As an agent that works with both buyers and sellers one lesson I have learned over and over again is about “fluffing” your home. Let me clarify, fluffing can mean a couple of things when it comes to selling a home. I have seen the term fluffing to be interchanged with getting your home staged. [...]
Dividends – an opportunity in today’s markets By Jeffrey D Carlson, CFP® The U.S. economy is slowly improving and investors are once again looking for places to put their money to work. But while the slow pace of economic growth has stymied some investors, it has also created opportunity for others who know where [...]
Most of us buy things everyday, but does that make us procurement experts. How do we know if we are getting a fair-deal? There are so many variables to consider: uniqueness of the product or service, product substitution, availability, quality, performance, price, terms and the list goes on and on. I’m sure that it will [...]
Selling – When does the process begin, is it when the sales representative phones or call’s on you? Probably not, the process started much earlier, when your suppler sent you a letter that went something like this… Dear Mary, No doubt you are aware that the cost of electricity, diesel, health care and other everyday [...]
As a small business owner you may be thinking why should I care about process improvement and for that matter why should I care about processes at all. The reality is that we all perform many tasks each day without thinking about processes. However, if you stop to think for a few minutes about the [...]
Recently, I’ve spoken to a number of business owners and I was shocked to discover that some of them are operating without any basic Financial Management Reporting in place. When I asked the owners about the financial performance of their business, they responded by saying that they were not sure, that they did not have [...]
All businesses have costs and if we are to have any chance of controlling them we need to first understand them. What’s the nature of the cost, what’s driving it, and whether the cost is fixed or variable in nature? Most of us know that we should categorize costs by their nature. However, too many [...]
As a small business owner do you need to take additional measures to control your energy cost? The answer is somewhat dependent on how you answer the following questions: 1. What is your energy cost as a percentage of your Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)? 2. Is Energy a direct input to your product or [...]
Most of us realize that it’s a good idea to periodically visit our doctor and undergo a routine health screening rather than waiting until we have a serious medical problem. A small business is no different; when you hold off on having routine check ups, you may miss a small problem that could escalate into [...]
Storage, Weather, Supply and Demand are the key factors that influence Natural Gas Pricing. The Fundamentals: Storage – Typically the US builds inventory over the summer period and takes from inventory during the winter period (October-March as defined by the gas market). Weather – The hurricane season runs from July 15 through August 15. The [...]
