Author Archives: ernie

Starting a New Business

Leave a reply

Starting a New BusinessMany consumers across North America are thinking about starting a new business. These consumers may have either been laid off prematurely. Or have retired but need something to do in their daily lives. As a result starting a new business is one solution. It meets this need to be busy and involved in their lives.

Many consumers find themselves in a position where they are able to start a new business. Technology is providing many new solutions and opportunities for business people. Whether it is a technology solution that is being offered. Or technology that is being used to enable a small business, many consumers are taking advantage of this huge opportunity. As a result, millions of Canadians and Americans this year will develop and start their own small business.

Starting a New Business – Seniors

Seniors and people over 50 are part of the fastest-growing group of people starting new businesses. The majority prefer to be self-employed and prefer to be their own bosses. Even though they may have left an employee position, they have much more freedom when they run their own business. The self-employed are more likely to be educated with over a third of new business owners having a university degree. Women tend to be more successful than men at starting and maintaining a new business.

Educational services and healthcare services are the fastest-growing new business opportunities.

Starting a New Business is a Challenge

Starting a small business is not for the faint of heart. Government regulations, incorporation, banking, and technology services need to be resolved. They are needed to operate the business. For example, a strategic plan and a business plan are required. Along with product development, service development, and marketing plans. They are all required to develop a long-term successful business opportunity. A lot of hard work and long hours is often needed to get the business started. Subsequently, you must keep it profitable in the short-term.

Increased connectivity – Technology is increasingly leading to a higher level of cooperation between small business, self-employed and larger firms. As a result, larger firms are calling upon the specific expertise of smaller enterprises to complete projects. This kind of cluster of competencies and strategic alliances will be temporary. As a result at the end of a particular project, they will dissolve. They will reform into other groups that are focusing on a particular solution, project or customer.

Outsourcing

Growth in outsourcing – Canadian small businesses are in a co-evolutionary relationship with corporate business in the economic landscape.  Also, small businesses are needed by large corporations to create the necessary reach and depth into local markets. They act as distributors and agents for products and services. Small-business owners also provide temporary manpower in terms of contract services to larger businesses and government.

Increased demand for personalized products – An aging population means growing sophistication and a rapid change in consumer tastes. This is positive for self-employment. Small scale operations are flexible and can support increased demand for personalized services. They have the ability to focus on niche markets. Small-business owners can focus on providing services to a growing senior population. They are unable or unwilling to do much of their own work around their homes and yards.

For more thoughts about changing lifestyles, click here.

Save

How to Retire Early

Leave a reply

How to Retire EarlyHow to Retire Early and have enough money to last well into your golden years is the big question that many people are facing. They turn to experts and to investment advisers, however there are some things that you need to do that the experts do not really talk about too much. They are often too interested in selling investment products to you. Retiring early is all about managing our expenses. If for example you can downsize and move to an area of the country that has lower taxes, lower cost for heating, lower property values and lower taxes then you can probably sell your existing home payoff your debt and live quite comfortably on much less money. This is what one couple who moved from Chicago to Tennessee did.

How to Retire Early – Save Aggressively

Another person made a very good salary, in fact they were making approximately $110,000 per year but lived like they were only making $50,000 per year so they were able to set aside $60,000 over a ten-year period and combined with interest income able to save $800,000 towards a retirement in less than 10 years.

Downsize and Mid Course Corrections

While downsizing might be the right answer for many people, retirees should always be prepared to make mid course corrections. If for example you have downsized and still found that your expenses are too high for the lifestyle that you lead or for your budget, be prepared to make another downsizing decision which will decrease your expenses even more so. For example one couple was paying $1000 a month for the upkeep of the grounds around their home. They found that they could move to another place and still only pay $93 per month for that same upkeep. They also were prepared to do more of their own landscaping etc. This is an example of making mid course corrections during your retirement years.

Started a business

Another approach to retiring early, is to start your own hobby type business. If you can augment your income by $10,000 a year, this may be sufficient to provide you with sufficient income to bridge the gap. And you get to do your hobby as well.

