ochioods.info

When deciding which path is right for you in your life as far as your career goes, you should always make sure and do some investigating into whichever jobs suit your fancy, before dedicating yourself to it 100%. Most people may not be aware of it right now but online consulting is something that many of us do on a daily basis, without ever realizing it. Many people may not know what online consulting even is because of the different roles that it plays within its services. There are so many different roles that online consultants play everyday, it is very important to try and understand all of the importance that many of those roles provide. Anytime that you have the ability to influence, by helping others make their decisions, that is a online consulting role.

Once you begin to think about the many ways that your role is playing, you will be allowing yourself the ability to help with the growth, productivity and longevity of your computer online consulting business. When you expand your mind and learn how to be more open with your views you are enabling yourself to provide different types of services to your clients. Professional online consultants use a variety of their skills in order to maintain a good online consultant/client relationship. It is important to keep learning new ways to invent yourself and your role that you are playing for your clients. It is also very important to remain flexible with whatever it is your clients are expecting from your services. Sticking to the routine can be great but being open to new suggestions can be really good for your computer online consulting businesses success.

Often consultants will tell a company, team, agency or non-profit that they can make them more efficient or effective. The company or organization will say something like, but we already are effective. Of course the consultant says: “I can make you more effective!”

You can see very quickly how this can turn into silly rhetoric and indeed it is a bit of trickery that consultants use, it is akin to a take-away close sales tactics. Indeed is it both a little bit of BS, consultant ego and forward looking projections. In fact how would the consultant know he can make them more effective or efficient before he even has a look inside their business model?

One thing that the late Dave Thomas, Founder of the Wendy’s Hamburger Chain use to say is that he would not allow anyone to give him advice unless they were a multi-millionaire or unless they had more money than he did. Interesting, and I am sure this did not mean he did not listen to his frontline employees like Ray Kroc, Founder of McDonalds always told his executives to do, but I am sure Dave Thomas was right for his way of doing things. You might even buy his book; “Franchising 4 Smarty Pants’” and quickly read through it, I hope that is the title, I just don’t remember and the book was not very good and it is simply not worth my time to look it up.

If a consultant starts bantering around buzz words or starts talking about the “Law of Effectiveness” as one would be consultant recently did with me. Ask them to prove their successes, name names, companies and show you? Ask if the consultant himself is effective? For instance what did he achieve lately? If they cannot show you, tell them to shut up and get out of your office and when they leave do not listen to their dribble about how they can make you better. Just hand them a mirror and tell them to make themselves better.

So many business consultants often say that they are tired of being right all the time and wish that their clients or business associates would listen. They get upset and admit that millions of dollars were wasted because they just did not listen. One top-notched consultant from PA mentioned this to me not long ago. Indeed, as a semi-retired consultant, I must agree with her.

I also caution myself and others not to always blame the client, even though it is their fault for not listening. I remind myself that I am the mentor or consultant here, my duty was to convince the client or boss of the need for a coach, plan or adding of a team member or even arrange the meeting with a suitable one, if the boss would not take the trouble to do it.

It is my opinion that you have to take credit for the crash and burn too. It is a team effort, as a consultant I am on that team, that is what they pay me for. This is not the Donald Trump show. Remember these are humans we are talking about, and along with Murphy, well They can screw up just about anything.

You know, I am not sure if it is arrogance that is causing these problems, I think that is commonly attributed to arrogance. But some people who are not as wise use “The Puffed Up Chest Strategy” to remain in control and perhaps this is why they do not listen. You should read the “Our Inner Ape” current best seller I think.

Actually many people who appear to be arrogant or ego-maniacs, have fragile egos, they are very prone to not listening, but not all. Some are earned egos, others are borderline schizophrenic or socio-paths and how these people ever get into the business world is beyond me, but in the end people are fun to study, observe and such. As a consultant you see all sorts of things.

My consultant friend states; “It is that testosterone that gets in the way. So, now I’m frustrated. I’ve got 2000 stories like that….ego just ego and why? Because I’m a woman – I don’t know, I never play that card”

Yes, well I get the same thing too and I am not a woman, so I think the problem is on all sides of the business game. And perhaps I should remember that the most competitive games attract the most competitive men, so we have to expect this. Testosterone, indeed maybe the reason that the game is played at that high-level and that human energy transfers into innovation and drive to get it all done. I have 2000 stories also, sure I see that.

