What is Cloud?

Cloud computing is an internet-based technology. It is an umbrella term used to describe a number of different concepts. The purpose of Cloud computing is to help consumers get the most from their computers in the most simplified way.

The ‘Cloud’ is used as a metaphor for the internet and a key aspect of Cloud computing is the use of the internet to exercise the typical functions of your computer. This provides a ‘lighter option’ for your computer by alleviating the sole dependencies of servers and hardwares as data is easily accessible through an internet channel.

What forms does it come in?

Many businesses opt to adopt Cloud technologies without using a third party. To do this, a cloud-like infrastructure is introduced into their data centre. This type of cloud usage is referred to as a private cloud.

Hybrid cloud technology denotes a combined utilisation of both public and private cloud services.

Is it a piece of software?

There are a number of other dimensions to Cloud technology. PaaS (platform as a service) describes an operating system, web server or computer language interpreter which developers can then build applications on. Windows Azure and Google App Engine are examples of such platforms.

At the earliest part of the Cloud services chain is IaaS (infrastructure as a service). IaaS offerings typically come in the form of servers (often virtual), networks and firewalls, delivered on a pay-as-you-go basis. Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) is a popular example of this type of infrastructure. IaaS forms the ‘bread and butter’ of cloud technology of which PaaS and SaaS build upon.

To Cloud or not to Cloud?

However it is not the case that one option is right and the other is wrong; cloud services mark a progression in the technological market which some companies may find beneficial. An IT solutions company could offer you more information on how cloud technology can help your business and provide you with full migration and support services.

John Hughes writes for Bristol Computer Support organization Competent Solutions, providing you with expert IT solutions to help your business move forward.

Small businesses, which are vital to the health of the UK economy, are faced with ongoing problems in securing capital after the end of the Project Merlin initiative.

Merlin shortfall

One year on, official figures show that the banks have failed to deliver on their collective target of providing £76 billion in loans to small companies. Four of the UK’s largest banks met their commitments, with Barclays beating its target by 13 percent – lending some £15 billion. However, it was taxpayer-owned giant RBS that missed the mark, blaming the Eurozone crisis for the results that saw Merlin fall short overall by over £1 billion.

Business leaders have stated their fears that problems in accessing loans will stifle the activity of SMEs. Nick Green, founder of digital printing company Printed.com, has urged the government to do all it can to prompt part-nationalised banks to help all-important small businesses. ‘At Printed.com we have got a very big focus on the SME market and I think that over the next few years that market is going to be very important for the UK economy. As owners of the banks, the Government needs to push banks harder to open up lending and that is what they have to do.’

New initiatives

However, Mr Green recognised that the reluctance of the banks to take on yet more risky loans could dissuade them from providing assistance to smaller companies until the economy was already stronger – a Catch-22 situation. ‘At the end of the day, banks are in the business of lending and we all know that the taxpayer has a high percentage ownership of UK banks. More funding should be getting through to SMEs. I am just a little nervous it could take a while.’

Although bank lending is one major source of finance to SMEs, it is not the only one. CBI director general John Cridland encouraged the government to open up other avenues of funding. ‘While banks will remain an important part of the funding landscape, we need to give our firms access to new sources of funding, such as by opening UK bond markets to medium-sized businesses.’ A series of new government initiatives will provide loans and guarantees worth £21 billion to small and medium-sized businesses in the coming year, though the Merlin initiative itself will not be repeated.

Funding new businesses

Whilst many businesses report difficulties in securing funds, the lack of jobs available during the recession has prompted many entrepreneurs to start their own companies instead. These people typically find their start-up capital in a number of ways other than bank loans:

• Savings
• Loans from friends and family
• Credit cards, often making use of the 30-day interest-free period
• Angel investors (who will usually provide business advice too)
• Taking money up-front from customers

This article was supplied by printed.com, a supplier of quality leaflet printing and an accredited member of the World Land Trust.

Family, Friends, Anyone?

