So you've decided to start your own business - congratulations!  It's a huge leap from letting someone else take care of taxes, accounting, payroll, inventory, and/or a myriad of other activities necessary to run a business.  However, running your own business has its advantages, too.  You get to be your own boss, set your own hours and days to work, and are responsible for your own success.  It can be a great way to free yourself from the tedium of 9-5 and work at doing what you love, but you have to begin by asking a few questions:

1. Are you doing what you love, or just doing something you’re good at?  A desire to get away from the regular working world can be a good motivation to work for yourself, but you have to be excited to get up in the morning to do what it is you have chosen to do for a living.

2. What is it you are planning to do?  What niche is it going to fill?  Is there a need for what you can provide?  Will the market bear another entry?

3. What technical skills or talents do you have?  Just being able to do something may not be marketable enough to convince customers or financiers that you are a good financial investment.

4. Who are your competitors in your chosen profession and how are you going to do it better?  Why should customers come to you?  What do you have to offer that no one else does?

Once you are satisfied with the answers to these questions, it is time for the decision of what kind of business structure you will use. Will you be a sole proprietor, responsible for every facet and the penultimate authority as to how to run the business?  Will you enter in with a partner, the better to share the cost and workload, but also the profits and the business decisions?  Perhaps the decision will be made to incorporate, with its financial safeguards but more complex and costly structure?  At this stage, legal advice is recommended, if only so that you fully understand the advantages and disadvantages of your chosen structuring plan.  Many lawyers will provide a free or reduced-rate primary consultation, though often not more than an hour.  When the structure is finalized, a name for the business should be decided upon, if not already having been done so in advance.  It should be easy to remember, avoid initials and single letters (B & L & R, Inc. will be difficult to remember for customers) and try to say something about the business (Bob’s House of Hobbies is easier to remember and spell).

Next, a business plan is a vital step in laying out all these topics and proposals in a standardized format.  A good business plan serves as a formal statement of the new company’s goals, financing, structure and legal considerations.  It acts as a “resume” to prospective investors and is the primary documentation they will use to evaluate whether or not your business will be worth investing into.  It also provides the proprietor(s) with a chance to see the workings of the new business in black and white.  A basic business plan should at the least contain a balance sheet, income statement and statement of cash flow, as well as a proposed financial budget for the first year, or as long a period as necessary if a year is impractical.

So with these quick tips, plan for success, and good luck in your chosen endeavor!

© 2006, Wholesale Pages UK. All rights reserved.

 It is not too difficult to get a credit card after bankruptcy from these kinds of credit card providers. The only hitch is that they take a higher interest rate and a lower credit limit. This is because of the risk that they are taking for offering a credit card after bankruptcy to a person. It is not difficult to rebuild good credit after bankruptcy. In fact filing for bankruptcy in the court is a good move in itself. It might be a huge blow to your credit report but eventually it will prove to be a sensible move. Once you have eliminated debt by filing for bankruptcy you can make a new start by applying for bankruptcy credit card application. You should take care that you fill you bankruptcy credit card application properly. While filling up your bankruptcy credit card application make sure that all your paid expenses are shown as paid or else they would tag along and spoil your new credit report. You can either opt for secured credit cards after bankruptcy or unsecured credit cards after bankruptcy. A secured credit card after bankruptcy is a wiser decision than an unsecured credit card. These are secured by special savings account one establishes with a credit card issuer which acts as a security for his credit limit. An unsecured credit card is exactly its opposite. Once you have opted for a secured or unsecured credit card after bankruptcy make sure that you build up a good credit report. Building up a good credit report is absolutely essential if you want to come to a good standing back again. For this, always pay your bills on time and also cut down your expenses to bare essentials. Another way to rebuild your credit after bankruptcy is to add years of positive credit history to your account.  It is a slow and could be an agonizing process but once you build a good credit record, you will be in a different league altogether.

 Credit cards after bankruptcy while on one hand may prove to be expensive, but then, they can help you secure a stronger footing in future with regards to your credit rating. Getting a credit card after bankruptcy is one of the best ways to begin rebuilding your credit score, if you are careful and selective about choosing the right card and provider. Limiting the amount of accounts and the spending limits will help to keep this in check. Having good recent credit will bring up an overall score and look much better on a report than not having any, especially when there is a bankruptcy shown within the last couple years.

There are three different general classifications of wholesalers, defined by criteria such as whether the wholesaler is independently owned or owned by a producer, whether the wholesaler takes title to the products they handle, or lastly by range of services, the most relevant of which known as Merchant Wholesale will be the primary topic in this article.

