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How To Know If A Bridging Loan Is Right For You

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article | How To Know If A Bridging Loan Is Right For YouMany property owners love bridging loans. These are non-status loans that give them access to money against their current property to help make the down payment for their next property. This works well for those who want to purchase a new property before their existing is sold.

Companies also go in for bridging loans to help them cover their operating expenses while they wait for long-term funding. If you’re wondering whether or not to go in for a bridging loan, our article outlines the criteria you can crosscheck to find out.

Credit and Equity

Before you consider going in for a bridging loan, you need to think about your credit. You don’t need to have excellent credit, thanks to its non-status nature, but the credit still needs to be great. Also, if you have an equity of at least 20% with a low debt-to-income ratio, you’re more likely to have your bridge loan approved.

Multiple Lenders

Bridging loans, once applied for, might come with several lenders. Before going in for such a commitment, you need to be willing to review each lender’s terms in detail. Finbri, a company known for its efficient sourcing of funds, advises that you ensure you absolutely understand your exit strategy and that it is realistic, for the most part lenders do not want you to default as it ties up their liquidity in what can occasionally become a protracted repossession.

For instance, you might have enough money to pay up-front or only be able to indulge in monthly payments. Studying how your cash flow works will tell you whether or not a bridging loan is your best bet.

Risks

The next thing you should consider to know whether bridging loans are the best fit for your business is the risk involved. The risks at every angle should be considered before making the first move.

Does your refinancing plan have the potential to fall through, or it’s not secure? If you answer yes to any of these questions, maybe your best option will be to apply for more traditional loans like SBA loans or personal loans.

Besides these three major points, here are other ways to know if a bridge loan is good for you.

  • If you’re in a seller’s market where houses sell out quickly and you’ve already chosen a new home, you can opt for a bridging loan.
  • You might wish to purchase a property, but your potential seller doesn’t want to accept any offer based on the sale of your current home.
  • You wish to close on your new home before selling the current home.
  • Your income does not allow you to make the down payment on a new property without selling your current home.
  • If you aren’t scheduled to close the selling of your current home before getting a new home, make use of bridging loans.

If you’re a company looking to take advantage of immediate real estate opportunities, bridging loans give you the freedom and ability to do so with short-term expenses. If you’re a homeowner itching to move into a new home without first selling the old, going in for these loans can help you do that. Several benefits come with bridging loans, from their quick processing to low repayment rates.

The Strategy Behind your Marketing Moves

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StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article | The Strategy Behind your Marketing MovesYour business marketing strategy must be built on a very clear plan, and it is this strategy that this article will discuss and elucidate upon. The aim is to provide you with some tips and tricks that will improve your chances of business success. Good business strategy is about having a vision for the future and then planning and implementing workable systems to attain this vision. Marketing is no different, and before the flashy marketing material and interactive website is developed to drive sales, you will need to cogently plan and develop a strategy upon which such materials and messages will be based.

Data, data, data

In an age where data is freely available and available in huge quantities, this data should be the cornerstone of your marketing campaign. It is about realizing the value of data and beginning to harvest it wherever you can and where this will not cause inconvenience to your customers and clients. Social media is a great avenue for data collection, collation and verification, but so will the interactions on your website, in store and via telephone and SMS.

Cleaning and collating

Once you have the data, it needs to be sorted, cleaned, and collated. What data has been collected? Is it demographic? Does it belong to current, possible, probable, or previous customers? And where and when did you obtain such data? Without this process, all the data in the world will not be used to its full potential. As noted by gsa-marketing.co.uk, data must be the starting point of your wonderful marketing journey. And it is indeed a process rather than a project.

Analysis

Analyze the data that you have collected and determine at this point what it can be used for. More than three-quarters of marketers accept that it is at this point that their skills are lacking. In fact, 77% of business-to-business marketers feel that one of their team’s top 5 weaknesses is data and analytics. There are now various techniques to overcome this, either ensuring that the software you use has a built-in ability to analyze and produce the required metrics related to the data inputted.

Validation

Is the data genuine? No business wants to pay for and implement a costly marketing and advertising campaign based on data that has not been verified.

Begin to plan your marketing campaign

Only once you have gathered the necessary data, analyzed it, and begun to understand what it is and what it says about your market, customers, competition, and the future prospects of your business sector can you fully design a convincing marketing campaign.

This planning and data development will allow for a successful strategy to be determined and implemented. The idea that marketing was always for the creatives in the business or as contracted from outside the business, but the truth of the matter is that this creativity without the base data and customer and client information will be misguided, colors, bells, and whistles without substance and a poor chance of providing a solid return on investment.

Why Businesses Need Management Consulting

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StrategyDriven Management and Leadership Article | Why Businesses Need Management ConsultingManagement consulting is something you may want to consider, even if you run a small business. Such professionals can assist a business of any size, however. These are a few of the complex issues that a consultant of this kind can help you with:

Team Leadership

For a business to be successful, all members of the team have to work together harmoniously. The leaders must be well versed and organized in their leadership strategies as well. A management consulting firm can assist you in this area by consulting with your top board members and management staff to develop new strategies for training and leadership. You may need these services if you find that employee retention numbers have plateaued or lessened. You may also find these services helpful if your customer service ratings have declined.

