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Top 10 Tips to Create A Business Plan! (For People Who Hate Business Plans)

One of the key challenges for any business is to remain focused and invest resources for maximum pay-off. It’s said that 80% of a business’s activity accounts for only 20% of total profits. In plain language, most of the work we do is unfocused, poorly designed and ineffective. In today’s competitive world, no business, whether it’s an individual professional or a large manufacturing operation, can survive with that much lost time and wasted effort. A business plan can help, but most small business owners (and some managers/supervisors) hate doing them! In the spirit that any map is better than no map, here are my top ten keys to creating your own map to success:

1. Have a dream. This sounds simple and obvious, but answering the questions: “Why am I doing this? What’s the big picture?” can lead to profound changes in many organizations. Too often in the daily grind, we forget to think about where we want to go, or why we started the business or took the job in the first place.

2. Make the dream bigger. What if the whole world bought your products or loved your service? What would it mean if your profits, or your personal income were 10 times greater? How about 100, or 1000 times greater? What shifts in focus would that require? Would your daily routine change? Would you spend your time and energy on different problems, attend to different priorities? Why wait?

3. Make the dream clearer. Have a precise description of exactly what you want and hang it in your office, in the employee lunch room, in the restrooms, and on the dash of your car. Use key words, phrases, a photograph of your future office building or whatever symbol will crystallize the dream and make it real for you and for every member of your team

4. List 100 obstacles that will get in your way. Enlist staff, friends, competitors to help. Ask your customers to join with you in looking for the roadblocks, blindspots and bottlenecks that prevent you from growing. Make it a matter of personal pride to never have a problem pop up that you haven’t already considered.

5. List 1000 solutions, 10 for each potential problem. The key here is creativity, flexibility, and responding instantly when the unexpected happens. Expect the unexpected, and have a file of alternative solutions at your finger tips. It’s called contingency planning. Do it!

6. Get tons of advice. Have your accountant, your attorney, your insurance agent, your spouse and your cousin take a look at this. If you can’t explain it to them, will you be able to explain it to your staff? If these people don’t understand and support your plan, will you be able to maintain your own enthusiasm over the long haul?

7. Get GOOD advice. After explaining your dream and your plan to lots of people, sit down with a handful of those you trust the most, and pay them to give you their best feedback. Lots of people can give you technical advice, expert advice, and even friendly advice. Wisdom is more important, and harder to find.

8. Create the path of least resistance. Using the dream as your goal, and knowing the obstacles that could get in your way, begin mapping your way through the wilderness to your destination. What’s the easiest, most direct, route? What’s the safest route? Which combination of activities and priorities makes the most sense?

9. Take action. Once you know where you want to go and have a path to get there, start walking! Too many managers put their business plan into a nice file folder that is never looked at because they are too busy working “hard.” Instead, use your efforts and your plan together so that your effort is focused, productive and smart!

10. Re-assess often. Just as someone hiking across barren territory needs to periodically stop and check their map and compass to avoid walking in circles, business owners and managers need to check their direction and their priorities. Conditions change. Opportunities pop up or disappear, new problems arrive or the nature of the dream changes. All of these things will happen. Plan for it! Regularly step outside your business to re-assess and redefine your most important tasks. You can’t afford to spend 80% of your effort in busywork and unprofitable distractions. Re-assess and stay on course.

Top 10 Reasons Home Based Businesses Fail!

Something For Nothing Syndrome

Let me be perfectly honest with you, there is no such thing as something for nothing, but you already knew that didn’t you. Then why are there so many home based business and success programs being sold by way of TV info-commercials, ads in magazines, newspapers, and the especially the Internet? I personally think that we would all like to think that there is a shortcut to success but deep inside we all know that is success is earned. Success would not be success if you could simply purchase a home based business system for $49.95 that is completely automated and all you do is collect the money, yet I have personally seen thousands of internet sites and info commercials claiming they have a fully automated system, plug in and you will be wealthy by just paying your $49.95, presto you’re an instant success, no real efforts required, they even guarantee it. People are purchasing these programs every day and they are disappointed everyday. I will even admit to you that I have purchased these programs and had them piled up in my drawer (anybody else?). I am not saying that you must work your life away, but I am saying that focused and leveraged efforts are “key” to success. Let’s compare a home based business with a weight loss program. Weight loss programs are everywhere and they range from real programs that teach the truth, which is healthy eating and exercise are required to get any real results, to magic weight lose plans that all you do is take a pill and you are magically transformed with no effort. There are some good weight lose systems out there, but the key ingredient is you and the efforts you put forth. So the truth about your home based business will be the very same, the key ingredient is you and the efforts you put forth will determine your success. If you are broke and looking for that magic pill to save you, it does not exist, do both of us a favor and stay at or go get a J.O.B. If you approach your home based business with a focused and committed attitude, understanding that a business does require work and capital (money), you are well on your way. The great thing about the home based business industry is that you can get started with minimal funds compared to other more traditional brick and mortar businesses.

