Is Franchising a Good Idea to Start a Business?

All about Franchise Business that You should Know

      You want to start your own business, but can't decide whether to buy a franchise or launch a startup from scratch. Making an overview of the pros and cons of each option can help you decide which is right for your situation and personality.

There is the lure of success for starting a business by buying a franchise. While starting a business often comes with a lot of unknowns, franchising is a testament to a successful model that is already running.

That doesn't mean that buying a franchise equates to instant success. In fact, the "statistics" that say franchises are less likely to fail than any other business are just a myth. Running your own franchise is hard work, and there are downsides to starting a business that requires operating under someone else's rules.

Franchise Business Definition

A company that sells the rights to an existing business model and product to another business or company creates a franchise. However, precise definitions vary due to the many laws passed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and individual states. (investopedia.com)

The bottom line is that when you buy a franchise, you buy an established business and a ready-made product or service. Franchises typically come with a familiar brand name, a proven business model, and a repeat marketing strategy.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Franchise Business

Franchising provides the opportunity to purchase an existing and successful business model, one that comes with a proven track record, training program, solid supply chain, and expert technical support. Several well-known franchises have fairly high success rates, with the probability of failure hovering in the low single digits. By purchasing a franchise, you get a business that is ready to operate and waiting for you to take control. If you're detail-oriented, good at following directions, and comfortable with a well-established system, franchising provides a quick and easy way to become a business owner.

Depending on the franchise you choose, you have the option of either buying a fully operational location or starting over in a new location. The former options allow you to enter and take over a business that has an existing customer base, documented cash flow, and a trained workforce.

The franchise also provides a clear plan. When you're ready to retire, you can sell your existing, well-known business to other potential franchisors.

Franchising also poses challenges. Buying a franchise can be a costly proposition, with costs often running up to $1 million. Franchises also come with ongoing expenses that reduce your salary. There are costs to be paid to headquarters on an ongoing basis that eat into the profits, and supplies that often have to be purchased at inflated prices.

What to Look For When Choosing A Franchise?

Lots of options for franchising, thousands of choices available. So if you don't know the type of franchise you are looking for, this can be a daunting task. These are the factors you should consider when selecting a franchise.

Your level of interest

You should take into account your personal level of interest in the business model. Look for business models that you find attractive, and product lines that excite you.

It's fine if it's a product you're not familiar with, as long as you're interested in learning more about the business. Don't just buy a business model because you think it's going to make you a lot of money. The energy and effort that you put into your business will determine its success or failure.

A sustainable business model

It is very important to find a business with a sustainable business model and a track record of success. Just be sure to research where the company stands before joining as a franchisee.

Start-up fee

Franchising provides many benefits to aspiring entrepreneurs, but it also comes with significant upfront costs. You will have to pay an initial franchise fee before you can start running your business, and selling products under the franchise brand name.

Company Stability Level

It is important to understand the state of the parent company, including its business assessment. There's no right or wrong choice, but it's important to know what situation you're in before spending the time and money on opening a franchise.

Competition

You have to consider how competitive the franchise market's products are.. Competition isn't necessarily a bad thing, because it means there is a demand for the product or service. But too much competition means you have to work harder to run your business and make it stand out.

Is Owning A Franchise The Right Fit For You?

Are there franchises out there for you? Buying a franchise is like buying any other business, it's important to do your due diligence and properly investigate the franchise. However, if you are the right person to run a franchise business and choose the right franchise, becoming a franchisor can indeed be a path to success.

Best Point of Sale Systems for Small Business

 How to Choose The Best POS System for Business

     When you are looking for the best small business point of sale (POS) it is important to understand what types of tools you need to run and grow your business. A good POS system for small businesses allows you to process every sale securely and has the right software to help you handle administrative tasks more efficiently.

The type of sales you make and the types of tasks that require assistance depend on the type of business you are in. Busy clothing boutiques may have different needs than cafes.

The security and efficiency of a POS system can be a costly investment, and is likely to be worth it in the long run. surely you don't want to put your money in the wrong place. Make sure to apply the appropriate criteria when you choose your POS system.

What is the POS System?

POS stands for point of sale and refers to what you use when a customer comes to your store's checkout counter to make a purchase. Point of sale systems consist of hardware and software that enable you, as a business owner, to increase sales quickly and efficiently.

With a modern point of sale system, you can manage your inventory and track sales data with a single click.

Define Your Business Requirements Outline

A POS system that works for a tailor is not necessarily compatible with a large salon that has multiple hairdressers working in the same program. A rapidly growing business also needs a system that can grow with it, so companies don't have to change their transaction processes halfway.

For many small companies, a tablet or iPad based POS system is sufficient. It operates in the cloud, so it has more security features, is portable, and is easy to use.

Medium to large businesses will find it difficult to manage their transactions on a small scale system like this. Choose the best POS system by paying attention to what will work for the size of your business. Get deals, read reviews, and talk to other business owners to see what has worked for them.

Address Security

One of the most important factors to examine in choosing your POS system is the potential security threats. “Cybercriminals can orchestrate sophisticated operations to steal large amounts of card data before selling it on the underground market,” says a report from Symantec.