"Merchant wholesalers take title [ownership] to product they deal in, assume risk and buy and resell products to other wholesalers, to retailers, or to other business customers" (Ferrell & Pride, 2003). This is further broken down into Full-service wholesalers and Limited-service wholesalers. 

Specialty-line wholesalers deal in very few products but with high specialization in their chosen product line(s), such as only dealing in pharmaceuticals.

Full-service wholesalers provide the widest range of services, such as quantity breakdowns, financial assistance and credit, marketing services and product availability. Full-service wholesalers usually earn a higher profit margin than other wholesalers, but operating expenses are much higher as well.

Limited service wholesalers specialize in fewer functions than Full-service wholesalers, generally allowing the producer or the customer to provide most functions. These wholesalers include Cash-and-carry companies, Trucking companies, Drop-shippers or Mail-order firms. Limited service wholesalers take title to products but usually do not provide many of the services a Full-service wholesaler does, like marketing, retailer site selection or personnel training. Due to the limited nature of their services, they have lower operating costs but are also limited to lower profit margins as well.

Wholesalers, in order to keep their operating expenses down, often deal only with companies or with clients able to meet minimum orders, whether monetary or by item count. This can make things difficult on a small business or sole proprietorship looking to reduce cost-of-goods-sold. However, there are many wholesalers or wholesaler-like companies that cater to smaller-volume customers. This is where companies like Costco or Wal-mart's Sam's Club come in--as Costco and Sam's Club are not technically wholesalers, but direct-retailers with lower operating costs, buying in smaller bulk volumes from a company that uses this business plan is often a viable compromise between the lower rates but logistical issues of a standard wholesaler, and the lower profit margins of buying from a retailer, and may make all the difference to a small company operating on a shoestring.

These 2 polarities are not always easy to balance and the human resource managers specifically try to maximize output from employees by instituting various schemes and policies. The following are some of the functions handled by the human resources team.

Handle compensation and rewards:–

Human resources are responsible for tying incentives and rewards to certain positions and roles in order to maximize performance levels. This is a strategic thinking task because it affects every single person in the organization and has to be planned separately for each position, depending on level, department and goals. Some jobs need to be more goal driven, such as sales so salary can be basic but commission can form the bulk of the remuneration, leading to more incentive to work effectively and close sales. Some firms tie top management’s salary to stock price but this can be risky. It is up to human resources to structure this important aspect to everyone’s satisfaction.

 Recruitment:–

Another important task handled by the human resource function is the selection and retention of employees. If the right type of employees does not enter the organization, its days are numbered, because people drive almost any type of organization towards success.

 Performance management:–

Regular, balanced and systematic appraisals must be administered consistently in order to evaluate the performance of each individual in the organization. This allows human resources to pinpoint the weaknesses of an individual’s work style and the strengths. They can then share this information with the employee in order to affect a change in performance. This in turn will lead to more productivity and potentially better returns on human investment.

 Point of contact:–

The human resource personnel form the point of contact for an employee with any type of difficulty or query about their remuneration or other aspects of employment with the business. It is essential for someone to be available to answer questions and provide guidance. This communicates to the employee that the business cares about his or her concerns and is available to address them.

 Employee expectations:–

The human resources function fulfills a very important ‘soft skill’, unspoken task – that of balancing employee expectations and the organization’s expectations. Both need to be addressed and aligned for a business to be successful and one with satisfied employees. Only a content and motivated employee will deliver good work, so it is the job of human resources to keep track of the expectations of the employee and those of the organization to ensure both are met simultaneously.

To detect whether the wholesaler or the company, being dealt with is genuine or not, these checks must be considered.
- A professionally designed website with a good layout is not an indicator that the business is genuine. A lot of wholesalers do not have great looking sites but are registered and authentic businesses. Never EVER get convinced by the design of the site.

- Ensure that the wholesaler accepts payments via credit/debit cards and other online payment methods like paypal, nochex etc. If the company ask you to wire (BACS) money directly into their account then avoid trading with them as most definitely they are scamming you. Card payments in most cases can be easily traced and charged back whereas with money transfers, once the funds have left your account, they are gone forever.

- Try to talk to a representative of the company on the phone, it is always nice to talk to someone and clear your doubts.

- Visit their contact page and look for their contact/postal address. Try to determine whether it is a physical postal address or just a mailbox. If it’s a mailbox, find out why the wholesaler doesn’t have a proper postal address and where do they actually trade from?

- Request to visit their warehouse or trading office, even if there is no specific intention of doing so. Any fraudulent company would be hesitant to let you visit their premises. - Visit the Companies Database provided by governmental bodies such as the one in UK: www.companieshouse.gov.uk and use their search index to determine whether the company is registered with them or not. Sole traders do not have to register and as result this would only serve as a secondary check but none the less will definitely help to clear any doubts.