Not Understanding Capital & ROI

Capital is the money required to start and operate your business. Remember Rule #1, there is never something for nothing. Understanding how much capital is going to be required to start and operate your business until profits are realized is an important factor in the success of any business. Once your capital needs are identified you can begin to calculate your ROI “Return on Investment”, or should we say “Return on Capital”. So for example, if your business will require $20,000.00 to start and operate until profits come in and that business will generate $100,000.00 net profit the first year then you would have achieved a complete capital payback and a 400% return on capital first year. Wall Street would fund this business model all day long. The home based business industry really does offer this type of return, that is if you understand your capital requirements and have a business plan that provides leverage. For example most brick and mortar businesses do not pay back capital first years, so no profit is realized for several years! The challenge with a home based business is that thinking you can purchase a business for $49.95 on the internet and then make a million dollars, frankly is a fantasy. In fact, let’s look at a franchise for example, a $200,000.00 capital outlay is not uncommon to purchase a franchise, that franchise would then usually produce net profits in the neighborhood of $50,000.00 per year. Might make it more understandable to offer a specific example.So in this franchise example, it would take four years just to break even and start producing a return on capital, not very exciting is it. If success was easy it would no longer be success. Look for opportunities that can produce a reasonable ROI first year, and that require a minimal capital investment. Any businesses that can produce a 1st year capital pay back, while also producing a first year net profit is always a winner. Look for a home based business with great ROI potential, this will be best accomplished with leverage. Expect to capitalize your business properly and understand your business plan. Ask yourself how much capital will be required and how long will it take to pay back that capital and to then realize a net profit. Remember the more leverage you have the more net profits you will keep. Gross sales are important but I would rather start a business with gross sales of $100,000.00 year and that produces a net profit of $60,000.00 (60%) over having a business that has gross sales of $1,000,000.00 year and a net profit of $60,000.00 (6%). They both produce the same net profit, but the business with the larger gross sales will in most all cases be 10 times more expensive to start (a lot more money up front) and will have more employees (and taxes) and require a lot more of your time to manage. So the return on your time in a business is what you make an hour. The larger the lever built into your business model, the more you make per hour spent.

Listening To The Wrong People

Why is it that if we are learning to golf we have no problem taking lessons from the Golf Pro at the Country Club, or if we were learning to Skydive we would be insane to learn from any one but the Jump Master. Yet when it comes to learning to earn a substantial personal income we usually make the mistake of listening to family and friends most of the time, or we actually think we are qualified to teach ourselves, this is called the school of hard knocks. If you are looking to earn $100,000.00 a month then doesn’t it just make sense you would look for a person or better yet, a team of people that have already achieved this level of income and then learn from them. We would never have our friends or family teach us how to jump out of an airplane. The challenge we do have is unlike in golf or skydiving were we know where to go for expert advice, where do we go to learn to earn a substantial personal income? Well a franchise system is one place where a successful business system is taught to you by other successful people, but we all know that a franchise requires a large up front capital outlay. When evaluating a home based business system look at the training and support, make sure the individuals doing the training are at a high “personal” level of success in that business. Most companies have customer support teams that are just hourly employees reading information from manuals. They are not qualified to teach you how to reach the level of success you are looking for, or worse yet you can only e-mail your questions or complaints to them. You should look for a home based business system that allows for the top income earners within that system to be the trainers. This way you are learning from the people who are getting results. Ask yourself, will I have the telephone numbers of the people with whom I will be doing business, will I have access to the top income earners on a daily bases if necessary. Or will there be a $49.95 kit sold up front, only to find out that if you want to access the real training and support, it will cost you an additional $5,000.00 or so, let alone the other capital you will need to operate your business. I will not mention any specific companies but they are doing info-commercials every day. Does the home based business you are considering have mentors and coaches who are successfully operating the same business, and do you have access to them for the price of the business, no hidden costs? Remember e-books and online kits are usually designed to make the person selling them rich, not you. If you can not get the company on the phone before you purchase, please be very careful. Make sure that the company is registered in the United States and they are required to follow US law, there are a lot of these companies whose headquarters are offshore, ask yourself why? Websites without phone numbers are designed to make the company money, without doing any real training and support. When you purchase a franchise they always include the training and support as without it they know you will probably fail. It is usually not even an option to leave it out and why would you? Make sure you understand how much training and support is included in the business system, an unlimited amount would be optimum. Live training from real people that are successfully operating the same business is the very best, e-mail only support can drastically limit your learning. You deserve to be trained by the best make sure it is included, otherwise you are probably wasting your time!

Marketing, Marketing and Marketing

You can have the best products in the entire world or provide the best service in your industry, but unless people know about your products or service, you will be out of business. There are many ways to market your business and they can be very simple and inexpensive or they can be complicated and very expensive. Make sure to keep it as simple as possible and understand your conversion rates. This means that if you spend $1,000.00 a month on advertising and that generates 100 potential customers and 3 purchase your product. You have a 3% conversion rate. You should also make sure that your profit from those 3 sales provides enough revenue to pay all of your costs (including advertising) and still provides you with a net profit. Finding products that have a substantial profit can make this process much easier. Repeat business can also be instrumental to your profitability. If your customers return and purchase again you have made a profit without any additional marketing. Repeat business is essential to a successful business and marketing system. It is possible to operate a profitable business with no repeat business, but why not look for a business with repeat customers built in! When considering a home based business the simpler the marketing the better.