Malware, which is purposely created to steal data from POS systems, is widely available in the underground market. If you think that, as a small business, you are free from the threat of cybercrime, you are wrong.

Approximately 60% of all data breaches target small companies. If you intend to protect your customers, a POS system with strong security will be very important.

Select The Right Price Model.

You get what you pay for. This phrase is true when it comes to buying a POS system.

According to research, 46% of companies spend less than $1500 annually on their point of sale software. Meaning not all companies like to shell out the extra cash to receive quality features. You don't have to copy what these companies are doing. Instead, budget according to the features you want in the POS.

Determine your budget based on the size of your business and the number of customers you'll be serving, and the products you'll be selling. Opt for a monthly or quarterly subscription plan if you're on a conservative budget.

Define The Features.

Some features depend on the needs of the business, others are essential for the successful running of day-to-day operations. Just because your neighbor's retail store bought POS software with data management and reporting features, doesn't mean your business model will need the same features.

Select the appropriate features based on your needs. Some of the standard features of a good POS are:

1. Inventory management 

The right POS system allows you to digitally manage your stock and keep an eye on the order level of each product.

2. Management of Customer relationship

Integration with customer relationship management can assist you to knowing more about the customers and what they order.

3. The ability to sell anywhere

In the ever-changing business needs, look for a POS that offers mobility and flexibility.

4. Data management

With 72.5% of businesses using POS data mining as part of a loss prevention system, choosing a data-centric system can help.

Get a Demo or POS System Trial

Most POS vendors offer free trials, so you can try out their software. Doing so allows you to test features, explore benefits, and assess how the overall system operates.

Write down any issues you have, plus what aspects you like and don't like. Then, share these things with the provider, so it has a chance to address your issue.

Final Words

The POS system you choose has a huge impact on how you run your business on a day-to-day basis, and how you grow it over time. You and your staff will use this system on a daily basis for as long as you do business.

Therefore, take your time to do some research, and the best way to get started is by examining and articulating your business needs and objectives.

Building the Cognitive Side of Your Business

How Can Cognitive Computing Performance Help Business?

      You are at a critical juncture in history where the impact of technology on business is significant enough to change the entire way business is conducted.

The exponential convergence of new technologies such as AI, automation, IoT, blockchain, and 5G has the power to transform business models, reinvent processes, and reorganize the way you all work. This is the era of the rise of Cognitive Enterprise

What is Cognitive Business?

Cognitive business is characterized by a learning system that is explicitly designed to collaborate with people in a conversational style, and understand natural language. Cognitive business may also benefit from cognitive analytics. Instead of using predefined rules, and structured queries to identify data to enable decision making, cognitive analytics uses cognitive computing technology to generate multiple hypotheses, collect and weigh evidence from multiple data sources to support each hypothesis, and rank the hypotheses.

The hypotheses that score above a certain threshold are presented as recommendations with a numerical score to measure the system's confidence in each hypothesis. The quality level of insights generated by cognitive analytics increases as more data is used to train machine learning algorithms. Versions of IBM Watson are being marketed as a cognitive business solution.

How to Help Your Company Become A Cognitive Business

Here are some fundamentals to dive into to help your company become a cognitive business:

1. Develop a cognitive strategy. Decide which products, services, processes and operations are to be infused with cognition. Determine what data your organization needs and choose experts to train cognitive systems. The aim is to increase skills.

At one company, a retailer estimates that its primary sales associate performs eight times better than the average salesperson. What if all of your professionals were as good as the very best?

2. Use cloud services that are designed for your industry. The building blocks for cognitive products and services are Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and industrial data sets. A cloud company brings together clinical, research and social data from multiple healthcare sources, creating a secure cloud-based data sharing hub.

Hospitals, insurance partners, and medical researchers can create new connections between previously closed health care data sets. By creating a culture of agile development, the healthcare industry can encourage better, faster, and cheaper care.

3. Create a database of data and analytics. Collect and curate the most useful data for your organization. This data can include data held by the organization – such as sales figures or customer complaint records – or data outside of the business, such as tweets or news stories. Pandora uses over 450 music attributes to personalize its service for music lovers.

4) Establish security for the cognitive era. The goal is to secure every transaction, piece of data, and interaction as the cognitive system gets into cars, buildings, highways, and business processes. A secure system ensures system-wide trust and ultimately, the organization's brand image.

In the past, professionals made decisions based on experiences and historical data. Now cognitive abilities allow business leaders to make strategic decisions based on data, structured and unstructured, that changes in real-time.

Today's companies are rapidly embarking on Digital Transformation, as they seek to gain the cost savings, agility, and collaboration enabled by cloud, analytics, mobile and social technologies. However, for all the benefits of digitization and automation, companies are finding that they are still not able to effectively incorporate new business models, respond quickly to market and disruptive forces, and increase benefits across the enterprise.

Business imperatives are clear: Companies consistently improve business models to improve profitability; increase revenue or be closer to the customer; to innovate and cope with competition and new market entrants. The availability of IT, which can be accessed via the cloud, makes it efficient to acquire, deploy and manage IT with results that even the smallest players and startups can achieve with disruptive innovations and capture market share.

