Six Strategies to Create Leverage Through a Business

What are you doing to create results in your life by leveraging people, technology and tools?

Leverage is an interesting concept. It means getting a result using less of your own time and energy.

Would you like to work less and make more? Of course, right?

Let me share a few tips with you that will allow you to create more leverage.

1) Business Travel

Would you like to travel more? You can travel throughout the United States and around the world on business. And what's nice is that some of your business expenses will be tax deductible.

Need a new vehicle? If you can justify it as a business expense, you may have a good reason to get a new or used car or truck.

Haven't taken a vacation in awhile? Why not travel on business and then spend some time enjoying yourself in your off hours.

2) Purchase a vehicle or other property

A business can help you to achieve some of your personal goals. It can even allow you to acquire some of the assets you want. There are many stories of people who purchased real estate through their business and then used it to benefit them personally.

But, this strategy is not limited to real estate. You can purchase a vehicle through your business. If you have a business use for your vehicle, then it can become an asset of your business.

Always check with your tax professional before making any decisions.

Once you have purchased the vehicle, remember that any vehicle maintenance may also be treated as a business expense.

3) Buying Technology Tools

While we're on the topic of purchasing items for your business, think about the different technology tools which can help create leverage.

A simple example is a computer. You can purchase a computer for your business. That will give you the capability to increase your business and personal productivity.

Some other tech tools you can buy are a laptop and a cellphone.

4) Improve your Standing in the Community

When you become a business owner, many people will look at you differently. People admire and respect entrepreneurs.

You will feel an increased level of confidence. When you have conversations with people, you will always have something interesting to share.

You will have business cards for your company. It's nice to start getting calls from people interested in doing business with you.

5) Barter your Products and Services

When you have a product to offer, you can trade or barter your products for other products or services.

In a tough economy, barter is an interesting alternative to generating a sale. It creates value and will often lead to a next step in working together.

You can often barter to receive products, services, programs and even training.

It starts with developing your ability to negotiate. And that's a good skill to develop in business.

6) Influence

According to John Maxwell, "Leadership is influence." To become a successful business owner, you need to develop your leadership skills.

As a leader, you can influence to accomplish your goals. You need help and there are people who are willing to help you. You just have to ask.

As a business owner, you can have a positive impact on the world. What's the best way you can add value?

What to Do When Your Business Is In Need of Elevator Service

As a business owner and operator, you may already be aware that there will be times where you will not be able to prevent your equipment from breaking down. Even though you may strive to keep everything working in its best capacity, there are unfortunately times when your dumbwaiters may need a little extra attention. In order to minimize the amount of costs and downtime you have to deal with, it is best for you to find a company that specializes in elevator service.

It may seem like a good idea for you to use the company that manufactured your equipment, however if you are trying to stick within a budget or a small to medium sized business, you may want to consider some alternatives. In many cases you can get the same or better quality of service from an independent company, tea of contractors or a facilities management team that provides elevator service.

Don't wait until there is a problem that requires immediate attention before you start shopping for an elevator service provider. To prevent you from losing business, customers and reduce the amount of downtime you have, you should make sure you start your search early on. This means that if you don't currently have a provider, you need to get one as soon as possible.

You should always investigate any maintenance provider before you decide to do business with them. You need a company that is going to be available when you contact them. You need a provider that is able to get their hands on any parts you may need in as little time as possible. Ultimately, you need an elevator service provider who is going to charge you a fair and competitive price without you having to sacrifice quality.

Even if you think that you can get by with just waiting until something happens, you can't afford to take any chances. Every day there are thousands of lawsuits filed against companies because they failed to provide their customers with the safest dumbwaiter service possible. You can't afford to let someone's claim of negligence ruin the reputation of your business and cost you thousands of dollars in legal fees. If you want to keep your operating expenses down and reduce your liability, you need a good service provider that can inspect your equipment on a timely basis. That same company can prevent any potential problems by identifying any hazards and correcting them as soon as possible. You save more time and money by increasing the efficiency of your dumbwaiters than you do by ignoring them or restricting them for use until you feel like getting to them.

