One of the most promising and rapidly emerging franchising business areas nowadays is the tax services industry. There are a number of reasons behind the fast development of this franchising sector.

Face it, as long as people are going to make money, they will have to pay taxes on it. With the Tax Reform Act of 1997, a time line mandating e-filing of 80% of all tax-returns was introduced. That opened up the floodgates for the fast-rising tax-services franchising industry. It lessened the burden of filing the tax returns on the tax payers. Now, all they have to do is contact the nearest tax-services providers and let them handle their accounts.
It has been estimated that almost 60% of over 180 million taxpayers engage the professional tax services companies in order to file their tax return. The IRS is expecting this number to increase by 1.5% in the year 2008. The main reason why people resort to theses tax-services companies is that the tax laws of the United States are very complicated. They constantly change and it is not possible for a common man to keep abreast with the latest guidelines of IRS. As a result, they end up paying billions of money, which is more than what they are supposed to! It has been mentioned in some recent statistics that as many as 75% of the taxpayers overpay. But when they take help of the tax-services franchises, they are sure of paying the right amount of tax, neither more nor less.

With so many taxpayers looking for professional supports, the number of CPAs, tax lawyers and other traditional tax consultants are falling short. That is why the franchising sector of tax-services is growing so well. The established players such as Jackson Hewitt Tax Service, Liberty Tax Service and Roni Deutch are already well-known for their sheer professionalism in the market. These franchisors have been in business for long and they know the common mistakes that even professionals sometimes make. They train their franchisees to avoid that and as a result, people’s trust in their ability is growing with each passing year. Hence, it is of no wonder that more than 97% franchise tax-service companies remain in business even after one year of opening, compared to 62% of independent tax-service providers.

If you want more information on this, check the following article.

If you ever inquired about Remote staffing you might have heard comments such as

1) You can’t understand what they are saying
2) People in India don’t know how to work
3) Offshore employment ruins productivity
4) Etc.

The truth of the matter is many people have experienced this frustration with outsourcing, but the source of the problem does not necessarily come from the outsourcing company but from the person who is outsourcing.

Here are a few reasons why some people’s outsourcing operation fails

1) They look for the cheapest solution instead of what makes sense
2) They don’t micromanage like they would a local employee
3) They don’t have consistent access to communication

The mistake many beginning remote managers make is he/she treats the remote staff very differently from how they would treat their local employees or operation.

People feel that because it is not within the office and it is much more affordable it somehow excuses them from managing offshore work like a real operation. The truth of the matter is that you must communicate everyday with your staff, you need to train them and you need to see their work. At the end of the day an affordable staff is not an alternative for bad management. Otherwise you will find yourself hiring six people and still not getting the efficiency of one North American person.

If you are planning to integrate offshore work as part of your daily operation you have no choice but to manage your team as if they were local employees. There is truly no alternative to continuous guidance, supervision and motivation, even if they work so far away. Talking to many businesses I find it so uplifting how much focus they put on their teams, where they keep strong communication and attention to details, yet when it comes to work with remote staffs all these concepts go down the drain.

You also absolutely need to find quality people within a reasonable price. Probably one of my biggest mistakes when I first got into the business was to negotiate.

The reality is not only can outsourcing work properly but if done right, you can contribute an extra 8 hours per day to work by simply putting an extra half an hour of your own. This could lead to many opportunities, to read about How to Add An Extra Source Of Income without quitting your Job you can go to this page: Add an extra source of income

So at the end of the day, if you follow the simple rule of treating your Remote staffing operation the same way that you are treating your local operation you will not go wrong

For more information about Outsourcing just go to the page

Tina LoSasso writes: Are you as confident, and effective, responding to an Internet inquiry? Without the benefit of talking with the prospect directly, the contact can feel colder than a cold call.

call center sale training

As more consumers and businesses research and purchase via the Internet, you can’t afford to mishandle these inquiries. To respond in a professional manner, and convert more Internet inquiries into customers, keep these guidelines in mind:

sales coach

• To call, or not to call? Some salespeople don’t respond to Internet inquiries because they think they’re a waste of time. When someone asks for information via email, you should respond via email. A word of caution: you must have a valid reason to call. Restating the information provided in the email, or interrogating the prospect about his company, budget or time frame, are not valid reasons: they’re harassment.

business coaching

Telling the prospect all about your company won’t cut it either. • Respond in Internet time. Thanks to email and instant messaging, people expect everything right now.

http://www.revver.com/video/797303/sales-coach-glenn-j-broder/
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Accordingly, prospects expect a quick response to their email inquiries. You probably check emails while on the road, over the weekend, and late at night. If you’re receiving inquiries after-hours, chances are your buyers are working, too. They will appreciate a response from you, even if you’re only acknowledging their inquiry. Proofread your response carefully before sending it. Your email response will create your prospect’s first impression of you, so make it a good one!