It became clear to executives that Digital was not the destination. On the contrary, it lays the groundwork for a much more profound transformation to come. this transformation is driven by the need to incorporate decision intelligence into insurance products and processes, multi-channel interactions with customers, and the increased expectations of digitally empowered consumers. As companies race toward digital capabilities, a new business design is now gaining traction: designs that combine digital business with digital intelligence, leading to the Cognitive Business vision.

Is There Money in Fintech Companies?

What Does Fintech Company Do?     

      Financial technology – from applications to APIs and cloud – is changing financial services rapidly. This will wreak havoc on some incumbent companies, while others will win big

What is Fintech (Financial Technology)?

Financial technology (Fintech) is a new technology that seeks to improve and automate the delivery and use of financial services.

At its core, fintech is used to assist business owners, enterprises and consumers, in better managing their financial operations and lives, by leveraging special software and algorithms used on computers and smartphones. “Fintech” is the combination of technology and finance.

When fintech emerged in the 21st century, the term was originally applied to technology used in the back-end systems of established financial institutions.

However, since that time, there has been a shift towards a more consumer-oriented, and therefore, more consumer-oriented definition of service.

Fintech now spans various sectors and industries such as education, retail banking, fundraising, non-profit and investment management. (investopedia.com)

How is Fintech Growing?

Just because fintech is buzzing doesn't mean it's something new. Even though the phrase was only added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary in 2018, the concept has been around for decades. ATMs, for example, have been at the forefront of fintech innovation, such as the signature verification technology first used by banks in the 1860s.

In recent times fintech has gone, from being associated with startups, to becoming a major aspect of established and longstanding financial institutions. While the term, which usually implies something based on Silicon Valley, has taken the big banks by surprise, today, many fintech companies have teamed up with incumbents, which they are purportedly trying to win over.

As a result, several world-famous institutions now have their own fintech hotbeds under their wings.

JP Morgan put away $25 million in fintech startups in 2019. Capital One has created a fintech-infused “banking cafe,” to bring young, digitally savvy customers to the door.

In 2016, Citi launched the Citi Developer Hub which invites third-party programmers to test and share feedback about application programming interfaces (APIs).

How Fintech Company Make Money?

FinTech makes most of its money from subscriptions, third parties and advertising. However, there are more options to monetize your product.

Since most FinTech companies are still in their infancy, most are focused on growth over profitability.

Many don't understand the business model of a FinTech company, and many doubt it will ever succeed. But in reality, it varies from a FinTech company to an ordinary company.

So let's take a look at the main ways how Fin Techs make money.

E-wallet (digital wallet)

An e-wallet is a combination of a bank account and a payment gateway. This business model allows users to load virtual money into their electronic wallets, and use it to pay or shop. E-wallets are trending nowadays, and since the start of the pandemic, more and more people have started using digital payments.

FinTech companies' business model for digital payments provides customers with the convenience of making contactless payments for a small fee, which is usually passed on to merchants in the form of a merchant discount rate (MDR). These payment platforms also generate revenue from the sale of third party financial services to their customers.

Since there are always innovations in e-wallet application development, the cashless future looks very promising. Examples of e-wallets that are successful in the market include: Google Wallet.

Peer-to-Peer Lending (P2P )

As the Fintech software development market has grown, so have lending platforms. This is where you can differentiate lending platforms and P2P (peer-to-peer) lending.

Through peer-to-peer lending, you can borrow money directly from other people, without intermediaries and financial institutions. People can earn interest on the money they lend to others through this model. By providing such connections, FinTech software companies can earn money.

Getting better returns than what is offered in the debt market is possible with this model, as it simplifies lending for investors.

By building a platform that can match different lenders with borrowers, and charge fees from payment processing, FinTech software companies can help streamline the commercial lending space.

There are many apps that provide financial planning or management solutions for borrowing money, but there is still room for more.

Subscription Fees and Freemium Packages

The monetization model brings money straight out of the pocket of the consumer (end user). Whether on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis, FinTech charges users a certain amount as a subscription fee. This app monetization model is especially effective for Fintech, as free trials allow users to try the product before paying a premium.

Another strategy is 'Freemium', in which FinTech gives users limited feature access to FinTech applications for an unlimited period of time. However, for features that provide more value, users must pay a subscription fee.

Some FinTechs have the option to charge a flat fee, which is also known as a transactional approach. With this approach, the FinTech company earns revenue every time a user makes a transaction. Fees vary from 1% to 4% per transaction.

You Need this Insurance to Protect Your Business

Insurance to Protect Your Businesses

     If you own a small business, you have a lot of options when it comes to business insurance. And no small business owner wants to address a problem with their insurance.

Business Insurance What is it?

Business insurance coverage serves to protect the business from losses due to events that may occur during normal business. There are several kinds of insurance for your small businesses including coverage for property damage, legal liability, and employee-related risks. (investopedia)

Types of Insurance Needed for Small Businesses

What kind of Insurance do you need to protect your business? The type of business insurance coverage you need for your small business depends on what your company does, and the circumstances in which you are located. State laws require multiple small business insurance policies and it's up to you to ensure that you have the right to coverage.

Without the right type of small business insurance, you may have to pay for the various claims that could occur. Many small businesses do not have the resources or capital to cover claims, which means they may not be able to survive. That's why small business insurance is such an important investment to protect your company.

