Finance and Business Blog

Nowadays, many people are craving for freedom to do according to their wishes. They might want to have the money to buy blue chip stocks and invest. They might want to find that happiness and freedom that they hear business owners have. There might be some misconceptions about what owning a business consists of. These are some of the common misconceptions about starting your own business.

• Business owners are their boss

There is a belief that business owners are their bosses. Most people believe that when you are an entrepreneur, you do not answer to anyone. This is not true since they are obligated to respond to investors who finance them. They also answer their employees to keep them satisfied with the business benefit. All entrepreneurs must answer to their customers, as they are the most critical asset of the business. For the business to have a financial float, customers must be present. In any business, the customer’s should be well addressed and ensure they are provided with the right satisfaction.

• Entrepreneurs can set their salaries

Business existence is more important than the owner’s desires and needs; therefore, if the business asks for it, the business owner must sacrifice on its behalf. The company must be able to pay its bills and give room for its growth. The owner’s salary comes after settling all bills, and business demands are met; thus, it may be less than the expected amount. The business owner’s salary mostly varies on economic force and fickle customer decisions far from your control.

• Entrepreneurship calls for more private time

It’s correct that entrepreneurial accomplishment gives owner’s freedom to dictate their working hours and spend extra time doing what they want, although most people think entrepreneurs can work when they want and for how long. However, an entrepreneur’s personal time is mostly work related. The truth about owning a business is that the business owns you rather than owning it as the owner is dedicated to the business to ensure its survival and success. Entrepreneurs are obsessed with their business, thus lacking some personal time, as they spend the most time working towards the business’s success.

• Everybody can be the owner of a business

Anybody can own his or her own business, but the truth is that not everybody should pursue entrepreneurship, but not everyone can be a victorious entrepreneur. Starting a business has nothing to do with your experience and skills. However, it has everything to do with your dedication and willingness to prosper. Due to society’s pressure, it is inspiring to start your own business where it is harmful since not everyone can be successful. Although many people have the required skills and experience in their relevant fields, most are not exposed to the risky entrepreneurial journey.

• Just have a good idea

This misconception comes typically together with the statement that all you need to be successful is a good idea. Therefore, most employees seeing how their bosses charge the customers tend to think they must be making a fortune out of it. They only realize it when they establish their own business and notice the many expenses awaiting the revenue. Entrepreneurship seems to be a money-making process if the involved variables lead to success. For entrepreneurs to enjoy their work’s fortunes, it takes a lot of commitments in terms of time and effort. Real entrepreneurs are people who recognize imperfections in the market, make business plans, and implement them. However, for entrepreneurs to succeed, they must add value to other people’s lives by satisfying their needs.

• Entrepreneurs are born

Some peoples believe that entrepreneurs are born with the traits. Some people are born with features that lead to good public speaking or a natural tendency for business planning. However, natural features need practice to attain the required skills to be a fortunate entrepreneur. The truth is that entrepreneurs are not born; instead they are groomed and honed through determination and hard work. Therefore, great entrepreneurs are not made through nature; they are made through nurture.

There are shortcuts and tricks for everything you want to learn, but despite that, learning the basics is essential. After you’ve done that, these simple tricks will maybe serve as something you ignored or overlooked. There are various ways you can benefit from forex trading, and while some of them are so simple, we don’t even think about them, others are unusual but rather beneficial. Here are some simple tricks that will help you benefit from forex trading.

Jump onto the Twitter wagon

Many brokers (especially crypto) are active Twitter users and don’t shy away from telling it how it is. From realistic comments to in-depth charts and analysis, you can find a lot from merely following their accounts. You can easily google top 10 brokers on Twitter, and a list with reviews will pop up, where you can decide for yourself who suits your needs the best. Many of them have podcasts, youtube videos and even short courses where you can learn more, while also following what’s up every day. It’s an excellent “shortcut” if you don’t want to spend too much time sorting out news, but instead, go straight to the point and find what you need.

