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Budgeting is something that every business should keep in mind when trying to expand their horizons. Since expanding too fast will end up with you having to spend more money than your business can handle. Under spending, on the other hand, can cause your company to stagnate and cause your business to not grow as fast as it possibly could. So, how exactly can you get your budgeting balanced out to get the best results?

Budgeting is a Delicate Balancing Act

You have to keep in mind that whenever you make a budget, you’re dictating the pace of your business. Whether it’ll grow too fast and burn out too quickly or whether your business is going to be too slow and left behind by your competitors, you have to ensure that your budget is the perfect fit for your business. So, to help you create the perfect budget, we’ve put together some great budgeting tips for your business.

Never Take Funds Out Of The Business

This is the first mistake that many business owners make when business is booming. Instead of paying themselves a salary like an employee would, they would instead take funds directly out of the income of their business. This is a terrible practice that could lead to your business going under faster than a rock thrown into a canyon. This is because taking too much money out of your business will slow down the growth of your business. With competition hot on your heels all the time, stagnating will mean the end of your business.

Never Overestimate Your Profits

Every business has to turn up a profit for it to even be considered good business. However, many owners become over confident in their profit projections that they end up spending more than what they have on hand. Avoid this at all costs to make sure that you’re not going to end up having to pay a loan to pay off a bad case of overconfidence.

Pay Yourself a Salary

Even if you’re paying yourself a salary you should still make sure that what you pay yourself is fair and enough to get you by. This is the opposite problem of other business owners who take cash straight out of their business. You’re still an employee who needs to be compensated for their hard work at the office and neglecting to do so will leave you unfulfilled and stressed.

Correctly Weigh Risks

Risks are a normal part of the business. Every day you have to handle several risks, even if you don’t know whether it’s a genuine risk or not. Deciding whether to hire an employee, getting a loan and generally creating a budget are all risks. Each one comes with their challenges and it is up to your judgment as to how to handle it properly. You also have to know when to avoid these risks altogether.

Always Have a Backup Plan Or Funds

Business is often an unpredictable beast and you can suddenly find yourself in trouble. The worst part is that these situations often come without warning. One example is if one of your clients suddenly back door hires one of your candidates in the staffing and recruiting industry. You won’t know until John Smith starts his first day at your client without paying you a fee.

The best solution to these problems is to have a backup plan or extra funds that you can dig into when these situations arise. Preparation is key whenever you need to draft up a budget so always have a certain amount set aside.

A rental property can provide you with a steady stream of income each month and allow you to invest in something that might later go up in value, too. While buying a rental property is an appealing way to invest, you should be aware of the potential costs and the work required once you have a tenant in place. With that in mind, consider your costs, potential income, and the amount of work you’re willing to put into property management before you take the plunge and invest.

Will You Make Any Money?

When you purchase a rental property, you have some built-in costs—the mortgage, taxes, property management costs, and more. When these are accounted for, can you charge a reasonable rent and still make money?

This point matters most to those who need a functional, operational rental and monthly income to cover the cost of the investment. If you are buying a property simply to enjoy an increase in value over time, you may not be as concerned about monthly income.

If you need money to pay the bills, though, then you should determine what the proposed rental will cost you annually (with a cushion). You will then need to charge tenants to break even, or better yet, earn a profit.

A look at your local real estate market should give you a good idea of what the home or property you are considering rents for. If it is already a rented property, then the owner should be able to provide you with concrete details about income and costs.

How Will You Buy the Property?

If you are buying a single property home for investment purposes, a conventional mortgage can be used, but if you are investing in a multi-family property, you’ll need a commercial loan. Commercial loans work differently than regular mortgages, so you’ll need to understand how they work and know what to expect from the process.

You should determine what amount you’ll need to put down and how much the home will cost you each month—you’ll need these figures to determine if the rental ROI will be where you need it to be, too. If the mortgage and property costs are going to have too much of an impact on your budget, it may be better to wait until you save up some additional funds to serve as a cushion, just in case a tenant fails to pay or an extensive repair is needed.

Do You Want to Be a Property Manager?

Investing in property is just the start; to generate cash, your rental will need to have some tenants. You need to decide if the everyday tasks associated with owning a rental unit are right for you. It’s okay if they are not—you can hire a dedicated property manager—but you should be aware that any rental property that has tenants will need an investment of time and money. Here are two basic options:

DIY: When you take this approach, you handle the work of finding and retaining tenants yourself; you are also responsible for repairs, maintenance, and other issues. When a toilet overflows in the middle of the night, when the tenant in 2A can’t get along with 2B, or when a rental home is unexpectedly vacated, you’ll be the one to take the phone call and clean up the mess.