Poor Environment Management

Working from home offers many benefits such as no commute and no day care costs, etc. The flip side of this coin is that distractions can exist that you do not find in an office setting, such as crying children, barking dogs, the television, you get the idea. The trick is to balance your environment. It may take a little practice but by no means is it difficult with a little planning. So take advantage of all the positive that a home based business provides, while learning to manage your environment, working from home can prove to be an enormous advantage over the rat race. So create a workspace that is a dedicated resource and set some simple rules so that you can create a professional office environment at home. Creating this environment is key, make sure you have good equipment. If you are constantly struggling with your equipment you will not be focused or efficient. You can involve the rest of the family and make it positive for everyone. It just takes a little communication and cooperation to have a successful environment. Be creative and have fun!

Having A Closed Mind

Entering the small business arena can be a change of pace. If you are operating a business for the first time as an owner rather than working as an employee it will be imperative that you keep an open mind so that you can learn new concepts and not look upon new business concepts that you may be unfamiliar with as risky. Anytime new information or concepts are presented keep an open mind and be a student of the information before you form any conclusions. Be informed and educated before you make judgments. If you are a seasoned business professional coming from a large corporation it is also important to be open minded as operating a small business can be completely different. A strong ego can keep you from learning new things. Remember the only requirement for being an expert is results, so look for results not at the age, color, or gender, of the person teaching you, just their results. Be coachable and trainable and become a student of your industry. Network Marketing and home based businesses can offer huge leverage if you just keep an open mind. A lot of major Corporations sell there products through Network Marketing, and these concepts are now taught at major universities. GM sells cars this way now, so just because you are not familiar with a certain type of business or compensation plan don’t judge it until you have learned all there is to know. It may be the best way for you to get in the game if you lack a lot of capital (money).

Poor Product or Service Selection

Selecting products or services and more importantly focusing on the profit potential is a critical component. Yes it is always exciting when you can work with products or services that you are passionate about, but please remember to look at the net profitability and your overall plan. So if your product has a substantial profit margin you have a much better opportunity to succeed. Look for products that can be drop shipped to your client and products that will also provide you with substantial net profits. This way you can focus on marketing and running your business. Understand that Service businesses can be more difficult depending on the service and if you are required to provide the labor. In most cases with services you will do the labor, but you may be able to market other people’s services, this would be our recommendation. With any service businesses you may find you have just purchased yourself a J.O.B. Always look for others to do the bulk of the work so you can grow quickly. Pick suppliers that have large capacity. As you identify your products or services choosing ones that allows for repeat business will also be a key ingredient for a profitable and successful business.

Fear of Rejection

Fear of rejection is usually caused by low self-esteem and the lack of self-confidence. A business can not be profitable without sales. Remember that when a potential customer rejects your product or service he/she is not rejecting you they are simply rejecting a product or service at that point in their life, they may very well become a customer at a later time, so stay positive. The most successful people in sales are the ones who receive the most rejection as that means they have also sold the most products or services. The home run champion is always high in the strike out count as well. Through practice and good training you will master this skill and be a successful home entrepreneur. Please do not fall into the trap we discussed earlier were you are told the system is fully automated and you will not talk to anyone. If it was that easy we would all be rich. Businesses require sales and those sales involve people and more importantly contact with these people. Home based businesses are no exception. If you are afraid to sell then a J.O.B. may be a better choice for you, preferably not one is sales. Sales drive every company and the relationship you build with your clients will keep you in business. Look for home based businesses that will provide you with warm contacts through your marketing efforts so you are not cold calling. Cold calling is painful especially for people new to sales. Be determined to develop reasonable people skills if you intend to go into business. You may not currently have them but you can easily learn these skills if you posses self confidence and are willing to do a little practice.

No Leverage

If you do not understand leveraging then you might as well dust off your Resume’ and hit www.careerbuilder.com. Leverage is the only way you will create real wealth in your life. A business owner leverages his time by hiring employees, these employees leverage his time. This is why service businesses where you do the work have no leverage without employees or someone else doing the labor. A manufacturer that uses distributors is an example of leverage. A franchise that sells it’s system and collects a portion of profits is leverage. An author, who writes a book once and sells it over and over again, is leverage. An actor who stars in a film and the film is shown in theaters all over the world is leverage. Leverage can be created in many ways but if you ever want true wealth you must create a lever and the larger the lever the more wealth. Leverage is the key, so look for leverage in a system you can learn or create leverage in the business you decide to run but find leverage and your profit will multiply equally to the size of your lever.

Inadequate Planning

Creating a plan to achieve your goals is paramount. This should include a “DMO”, “Daily Method of Operations”. Focus efforts can produce the best results just like the magnifying glass focuses the suns rays and creates fire, your efforts can be focused for best results. Having a precised plan with measurements is imperative, for example to say your goal is to improve sales, is a goal without a measure. Instead say your goal is to increase sales 30% in the next 90 days, this is an example of a goal with measure and a completion date. You can clearly measure if you have reached your goal as well as track its progress along the say. Set your DMO and follow it while consulting your goals on a daily basis and make sure you are doing all necessary to meet your objectives. Managing your time is important but focused effort and balance will propel you to success, don’t forget to relax and have fun. By focusing your time, you will surely get better results in all areas of your life.

