Business Credit Cards are Essential

If you are running a business out of your home, then there are many details that you need to keep in mind. You should probably be reading up on as much information that you can get a hold of on having a business at home. One of the most essential pieces of running a business from home that you absolutely need to know from the start is to get a business credit card to use for everything related to your business.

Unfortunately, as a business consultant, I have talked with far too many business owners that come to me after failing at running a home based business. Why? Well, there are a wide range of reasons why people would fail at owning and running a home business, but the surprising number one reason I found for failure was poor management of finances. Far too many people do not invest into a business credit card when they first begin, and that is a very dangerous thing to do.

I thought that the importance of having a business credit card was obvious, but maybe it is not. A business credit card ultimately allows the home based business owner to have the freedom to keep their personal finances and their business finances separate. This is essential throughout the year and obviously when it comes to tax season as well. There is no reason why the finances of a home should be mixed up with the finances of a business. Keeping the two accounts as separate as possible is good in the long run.

There are many ways to apply for a business credit card, but you may want to talk with a business consultant before you make a choice on a card. There are many business credit card offers flying around and it makes it hard to know what is up and what is down when you are sorting through the offers without a good take on what to look for. So make a meeting with a business consultant or talk with a friend who is business savvy before making any decisions about a business credit card.

The bottom line for home based business owners is that they need to look for ways to separate their business even though it is done in the home. This will be impossible without the use of a business credit card. So apply for one today and see what a difference it will make to the organization and success of your business.

Remember that when you are looking to save money, count on your trusted business partner, Business Network Long Distance!

No More Monopoly

There was a time in this country where all utilities such as: gas, power, electric, and telephone service were all operated under the regulation of one single company. In the early seventies AT&T was investigated for being a monopoly of telephone service for the entire country and the result of that endeavor changed the economic model for consumers. Now utility deregulation is law and the process allows private firms to supply utility services rather than restricting it to government-run agencies.

           

Telecom deregulation was the best thing that could have happened for the consumer because it created competition and benefits that lowered service prices. When AT&T operated as a monopoly they could charge whatever they wanted for their service and generally operate as they saw fit. It was common practice for AT&T to rent out telephones to place in homes without the option of owning. Soon after, the government stepped in and created The Telecommunications Act of 1996.

The 1996 Act was designed to open up telecom markets to competition and it relied on rapidly spreading advancements in the industry by requiring companies that used similar types of underlying network technologies to provide a single type of service. The biggest example of this was that AT&T operated seven regional providers of local telephone service and they supplied long-distance service to them all, but under the 1996 Act they could no longer offer that same long distance. They first had to prove that they had opened up the market for long-distance to competition before they could throw their hat in that ring. As a result long distance telephone rates decreased, the number of long distance minutes used increased, while improved entry and competition into the long distance telecommunications sector became a reality.

Use your freedom of choice today and contact Business Network Long Distance for low rates on your long distance bill. 

Do-It-Yourself Financial Planning

Tips for DIY Financial Planning from Business Network Long Distance.

The fight for financial freedom isn’t fair. No matter what kind of spin you try to put on it, the path to comfortable living seems either impossible or too long to attempt. Many people these days are spending copious amounts of money going to see professional financial planners for advice on how to get their money situation under control. But let’s be honest, while a financial planner can show you how to prioritize your spending and how to go about consolidating your debt, surely there must be a way to plan your finances that doesn’t cost you visits to a professional?  This article has been written to open some people’s eyes to the fact that it is possible to properly plan your finances from the comfort of your own home.

The main aim when planning your finances is to make everything as simple as possible. There is nothing worse than sinking so far into depression that you can’t see a way out. Whether you are in debt and looking to get out of it of if you are simply looking for a way to keep a little more spending money aside each month, the simpler you make your planning the better the result you will get. From the beginning, you need to be realistic. I’ll start with the example of a single income situation, firstly you need to calculate what your net pay is per month. If you’re self employed or not on a regular pay, always calculate the worst-case-scenario, what is the lowest you might get paid. Then go through your monthly bills and write down the ones that are a fixed amount. Do the same for all other bills but use the worst-case-scenario again, what is your estimation of the most that those bills might be. Add everything up and subtract it from your net income total.

Next onto the incidental expenses you might run into on a monthly basis. These might include petrol, car upkeep, public transport fares, food etc. make a list of all the little expenses you might need money for in a month. Even things that you’re not sure you might need to buy. Don’t add general spending money to the list, be specific. Always add more to the totals if you’re not sure as you can fine tune it later. Again, subtract your total from the money left over from your bills. Don’t worry if you’ve gone into the negative figures here, we can fix it.