Hire a Manager: A business or individual can manage the property for you and field those late-night phone calls. They can also help find qualified tenants, fix what goes wrong, and serve as an intermediary between you and your tenants. Property managers do cost money, but they free up your time and allow you to focus on your own life and investments.

You’ll need to determine which management approach works best for you before you invest in a rental property.

Learning more about the potential risks and considerations of buying a rental property can help you make the best possible investment and ensure you get the ROI you need from your purchase.

Author Bio 

Patrick Freeze is the President of Bay Management Group, which manages about 4,000 units in the Mid-Atlantic Region. The company is overseeing more than $700 million worth of real estate as of October 1st, 2018.

Position trading strategy is one of the easiest ways to secure the best possible trades. Being a rookie trader you might think you know the details of this market. But after trading the real market for a few months, you will become frustrated and quit trading. Trading is all about finding the best possible trades with an extreme level of precision. You might be new to this trading profession but this doesn’t mean you will become Forex millionaire without educating yourself properly. You have to rely on the simple logic of investment business to master the art of trading. Let’s learn the five big mistakes committed by the position traders.

Ignoring the long term trend

Being a position trader, you are supposed to trade with the major trend. But the rookie traders start to trade the real market with the market retracement. Eventually, they lose a big portion of their investment and become frustrated. Try to find the market in the daily time frame so that you can execute high-quality trades with an extreme level of precision. Some of you might think the daily time frame doesn’t give enough trading opportunity. But this is not all true. You have to understand the fact, the quality will always beat quantity’s a novice trader, and you need to learn about the different stages of the market trend. Never trade with the minor retracement since it will ruin your trading career.

Trading with high risk

Those who are trading the market for a long period knows the importance of money management policy. If you take a huge risk in each trade, never expect to become a Forex millionaire. Trading is all about finding the best possible trades with low-risk exposure. Google the term Aussie Forex Australia and you will understand why the majority of the retail traders are losing money. More than 90% of the Forex traders are losing money since they don’t know the proper way to control the risk exposure. Being a rookie trader, you should never risk any amount which you can’t afford to lose. Trade with a conservative trading strategy and you will become better at trading.

Ignoring the major news

Being a position trader, you must have a clear knowledge of the fundamental factors of this market. Fundamental analysis is essential to assess the strength of the market trend. Some of you might think learning to analyze the fundamental data is extremely hard. But if you learn about the high impact news, it won’t take much time to develop your trading skills. If necessary seek help from the trained traders and they will give you a proper guideline to trade this market. Trading is nothing but the most sophisticated business in the world. You can’t afford to trade the market with emotions since it will force you to over trade the market.

Lack of trade management skills

You must master the art of trade management skills to become a successful trader. By using the simple trade management technique, you can easily ride the long term market trend. Never try to trade the real market without having a precise knowledge of the market trend. Once you spot the major trend, try to use the trailing stop loss features so that you can maximize your profit. Focus on the basic rules of investment business and you slowly begin to make progress in the trading profession.

Lack of confidence

Without having strong confidence you can’t become successful at trading. As a position trader, you must trade the market with managed risk. Stop taking unnecessary risk to recover the loss. Stick to your trading rules and try to make a profit with simple actions. At times you might get confused with your trading skills but this is very normal. Take a small break and organize yourself to trade the market with confidence. Never lose your confidence as it is one of the most vital elements in position trading business.

In today’s digital age and globalized world, long gone is the 9-5 business day that used to be standard for most workers. While today’s fluid work environment offers an incredible amount of flexibility and creative options for both employers and employees, at the same time, there is increased urgency, pressure and expectations that work get work done and delivered fast, at the highest quality and at the lowest cost.

Companies of all sizes need to be able to provide their clients with what they want and need quickly – because if not, someone else will. While large companies with deep resources may have on staff enough employees of a varied nature to satisfy client demands for quality, speed and cost, it is a bit trickier for smaller businesses with more limited resources.

Imagine a situation in which a client approaches your business with a lucrative project that requires a graphic designer who specifically has expertise in animation. Although this project is a great opportunity for the business, it probably doesn’t make sense to hire another graphic designer with these specific skills (when you already have a great designer on your team) and to invest in training and paying benefits when this is a one time project. At the same time, though, the small business owner does not want to turn down this opportunity.