In conclusion:

We want to make sure you have the knowledge and information, to you make these important decisions. Our Mission is to provide all the support and resources you require to assist you in making an intelligent decision about the perfect business opportunity for you.

If there you are looking for that perfect business and do not currently have one, and what you’ve learned makes sense then revisit our site for further information, or e-mail us at info@ultimatesuccesssystem.biz.

I wish you all the success in your endeavors.

Cordially,

Bart Saxey

The Ultimate Success System Team

www.ultimatesuccesssystem.biz [http://www.ultimatesuccesssystem.biz]

Top Advantages Of Efficient Small Business Accounting

Like it or not, efficient small business accounting only happens when it is done by a professional. This may seem very one-sided – leaning towards the side of accounting firms – but this statement is true. There are a number of benefits which spring from this action. The most famous of them will be itemized in this article.

Acquisition of total understanding of business finance – Most people who jump in to the pool of small business have one thing common. They all believe that they are good at doing something and if they take the risk to put up their own firms they can get the chance to earn more. While this has been the introduction of many success stories of entrepreneurs, this is not true for every one and in general. This is because passion and talent are not the sole things which make businesses run smoothly. It is efficient small business accounting that can make any company stand the test of time and financial trials.

Hiring an accountant can be a big help on your strategic planning and the financial structure evaluation. Both are key in ensuring smooth business operations on a daily basis. With an accountant’s assistance, you can reach the maximum results from the routines performed in your business daily. More so, your eyes will be opened to cost-effective means of providing the best product or service to your clients. Yes, that is gaining profits without foregoing quality.

Access to useful tools – The advancements in technology continue to provide quicker and more efficient means in dealing with all aspects of our lives. When it comes to running small-scale businesses, different types of accounting software for small business have sprouted in the market to aid entrepreneurs with all the bookkeeping, computations, product inventory and correct budget allocation they need. Moreover, these applications are also helpful in managing employees with their work schedules and tasks, having a dependable payroll system and payment for rent and utility bills. The last two items are true for businesses with physical stores.

Excellent bookkeeping – There is no doubt about the importance of bookkeeping the sales and purchases, every day expenses, bank balance and other financial activities happening inside your businesses. An incomplete record of your expenses and income can cause your financial doom. Why is that? This is because wrong data equates wrong allocation of budget. Provided that you have a copy of all your receipts and other financial documents, you can expect a hired accountant to take care of everything.

Money and time well spent – As a small business accounting professional will be the one to take care of your financial concerns, you can divert all your efforts to doing things that are worthwhile. Examples of this includes searching for new clients, making appropriate investments and spending time with your family without being insane thinking negatively of your finances while you are away. Hiring a reliable accountant involves a certain cost and so be ready for it.

Top Indian Horoscope Sites List

What is Astrology?

The prediction of a person’s future (what is going to happen to you) based on a comparison of the zodiacal data for the time of birth with the data from the period under consideration. the configuration of the planets, the sun, and the moon in the sky at a particular moment.

1.Horoscope.com

Horoscope.com is the premier destination for free horoscope content. Offering an extensive selection of free daily, weekly and monthly readings, Horoscope.com is a daily destination for the majority of its ever-growing audience of over 5 million monthly unique visitors. they team of Astrologers hand-craft all of the content on the site, and they are constantly working together to conceptualize exciting new content features.

2.Astrologyzone.com

The latest in astrological trends by Susan Miller, comprehensive, complete, intelligent, and accurate. Your life in 3D: culture, style, romance, money, real estate. Read this month’s horoscope, Taurus, Cancer, Scorpio Virgo, Libra…

3.Ganeshaspeaks.com

Daily Astrology, Free Today’s Horoscope, Love Horoscope, Daily/Today’s Horoscopes GaneshaSpeaks. Get accurate forecasts for all-star/ sun/zodiac signs on love, career and more.

4.Astroyogi.com

Astroyogi.com is recognized as the premier astrology consulting service provider in India. they are a mobile marketplace for astrology and its related advisory services. they help customers hire trusted esoteric professionals for all their astrology needs. they have a team of young.

5.Indianastrologyhoroscope.com

Indianastrologyhoroscope.com was founded with a mission of providing online personalized astrology consultation to each of its customers. To achieve this mission, they have a team of astrologers who are renowned and recognized all over the globe for their knowledge of ancient principles of Vedic astrology.

6.Tarot.com

Tarot.com is the world’s leading Tarot and Astrology website, with more than 4 million members worldwide.

Launched in Portland in 1995, Tarot.com is part of Daily Insight Group (DIG) and Japan’s Zappallas, Inc., which publish a network of popular entertainment websites for horoscopes, Astrology, Numerology, Tarot, and gaming.

7. ClickAstro

Here you can even get a prediction for the next quarter of your life! So they offer the prediction for as long as 25 years from the time you approach them.

They offer a host of free services like – daily horoscope, kundli, love compatibility, marriage horoscope, pachanga prediction, Chinese horoscope, Chinese love compatibility, numerology, daily panchang, feng shui, wealth horoscope and marriage horoscope.

8. Astroved.com

Well, that’s how they like to be known and from what we know, the subscribers of this portal vouch for it as well.

The scope isn’t just restricted to family, love and work… they also have a special programme where they assess students and throw light on their weaknesses and strength.

