Greener Business Bureau

Archive for the ‘Business Section’ Category

For the uninitiated, reading the business section in a newspaper or reading business magazines can often be a bit mystifying. On one hand, everyone knows about stock trading in a very basic way and all the talk about bulls and bears can be confusing, even in light of the fact that a bullish market means share values are up while a bearish market indicates sluggishness or lower share values. The end result is that a simple and straightforward exercise of investing in the stock market appears to be complicated and full of strange notions that seem to make no sense.

Stock

The “stock” in stock market is basically a representation of the assets of a company. When you own stock you basically own the equivalent share in the company. Buying stock is equivalent to buying part-ownership of the company. The whole point of buying stock is that when the company makes a profit then you, as a stock holder, receive a percentage of the profits equivalent to your share in the company. The downside is that when a company goes into loss the stock value goes down.

Stock Option

Buying stock option gets you the right to buy or sell the stocks of the company within the time allocated to that option. Stock options are considered a lot safer by investors as you require much lower capital. You can make money real quick using stock options but there are still some risks of losing money equally fast if not faster.

Call

The process of buying stock options is known as “Call”. Here is an example of the Call operation. Assume that a certain stock is selling for $90.00 per share. Your research informs you that after a period of one year, this stock will have appreciated by a significant amount. You will then purchase a 1-year contract for 100 stock options at $1.00 per share and the contract includes your estimated price of $100.00 per share. This gives you the right, without any obligation, to buy that many number of shares when the price hits $100.00 After 10 months, you discover that the price of the stock is at $120.00 per share. You can now purchase those stock options at the agreed price of $100.00 and immediately sell them off at $120.00. The extra $20 per share nets you the profit as per the number of options you included in the contract. Call makes a profit when share values go up.

Put

Following the above example, assume that your researches tell you the price is going to fall significantly after one year. This time, when you enter the contract, you get the right, but are not obliged to, sell your stock options within 1 year at the agreed price of $100.00. If, after 10-11 months the price is around $80.00, then you can sell your options at the contractual price of $100.00 and the $20.00 per share is the profit you make. Put makes a profit when share values fall.

There are many strategies to trading itself but all trading comes down to Put and Call.

Unless you have been hiding under a rock somewhere, you probably already know that Facebook has literally exploded in terms of the number of users that flock to the site daily. I’ll bet you are curious about ways that you can use Facebook to grow your business. Facebook has a notes section. Most of the time this section is used as a get to know your friends tool. You can also use this section to grow your business. Here are a couple of ways that you can use this section of Facebook to grow your business.

Use it as a journal.

I know you already have a blog, but you can also use Facebook as a journal. You can use Facebook when you have random ideas that you’re trying to flesh out into a blog post. Just write your ideas as you go. People aren’t going to be anal about the fact that your Facebook notes don’t all fit a certain theme. This is perfect if you’re exploring a different niche and you want to see people’s reaction to it. You can write a short piece in your Facebook notes section and then ask for input on what you’ve written. Be patient. Most people are on Facebook for recreation so it may take a while for your post to generate responses.

Use it to let your network know what’s going on with your business

You may have already created an event on the Facebook calendar, but you can use the notes section to elaborate about the event. If you’re giving a class, you can use the notes section to give people more information about what they are going to learn in your class. If you’re launching a new product you can use your notes section to build up the anticipation surrounding your launch.

Facebook is an exciting social media tool that is evolving everyday. Hopefully this article has given you some ideas on how you can use Facebook to grow your online business. Start using the notes section today and in time you will see some traffic trickling back to your site.

The industry analysis section of a business plan is sometimes overlooked by entrepreneurs focused on the specifics of their business. However, this section offers an important opportunity for the business owner to step back and relate their planned business to the larger market it operates within. This is a chance to look at the attractiveness of the industry as it relates to new firms starting out, cost and revenue drivers which will be key determinants of the business’s financial situations, and trends and projections of where the industry as a whole is headed in the future.

Industry Attractiveness

Industry attractiveness was famously broken down by Michael Porter using his “Five Forces” framework. Porter believed that the attractiveness of an industry, or potential profitability of a business in that industry, is to a large part determined by five forces: the bargaining power of suppliers, the bargaining power of customers, the threat of substitutes, the threat of new entrants into the industry, and the intensity of competitor rivalry. Ideally, these five forces are low, allowing a company in the industry to thrive. However, knowing the specifics of these five forces gives a company the chance to devise a successful strategy even when some of these forces are high.

Cost and Revenue Drivers

By knowing the key costs and revenue streams of a company in the industry, readers of your business plan are set to understand how you will compare to the industry at large. They would like to see you either follow industry norms or be clear about how and why you break from them, if you choose to do so. Not every business has to create entirely new revenue streams and you can be more successful in achieving funding if your plan instead shows how you will grab market share through methods similar to industry norms.

Trends and Projections

Finally, examining research and reports on trends and projections for the industry you are in allows readers to understand how you will take advantage of or defend your company from these future forces. You should be clear that you understand your business will be dealing with the market situation one, five, and ten years in the future and not the exact market situation at the time of the plan’s writing. Don’t ignore powerful trends which you don’t feel are in your business plan’s favor. Potential funders will eventually hear about these and wonder why you did not present this information in your plan in the first place.

1031 exchanges are most often associated with investment real estate as a way to defer taxable investment gains. However, section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”) is NOT limited to real estate transactions. A number of other assets qualify, including most tangible business assets.

Section 1031 provides that “No gain or loss shall be recognized on the exchange of property held for productive use in a trade or business or for investment if such property is exchanged solely for property of like kind which is to be held either for productive use in a trade or business or for investment.”

