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Robbin Davidson

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In Business

Business Ventures: Planning Your Business Trips

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Business travels involve various reasons why they take place. Firms often do this to close a business deal. Aside from that, it is a way to create a good partnership with another firm. But then again, these trips need proper planning. Some trips may be out of town or out of the country.

Given this point, you have to make sure that everything’s settled. This post will provide a guide on how you can achieve hassle-free business travel. It is best to prepare to avoid travel mishaps that can affect the purpose of the business trip.

Ways to Secure a Smooth Business Trip

Keep in mind that you have a good reason why this trip has to take place. Its success will mean something for your business. In this case, the tips below can help you ensure smooth corporate travel:

Check the company’s corporate travel policy.

It is best to read the policy before you depart for a business trip. In this case, the policy includes how reimbursements will take place. That includes repay for the following items:

  • Hotel stays
  • Rental cars
  • Meals
  • Work-related incidents
  • Wi-Fi’s connection

You have to ensure that your travel arrangements follow what’s written in the policy. This way, you will not deal with any issues once you come back. For this reason, it is best to clear things up before you leave.

Create a detailed itinerary.

It is best to have a clear schedule of how your business trip will go. In this case, an itinerary is your number one option to make your travel successful. You can type it using Word or Excel, then print a copy that you can have along with you. In effect, you can prevent stress upon arriving at your destination.

Prepare business cards.

This business trip can open up more opportunities to expand connections. Various firms from the industry will come as well. For this reason, it is best to bring a stack of business cards with you. Handing these cards out to everyone you meet may require effort. However, you are helping your company grow its relationship with other business sectors.

Organize your documents.

Be sure to keep all the vital records in one place. It is best to keep a scanned or photocopy of these documents. That includes the following items:

  • Plane tickets
  • Passport
  • Visa (if there’s any)
  • Confirmations from the hotel
  • Car rental receipts

Keep in mind that losing any of these items can get you in trouble. So, put everything in a safe place for your travel.

Think about safety and security during your business trip.

You have to act accordingly while on the trip. It is best to keep yourself and your colleagues safe at all costs. The following can help ensure safe and secure corporate travel:

  • Use a digital wallet or e-wallet instead of bringing too much cash with you.
  • Always let others know your whereabouts and provide details of how they can contact you.
  • Don’t engage yourself in any criminal activity or violence. Instead, choose to walk away from it.
  • If you traveled as a team, make sure to account for everyone in case of split-ups. Be sure no one’s left behind.

During your trip, keep in mind that it’s not for leisure. It is a corporate trip. You are carrying the name of your company, so act accordingly. This way, you can prevent putting yourself and the company at risk.

Pack efficiently.

Don’t pack too much. Excess baggage can incur additional costs. In this case, it is best to limit your outfits, not unless the itinerary requires you various attires. This way, you can prevent over-packing. You can also avoid the need to pay for it.

Always have a backup plan.

Sometimes, things may get out of the way you planned them. In this case, it is best to have a contingency plan if things go wrong. These issues are often beyond your control, so you need to come prepared for these scenarios. One of the usual issues is a flight delay. You have to make it up with your client, such as a virtual meeting or sending a proxy.

Business trips are essential to make your firm expand its connection with other firms. But then again, preparing beforehand is a vital aspect to ensure smooth corporate travel. Aside from that, your preparedness can save you from stress.

Meanwhile, if something goes wrong, keep your calm and don’t panic. You have to think of a way to solve what’s wrong. Panicking can’t help you at all in your situation. So, if you target to have the best business trip, make a concrete plan for it.

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In Business

Guide for Businesses to Recover Steadily From COVID

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No matter how much we ruminate about what has passed, the pandemic has already happened and its damage cannot be reversed. Looking back should not be the only option, though. Here is how your business can charge forward from the destructive effects of the pandemic:

Revisit the Vision Board

For the past two years, your team might have been too caught up with putting out day-by-day fires to the point of obscuring your vision of the bigger things you have laid out for the immediate and distant future. Still, with all the challenges you have never encountered before until the pandemic, it should be no surprise that those market analyses and strategies your team has consolidated in the past would barely even be relevant in today’s business climate.

