How to Register an Online Business

Steps to Register an Online Business

Summary: Remember that a domain name is the major brand that creates the idea of your online business site. It is usually being taken for granted.

Here are the registration procedures for you to start up that online business of yours.

Selecting Domain Name

In selecting the domain name, you should make sure that it is as that of your business. It is not that easy to think of a particular name so think carefully to be able to come up with a name which is really good for your online business. By selecting a name that is related to your business, it would help those people or surfers to locate your site even if they are not familiar with your name because the name you chose is related to the type of business you have. There are available search engines and generators in the internet. Through this, you will be able to see the different kinds of domain names and you will be able to select the most appropriate and favorable one.

Where to Register?

There are many websites that you may register your domain name. These domain name registration service providers are those sites that helps you register you domain names intended for you online based business sites. The fees and charges that are along with this domain name register sites are subject to the terms and conditions of what site is that. It may slightly differ from one service provider to another service provider. In one way or another, the fees and charges will still be very reasonable. Anyway, they provide reasonable service for you so it is well and fair that they charge a reasonable prize for that service. Another thing you should know is to make sure that these domain name registration service providers would provide the domain space that is applicable to your business. It is highly suggested that to go for a dynamic domain rather than those static one.

Procedure

The basic procedure followed by most of the domain name registrars are the following: (1) Selecting domain name for your business site; (2) Select domain name registrar that you wish to register your selected domain name for your online business site; ( 3)Read web hosting terms and conditions carefully for you to be able to understand the consequence of entering into this contract; and (4) Make the necessary payment of the charges upon this registration made and be sure to have the control over the domain name.

After making sure that you have the control of the domain name you registered, you may now upload the web content according to your choice and the design you decided to put in it. Remember that in any kind of registration, it is important that you know what the consequences of your action are. That is the use of showing you the terms and conditions in these service providers. When you violate these, there you will find the consequences to it. Read it carefully and make sure that you fully understand the said terms and its conditions.

How to Start Your Own Online Store

Starting Your Own Online Store

Summary: When it comes to short-product selling process, online store is usually preferred by many business-minded people. This is currently a popular business due to the fact that it uses highly innovative materials that help to sell the products in fast way.

With this reason, most people choose to purchase items in online stores because it is a more effortless way.

Since the world has already been manipulated by high technology system, most of the business industries have developed several types of selling process. Due to these innovations, more and more people have been interested to build their own businesses. They say that a business without these innovations today will not be successful. Remember that business is also a matter of competition and most of the businesses use this high technology. Once you don’t use any of these innovations, you will lose the battle. One of these is establishing your own online store which is associated with high technology like computer and internet. Online store is said to be one of the exciting businesses to venture into. So, if you are one of those who are willing to build like this business, you must read the following tips.

Starting Your Own Online Store

First is to set up your goals and determine your reason why you want to build an online store. It is very important to know your reasons in order for you to be well-motivated. And once you are well-motivated, you are ready and firmly prepared to start your own online store.

Have enough knowledge about the business. You can do some research and gather some information that can impart you helpful knowledge. Learn everything about computers as well as some high technology systems.

Make a plan for your business. This will help you to identify the different problems that you will encounter. Additionally, this will also make you prepared in order to surpass those incoming challenges. In this plan, you must also include the capital that you will use in establishing your own online store.

Determine a niche. You can begin through searching the market. There are lots of sources which you can use to perform market research for your own online store. Choose which items or products are fit to sell nowadays.

In order to ensure that your business is maintained in the right track, you must first start to identify the location. For an instance, you want to sell baby products of course you are considering to sell baby dress, shoes and other baby stuffs.

Then make your own website. If you don’t have the knowledge to create a website, you can hire someone who is expert in the field. In creating a website, make sure that this is well presented and based on the theme. For example, your product that you will sell are some baby stuffs, of course you will design the site with cute baby designs. Then, put your products properly. Also, include the product descriptions as well as the price. Don’t also forget to put your complete contact information.

No Financial Strategy Means a Strategy for Failure

Do you think the organizations handing out bad loans, buying securities of bundled bad loans, and selling credit default swaps had a well-thought out financial strategy for business success?
If the financial strategy was expressed at a now defunct mortgage lender, what would it have sounded like?