To qualify for a 1031 exchange:

- The sale of the relinquished property and the replacement property must be identified within 45 days and the acquisition completed within 180 days of the qualified sale.

- The replacement property must be of equal or greater value than the relinquished property.

- All proceeds from the relinquished property must be reinvested in the replacement property.

Nowhere does the IRC limit the use of section 1031 to investment real estate. So, let’s consider its application in the exchange of like kind business assets.

The most important distinction made by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) is that the sale or exchange of a business is not considered the sale or exchange of one single asset (i.e. the business). Rather, it is considered the sale or exchange of individual asset classes that comprise the business. Therefore, each class of asset must be exchanged with an asset of equal or greater value, in the same class and subject to the above requirements to qualify for section 1031 deferment.

In most cases, depreciable tangible property (real estate and equipment) are the most likely to qualify for deferment under section 1031. Although, intangible property can qualify for “like kind” treatment, it is often difficult to prove that intangible assets are like kind based on the nature and character of the rights involved. For this same reason, a business’s going concern value or goodwill is never considered by the IRS to be like in kind to the going concern value or goodwill of another business.

As you may imagine, 1031 business exchanges can become very complex based on the assets involved. For this reason, they are best left to the tax professional. However, it is important for you as a potential business seller to understand that 1031 exchanges are not limited to real estate transactions. They are available to business sellers with the same requirements and restrictions.

There’s been a recent rise in the number of Adult Daycare Home Businesses springing up everywhere around the world, what with an estimated one in four families providing care for an elderly relative today. Before you decide to jump on the group home business bandwagon, though, you need to know as much as possible. This brief guide will help.

Some questions you should ask yourself before starting an Adult Daycare home business, or any other home business for that matter, are:

What are your talents and skills? Are you looking for a home based career or just to supplement your income? Do you have space in your home for an office? Is your family willing to support you in having a business based in their home? Are you willing to put in the necessary work it takes to get a business off the ground and to sustain it once you have? Do you want to help people?

The last question is particularly important when it comes to operating and starting an Adult Daycare home business for the elderly. Because if you’re just doing it for the money, you’re likely to be overwhelmed by the personal interaction required for this business.

Some people are happier working all day long at a computer, not having to deal with other people face to face. Or they prefer detailing people’s cars or doing their lawn care to providing personal service that demands constantly interacting with people.

Everybody’s different, and that’s a good thing. Just understand that even if you set up an Adult Daycare home business across town from your own home, you’re going to have to deal with people on a daily basis.

If you decide that starting an Adult Daycare business for the elderly is just the type of business you’re looking for, you’ll have to find out what the laws and regulations are, as well as what licenses are necessary in your state. There are certain to be some, and you need to know what they are in case you have to obtain any special certifications. CPR and first aid certifications are two that most states are likely going to require you to personally have.

Another thing that you’ll have to look into before you buy or rent that house that you think would be just perfect starting an Adult Day Care home business, are the area’s zoning regulations. This can be a sticky situation in many places, and even if there are no zoning laws or regulations against your opening a group home business where you’d like to, you could well find yourself up against a lot of resistance. It’s mandatory that you know this upfront.

You can look for another location for starting a group home business for the elderly, or you just might decide that this is not the business for you.

Funding for group home businesses is not as hard to find as you might think. The Small Business Association, as well as many banks and other financial institutions, can point you in the direction you need to go to find the money you need to purchase a home for starting a group home business.

You’ll want to understand all the terms, conditions, and financial obligations. You’ll also want to find out if you must use your current home as collateral. Putting your own house up as collateral may be more than you’re willing to risk for any new venture.

Insurance for your elderly group home business is something you’ll definitely have to have. Liability insurance is mandatory. You’ll also need fire and theft insurance. If you plan to offer any type of medical assistance to the people in your elderly group home, you may even need malpractice insurance.

Other insurance requirements may also be involved. Learn everything you can about the different types of insurance coverage you’ll need, and then shop around for the best prices to obtain the necessary policies you’ll need for starting a group home business.

Unless you plan to live in your Adult Daycare business and do everything yourself you’ll need assistants and a concierge service for senior citizens. Planning for meals, transportation to doctors, dentists, hairdressers, and events, cleaning, and activities are other things that need to be considered before starting an Adult Daycare.

You will also want someone to oversee medications and ensure that people receive and take them at the proper times.

Starting a Group Home Business for the elderly is not for everybody, but if it’s for you, then you’ll find it tremendously rewarding. And in huge demand. Going into the elderly group home business with your eyes open and doing your homework first will assure that your Adult Daycare Home Business is a successful one.

Listening to high level vocabulary in another language is not an easy task. If you want to improve your understanding of business English you need to practice listening to a lot of that. Here are some things you need to do.

1. Make sure that your vocabulary is good enough. There are a lot of advanced concepts and if you do not understand them, spending a lot of time listening will not help you at all. You need to learn the majority of common vocabulary words used in business to even have a chance.

2. Once your understanding is good enough, watch business news on TV. Listen to the hosts. They use a lot of buzz words all the time. If you are already familiar with these terms, it will be a lot easier to improve your listening. 30 minutes a day is a lot if you are consistent.

3. Practice talking about business with someone who is interested and educated in the subject. Ask them to speak at their regular speed and stop them when you have a question. If you level is too low, do not do this activity for too long because it is a burden on the other person. Make sure you are learning on your own as well as listening.

4. Read the business section of the newspaper. This is one way to get used to the kinds of language that is commonly used. The business newspaper and what is said on business TV programs like CNBC is quite similar.