Try different strategies

This is not something we would usually recommend, but having one strategy for too long can become dull without changing anything. Even if it works perfectly, getting out of your comfort zone can give you a lot of insight, and it can even change the way you trade. Of course, you should always stick to “don’t invest more than you can lose”, whatever strategy you try, and consult with your broker beforehand.

Heard about exotic currency pairs?

Traders who rely on currency pairs will mostly stick to the most popular currency pairs such as EUR/USD, GBP/USD, and similar. If you are a novice, exotic currency pairs are probably new to you, because exotic trading currencies require a deep understanding of the market, especially the relationship between two countries that currencies belong to. That doesn’t mean you can’t try it out! USD/ZAR (American Dollar and South African Rand), can be the perfect example of this. When the United States decides to withdraw their capital from South Africa because of political reasons, this means ZAR will plummet. Remember, in a pair; the second currency determines the first (base) price. This means USD will be more valuable. Exotic currencies are tied to experienced traders because they have more patience regarding following the news, charts, connecting the dots between social events and economy. You can also choose an exotic currency pair, and try to choose two you are interested in, so your research doesn’t become a chore. You can benefit a lot from Exotic pairs, once you grasp how it’s working.

CFD contracts

CFDs (or Contracts for Difference) are useful if you don’t have large amounts of money to trade. These contracts are usually made between you and a broker, where you don’t own any asset, but you can profit from their price movement. CFDs can bring you a high reward, but they come with significant risk as well. That’s why you should check with yourself if you are an impulsive person because if you are, maybe this won’t work for you but it will for somebody else. While you don’t own any commodity, stock or asset, you have to have enough money to support the trade otherwise you’re out. What is very beneficial is that CFD contracts don’t have expiration dates meaning you can wait until you get a shot for a long-term position. If you are interested in CFDs, do thorough research on them before trading this way.

In conclusion

Get out of your comfort zone but don’t get too comfortable with how much money you are putting into one trade. Consult with your broker, and be smart about your trades. Don’t take the fun out of it, but remember your goals and you can easily benefit from something you didn’t consider before!

Elevators are a popular way to provide access to different floors in your building. They are crucial for ensuring ADA compliance. However, there are strict requirements these machines must meet. 

Landing

Hall signals are required at each landing. Their purpose is to show where the elevator is located. They can either be vertical or side by side. However, they must be visible from wherever the call button is located. Audible signals must accompany them. These must adhere to specific frequency and signal level requirements. 

Additionally, the landing must contain call buttons that are all reachable. These must be operable. Additionally, the up button must be above the down arrow. They must also provide a visual indication of if a call is registered and answered. They are allowed to be flush or raised. 

Lastly, the landing must have level signs placed four to five feet off the ground. These must include both characters and braille that indicate what level visitors are on. On the main level, a star and the braille characters for “main” must be present. 

Door

The doors must remain open for at least three seconds. Their reopening device cannot require physical contact. The device must remain open for at least twenty seconds if an obstruction is continuously detected, but it can close sooner if there is none. The doors do not have to fully reopen if an obstruction is detected. 

Car

A major component of elevator compliance is car dimensions. There must be adequate space to turn a wheelchair around with the doors closed to meet ADA standards. Other car requirements include a self-leveling feature, compliant floor surfaces, proper illumination, and a minimal gap between the edge of the car and the landing. 

These machines are a popular way to travel throughout the floors in a building. Therefore, landings, doors, and cars all must meet the appropriate standards.

Over the years the cryptocurrency trading changed from a niche thing limited only for the initiated into the globally popular asset. With its growing popularity came the need for divergent tools and trading options. And that’s where CFDs (contracts for difference) turn out to be practical. For decades the CfDs were the favourite trading instruments no matter the product: from soybeans to gold and cryptocurrencies as we see today.

How CFDs fit cryptocurrency trading

CFDs are the type of future contracts where you don’t need to deal with the asset you want to trade with. You don’t need to go out and search to buy coins in a crypto exchange. It would be time-consuming.  You don’t need to purchase bitcoin with your fiat money to start trading. Contracts for difference enable you to predict the value of the cryptocurrency, and if your prediction turns out to be right, you make profits. With an exponential interest in crypto assets, these days many brokerage companies are offering CDFs to trade digital assets. This implies that if you intend to trade crypto assets, you will easily find the crypto broker with good trading terms and many opportunities.

