Why Business Owners Should Plan on the Obvious

Some things are just obvious.

Seen that new study about how a dog is as smart as a typical 2-year-old? If you're a parent of a 2-year-old, I'm sure that this comes as no surprise. And was anyone surprised that the governor of South Carolina who preached family values and frugal living was caught having an affair with an Argentinean woman on the taxpayer's dime? Anyone want to take a guess where his South American hottie's going to end up once he loses his job and power? Obvious.

Just like some of the things going on in the economy right now. There are obvious trends. These events will affect how people run their businesses. A lot of smart business owners I know have recognized the obvious. And are doing something about it.

For example, there will, without a doubt, be a health-care reform bill. That's obvious. The President's party overwhelmingly controls all three branches of the government. He's going to get his health-care overhaul. It's also obvious that it won't be all that he wants. There are just too many powerful interests who depend on the benefits of our current health care system. Like the insurance companies, pharmaceutical firms, plastic surgeons, Alex Rodriguez, and Andy Dick. So there will be a compromise. And there will be additional costs to individuals and businesses.

Taxes Are Going Up. Most business owners I know have already accepted this. They're talking right now to their health insurance brokers. They're not committing to any long-term plans. They're telling their employees that no one's going to lose their insurance and how much they're valued. They're following the news of this legislation very closely and will be ready to act when things finally shake out.

It's obvious to me that those Somali pirates are eventually going to hijack a cruise ship, the Iranians will ultimately develop a nuclear bomb, and Mad Men will run away with next year's Emmys. Oh, and our taxes are going to go up. That's obvious, too.

The President has already promised to raise tax rates for people making $200,000 or more per year. The deficit is ballooning and even my dog (who's as smart as that pain-in-the-neck 2- year-old down the street) can figure out that more taxes will be needed to pay for this.

So that's why many smart business owners I know are trying to report as much income as possible. They're speeding up collections and invoicing wherever possible. They're pushing deductions ahead into the next year. Why? Because if they're going to pay taxes on our income, they might as well pay them now, while the rates are lower, then later, when they're inevitably going to go up.

And that goes for estate taxes, too. The President wants to freeze these rates permanently at 2009 levels. But many in Congress feel it's still not paying for itself and look to estate taxes as another potential revenue source. As the government looks for more funding for its programs, estate taxes look like a great way to raise that money at a low political cost, so don't expect those rates to stay where they are.

Smart business owners who have worked many years to grow their personal wealth see this thunderstorm on the horizon, too. These business owners are doing things in the background right now. They're transferring assets to their children and family members. They're talking to their attorneys. They're setting up trusts and making their plans. Right now a 55% tax may be a bargain.

Chasing Down Government Money

Here's another obvious thing: Vladimir Putin is ripped! Have you seen those bare-chested photos of him circulating the Internet? Uspekhov! There's a man that believes in a strong, large government. Just like our President. You can agree or disagree with Mr. Obama's motives. You can complain all you want about more regulation. But it's obvious to anyone running a business that there's never been a better time to do business with the government than right now.

Just check out recovery.gov, fedbizopps.gov, grants.gov, and all the other feeling-the-government's-love-dot-gov Web sites. Why? Because thousands of business owners are already doing it. They're learning the ropes for bidding, working, and then collecting from the government (or the government's beneficiaries). Sure, many business owners believe in less government, the right to bear arms, and the freedom to listen to Lynyrd Skynyrd any damn time we want. But for now they're chasing down money from the obvious source: Uncle Sam.

Come to think of it, maybe they should be chasing Ryan Seacrest instead. He just did a $35 million deal with American Idol. Obviously their payroll costs, like many small businesses' costs, are going up. The minimum wage is already up more than 24% from three years ago. Social Security needs funding. People who thought they would retire...now can't. Oh, did I mention health care? Ask any business owner and they'll tell you that the most important part of their company is their people. But they're not getting any cheaper.

Real Estate is a Good Investment

Luckily there are a lot of smart unemployed people out there now. So they're outsourcing more work to them. And they're asking our own people to do more and more often, rather than hire additional workers. Smart business owners who plan for growth in 2010 are planning to do so with as few people as possible. And to invest their money wisely.

And one good place to invest that money is real estate, where the market has bottomed out. A lot of those empty storefronts you're seeing aren't because someone went out of business. It's because they've relocated to a better spot for less money. The recession has brought property values within reach of many of us and lowered rental rates at the same time.

Many business owners think it's obvious that inflation will go up and the value of the dollar will go down. So they're making their overseas bets. They're hiring agents in developing markets, like China and India. They're outsourcing sales jobs so they can identify more potential overseas customers. They're looking for low cost (and hopefully local) sources of supplies and locking in prices for as long as they can. They're building out their Web site and communications systems to handle the 24/7 demands of selling and servicing to markets around the world.

