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Can You Invest in Property Without Much Cash?

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article |Property Investment|Can You Invest in Property Without Much Cash?As is suggested by the word property ‘investment’, you do need some money in order to be able to get into property. There are options like rent-to-rent to consider, but as that is something that requires very little money and you’re controlling cash flow, it can’t really be considered investing in property. But how do you make sure that you are able to have enough and generate enough cash in order to truly invest and have it make a difference in your life? It is a pretty steady way to invest, as there is always demand for property, whether that be commercial or residential. So if this is something that you want to get into, then you should make sure that you’re able to have the cash to be able to invest in the first place.

Save, Save, Save

As radical as it might sound, one thing that you could look to do is to save money and not make a start until you are ready. After all, if you look at property as an investment and for any investment, even a small one, you do need to have capital to back it up. Tracking your spending is one of the things to do. Plus, if you are going for something like a 75% mortgage, then it means that for what you save it can be quadrupled to be money for a property.

Borrow Money Against Your Home

You might have very little in the way of cash, but you might have a home of your own with equity in it that you can take advantage of. If this sounds like you, then you could choose to extend out your mortgage to release some cash that you can then invest in elsewhere. It is up to you to decide if this is something that is going to work for you. You have to weigh up if it is going to be better to be able to invest sooner rather than later, or have the security that comes with paying down your own mortgage.

Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is something that is pretty recent, but it is making waves and helping people to invest and get a business started. You could use a straightforward site to help raise the money, asking people for donations. You can also use crowdfunding sites that offer something to the people that invest, so that could be something to think about as well. You could even look up a review of the Fundrise site to see if that could work for you. It is one of the first companies to crowdfund investment into the real estate market, so it is specific to the niche that you are looking at.

Use Family and Friends

If you have family and friends with some money that you could borrow from them, then it could be an avenue to look at. If you need to make it a more formal agreement, then it is a good idea to look into using their money as an investment, and treating it like a formal investment like you would from a bank. It can give everyone peace of mind.

Five Elements to Consider When Organizing a Trade Show

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StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article |Trade Show|Five Elements to Consider When Organizing a Trade ShowOrganizing your very own trade show can be an exciting experience, but it can also prove to be extremely daunting if you have never planned a professional event before. You’re going to have to delve deep into your skill sets if you want to pull off your event with professionalism, and wow those who will be attending. While the number of tasks that you may be faced with in regards to planning your trade show event may seem overwhelming at the start, this article should come in useful to help you pinpoint the key elements that you need to bear in mind, in order to ensure that your trade show event is a roaring success.

Here are five main tips to take into consideration:

1. Planning is essential

While you may be excited to jump head first into the trade show event without second-guessing your decisions, it’s likely you’ll face dilemmas later on down the line. Planning is essential in order for your trade show to be a success, as well as keeping your stress levels to a minimum.

Draw up a plan of action that determines the entire project specification, the marketing techniques you’re going to use, and your final budget to ensure that the step-by-step process of the project runs smoothly without any hiccups.

2. Secure a convenient location

While you may be focused on the event itself, what you need to be aware of is that the location of your venue is everything—especially if you’re planning on securing a huge number of exhibitors and attendees. Ensure that your venue is the correct size (neither too small, proving it difficult for everyone to be accommodated; or too large, giving the illusion of the event being unsuccessful and sparse) and within easy reach for your guests to attend without difficulty.

3. Instruct your staff accordingly

Those in leadership roles should instruct staff on how to behave accordingly. First impressions are everything, therefore, all those who are associated with your company should act professionally at all times, that is, in terms of their body language, facial expressions, and their willingness to communicate with those who are in attendance.

4. Provide food and entertainment

If you don’t look after your guests, you may encounter some complaints, especially when they have spent hours venturing around the different stalls and need some time out to revive. Buffets or packed lunches are always extremely convenient food options for trade shows, so attendees can pick up a snack whenever they choose.

To keep your attendees interested in the event, always make sure to provide suitable entertainment for your target audience. Consider renting trade show games to engage your visitors and build relationships between them—after all, networking is an integral part of any successful trade show, and can create an extremely positive atmosphere.

5. Follow up after your event

Once your trade show has come to an end and all your hard work has paid off, it’s extremely important to do a follow-up with your attendees and traders. Doing so builds on the relationship between your company and sellers, as well as getting the chance to receive feedback that will come in useful for future trade show events. Ensure that you offer gratitude to those who have attended, in order to put forward a positive impression of your company.

Essential Digital Tools For Non-Profits

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Non-Profits|Essential Digital Tools For Non-ProfitsRunning a non-profit can be challenging enough without being able to rely on profits and consistent paying customers, which is why there are plenty of excellent tools designed to make your non-profit excel without paying the same prices that massive corporations do. If you’re looking for your non-profit to be as successful and as rewarding for its clients as possible, here are the essential digital tools you need to know about.

Make Donations Easy

Donations are a massive part of any non-profit, so it makes sense that one of the main tools you want to invest in is a way to make them as easy as possible. Instead of shaking a collection jug as passersby on the high street, you can reach people from the comfort of their sofa watching football.

Donation software makes it possible for millions of people to feel charitable, and the best of this software can set a page up in fewer than 15 minutes. If you’re still not convinced, there are more than 7,000 non-profit organizations worldwide who use this software, and they can embed your forms or popup widget to make it easily accessible for those who are feeling generous. There are paid and free services, so take your pick of whichever works best for you.

