How Credit Can Help

Posted by Guest Post in Guest post | 1 comment

Whilst everyone may be aware of the general benefits of borrowing, it’s important to be aware of some of the other ways a credit card can improve various situations.

There is plenty of choice, so you can abandon loans in favour of a more

Downsizing Tips for Small Businesses in Australia

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It may not be something you want to think of but sometimes downsizing is necessary for business survival. There is a technique that should be followed and you do have certain responsibilities and obligations to bear in mind. Following the right steps is important to keep your staff productive and motivated during potentially tumultuous times.

Before you take any kind of action or make an announcement, make sure you are following what is legally permissible. Before you even consider laying off any of your staff members remember that you are required to give them notice as well as provide them with compensation for the layoff. If you want to downsize legally you have to comply with the law in every aspect.

Before you start downsizing it is worthwhile to find out if any of your employees are willing to step down voluntarily. This can give you some relief, is some people are happy to go off on their own and the benefit to you is that it saves you from having to select people to give notice to. This sends out a more positive message to the remaining employees and those who are waiting anxiously to find out whether they still have a job to rely on.

To keep things fair and even choose people from across your organisation, instead of focusing on only one department or area. If you can’t do this consider the funnel approach. The funnel approach allows you to downsize your work force in a way that favours performance and ensures that justice is carried out. To do this you need to select people first by skillset, then by job performance, then by the number of disciplinary actions taken out and finally by their position of seniority.

Make sure you plan and prepare yourself properly. While you might need to conduct the downsizing relatively quickly you still need to give careful thought and consideration to the process and the projects that you have running at the time. It might appear to be more cost-effective to terminate certain positions immediately but you have to think about the consequences and if it is going to interfere with your work flow it could do you more harm than good.

As far as preparation goes it is important to ensure that the people who are getting laid off are selected fairly and that their departure will not affect any of your projects in a negative way. At this point it would also be a good idea to write down what you plan on telling the people who will be losing their jobs.

Depending on your organisational culture it could also be worth considering sending a generic memo outlining your position on the layoffs, explaining the process that will be followed, the reasons that people are losing their jobs over and how the people will be chosen. It is also good practice to let everyone know when they can expect it to take place.

Of course, there is also the possibility of not terminating employment completely. If you have some jobs that are running and will still need part time or flexible staff to help you out you could re-employ your staff on a contractual basis and allow them to work remotely. Operating from virtual offices makes a big difference to your business’ operational and running costs and can impact more positively on your staff member’s lives than if they were to lose their jobs.

A number of major companies have made the transition to a virtual workspace, being able to cut their expenses while still retaining the talent they need to operate successfully.

How To Save By Finding The Best Currency Exchange Rates

Posted by Piggy Bank in Money Saving Tips | 16 comments

If you own your own business or are starting one up, then you’ll be well aware of the need to keep your outgoings at a minimum. There are ways to do this. For example, if you find that you need to furnish your new office space, then why not check out what’s on offer on sites such as eBay? Online shopping offers better value for money than traditional shopping, anyway – but online auction sites offer even better bargains.

However, there can be even greater savings to be made through buying stuff from overseas, and with the guarantees offered by credit cards and PayPal, it can often be cheaper to buy abroad than it is to buy from home. But to make sure that you are getting absolutely the best for your dollar, you need to be sure that you’re getting the best currency exchange rates.

Buying Abroad

When you use PayPal to buy from foreign sites and foreign branches of eBay, it converts between the currencies on your behalf. However, what you might not be aware of is just how much PayPal charges you for the privilege. You will pay the standard exchange rate as set by the banks, and then a further charge of 2.5% for using PayPal’s services. You may be even more surprised to learn that your bank will charge you less for the same conversion – and you can ensure that you only ever pay that lesser conversion rate. I use QuickBooks accounting software by Intuit and I would need to understand properly my costs for currency exchange as I often work with firms abroad.

During any transaction with a foreign site, PayPal offers you a couple of options. The first is to allow PayPal to act as your currency converter and complete the transaction on your behalf. However, there is another option that allows you to be billed in the vendor’s native currency. By choosing the option that says “bill me in the currency listed on the native seller’s invoice”, the conversion is handled by your bank. Nothing changes; the way the transaction proceeds is just the same, but you can find you pay significantly less for it.

PayPal versus your Bank

If you shop on foreign sites regularly or are considering buying from another country’s eBay, then you might be best advised to contact your bank and find out what their currency conversion charges are. Armed with this information, you can then weigh up what your bank charges against the charges incurred by PayPal. For those who use PayPal on a regular basis, this could add up to some pretty big savings.

However, in PayPal’s defense, they are fairly transparent about what they charge. If you want to check whether their rates change, then simply log into your account and go to the ‘My Account’ tab at the top of the screen. From there, select the ‘Overview’ option, which will take you to a further page

Lending News: Banks Drop Credit Standards and Mortgages Still Down

Posted by Piggy Bank in Mortgages | 6 comments

A bi-annual home buyer confidence index claims that local homebuyers’ confidence has dropped to its lowest level since 2008. The decrease has been motivated primarily by job insecurities, which has progressively become an even bigger concern even though interest rates and greater affordability should have helped to swing confidence in the other direction

Australia’s NDIS Passed and Makes Waves with a New Name

Posted by Guest Post in Guest post | 2 comments

The National Disability Insurance Scheme, the well-publicised and highly controversial initiative spearheaded by the Gillard government announced this week its decision to rename the campaign