Biz Screener

Getting a small business loan can be quite difficult these days, given the current economic climate.  Many businesses are struggling right now, including banks, so finding one to finance a new business or business improvements can be quite the challenge.

One thing I would advise is to be extra careful when choosing a small business loan right now.  Be sure to read all the fine print, and don’t get yourself into a deal that doesn’t seem quite kosher.  With traditional business financing getting harder to come by, some slightly shady financial institutions are taking advantage of small business owners desperate for funds.  If you don’t watch yourself, a bad decision now could mean trouble later on, and having to seek out debt consulting just to avoid losing your business.

One other tip: If you are finding that a small business loan is difficult to come by, look to yourself before placing all the blame on the economy.  The economy is causing banks to tighten up, yes, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t willing to finance you at all.  If you are getting denied for a loan, go back to the drawing board: Is your business plan the problem?  Do they have a reason to doubt you’ll be able to repay the debt, or are you asking more than the nature of your business justifies?  Do what you can to improve your business plan and try to minimize the amount of money you need to borrow, and then try again.

Technorati Tags: corporate debt negotiation, debt consulting, small business loan

Tags: corporate debt negotiation, debt consulting, small business loan

For many dogs, getting groomed is just a necessity.  For instance, for a Bernese mountain dog, getting clipped in the summer can make them a whole lot more comfortable.  Some dogs are also more prone to getting dirty or smelly than other breeds.  Also, many people like to have their fancy breeds — such as a Cavalier King Charles spaniel – groomed in order to keep them looking as pretty as possible.  And then of course there are the poodles, which don’t shed but need to be groomed and clipped regularly so that they don’t look too poofy.

But the question is, should you have them groomed by a full sevice place, or take your dogs to one of those do-it-yourself places?

The advantage of the do-it-yourself grooming is that you can go into a shop, use professional equipment and products, and leave with a perfectly groomed dog — and no mess to clean up in your house.  That’s well worth the money for many do-it-yourselfers.

Of course, if you lack the skill to do certain things, such as clipping a poodle in a stylish fashion, you may opt for having the dog groomed by a professional.

Don’t forget to also look into any services that local dog rescues and shelters might offer.  Sometimes you can get grooming at a discount from these types of places, and benefit the rescue or shelter at the same time!

Technorati Tags: Bernese mountain dog, Cavalier King Charles spaniel, dog grooming, dog rescues

Tags: Bernese mountain dog, Cavalier King Charles spaniel, dog grooming, dog rescues

Having been burned a few times by doing business with companies that I failed to research first like I should have, I am a huge proponent of researching companies online before doing business with them — either as a customer or as a service provider.

One of the most effective ways to research a company is to type their name into the search bar, along with “complaint” or “review.”  Some companies, you know right away to stay away from them, because of how many complaints pop up immediately in the search results.  Others you have to dig through the list a little bit in order to get any information, either good or bad.

Another way  is to search specific sites,  such as the Better Business Bureau.  However, I have to admit that I haven’t had much luck searching for businesses with the BBB, so I advise looking for other sites that provide consumer reviews.

Of course, chances are the Fiji hotel or scuba diving shop you are looking up probably won’t actually have any serious complaints against it — but it only takes once to get burned, so I think you are better safe than sorry.  Be sure that your Fiji diving vacation is one to remember — for the right reasons!

Technorati Tags: Better Business Bureau, Fiji diving, Fiji hotel

Tags: Better Business Bureau, Fiji diving, Fiji hotel

If you’ve learned any sort of computer programming language, or web scripting, you understand that comprehension is sometimes a hit or miss venture. Like in college when you took algebra and got it one day, and had no clue the next, programming can be frustrating. It can also be promising and exciting as well.

photo credit: Djenan

Today, there are a number of excellent programs that help ease the burden of knowing everything. Macromedia makes a fantastic coding program called Dreamweaver. Over the past several years, they’ve made it even better by adding dreamweaver extensions that bring even more functionality into the core programs capability.

One of those extensions is the ability to allow Dreamweaver to effectively display and code PHP scripts. When you are coding in the PHP language, being able to clearly identify various bits and pieces of PHP speeds the process of development.

Additionally, if you spend any decent amount of time writing and working with engineering code, your eyes can get fatigued. This usually leads to a vast reduction of work and an increase in the number of real and potential errors. By having colored tags within your coded pages, you can easily spot certain coding conventions without having to actually see the individual text. This also makes for spotting errors as the expected color of a tag will not appear if you’ve coded incorrectly.

Technorati Tags: dreamweaver extensions, PHP scripts

Tags: dreamweaver extensions, PHP scripts

When you have a small business, it is very important that your business has a good reputation — that is, that you have lots of positive reviews online, or at the very least, no negative reviews.

The reason for this is that as a lesser-known small business, customers have less to go on when they hear your business name.  When they are dealing with, say, Amazon.com, there is a lot of trust there simply because they know it’s a big company that has a lot of dealings with people.  But a smaller company, on the other hand, they will need to research in order to feel safe about doing business with — and if what they find isn’t positive, they’ll take their business elsewhere.

This goes for both buying and selling.  For instance, if you have an online pawn shop, you’ll want to make sure that you are known for giving sellers a fair deal when they sell gold for cash.  This is equally as important as ensuring that buyers are happy with their purchases.

So make sure that your business has a strong reputation and no negative reviews with companies such as the Better Business Bureau, RipOffReport.com, etc.  How do you do this?  Well, for starters, by always making sure that you value every customer, and that your products and customer service are the best you can possibly make them.