An Internet inquiry is a dream come true: an interested prospect contacting you! You probably can’t wait to email a proposal, product specifications, company brochure, comparison chart, product brochure and lists of happy customers. If you have a short proposal, include it in the body of the email, not as an attachment. Let the prospect know that you’ll send the collateral material he requested in a separate email. Make it easy for the buyer to recall your site, and why he requested information from you in particular.

If the inquiry came from an industry bidding site, take additional steps to distinguish yourself, keeping in mind that the prospect knows nothing about you, not even your company name. To stand out from the potential dozens of replies the prospect will receive, bypass your normal form-letter response, and personalize your reply.

Tina LoSasso is Managing Editor of SalesDog.com, an online resource for sales professionals. SalesDog.com’s new book Top Dog Sales Secrets features sales advice from dozens of nationally renowned sales experts. One reader said, “It’s like reading the best ideas from 50 sales books all in one book.” To learn more, go to SalesDog.com.

These days, everybody is looking into the franchising industry for its recent rapid growth-rate. Corporate America has disappointed many; hence, even people from the upper strata of management are bored of their 9-to-5 jobs and thinking about leaving their occupations and joining a franchising business. But many people are apprehensive about entering this arena, because of some misconceptions associated with the franchising world. Here are some of them:
• You have to do all kinds of works in the business: This is one misconception that stops people from joining certain franchising segments such as food or maintenance business. People think that they have to “flip a burger” or “clean the toilets” when they are franchisees in these industries. But that is not the truth! When you become a franchisee, you maintain the financial, local-marketing, human-resource and production aspects of the business. For the actual work, you hire other people.
• Your success is guaranteed when you become a franchisee: People joining the franchise business think that they will be overnight success story. But, what they must realize is that there cannot be any gain without hard-work. So, like any other business, they have to give in their 100% to succeed. The name of the franchisor can make their journey easier, but they cannot piggyback the whole ride.
• Always go for the established ones: There are pros and cons of joining an established brand. The upper side of it is that these biggies will have a loyal customer-base, but on the flip side, they may soon loose their charm. Hence, new entries that offer something new and innovative can also be a good bet, even if they are not that well-known.
• You will not face competition in your area: Unless specifically mentioned in the agreements, there is no guarantee that another branch of your franchisor won’t open near you. That is why it is essential that you read the UFOC very carefully and clarify this point. Also check the size of the territory under you; some are given based on postal-code while others on population count.
• The more money you pay as franchise fee, the higher the return: This is another misconception regarding the nature of the franchising business. A higher franchise fee does not mean that you will get more return from the business. Along with the capital invested, the time and skill invested by you should also be taken into consideration. Hence, it is perfectly possible to get good returns from a franchise where you invest your skills more than your dollar.

Hope these points have cleared some doubts you had regarding the franchising field. If you want to get further details, you can always contact the associates of The brandEXPANSION Team.

Are you an office manager or a business owner? If you are, you must know the importance of time management in the office. Did you know that when your employees donít know how to manage their time, they likely end up costing your company money? Whether you are a business owner or an office manager, you do not want to see this happen. See time management.

When it comes to poor time management at the office, there are many office managers and business managers who choose to provide their employees with time management training. If this sounds like a good idea to you, you may be looking for more information. You may be curious as to exactly what time management training its, how it works, and what your staff members will learn. If these are all questions that you have, you will want to continue reading on.

When understanding time management training, it is important to remember that it does come in a number of different formats. For example, most companies choose to hire outside specialists. These are individuals or teams of individuals who come in and teach staff members the importance of proper time management, as well as share tips on how to get the most done through the day. A good example of this is by showing or helping your staff members get their office desks better organized. This is key, as organization and time management go hand in hand.