Keep Systems Up and Running

With so much to take care of while running a non-profit, you can often neglect other parts of the organization. If you’re going to make the most of digital software and services, then Non-Profits IT support is crucial.

This means you have one less thing to worry about while you do your campaigning, and they can also solve any issues as soon as they arise, often with 24-hour support, seven days a week. With everything running smoothly, you can focus your energy elsewhere and focus on making your non-profit as fantastic as it can be.

Keep Subscribers In the Loop

Services such as Mailchimp or any of its competitors are a fantastic way of keeping your subscribers firmly in the loop when it comes to what you’re doing, what you plan to do next, or any other big news you want to share, especially at the end of a highly successful campaign.

It’s too easy for donors to forget about non-profits they were once so passionate about. However, with a dedicated email and newsletter service, you can ensure that the good news spreads sufficiently, and you can also reach out to other potential donors to help you fight for your cause. With such an excellent tool for marketing automation, you can also get a wide range of data and information about your subscribers.

Final Thoughts

A non-profit still needs to keep up with advancements in technology and the potential that it can offer if it wants to demonstrate that it can make a difference. By investing in the best and most essential digital tools, you can guarantee that your organization keeps on changing the world and committing to causes on a local, national, or even global scale.

Creating Your Business From Home And The Things To Consider

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StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article |Working from Home|Creating Your Business From Home And The Things To ConsiderMany people like the idea of working from home, and with that comes the opportunity to work for yourself and still get the benefit of family life. It’s striking that right balance and some people love the opportunities it raises to have the best of everything. Of course, starting an at home business may sound like an easy thing to do, but there is still much to consider. With that in mind, here are some of the things you could consider when starting a business from home. Maybe it will provide you with that inspiration to take that first step yourself.

What’s the business idea?

First of all, you need an idea. If working from home is something you are seriously thinking about then you need to have a clear vision and a plan of direction for exactly what you want to do, how you are going to do and how much you can realistically earn from it. It’s important to think about money early on, because many of us have commitments of bills that we need to adhere to. Leaving your job means you lose that consistency of pay, so ensuring that you don’t have the pressure of earning nothing can help you to steer your business in the right direction. Of course, it doesn’t always happen straight away, so having a buffer saved can take the overwhelming pressure away. Research your idea, look into to domain names and social media handles and ensure that your idea and what you offer is different from direct competition.

How will it get from you to consumer?

You have your idea, you know what you want to do, but how does it get from you to your consumer? This is when we are talking about delivery methods. When you offer a service, it is a little different, but if you are selling a product of some description now is the time to think about packaging, your labelling solutions and postal costs and this will help you when advertising online and through your website. Is it something that could be packaged up in a tube such as wall art or quotes that a printed? Or maybe you need something more box like. A quick search online might help you to identify some of the best places to buy packaging from, and then check out your local post office or courier for postage costs to ensure you get the best deal.

How do you separate your work life from your home life?

Last thing to think about would be your home life and working life and finding the balance between the two. It can be hard to separate those loves when you are working in the same environment so it might be worth trying to create a working area where at least you can walk away from work when you need a break or the time comes to spend time with the family. Maybe a home office or a desk in a specified area could be the way forward. Some people choose to go to further lengths and create offices in their gardens or in lofts or cellars. The options are endless but do what feels right for you to ensure that you separate the life. This is so it doesn’t always feel like you are working.

Let’s hope these tips help you to kick start you at home business.

Expand Your Recruitment Pool

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article |Recruitment|Expand Your Recruitment PoolWant to hire the perfect employee? The more candidates you have to choose from, the better your chances are of finding that ideal candidate. There are lots of ways to expand your pool of candidates. Here are just several ways to encourage more applicants so that you’re more likely to hire the right person for the job.

Advertise employee perks, not just demands

A bad job ad could put off the best jobseekers from applying. Often it’s these applicants that can afford to be picky – they have all the qualifications and experience you need and are looking for a company that sells itself to them. In order to appeal to these candidates, you need to make sure that you highlight the perks of working for your company. This could include benefits such as flexible working hours, bonuses or company-paid healthcare. Avoid solely listing demands from candidates as you could find that this only attracts the most desperate applicants.

Don’t limit yourself to local talent

Don’t always limit yourself to local talent. If someone needs to be able to work within your office, then clearly they need to be within good commuting distance. However, there may be some workers willing to relocate – perhaps even from abroad – that could be perfect for the role. You’ll need to swot up on business immigration law, but it could be worth it for expanding your options. There are also lots of jobs that can be worked remotely. For instance, a web programmer may be able to work from any location in the world and may not necessarily need to be someone based locally.

Think beyond job ad boards

Job ad boards like Indeed are great places to attract applicants – but they’re not the only place. There are many other places in which you can advertise and increase the exposure that your ads get, helping you to receive more applications. This could include advertising in newspapers, advertising on social media, attending job fairs at schools and universities or even placing posters and flyers in strategic places. Trying different forms of job advertising will involve more investment, but it could be worth it if you’re certain hire an employee that serves you well.

Use a recruitment agency

You can hire a recruitment agency to help look for talent. If you use a reliable recruitment agent, you should be able to increase the amount of applications you receive. Recruiters may even be able to handle tasks such as interviews for you to save you time.

Allow enough time

It’s also important that you’re not rushing the recruitment process. The longer you advertise for, the more applications you’ll receive. While you don’t have to advertise for months on end, you should make sure that you’re accepting applications for at least a week. Similarly, you should leave enough time to interview multiple candidates rather than just one or two favourites.