Ah yes, the obvious. Right in front of our eyes. Some business owners see it. Others don't. My wife and I saw the obvious a few years ago. That's when we decided to get a dog rather than having another pain-in-the-neck 2-year-old running around.

Computer Viruses and The Negative Impact on Business

Computers are very detailed machines that function by set rules, codes and languages. Everything follows a pattern and schedule in order to operate efficiently. Computer viruses can affect the cosmetics of a computer such as the screen and display appearance or the simple functions such as the way the keyboard operates or the functionality of the drives. Some of these symptoms may seem to be only a minor inconvenience, but when you see these signs you should wonder what may have caused the change and what else may be going on that you can not see. Other symptoms can include loss of files, decrease in memory space, slow operation and damaged programs.

The writer of the virus determines how they will infect the system as well as what they want the virus to do. In most cases, a virus will perform damage to the host system, and may do this while performing another function such as retrieval information, and then spread to the reminder of the network.

A computer virus is similar to a medical virus in that it often occurs even when precautions were taken to prevent it. Particularly malicious viruses steal information and data, which may be confidential. This may be customer or client information of a personal nature whether medical, financial or some other form. It may be company information specific to employee's records, user names and passwords or other functions of the business. Information may simultaneously be erased. It can pick up information from any other computer in the network. It can locate other users and obtain their information.

There are many programs available and they are a must-have for an individual's personal computer and specifically for that of a business. Strong measures must be taken to prevent viruses within a company, as one infected computer is opening the door to the entire network, putting clients, customers and even employees at risk. Businesses should understand that the condition of their system is susceptible to change with every employee that signals into the network.

Training should be instituted to prevent damage by teaching employees how to determine what is safe use of the system, how to update their protection programs and how to know if something is questionable and when to bring it to the attention of the IT department. It is always helpful to set up the virus protection programs to run automatically and the individual systems or the network as a whole can be set to automatically update the programs that are install along with fixes and patches as needed. In addition to anti-virus programs a filter may also help to block viruses.

While the anti-virus is placed inside the firewall, a filter is placed on the outside and closer to the server. Users may be limited as far as what can be received and may not be able to open attachments. This will unduly create an inconvenience, although it is in the best interest of the company and will save money by eliminating loss of business if a shutdown is needed to correct a problem. A virus usually spreads very quickly and for a large company this can be costly. Prevention is always the least cost way to reduce the risk of virus.

Financial Advice For a 401k Loan

If you are in the situation whereby you are in need of money fast, your 401K may be looking pretty good right about now. After all, it is possible to take out a loan against your 401K. There are some rules and tips you need to remember, however. Here is some financial advice for a 401K loan.

The first point to make is: if at all possible, avoid taking out a loan against your retirement savings. Reason: this is your financial future, and there will come a day when you want every penny you can get. Remember the effects of compound interest: the larger the amount in your retirement account and the longer you keep it in there, the more money you will have when it comes time to retire.

Of course, you can choose to skip a loan and just withdraw money from your plan. However, the tax penalty you have to pay in this case will make this a very unattractive option.

Fortunately, taking out a loan against your retirement savings requires that you pay no tax penalty. However, there are limitations and restrictions for taking out this type of loan. The restrictions vary by plan, so check with your plan administrator. For most plans, the following are acceptable reasons to take out a loan against your 401K:

1. Pay for college





2. Pay your mortgage when facing possible eviction or other hardship





3. Pay medical expenses





4. You are purchasing a home for the first time

Here are some of the regulations and constraints you will most likely face when considering this type of loan:

1. There will be a minimum loan amount: usually around a thousand dollars





2. Your loan will have a prescribed length at the outset, such as 5 years or less





3. There is a maximum you can borrow, which is usually around half of your account's value at the time of the loan





4. Depending upon your plan, you may incur loan fees for taking out a 401K loan.

If you are considering taking out this type of loan, make sure you have exhausted all of your other options first. If you have poor credit but need money fast, you may want to consider a short term personal loan instead.

The Evolution of the Dive Computer

Scuba - The Dive Computer

The computer revolution of the 1980s that led to ever smaller PCs was not a boon only to business. Scubadivers, too, have benefited enthusiastically from the electronics and miniaturization advances.

Scuba Computer

A dive computer is a wristwatch (or in this case, even a mask) -like device that measures time and ambient pressure, temperature and sometimes other variables. Its primary purpose is to make measurements and calculations that provide the diver with recommendations for safe ascent. With a dive computer strapped on, the chances of suffering decompression sickness - the bends - is drastically reduced.