As nice as it is to hire outside help from professional office organizers and time management specialists, the cost of doing so may be a put off for you. If it is, you may be able to host your own time management training sessions. Doing so is actually a lot easier than you may originally think. In fact, many business owners and office managers like this approach as it gives them complete control over what their staff members learn. Read about time management for employees.

Speaking of what your staff members will likely learn in time management training, it will vary. As previously stated, you can hire outside help or you can perform your own training sessions. Regardless of which approach you do take, there are some things that you will want to make sure that your staff members know. First, make sure that you not only tell them the importance of properly managing their time at the office, but show them ways that they can improve the use of their time. These ways may involve keeping a clean and organized office desk, completing a to do list each morning, and so forth.

It is also important that you outline the consequences for employees who continue to waste company time. After time management training as has been offered to all employees, there is no reason why employees should be seen standing around, socializing with each other, or using an office computer for personal use. State that these things are okay for break time, but not during normal work hours. You may want to go as far to show your staff members just how much their wasted time is costing the company. Let them know that additional warnings may come, with termination being a possibility.

As a reminder, time management training is not required by many means, but you may find it a relatively easy and effective approach, especially when compared to terminating and rehiring new employees. Read more at career development.

Something I have become more directly interested in recently is project management, within the field of leadership skills.

Here are some of my research notes:

project management can be defined by - The primary function of project management is to ensure that the project is implemented to meet the established budget, schedule, safety, and performance requirements to satisfy its objectives.

I like the idea of Performance Management - Total communication and pin-point accountability, for small teams. You might not have a rigidly established budget, you might simply be trying to use what you have to make more. You might not a specific scheduled deadline for project delivery, but you might have plans and goals that you want to reach faster and easier.

Getting Things Done Principles are basic practical personal steps for Project Management:

1. Collect
2. Process
3. Organize
4. Review
5. Do

Many possible aspects or divisions of Project Management

* Requirements management
* Subcontract management
* Deliverables management
* Risk management
* Scope management
* Performance management

Questions used in by project managers:

* How much will this project cost?
* When will it be done?
* What is the confidence in these estimates?
* How will I recognize done when it arrives?
* What skills, experiences, tools, and processes will be needed to successfully complete the project on-time, on-budget, on-technical and business specifications?

These questions are core to the principles of project management. The interpersonal activities are necessary but far from sufficient. Especially when considering career planning.

I will be expading these notes about project manager considerably.

What are the skills of good management?

I would be a fool to think I know all of them.

Project Management divides into Project planning and carrying out the Project execution. While training employees on Project Management, focus on:

1. Availability of resources.

2. Analysis of the various risks in the manipulation of the Project & lateral plans to solve the same.

3. Based on the availability of resources prudence in its usage.

4. Blue print of the Projects step by step proceedings and a review etc.,

Ken Blanchard uses the acronym PERFORM to explain the necessary characteristsics of high performing teams.

Your role in management is to develop the skills necessary to faciliate PERFORM.

* Purpose and Values
* Empowerment
* Relationships and communication
* Flexibility
* Optimal Performance
* Recognition and Appreciation
* Morale

You will find that they all share these three:

Planning the Project or Goal
Execution of the Goal including management
Measurement of the Goal

Additionally, these three supporting processes are present in part or in all of these definitions:

People or teamwork working together to achieve the goal
Goal Achievement to achieve the desired goal
Quality to ensure continuous improvement within the goa

Ultimately, project management represents DISCIPLINE, ORGANIZATION, and ACCOUNTABILITY; which are three areas people seem to have a natural aversion to these days.

So go to it: career planning.

Do you have a problem with time management? If you do, you have two main options. One of those options and often the most popular is to continue on with your normal activities. Unfortunately, doing so may have a negative impact on your personal life, as well as your work life. The other option is to make a change. The good news is that there a number of steps that you can take to improve your time management. See time management skills.

As for what you can do to improve your time management, you will see that a number of different approaches can be taken. Goal setting, to do lists, limiting tasking, prioritizing, and outsourcing are all effective ways to manage your time, but they are also just a few of your options. As for why you should learn and practice proper time management, there are a number of reasons why, five of which are outlined below.