For one thing, the most accessible loan option that springs to mind is oneís family and friends. They can provide you with a quick cash fix, so long as you havenít already alienated them financially, with your poor finance management habits. They will usually charge no interest and will take your word for it, when your promise to pay them back in due time. It all seems perfectly fine, but a wise old word of advice says one should never do business with oneís family and friends. Why? Because this can either lead to a turn for the worst in family affairs and friendships, or result in defective business solutions. Either way, chances are things wonít end well when oneís near and dear ones become involved in oneís business.

Small Business Authorities

Each sufficiently developed country has a small business financial advice authority ñ itís the Small Business Administration, or SBA, in the United States of America and the Financial Services Authority in the United Kingdom. These organizations will readily provide all those interested in starting up a business, even while on bad credit ratings, with all the information they need. They will tell you where opportunities for grants and funding open up. While such organization will provide you with access to their extensive network and pool of resources and information, the bulk of the effort will still bear down on your shoulders. You will need to get cracking on those tips as to how one can keep a business up and running, while also taking note of the names of major non-profit organization that might be willing and able to help you.

Developing Good Habits

When all is said and done, people can end up in a bad financial situation for an entire host of reasons. These reasons are as infinitely variegated as the many nuances of the financial crisis itself. And it is equally true that any business venture initiative is laudable, so long as it is undertaken in good faith and appears solid enough to receive some funding, no matter how paltry the amount may appear. However, if you do manage to get your small business running, even on bad credit, you will need to change those things in your financial practices and habits that have brought you to such an undesirable position in the first place. Always remember that this time, itís not just your personal finances youíre handling, but those of a business, with its potential partners, staff and clients. Those are quite a few people to disappoint by going bankrupt or filing for insolvency, arenít they? Not to mention the fact that the manager of an insolvent business stands to face all criminal and civil charges that may be brought against them. So stay cautious, exercise prudence and frugality, and, of course, good luck.

Comfort and Convenience

Your business can incur a great number of current costs, from paying for business lunches to unexpected office supply run-outs which need to be addressed quickly. In absence of a business credit card, either you, the owner/ manager, or a member of your staff, need to cover those costs from their personal bank account. The money is then claimed back through a complex process, which definitely entails more paperwork than would be reasonably necessary for such meager costs. A business card can help you bypass that process and simply run all the expenses through the business. Additionally, duplicate cards can be issued for several holders in the case of business cards. As such you wonít need to worry about whoís got the card on them today. Simply pay as you go along, make sure all payments require managementís approval, and youíre all set for comfort and convenience.

Reap the Benefits

Most business credit cards will offer spectacular introductory rates ñ the standard offer is a 0% interest for the first three months. While subsequent rates will vary, they tend to run low, should you be able to keep up monthly balance payments. The other perks and bonuses are in many ways similar to what private individuals who hold platinum or gold cards enjoy. That is, your company will be able to exchange foreign currency at advantageous rates during trips aboard. You are likely to enjoy a 90 day insurance cover for all purchases made in the beginning of your time as a client of the bank. You will receive access to special events, entertainment and shopping opportunities, such as sales and discounts, and you may even be able to opt for extra mileage on your airplane fare, as part of a Frequent Flier program affiliated with the credit card.

A Final Word of Advice

A business credit card is still a credit card. Failure to repay your interest or your credit will result in a poor credit score for your enterprise, which will undoubtedly raise suspicions from any other creditors you might be doing business with. Additionally, your business will have a much more difficult time in accessing loans from other lenders. What is more, business credit cards are ideal for covering certain relatively small expenses. If you can trust your staff enough with the company credit card and are sure you can afford paying off your monthly balances, then you should definitely spring for it. If, however, that credit card (or any other type of loan, for that matter), is the sole source of income at your company, then you have no place even considering a credit card to begin with. Credit cards are a tool for stable business ventures, and will not replace profit-making as the only way to keep your business competitive.

Keep It Simple

There is a seemingly endless number of accounting programs on the market. All of these programs promise to make your life easier. However, what they usually do is create additional work. Customized programs have their own proprietary format, and system rules, that sometimes prevent you from creating a cash-flow analysis and forecast that you can use day-to-day.