Performing these checks will most definitely help to differentiate a scam company from legitimate wholesalers. After all any business venture involves a number of risks and seeking professional help is always a better option than making decisions based instincts and feelings through which your business can be secured from fraudulent Wholesalers and such companies and your business can be safe from getting heavy loss. Performing the checks verified before is a necessary step, lacking or negligence can cause heavy loss to your business. For the creator of scams, only one thing can be said: Fraud in the end secures for its companions only repentance and shame.

© 2006, Wholesale Pages UK. All rights reserved.

Drop shipping differs from traditional wholesale trading in that it is a form of ‘just in time’ shipping. Basically, drop shipping means that the online seller will order the product from the wholesaler as and when customer orders are received. The seller simply receives the order and passes on delivery information to the wholesaler for delivery. The customer pays the seller, the seller pays the wholesaler and the seller earns the profit from the difference between the sale price and the cost price. So, the product does not pass through the hands of the seller at any time, and goes directly from the wholesaler to the customer in the drop shipping model.

The traditional wholesale trading method implies that the seller orders a stock of the product from the wholesaler and maintains this stock to service customer demand. The physical possession of the product is the differentiating element. This clearly has a cost associated with it. Firstly, there are storage costs, which can be daunting if the product occupies a large amount of space. Secondly, there will be shipping costs from the wholesaler to the seller. Additionally, there is the cost of carrying unsold stock for a long period of time that eats into profits from sold goods.

So suddenly, drop shipping seems like a great idea. But drop shipping has its drawbacks too. In most cases, especially if you are a small business, you will pay the full MSRP, which will squeeze your profit margins. Additionally, you may have little or no information on the status of your order from the wholesaler, affecting customer service levels. Since you are essentially passing on the cost of carrying inventory on to the wholesaler, you will be charged for it. But, on the upside, you will only need to pay when you receive customer orders.

Reliability is an issue when drop shipping – as a seller, you will be able to control and track your product’s delivery much better if you hold inventory. In case of drop shipping orders, the seller relies on the wholesaler’s delivery system, which may be surprisingly lax. Finding a reliable wholesaler is a critical task on its own.

If you are worried about the label on the box that is shipped to the customer, you may be pleasantly surprised to find that many wholesalers will include your packing slips and labels when they ship to your customers.

A couple of hybrids exist that are useful to know about: Buying from local wholesalers and hiring fulfillment houses. An alternative to carrying inventory and drop shipping is to buy from nearby wholesalers when you receive an order and ship it out immediately. Amazon started this way, but it works best for small start up businesses. The other option is to make a deal with a fulfillment house. This is an intermediary service that offers to maintain small amounts of inventory, assemble, order fresh stock, pick, pull, pack and ship out your product in accordance with your instructions and using your packing materials. A fulfillment house may provide a shopping cart online and customer call center, depending on the scale of operations. They will charge a fee based on various factors – amount of storage capacity etc, and may charge a small percentage of commission on sales. This model may work best if you are a seller of high margin items.

 Tariffs on imports:–

 The local industry has the option of lobbying for tariffs to be applied on the import of products and services into the country. There are many ways to tax these international businesses so that the costs come to par with local industry. Due to the cost of transporting products, this also happens naturally in many cases – the cost of shipping may be prohibitive on an auto ancillary from Russia as opposed to one made in Detroit, though the original price of the former may be much lower.

Subsidies:–

The reverse concept is to grant subsidies for the local industry to grow and strengthen itself to take on international industry players. This is only effective in the short term, however, and is somewhat controversial since subsidies are normally considered fair for weak or infant industries.

 Raise barriers to entry:–

The trade council can raise the barriers for entry for a business by imposing global standards. This means that the product must conform to international standards for it to be sold in the country, which means that the quality improves and thus cost of the product increases.

 Find USP for local products:–

 The local industry can also respond to this type of situation by creating need for local products. A special niche or a unique selling point of the local products means that there will be a specialized market for it and the product cannot be replaced by the international industry.

 Join them:–

 If you can’t beat them, join them. Local industry can look for ways to partner with international industry, through individual sellers or as a whole, to ensure that everyone makes a profit. Many businesses are choosing to outsource some of their functions so that they ultimately make more profits.

 However, there is a good side to global competition. It serves to protect the local customer by reducing the possibility of monopolies within the local industry. But this is a matter to concern the government. So long as there are no unfair trading practices that harm the consumer, the local industry needs to look towards maximizing profitability and competing in a global market place.