Yes women are looked down upon in certain industries still and in some circles, especially on Wall Street some of jokes get crude with regard to women. I cannot condone that, but understand that is how things are, even still, there is a ways to go before those issues are solved. Of course I would never say such things. I just like to win, I want the best team, if that team has women on it, fine – performance and victory. And if a woman is the consultant and knows her stuff, why won’t you men listen to her?

If you have been in an industry for 20 years and were at the top 5% level of productivity and knowledge and are now semi-retired perhaps you should be a consultant. Not everyone has what it takes to be a consultant, but if you do, you will find yourself in a nice place financially by taking advantage of your expertise and knowledge.

Today, I am a semi-retired consultant to industry and having been in the franchising industry for so long I find that those are the most rewarding coaching opportunities for me. Of course it is not all good. There are some real winners out there. Luckily you can choose who you wish to do business with. My advice is to be the best, work only for the best and expect the best; let’s call it “all the best!”

Recently when discussing franchise consulting with a gentleman who wished to start a mobile franchise business making jewelry, we got to talking about past experiences and international business. No, not far off international business, just over the border in Mexico from Arizona and I mentioned the questionable ways business was done there and how some of Mexico ran like a third world country. He stated;

I was going from Phx to Mexican border town for scripts. I met this girl and found that her Father was Mayor (town w/300K), her Uncle was Chief of Police (I could do NO harm), and another Uncle,on her Mother’s side was a State Rep. I married her after a long formal courtship and bought a strip club 5 blocks from the border.
So, far as a business consultant, no real problem here, only a red flag on the strip-club thing, but still there are always reasons why people do things. I no longer wanted the job of consulting this gentleman after hearing this, but did not dismiss him as an entrepreneur by any means. But then he stated something like this;
The kids came in droves from U of A, ASU and I rolled in the bucks, even sold coke right in the club. I got a chance to buy a cantina that had a 21 room “Casa de Pu-ta”. I got the kids all pumped up at the strip club then loaded them on my jittney for the 4 mi. cross town trip to my Cantina so they could get drunk and laid. I made 3M in 4.5 years. Long story short I left my wife, three kids, mistress, and two kids 2M in trusts and took off for Tonapah, AZ where I sold land home packages until I went into an 18 day coma and almost died.
Now as a consultant and a straight arrow, you can imagine my dismay at this gentleman’s lack of personal character. Indeed, there was no way at this point I was going to help a man who left his wife and kids to set up a whore house in Mexico just over the border, with a strip-club and then sell drugs and assist American Kids in getting STDs. He then stated how he preceded to lose all his wealth and how he got a terrible disease.
Well, being a one man show, not even capable of getting out of bed for 6 mo., I lost all but 75K. Then I came down w/Buerger’s Disease and wound up on SSD, living in Escanaba, MI. Oh well, I’m still going to try to make it again if you’ll hang w/me and coach me!
Indeed the answer is “No Way” would you? And am I suppose to feel sorry for this gentleman now and help him regain his ill-gotten riches in an industry that I care about? Well, you see there are success stories in consulting and there are horror stories. And the moral of the story is “Know Your Customer” because your reputation is based on it.

In my retirement I like to keep myself available for up and coming entrepreneurs who may have questions about the industries I was previously involved with or the franchising business format that helped build my company.

Not long ago a gentleman wished to receive some consultation for a mobile business concept to franchise. After discussing this with him he said that I almost scared him away from the Franchising Industry. I told him that; “It really is not that I want to scare you out of the franchise business; just let you know some of the realities, barriers and freight trains on that track if you care to walk down it.”

He asked about various franchise consultants out there and mentioned FranCorp, which has been in the franchising sector for over three decades now. I told him as a non-corporate type Franchisor that FranCorp was not my style. As a Franchise Consultant type myself indeed I only care about winning and that means anyone I might consult takes the market by storm and holds it.

There is a much better consultant in Houston for new franchise market entrants in my opinion. He is not my style either, but he is of the highest integrity, honest and he also teaches certified IFA courses to get a CFE degree (Certified Franchise Executive). I think you can find him on the IFA website under “Vendors; Consultants.”

When picking a franchise consultant it is important to match business styles and to understand more about franchising too. I recommend that you buy the books;

E-Myth
Franchising 101
The Franchise Bible
Franchising 4 Smarty Pants’
Then after reviewing what some of the other companies are doing in the market place you should be able to develop and excellent business plan. This will prepare you and give you the knowledge you need to hire the franchise consultant that is right for you.