Research and Analysis

A management consulting firm can also conduct research and analysis for you. You may need to know if you should get involved with a possible merger with another business. Perhaps you need to decide which area to expand your business to. Maybe you need someone to gather information about the current market trends so that you can choose how you want to perform a product launch. Management consulting firms can do the legwork in this area so that your leaders can make decisions that profit your establishment.

Growth Strategies

Growth strategies are often complex processes that need more than one person to collaborate on them. Businesses of all sizes need to develop effective growth strategies. A management consulting team can assist you with growth strategies as well. They can help you develop blueprints for the business decisions you’ll make over a stretch of time. You may want to create a strategy for growth over the next five years, for example. Strategic planners will be able to look over the numbers with you and find areas where you can improve your company’s performance. They can also analyze the information and give you tips on how you can cut down on some of your operational costs.

New Process Rollouts

It can be difficult to enforce and implement new processes within your establishment. A management consulting firm could help you with those processes as well. Changing one of your primary processes can be an exciting and helpful move for your business. However, your employees and management staff may not be too keen on the changes. The good news is that a management consulting firm can assist you in that area and many others. You can think of such a firm as an end-all for solidifying your business’s success. Michael Canzian operates a reputable management consulting firm. All you need to succeed is a renowned firm that genuinely wants to see your business blossom.

A management consulting firm can be highly beneficial to you if you’re a new entity or a company trying to find your way around the market. You can schedule a consultation with such a firm to see if its services can assist you. You might find that a management consulting firm is exactly what you need.

Mistakes People Make With Web Design

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Web Design|Mistakes People Make With Web DesignAfter considering things for a while, you decide that you want to enter the field of web design. But you want to avoid getting overwhelmed by all the intricacies… and want to get a good foundation. There are college courses for it, but instead of paying a lot of money to get a degree, you might want to consider a bootcamp.

Before you decide to sign up for a web design bootcamp, it’s a good idea to learn some things to avoid when it comes to making web pages. The bootcamp will fill in the rest, but here is a head start.

There Is Too Much on the Page

You want to create a website that is easy for people to follow. Sure, there may be a lot of things that you sell or have designed, but you don’t want any potential customers to look at your site with no clear idea where their eyes should be going. A busy site feels chaotic.

There Is Too Little on the Page

On the other hand, you don’t want to have too plain of a site. Having too much empty space makes it feel like you might not have much to offer. You want to have something that piques the interest of the customer.

There is not a Good Call to Action

One of the main purposes of a website is to get people to buy what you offer. They need something to latch onto… and if you have not given them that, then they will likely click right off the page. Then you will get little to no results, which is bad for your bottom line.

There is No Clear Navigation

You don’t want to have people looking at your site with no idea of where they need to go to accomplish what they want. There need to be clear headers that show where people should expect to land when they click on a certain link. Do not assume that it will be intuitive … doing that will wind up with your getting poor feedback.

These are just a few of the mistakes that people make with web design … it can feel like a field full of pitfalls. But if you build a good base and are willing to make adjustments from feedback, then you can get on a good path. Then you might be able to do this for a living.

How to keep your employees happy

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article |Keep your employees happy|How to keep your employees happyThere’s no doubt that happy employees make a business better. Recent research shows that employees who are satisfied with their job are more motivated, work harder, and build stronger bonds with their employers if they feel they are being well taken care of at work. With that in mind, here are some easy and effective ways to keep employees happy by improving their morale and driving performance.

Communicate your expectations

It is important to communicate your expectations to your employees. If you expect them to be at work by 9am, you need to make this clear. Employees are more likely to keep their commitments if they know exactly what’s expected of them.

You will need to find out what your employees want and need. Try to find out what motivates them and give it to them. You can ask your employees about their ideal work hours, the flexibility that they desire from their job, and how many hours they would like to work each day. Be clear with rules and policies while being considerate of your employees.

Organize social outings

Team building is important. Employees feel more satisfied when they have a strong bond with their teammates and co-workers. Organize regular events that allow employees to interact outside of the office, such as team lunches or group outings. This will boost camaraderie and strengthen ties between employees, which can translate to better productivity in the office.

Recognize good work

Rewarding employees for their good work will motivate them to keep up the good work. After all, employee recognition is absolutely integral in building a happy and healthy workplace environment. This can take various forms such as a lunch with your boss or a monetary bonus.

You may also consider organizing contests that keep employees engaged in their work.

Offer benefits

Offering benefits that your employees want, such as flexible work hours or a company car for a new mom who needs to drive to work, will go a long way in keeping them happy.

Offer perks such as extended holiday leave, more flexible work hours, and maternity/paternity leave. These are things that employees want and will help to boost morale while making your business more competitive too.

Trust your staff

It’s important to realize that as an employer, you need to trust your employees. If you have stated a commitment to creating work hours between 9am and 5pm, don’t contact them outside of those hours unless there is a very good reason for the intrusion. Employees who feel like their employers mistrust them will lose motivation to put in their best effort at work.

Give them the right tools

Employees need to feel like they have everything they need to do their jobs well. Giving employees access to state-of-the-art equipment and ensuring that software is updated regularly will reduce frustrations that can impact performance negatively.

To keep your employees happy, you need to communicate your expectations to them, offer benefits and perks that they value, trust them, and give them the tools they need to do their job well. If you follow this simple formula for keeping your employees engaged, satisfied, loyal, and productive; chances are that your company will enjoy strong growth in the future.