Unless you’re a large corporation, with multiple departments and sub-divisions, you can use two simple columns to make accurate and meaningful cash-flow forecasts.

Use A Spreadsheet

A spreadsheet helps you simplify your cash-flow forecast. If you use Microsoft, then Excel is your best bet. It’s simple, and does all of the calculations you’ll need it to do. On a Mac, you’ll use Numbers. Spreadsheets are pretty low-tech, but you don’t need a high-tech solution.

A spreadsheet also has the advantage of being an inexpensive solution. While dedicated cash-flow software exists, it isn’t free. If you have iWork or Microsoft’s Office suite, then you won’t be paying extra for a dressed up spreadsheet. Don’t think of a spreadsheet as “settling” either. Both Excel and Numbers perform powerful and complex calculations. So, if you ever need to do more advanced accounting, a spreadsheet can be scaled up to fit your needs.

Enter All Income

The first step in designing your cash-flow statement is to input all of your income. Total up all of your current month’s income. If you are half-way though the month, add up everything you’ve made so far and estimate what you think you’ll make for the rest of the month. If you’re starting a new month, estimate what you think you’ll make for the coming month. Make sure you also account for any variability in your income. If you run a business that is affected by different seasons or has a unique yearly business cycle, take that into account when writing out your income.

Plan ahead for any cash shortfalls by accumulating a cash surplus during times when you make more than you are spending. How much of a cash reserve you need really depends on how variable your income is. In general, however, you should strive for a 100 percent cash reserve. In other words, for every dollar of liability you incur, you should have $1 in reserve over and above the amount necessary to pay for those liabilities. This will give you about a month’s lead time to adjust for any radical shift in income.

Enter All Expenses

It’s just as important to enter all of your expenses as it is to enter all of your income. While income sources might be limited (i.e. you may derive most of your income from sales, but they may be funneled through your merchant account which is essentially one source). Expenses can be trickier to record. Some expenses are reoccurring on a monthly basis. Other expenses are reoccurring on a semi-annual basis.

Because of this, it’s often necessary to comb through an entire year’s worth of expenses. Looking back over the course of a year might help you to figure out just how much money you spend over the course of a year. Then, you can divide this amount my 12 and generate a monthly expense amount. Even for expenses that do not reoccur every month, it’s often helpful to include them in a monthly cash-flow forecast so that you can plan for those expenses.

Subtract Income From Expenses

Subtract all income from all of your expenses. The remaining figure is your surplus or savings. This is the amount you can reinvest in your business add to your paycheck.

Make Constant Adjustments

Unlike a cash-flow statement that is prepared for a bank, you will probably have to adjust your statement from week to week or month to month. That’s fine. Just make sure that you reconcile the forecast with your actual bank account. Your total bank deposits and withdrawals should equal each other.

Guest post written by Elizabeth Goldman and brought to you by Wonga – the short term loan experts.

Where there is risk, there is a reason for insurance. It’s the case with your home, your car and your health, and the same principle extends to your business. The problem is, commercial insurance is extremely varied in nature and it’s not always immediately obvious what you need.

It might help to break things down a little. There’s insurance you have to purchase – either because it’s a legal requirement, or a professional requirement, or because it’s just not smart not to have any. Beyond that, you can broadly think of commercial insurance in two categories: property, and liability. There are other forms, and endless niche variations, but this is a good starting point.

Property

Commercial insurance for property covers physical things. If you have any of these as a part of your business (rather than things you owned anyway), you should seriously consider insuring them. Plus, if you owned them before you started your business but now use them more, or in a different way, then you should investigate whether you need to change your cover: many insurers won’t accept a claim if loss or damage occurred during the course of your work when they were on a domestic policy. This is only fair, since the commercial policy reflects the higher level of risk that comes with business use.

This kind of commercial insurance covers buildings and contents. If you work at home you may think that you don’t need to change your policy. Think again: working at home often brings new risks with it. Even if you don’t have any expensive stock or equipment on the premises, you might be seeing clients at home, or employees might be working there too. The more people come to your house, the greater the risk of theft or damage. An insurer will want to know about this. (Additionally, you may want various kinds of liability insurance for your home, too.)