1 - It Is Easy To Do

As previously summarized, you have a number of different options when looking to make better use of your time. These options are all easy and cost effective ways. In fact, creating goals and task lists for yourself is free of charge. Since it is easy for you to learn and practice proper time management techniques, why would you want to do anything else?

2 - It Is Important To Your Personal Life

As previously stated, having a poor sense of time management has a number of serious consequences, one of those being your personal life. If you regularly pay your bills late, donít make contact with friends, or arrive home later than normal, you may be hurting your personal relationships and often in more ways than you could have ever imagined. Friends, spouses, and romantic partners will likely not want to put up with this behavior for long.

3 - It Is Important For Your Job

Poor time management will not only negatively effect your personal life, but your work life as well. If you do not know how to properly manage your time, you may get easily distracted. This may result in you wasting company time. If you are caught doing so repeatedly, you may find yourself terminated from your current position. This can also have a negative impact on your personal life, as it may leave your finances in serious trouble.

4 - It Is Something That You Can Only Benefit From

Taking the time to learn and practice successful time management techniques can only benefit you, your work, and your personal relationships. Since no money technically needs to be spent on time management tools or training, you have nothing to lose, but everything to gain. It is also important to ask yourself again the important question of ìwhy not?î Why not improve your life with the learning and practicing of time management techniques? time management for managers.

5 - The Options That You Have

Once again, it is important to focus on the options that you have when looking to learn and practice proper time management. Creating a set of goals and a task list is easy and free to do. Alarm clocks and timers can also be used to help you make better use of your time. You likely already own a traditional alarm, but your cell phone, computer, and television may also come equipped with alarm clocks as well.

As a reminder, there are a number of other time management tools and techniques that you can easily learn and practice all from the comfort of your own home. Read more about project management.

Have you ever noticed that birds of a feather flock together? People usually communicate with like-minded people . In other words, a person’s center of influence usually has a fair amount of people in it that are just like them.

Here are 5 easy steps to make the best use of for gaining more ideal customers :

Step 1:

Decide which customers you already have that you would classify as being the ideal customer . The easiest way to do this is to pick one customer that you (and your associates ) really enjoy having as a customer .

Step 2:

List the positive qualities that had you think of them as a ideal customer . Examples could be:

They pay their bills on time .
They are courteous to you and your associates .
They are regular customers .
They are punctual for appointments.
They refer other people to your establishment.

This is an example list and your list would be unique to your establishment and the types of customer you like to serve. The objective of this exercise is to set up a qualifying , of sorts, so you add more of the exemplary ones – not just grow the numbers of customers . After all, isn’t that what you would love to work towards – only serving customers you enjoy?

Step 3

List a few other ones that also share these positive qualities . This technique is usually pretty eye-opening to see how many of your customers you really like serving versus the ones you would rather do without. (Using this process of gaining more customers will make room for you to get rid of the less than exemplary ones down the road.)

Step 4:

Create a strategy of effortlessly and objectively letting the customer on the list you just created know you appreciate them. For example, What is something you could do that would be so remarkable they would be inclined to contact all their contacts and have a “Guess what I just got …” phone call about an action you took. It could be a birthday or anniversary card (although in many industries , sending a card is common-place – and not falling in the remarkable category, which is required, for this to be productve ).

However, sending a gift is not common-place . How many of your customer are young families that are now having newborns ? Sending newborn baby gifts would be so outrageously remarkable and it is sure to be worthy of lots of rants about thoughtful you are!

In fact, I would venture to guess if you did send a unique baby gift, you would be the center of conversation every time they looked at the gift. You would have to work pretty hard at losing them as a customer after that act of generosity . And they would be sure to acknowledge your kindness !

What competing business in your industry is going to do this for those new Mom’s and Dad’s?

Actually, there is already a trend developing in this direction. Many business owners – health care providers, lawyers , insurance agents, real estate agents, for example - are seeing the value in setting aside a small percentage of their customer appreciation program budget for customer relationship management. Client loyalty and referrals abound when business owners thank their existing customer for doing business with them by sending a small gift of congratulations for important events. The investment of this strategy pays off exponentially in attracting new customers .

Step 5:

If you have completed the first four steps, get prepared for the accolades that will be streaming into your office. And celebrate what a caring and savvy business owner you are in implementing this new strategy for gaining new customer by acknowledging the ones you already have.