Further, you can even check on your name change report, birth chart report, birth star report and lots more! It isn’t uncommon to find their email in our inbox.You may have not subscribed to them but then yet you may find them in your mail box asking you to subscribe and at times offering you some free predictions we well.

9. Astrosage.com

The look of the portal is a bit cluttered but then keeping in mind the plethora of services they offer, you can overlook the design dynamics being followed by them.

Headquartered in Noida, they claim to be one of the most authentic astrology online service providers.

10. Astromitra.com

The second part of their name ‘mitra’ suggests a bond of friendship. They claim to be a ‘world of astrology experts’.

From offering live astrology to horary astrology, they also offer – career report, detailed life report, foreign travel astrology and education horoscopeThe free services include – free Vedic birth chart calculator, daily horoscope prediction by date of birth, monthly horoscope, moon sign horoscope and weekly horoscopes.

They also have an online store where you can buy gemstones, authentic rudraksha and report on numerology name business correction.

11. Astroyogi.com

From offering Tarot Card reading to Feng Shui guidance, Astryogi is a one-stop solution for any field of astrology you are comfortable with.

They specialize in Vedic Astrology as well. An amazing feature that caught our attention here was their service on Palm Reading.

Top 10 Best B2B Websites in India in 2018

Why B2B Websites are Becoming Popular:

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Global Exposure, 24X7 live showroom, instant enquiries, potential buyers are the main reasons for becoming these B2B Websites popular. Now entire world has become Global Business Village and the Smart Phones making this village into our hands. All this is what B2B entrepreneur dream and wish for. The call from global business village is to recognize the value of Internet and transform businesses with effective E-Presence. For any new or existing Business, the Global appeal is the pre-requisite in the present era. With the growing competition, there arose a need among the business enterprises to promote their business online and appeal to global customers. At the same time, the need for a common B2B showroom to exhibit their products and a platform to promote their business became necessary and urgent. Besides this, the incessant price war and competetion among the business entrepreneurs to revolutionize their business to attract more of potential buyers and crack more of prolific deals accounted for the presence of a common platform where they can promote their business online.

Top 10 Best B2B Websites in India in 2018:

1. IndiaMart:

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IndiaMART is India’s largest online B2B marketplace, connecting buyers with suppliers. With 60% market share of the online B2B Classified space in India, the channel focuses on providing a platform to Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs), large enterprises as well as individuals. Founded in 1999, the company’s mission is ‘to make doing business easy’. IndiaMART has 2539, employees located across 76 offices in the country. The Website is very well organized the products based on their category, Brand wise, Supplier wise, Location wise etc. User can easily find out the products to Sell or Buy on the Website.

2. TradeIndia:

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Launched in the year 1996, TradeIndia offering the Indian Business community a platform to promote themselves globally.It has created a niche as India’s largest B2B marketplace, offering comprehensive business solutions to the Domestic and Global Business Community through its wide array of online services, directory services and facilitation of trade promotional events. Our portal is an ideal forum for buyers and sellers across the globe to interact and conduct business smoothly and effectively. With an unmatched expertise in data acquisition and online promotion, Tradeindia subsumes a huge number of company profiles and product catalogs under 2,256 different product categories and sub-categories. It is well promoted on all major search engines and receives an average of 20.5 million hits per month.

Tradeindia is maintained and promoted by INFOCOM NETWORK LTD. Today we have reached a database of 44,87,116 registered users, and the company is growing on a titanic scale with a considerable amount of new users joining/registering everyday, under the innovative vision and guidance of Mr. Bikky Khosla, CEO.

3. exportersindia:

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Incepted in the year 1997, this portal is owned and managed by weblink.In Pvt Ltd., one of the leading names in the realm of web design and development and e-commerce solutions. Backed up by an invincible experience and dexterity, weblink.In Pvt Ltd. has provided this portal the much-required exposure to the global business arena. For the same, this portal has become the sure shot solution for all requirements of the buyers as well as the sellers.

exportersindia.com providing a complete solution provider to all your business queries, where business enterprises have benefited by the much needed promotion and exposure in the current scenario of global market. Exportersindia has become a strong source of reliability because of the use of peerless technology and innovative measures. This online B2B directory is the home of in-numerous products and businesses across the globe and hence it serves as the ideal destination for every one who wants to witness a bloom in the global trade scenario.

4. BizOnGo.in:

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This is also one of the fastest growing B2B Website in India. They mainly focusing on bulk buying and selling of ‘Packaging’ materials. Started in 2014, by Aniket Deb, Sachin Agrawal and Ankit Tomar (IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi graduates), the startup found an investor in Accel Partners. It initially started as a platform for plastic and chemical product categories, but as of now, there are only packaging products listed on the website. Its main USPs are knowledgeable team and ability to adapt with changing business environment. Very well maintained Categories and solutions, Good GUI to trace the required Product with ease for the Buyers and Sellers making this Website a popular B2B Website in India. The Primary Categories includes Food packaging, Bottles, rigid and protective packaging, Crates, Pallets, Drums, Dustbins, Packaging Bags & Boxes, Flexible films, Pouches and Bubblewraps.