How to find a good crypto broker?

There are many websites and trading platforms to choose from. The competition is enormous, and they are giving their best to enhance the trading experience on their platforms and to offer the most trading instruments as possible. Going for the excellent and reliable crypto broker at the beginning of your trading adventure is a critical point. So when picking the right one, follow the criteria we are writing about within the next lines.

Always choose a regulated crypto broker

The concurrence is significant, and among all those trading companies and brokers, there are many those without the license. Before you go for a particular crypto broker, be sure if it complies with the regulations. If you are in Europe, the CySEC licence is required from the broker to be regulated. In Australia, it operates the ASIC, and when it comes to the UK, it’s FCA. When the broker is working under the license, it shields you from any kinds of unethical activity that may occur during the trading.

Look for the best transaction fees

Yes, fees and commission are annoying, but there is no way to escape them since that’s the way all these brokerage companies make money. Every crypto broker has to have at least two types of fees. The first is called the spread, which is the difference between the bid and the asking price. The second fee is an overnight fee, and it is charged when you hold an overnight position. Therefore, if you intend to keep the position over several days or even months, the best option is to find a crypto broker that doesn’t charge overnight fees. Crypto broker lists are good sources of information about brokers and their offerings. Be sure to check them out as well as broker reviews prior to choosing the broker.

Trading platforms

For the optimal trading experience, the trading platform your crypto broker offers you need to be user-friendly, simple to navigate and to have tools for fundamental and technical analysis. Some platforms even enable you to access social trading. This type of trading is also called copy trading, where you can get the most prominent trading insights from the experienced and the most successful crypto traders.

Training resources and demo account

Go for a crypto broker that would give you the opportunity of trading without risking real money. This is viable through a crypto trading platform that offers to trade on a demo account. With a crypto trading demo account you can simulate the trading and to check out if the trading at the specific trader suits you or you will trade cryptocurrency elsewhere. Trading in this way is excellent for understanding the CFDs trading. It’s also good for seeing its perks and drawbacks and finally to see if this kind of trading fits you.

Customer support

Before choosing the platform as a broker, check out their customer support to see if they are agile and efficient and if they respond to your queries in your native language. The right answer at the right moment can spare you a lot of adversities.

Final Thoughts

When you are just entering the crypto market, it may seem to you that it’s too overwhelming and that it’s like big muddy water full of crocodiles. The truth is somewhere in the middle. A bunch of scammers are operating in today’s crypto market, but there are still more good crypto brokers that will offer you trading experience with excellent trading conditions and opportunities to make a profit from crypto trading.

Medical bills are the leading cause of bankruptcy in America. An article in the British Medical Journal shows that 40% of bankruptcies in the United States are from medical bills. That percentage is speculated to be as high as 60%. 

No Health Insurance 

While job loss can lead to a need for health insurance when COBRA runs out, you may be surprised to learn that most people without insurance have jobs. Of the nearly 28 million working-age Americans who have no health insurance, most are in families where there is at least one full-time worker or part-time worker. People without insurance often go without medical care and important physicals or cancer prevention screenings. When a medical visit is unavoidable, extremely high provider bills can lead to high debt. 

High Medical Costs 

An accident that requires an overnight hospital stay can cost $2,000 per day. The cost of a heart valve replacement surgery, on average, is $170,000 without insurance. That’s the cost of some people’s homes. Without medical insurance, you may find yourself calling bankruptcy attorney Loxahatchee FL. Even healthy people may need a hospital. Blue Cross estimates that the cost to deliver a baby in the hospital (without complications) is around $10,000 to $11,000. While medical clinics can offer low-cost alternatives to a doctor visit for colds, bone breaks and allergic reactions, a serious condition may still be referred to the local hospital. 