About the author:
Pat Graham-Block has been coaching small to mid-size business owners in how to strategically develop their establishment with unique, proven ideas that work. She is also owner of Simply Unique Baby Gifts, an online store that offers a large selection of newborn baby gift baskets ready to be delivered to the new happy parents on your behalf.

Today, there are a number of franchise businesses for sale in the market. Which one of them you will buy will depend, to a large extent, on money! Yes, the “root of all evil” is a spoiler here also. But the good news with franchise is that there is something for everyone – from people starting with as low as $25,000 dollars to people who can invest up to million dollars. So, what are the questions that should be there in your mind when you go out to buy a franchise? Here are some of them:

1.How much of an investment do I have to make? It should include the start-up cost and the cost required for the running of the franchise as well as your home. No one can give a correct estimate of the amount. The best is to calculate all the costs individually and add some 10 to 25% extra to it for emergency purposes in order to arrive at this figure.

2. What is my start-up cost? This is a question you will have to ask the moment you go to buy a franchise. It is the franchise fee, real-estate and other costs that you have to bear in the beginning of your journey as a franchisee. The details of the break-up will be there in the franchise agreement and the UFOC and most top franchises will think twice before considering you, if you cannot muster up this amount.

3.What is the running cost till the unit breaks even? This is another important question, as even if you manage the start-up cost but don’t have a working capital, you cannot run the business smoothly till it starts to profit. This is something you should ask your franchisor when you are starting a franchise under them. The Best franchises who know how to franchise usually carries out detailed market study before giving any kind of projection. So, make sure your franchisor is one such franchise.

4. What will be my living expenses? Another money question that you will have to ask yourself. And sometimes, your franchisor may also ask you this in order to find out how much money you can spare for the business. If you take money from your business to run your household, then you will be robbing Peter to pay Paul! Therefore, separate the two accounts when you are starting a franchise.

5. Where I will get the money? Another question where you have to sit down with your accountant, franchisor and family members. You may have the money from your savings, SBA-backed loans, loans from family members or some other sources. If you want, you can also take loan from your retirement fund through IRA or 401(k) plans. Also, make sure you take help of financial advisors like Guidant Financial Services in this matter.

6. How much money can I make and how fast? The most important reason for starting the franchise – the profit off course! But have realistic expectations from the business, even if you have joined one of the best franchises in the market. Never think that there’s a magic wand and you can earn handsomely without working hard. The opposite is also true. If the market and the franchisor don’t support you, you may not make that much from the business, despite giving your best. You must also keep in mind that some businesses make quick-earning, but tend to dry up later while others are slow-starters but in due course, turn out to be immensely profitable ones.

Need help finding franchise finance? Contact The brandEXPANSION Team to learn more.

The following article is from a series of small business articles and videos about raising capital for your business using federal grant funds …

Federal grant money assists people in more ways than you can imagine. It is there in school lunch programs and after school programs to decrease the number of kids sitting at home alone. It is in programs aimed at helping reduce pollution in cities and help clean up the country. Free grant money is present for students who want to go to college and need financial aid for their tuition and school books. It is there helping enterprising new small business owners find the capital they need to start their own business.

Just asking for federal grant money is not enough to warrant them dishing out thousands of dollars to you. There has to be a real need present and it has to be used wisely. The Government not going to turn over funds to you simply because you have a desire to open up a fancy novelties store. There is some paperwork that has to be filed first in order to get government grant funds. Businesses have to provide business models and plans. Students have to fill out forms.

Even the free meal programs at public schools and daycare facilities must go through a thorough grant proposal process. The group that is requesting the money must show how they intend to utilize the money. All it takes is one simple slip up on the paperwork and the delay can cost you thousands in dollars and months of your time. But there are means to help simplify the process of obtaining free cash grants.

You can do one of two things. The first is to hire someone to prepare your grant proposal for you and help you fill out the required paperwork. This is what many small business owners elect to do if they are clueless as to how to prepare a grant request. The second is to educate yourself and learn the process of preparing a proper grant proposal. You will also need to learn how to fill out the appropriate paperwork needed for the specific government grant money you are after.

To read the rest of this article, go here: Grants For Business Owners