All posts in July 2020

Reasons That You Should Choose Glossy Business Cards

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When you are getting ready to order business cards there are some things that you should think about. First consider what you would do if you were to get two business cards from two of the same types of businesses. One of these business cards is going to be black and white and have the basic information while the other is going to have the same information and be colorful and glossy. It is likely that you are going to be more impressed with the glossy business cards. This is something that you should remember because both of these are going to contain the same basic information like the contact person, website, email address, phone number, and physical address. Plus they are going to announce the business and what the business is known for. If you are more likely to pick the glossy version than that means that a lot of other people are going to be keeping your business cards if this is your choice as well.

Today the glossy business cards are one of the more popular choices because the economy is not doing well and there is so much competition for businesses and jobs. So if you do not have much money to invest in advertising for your business then this is one upgrade that can really help you to improve your business and get your investment back. They are going to get you far more business than the plain or standard versions are and they are going to get you noticed more. In fact it is important to know a few statistics when it comes to business cards like that twenty percent of them are thrown away within twenty four hours of when someone gets them. This can be a problem for your business because it can cost a lot of money for you that is basically being thrown away. When you choose the glossy coated ones they are likely to last longer than the normal version and they are going to be more impressive to those who receive them.

There are two different versions of glossy business cards. Some of these are just regular business cards that have been printed and then covered in a glossy coating making them thicker and causing them to last longer. Others are just printed on glossy paper and these are not going to last as long. In fact the first are going to be resistant to water and sun and will actually keep from aging but the others are going to still have problems with fading and yellowing and will not hold up against water. So if you are going to spend the extra money you should make sure that you are choosing the ones that are coated with the glossy coating.

Finally remember that this is going to help you to be able to get the most color on your cards as well. You will find that this is going to help the colors to be more vibrant and more noticeable. Plus it is going to help you to have the best overall effect for your business so that you will be happiest with the purchase that you have made when you order business cards.

Importance Of A Construction Safety Checklist

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Construction Safety Checklists exist since safety is paramount in any construction job. There are many dangers present in a construction site that could lead to disasters that are best avoided. It is, therefore, of the utmost importance that the principal contractor for a certain construction job make sure that the usual hazards are watched out for. It is a principal contractor’s obligation to keep aware of the many risks he or she must avert before starting and also during construction work. A Construction Safety Checklist would definitely come in handy when just about to start on the construction job. This would significantly lessen the chances of the principal contractor to miss identifying some risks in the construction site, especially those that are most frequently identified in the other construction jobs. Furthermore, it is a way to more easily check whether a construction site complies with Workplace Health and Safety Regulations.

Given all this, it is good practice to build a Construction Safety Checklist and continually add on to this as a principal contractor gets to identify more potential hazards to look out for in construction work.

One might wonder what it is that would most usually comprise a Construction Safety Checklist, so to satisfy that curiosity, below is a list of the essential things that are to be included in a Construction Safety Checklist:

– Site Inspections – Walk around the site and check for any small structure present on the site that wasn’t included in the plans and may need to be demolished, a depression that could possibly indicate the presence of something that has been buried in site or this may even lead to discovery of an underground tank that would require EPA involvement. You may also choose to hire an independent contractor to do the site inspections for you.

– Employee site orientation – Prior to starting construction work, the workers must be made aware of the unique risks and hazards present in the site. Knowing what to look out for in the site would greatly help avert disasters.

– Worksite fenced off – Placing a fence around the site would keep away outsiders from getting in and exposing themselves to the potential dangers in the construction site. Also, these trespassers may end up taking equipment or materials needed for the site. A fence would be a decent barrier that would prove difficult to go through.

– Protective equipment – After having assessed the risks in the site, the principal contractor must make sure that all protective equipment has been provided and that all workers are properly making use of such equipment.

– First aid – Verify that first aid facilities and first aid equipment are readily available and accessible in the work site. First aid response must be quick and done properly.

– Construction signs – Placing signs to inform the general public of the potential hazards of being in close physical parameter to the site would be very helpful to outsiders.

– Tools and equipment used for construction – Testing tools and equipment to verify that they are working properly is another measure that needs to be taken just before construction work starts. This must also be applied to all electrical leads or outlets. The list above is merely something to start off with and build up on. Construction Safety Checklists could have many more things included. This may very well prove to be a good starter Construction Safety Checklist for new contractors to build up on though.

Know that the checklist above is merely a list to start off with and build up on. Again, many more things could be included in this. This may be a good start though for any new contractor intending to build up a reliable Construction Safety Checklist.

Factors That Influence Your Property Investment

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There are many people who look at property investment as an income-generating opportunity. To achieve their goal, they develop a plan to calculate their returns, the total investment required, their income and their present and future expenses. These people also consider the risk-reward ratio before they invest in a property.

You need to have an investment plan that will calculate your total cash outflow and inflow. This will give you an idea on the financial benefit of buying a property and give help you calculate the amount that you need to borrow. If you find it difficult to calculate these details you can use software packages that are available in the market.

When buying a property you need to calculate

a) The loan required
b) The cost of the purchase
c) The cost of maintaining the property

Loan Required

Most people take out a loan to finance their property investment. Here are a few factors that you need to consider when taking a loan

i) There many people who pay only the interest on the loan that they have taken. The interest that they pay can be deducted from their income. People usually opt for repayment of both the principle and the interest when the rate of interest is high.

ii) You also need to decide on the type of loan that you require. You can take out a fixed rate loan, floating rate loan, line of credit and split loan. If you feel that interest rate is likely to rise then it is best that you opt for fixed rate loan. A variable rate loan is usually opted for when the interest rate is likely to fall.

iii) Most lenders will give you loan only up to 90 percent of the property value. If you want to borrow more you will have to take mortgage insurance on the property, which could be expensive. The loan that you take will depend on your requirement and risk appetite. People who expect property prices to rise will gamble on the rise and have less equity in the property.