Mortgage Lender CEO to Board of Directors and Executive Staff:

Okay – here is the plan folks. We are going to give people mortgage loans for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Before we write the checks let’s not do any due diligence by verifying their financial information like income and credit background, or even by making sure we have accurate information about what the home is worth. Just to keep it interesting, let’s throw in some curveballs like unrealistic low beginning payments followed by crippling rate increases and ballooning payments, no matter what the prime rate is doing. Then, when our lendees can’t make payments and foreclosures start skyrocketing, the bottom will fall out of the housing market. Once that happens hardly anyone will be buying and selling houses, no one will be getting loans, our cash flow completely dries up, and we will be out of business in no time.


Does that sound good to everyone??

Board of Directors and Executive Staff: Hear Hear!! Bravo!!


Mortgage Lender CEO: Alright! Let’s get out there and make it happen!!


It sounds kind of ridiculous when you say it out loud, doesn’t it? But what did they THINK would happen? Did these organizations not have any strategy at all?? Apparently they were thinking: let’s just keep writing loans and charging fees as long as there are people who want them. There was apparently no clear plan or vision regarding what these activities meant for the future of the organization. No strategy is a strategy for failure.


Strategy Management Incorporate Goals, Environment, and Risks
A clear strategy and plan not only incorporates goals and the activities needed to reach these goals, but it also addresses risks. Obviously, the risk of handing out loans for hundreds of thousands of dollars without the proper due diligence and transparency was not accounted for in managing the financial strategies of these organizations.


Of course the above scenario of formulating a horrible strategy never really happened, but that is the point. Having no strategy is really the equivalent of having the worst possible strategy. The same concept moves right up the chain from the mortgage sellers to the investment banks who were buying and selling credit default swaps that they couldn’t cover, and to investors who were buying bundled securities that turned out to be virtually worthless because the real value was indeterminable.


Business Success Takes Planning
Conversely, you can find examples of businesses in the financial industry where a well-thought out strategy prevented them from being another victim of the financial crises. Perhaps the most visible is Bank of America. Executives at this institution say that they made a conscious decision about eight years ago not to get involved with the sub-prime loan market. They just didn’t see how lots of risky loans fit their long term financial strategy. Now, while so many other financial businesses are facing catastrophe, Bank of America is strong enough financially to grow by snapping up bargains. Recent acquisitions include well-known organizations like Merrill-Lynch, MBNA, and Countrywide Mortgage.

Anyone who has ever watched It’s a Wonderful Life knows that the best time to buy is when others are panicking and selling. But, of course, you have to be in a position to buy; and that is usually the result of a well-thought out and managed financial strategy.


How important is a clear financial strategy? Apparently it can mean the difference between growing your business and going out of business.


Financial Strategies are the Starting Point of Internal Control
For strategies to be effective, however, they have to be communicated and implemented throughout the organization. That means operations in various departments at various levels have to create their own strategies and plans that align with, and execute, top level strategies. This is accomplished though training, policies, procedures, and implementing best practices – an excellent starting point for internal control.


One final point. Most businesses cannot survive on a good financial strategy alone. A good financial strategy, for example, doesn’t mean much to a business without customers. So thoughtful strategies must be created and implemented across the balanced scorecard: finance, customers, internal processes, and learning and growth.


There are never any guarantees for business success, but creating financial strategies gives your business direction and guidance. Without that, there is no telling where you will end up. Perhaps owned by Bank of America.

A Beginner's Guide to Investing

How much to invest?

Your investment strategy will depend partly on how much money you want to put to work. A few options:

$50 a month or more, with no lump sum

It may not seem like a lot, but even small regular investments in mutual funds or exchange-traded funds can add up.

A lump sum of less than $10,000

You have more options in this range, as many mutual funds have minimum-investment requirements of $500 to $2,500. The key is to make sure all your eggs don't end up in one basket. Invest in five or six different types of mutual funds. If U.S. stocks aren't doing great, your holdings in international stocks or real estate may help keep your overall portfolio afloat.

A lump sum of $10,000 or more

The trick here is not to jump into the market all at once, potentially putting all your money in just before stock prices tumble. One approach: Put one-twelfth of your money into the market each month for a year, a technique known as dollar-cost averaging.