Also be sure that you always make sure you resolve complaints so that the customer is happy.  I know it can be painful to give in to customers when you don’t agree, but it just isn’t worth losing who knows how much business because the customer gets mad and leaves a complaint about you with the BBB or online.

Getting a good reputation isn’t difficult, but it also doesn’t happen overnight — you have to work for it.  Tearing it down, on the other hand, can happen quite quickly, so make sure you always keep in mind how your interactions with customers could impact your business’s reputation.

Technorati Tags: BBB, Better Business Bureau, online pawn shop, sell gold for cash

Tags: BBB, Better Business Bureau, online pawn shop, sell gold for cash

I wish I could hire a Pittsburgh malpractice lawyer or something to sue my attorney from where I used to live in Colorado.  I know that that’s not really what they do-sue each other.  But my attorney here sure missed a lot of stuff, and it’s too hard to go back and change it in the divorce agreement now.

There should be attorneys who specialize in going back and fixing messed up settlements, or else specialize in going right after those other attorneys and getting back some of your money anyway.  They specialize in everything else; where I live now we have everything from Pittsburgh personal injury lawyers to trial lawyers, of course.  Maybe there actually IS a list somewhere of every type of lawyer, and on it is just the type of lawyer who could help me with my former divorce lawyer. 

I suppose it’s no different from any other place; my husband had to go to a high priced attorney to finally find out that his original guy was an idiot.  What I’d like to know is, where are all of those attorneys like on the old LA Law tv show who do all that pro bono work for free?

Technorati Tags: LA Law, Pittsburgh malpractice lawyer, Pittsburgh personal injury lawyers

Tags: LA Law, Pittsburgh malpractice lawyer, Pittsburgh personal injury lawyers

Working part time with my brother in law not only keeps me in good stead with my little sister, but it allows me to earn some extra money on the side. As a freelance writer, and part time landscaper, I am always looking for bigger and better money making opportunities.

On a recent writing gig, I was assigned the topic of writing about a gravel screening machine. Of course, I knew a little about the process that rock supply companies go through in order to create gravel and other landscaping materials. In essence, they do all the separation and grading of the materials and then companies like ours come along and pay them a premium for install ready supplies.

After working on this assignment, I mentioned to Mike that he might want to consider investing in a gravel screener of his own. He already has solid relationships with the same trucking company that brings in the bulk materials to the local rock supplier. With his own screening system, not only would he have his hardscape materials at below wholesale, there might be the opportunity to create a second business unit and compete with the local big guy.

Even a small piece of the business would quickly pay for the equipment costs and provide the autonomy a business owner craves.

Technorati Tags: gravel screener, gravel screening machine

Tags: gravel screener, gravel screening machine

One of the things that I had never expected about the new job I was hired on for was the amount of learning that was going to be required.  I half expected just to be thrown in and to learn as the days progressed, but I was put on the corporate training program to learn the proper way to use the document management software and high volume scanners.

I had assumed that the training programs that I had taken in the past (in the restaurant industry) would have been similar to what I would expect working for a larger, more professional organization.  But, as it turns out, I was wrong.

In fact, it wasn’t at all what I was expecting.  I didn’t know that there was a right way and a wrong way to manage documents in an organization, or that there were different document storage methodologies that were to be used.

The training program is supposed to take three weeks before I will even be working in the information services department.  They want to make sure that I know what I am doing out there as a simple mistake can cost a lot of time and in some cases a lot of money.

But, I think that I am up for the challenge, and I am looking forward to working at a job where I don’t have to ask, “Would you like fries with that?”

Technorati Tags: document management software, document storage, high volume scanners

Tags: document management software, document storage, high volume scanners

I recently decided to turn to life insurance financing for a variety of financial reasons but in my research I found that there are many benefits to using carrier acknowledged programs.  After learning more about the types of programs offered I realized there are many risks to using any other kind of program. 

The alternative is a stranger owned life insurance policy or non-recourse premium finance which can attract those who do not want to be required to post any collateral.  Stranger owned policies do not require an insured to post a personal guarantee and thus many of these programs can attract fraudulent activity.  In today’s changing environment fraud keeps evolving, making it more and more difficult to decipher which programs are trustworthy. 

The use of these more yielding programs has created growth within the life insurance premium finance market.  This is also why many carriers have recognized the rising need and invited many new lenders and programs alike to participate.  Anyone who checks into the types of programs available will clearly see the benefits of carrier acknowledged programs.  More importantly they can feel assured that they are involving themselves in a transaction that is more protected than risky.

Technorati Tags: carrier acknowledged programs, fraudulent, stranger owned life insurance

Tags: carrier acknowledged programs, fraudulent, stranger owned life insurance

Lots of people use mortgage loans or payday loans but it is always important to try to stay away from them unless you are prepared to pay them back.  I even try not  to use credit cards because I think that the temptation is too great to start buying up all kinds of different things that maybe a person should not be buying if they can not afford to buy it. I try to live by these rules, but there are often times when emergencies arise and something unforeseen happens.

In cases like this I have resorted to the occasional payday loan or used a credit card advance. I am careful though to only use them in these kinds of circumstances. I also make sure that I work quickly to pay them off, and to not let the debt accumulate over time. I think that is how so many people get so far into debt.  I think that it is really important for our society to start learning how to spend responsibly and to manage our money appropriately. Being cautious with loans and credit cards is the first step.

Technorati Tags: debt, mortgage loans, payday loans

Tags: debt, mortgage loans, payday loans