Protecting your business

Helping my Clients protect their business is vital in today’s market conditions. All too often the impact of an enforced change of ownership or loss of a ‘keyperson’, through illness or death, can have a devastating effect on a business. This can often be overlooked and the disruptive and monetary consequences could have a huge impact on a business.

A ‘keyperson’ is any employee with specialist skills or particular responsibilities. For example:

• Sales manager.

• Finance director.

• Production manager.

• Export director.

• Top salesperson.

• Chief designer.

• Marketing director.

It is normal business practice to provide a contingency fund to ensure that the company will still make profits even if the individual responsible for generating those profits is not around.

Once you have identified who the keyperson/people are within a company it should be easy to highlight the need for business assurance. Imagine a scenario where the keyperson drives a rather nice company car. On the way to the office yesterday he/she was involved in an accident, with the car being a total write-off and the keyperson unfortunately being killed. Ask yourself:

1. Which loss will have the most immediate impact on the business?

2. Which one of the two assets could be replaced by 9:00am tomorrow morning with a newer and better model?

If it makes sense to insure the easily replaceable, non-income producing assets of a company, doesn’t it make sense to ensure that the income and profit-producing assets of the business are insured too?

How many businesses insure office equipment (etc) for their full replacement value, but neglect to insure their most valuable assets (their key staff) at all!

Does your company have a Will?

In other words, an arrangement which will control where your shareholding goes on the death of the shareholders, and equally importantly where their co-shareholders’ interest would go? Obviously a ‘Company Will’ is not a document like a personal Will. It is nonetheless a very effective way of expressing what a Share Protection Purchase Arrangement is, in words that are easily understood.

What would happen to your business if a director, who is also a shareholder, dies?

1. Could your business afford to buy the shares?

2. Would the deceased’s family be left with an unwanted share in the business?

If the deceased’s family gain significant control over the direction of the company but have no aptitude for the business, this is likely to financially disadvantage the partnership/business.

A ‘Company Will’ protects the interests of co-owners of a business and family members in the event of the death of a partner or director/shareholder.

A ‘Company Will’ ensures that:

1. Capital is available immediately for share purchase or to pay off specific loans or other debts. This should be arranged in line with each partner’s shareholding.

2. Control of the business remains where it is intended and ensures business continuity.

3. Protection for dependants of the partners/directors.

 

Posted via web from GregMoneymatters

Other day to day inventions

I came across this article that talked about Ridiculous Ideas That Made People Ridiculously Rich and it got me thinking about other stuff that we take for granted but someone had to come up with the idea and create a business around it. My imaginative mind tries to envisage the conversation or the sales pitch - first to accountants to get the money to start the business and then to potential customers on how they'd use it.

My top favourites: straws and laces. How did they come up with the name? 

What about you? Can you think of any?

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Airlines behaving badly

As governments begin to point fingers, Middle East (and for that matter all other airlines) airlines have a lot to answer for their lack of communications following the eruption of an unpronounceable volcano in Iceland.

While you have to sympathise with them for the unprecendented lack of revenue and an increase in costs with stranded customers, this would have been an opportunity for strengthening loyalties and building stronger bonds. Crises, in my opinion, are opportunities to prove the mettle of a business.

What the airlines did was to adopt a ‘head in the sands’ strategy that effectively annoyed and angered whatever few loyal customers were left. The airlines came across as (at worst) greedy and (at the least) callous. What’s interesting is that there are clear guidelines and rights of passengers but neither the airlines nor the passengers seem to have grasped the finer points – communicating would have eased the situation. That’s two-way communications.

One of the key themes of all the complaints has been that there was no information available from the airlines, either on the phone or on the website. Probably the worst thing to do in a crises is not answer questions and leave it to the imagination of the passenger or the reporter to make up his/her own truth with sparsely gleaned information. What would have been better was to immediately ensure the latest information was shared and updated on their websites, recorded messages on their voicemails, inform travel agents so that they are able to handle changed bookings. Ensure that there is information with the staff so that the common refrain is not “sorry we don’t know”.

The second (and most recent) complaint is charging a premium to rebook a flight for stranded passengers. Granted that the airlines are trying to recoup losses but do you have to punish the already stranded, unhappy customer and increase his burden? Wouldn’t it be in their (airline) own (long term) best interest to ensure that the passenger gets to his destination as soon as possible and with as little incovenience as possible?