Depending on your strategy, you can exploit various Investment options.

The one-fund option For some, one mutual fund is plenty to get started as an investor. This is the best option if you haven't got a lump sum to invest. Rather than spend your time cobbling together a full-blown investment portfolio, let a mutual fund company do the work for you. A number of fund companies offer one-fund solutions, which themselves own other mutual funds. Some companies even tailor the funds to your desired retirement age. Want to retire in 2030? You might consider the Fidelity Freedom 2030 (FFFEX) fund, which will keep more of your money in stocks now, when you can take on a little more risk, and put more conservative bonds in the portfolio as you near retirement. Our favorites are the targeted offerings from T. Rowe Price, which have solid performance records and charge reasonable fees. T. Rowe also will allow you to start investing with as little as $50, adding $50 more each month. Our favorites Fund name Ticker T. Rowe Price Retirement 2010 TRRAX T. Rowe Price Retirement 2015 TRRGX T. Rowe Price Retirement 2020 TRRBX T. Rowe Price Retirement 2025 TRRHX T. Rowe Price Retirement 2030 TRRCX T. Rowe Price Retirement 2035 TRRJX T. Rowe Price Retirement 2040 TRRDX

Build a portfolio

Choose five mutual funds that will cover all your investing bases.

By investing in different size companies, various sectors of the economy, and other parts of the world, you reduce the chance that problems in any one area will sink your investing goals.

We've built a starter portfolio of funds. Our main criteria: Strong, consistent performance, low fees and a stable, investor-friendly management company standing behind the fund. You can build this portfolio with as little as $10,000 to start.

Starter portfolio
Fund name		Ticker		% of portfolio		Min. investment
Vanguard Index 500		VFINX		30%		$3,000
Vanguard Total Intl Stock Index		VGTSX		20%		$3,000
Third Avenue Small-Cap Value		TASCX		20%		$1,000
Harbor Bond		HRBDX		20%		$1,000
Alpine Realty Income & Growth Y		AIGYX		10%		$1,000

Beginner's Guide to Saving Money

Saving money, or the saving habit as Napoleon Hill put it so many years ago, is the foundation of all financial success, including investing. Having money saved is what provides the means for you to take advantage of situations, whether it's going back to college, starting a new business, or buying shares of stock when the market crashes. These saving money resources will provide a foundation and answer questions such as, "How much money should I be saving?" and "What is the difference between saving and investing?". You'll also learn the best places to save things like down payment money on a house.

The ROI

The return of investment formula or the ROI is a simple way of evaluating investments and making investment decisions. Before understanding the different aspects of the return of investment formula, it is important to understand the mathematics behind the ROI formula. In order to calculate the ROI, the return on a particular investment is divided by the total cost of the investment. The final result is expressed as a percentage. The formula is expressed mathematically as ROI = (total return of an investment-the total expenditure of the investment) / total cost of investment.


The ROI can also have a negative value if the investments suffer losses and the total return from an investment is less than the total expenditure behind the investment. A negative ROI value is an investor nightmare.


As is evident, the ROI formula is a simple formula that can give the investor a fair estimation of the profits (or losses) of an investment decision. However, it must be remembered that the simplicity of the formula makes it vulnerable to manipulations. What that means is that if the hidden values of an investment are not included in the return on investment formula then the formula will not be a fair estimation of the investments. Therefore, there is a high risk of being misled by the return on investment formula.
Whenever an investor is presented with a return on investment formula statistics, the investor should make sure that he or she properly verifies the sources of the different parameters of the formula. The total return on investment should include the most current statistics as investments never cease to function. A calculation of returns also requires an updated knowledge of the stock market conditions. The investments expenditure section is also a critical parameter of the ROI formula. Since an investment expenditure is made in different forms, so it must be made sure that all the different forms of investments are taken into account when calculating the ROI percentile. This is especially true when the investor is examining the ROI values of a corporate concern, because a corporate concern, by default engages in different methods of investment all of which are not disclosed for public scrutiny.