 Third party e-Payment systems:–

  These are popular but require the user to open an account, similar to a bank account. Finding the most efficient one for your size of company is also a little tricky. They come in many sizes from consumer-oriented Pay Pal and 2checkout.com to Orbian for large businesses. These e-Payment systems work fairly well and charge up to 5% of funds transferred.

 Wire transfer:–

 This is the good, old fashioned method of transferring money directly from bank account to bank account. It is completed by the bank and requires the swift code of the recipient’s bank and their account number. This is considered to be a safe and fairly efficient way to make international B2B payments. However, banks can charge quite a hefty amount in fees and charges. You must find out the currency rate as well, if that is a concern. Additionally one thing that is required to be kept in mind is to make absolutely certain that the company to whom the payment is being made is a legitimate and an authentic company as once the funds has left your account, they are not recoverable.

 Credit cards/ corporate credit cards:–

  Many companies are less than willing to hand out corporate credit cards and employees will not use their personal ones for company business. So, unless you are a small business, the use of credit cards is rare in international business to business payments. It can also be fairly expensive.

 Check:–

 Unless you have an already existing relationship with the businesses you are selling to, a check may not be the best way to receive payments from B2B sales on the internet. There are hardly any successful online businesses that are known to conduct business with this method of payment. However, this form of payment can be viable where a low transaction fee is important and the product does not have to be delivered immediately. Remember, you can never be certain of receiving the payment until the check is cleared and payment is credited to your account.

 If you have an online business, be sure to check which form of payment integrates best with your business. For example, if you are selling online software, the consumer may want to make payment and download the product right away. A wire transfer may not be the best option. For subscription based or recurring payments, a platform like Pay Pal offers incomparable functionality. It allows you to automatically charge customers on a monthly basis and also sends you intimations of payment failures.

 There are many options for receiving international payments. Your best bet would be to keep a couple of options open and decide on a case by case basis which suits you best for a particular B2B transaction.

Everywhere you look there is information on how individuals can protect themselves from credit card fraud. This information can be found at banking institutions, libraries, on TV, on the Internet, its everywhere. However, that isn’t the case for businesses. How can your business protect itself from these fraudulent individuals who make purchases for products or service online or over the phone? Like most business, you may ship the products before discovering that the credit card is stolen. In this case, your company suffers the bill and the true owner of the credit card cannot be held reliable.

Nevertheless, these are the steps to protect your business from fraudulent individuals and avoid this terrifying situation. 

1. It is important that you gather all the information associated with the credit card. This can be done by requesting all of the information exactly as it is shown on the card. This information includes: The cardholder’s name (Exactly as shown on the card, including middle name or middle name initial). Request all 16 digits on the credit card. Request the credit card verification number. This number is the last 3 or digits located on the back of the card after the account number. Request the expiration date on the card. Request the billing address for the card which in most cases should not be a P.O. Box.  Requesting this information is very important. The fact is that most card thieves only have the card number. They will not have any other information associated with the card. By having all of this information you will be able to utilize address verification services. Address verification service compare the billing address given by the customer to the banks database and alerts the user if the addresses are different. 

2. Pay particular attention to customers who list a different billing address and mailing address. In some cases, card thieves may also have the cardholders ID. In this case they will be able to supply the billing address; however, request for the product to be sent to a different address. You may opt to call the bank of the credit card and ask them to call the cardholder to verify the purchase.

It is definitely advised not to ship orders internationally with a different billing and mailing address. 

3. In most fraudulent cases, the card thief will request a next day delivery. They want to get the product fast and without being caught. This is a red flag and should be carefully observed. If the order is larger than your typical orders, most definitely question it. Remember, the card thief is not concerned about how much he/she is spending; it is not their money. Most likely, he/she needs a large quantity for resale. 

4. As a business owner, you want to do everything it takes to protect your business from fraudulent activity. It may be resourceful to have all the information collected validated by the customer. Since you are not meeting with the customer directly, it is wise to request that the customer fax you a copy of the credit card and photo id. This may seem extreme, but not as extreme as been taken for thousands of dollars in products. This precaution should most definitely be exercised for large orders involving heavy sums of money. 

5. If you do find yourself a victim of this fraudulent activity, take immediate action to reduce loss.
   1. Immediately inform your local police department. Make sure to answer all the questions the police may ask and give them all the information that you have.
   2. Contact the bank of the credit card. Request that the issuing bank calls the customer to inform them of the situation. Make sure to give the issuing bank all the information that you have. Including, the billing and mailing address the card thief submitted. When the cardholder calls your company, explain the importance of the situation and why it is vital that he or she also reports the incident to the police.                                                                                                                     

By following these steps you are taking the necessary action to protect your business from credit card fraud.