What a waste when the right communication would have strengthened their position and possibly minimised losses.

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Universal Laws (revised)

Universal Laws 1. Law of Mechanical Repair - After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch and you'll have to pee. 2. Law of Gravity - Any tool, nut, bolt, screw, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner. G gravity is a myth the earth sucks 3. Law of Probability -The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act. 4. Law of Random Numbers - If you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal and someone always answers. 5. Law of the Alibi - If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the very next morning you will have a flat tire. 6. Variation Law - If you change lines (or traffic lanes), the one you were in will always move faster than the one you are in now (works every time). 7. Law of the Bath - When the body is fully immersed in water, the telephone rings. 8. Law of Close Encounters -The probability of meeting someone you know increases dramatically when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with. 9. Law of the Result - When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will. 10. Law of Biomechanics - The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach. 11. Law of the Theatre and Hockey Arena - At any event, the people whose seats are furthest from the aisle arrive last and they are the ones who will leave their seats several times to go for food, beer, or the toilet and who leave early before the end of the performance or the game is over while those in the aisle seats come early, never move once, have long gangly legs or big bellies and who stay to the bitter end of the performance and beyond.. The aisle people also are very surly folk. 12. The Starbucks Law - As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold. 13. Murphy's Law of Lockers - If there are only two people in a locker room, they will have adjacent lockers. 14. Law of Physical Surfaces - The chances of an open-faced jelly sandwich landing face down on a floor covering are directly correlated to the newness and cost of the carpet/rug. 15. Law of Logical Argument - Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about. 16. Brown's Law of Physical Appearance - If the clothes fit, they're ugly. 17. Oliver's Law of Public Speaking - A closed mouth gathers no feet. 18.  Wilson's Law of Commercial Marketing Strategy - As soon as you find a product that you really like, they will stop making it. 19. Doctors' Law - If you don't feel well, make an appointment to go to the doctor, by the time you get there you'll feel better. Don't make an appointment and you'll stay sick.

 

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reBlog from guywhitcroft.com: Whit's End

I found this fascinating quote today:

There’s no question that any public forum can be used by people to disparage, or worse, a company, but is that a reason to abstain from that forum, or should one take the opportunity to embrace it and counter any adverse remarks? After all, unhappy customers that are turned around tend to become the most loyal advocates…guywhitcroft.com, Whit's End

You should read the whole article.

All mouth and no trousers

I've been here more than 20 years but some things still piss me off and really surprise me.

For more than 10 years, I've heard the IT channel here moan about not having access to independent workshops that deal with topics and issues they face everyday. So I got together with Guy Whitcroft and decided to hold such a series of workshops.

We talked, shared, chatted on LinkedIn, on Twitter, in person. They voted but did not come.

I reckon its two factors: (1) they have to pay and they're not used to that and (2) they just need an excuse to complain and moan and do not really want to learn.

Either way - to register and not show up is really bad form.

We're going ahead and hope that the next one will see more sense prevail.

Posted via email from mitauae's posterous

Know your drinks??

My cousin Chetan sent me this. And because I can share an email with my blog followers thanks to Posterous - I will share this Public Service Announcement with my alcolholic friends, family and followers.

Good to know.