5. JimTrade:

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JimTrade mainly concentrates on Indian Products for Global Marketing. It is one of the India’s leading business-to-business (B2B) Media Company that facilitates global trade, with a particular focus on the Indian market, by providing information to international buyers and integrated marketing services to suppliers. It provides the complete and upto date information on Indian products and suppliers for buyers. JimTrade is the number one destination for buyers to source Indian products and for Indian sellers to find trade opportunities and promote their businesses online. JimTrade has information of more than 5,00,000 Indian suppliers and products. It has thousands of registered buyers who access this information daily.

6. India.TradeFord:

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India.TradeFord is another popular B2B Platform to the Global buyers and Players. Actually the TradeFord.com has many regional sites in various countries like China, India, Malaysia, UK, USA etc. The India.Tradeford.com is India’s regional B2B Platform for TradeFord.com. User can create their company’s websites at free and can publish their products online with ease. The very well maintained categories on Product wise and Company wise making this website popular among the B2B Platforms.

7. FICCI-B2B:

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FICCI-B2B is run by India’s largest and oldest non-government business organization FICCI ( Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry). Established in 1927, FICCI is the largest and oldest apex business organisation in India. Its history is closely interwoven with India’s struggle for independence, its industrialization, and its emergence as one of the most rapidly growing global economies.

A non-government, not-for-profit organisation, FICCI is the voice of India’s business and industry. From influencing policy to encouraging debate, engaging with policy makers and civil society, FICCI articulates the views and concerns of industry. It serves its members from the Indian private and public corporate sectors and multinational companies, drawing its strength from diverse regional chambers of commerce and industry across states, reaching out to over 2,50,000 companies.

FICCI provides a platform for networking and consensus building within and across sectors and is the first port of call for Indian industry, policy makers and the international business community.

8. Udaan:

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Udaan is an app based B2B solution that provides awesome services. It was founded by three top executives of Flipkart and got $10 million dollars funding from ‘venture capital’. Udaan empowers traders, wholesalers, retailers and manufacturers in India to make business deals. Over 20,000 traders are using this platform to make wholesale purchases. This is nicely organized the products on category wise and the User can easily find the Products to Buy/Sell on their handsets.

9. tradeexporters:

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TradeExporters is also one of the fastest growing B2B Platform in India. It maintains both Indian Companies as well as Non-Indian Companies. It has well maintained categories, News, Updates, Expos etc. on its portal which is very useful to the Buyers and Sellers to exhibit their products online and offline. You can also find the Sell offers / Buy offers / Trade shows on its Portal to maximise the User benefits. One more useful information it is providing is, about the New Companies and their Products where you can find the innovative products at your best price.

10. india.tradekey:

B2B-13

India.tradekey is a unique and leading B2B in India. An ISO 9001 & 27001 company, the India.Tradekey has one-stop shop for all Products, Buyers, Sellers, Services and Trade Programs. It has over 6 Million Registered members worldwide. It has ranked among the Asia’s fastest 500 companies and 2nd Largest B2B Market Place in the World.

Top Ten Factors in Running a Successful Construction Contractor Business

It is not easy running a construction business. There are many pitfalls and ways to lose money but if you follow some basic steps you can not only make a living but become very wealthy. Many successful construction contractors have learned there are certain things you absolutely must do right all the time and certain skills you must have or acquire in order to make it in this very competitive industry. In this article I will summarize what it takes to be a successful construction contractor in their order of importance.

Most Important Factor: Hands On Experience

Do not even think about starting a construction contractor business unless you have at least five years of broad (meaning general, not specialized) construction experience. The only exception to this is if you intend on specializing in one area and one area only. We call this a niche. Niche’s can be very profitable, but they can also go away, change or be replaced by technology, new products, changes in the industry or societal changes. The best chance for success in the general contractor business is to gain experience doing everything. This general experience has many benefits. It gives you the ability to identify and hire competent individuals, fire incompetent ones, evaluate good work product and identify poor work product. Probably the most important thing it gives you is the ability to transition from being a technician to being a manager. The best experience comes from small to mid-sized construction companies that require you to be a jack of all trades. Larger companies have a tendency to pigeonhole you into niches. That is fine if your business model is a niche, but if you start a general contractor construction business with skills in only a few niche areas, you will fail unless you hire to your weaknesses.

Second Most Important Factor: Outstanding Accounting System

If you do not have a sound accounting system your construction business will eventually fail. This CPA has witnessed this too many times than I care to recount. Sound accounting systems allow you to evaluate whether or not you make a profit on a job by job basis. Going with gut instinct is dangerous and fraught with risk. A sound accounting system helps you identify those things you do right on each job as well as the mistakes you’ve made. Numbers don’t lie. Unfortunately, my experience has shown me that most construction contractors pay little attention to their system of accounting. There is a fear that proper accounting will set the business owner up for higher taxes. Thus, cash received on a job and cash disbursed go unreported in an effort to avoid tax. What a mistake. I don’t care how great your gut feeling is on each job, if you don’t have an accounting of every penny on each job, you can rest assured you are flying blind and losing money on each job. You will go out of business and your family life will suffer. If you decide to start your own business you need to act like a professional business owner and that means creating a sound accounting system. Failed accounting systems lead to litigation, failure and bankruptcy.