Beyond that, you might need extra vehicle insurance, and cover for goods in transit. If you keep large amounts of money around, you may want cash insurance too.

Liability

Other than property, you will want to protect yourself against lawsuits that arise from the many different forms of claim that people might bring against you. Remember, these don’t have to be justified: you will still have to pay legal expenses if the claim isn’t upheld, and without the right kinds of commercial insurance you would have to meet these costs yourself.

Public liability insurance covers you for any harm or damage incurred by a member of the public in the course of your work, whether at your place of work itself (home or offices) or when you are out and about. Employers’ liability insurance broadly does the same for members of staff, and can apply to harassment and unfair employment practices as well as accident and injury.

Depending on the nature of your business, you might also need to consider professional indemnity insurance (which relates to your judgement and the advice you give in your work); errors and omissions insurance (which applies to your products and services); and directors and officers insurance (which covers you for mistakes made in a managerial capacity).

There is often some overlap in the different commercial insurance policies, so it is important to make sure that you are covered adequately but not paying for more than you need. A specialist broker will be able to advise you on the right collection of policies for your business, and may be able to offer you a combined policy that brings them together under one umbrella policy and one monthly payment.

This article was supplied by the leading firm of Irish insurance brokers, Robertson Low, established in 1995 are regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland as a Multi Agency Intermediary and the only Irish incorporated ‘Lloyd’s broker’.

The list below will cover some essential points of preparation. Some of these might be a bit basic but I’m sure you will all have seen what happens when these points are missed.

Objectives:

Training:

Training your staff will help to keep them enthusiastic and on message. Depending upon your budget can you can hire outside experts to coach staff through the finer points of exhibiting but for small business a more affordable approach would be to set aside an afternoon before the event too brief your staff. The briefing should include products they need to be aware off, along with proper data capture methods and some practice of talking to visitors.

Consistent messaging:

As far as clothes are concerned think about the message you want your brand to convey. A professional consulting company will probably want to wear suits, whereas as a tech start up might prefer a more relaxed approach such as adopting branded polo shirts. Similarly any promotional gifts need to be well thought through. For example If you are proud of your green credentials a pile of plastic tat looks hypocritical at best; a report that can be downloaded from your website with a code only available at your stand will look more professional and far more green.

Pre-event Marketing:

Eating and Sleeping:

Similarly book hotels and transport as far in advance as possible. Not only will this save you money, it will also mean you can get as close as possible to the exhibition centre. If you have a five minute walk to work in the morning it will mean you can be better rested than your poor competitors.

Hopefully this guide should help make any exhibits a success and ensure that you come out of the event with lots of great leads.

Written by Daniel Frank on behalf of Nimlok Exhibition Stands

A fair number of new businesses are coming to rely on open door loans. These are short term loans that can be taken out to keep you afloat during a cash poor time, when you have income on the horizon that has not yet made it into your bank account. Typically, these loans are small, and intended to get you through a cash crunch. They are not the kind of loan you take out to get your business started. If you have taken out a larger loan or mortgage from the bank, you may be hesitant to approach them again. With these cash advance loans you can side step the issue, pay your bills and keep your momentum going.

In the business world, you can’t show signs of faltering or failing. Competition is fierce, and to stay in the game you sometimes have to adopt a “fake it till you make it” strategy. This needs to be done prudently, taking only calculated risks, but running a business does often require decisive action. If you don’t want to go borrowing from friends, family or financial institutions, consider establishing a good relationship with open door loans.

These loans are not based on your credit history, but rather your current employment. If you can show that expected income is just a few weeks away, you can get approved for an immediate cash advance. The funds are usually deposited into your bank account within 24 hours. You can pay your employees, creditors or whomever, and keep the business afloat.