The writer for example has retired when he was 48, but has been building websites and blogging for the last 15 years. He has been able to augment his income sufficiently to live very comfortably.

Become a landlord

Another approach to generating income and allowing yourself to retire early is to buy property. Rent it out and use the rental income to pay for the property mortgage and taxes. Once the property is paid for you have the choice of either selling it. Or using the capital to live on. Or continuing to rent it and using the rental income as part of your own personal income to live on after payment of all expenses associated with property.

Live on one income

If you are lucky enough to have two incomes, can afford to live on only one income? The best approach is to save the second person’s income toward your retirement. This will provide a great deal more savings opportunity and quality of life for you when you plan to retire. It is all about saving sufficient money to invest in to live on when you retire.

For many more posts about retirement planning, click here.

Save

Web for Small Business

Leave a reply

Web for Small BusinessA small business website must have several basic elements to be successful in terms of meeting customer needs. Also, the objective for Small businesses is to be found by search engines. We will discuss these two aspects in this post. We also describe why business owners who are focused on developing, building, and running their business need to care about a website for their company.

To begin with, a company website should describe the company. The services or products offered by the company and how to contact the company should be covered. It is a way to communicate with readers who they are and what they do. This basic information tells the reader who you are and what you care about. It should be easy to navigate, and customers should have no problem understanding what you are offering.

Once you have described your company, the next part is even more critical. It is one of the reasons we are writing pages such as this one. We want the search engines to find us and index us in a manner that allows customers to find us. The same is true for your company’s website. Business owners need to invest in primary Search Engine Optimized material. This will tell the search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing that you are available and what your company does.

Web for Small Business – SEO Indexing

They will index your site and present the results to consumers who search for your products and services. If you end up on page 50 or page 1000 of the results, customers will never find you, and you will not receive traffic to your website and have no opportunity to convert them to paying customers. You need a page for each possible search term that might be used to find products or services your company provides. That is one of the reasons we are issuing new pages every week or so that talk about websites for small businesses.

It is a page of advertising about what your company will offer customers. We provide website hosting, construction, and maintenance for small business owners. You can find more details about our offer on our pages along the right-hand side. They cover services as well as prices. There is also an option where we host and build the website, then open it up for our customers to add their content. This is an opportunity for the small business to tightly manage editorial control while at the same time keeping costs under control.

For more information give us a call or email us for details.

When retirement is not by choice

Leave a reply

When retirement is not by choiceA recent poll suggests that 41% of consumers are reporting that they did not retire on a date of their choice. These people were either forced to retire or found that they had health issues that caused them to retire. Some found that it was the best decision for them at the time based on the company situation. The bottom line was that they retired on a date that they did not choose or plan. They had expected to work for a number of additional years. So what do you do When retirement is not by choice?

When retirement is not by choice – Short Time to Adjust

20% of those people who retired on a date that they did not choose also found that they had less than one month to adjust. There was no advance notice. They were shown the door on a date that they did not choose.

Even though there is such a high percentage of people who are retiring on a date they did not choose, fully 70% feel that they retired at the right time in hindsight. They wanted to enjoy an active retirement. They till have their health, they did not need more money. As well they were not happy at work, they wanted to join their spouse or partner in retirement. Some did have health concerns. Others wanted to volunteer or they needed to take care of someone else.

Need Strategies to Retire

Those people who were forced into retirement earlier than what they had planned needed retirement strategies. Many of the people who retired based on their own decision also needed strategies to help them. The strategies included downsizing or staying in their home but selling some assets. In some cases orrowing against their home equity or returning to some kind of paid work was an option. Still others considered renting a portion of their home. Taking a loan without borrowing against their home equity and finally asking a family member for financial help are considered.

Plan Now for Retirement

If you are still working or expect to be retiring in the near future, it is time to take stock of your financial situation and determine whether you are able to retire and live the quality of life that you would like during retirement. Planning now and taking steps to achieve financial freedom while you’re still working is one of the best things that you can do to ensure the quality of life for you and your spouse that you’re looking for.