Once you’ve got your expenses total in front of you, obviously any money that is left over is your profit for the month. In the event that you have nothing left or have gone into the minus figures, the next step is to minimize your expenses. Pretty straight forward, huh? Any incidental expenses that you might not need, remove them. And any expenses you know you will have, like food and petrol for example, really get down to the lowest spend on them. How much do you really need to spend on them? Your aim should be to save at least $50 per month after spending money. All that extra builds up and gives you a nice petty cash at the end of a few months!

If you are in a multiple-income situation, the same process applies. You need to start building up that petty cash tin. There will always be unexpected expenses, everyone knows that. In truth, the basis of comfortable living is really the knowledge that you can afford to pay for something unexpected.

To finish, all of this can be done on a piece of paper if you want to invest a little time, or you can lay it all out on an Excel spreadsheet. The way that saves the most time is to use a Financial Planning software program, you enter the numbers and the program gives you an automatic monthly planner. Whatever way you choose to go, always remember to keep it as simple as possible. When you’re following a plan, the pressure on you will decrease. What more could there be to comfortable living?

Remember you can always save money on your long distance bill by contacting Business Network Long Distance.

Putting the Customer First

The key is putting customers first. All successful business revolves around this belief and acts accordingly. To that end, we at Business Network Long Distance follow all Federal Communications Commission (FCC) guidelines and regulations, especially when protecting our clients.

To ensure our customers are getting the best service we follow the rules that the FCC has put into place.  Specifically, several regulations regarding phone switching from one provider to another The Telecommunications Act and FCC regulations hold corporations accountable for the actions of their employees. This includes telemarketers.

To legally switch service between providers, the new company must perform one of the following:

·         Verify oral authorizations through an independent third party.

·         Provide and obtain written authorization from the consumer; or

·         Provide a toll- free number for clients to call confirming the switch.

Third party verification is required to ascertain certain personal information including verification data. It is also required to verify that you are authorized to make such financial decisions. This is especially critical in a business environment where multiple lines and the company’s organization are concerned. Confirmation is needed to ensure that you with to change providers and that you understand that you are authorizing a company change, not simply upgrading an existing service or consolidating a bill. This question protects consumers from possibly misleading information. Former and current provider information is necessary to complete the switch.

A letter of Agency “LOA” may be written or electronically sent. It is used to confirm a consumer’s desire to change companies. Like the telemarketer verification information detailed above, it requires some personal billing information. The Letter, though, authorizes the new provider to act as the Agent of change in switching your long distance service. It may not be part of promotional materials or advertisements (except incentive checks, under certain circumstances). It is important that the LOA, as a legal document, detail and explain all local, local toll, and long distance providers being switched or affiliated.

The final method of authorization is to establish and use one or more toll- free numbers for electronic confirmation. The lines must be dedicated to that purpose. Calling the line connects the consumer to a live or automated voice unit that will record the required information detailed above for verification purposes. Calls which authorize a provider switch must be placed from the telephone line(s) in question.

These safeguards have been put in place by the FCC to protect consumers from illegal practices. All companies operating within the law follow these regulations.

For quality long distance you can trust contact Business Network Long Distance.

Searching for your Next Investment Property?

Are you a business owner that looks for property investments?  Then we have some tips for you!

Finding a bargain investment property on paper is only half of the process of property investment. The other half of real estate investing is going down to the property to examine the real estate investment property physically for defects either in terms of the construction and legal title and other liens that can be on the property. You do not want to spend lots of legal costs later to undo the bad lemon you bought into. This article will highlight five possible things to consider when searching for your next investment property.

Firstly, unless you find a property that is really run down and you want to tear it down to its foundations, you want to look out for properties that might have potential electrical and water piping problems. The reason why this is critical is that, wiring and water piping is usually hidden behind walls and other furniture fixtures and repairing them can be a very costly affair since you have to hack into the walls and run the piping and wiring if the problem is very serious. If you are new to property investing try to bring a electrical engineer along with you when you are doing some property inspection.

Secondly, foundation problems are usually harder to spot. When walking around the property, look for cracks appearing at the side of the house and the foundation that goes into the ground. Look for large unusual holes found at the side of the property and cracks on the exterior paint of the building. You might want to bring a civil engineer and a contractor along to figure out how much it would cost to fix the property if you suspect the repairs involved will be substantial. You can also bring them along to give a “grim estimate” to the house owner and bring down the cost of the property.