Expensive Medical Plans 

It’s very difficult to get affordable health care if it is not provided by your employer. If you don’t qualify for Medicare and Medicaid, your only option is to purchase a private medical plan, which is not through the government. It’s not easy to find out the cost for an individual plan or a family plan because you must enter in detailed data online to receive quotes. Individual plans can cost a few hundred dollars per month (not including co-pays and deductibles you will have to pay when visiting a doctor), and family plans are more than double that amount. 

Have you ever wanted to get more involved with politics without actually running for office? If so, there are a few things you can do to help your favorite candidate or political party. Below are some great options that any adult can do, whether they are a citizen of the United States or not.

Join a Political Organization

One of the easiest things you can do is join a political organization. You do not need to be a member of a major political group (democrat or republican) to find a group that works for you. There are even moderate political organizations for people to join. Usually, you can join a political organization for free. These organizations hold a variety of functions, including helping their favorite candidates get elected, protesting, and more.

Protest at Meaningful Events

Even if you are not a member of a political organization you can still protest. There are a lot of news stories about violent protests or riots, but not every protest works like that. In fact, most protests are entirely peaceful. In many of these protests, people will show up with signs that relate to their cause. Sometimes protesters will march on the streets to make their protest mobile. They may have a chant or slogan to repeat. 

Volunteer with Political Offices

If you want to help someone get elected, the most direct thing you can do is volunteer with a local political office. You can do this for both local politics or national political offices (so, ranging from city council to president). Most of the time, it is easiest to find an office that supports democratic or republican candidates. It may be more difficult to find an office for third parties. 

If you want to make a difference in your community, try to help with politics. Whether you volunteer, protest, or join an organization, every little thing you do can help.

Opening up your first office can be an exhilarating time for any new company; however, you need to avoid making critical mistakes of overspending. Careful budgeting and being fiscally conservative is an essential part of starting up a new business. If you want your company to thrive in its new location while sticking to the budget, here are a few tips.

Furniture Selections

While your office space may be new, you don’t need new furniture to open it up. While brand new furniture may sound enticing and exciting, don’t be tempted just yet. You can save a lot of money on secondhand office furniture like pre owned desks which can give you the financial freedom to invest this elsewhere.

Flexible Work Arrangements

In a day and age where many people are getting accustomed to working from home, this can be to your benefit. While it is great to have everyone in the office for community and as your home base, you can offer flexible work arrangements and save yourself money. This can also give your staff flexibility to work in an environment where they can work best and signals to them that you trust them.

Sustainable Working

While flexible work arrangements are better for the planet than long commutes, other sustainability practices can positively impact your workplace. Encourage your employees to work greener by fully shutting down at the end of the day and reducing the amount they print, focusing on going paperless. You may be surprised at how much this can positively impact your bottom line and the planet simultaneously.

Office Artwork and Aesthetic

You will likely still want an aesthetically appealing workspace, and you can achieve this by adding plants that can help you enjoy cleaner air and design and décor from the staff. Consider putting together a photo competition within the office and have everyone submit photos that you can blow up and put around the office. This can give you a cool, eclectic feel while also getting your staff involved. You can still create a cool workspace on a budget.

Budget

The most important step when opening up a new office is sticking to a budget. While this is a common misstep for fledgling companies, this is critical to your long-term success. While exciting perks like free coffee, meals and accessories for the office seem like a great idea now, they won’t if they bankrupt you.

You don’t need to sacrifice the aesthetic and visual appeal if you are thrifty, creative and innovative with your approach to the workplace. You need to remember that it is possible to set up your new office on a budget.

If you’re about to put your house on the market, you’re probably overwhelmed. Between moving out and getting last-minute work done, you probably feel a little like the proverbial decapitated chicken. It’s easy for things to slip through the cracks, but here’s a short checklist of the big things you want to double-check before you stick that “for sale” sign in the front yard.

Interior

There is no bigger turnoff than a badly done interior. If you’re taking photos for your listing, it’s a good idea to hire someone to do interior design Calgary Alberta or your area to make sure the space looks as good as it possibly can before you take any photos. It’s also a good idea to do this if you’re going to have people coming through the house while it’s furnished. 