A dive computer will display the safe rate of ascent based on estimates of the amount of nitrogen absorbed during the dive. It does this by a combination of direct measurement of ambient pressure and time, along with a calculated depth and in-built algorithms about nitrogen absorption.

Turning the computer on during travel to the dive is helpful so that it can measure the conditions the diver experiences before entering the water.

Dive computers are available in a wide price range, and in general the more expensive have more functions. Some measure just the basics, others can actually measure tank pressure and even gas mixture.

Several models will take and store measurements and calculations, then allow for downloading to a PC so the dive can be analyzed at home. That allows knowledgeable divers to tailor future dives for more efficient use of dive time, while still retaining a wide safety margin.

Some dive computers will even provide divers with post-dive recommendations about when it's safe to fly again. Airplane cabins contain pressurized air. That affects the rate at which nitrogen - absorbed into the lungs and bloodstream - will be safely released back out of solution and exhaled. Decompression sickness can occur anywhere from immediately to several hours after completing a dive.

Most dive computers calculate and recommend based on 'open circuit' systems in which the diver breaths from a 2-stage regulator attached to a tank and standard face mask, exhaling into the regulator and inhalation tube.

Some air systems are closed-circuit, sometimes called 'rebreathers'. These air supply systems allow divers to rebreath 'scrubbed' air. The exhalation is filtered to remove CO2. Since inhaling air with 21% oxygen produces 18% oxygen and 3% CO2, such systems can be very efficient. There are dive computers available for use with closed-circuit systems. Make sure you know which you're getting.

The majority of dive computers have menus and the owner should become familiar with the device topside. It's particularly helpful to practice under simulated conditions. So, after gaining basic familiarity with how to operate it, try doing the same in a tub of water, with the bathroom lights dimmed.

Good diving practice mandates that you 'plan your dive and dive your plan'. In this case, that means using your computer to help plan your dive, then following its recommendations during the dive, unless an emergency requires you to abandon it.

However, remember that dive computers have in-built programming that is based on assumptions about how gases are absorbed and released. But no two divers are exactly alike. The dive computers display gives recommendations. Never abandon common sense and err on the side of your safety.

Computer Data Recovery

Having trouble with your computer data recovery efforts? Many issues can come from computers and their data. Old hardware is one such problem. As your computer gets older the chances are exponentially greater that you will have a computer problem and possible losing your important data. Have not backed up your data? This is one of the great problems with computers as the data is worth more than the computers. Creating a back up procedure is an easy, but time and disaster saving plan. Having a back up of all your data will save you in the event of a disaster of your computer. In the event have not saved your data you need to determine where to go next.

Forums are a great place to start as you find forums on the topic of data recovery you will find many people willing to share their experiences and recommendations to overcome you computer data recovery needs.

search engines like Google, Bing and yahoo. As of right now Google is big search engines and have the most people using is, but that does not mean you should avoid the others. Do searches on your topic which is computer data recovery to begin with and then modify your search to your specific needs. Depending on your needs and budget you will want to find different services. A big corporation will need a different services than a personal user with a limited budget.

People in business will have come across this in the past whether personally or from other business associates so search them out to find out some good ideas to get the job done.

Reviews sites are everywhere and a good way to find out the best and worst of computer data recovery services, software and or hardware. Read the reviews carefully to make sure it's not just a promotional site sawing what you want to hear. Fake review sites are a real possibility as a way to get sales and some people do not care if the product is really as good as they say but this can usually be determined by the quality of the writing.

Computer stores have computer data recovery services in most cases and some are even reputable and affordable. This does not mean it will not be a reasonable expense, but depending on your data may be worth it. If you are computer savvy you can get the software and do it yourself to save some money.

What Business to Buy

There's a twofold answer to the question 'What Business to Buy' simply because in its' core it involves two aspects: You and The Business.

At first it is all about Your Skills, Knowledge, Experience and Interests. When looking for Opportunities in Business You are a fundamental part of the Process. Make list to narrow down personal interests, traits and characteristics and look for a Business that suits these exercises. Most of the time when entrepreneurs buy businesses that do not match their Temperament, they end up unsuccessful, unhappy and selling the Business.

Ask yourself the following questions to get Your Ideas for Businesses:

• What are my 5 Strongest Personality Traits? You can also opt to ask your friends and family to send you lists with their observations (can be very revealing).
• What are my 5 Strongest Skills when it comes to doing my current or previous jobs?
• What Role do I want to Play in the Business?
• What Destination and Location do I want my Business to have or can it be a Business without a fixed Location (such as internet based).
• Do I prefer a large-scale business with many contacts and customers or do I prefer to focus on a niche market, dealing with a smaller number of contacts and clients?
• Do I want a Product Supply Type of Business or a Service oriented business?
• What is my Business Investment Budget?