Third Most Important Factor: Effective Management

When you have hands on experience in the industry, forged by many years (at least five years) of working in every facet of the construction business, you are better able to make the transition from technician to manager. Effective management requires that you have sound procedures on many aspects of your business. Well-defined work product processes, along with accompanying task-specific checklists, allows you to drill your workers on every aspect of a task within a job. You should have a work product process with accompanying checklists for just about every major task within a job. This eliminates human error and allows you to make corrections before the task is officially completed. It is a construction company owners #1 management tool. You must develop a process for each job and each task. This process must be in writing and stored in a binder for each job, along with the task checklist. The task checklist should be calendarized. Your jobs binder should include the following:

Tab #1 – A copy of the signed contract and any change orders.

Tab #2 – Budget for the job. Budget for each change order.

Tab #3 – Accounting for income and expenses. The income portion would include the contract bid price, monies received either as deposits or as the stages of the project are completed and monies received for change orders.

Tab #4 – Task List Summary.

Tab #5 – Task #1 Process Summary and Checklist.

Tab #6 – Task #2 Process Summary and Checklist.

etc.

Last Tab – Customer sign off letter on completed work along with standard testimonial letter signed by customer, listing customer’s name and contact information along with permission to use the testimonial in marketing and as a reference for prospective customers. You will transfer copies of each testimonial letter to a separate binder that you will take with you to each prospect. This testimonial binder may be the only thing separating you from your competition. It gives assurance to prospects that you take customer satisfaction very seriously and may be the difference maker. It allows prospects an opportunity to reach out to previous customers in order to obtain references. It also shows the prospect your company is very organized and well run. Lastly, have a picture of the before and after on each job in this binder.

Fourth Most Important Factor: Strong Business Partnerships

A stable of competent subcontractors who have many years of experience working together is crucial to the success of a job. Each job is a team effort and having a strong network of competent individuals/businesses available to you for each job, and who understand your businesses processes, will make each job run much more efficiently. Efficiency and competency = profit on each job.

Fifth Most Important Factor: Project Bidding Process

You can be the most skilled, best managed construction company, with a stable of talented subcontractors and still go out of business if you do not have a strong process in place on bidding for each job. You can lose your shirt if you underbid a job. How does this happen? The most common cause of underbidding is not doing your homework and relying on your gut or unverified estimates rather than a fail safe process of checking and double checking each cost within each task. The devil in any construction job is in the details. The bidding process is very much like your business plan for each job. It must identify every task, every cost and each cost must be checked and double checked before bidding on the job. Where many construction contractors go wrong is in estimating the cost of tasks incorrectly. These incorrect estimates are caused by flawed assumptions on the tasks and the associated costs, which is the result of not accurately verifying and then re-verifying every task and every cost. It is a painstaking process but you must get the bid right. Your assumptions on each task must be vetted not once but at least twice. You know the rule: measure twice cut once. This adage is particularly true in the bidding process.

Sixth Most Important Factor: Marketing

Everyone in the construction business understands the importance of referrals. Most of your prospective customers come by way of referral. But referrals are not enough. What should be part of your marketing tool belt?

1. You should have an active web site that includes customer testimonials front and center.

2. You should join a networking group.

3. You should join a civic organization.

4. You should provide valuable assistance to local community non-profit groups (one or two will suffice nicely).

5. You should have a regular process of bidding jobs that are not referral-based

6. You should have a process for direct mailings very week.

7. You should have business cards, stationary, job site signs.

8. You should advertise in the yellow pages or local newspapers.

9. Customer Testimonial Binder (referenced above).

10. You should have brochures.

Seventh Most Important Factor: Stay Current With Technology and Replace Old Equipment/Tools

You must upgrade your equipment and tools to stay current with technological changes. This will not only improve efficiency but also the quality of each job. You must also replace old equipment and tools in order to get each job completed efficiently and on time. You will know when it is time for new equipment and tools when the old equipment and tools begin breaking down at a rate that causes recurring delays. When equipment/tools breakdown it can cause cost overruns and result in late completions. No matter how good the quality of your work is, missing completion dates harms your reputation.

Eighth Most Important Factor: Hire To Your Weaknesses

No matter how much experience you have and how skilled you may be there are certain things each one of us does well and certain things we do badly. More often than not, the things we do well are the things we enjoy doing and the things we do badly are the things we hate doing. A skilled business owner will hire people who do have strengths in areas the business owner has weaknesses. As an example, one of my clients nearly went out of business because he did not like having to make calls to collect receivables. My advise to him? Hire someone who is expert in collections. He took me up on my advise and eventually, his collections expert, became his partner. His business is thriving now. Hire to your weakness and watch your business boom.

Ninth Most Important Factor: Document Mistakes and Failures

This should be incorporated into your Job Process/Task List Binder. You must learn from your mistakes. Mistakes should not be considered anything other than an experience learned. Document those bad experiences and incorporate them into your job process and task list binder so as to never repeat them again.