There are few stipulations for the loan: you must be a legal UK resident, over the age of 18, have a bank account and bank card, and receive your pay check on direct deposit. Beyond these easy to fill requirements all you need is proof of employment. The average business owner will have no trouble satisfying the requirements and being eligible for immediate cash when they need it.

Always borrow responsibly and pay careful attention to your business’ financial obligations. With proper management, an open door loan is the perfect option for you.

One of the major open door loans companies is http://www.opendoorloan.co.uk/

Nowadays it’s so easy to have a run of marketing leaflets produced that everyone is doing it. This effectively means that the market is awash with them – typically short adverts that come with professional print quality but mediocre design and content. The average customer will spend only a few seconds looking at one before they decide to hold onto it or throw it away. Yours needs to be one of the minority that are retained for future use. In a very competitive field, there are a few ways to raise your chances against the others.

Target your audience

It doesn’t matter how good your leaflet is if you send it to the wrong audience. Whilst some wastage is inevitable, this represents inefficient use of your marketing budget. Do your research, and make sure your leaflets go to the right kind of people and places. Think of local areas – streets and neighbourhoods of houses as well as public spaces – specific venues and publications that represent the demographic you want to attract. That way, your take-up rate is going to be far higher than a scattergun approach.

Put the customer first

The only reason your leaflet’s readers are going to become customers is because you offer something they want. Resist the urge to tell them anything they don’t need to know. You need to make reading your leaflet as fast and easy as possible – don’t give them a reason to pass on your pitch in favour of someone else’s. Present your business in terms that resonate with them and speak to their needs.

Brevity is key

Leaflet printing is not an exercise in cramming the maximum amount of information into two sides of paper. Instead, you need to distil what you offer into the most succinct form, grabbing your readers’ attention and giving them just enough information to take the next step. The more they have to read, the more you risk boring and distracting them. Every sentence has to count. Don’t think that you have to fill the space just because it’s there, or because other leaflets do the same. Your customers are going to appreciate a simple, clear, concise message more than having to plough through information they don’t need to make their decision.

Think about images

It’s fine to include photos or other images in your leaflet, just so long as they serve your wider purpose. As with your text, they have to be relevant and must bring value to the message. Otherwise, they are only a distraction or space-filler. A picture can communicate a lot more than words, but choose your images carefully.

Start strong

Your leaflet will likely stand or fall on its headline and opening lines. If these don’t enthuse, your readers won’t go any further. Make sure your initial statements are strong, making it immediately obvious what you do and what you can offer the client.

Make it readable

Everything about your leaflet should make it easy to digest. Don’t use ornate fonts or complex language, and make sure the design is clean and uncluttered. You’re paying good money to have these printed and distributed: make every penny count by ensuring you’ve done your work at the beginning and you’ll see a higher return on your investment.

This article was supplied by printed.com, a supplier of quality leaflet printing and an accredited member of the World Land Trust.

This is useful for both private individuals and companies for one reason: it allows them to take opportunities and make investments during times when they may be low on money. If funding is coming in within a month, but you need to act on buying that house or making that investment now, bridging finance can help you to do that.

But how do you know if this option is right for you? Bridging finance certainly isnít appropriate in every case, and it can actually be a very risky option in some cases.

When to Bridge Finances

There arenít any set rules about bridging finances, only guidelines. Follow these to know when and how to wisely get bridging loans. First of all, itís supremely important to know that funding is definitely coming in. There can be no doubt about it when you decide on bridging. Even if there is no date set, thatís fine, as long as you are 100% sure that it is coming.

Next, you should also be sure that the opportunity you are trying to get funding for is actually worth getting the money. If itís a matter of just staying afloat financially, then the funding might be a good idea because itís your only option. But if you are jumping on a money making scheme or making a premature decision, you might want to have second thoughts about the whole thing.

Get Advice

The best way to know when bridging finance is right for you is to get the advice of an outside source. There are quite a few financial advice firms like FBSE finance who specialize (or employ experts who specialize) in the field of bridge financing and they can be extremely helpful. If you can find a firm who will help you to know what the best decision will be, you can them use their help to find the option that is right for you, as well as a way of getting the funding and getting it fast.