VODKA                                                                 Good to know: Vodka is least likely to give you a hangover. Vodka is made by fermenting grains or crops such as potatoes with yeast. It's then purified and repeatedly filtered, often through charcoal, strange as it sounds, until it's as clear as possible. CALORIES: Because vodka contains no carbohydrates or sugars, it contains only calories from ethanol (around 7 calories per gram), making it the least-fattening alcoholic beverage. So a 35ml shot of vodka would contain about 72 calories. PROS: Vodka is the 'cleanest' alcoholic beverage because it contains hardly any 'congeners' - impurities normally formed during fermentation. These play a big part in how bad your hangover is. Despite its high alcohol content - around 40 per cent - vodka is the least likely alcoholic drink to leave you with a hangover, said a study by the British Medical Association. CONS: Vodka is often a factor in binge drinking deaths because it is relatively tasteless when mixed with fruit juices or other drinks. HANGOVER SEVERITY: 3/10   WHISKY                                                               Whisky or Scotch is distilled from fermented grains, such as barley or wheat, then aged in wooded casks. Whisky 'madness': It triggers erratic and unpredictable behaviour because most people drink whisky neat CALORIES: About 80 calories per 35ml shot. PROS: Single malt whiskies have been found to contain high levels of ellagic acid, according to Dr Jim Swan of the Royal Society of Chemists. This powerful acid inhibits the growth of tumours caused by certain carcinogens and kills cancer cells without damaging healthy cells. CONS: Whisky 'madness' - erratic and unpredictable behaviour - is a common problem with drinking whisky. It's caused by the way most people drink it - neat, explains Professor Jones. His experiments show that among people drinking the same amount of ethanol, those drinking it in the form of spirits, such as whisky, had the quickest and highest peak in the blood alcohol concentration, which occurred less than an hour after drinking began. 'If you drink any alcohol on an empty stomach, it can compare with getting it intravenously' Professor Wayne Jones   'To slow absorption down, you could take it very much diluted or along with a rich, calorie-dense ingredient such as cream, as in Baileys or Irish coffee.' Whisky also contains lots of congeners, which tend to form during the ageing process in oak casks. A study by the BMA found that as a result, Bourbon Whiskey is twice as likely to cause a hangover as the same amount of vodka. HANGOVER SEVERITY: 8/10 WHITE WINE                                                        White wine is made from the fermented juice of grapes stripped of their seeds and skins. CALORIES: Around 130 calories per 175 ml glass; slightly more in sweeter wines. PROS: American researchers found that grape flesh contains the chemicals tyrosol and hydroxytyrosol, which help lower arteryclogging LDL cholesterol. CONS: It's the sulphites formed naturally or added to white wine as preservatives to stop it going brown which are the most likely cause of the 'white wine hangover' many people complain of. Sulphites also carry the risk of an allergic reaction which can worsen symptoms such as a headache, or asthma. White wines also wear away tooth enamel faster, making teeth more sensitive. HANGOVER SEVERITY: 6/10   Colour code: Red wine can cause a worse hangover than white wine because it contains methanol, a second type of alcohol that lingers in your body the next day RED WINE                                                           Red wine is made from fermented grape juice - but unlike white wine, with the skin and pips included. It's then left to mature for a minimum of three years, during which pigments from the skins leech out and colour the wine red. CALORIES: Around 120 calories in a standard glass - it's slightly lower in sugar content than white wine. PROS: Contains more reservatrol - a plant anti- oxidant - than white wine. This helps to prevent blood clots and reduce inflammation, which is now considered to play a key role in heart disease. Also, the pips and skins used in red wines contain tyrosol and hydroxytyrosol, chemicals which help lower artery-clogging LDL cholesterol. CONS: Red wine drinkers can get worse hangovers than beer or white wine drinkers. Because of the way it's made, red wine produces two types of alcohol - ethanol and methanol. The liver processes the ethanol part of the drink first and leaves methanol until last. 'As a result, it's likely to be floating around in the body for a lot longer than ethanol, giving you that familiar "morning after" feeling,' says Professor Jones. HANGOVER SEVERITY: 7/10   BEER                                                                    Slow mover: Low in alcohol, beer is the least dangerous to drink. Beer is made by fermenting barley. Hops are added for flavour and yeast to make the grains ferment into sugar and alcohol. CALORIES: It's the most calorierich alcoholic beverage - just one pint contains between 170 and 200 calories, about the same as seven chocolate fingers biscuits. PROS: Beer is the least dangerous to drink and makes you feel you drunk the slowest. It has the lowest alcohol content - between 3 and 6 per cent for lager, and up to 8 per cent for ale and stout. A pint also contains more than a quarter of an adult's recommended dose of Vitamin B folate, which stops the build-up of homocysteinea chemical linked to heart attacks. CONS: Beer is high in compounds called purines, which boost the levels of uric acid in the blood, according to a study at Massachusetts General Hospital. This can form crystals in joints, leading to painful attacks of gout. The 12-year study found that drinking more than two beers a day doubled the risk. Meanwhile, research published in the International Journal of Cancer showed that one pint a day adds a 10 per cent risk of bowel cancer, while two pints a day increases the risk by 25 per cent. HANGOVER SEVERITY: 4/10   BRANDY                                                              Brandy is a spirit distilled from red wine. Fine brandies are aged for extra flavour in wooden casks. Hangover hell? Brandy contains high amounts of impurities. CALORIES: Around 80 in every 35ml shot. PROS: Because brandy is a distillation of red wine, it contains a high concentration of antioxidants which mop-up 'free radicals' which, it's claimed, can damage the body organs and tissues and lead to deadly diseases. Australian scientists discovered that the antioxidants created during the distilling process mean that 30ml of good brandy would give the equivalent antioxidant hit of the daily recommended intake of vitamin C. CONS: It could give you the worst headache of all, according to research at London's National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. This was closely followed by red wine, then rum, whisky and gin. Not only does brandy contain at least 40 per cent alcohol, the high quality cask-aged variety is likely to have the highest amounts of congeners, which are formed during the lengthy storage and fermentation process. Professor Jones says: 'Brandy contains literally hundreds of different volatile compounds, which gives it the distinctive pleasant smell but also contributes to the hangover.' HANGOVER SEVERITY: 9/10   CHAMPAGNE                                                      Fast acting: Champagne Champagne and sparkling wine are made in roughly the same way as wine - but then more yeast is added and it's left to ferment in the bottle a second time, producing carbon dioxide. CALORIES: An average 175 ml glass of Champagne contains 133 calories, slightly more than a glass of white wine because syrup is added to improve taste. PROS: The antioxidants in Champagne may help protect your brain against damage incurred during a stroke and against neurological disorders such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, according to a team of researchers from the University of Reading. They found that high levels antioxidants, called caffeic acid and tyrosol, helped protect brain cells from damage. CONS: The bubbles speed up the absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream. And contrary to popular belief, Champagne won't lift your spirits - alcohol affects brain receptors in the same way, whatever its source. 'Alcohol basically works in the same way in the brain receptors as Valium,' says Professor Jones. 'It depresses brain activity and relieves anxiety. You might think you're in a good mood, but it's more likely the result of alcohol causing "disinhibition", making you more talkative and exhibitionist.' HANGOVER SEVERITY: 7/10