The following are the most common types of insurance for small businesses:

General liability insurance

General liability insurance is a core component of business insurance and is best purchased and widely purchased as part of a business owner policy (BOP). This coverage primarily protects you against lawsuits and claims from people outside your company.

Business owners buy this general liability insurance to cover legal hassles due to accident, injury, and negligence claims. This policy protects against payments as a result of bodily injury, property damage, medical costs, defamation of the company, costs of defending lawsuits, and settlement bonds or judgments required throughout the appeals procedure.

Professional liability insurance

Professional liability insurance protects you as the business owner from customers who may seek to sue you for any injury or damage incurred or perceived. This type of liability insurance complements your BOP coverage by insuring events or incidents that are not covered by general liability. Special coverage can also be added to your policy to cover industry-related incidents.

Product liability insurance

Companies that manufacture, distribute, wholesale, and retail the products may be responsible for their safety. Product liability insurance protects against financial loss as a result of a product defect that causes bodily injury. The amount of insurance you have to buy depends on the product you are selling or producing. Clothing stores carry much less risk than small hardware stores, for example.

Home-based business insurance

Contrary to popular belief, homeowners insurance policies generally do not cover the losses of a home-based business. Depending on your business risk, you can add a motorist to your landlord's policy to cover normal business risks such as property damage. However, a homeowner's policy only goes so far as to cover a home-based business, and you may need to purchase additional policies to cover other risks, such as general and professional liability.

Commercial property insurance

Property insurance covers everything related to loss and damage to company property due to events such as fire, hurricanes and hailstorms, civil disobedience, and vandalism. The definition of "property" is broad, and includes lost income, business interruption, computers, buildings, company documents, and money.

A property insurance policy has 2 basic forms:

1. An all-risk policy that covers a variety of incidents and hazards, except for particular things stated in the policy.

2. Peril special policy that covers losses only from peril listed in the policy. Examples of special hazard policies include fire, crime, flood, and business interruption insurance. All-risk policies commonly cover the risks faced by regular small businesses, whereas peril-specific policies are usually purchased when there is a high risk of harm in a particular area. Consult your insurance broker about the type of property insurance business that is most suitable for your small business.

Do You Need Working From Home Business Insurance?

While it's not a requirement to have business insurance while working from home, several different types of insurance might be worth considering.

If you work from home regularly, you may want to start thinking about your home insurance. Working from home doesn't necessarily mean that you need to take on different coverage, but you do need to make sure your insurance company understands your situation.

For example, if you keep stock or expensive equipment in your home, it should be protected against theft or damage. If you offer online services or handle client data, you may want to consider professional indemnification insurance. If you have clients who visit your home for a meeting, public liability insurance will offer coverage if they get into an accident, or get injured while you're at your place.

Remember, if you run a work-from-home business, you will need to have appropriate commercial property insurance.

What isn’t Covered by These Insurance Policies?

Some risks are excluded from the normal insurance policy and may require additional special insurance plans. For example, natural disasters such as earthquakes or floods are usually excluded because they cause substantial damage to a relatively small geographic area, and it is not financially feasible for insurance companies to offer standard coverage for these types of events. Infectious diseases are also excluded, as their impact is unpredictable and has the potential to affect the entire country

If you want to be protected from these perils, you should talk to your insurance broker, so they can advise you on how to get special coverage. Some risks are not completely insurable. Most types of business insurance cannot insure the commercial property against damage caused by war, radioactive fallout, or government foreclosure, for example.

Best Ways to Save Your Money

How to Save Money Quickly

      The hardest thing about saving money is getting a start. These step-by-step tips for how to save money can assist you to create easy and realistic saving money methods, so you can save for all the short- and long-term saving money goals.

Why You Have to Save Your Money Today?

Financial independence

One of the most crucial reasons for you to save money is to reach financial freedom. This means not being entirely dependent on your monthly paycheque to sustain the current lifestyle. If you have enough savings to fall back on, you can take substantial life decisions without worrying; whether it is changing the job, getting married, planning a vacation, starting a business, or even getting retired, when you want to, rather than hard-working because you have to. You can take these substantial life decisions without taking any anxiety if you are financially independent.

Saving Money for Retirement

Those days are gone when people retire only after 60. Today’s millennials want to work hard for a few years and then save lots of dollars to retire early and enjoy life. Thus, by saving money and creating a nest egg, you can make sure that you retire when you desire. Set a goal, work hard to get that amount, and then take a call on whether you want to work or do something else in your life.

Tips on How to Save Money Fast

Use these saving money tips to establish thoughts about the best ways to save money in daily life.

Budget for savings

The key point of any savings plan is a budget. Budgeting assists you prioritize expenditures and discover a balance between saving and spending across an entire year.

Once you have thought of what you spend monthly, you can start to manage the recorded costs into a workable budget. The budget should outline how the costs measure up to the income—so you can plan the spending and limit overspending. Make sure to factor in expenses that occur frequently but not each month, such as autos maintenance. Include a savings category—aim to save 10 to 15% of your revenue.

Track your spending

You can fall into the trap of thinking spending on huge things is what gets us into trouble when often it’s the little things that end up costing us more.