Be proactive and practice good business sense. Have your equipment cared for on a regular basis. Don't try to cut corners by hiring the cheapest elevator service company available for the job. Consider this a necessary expense that you can reduce by searching for the right provider for your business and establishing a good relationship with them.

Why My Failure Was My Biggest Success

It started so well, 2012.

After months of planning, the end of March was going to decide it all. The Liquid Art Fair, Liquid Gallery's pet project, was due to launch on 31st March. At first I had worried whether artists would sign up to exhibit with us. Then I worried that people wouldn't come to see the show.

With something like an art fair, as with any event planned in London, adrenaline pumps until the very last moment. There's an internal sigh of relief when your first guest comes through the door, and the second

I needn't have worried - they just kept coming. Over 100 people crossed the threshold of the tiny gallery in Battersea, clamouring to see a range of eclectic art from a range of international artists. For most of the evening I was in a mixed state: delight, and shock. MP for Battersea Jane Ellison, who opened ths show said that Liquid were doing an amazing thing for the arts in London.

In my eyes, after months of hard work, we had finally arrived. I raised my glass to the future of the Liquid Art Fair programme, and the success of Liquid as a whole.

But then a very strange thing happened.

It started with an email from a close colleague I had come to regard as my business partner. This colleague had invested many hours into the business - plannning meetings, meeting colleagues, visiting venues and exhibitions with me.

Which was why I was surprised to receive an email one sunny morning in April in which this said person basically backed out of involvement in the Liquid Art Fair programme.

This was basically cutting me adrft, as I had relied on my colleague for technical support due to his extensive exhibition experience. He was a whizz with a hanging system, and now here he was, backing out of an arrangement which we had only discussed the week before.

Not only our own art fair programme: I had signed up and paid deposits on a number of third party art fairs. Now, without his assistance, I couldn't meet my obligations. Naturally, I lost money, as none of these third-party agencies refunded my deposits.

I emailed my colleague to find out what had brought on this sudden decision, but to this day, I never heard another word from him.

This wasn't the only thing that happened at this time. After a massive rush of interest in the Liquid Art Fair, applications died off. A combination of factors - the continually sinking economy, and the beginnings of an over-saturation of such events in the London art calendar.

For the June show, I had one applicant.

I had to think long and hard. It was now costing more to keep the business going, than we had ever made. After two years, I made the decision to close Liquid Gallery.

During this time, it became such that I had to drink long and hard as well. I began to empathise with those people you read about who commit suicide when their businesses end. You invest so much of your time, and so much of yourself - even though people tell you its not personal. I'm sorry - it is personal. Your business. It's as close to you as a child.

From April until September 2012, I lost my sense of purpose. It was such that it hardly seemed worth getting up in the morning. What difference was I going to make anyway? All I had ever wanted to do was help rising artists, and now I had been kicked in the teeth. I couldn't even write a poem anymore - nothing inspired me. Every day I tried to figure out where things had gone wrong.

The doctor told me she was worried about me. My husband was worried about me. I lost weight. I looked like everyone's idea of the 'before the makeover' photograph.

I came off Facebook - how could I face all those people who thought I was doing such great things. In the face of my failure, I hardly communicated with anyone in the outside world. What I thought I knew had disappeared - I felt so utterly alone.

I do believe I had a mini-breakdown during this time - I would sit on the sofa, staring into space for hours at a time. Other times, I would rave at my husband over the most banal of domestic errors. I was told, simply and without malice around the end of August, that I was becoming unbearable to live with.

I do also believe that this is where my recovery started. There's nothing like being told that you have turned into a screaming harridan to force you to get your backside into gear.

Realising how lonely and isolated I had actually become, in September, and for the first time in months, I logged back into Facebook. What I found there was amazing. I realised that I had a whole support network there, that had been there all along. The messages I received were warm, and supportive - like I'd never been away.

Slowly, my sense of purpose came back. Over dinner one evening, a close friend suggested that I not waste anything that was published in Nyne Magazine because people had really liked it.