Discussing your retirement needs with your spouse and creating a plan that you both buy into will take some time as you incorporate the needs of both parties. It can be stressful since many people do not discuss financial issues very well and may need some help. Use online programs or meet with a trusted financial adviser to help figure out what you need financially to do some of the things that you want to do.

Retire early: a second paycheck comes in handy

Leave a reply

second paycheckMany people dream of retiring early and enjoying the good life. The reality is though that there are a number of reasons why people cannot retire early. For example, they may not have sufficient savings. They may still have children going to university and college. Or they may not want to retire. In fact, many would prefer to continue working to maintain their social life or perhaps a second paycheck.

The second paycheck comes in really handy and augments the family income. This same income can be used to enhance your savings. The family can prepare for the quality of life that they would like to have during retirement. It also keeps your hand in the business and keep you current with what is going on in your career area. Many people will move from a regular career oriented job, into a new consultant type job for a number of years after they retire.

The question that many people ask themselves is what kind of job should they consider after they retire? There are several schools of thought about these jobs. For example, many would like to continue in the same career. There are many consulting type jobs that may be available within your industry.

Other people would prefer to try something brand-new. They only want to work for several days or maybe 20 to 30 hours a week. This will give them time to pursue some of the other things they like to do. They did not have the time before they were retired. Either way, they have income coming in.

What Second Paycheck or Job do You Want

While some of these jobs may not be as challenging and as interesting as the job they had during their career, it still gives them an opportunity to get out of the house and an opportunity to meet people as well. If you try something outside your career experience it is also a learning activity for you.

Many colleagues of ours have very specific requirements about getting a second job after they retire. Yes you want the money, but also there are some specific issues that they have concerns about.

For example, many people want to get away from office politics. They just want to do the job and leave when the job is finished. They don’t want to become an employee, preferring to work as a consultant with a specific start date to the contract and specific end date to the contract.

Many other people would prefer to work in retail where they have specific hours that they work every day and then are finished with no issues or politics to be concerned about at the job. When they leave the store their finish for the day and don’t think about it again until they come back the next day or whenever the next shift is scheduled.

If you’re looking for a second paycheck we urge you to think about and plan the kinds of jobs that you would like to pursue to make sure that your objectives are being met, whether it’s additional income, a social life, something interesting and challenging to do or something just to fill the time that you now have available.

For more ideas about retirement income, click here.

What should you spend on SEO services

1 Reply

SEO servicesMany business owners might be wondering what SEO is, let alone asking what they should pay for it! SEO services is short for search engine optimized content for your website. This content is designed and developed so that search engines will properly index your website and rank so that your customers will see your website presented in the search engine results. The ranking is extremely important if potential customers are going to find your site.

Building a website with content that reviews your products, services and whatever else that you decide to provide about your company is a requirement however that alone will not cause the search engines to rank your website highly enough for people to find. It is equivalent to building a brick-and-mortar building, not placing the sign on the front of it, and not advertising in the newspaper or on TV or on radio. You must also advertise on the Internet and to do that you make sure that your website is optimized for the search engines.

What should you pay for SEO services

There are many models available in terms of payment structure, as well as the amount that you might consider paying. Regardless of the amount that you pay, you should set objectives. They should include  the development of content and optimization of content so that you can measure what you’re receiving for what you pay.

Payment methods include a monthly retainer, contract services, fix prices, project-based pricing, and hourly consulting. If there are promises or guarantees, instant results, the number one spot in Google, or shady link building services you may want to ask more questions and or avoid this type of service. There just cannot be any guarantees of results given the competition, and given the way the search engines change their outlook algorithms on a regular basis.

Some issues to consider

Search engine optimization takes time and results can take as long as six months to be achieved. Search engine rankings and search engine changes will take place overtime and your rankings will change as well. Not all SEO services are the same and you must compare cost versus services.

SEO is not an option, you must do it if you want your website to rank well. Hiring an agency with the expertise is the best way to go compared to trying to do it yourself.

Search engine optimization is another form of advertising expense. It can be compared to other marketing approaches such as direct mailing, broadcast advertising and online ads. You need to compare the results that this will provide. Invest for to get the best return on your investment. In our opinion search engine optimization for your website is not an option. It is something that you must invest in, to enable customer conversion into sales for your services and products.