That’s why it’s necessary to maintain track of your daily spending, so you don’t live beyond your means. The bank statement will inform you how much cash is going into the bank account and how much is going out. You can then compare it with the budget to know whether you’re sticking to it or not. You can then identify fields where you can save.

Eliminate the Debt

If you're attempting to save dollars through budgeting but still carry a huge debt burden, begin with the debt. Not sure? Add up how much you spend servicing the debt every month, and you'll fastly see. Once you're free from paying interest on the debt, that cash can easily be put into savings. A personal line of credit is just one choice for incorporating debt so you can better pay it off.

Save money automatically.

Did you understand that you can save your money without thinking about it? Yes, you can manage your bank account to automatically transfer money from your checking account into a savings account monthly. If that sounds strange to you, you can also manage the direct deposit to automatically transfer 10% of every paycheck into the savings account.

Cancel unnecessary direct debits

If you don't frequently read the bank statement, it can be easy to miss direct debits you've forgotten to cancel. A fast browse of the monthly statement can help forestall any unnecessary payments lasting for months or years. Get into the habit of logging into your online bank account at least once a month and ensure you're not shelling out for services you no longer need or use.

Pack Your Lunch

An obvious money-saving tip is to discover daily savings. If you buy lunch at the workplace costs $8, but bringing lunch from home costs only $3, then over a year, you can make a $1250 emergency fund or make a notable contribution to a buying car plan or retirement fund.

Buy generic.

One of the easiest ways to save money is to brand your boots. In many cases, the only thing that’s better about brand-name products is the marketing. Just look at that box. The logo is so fancy, right? And that’s all about where it ends. Generic brands of medicine, staple food items (like rice and beans), cleaning supplies, and paper products expense far less than their marked-up brand-name friends, and they work just as well too.

Prep for grocery shopping

A few efforts before you go to the grocery store can go a long way to help you save money on groceries. Check the kitchen and make a grocery list, to avoid impulse buying for something you don't need, and use coupons or loyalty programs to maximize savings when you shop.

How to Save Money With a Budget

One great way to manage the money — and hopefully hold on to more of it — is to follow your budget.

You should think about a budget as a spending plan because saving money doesn’t mean you have to stop spending altogether. That means you have to prioritize some financial goals over other things.

Experts suggest the 50/30/20 budget for smart money management. Devote half of your revenue to necessities, 30% to wants, and 20% to savings. If you discover one of your allocations exceeds these percentages, make some adjustments to fit the formula.

As you work toward your ultimate financial goal, ensure to put your newfound money in a great high-yield savings account to maximize the fund. Some of the great online accounts pay interest rates that are much higher than large traditional banks. (nerdwallet)

Things to Know about Budgeting Basics

 Budgeting Tips to Save Your Money

      A budget may be necessary to understand — and direct — where the money is going. Whether you are new to financial planning, or have struggled with it in the past, these budgeting tips can help you stick to your plans.

Budgeting Definition

The meaning of budgeting is the process of making plans for how to spend money. This plan of expenditure is called a budget. Creating this budget allows you to know in advance if you will have enough money to do the things you need or want to do.

Budgeting is located at the base of every financial plan. It doesn't matter if you are living paycheck to paycheck or making thousands of dollars a year, you need to know where the money is going if you want to manage your finances. Contrary to what you might believe, budgeting isn't just about limiting the cash you can spend and cutting out all the fun stuff in your life. It's really about knowing how much cash you have, where it's going, and then planning how to allocate the money in the best possible way.

How Does Budgeting Help in Managing Personal Finances

A budget is going to give you an action plan and clear picture of where the cash is ending up monthly. Budgeting will help you reach the targets you’re working toward—whether that’s getting out of debt, saving for your retirement, or just attempt to keep the grocery bill from getting out of hand.

When you realize that planning a budget is only about spending money on purpose, you can actually find more freedom to spend! Once everything is budgeted, you'll be able to spend the money without feeling guilty. Many people even say they find the "extra" money after they create a real budget and stick to it. It's cool, right?

Here Are The Easy Budgeting Tips

Make a budget before the month begins

To stay within the budget for future plans. A week before next month begins, plan your expenses and activities for the month ahead. For example, you might have a road trip or vet appointment for 1 month, but not for the next. Once you have planned for the month, set a realistic budget. Use a free budgeting app to break down your income, required expenses, incremental expenses, and savings contributions.

Keep it simple.

When you are first developing a budget, try to keep it as simple as possible. This way, it will not be superfluous and it will be easier for you to follow along.

A lot of people think you have to have these complex budgets, complicated spreadsheets —and you grow them. Experts recommend only writing down costs; things you've purchased in the past month, your annual or quarterly expenses, and subtracting your income from your expenses. This will give you a good idea of how much you're saving vs your expenses, and will allow you to identify areas where you might be able to cut back.

A simple structure like a 50-30-20 budget can help you keep track of your spending without having to spend a lot of time keeping tabs on multiple categories.

Divide your expenses into 3 categories—50% for necessities, 30% for wants, and 20% for savings or debt repayments. You can always change the percentage based on lifestyle. The budget has to work for you. You can also download a budget app for an easier method of keeping track of your budget and expenses.