What is a small business owner to do?

One practical and cost effective solution is to hire a freelancer or independent contractor. Although this may deviate from the way the small business is used to operating, there are some major benefits to be gained by hiring out.

Save Money

It is well known that oftentimes full time employees are not actually working all of those hours they are being paid for. On the other hand, freelancers only charge you for the hours they work so a business may end up spending less money for the same work, even when taking into consideration a higher hourly rate. Plus, there are great apps out there to help keep track of freelancers’ hours to guarantee that an hour worked is an hour paid. Some to check out include Toggl, RescueTime, Harvest, Hubstaff, Time Doctor and Timely.

Save On Time

If a freelancer accepts a job chances are he or she is highly motivated to get the project done on time and done well. Since most freelancers’ business model relies on repeat customers, freelancers can be counted on to get the job done promptly, maybe even before deadline.

Save On (Office) Space

Hiring a freelancer means you don’t need to find space for another person to sit in your already cramped office. Not needing to find a larger workspace means business owners will save money on rent. The freelancer will work from home, from the coffee shop, from another country – it doesn’t matter as long as the job gets completed.

Get More Experience

Experienced freelancers have done their time working with a variety of different companies and many come well equipped with a toolbox of eclectic skills that will benefit your company and impress your client.

Gain Access to Global Candidates

Hiring a freelancer allows you to transcend borders and timezones. They can work while you are sleeping and even on weekends, helping to speed up a project or free up time for salaried employees to work on other priorities during the workday.

Overall, hiring a freelancer can give your small business the advantages of motivation and fresh skills, while saving your business valuable resources – time and money being two critical resources that all small businesses owners are seeking to maximize.

One word of caution, however. Both employers and workers need to be clear on who, according to the law, is classified as a freelancer. Sometimes, there are situations in which employers may classify employees as independent contractors when in fact the law sees them as employees. If this is the case, these workers may be eligible to make claims for employee rights and benefits. To prevent any misunderstanding or legal issues down the line, it is best for a worker and employer to execute a written contract that defines the relationship prior to beginning any work.

Lee Madison writes about financial topics relevant to small business owners. She is director of content at Yellowstone Capital LLC.

A recent article in a UK newspaper claimed 1.6 million Brits currently lease their car – but how many actually understand what they’re doing?

When I first leased a car, I had no idea how it worked. I assumed a lease was something you got on a retail building and not a car!

Don’t let the complexity scare you though. Leasing can be a practical and affordable form of car finance if you take the time to get to know how it works. In this blog, I’ll run you through what leasing is, how it works and a couple different forms of leasing finance.

What is a lease?

To understand the difference between leasing and buying, you need to have a look at what you’re actually paying for in a lease.

When you buy a car outright, your payment covers the full value that the vehicle is worth. Once you’ve paid the full price (either immediately or over time), you become the legal owner of the car.

With leasing, you essentially ‘rent’ a car for a given period of time and return it at the end of your contract. Unlike buying a car, you’re never the legal owner of the car, although you are usually its registered keeper.

Why lease? Because depreciation hurts

Leasing is an attractive option for a lot of people because it eliminates one of the major problems that comes with owning a car – the cost of depreciation (depreciation is how quickly a car loses value).

According to the AA, new cars can lose up to 10% of their value the moment you drive them off the forecourt. Worse, the worst of the bunch can lose up to 60% of their value in the first year of ownership!

With these motors, if you’re planning on selling your car after a few years, you’re in for a shock when you check what it’s worth.

Contract Hire

Contract hire (more commonly known as leasing) is an arrangement where someone ‘rents’ a new car for a set period of time from a dealer. During the contract, the individual pays just enough to pay off the car’s depreciation. (Plus a little profit for the dealer, of course.) At the end of the contract, the individual returns the car to the dealer and they both go their separate ways.

With leasing deals, you aren’t the legal owner of the car but you are the registered keeper. That means you have get the car regularly serviced and keep it in a good condition.

The best thing about leasing compared to other finance options is the monthly payments, which tend to be significantly lower. That’s because, as I already mentioned, you’re only paying off the depreciation. You can also trade your car in every few years for a brand new model!

Tom Butcher worked behind the scenes in print journalism for years until he discovered the wonders of the web. He writes for several publications, covering the finance, automotive and tech sectors. At the moment, he is helping LeaseFetcher teach the world about car leasing.