The pandemic accelerated industrial change in speeds we not once imagined possible. The global supply chain being stifled in the earlier stages of the pandemic, for instance, pushed logistics companies to bridge the automation gap. And, businesses that for so long relied on the brick and mortar retail model were pushed to get over their e-commerce resistance.

That is why, if you’re set on mending the damage caused by the pandemic, it is best to go back to your business’s core. Perhaps, there are elements in your vision and mission statements that are already outdated and need some tweaking to better guide people down the lines about how your clients today prefer to be approached and what it takes for a company today to compete in the advanced playing field.

Then, you can proceed with drafting more concrete marketing, sales, product development, and training objectives and their corresponding measures of success based on current industry averages. Nevertheless, there’s no right time to revisit your vision board as the pandemic is not the only problem to be worried about.

Clearance Sale

After you’ve revised your company’s vision and subsequent strategies, it must be tempting to jump onto rebranding or launching new products. But, if your company has incurred major losses in the past months, appearing larger than life should be the least of your priorities. Rather, it is saving what is left when things have calmed down.

You may have stocked surplus after intermittent interruptions to your store operations. With the help of your quality assurance team, separate those items that are still good for sale and consumption and announce a clearance sale. You lost a significant amount of time, but before you can make up for it, at least realize that other resources can still be maximized.

Besides, a clearance sale is a perfect channel for you to reconnect with your patrons. Through this event, you can make it known that you’re coming up with greater and fresher things and that they should anticipate. You can drive the hype and, in turn, bank on this for your upcoming releases.

Downsizing

At this crucial point in your business, most of your efforts should be dedicated to your audience. Right now, you are not exactly in a position to expand or invest a lot of time on big-ticket purchases even if these would help your machinery to move more efficiently. Make sure that your team is on the same page, and so decisions like downsizing would be easy for them to process.

If so, moving to a smaller office or plant should not be an issue. The sooner you can hire a moving company, the more you could save on rent or amortization. Having done so, you could now redirect your precious funds into boosting production, marketing campaigns, or up-to-date training, whichever you think is of the highest priority.

Cost Consciousness

Strategically speaking, the easiest to control when the business is at threat are operational expenses. Enjoining employees in saving office supplies, energy, and water would help a lot.

Printing could be limited to documents that require physical signatures and notarization by legal representatives. You could also require that all lights and electronics be turned off during lunch breaks. Limiting company vehicle use for travels categorized as important could also help you save a lot.

A Grand Comeback

A high budget allocation for new product launches does not necessarily produce an outstanding outcome. Likewise, just because you underspent for a new product does not mean it would not be met with massive support. The key is to thoroughly plan your comeback plan considering your limited resources at the moment.

Sometimes, promoting a product idea before it is produced in bulk could be the most practical idea because you get to gauge audience response before you even spend on raw materials and production expenses. Think of this particular product conception phase as your last to prove to your audience that you’re still very much up for the challenge of innovating and adapting to their changing needs.

The pandemic leaves businesses with many questions but also reveals a lot of new ideas. For your business, recovering may seem like a lost cause but, if you can look past the seemingly insurmountable problems you can get a hold of opportunities.

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In Law

Child Custody in an Uncontested Divorce: Handling Matters Amicably

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An uncontested divorce can significantly minimize the emotional strain and financial burden on the involved parties. Such kind of divorce moves more quickly and more smoothly than contested divorces. If you and your spouse are pursuing an uncontested divorce, one of the issues you must settle is child custody. A Tacoma Uncontested Divorce Lawyer can walk you through your options and help you reach an agreement that can work for both parties. Keep reading to know how you and your spouse can handle custody when you opt to divorce without contention:

You Should Agree on All Matters

An uncontested divorce means that all aspects of the divorce should be uncontested. Thus, you and your spouse should agree on all matters that pertain to child custody including physical custody arrangements, child support payments, shared custody schedule, visitation rights, legal custody, and others. When you cannot agree on even one matter, uncontested divorce is not possible for your situation. But, you can opt for arbitration or mediation to settle your differences instead of going to court. Then, once you have reached an agreement, you can file an uncontested divorce later. 

