending. If anything shows up that you did not buy, call immediately. If your bill is taking longer than expected to get to you, call. Automated systems make things easier not only for you, but for identity thieves as well. Go paperless if possible so you don’t have any physical papers a thief can get too easily. You can buy protection through many companies that will alert you if there any changes in your credit. In the end just be careful with any info that can lead to your bank or credit card account. Make sure you dispose of the information properly and you may be able to avoid the stress and hassle of identity theft.
06.16
11
by admin ·
Investment is the cornerstone of both the politics of democracy and the economics of capitalism. A person in such a place has the freedom to do as he or she pleases with the resources that he or she is able to accumulate for him or herself. As such, there is an opportunity unlike in any other political or economic system for unprecedented gains from directing resources in the right direction: More bluntly spoken, by making the right investments.
Under a democratic capitalist society, each citizen’s responsibility for the welfare of his or her own life is ultimately their own. Government is there by definition to provide opportunities and protect its citizens from undue harm; however, there is no promise of wealth or abundance in democracy or capitalism. Employers are encouraged by market forces to pay employees only what the market will bear, not to make them rich, no matter how hard that employee works. But under this political and economic system, there is more opportunity for wealth and abundance through strong investments than through any other.
The bottom line is this: Investments are meant to be wealth and abundance accumulators. Strong investments are meant to outstrip any and all forces which weigh down upon money and detract from wealth and abundance, namely taxes, inflation, and the cost of everyday living. Strong investments leave real profit in the pocket of an investor even after all of these things have been taken into account.
Strong investments create residual income, meaning that an investor should not have to keep working on the investment after investing to accumulate wealth. In short, the money of the investor starts working for the investor, instead of the other way around. Strong investments pay commensurate to their risk, not below.
Strong investments are able to float above short term market forces such as interest rate changes, increases in cost of living, industry problems, and even individual company rumors. Investments are solid and able to be counted on even in bad times. As a matter of fact, during bad times is the best point in which to reinvest in strong investments.
Investments are easily sold. Many investors mistakenly believe that if they have made a good or timely buy, then they have made strong investments. However, investments are only worth as much as someone else is willing to pay for them. Notice how many of the top companies are valued mostly by market cap and conjecture of what the information that they hold is worth, not by actual dollars in the company. Investments have more than just ample cash flow; although this is hardly a disadvantage. They also have tangible and intangible assets that people want.
06.6
11
by admin ·
I am known for being “cheap.” Some say that my motivations come from a love of money. Both are incorrect. I seek to curtail as much as possible, the money spent on things that do not last. We all want to make our marks in this life and most of have a finite amount of expendable income at our disposal. This article is not going to include specific money saving tips like how to get 50 miles per gallon on or how to clip coupons in order to get ninety-six free bags of noodles. Rather, the mindset of somebody who values money and the ways in which it is spent is what this article will be about.
Poor Richard, or rather Benjamin Franklin in his essay: The Way to Wealth, stated that a fat kitchen makes a lean will. This is not to say that we should live as paupers in order to die rich. That is an empty goal and it is one of vanity. However, as much as I love to eat, spending money on fine meals at fine restaurants, leaves nothing for the individual to show other than a few extra pounds around their mid section. Retaining the motivation that one must curtail the money that he or she spends on things that do not last, will help that individual to have more expendable income in the future.
As important as having a high paying job in order to live the life that you want, so too is the right mindset. It is not how much you make but how much you save which helps you to live the life that you want. Fiscal conservatism, something that our local, state or national government have never adhered to, is something that should be observed in each of our households. Paying only for those things which we have the money for and avoiding the accumulation of debt except under the most serious of familial situations is one of the tenants of a faith in money and the opportunities that it affords its converts.
Realizing that money is a tool to invest and to better the lives of the owner and those around him or her, is what will make one value money more than the majority of Americans who see money as something that one must work for instead of something that works for us. That belief is what separates the rich from the poor, the successful from those who live paycheck to paycheck.
05.27
11
by admin ·
For Chetan Kapur Frustration Turned Into Success
For years, Chetan Kapur grew more and more frustrated in his search for unique books. As smaller independent booksellers were edged out by the larger big box bookstores, he noticed it was getting harder and harder to find the books he was looking for. Often put out by small publishers, some may call his taste in books obscure, but Chetan Kapur, just wasn’t interested in the bestseller list. Finally, his frustration led him to open his own bookstore.
Chetan Kapur’s Bookstores Find Support
It’s turned out to be a good decision for him. Ten years later, Chetan Kapur now owns a small chain of bookstores in the Oklahoma City area. He’s happy to support the smaller publishers and less well-known authors and he’s developed a devoted clientele who share his interests. Chetan Kapur’s customers have been instrumental in helping him chose new books to sell and have even been known to place special orders, which Chetan Kapur is happy to fulfill at no additional charge. The eclectic mix of books found in Kapur’s bookstores come from around the world and are often based on the requests of his customers. Chetan Kapur prides himself on not offering best selling novels.