Exterior

Before they get a look at the interior, people will judge your house by its exterior. The roof, the exterior paint, the garden, the driveway and even the front door all make their contribution to a buyer’s initial opinion. Make sure your exterior makes a good first impression. 

Major Repairs

You may be thinking that it’s too late to do major repairs, and you’re probably right. However, you should have a list on hand of all the major repairs you have done and the major repairs that still need doing. An eagle-eyed buyer might notice that the roof needs replacing and demand a reduced price based on that. It’s best to be prepared.  

Putting a house on the market is stressful at the best of times. It’s a lot of things to keep in your head at once. You can’t do everything, but you can be sure to get most of the big things, at least. Take a deep breath and never forget that you’ve got a great home and it will go to a great family one day soon!

Are you looking for a fun and rewarding career in the legal field? You may be interested in becoming an entertainment lawyer like John Branca. These lawyers are analytical and persuasive professionals who enjoy working with creative people. 

Education and Training

All lawyers have to obtain undergraduate and graduate degrees. If you would like to specialize in entertainment law, the best way to prepare is to choose a relevant undergraduate minor (or second major) in addition to Pre-Law. Your studies could include courses in music, film, writing or other media.

Before you apply to graduate school, you will usually have to take the Law School Admission Test, or LSAT, in your senior year of undergraduate school. You would then go to graduate school to earn a master’s degree in law, also called an LL.M. (Legum Magister). Some graduate programs allow you to incorporate entertainment law into your studies.

Common Career Paths

Entertainment lawyers can specialize in a few different areas. Some work in IP (Intellectual Property) law. When an artist feels that someone has used their work without permission or otherwise violated their copyright, they hire an IP lawyer to represent them. 

You could also be responsible for creating contracts. Specifically, entertainers need lawyers to make sure that their contract with a studio or publisher includes fair compensation and working conditions. You could become a corporate lawyer for a production company. They ensure that the company has permission to use all locations, brands and likenesses in the media that the company produces.

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Profession

You will need to prepare yourself for some of the more difficult parts of entertainment law. As you might expect, it can be challenging to work with producers, directors and creators as they all tend to have strong personalities and opinions. You will have to market yourself (and possibly your clients) continuously to ensure that you have consistent employment. 

However, you would enjoy a career that is rarely dull. You would be an essential part of creating engaging, influential and vital contributions to our culture. 

You know the drill – brew your favorite coffee and keep the used beans for unique uses around the house. You’ve been saving your coffee grounds for years now and already use them in your garden as fertilizer and compost to spark growth and keep your garden luscious. However, are you really getting the most out of your grounds? There’s some pretty powerful purposes for your grounds if you put them to work the right way.

1. Grounds can be mulch.

You’ve already stopped buying fertilizer, but go ahead and cross mulch off your gardening list, too. Old grounds give your soil a unique texture and can act as a barrier on top of your soil. To make mulch, place about a half inch of grounds on top of the soil and then layer it with wood chips.

2. Grounds can protect your plants.

It’s the worst feeling to invest so much time and energy in your garden to see the birds or bugs beat you to enjoying your efforts. Putting old grounds in your soil and around your plants has been proven to keep pests away. Another benefit of using grounds is that you’re not layering on man-made chemicals to your locally grown produce. It’s a natural and healthy way to keep unwanted visitors away.

3. Grounds can specifically help tomatoes.

Old grounds are full of nitrogen, and tomatoes need a lot of that to grow. This helps strengthen their roots and makes them strong enough to produce chlorophyll which sparks photosynthesis. Mix the used grounds with your compost and lather the mixture all around your tomato plants. With the abundance of tomatoes you’ll grow from using this tip, here’s some recipes to try, so you’ll get the most out of your thriving tomatoes.

With so much waste in the world today, it’s a great feeling when you can make something beneficial out of trash. Used grounds really embody an item that keeps on giving from your coffee cup to your green garden and beyond.