You May Need to File Additional Paperwork

Although it is easier to file an uncontested divorce than dragging it through the court, a divorce that involves children takes more time and effort. You may have to file extra paperwork when you submit for an uncontested divorce to make sure all matters that pertain to child custody and support are properly handled. 

You must outline the details regarding the living situation of your child going forward and complete a parenting plan. Also, you must calculate the child support amount you can demand from the non-custodial parent. An experienced divorce attorney can handle the additional final properly and fill out forms completely. 

You Must Get the Approval of a Judge

Although you and your spouse agree on all matters, your divorce settlement and final divorce must be approved by a judge before its finalization. But, often, a judge will only intervene in the arrangements you agreed upon when the settlement is not fair to one party or certain arrangements are not in the best interest of your children. 

Benefits for Your Children

Uncontested divorce also benefits your children. A long, drawn-out divorce fraught with fights and disagreements is emotionally taxing and stressful for children. Thus, children benefit from a divorce process where their parents can negotiate and handle matters calmly and maturely.  If you and your spouse decide to part ways without fighting, your children don’t need to feel they have to choose sides. 

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In Finance

Do Hard Money Borrowers Pay Closing Costs?

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Hard money lending is not nearly as familiar to the average consumer as traditional bank lending. As such, a lot of people don’t really understand what hard money is all about. Among the many questions curious consumers ask is the following: do hard money borrowers pay closing costs?

Media misinformation leads some to believe that hard money lending takes place in shadowy back alleys in the middle of the night. It is assumed that private lenders offering hard money and bridge loans are predatory lenders looking to charge sky high interest rates in hopes of being able to repossess collateral. But none of these things are true. Functionally speaking, hard money lending is very similar to traditional lending.

Applications, Reviews, and Closing Costs

Hard money lenders are not standing on street corners handing out money to passersby. They are professional, legally established, and licensed firms that operate from real offices staffed by people wearing business suits. To apply for a hard money loan, you have to complete and submit an application. You have to provide documentation. You have to prove your ability to repay what you borrow.

All the documentation you furnish is reviewed by the firm. Should your loan be approved, there will be more documents to complete at closing. And yes, you will pay closing costs. Some of the closing costs may differ compared to traditional loans, and some of the costs associated with bank borrowing are not part of hard money. But there will be closing costs to pay.

Typical Hard Money Closing Costs

Nearly every hard money lender charges an origination fee. Salt Lake City’s Actium Partners explains that this fee is represented as ‘points’, based on the fact that it is determined using a percentage of the total loan amount. Assuming a single point is equal to 1% of the loan amount, a 5% origination fee on a $100,000 loan would be $5,000.

Other typical closing costs associated with hard money loans include:

  • Document Fees – Lenders typically charge a fee for preparing and processing documents. Sometimes fees are split up between the two, sometimes they are categorized under a single fee.
  • Appraisal Fee – Given that hard money loans are approved primarily on collateral, the borrower is charged a fee for appraising said collateral. Lenders prefer to work with their own appraisers and simply pass on the cost, regardless of what it is.
  • Underwriting Fee – Hard money lenders are known to charge underwriting fees, just like banks. However, the underwriting process is slightly different for hard money lenders, and they are under no obligation to charge a fee.
  • Credit Report Fee – If a lender feels it necessary to check a borrower’s credit, the fee for running a credit check is added to the loan.
  • Wire Fee – Hard money lenders prefer to electronically wire funds into borrower accounts rather than cutting checks. Their banks charge a fee for the service, and that fee is passed along to borrowers.