The use of the return on investment formula, if properly used, can be to have a fair estimate and comparisons of different investments decisions. In fact, the simplicity of the ROI formula enables homeowners and small enterprises to use the formula along with the corporate big names. The return on investment formula is especially a very efficient tool of a personal budget worksheet as the general investor can clearly make a decision about what to do and what not to do. The ROI formula can also be used to have a fair comparison of different investment strategies and to calculate the percentage of increment (or decrement) on an investment.


Finally, an important factor to be kept in consideration in the ROI calculations is that the time factor is not included in the formula. The time factor should be kept in mind while you are evaluating the return on investment formula percentages presented to you.


This is something you should be using before making ANY investment decisions.

Improving Financial Performance through Clear Objectives

While almost every business pays attention to financial performance, studies show that small and medium sized businesses in particular frequently do not engage in thorough financial planning – if at all.

This article covers an important aspect of using planning and the continually improving process approach to enhance performance – setting and reviewing objectives, then taking appropriate action.

Reviewing the Importance of Balance

If you read our email articles regularly, you may recall that I occasionally refer to Kaplan and Norton’s concept of a Balanced Scorecard. Interestingly, I recently heard someone discount the Balanced Scorecard during a business improvement presentation with the claim that there is no real balance in business; there has to be clear priorities.

Kaplan and Norton probably didn’t mean balance in an exact and literal way – that there has to be perfect balance in all areas of business. I believe their point is that to be successful a business needs to pay attention to, and work to

improve, all key business areas. They present a basic set of four segments: Customer, Learning & Growth, Internal Processes, and Financial.

According to Kaplan and Norton, many companies pay too much attention to, and guide their business disproportionately by, the financial aspects of their business. Too frequently, they also gauge success only by short term financial factors. Of course financial factors are important. Without financial success virtually no business will be around for long. On the other hand, financial success, no matter how great, will be short lived if a business is not paying attention to satisfying customers or its internal processes.

Financial Objectives Drive Financial Performance

As noted above, all companies pay attention to financial performance, sometimes too much so. But monitoring financial performance is a lagging indicator; it looks at results that tell you how you have done in the previous period. Obviously at that point it is too late to do anything to alter or improve the financial

performance. What really drives financial performance is setting SMART objectives based on clear goals, and then creating detailed action plans or strategies that will lead to the objectives being achieved.

Setting objectives that can be measured on weekly and monthly basis means you are measuring leading indicators of financial performance; numbers that indicate or predict what the end of period numbers will be. Leading indicators provide valuable information about financial performance, and they provide the opportunity to take corrective or improvement action instead of passively waiting to learn results when the period is over.

An Objective Example

For example, if your company has significant cash reserves in investment accounts, setting objectives followed with action plans can improve financial performance in this area. It allows you to actively affect performance instead of just accepting whatever return results happen to occur that year.

Let’s say you set an aggressive but realistic objective of a 5% annual return on account balances. The plan should call for a monthly review of account statements and of how well current account types and providers are helping you reach your objective. If current accounts are not meeting the objective, then the action plan would call for searching out and reviewing other account options in order to find accounts that would meet, or at least come closer to meeting, return objectives. If these accounts meet other criteria (such as insurance and convenience), then funds would be shifted to the higher return accounts.

As this example illustrates, using objectives, leading indicators, and action plans provide the kind of proactive approach that doesn’t leave results to chance. Plus, the same philosophy can be applied to all areas of finance such as cost of capital, days sales outstanding, and inventory turns.

Keep in mind, however, as the Balanced Scorecard approach emphasizes, financial numbers are not the only factor employed in driving a business. Numbers themselves do not mean everything. Consider our above example. If you have a great relationship with a bank and conduct most of you business there, it may not be worth moving a large money market account over one-tenth of one percent. (You may, however, want to mention to the account manager that a competitor is beating their rate.) If there is a more considerable difference that could lead to significantly missing an objective, then it calls for action.

Working Capital: Putting Your Financial Resources to Work

In the past few weeks we have been covering important elements of finance processes, including internal control systems as prescribed by Sarbanes-Oxley, and the importance of capital planning to ensure key high level financial facets such cost of capital and return on assets

have established goals and are being measured.