Give us a call today for further information on this subject. We can discuss pricing for search engine optimization of your website. For more posts about making your web site more SEO friendly, click here.

Small Business Entrepreneur

Leave a reply

Small Business EntrepreneurThe small business entrepreneur has lots to think about while getting a new business started. From financing to design, production, shipping, and support there are so many to keep them all straight. As a result, you may not focus on a quality web site.

Their website, their content, and the communications messages are just one element among hundreds of issues. Even getting a website launched can be a challenge with all of the items that need to be addressed. There is simply not enough time to cover everything and many things must be prioritized and delegated.

Small Business Entrepreneur – Hosting and Content Management

A hosting site and a content management system that allows easy updates on the fly are really appreciated. Business entrepreneurs can update their own pages or arrange for professional website designers to build their websites for them. Content managers can add content that describes the company’s business, services, and products as needed.

Your communications team can focus on communications and not spend time on IT issues! IT website issues can be a drain on resources as well as time.  Using a flexible content management system with built-in hosting is one of the more important decisions to make.

Use WordPress Content Management Systems

We use WordPress as a content management system for this site. Although this one is a simple straightforward website, readers can certainly see how a site can be put together and updated easily on a regular basis. Once it is set up, just focus on what new content needs to be added along with videos or pictures. Now you are using your time efficiently!

We can set up a basic site for you and your start-up business, then turn the website over to you for ongoing maintenance and/or updates. You need to focus on adding new content or functionality.

We can assist with your content as well, making sure that it is optimized for your business and optimized for your customers as well. Search engine optimized content is also important if consumers are going to find you when they search for information about the services or products you provide. There is a lot of competition out there and online advertising is no different.

Let up help you become successful and meet your entrepreneurial goals! Contact us by phone or send us an email today for more information. Our prices are reasonable. Content management is set up so that your own team can perform updates. Or you can contract updates us as well.

Will you outlive your retirement plan?

Leave a reply

Will you outlive your retirement plan?My wife and I were talking about our investment plan and our retirement the other day. We were discussing how much money we should take out of our savings plan and our retirement pension plan. How much should we enjoy while we’re still healthy. I was talking also about the interest income we’re making on our bonds. Also  the dividends that we are collecting from our stocks and how volatile the stock market is. Our planning horizon is roughly 20 years to 25 years.

Her comment about all of this was that this was one of the biggest gambles that we are taking in our lives. Many people will mention that buying a house is the biggest purchase. The biggest gamble that many people will take in their lives is their investments for retirement. I feel that actual retirement planning and making sure that your money will last during your retirement years is by far the biggest money decision.

Will you outlive your retirement plan – Alternatives

Retirement Plan – The 4% Rule

The industry suggests that you should take 4% of your total retirement plan out every year and this is the amount that you should budget for your retirement. They say also that you have an 80% chance of your investment plans lasting your lifetime with this approach.

It takes into account stock market fluctuations both up and down as well as periods of time where the income isn’t sufficient to make up the 4% that you were taking out of your plan. We have found that judicious investment in dividend yielding stocks will yield 4% to 5% over the period that you are planning for and judicious investment in blue-chip corporate bonds will yield between 3% and 5% at the present time.

With this level of income you should be able to generate 4% from your retirement plan with no problems whatsoever.

Retirement Plan – What about the Capital

Don’ttouch the capital. The dividends and interest income are close to 4%. You will have an excellent chance that your money will outlast your retirement years.

Monitoring your investments every year and working with an advisor will help you manage your investments to ensure that you have sufficient income and money to last during your retirement. It is one of the most critical things that you can do during retirement years.

Also make sure that your retirement plan is set up so that it can run on automatic pilot, should you not be healthy enough to administer your retirement plan. While you are healthy now, can make decisions etc, there may come a time when your financial adviser will need direction as to how to handle your money. Your living will can also specify how your money should be managed and designate a family member to make those decisions.