Prioritize costs and goals

Know the difference between your needs and wants, prioritize the more important things first — consisting of groceries, housing, and transportation costs. That doesn't mean other costs aren't needed. Financial goals, like paying off debt or saving for retirement, still need attention.

The purpose of a budget is to find out if your money is spent on things that make you happy, proud, and aligned with those values.

A 50/30/20 budget is a great guide to covering the major expense categories. It is recommended to use 50% of your income for your needs, 30% for your desires and 20% for savings and debts.

You need to keep in mind that every month is different.

Several months you should be budgeting for things like school supplies or routine car maintenance. Other months you'll be saving for things like birthdays, entertainment, and holidays. Regardless of the occasion, make sure you keep those expenses within your budget. Keep those special opportunities from sneaking up on you by pulling up the calendar while you're creating a budget.

Make sure to adjust your budget each month as it changes. Create a savings fund that you can keep in cash all year round. When you don't have any plans, you'll feel stressed. And that takes away all of the fun of giving and celebrating. No one wants that, right?

Know Where Your Money Goes

After you've read a few books on the topic of personal finance, you'll realize how important it is to make sure your expenses don't exceed your income. A good method to do this is by budgeting. Once you've noticed how your morning coffee costs add up over the course of a month, you'll realize that making small, manageable changes to your daily expenses can have a big impact on your financial situation, as can getting a raise.

In addition, keeping your recurring monthly costs as low as possible can save you money over time. Even if you can rock the comforts of today's apartment, opting for something simpler can get you home quicker than you need to. (investopedia.com)

Expecting the unexpected

Sometimes all the planning in the world just can't prepare you for the unexpected. Things like car repairs or trips to the ER were unthinkable. This is why it is important to include emergency cash in your budget. Experts recommend having at least $1,000, but it's up to you how much you'd like to save.

Let's Start Contributing to Retirement Now

You may have heard it before, but I'll say it again: it's never too early to start saving for your retirement. If possible, maximize the employer's pension-matching program — after all, it's free cash. Starting early will ensure that you don't strain your budget any further while you're trying to catch up.

Last Word

Budgeting often gets a bad reputation because it is so complex. But sticking to a household budget is a good way to avoid debt problems, save money consistently, and reach your budgeting goals. Plus, budgeting tools need not be boring! With the right method, you can maintain an accurate household budget without much work.

Marketing Research for Small Business

How to Start Market Research Business

    Market research assists you discover customers for the business. Competitive analysis assists you make the business unique. Mix them to discover a competitive benefit for your small business.

Marketing Research Definition

Marketing research meaning is the process of systematically collecting, recording, and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data on matters relating to the marketing of products and services. Its purpose is to identify and assess how changes in marketing mix factors have an effect on customer behavior.

Benefits of Market Research For a Business

Of course, knowledge is power. And whether you're selling clothes, smartphones, or conferences, it pays to know and analyze the target market.

Huge businesses perform this using market research that’s commonly quite costly. They have groups of people dedicated to carrying out surveys, interviewing customers, managing focus groups, and analyzing buying patterns.

While much of that work does need big power, small businesses can carry out lean and effective market research, and there are great reasons for doing so.

Marketing Research to Find Your Customers

Market research combines economic trends with consumer behavior to confirm and improve your business ideas. It’s necessary to know the consumer base from the outset. Marketing research makes you decrease risks even while the business is still just a gleam in your eye.

Gather demographic data and information to better know opportunities and limitations for reaching customers. This can consist of population data on age, family, wealth, interests, or anything else related to the business.

Then answer this list of questions to gather a great sense of the market:

Demand: Is there an eagerness for the product or service?

Location: What is the customer's address and where can the business be reached?

Pricing: What do potential customers spend money for these alternatives?

Market size: How many people would be interested in the offering?

Economic indicators: What are the employment rate and income range?

Market saturation: How many resemblant choices are already available to consumers? 

You’ll also want to maintain with the latest business trends. It’s crucial to get a sense of the specific market share that will affect the profits.

You can do market research using existing sources, or you can do your research and go directly to the consumers.(sba.gov)

How to Use A Survey for Market Research

When most people think of doing market research using surveys for their small businesses, they consider a huge effort that goes out to plenty of customers.

No, you probably don’t have a huge amount of customers that will respond to a survey. And some kinds of survey research truly do need those types of numbers.

However, others don’t. And those are the kind you can concentrate on as you study how to do market research for small businesses.

Setting up surveys that get mail to customers after a sale can assist you to gain a sense of how satisfied they are, and what requirements led them to make a purchase.

Similarly, you can arrange surveys that go out to a person that didn’t make a purchase. What prevented customers from buying? What might have triggered them to make a distinction decision?

Even if you simply ask those 2 survey questions, the answers can assist you to create adjustments for the next time around.

Here are the primary kinds of main research that may be useful for the business:

Online surveys

These surveys are progressively popular and relatively cheap. Online surveys can produce thousands of responses to a wide range of questions. The primary advantage of online surveys is fast results, normally within days. The downside is that they are prone to shallow or incomplete answers. Very much recommend using online surveys where you want to get market feedback from a wide range of respondents.