Free small business plan information to help you get started…

Everything here is is to help you write your perfect busines plan.

Free small business plan information to help you get started…

If you plan on receiving third party financing for you home business then creating a small business plan is something that you absolutely must do. Most people starting small businesses do not write out a business plan and from a academic standpoint this is large mistake.

Your business plan is in essence the backbone of your business.

You are going to need to create one especially if you plan on receiving a small business start up loan or grant. No investor will take your request for money seriously unless you can show them a viable business plan. I know you dont know where to start,Guest Posting but dont worry It should not be too tough of a task after reviewing the information found here.

You have two options when creating a small business plan: you can hire a professional to write one out for you or you can create a free small business plan by writing it yourself.

Your small business plan can be simple, all it must do is describe what your business is and where you want it go in the future.

Essential parts of a small business plan:

Title Page:

On this page you include the name of your business, your businesss address, phone number, email address, website URL, and of course your name as well as an other business owner

On the title page you should also include a one page statement explaining why you created your business plan (e.i. why you need money to start for your small business)

Table of contents:

Summary

A sentence or two about each section of your business plan to grab the attention of your potential investors.

Business Description

This section contains the who, what, when, where, why, and how of your small business. Give your companies physical location information, when your business was formed, what type of legal entity your business is formed under, and a brief description of your product or service.

Product or Service Rendered

Explain how your business operates and be as specific as possible.

Your Plan

How are you going to market your product or service? Who are you going to market your product to? Who is your existing competition? Answer these questions in this section of your small business plan.

Day to Day Operational Requirements

What will you do on a day to day basis in your business? What type of equipment will you need? Answer these questions in this section of your small business plan.

Personnel

Who will be the people directly involved in your business? What will they do? If you are going to run a home business you may be the only person directly involved in your business. Explain your role, your background, and what you will have to do to run your business successfully.

Financial Data

To your potential investors this is the MOST important part of your small business plan.

The information that you must include in this section is as follows

Projected start up cost: How much money are you going to need to get your business started and what are you going to be spending that money on.
Projected income statement: How much revenue do you expect to produce in your business start up phase?
Expected profit and loss: Self explanatory
Projected monthly cash flow: Your cash flow is how much money you earn minus how much you spend.
Your personal financial statement: Self explanatory
Supporting Docs: In this section you will want to include any supporting information required for the success of your home business and anything else that directly adds as perspective to your start up plans.

If You are searching information about action plan templates then here you can get complete information about action plan template.

If a company has tons of tasks to pay attention they need a specifically devised way as to how to proceed with each one of the tasks in order to reach the expected results. That’s why Action Plan Template was devised,Guest Posting to offer the template as the work instruction as to how to accomplish things, what steps to follow for doing so, and what order to use when it comes to taking action. Action plan is an absolute necessity if you want to stay ahead of the competition and want your company’s or department’s short and long-term goals to be achieved as planned.

Types of Action Plan Templates

Emergency Action Plan Template
This is a vital template for every company in order to avoid any sort of actions or reactions which are results of a panic situation. It is a key aspect to business life for everyone to take the necessary steps, in case of emergency: let it be due to financial or outer reasons.

Corrective Action Plan Template
What to do when a correction is necessary to a certain step, instruction or configuration and how to proceed when taking action is necessary? That is what this sort of Action Plan details and instructs for, enlisting clear instructions and communication plans detailing how to proceed in what situation.

Business Action Plan Template
Business plans are essential for a company’s high success rate and a business plan template is a great assistance for all co-workers as to how to proceed in what sort of situations. Business Action Plan Templates are used as Work Instructions or SOPs by all bigger companies word-wide.

Sales Action Plan Template
This template considers sales-related planning and it’s a key element of all sales based businesses or business units. The sales action plan templates give detailed, often step – by –step instructions as to how to conduct sales, offers working methods, enlists the types of actions to take with a brief reasoning included.

Affirmative Action Plan Template
Affirmative Action Plan is a must-do for all companies with relation to governmental bodies. It means a Management Tool that is targeting to measure everything with respect to workers’ numbers and exact occupation to ensure a company is compliant with the equal opportunity governmental program. Equal Opportunity means to battle all sorts of sex or race based discrimination.

Why do you need an Action Plan Template?