Out of that came After Nyne, which is currently reaching thousands of hits a month.

I decided to resurrect my publishing house, Tempest, and started to take on work that was not my own. Again, I started to get that hunger to help, and influence as many people as possible.

Now things are going even better than they were before. Things are really starting to happen for After Nyne and Tempest - we have published Micheal O Coinn's debut poetry pamphlet, Five Words and Callie Carling's eBook Callie's Story has hit the bestseller list for Health books on Amazon.

I have many writing projects of my own scheduled for 2013/2014, including my third poetry collection Human Error. Once again, I see a way forward.

Thing You Need to Know to Start a New Business

As the title says, this article is to discuss the things needed to start a business. If you want to start your own business, you need to know and analyze many things.

First thing is the reason behind your decision to start a business. Some possibilities are as below:

• You are a graduate and are unable to find a suitable job for you in the industry.

• You do not want to work under someone else so want to start your own business.

• You are willing to make a career in business industry as an entrepreneur.

• You want to be your own boss (freedom of work)

There are many other possible reasons. You must know the reason of your decision so that you have a certain aim.

Second thing you need to know is how to take the start. If you are new to the industry, you may face some problems while doing the task. But if you are already working in the industry, things would be easier for you.

The thing you need to know is how to start with the task. Then, you will have to make a detailed step-by-step plan. As a starter, you will face several problems. Many things will be new for you. Since you do not have many contacts in the industry you will have to make some extra efforts to reach the people.

The possible difficulties you may face while starting a business are as below:

Finding a relevant Industry: This is the first step of starting a business and if you are not properly focused while choosing the industry, you may not get desired success in the business. You need to give some time to find the industry that is very much relevant to you and your interests.

How to Start: This is the second important thing. Suppose, you want to start a business in marketing industry, the question you will face is how to do that. For this, you have two options available. You can start a new business from scratch or can buy an existing business.

If you want to start a new business, you will have to arrange many things including finance, market for your product, audience, suppliers, employees, and a place to work, office supplies, and the most important the product that you will sell through your business. While if you choose to buy an existing business, you will get all these things along with the business, a ready-made product, an established market, customer, employees, suppliers, business plan, etc. So, choice is yours. Buying an existing business is the best option for a business start-up.

Entrepreneurship - A Perfect Solution of Unemployment

Unemployment is one of the biggest problems of this century. Problem is that population is increasing rapidly and so is the demand of employment. We do not have enough jobs to fulfill this demand. Unemployment is not the problem of a single country, but whole world is suffering from it. Recession is also the result of over population. Since we do not have enough resources to cop with the increasing demand, companies are not able to make good use of whatever resources they have and so they start firing their employees. According to estimation, if population keeps increasing with the same rate soon there will be double the people than the number of jobs available.

We need to deal with the situation and that too immediately before the situation goes out of our hands. There are many solutions to the problem of unemployment. One of them is population control. This is a good solution, but the problem is that it is not an immediate solution. Even if we start today it will take us many years to control the situation completely. Another possible solution is increasing the number of jobs. Though that also is not an immediate solution, but if we take a start now, we can meet the goal in a certain time.

Now, the question is how to increase job opportunities. There is only one way to increase the number of jobs, which is by creating new jobs. The possible solution is starting new business, firms, and small business, in short the entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is a term gaining very much importance these days. Entrepreneurship is defined as an act of starting an organization with available resources and finance. There are many advantages and disadvantages of entrepreneurship. The biggest disadvantage is the risk involved. Risk is the main reason that stops us from taking initiative with new business. Though this is not such a big issue and if we follow proper method, we can deal with it.

The best thing one can do to cut the risks in starting a business is buying an existing business. There are several benefits of buying a business. The most important one is less risk. With an existing business, you get a built product, customer base, market reputation, ready-made product, and a running business. All these factors cut the risk that you may face in starting a new business. Buying a business is the best option to start a business and to increase the number of employment opportunities rapidly.