Telephone surveys

These are used to conduct more in-depth interviews that can last from ten to half an hour. But, potential customers are frequently wary of callers and may be unwilling to participate or give anything other than short answers. In a B2B environment, telephone interviews can be an efficient way to get feedback from potential customers.

Direct mail surveys

This is a relatively inexpensive way to cover a wide geographical field and avoids the potential for interviewer bias. But, response rates (the portion of the person sending back a finished survey) are often very low and it can take a long time before enough surveys are returned to get a helpful sample.

Focus groups

This strategy brings potential customers together to talk about their feelings about a product or market. Focus groups are a proper marketing research method for getting detailed information about customer tastes and preferences.

Observation

Observing prospective customers permits you to see how customers behave in a store or with a product. Observation works well in retail markets. But, without direct feedback from observed consumers, you may not get the "why" behind their actions.

How to Market Research for A Business

Jumping off the questions in the previous part, you need to get clear on a couple more products before getting started.

Understand a budget. You don’t need a massive budget, but you always need to be mindful of where and how you spend the cash.

Inform the team. If you have a crew, get them on board and ensure everybody understands their role in any market research duty. Think of appointing a lead person or team to manage and keep all related data.

Get specific about the next steps. You need to act on market research fastly, not a couple of months after you gather it because consumer insights could change.

For example, you possibly shouldn’t use February survey results to make decisions about the next winter holiday shopping season, which begins as early as October in the United States Determine how and when you will use this data, then use it precisely. Consider creating a V2MOM, an organizational system for building and executing targets, to help nail down the specifics.

There are plenty of methods you can conduct market research. It doesn’t have to cost a lot of cash. For example, you can use social media for cost-effective analysis, such as collecting feedback on a new item with Twitter polls, testing ads on Facebook, and even discovering brand ambassadors on Instagram.

Last Words

A rigorous, well‑designed market research plan can assist you to make good decisions for your business. Not only can it help you specify whether or not there's a viable market for the products, but it will also help you sharpen and tweak the products to fit customer needs and desires. Even though the research may not fill all the gaps in the knowledge—specifically under the constraints of a tight budget, it has the potential to dramatically boost your decision-making. And that can mean the difference between failure and success.

Here's what Banks Do with Your Money

How does a Bank Make Money?

      Everyone deposited cash into the bank at one point. Or even borrow money for a real estate loan. But have you known much about what the bank does with the money after you put it in a savings account? Have you ever thought about where the money for your home loan comes from?

A bank is a financial institution that has a license to accept deposits of money and provide loans. (investopedia)

Some bank accounts charge you a monthly fee, but in return, you may get cashback, travel insurance, or a higher interest rate. But for many, an account doesn't cost anything upfront.

This might seem clear. Somehow, it's your money there, then why should you pay to get it? But this was not always the case, 'free charge banking only arrived in the UK in the 1970s, and in many other countries it is common to pay for withdrawals or pay a monthly fee.

The Way Banks Make Money

Your bank deposit is only a little part of the game. Although today's banks are large, complex, and highly diversified, these financial institutions still generate most of their income in 3 methods:

Interest income

Banks earn income from interest payments that borrowers make when they repay loans. This is where the money deposit comes in, but not in the way you might think.

Capital markets income

Banks raise cash through the capital markets, by offering services such as mergers, underwriting, acquisition advisory, and sales services.

Fee-based income

Banks make money by charging a variety of fees, many of which you know, and probably hate, related to their products and services, including current and savings accounts, mutual fund income, credit card, custodial, and investment management fees.

Banks make a lot of money charging interest on loans, but the fees that banks convert are just as profitable.

- Bank account fees

Several certain financial products that charge fees are checking accounts, credit cards, and investment accounts. This fee is referred to as a "maintenance fee" even though the cost of maintaining a bank account is relatively small.

- ATM fees

There will be times when you can't find your bank's ATM, and you'll have to settle for another ATM just to get the money. That’s perhaps going to charge you $3. Situations like that happen all the time, and just mean extra money for the bank.

- Commissions

Some banks will have an investment division that often functions as a full-service broker. Of course, their commission fees for making trades will be higher than most discount brokers.

- Application fees

Every time you apply for a loan (especially a home loan), many banks charge a loan fee or application fee. And, they can take the freedom of putting this amount in the principal of the loan, which means you'll also be paying the interest.

Banks use Your Money to Make Their Income

Every time you make a deposit, the bank essentially borrows some of that cash from your account, and lends it to other borrowers, whether it's a personal loan, a car or home loan, or credit.

Do you remember that time you took out a loan from the bank? The cash you borrow from the bank is taken from the deposits of other customers. The interest you pay on the loan balance is added as a perfect source of income for the bank, part of which is paid back to the depositor.

Also, deposits from savings accounts, certificates of deposit, money market accounts, etc., are used to fund loans for other people, and the interest they pay back becomes part of the interest you will earn on your savings account. Technically, you lend cash to your bank, and they pay it back, with interest, just like any other loan.

But because banks are in the business of making money, they will never pay more interest than they can charge. A high-yield savings account can earn you up to 1.25% APY interest, for example, but the bank may charge a 5% fee on the loan (maybe higher, depending on the loan). meaning that the amount they give back to the customer is only a fraction of what they could potentially earn as a whole.