Reducing bounce rate on your website

1 Reply

Reducing bounce rateMany people might be wondering what the term, bounce rate is. Bounce rate is when someone surfing the Internet lands on your website, stays for only several seconds, and moves on to another website. For people running a business, having someone land on your website and not stay because they found that they did not like the page, your products or services are potentially lost business. Reducing the bounce rate should be part of your SEO plan.

Reducing bounce rate – Catch Their Attention.

If a potential customer comes to your website, likes what they see, and then browses other pages, your chances of making a sale increase dramatically. Managing the bounce rate and providing high-quality content are two ways of achieving this objective.

We have put together a list of suggestions regarding reducing the bounce rate and increasing the time spent on your website. Each of these suggestions depends on the kind of service, products, and website that you have. Here’s our list.

Guidelines to Reduce Bounce Rate

  • Avoid pop-ups
  • Provide clear navigation
  • Ensure your website is well-designed
  • Ensure that your server is providing a fast response time
  • Your website should be mobile-friendly
  • Provide information about your customer’s priorities
  • Segment the information into logical areas
  • Optimized for the intent of the customer
  • Can avoid having too many advertisements
  • Avoid slow loading of third-party content
  • Provide color contrast
  • Avoid blatantly obvious messaging
  • Reduce distractions
  • Offer related content
  • Leverage your internal search capability
  • Open the external link in a new Window
  • Prominently display your search box
  • Provide a helpful bed link page referred to as a 404 page
  • Keep it readable and avoid duplication
  • Split up longer posts

Apply those Guidelines that Make Sense

Following some of these suggestions can improve your bounce rate, retain customers on your website for longer, and improve the chances of converting them into paying customers.  Not all of the above suggestions will apply to your website. Each site is custom designed based on the product or services offered by a given company. Applying the correct ideas to make sense to the reader and add value to the reader’s experience is most important.  Part of retaining your customers on your website is creating an experience that is valuable to them and causes them to stay on your site because they find it helpful or interesting.

For more help on these topics and others, please feel free to give us a call or send us an email.

How is your portfolio doing

Leave a reply

How is your portfolio doingYou have spent years saving for retirement and now you have a nice little nest egg set aside to augment your Company pension and your government pensions. How is your portfolio doing overall and do you have enough saved for retirement?

You still wonder whether you will have enough saved to last through your lifetime in retirement. You also wonder how you’re doing relative to meeting that objective. There are several ways to compare your progress in your portfolio. We will review three of those methods in this post.

How is your portfolio doing

Capital preservation

Some people will have an objective of living only on their interest income and dividend income. They can do this if the portfolio generates enough income and not touch the principal. Many advisers support this approach. One must be careful and not chase high-risk investments to generate income.

The odds are high that you will also have to dip into your principal at some point during your life. However this is a simple approach to assessing your portfolio health and if you can live on interest and dividend income alone along with your pensions you’re well on the way to living comfortably in your retirement.

Meeting a projected rate of return

In this approach you set a rate of return objective and assess whether you’re able to meet or exceed this objective at the end of each year. Some people will consider the plan a failure if you fall short of that goal.

Again this is a simplistic approach and some people may chase higher rate bonds and dividends in order to meet their objective which incurs more risk.

The balance sheet

Another approach and more complicated is to assess your balance sheet at the end of each year. This requires that you take the present value of all of your pension income, dividends and bond interest income and calculate a number. You do the same thing with your liabilities and compare your assets to your liabilities.

As long as your assets minus liabilities are the same each year or increasing you’re doing well. You must also include a factor for inflation to calculate your expenses in today’s dollars. You must also figure out just how long you expect to live.

Inflation factor can be 2.5% to 3% based on the past 20 years or so of inflation. Figuring out how long you’re going to live is a bit more complicated. Probably the best way is to look at your immediate family, mother, father, uncles etc. Pick an average based on how long they have lived.

We believe that you should use a combination of all three of these methods and reassess your situation anytime there is a major change in your financial, health, or personal situation to access if you’re still on target. At the minimum reassess how your portfolio is doing once a year and make any adjustments that you feel would be appropriate to ensure that you have the income that you will need in your retirement.

Save