To make sure everyone keeps themselves to the overall or job specific standards
Some Action Plans, such as the Affirmative Action Plan are not only required but are obligatory to be adhered to.
To make sure your company or organization is credible and compliant
To understand one’s work responsibilities
For a higher efficiency

Use and Purpose of Action Plan Template

Action Plans are like Work Instructions to ensure everyone knows exactly what to do in certain situations, at certain posts and at certain stages of a process.
To make sure everything is documented therefore it can be measured to.
In terms of any potential legal issues it’s essential to prove all actions which are documented to be taken by a certain employee, employer or other party contracted by the company.
How to create/writean Action Plan Template

The base of any action plan is the VMOSA model which means Vision, Objectives, Strategies, and Action Plans which will lead to the enlisting of the objectives. The planning group will do the design and an executive group decides on the list of objectives and on all the rest of the contents. Another key to all Action plan is the What- Who-When-What resources and Communication Plan. An Action Plan must be:

Clear
Complete
Current
Conclusion

Action plan template creation is a key aspect to every company and it’s generally part of a company’s business plan and it’s in fact a documentation that enables the efficient functioning of a company in terms of every group, department and worker.

The thought of writing a business plan is not the highest item on the priority list of most entrepreneurs. They would rather do almost anything than to dedicate time to writing a business plan. To help you track your business goals and plans, try this unique sticky note business plans. Following are 6 steps to create your own sticky note business plan:

Copyright (c) 2008 Christine Kloser

If you’re like most creative entrepreneurs,Guest Posting the thought of writing a business plan is not the highest item on your priority list. You’d rather explore new ideas, create products and services, develop a new speech, or work with your clients… than sit down and write a plan.

But, to be successful in business, you need to have a plan in place. The good news is you don’t have to write a formal (bank-friendly) business plan to keep your business on track. In fact, until recently, I used my self-made “sticky note business plan” to keep track of my business goals and plans.

The “sticky note business plan” is a simple and fun tool you can use anytime, any place to keep your business pointing in the right direction. Here are a few simple steps to get you started:

1. Gather Your Planning Supplies. Thankfully, you won’t need fancy computer software, or heavy reference books to write your plan. All you’ll need is a wall, six poster boards, three pads of sticky notes, scotch tape, a note pad, a Sharpie marker and a pen. It’ll also help to have a quiet place and a few hours of time to enjoy this process. You may even want to light your favorite candle and play some relaxing music.

2. Lay Out Your Plan. Tape the six poster boards up on the wall. Once the boards are up on the wall, grab your notepad. Sit down for a few minutes and quietly think about the aspects of your business you want to plan. For example: do you need to design a new product or event, do you want to create a marketing plan, do you need a timeline plan for the next 3 years of your business, or is it time to plan the launch of a new service?

Use your notepad to collect all of your ideas and decide on the six main categories you want to include in your plan. Next, write each category on six separate sticky notes using your Sharpie marker. Then, stick one note on the top center of each poster board… so each board is labeled for one of your six topics.

3. Download Your Ideas. Here comes the fun part. Get your pen and sticky notes and begin to write down every single idea that comes to mind for each category. Don’t edit or censor any ideas. Simply write them down and stick them on the poster board for that category. Try to stay with one category at a time as best you can. But, if other ideas keep coming to mind, write them down and pop them on the appropriate poster. Let the ideas flow and enjoy the process of getting everything on paper.

4. Organize Your Ideas. So, now that your ideas are on the poster boards, begin to organize them. Look for themes, sequences, and categories of items. Physically move the sticky notes on the poster board to group ideas together. Sometimes I’ll organize ideas by timeline, sometimes I’ll organize by concept… you can organize them in the way that makes sense to you.

5. Put It All Together. Now, step back and take a look at your whole plan. After going through this process, you may discover some items need to move higher on your priority list; while other ideas may need to be dropped from your plan completely. The right things to do (and the order in which to do them) will surface now that you have the whole plan in place. Next, rearrange the posters so the highest priority plan is at the left side of the wall and the lower priority plan is to the right side of the wall. Finally, transfer your highest priority tasks to your calendar to make sure you begin executing your plan.

6. Keep Going. As you make progress with your plan, continually re-evaluate where you are… and keep moving forward with your projects. Personally, once I complete a concept from one of my poster boards, I remove the sticky notes so I can visually see my progress and all that I’m accomplishing. You may enjoy doing the same thing.

Now that you know how to write your “sticky note business plan”, you’ll discover it’s actually FUN to work on your plan. And, it’s a huge asset to your business.