The wider the deviation between interest rates, the greater the profit earned by the bank. For example, a bank may charge its current lowest deposit rate, 0.06%, but charge an 18% interest rate on one of its credit cards. The interest they pay is very much in line with what they can earn from lending cash. So if you deposit $5,000 into a savings account, you might gain a 1.00% interest rate, but the bank can lend most of that fresh funds at a much higher rate, enough to make a profit and pay your interest.

How Banks Prevent You from Withdrawing Your Money at Once?

All savers may want to withdraw their cash at the same time, in which case, the bank will have to ask the mortgage borrower to repay their money immediately.

Banks have the potential to go bankrupt, so to avoid this scenario, banks give higher interest rates to people who are willing to put their money into bank savings accounts with a notice period.

If people want to get their money back, they have to make a notification letter before they can withdraw it.

The Financial Independence Retire Early Movement

Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE)

      Financial Independence and Retirement Early movement, is a group of people who are trying to achieve financial independence by accumulating sufficient wealth and cutting costs, so that they can retire early. Many followers of the Financial Independence Retire Early movement have been known to retire in their 30s or 40s.

So, how did the people in the FIRE movement achieve their targets, and what were their shortcomings?

Financial Independence Definition

Financial independence means, in its most basic sense, when you no longer have to work to earn. In other words, you are no longer financially dependent on the employer to pay you a salary.

Fundamentally, financial independence appeals to anyone who values their time, at least as much as they value an increased investment portfolio. At some point, the accumulated value of more assets begins to decrease, which usually makes people more aware of how they are using their time.

From a pure mathematical point of view, achieving financial independence early on requires sufficient assets to hold, to cover your living expenses indefinitely. A good starting point is to set a savings goal based on the 4% withdrawal rule, which can build a nest egg equivalent to about 25 times the annual spending requirement. For example, a person who needs $50,000 each year must have a $1.25 million portfolio.

For Whom is FIRE Really?

Most people wonder that FIRE is meant for people who can pull in big incomes, usually in the 6 figures. And indeed, if your goal is to retire in your 30s or 40s, that could be why. However, there is much that everyone can learn, from the principles of the movement that can help people save for their own retirement, and even reach it earlier, if not as early as 40.

And keep in mind, a major part of FIRE is financial independence, something that, when achieved, can allow you (not retirement) to do the things you love, rather than the things you have to do. Financial independence retire early planis not just about retiring at an early age, it teaches you how to spend less while living a better life.(investopedia)

How to Become Financially Independent

Financial independence is a situation in which you no longer have to work to earn money to pay for your living expenses. You might decide to retire, or you might prefer to work, because you want to, not because you have to. Here are some ways to make this happen:

Let money work for you

If you've been through a break in the pay-to-pay cycle, and you've laid a few eggs, you may be thinking about adding an investment to your financial plan.

An investment is the purchase of something that you believe will increase in value, or produce a positive return, over time. Examples consist of, but are not limited to, bonds, stocks, Certificates of Deposit (CDs) and mutual funds.

Investing can make your bankroll grow bigger than a regular savings account, but there are no guarantees. Diversification is spending your cash into different types of investments, which can help you increase the likelihood of a large return and minimize the effects of poor performance and inflation.

In short, these habits can help you spend your money more wisely and economically. Make financial independence your sustainable goal and priority – you deserve it.

Set Your Budget and Finance Priorities

You should set goals in everything you are going to do, so that you don't deviate from the original plan. The same applies to finances. Targets will help you set budgets and financial priorities. Ask yourself, what do you want to be in the future? Could it be someone who already has a big house and a car, or someone who can travel around the world at any time?

To start, try to keep track of your daily expenses as well as your unexpected expenses for the month. This way, you can see which expenses need to be reduced or eliminated. Make a data that consists of all your financial priorities, to determine which ones are necessary and urgent, and which ones can be postponed.

Knowing That Income Is Not Wealth

Most people believe that the way they become rich is through a high paying job. Of course, it's easier to amass assets if you have more monthly income, but the key to increasing your net worth is spending less than you earn. Lastly, spending habits are the reason a movie star who earns $20 million a year can quickly go bankrupt, while a taxi driver can retire themselves to become a multi-millionaire.

You have to know the difference between long-term income and wealth in order to get out of the spending trap. Income is a clear part of wealth, but it is not the only aspect. Many of you view wealth as your total net worth at a particular point in time. In other words, wealth can be considered as equity on the balance sheet, or assets minus liabilities.

Last Words

Not everyone inherits good fortune or earns big salaries. However, even though you don't have these benefits, it doesn't mean you can't achieve financial independence early retirement. However, to get there, it takes work and money discipline.

Some steps that can help you achieve financial freedom include: budgeting, cutting costs, developing emergency cash, paying off debt, and setting up smart savings and investing methods that take time and are risk-tolerant.

Once you have a plan to work with financial independence, it can also be a good idea to regularly check how well the plan is working, and make adjustments as needed.

Whether you decide to schedule quarterly discussions with your financial independence advisor, discuss monthly cash with your partner, or use a financial independence app to help you track spending and investments, consider building habits that help you stick to your goals, that's the thing. . financial. independent early retirement.