  

 

 

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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The Dash "-"

Sent to me by a friend, Mick and I agree this is what's important - enjoy!

The Dash

I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
from the beginning...to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth
and spoke of the following date with tears,
but he said what mattered most of all
was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
that she spent alive on earth...
and now only those who loved her
know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own;
the cars....the house...the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
and how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard...
are there things you'd like to change?
For you never know how much time is left.
(You could be at "dash midrange.")

If we could just slow down enough
to consider what's true and real,
and always try to understand
the way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger,
and show appreciation more
and love the people in our lives
like we've never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect,
and more often wear a smile...
remembering that this special dash
might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy's being read
with your life's actions to rehash...
would you be proud of the things they
say about how you spend your dash?

 
Linda Ellis

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Dubai has some things right

I have been putting off renewing my registration because I had fines to pay. A text message over the weekend (and funds in the bank), triggered a visit to the RTA/Dubai Police office on Sheikh Zayed Road.

Went there first thing this morning (7.30ish) and was done and home by 8. It was all very civilized. Everything was online - fines paid and they accept card payments too so you don't have to withdraw cash to pay your fines. Even ones from other Emirates.

Dubai has some things right.

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Milestones

I caught up with my fitness trainer - Julie - who helped me get up to the highest camp point of Killimanjaro in celebration of my 50th birthday four years ago. It was a milestone birthday and I wanted to celebrate and make milestone decisions rather than focus on the number and all that it could stand for. My milestone decision to do something silly like trek to Killimanjaro to celebrate and give myself a 'seemingly impossible' physical task as long as I could do it. So I did Everest Base Camp last year (almost made it too) and plan to give it another shot next summer - all for charity.

She's just celebrated a milestone birthday and did the same. Decided to make one of her dreams come true. Moving to Australia on the hunt for a dream job.

Good luck Julie. Hope you get everything you want. Thank you for making me believe that I can do anything and achieve anything I set my mind too.

Age is just a number - I plan to continue celebrating my milestone birthdays with milestone events and decisions that defy stereotypes.

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In my next life, I'm going to be a bear

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