Common wisdom says businesses can either provide personal service or create scalable systems. In the old days, that was true. Small businesses couldn’t scale without becoming impersonal — and big companies couldn’t keep up with the volume if they wanted to improve service. Fortunately, times have changed. Today’s businesses can get the best of both worlds by using better tools to improve service in scalable ways. Customers get…
Professional athletes perform jobs that only a select few can accomplish — and are paid handsomely for it. Fans follow players’ every move on the field and, when things sometimes go wrong, away from the arena. Many athletes begin playing for a living while they’re still teenagers; others spend cursory stints in college due to pro leagues’ rules preventing earlier entrance. Consequently, most athletes aren’t trained to effectively…
Investment is studying the market trends carefully and yet not depending too much on past records of a particular stock that is showing up returns too good to last long. Investors make mistakes in not analyzing one’s risks properly, overdoing investment amount and showing impatience. As a newbie investor contemplating on making the best use of your savings by making an investment through opening up a brokerage account…
Nobody wants to waste money unnecessarily. That means everyone loves saving money, right? Not necessarily. I’m sure everyone knows that saving money is hard work. We often spend less by sacrificing on certain things, i.e. eating home-cooked food most of the time, buying fewer clothes, skipping vacation days and many more. While effective, these methods are often painful as it sacrifices your lifestyle. What if I told you…
A home renovation is one of the riskiest financial ventures that most people will get involved in and there is a lot of potential for things to go wrong. When things go right during a renovation you will beautify and modernise your home in a cost efficient way, but when things go wrong it can cost you an unbelievable amount of money, time, stress and headaches. So what…
No matter which country you live in, planning for retirement is essential. When you live in the US, that means making plans for your 401k. However, the following guidelines are helpful no matter where you live (with a few adjustments, of course). So, when should you start making contributions to your retirement fund? How much do you need? When you’re young, retirement is conveniently far away. You think…
We all make mistakes in our lifetime. Some are better than others, but eventually we shake our heads, and wonder what the heck we were thinking. Hopefully, you didn’t ruin your financial future, but if you had a divorce fall in your path, likely you have some repairs you need to make. An illness or injury won’t do any better for you, and it can cause some…
It’s no secret that the high-pressure world of business can have some unfortunate effects on our health. Aside from the constant stress that comes with being a successful entrepreneur, there’s the ever-present risk of debt. We’ve all seen it happen – an investment goes awry, your forecasts turn out to be off, or a global recession puts the boot into your business plans. When this happens, it can…
Saving money is counterproductive. While it’s true that you need to save some money, as repugnant as the idea may be, saving for an emergency, an unforeseen calamity and to create a nest egg for eventual investment are all valid reasons to save money. Beyond that, saving is an exercise in futility and here are five reasons why. If you save $100 per week in your cookie…
1) Knowing where your money is going. You’re part of a tech-savvy generation. If you aren’t tracking your spending online yet, you should be. Websites like Mint, You Need a Budget, or Manilla can serve as a starting point for not only tracking your spending, but setting parameters around it as well. Gone are the days of writing things down. Get synced in to receive automatic alerts when…