Our final topic on finance processes is about working

capital. Working

capital is the money it takes to run your business on a daily, weekly, and m

onthly basis. It is the money used to pay your suppliers for

materials and the money needed to pay for the goods and services (i.e. inventory and payroll) you have used while you wait for your customers to pay you.

There are three important areas that companies should actively manage

in order to get the most from their working capital. Here’s how they

are related:

working capital = accounts receivable + inventory – accounts payable

Accounts Payable

Accounts payable is perhaps the easiest process to control because i

t simply involves paying the bills. But paying bills shouldn’t just be left to chance; there should be clear policies and goals that direct these activities. But generally, when it comes to paying bills, The Golden Rule should apply. Treat others’ invoices as you wish others would treat your invoice. Basically, that means pay it on time according to the terms. There may be no advantage in paying early, but purposely paying late as a working capital management tool is unprofessional and can negatively impact your business.

You may think you are getting away with paying your bills late

, but in reality, if the organization y

ou’re paying late has their act together, then your delayed payment may eventually result in increased prices or reduced service levels. While you may be the customer, do you really want to run you business in a way

that elicits frowns and curses when your name is mentioned? Building such a negative reputation can have long term detrimental repercussions.

Ensure you policy states that payment will be made according to terms, with a goal of mailing payment five business days prior to the due date or having funds transferred on the due date for electronic payments (and a supporting measurement that clearly indicates performance in relationship to th

e goal). The accounts payable policy should also clearly state when invoices should be paid early.

Effective Annual Rate of Return

Is a 2% reduction in the invoice amount enough of an incentive to pay within 10 days? Typically it is, as paying early for a 2% reduction can result in a 37% return. The important issue is that accounts payable policies are well thought-out (in terms of overarching working capital goals) and followed through with objectives and measurements.

Accounts Receivable

The cash flowing into your business as a result of customers paying invoices is crucial in managing your business’ working capital. Your organization s

hould be actively measuring Days Sales Outstanding (DSO). DSO is the average number of days it takes to collect payment after the sale was made. Typically calculated as [(Accounts Receivable / Sales) X (Days)]. Days would be determined by

the period for which you are calculating DSO; for

example 30 if you cal

culate it monthly and 90 if you calculate it quarterly.

One key to managing Account Receivable is to remove delay in invoicing customers after shipment of an order or delivery of a service. These delays consume cash available as working capital. Set a goal to invoice custo

mers immediately after fulfillment. If it currently takes 10 days to invo

ice a customer, then the goal should be to do it in 5. If it currently takes 5 then the goal should be 2 days. Finding ways to reduce the DSO frees cash formally tied up in receivables so it can be used in ways that provides return and fuels growth.

Prompt invoicing is the most important method to reduce DSO. It is something you have direct control over, plus, why should customers be conscientious about paying your invoice in a timely way if your make little effort to send invoices promptly?

Inventory Management

Including inventory as a finance function sometimes causes confusion and skepticism. There is no doubt, however, that inventory consumes financial resources; whether in the form of purchased materials/parts, work-in-process, or finished goods. Those responsible for managing the company’s financial resources and performance should also have the ability to oversee and monitor all three types of inventory.

The purchasing representative might believe they are getting a good deal by buying one years worth of parts, and perhaps they are. But making such decisions impacts the overall financial resources consumed by inventory, especially when you include the cost of ownership.

The responsible financial authority should stay informed of inventory performance, and in response set clear policies and goals for reducing and managing inventory levels through metrics such as Inventory Turns (the number of times that a company’s inventory cycles or turns over per year), Days Inventory (the average number of days of inventory on hand per accounting period), Average Inventory (the starting inventory number at the start of a period minus the ending period inventory number divided by 2), and Cost of Ownership (the total cost of maintaining inventory such as warehouse space including utilities and maintenance, finance costs, personnel, equipment, shrinkage, obsolescence, and insurance).

The overarching goal should be to find ways to reduce all types of inventory while ensuring operational needs are being met. This, as with accounts receivable, releases cash tied up in non-productive means so it can be used to gain return or grow the business.

Managing the working capital processes is just as vital to business success as producing products and services that customers want and that fulfills their expectations. Businesses not actively managing their working capital may find an exorbitant amount of financial resources being consumed in unproductive ways such as growing accounts receivable amounts and hefty inventories.