Next to an IRS or Dept of Labor audit, nothing frightens retirement plan sponsors more than a notification letter from the Dept of Labor regarding inadequacies in their responses on the Form 5500 or 5500-EZ filing. Inadequacies that, if not corrected within 30 days of the date of the letter,would subject the plan sponsor to substantial fines and penalties, not only from the Dept of Labor but from the IRS as well.

As an Investment Representative you’ve worked hard to build trust with your pension clients. Now,Guest Posting you can solidify that long term relationship with your expertise on one of the greatest fears of small business retirement plan sponsors. Next to an audit, nothing frightens retirement plan sponsors more than a notification letter from the Dept of Labor regarding inadequacies in their responses on the Form 5500 or 5500-EZ filing. Inadequacies that, if not corrected within 30 days of the date of the letter, would subject the plan sponsor to substantial fines and penalties, not only from the Dept of Labor but from the IRS as well. Following is a listing of the most common filing errors that will generate a letter from the Dept of Labor.

1. The Form 5500 Must Be Properly Signed And Dated Make sure that you have the proper signatures by the Employer and Plan Administrator and dates on the Form 5500, Form 5500-EZ, and any attached schedules that require a signature (Schedules B: Actuary; P: Trustee; and Schedule SSA; Plan Administrator).

2. The Form 5550 Must Have The Proper EIN And Plan Number (PN) It is critical that the Employer Identification Number (EIN) used to identify the “plan sponsor” be the same year to year when completing line 2b of the Form 5500 or Form 5500EZ.

3. The Form 5500 Filing May Not Be For A Period Greater Than 12 Months Be certain the time period entered in Part I of the Form 5500 is not greater than twelve months. If the plan is not reporting on a calendar year basis, then input the twelve-month fiscal year period in the spaces provided.

4. Use A Proper Business Code When Completing Line 2d Of The Form 5500 On Form 5500, Line 2d, be certain to enter a valid business code that best describes the nature of the plan sponsor’s business. The only business codes that are valid for use in answering Line 2d are listed in the Form 5500 filing instructions section marked “Codes for Principal Business Activity”.

5 Use The Correct Plan Characteristics Codes On Line 8 Of The Form 5500. On Form 5500, Line 8, you must check box A to indicate if the plan is providing pension benefits. You must enter the Plan Characteristics Codes in the space provided beneath box A. These codes describe the type of pension benefits provided and other features of the plan. A list and description of the Plan Characteristics Codes is in Section 6 of the Instructions for Form 5500.

6. Properly Identify The Funding And Benefit Arrangements On Line 9 Of The Form 5500 Indicate all the proper Funding and Benefit Arrangements on Form 5500, Lines 9a and 9b. The “Funding Arrangement” is the method used for the receipt, holding, investment, and transmittal of plan assets prior to the time the plan actually provides benefits. The “Benefit Arrangement” is the method by which the plan provides benefits to participants. The responses on Lines 9a and 9b are cross-referenced against information on Schedules H, I, and/or A as appropriate. Be careful to attach the appropriate financial or insurance schedule (H, I, A) that corresponds to the Benefit and Funding Arrangements you indicate.

7. File All The Required Schedules And Attachments With Your Form 5500 Make sure you are filing all the required schedules and attachments with your Form 5500. If you check a box indicating that a schedule is attached, the schedule must be submitted with your Form 5500.

8. Schedule R And Distributions You must prepare Schedule R only if there are any distributions or rollovers from the plan. You must enter both the EIN of the distribution payer and the EIN of the pension plan. Part 3 is only for money purchase plans that have made single sum distributions.

9. File The Appropriate Financial Information Schedule (H or I) With Your Form 5500. Make sure you file the proper Financial Information Schedule with your Form 5500. The Schedule H is for “large plan” filers (generally plans with 100 or more participants at the beginning of the plan year). The Schedule I is for “small plan” filers (generally plans with fewer than 100 participants at the beginning of the plan year).

10. Complete the Participant Benefit Information on the Schedule SSA Make sure that you list all of the terminated participants with their vested balances from the prior year that still have not been paid. Starting with the 2004 filing year, sponsors are required to list participants, previously outstanding, who have been subsequently paid. When your client calls, anxious of a possible Dept of Labor fine, you can build long term credibility by taking charge of seeing the correction is made by the preparer. Better still, review or have an expert review, the Form 5500 before the client sends the forms into the Dept of Labor and save your client receiving any letter at all. Calendar year plans Form 5500 EZ and Form 5500 with related schedules are due by July 31, each year.