There may be a number of additional fees that are charged by individual hard money lenders. For example, any legal fees associated with preparing or closing on the loan will fall on the borrower. These can be anything from attorney’s fees to the costs associated with bank notes or deeds of trust.

The long and short of it is that hard money borrowers pay closing costs just like their counterparts who secure traditional financing do. Closing costs are part of the game. Though they may seem unfair to borrowers, the cost of doing business is passed on to customers in every industry.

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In Finance

What are the frameworks of trade ideas?

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So, you’re willing to take part in trades? As you are probably aware, picking good stocks is a difficult task. Let’s face it: there are thousands of stocks on the market right now. Picking “success” stocks can be a difficult, daunting, and time-consuming process for both new and experienced investors. Furthermore, you may be selecting stocks based on highly subjective criteria. We all have biases, such as confirmation bias, which causes us to seek out favorable information about what we believe to be true while ignoring contradictory information.

What exactly is a Stock Screener?

Stock screeners are tools that traders and investors use to separate stocks based on user-defined metrics. Stock screeners are available on popular trading platforms and websites for a subscription fee. Stock screeners allow users to select trading instruments that fit a specific profile or set of criteria. Traders and investors, for example, can filter stocks based on market capitalization, price, P/E ratio, 52-week price change percentage, dividend ratio, average five-year return on investment, and average volume, among other criteria.

Overview of Trade Ideas

As you can see, investing and trading are already difficult. The amount of data being thrown at you makes gaining any kind of trading edge impossible. This is why Trade Ideas caters to professional traders, active traders, and hedge funds to manage what appears to be impossible to overcome the amount of data. This technology has accomplished something that no human being can match. What exactly is that, you ask? To monitor every trade of every stock in the market and alert you to profitable activity so you can be the first to act. That’s right – the Trade Ideas scanner software can give you the competitive advantage that means the difference between SUCCESS and FAILURE.

The Following Is How Trade Ideas Work:

  • Each day, the software runs thousands of trading scenarios on a computer to determine which market relationships have predictive outcomes.
  • The Trade Ideas scanner software identifies what is working in up and down markets and advises you on what to buy, short, and when to exit the transaction.

So, instead of trawling data like an accountant or statistician, you can be the CEO who puts your money to work. Leading online brokerages have certified Trade Ideas technology for their premium trading platforms for over 10 years.

Spotlights of Trade Ideas

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The A.I.powered Robo-advisement consists of several dozen different investment algorithms that are subjected to over a million trading scenarios overnight to identify a subset with the highest probability of alpha in the next market session.

Plus Brokerage

Produce scans, identify trading opportunities, and develop trading strategies. Automate your strategies and let them run directly through your Interactive Brokers account.

Trading Simulator

To maximize your advantage, Trade-Ideas Simulated Trading works in tandem with the AI and idea generation tools. There is no replacement. Investors can quickly see what actions result in rewards and where mistakes need to be corrected with proper feedback.

Window for the Odds Maker

Prepare for an ever-changing market. Use the proprietary Event-Based back testing to determine how well scans, entry signals, and trading plans have performed in the past. Allow Trade Ideas to optimize which parameters can be changed to improve trading strategy results even more.


Full Quote Windows

The Trade Ideas full stock quote windows display all fundamental data relevant to a stock’s price, including quick visual indicators that show where the stock is in its range for the last hour, trading week, and 52 weeks.

Conclusion:

With Trade Ideas, you can focus on the critical aspects of trading because you will not need to scan the markets yourself every single day. Remember, there are hundreds of trading strategies at your disposal! Each live trade and trade history is completely transparent, trade setups are easy to find, and traders can choose between pre-configured and self-developed trade setups. Not a whiz at computer programming? Not a problem! To work with Trade Ideas, no coding knowledge is required. So, if you want to ensure that there are no more human errors and that you are well-versed in the best trading strategies before the market opens, Trade Ideas is the place to be.

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