Once you have decided on the loan amount and the type of loan, you need to calculate the borrowing cost and cash-flow you need to generate to repay the loan taken.

Cost of Purchase

Land cost is not the only factor that you need to consider when you buy a property. You need to include expenses on legal representation, stamp duty, surveys, insurance, registration of title, investigations, valuation fee, commission to real estate agents and all other expenses you incur when buying a property.

Cost of maintaining the property

You also need to calculate the cost of maintaining the property. Some maintenance cost that you pay include water tax and water charges, maintenance and repair charges, local taxes, expenses on maintaining the books, insurance, security expenses and all other expenses that you incur in ensuring the safety of property.

Therefore it is important that all property investments must be made only after careful evaluation the financial feasibility of your investment.

Controlling The Financial Performance Of Your Business

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There are numerous factors which impact on the performance and viability of your business. It is therefore imperative that you monitor and control your financial performance. Debt control and budgeting are two elements of this, and of particular importance is your business cash flow.

Many profitable businesses have gone under due to a lack of attention to their cash flow; they have insufficient cash available to pay their bills. Thus, you must plan and control your cash flow in order to effectively manage your business.

Some strategies that may assist in this include:

* Increasing the speed of cash receipts by good debt control strategies

* Avoiding excessive stock holdings by managing stock levels and obtaining reliable, prompt suppliers

* Planning the purchase of equipment and other capital expenditure for periods when surplus funds exist

* Planning to have sufficient reserves to carry your business through the inevitable periods when unexpected expenses are incurred

* Avoiding excessive investment in plant, equipment and other fixed assets which may leave too little working capital available (particularly in periods of falling prices, declining sales or increasing interest rates)

* Avoiding over borrowing as this may place a strain on working capital, loans still have to be repaid even if revenue is decreasing

* Maintain adequate working capital to fund the growth as increasing sales also means increasing costs, your working capital requirements therefore, need to be continually reviewed

* Delaying outgoings by taking advantage of the credit terms offered by your suppliers and paying when it suits your cash flow

* Reducing outgoings by taking advantage of discounts when appropriate and working capital permits

* And most importantly, regularly comparing your actual cash flows to your budgeted cash flows, analysing the differences, and taking action based on this analysis

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Gary Cardone Knows A Thing Or Two About Energy

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Gary Cardone And His Contributions To The Energy Industry

Gary Cardone has been linked to the energy industry for quite a while. He has a long history with such major providers as Dynegy and Accord Energy.

After the profitable sale of Accord Energy Gary Cardone served to create Dynegy Europe which developed into one of the most productive U.S. energy companies operating in Europe. After three years of operations it had obtained 87% of the Storage of Natural Gas in great britan, had 600 staff members with power and gas positions in Germany and Holland with establishments in Switzerland, Spain, Italy and Holland.

Gary Cardone was managing director of Dynegy UK and Dynegy Europe. Cardone, who had been earlier director and gm of Energy Trading at Dynegy UK, took over responsibilities for all of Dynegy’s UK and European gas, power and crude oil trading and marketing activities and development of new business prospects.

When Gary Cardone was chosen as managing director of Dynegy UK and Dynegy Europe, Chuck Watson, chairman and chief executive officer of Dynegy, said, “We are pleased that Gary has decided to tackle the job of managing director as Dynegy moves to participate in the deregulating energy markets in Europe”

Gary did exactly that.

Cardone joined up with Dynegy in 1987 and relocated to London in 1994 in order to develop its European energy organization. The business began trading the U.K. and Scandinavian power markets.

Gary has worked in all sectors of Dynegy’s commercial activities across the US and Canada. Cardone joined Dynegy UK in 1993 and was a key component in the formation of Accord Energy, a joint venture between BG and Dynegy. When operational control of Accord was transferred to Centrica at the begining of 1997, Gary became director and general manager of Energy Trading in the recently formed Dynegy UK.

Gary Cardone ran lots of functions purchasing as well as managing gas acquisition with the North Eastern States, Gulf of Mexico and flows to California as well as imports from Canada. Left in 1993 to build up a business for NGCH in Europe.

Accord Energy was a joint venture whereby Gary was the architect of between British Gas PLC and Natural Gas Clearinghouse to exploit the inefficiencies inside gas and electric industry in britain.

Following the successful sale of Accord Energy Cardone helped make Dynegy Europe which became one of the successful U.S. energy companies doing work in Europe. After three years of operation it had acquired 87% of all Storage of Natural Gas in england, had 600 employees with power and gas jobs in German and Holland with office buildings in Switzerland, Spain, Italy and Holland.

Gary Cardone functioned as Commercial Advisor with a large Private Equity firm leading them on discovering deals on the sell and buying side. He focused on opportunity to co-invest, midstream acquisitions including pipelines, expansions, platforms, and divestments of gas and oil properties, midstream assets, and renewable assets.

Accord Energy was a joint venture that Gary Cardone was the architect of between British Gas PLC and Natural Gas Clearinghouse to take advantage of the inefficiencies within the natural gas and electric industry in great britain.