Thirdly, roofing problems can be a persistent nightmare to you and your potential tenant if you are purchasing the real estate for tenancy purposes. When inspecting the house, look around the ceiling near the windows and around the edges of the walls to look for new paint or yellow spots or cracks with water in them. Most sellers would be smart enough to eliminate the water bubbles after a heavy rain when trying to sell the property, but it is always important to figure out if there is a major leaking roof which might cost you are lot into repairing it. Use this defect to negotiate the price of the property further if you are interested in the property.

Fourthly, another reason why the investment property in question might be a bargain might be because there are legal problems associated with it. Common ones include, multiple owners that cannot agree whether to sell or not. Litigation here would be futile and you should avoid such property once you learn about it.

Another problem might be a lack of clean title. Did you know that the seller can be selling you only the building without the land or maybe there are existing tax liens on your property or some other liens that can prevent you from getting good title to the property? Spending some time chatting with a reliable real estate attorney to learn about common real estate problems in your area can save you lots of legal problems later.

Fifthly, bankruptcy of your seller or one of the part owners of your real estate may depending on the legal proceedings of your state affect your ability to transfer title quickly. Most states make it a requirement that the receiver of the bankrupt has to agree so pay careful attention to the bankruptcy legislation of your state. That being said, sometimes the banks are willing to sell you at a bargain so as to recover the bad debts quickly so do your homework before purchasing such an investment property.

In conclusion, these five pointers can be used as a starting point for you to evaluate your property investment. Spend some time to think rationally about the properties that you have seen and see if they have any of the above flaws and consider if you want to continue purchasing them and whether the costs that you may incur in fixing them will justify the discount of the property to the market value. Above all, take massive action today and pursue your property investment dreams.

These pointers and tips brought to you by Business Network Long Distance, your trusted business partner.

Productivity Loss

A business cannot compete if it does no stay on top of new technology.  If it fails to stay up to date, it will fall behind the pack.  Advancements in telecommunication has revolutionized human existence, because of it many companies have attempted to go wireless.  The idea of course is to gain an edge or at least stay even with the competition, but this has not been the experience for many who have chosen this path. For them, it’s been more like going backward instead of forward.

By going wireless many companies find that the mobile device becomes a constant in meetings, office conversations, etc.  When the cell phone should be put away and used for personal time, it becomes an excuse since it is also their business line.  This opens up games and all other applications to be used on company time on the company phone, however passed off by a walker-by as a business duty. 

Loss of productivity becomes one of the largest issues with a wireless company.  The company also sees a loss of funds because of the expense cell phones charge as well as if the employee has their phone lost or stolen.  Finally, with all the information that is now stored on the cell phone because it is the business phone as well, if anyone does steal the phone, information loss can be a security threat to the entire company.

The aims and objectives of going wireless are to make the company simpler when instead it makes for a more complicated model of communication within the company. 

If you are concerned about the price of you landline contact Business Network Long Distance to save money on your long distance bill. 

Quality Excellence Program

Business Network Long Distance employees are sought out and hired for their concern for excellence and the need to satisfy our customer base. We care about our customer’s needs and their security.  There are no corners cut when it comes to the quality assurance process we implement for every customer we provide with our services. Every sale we make is triple checked to ensure that all standards were met throughout the entire five step quality process.

The five step quality process we use here at Business Network Long Distance is a practice we have perfected over the years. Step one of the process is to record and review one hundred percent of the calls that are made by our sales representatives for maximum quality assurance. Step two is to use a live third party verification company to confirm that our customers wish to use our service after a customer decides that they would like to take advantage of what we offer. Step three is to immediately call the customer back to validate the sale and that they were in fact the person who authenticated the change. Step four is another layer of protection for our customers where we will actually place a forty-eight hour hold on any changes to ensure that the customer does not change their mind, but if they wish to do so they can cancel before the sale gets processed. The fifth and final step is for an automatic review and then a manual review to guarantee that the sales representative did their job properly and that all five steps of the quality process we in fact followed.

Here at Business Network Long Distance we have a training regimen that every new employee will have to endure before they will have the privilege of being considered a Business Network Long Distance employee. Our staff takes pride in the service that we are providing and the close working relationship we enjoy fosters an environment that makes it a delight to show up to work each and every day. It is our hope that each and every customer we encounter is thoroughly satisfied with our service.