When going over all the answers to these questions, you will have a Clear Picture What Type of Business you want to Buy.

Find a Business to Buy

After having identified What Type of Business you want to Buy it is time to Find a Business to Buy. You will want to opt for a Business that offers Value for Money. Its Valuations have to be backed up by Reliable and Detailed Financial Data.

Some Investors are Buying Businesses because they are Cheap compared to their core Value. They believe that as long as the market undervalues ​​the business relative to the core value, they are making a Solid Investment. This way of Investing fully depends on the reasoning that the market will eventually realize it has undervalued the Business and will correct its Course.

Below some questions you can ask yourself when determining What Business to Buy:

• Does the Business Match my Personal Characteristics and Expectations?
• Is there a Solid Business Plan available?
• What are the Top-5 Competitors of the Business?
• Do I have access to all Detailed Financial Data?
• What is the Trend in Profits over the last 5 years?
• Does the business show healthy and consistent cost margins?
• What is the expected Return on Investment?

How much you will always profit from your Business depends on the level of Original Investment and Your Management and Marketing Skills.

Keynesian Theory On Demand Pull And Cost Push Inflation

According to Keynesian, inflation can be caused by increase in demand and/or increase in cost.

Demand-pull inflation is a situation where aggregate demand persistently exceeds aggregate supply when the economy is near or at full employment. Aggregate demand could rise because of several reasons. A cut in personal income tax would increase disposable income and contribute to a rise in consumer expenditure. A reduction in the interest rate might encourage an increase in investment as well as lead to greater consumer spending on consumer durables. A rise in foreigners' income may lead to an increase in exports of a country. An expansion of government spending financed by borrowing from the banking system under conditions of full employment is another cause of inflation.

An increase in demand can be met initially by utilising unemployed resources if these are available. Supply rises and the increase in demand will have little or no effect on the general price level at this point. If the total demand for goods and services continue to escalate, a full employment situation will eventually be reached and no further increases in output are possible. This leads to inflationary pressures in the economy.

Demand-pull inflation is caused by excess demand, which can originate from high exports, strong investment, rise in money supply or government financing its spending by borrowing. If firms are doing well, theey will increase their demand for factors of production. If the factor market is already facing full employment, input prices will rise. Firms may have to bid up wages to tempt workers away from their existing jobs.

It is most likely that during full employment conditions, the rise in wages will exceed any increase in productivity leading to higher costs. Firms will pass the higher costs to consumers in the form of higher prices. Workers will demand for higher wages and this will add fuel to aggregate demand, which increases once again. The process continues as prices in the product market and factor market are being pulled upwards.

Keynesian theory of cost-push inflation attributes the basic cause of inflation to supply side factors. This means that according to Keynesian, rising production costs will lead to inflation.

Cost-push inflation is usually regarded as being primarily a wage inflation process because wages usually constitute the greaer part of total costs. Powerful and militant trade unions who negotiate wage increases in excess of productivity are more likey to succeed in their wage claims the closer the economy is to full employment and the greater the problem of skill shortages.

An increase in the price of coal, oil and many other basic inputs or even semi-manufactured goods used as component parts in the production process will manifest itself as higher consumer prices. The oil crisis in 1973-1974 and 1970-80 resulted in many countries experiencing severe cost-push inflation.

Inflation may occur when there is a depreciation of the home currency. A depreciation of a country's currency results in increases in the price of imported foodstuff, raw materials and capital equiment which then results in a rise in production costs.

A significant increase in the level of indirect taxes(taxes on goods and services) will raise domestic prices independently of the state of demand and could be a causal factor in creating wage-push pressure on the economy.

When firms are faced with higher wage costs, they push up the prices of their products to maintain their profits. Sometimes, they may even seize the opportunity to increase their profit margins. The more price inelastic the demand for their goods, the less likely such behaviour will lead to a fall in demand for their products.

Cost push inflation in inevitable when there is a struggle between workers and firms. Both try to maintain their real incomes by bidding up their wages and profits. Workers force firms to give inflationary pay increases while firms increase prices so as to raise their profit margins. Price rises are inevitable. This process is known as a wage-price spiral.

In practice, it may not be easy to identify the primary cause of inflation. Demand pull and cost push inflation can occur together. An initial demand pull inflation may strengthen the power of trade unions which then use this power to drive up costs. Alternatively, an initial cost push inflation may encourage the government to expand aggregate demand to offset rises in unemployment. Once inflation is under way, it is not always easy to identify the underlying cause.

Keynes' demand and cost push theories pointed out that the closer the economy is to full employment, the greater the inflationary pressure. The greater the rate of unemployment, the less the inflationary pressure.