Tenth Most Important Factor: Change Orders

Most contracts include language regarding change orders. Change orders are caused by many factors, which is beyond the scope of this article, but let me be clear in saying that you must cost out every change order as if you were costing out the job. You must then process the change order (list each task and assign a date of completion for each task) and attach a task checklist for each new task resulting from the change order. Lastly, you must get the customer to understand and sign off on the change order or you will not collect your full price for the job. Many construction contractors unfortunately do a poor job in addressing change orders. They are reluctant to highlight it with the customer and gloss over it in an effort to avoid confrontation. The reason? The reality of change orders are not addressed up front when you are bidding on the job. Customers only see the price you gave them and that is in the contract. You must address the reality of a change order occurring at the outset of the bidding process and before the contract is signed. If a customer understands from the very beginning that change orders do occur often and that a change order will increase the price of the job, you will be less shy about confronting the customer when it does occur.

The Top 10 Ways to Reduce Violence

I happen to live near the one of the tragic “school shootings” of the recent past, and I’ve seen how the grief, anger, heartache and turmoil have impacted our community. It has brought home that a general abhorrence of violence is not enough. While I’m sure others will have different, and perhaps wiser, suggestions about how to reduce violence, here are my Top 10 Ways to Reduce Violence. If you can improve them, I welcome your feedback, but I suspect it may be more important and more useful if you write a letter to your local newspaper or school board. Together, we can reduce and perhaps eliminate violence.

1. Disconnect anger from violence. I am convinced that human beings get angry, and that anger at injustice is often justified. There is healthy anger that insists, “There has to be a better way!” I shutter when I hear parents tell children, “You shouldn’t be angry.” Tell them instead, “You’re feelings are OK, you can be angry, but you may not hit or hurt others.”

2. See the connection between the love of violence and violence itself. Fascination with brutality, guns and bombs, war and evil must increase the chances for violent behavior. I can’t prove that, it just seems likely to me.

3. See the connection between all levels of violence. Insults and taunting, humiliation and shaming are forms of violence. When we treat people badly, it should not surprise us when they seek a way to “get even.”

4. Take all violence seriously. Playground bullies and sibling rivalries do not have to be accepted as part of life, at least not when children are getting hurt. Kids squabbling over “my toy” is one thing; hitting or pulling hair or knocking each other down is something else. We do not have to accept it as normal behavior.

5. Take troubled, angry people seriously. We talk about needing more early intervention with troubled kids, and I agree. But people of all ages get trapped in situations they can’t handle, with emotions they don’t know how to express. Domestic violence, violence among co-workers and among children should always be treated as a serious matter. Hitting and hurting, and threatening to hurt, are not OK.

6. Deal with the availability of guns. Knives, cars, and a thousand other things also kill people, but guns have a unique place in the American imagination. Of course, they also have a place in the rich tradition of hunting and target shooting. I don’t have all the answers, but hunting seems different than having military-style weapons available in millions of homes across the country. There must be a better system.

7. Acknowledge the connection between violent images and violent behavior. I abhor censorship, so this is a tough one. But if 30-second images can sell us lipstick and Buicks, and change the way we vote, it seems likely that hours and hours of explosions, shootings, fights and mayhem may also influence behavior. To be blunt, I am particularly troubled by the violence in video games and the number of violent “action adventure” movies we support as a culture. Something strange is going on!

8. Acknowledge the connection between sports and violent behavior. Again, sports is a sacred icon in American culture, but it seems that sports have been separated from athletics. Instead of every child participating in gym class and competing in intramural sports, we have a culture of super-hero super-stars who are virtually above the law. Hockey, basketball, football and other sports all tolerate behavior that would result in arrest for assault outside the sports arena. Competition and fitness are valuable; organized violence is not acceptable!

9. Acknowledge the connection between language and violence. Business uses the language of the battlefield, and sports is full of encouragement to “get out there and kill”, “massacre them”, and “beat their brains out”. Our legal system is based on the idea of lawyer’s doing battle. While hiring a representative to fight with words instead of clubs was a huge step forward in the middle ages, perhaps our society is ready for an even higher level of conflict resolution.

10. See the violence in ourselves. Sometimes I find myself so angry I “daydream” about violence, or “really showing them”. I hear jokes that use the phrase, “Just shoot the bastards!” I know if “looks could kill” or if cutting statements actually drew blood, I’d be in deep trouble. Violence is not just someone else’s problem. I must work for peace, love and improved conflict resolution in my own life. How about you?

Making Sure Your Email Archiving Software Is Top Notch

In less than half a century, email has become the primary means of communication in the world of business. Orders, directives, and requests are all directed through email these days. It remains as one of the most convenient ways to transfer large numbers (and sizes) of files quickly. You can find so much of what a business does through its email, so having a good email archiving software is important not only for reference purposes but also for compliance.

Reliable data storage

Proper storage and retrieval for your email is important. Since important data goes through email, there must be a way to store it in its original state and allow your staff to retrieve whatever email they want whenever they need it.

The second has to do with compliance: the government itself recognizes the fact that email has become an integral part of how corporations and organizations do business. Because of this, email has to be part of any report made to the government.

This means your email archiving software must be a reliable backup. Preferably, this must be in real time, not in point-in-time. Real time recording of email ensures that the correspondence is in its original state as much as possible. Whenever your staff accesses the stored email, or you submit reports to government agencies, you can be sure that what people are looking at is as close to the original source as possible.

Fast retrieval of email means big savings in time and effort and less chance of wasteful work duplication. Storage must also be as secure as possible to ensure the reliability of your email as a source. Some of the most reliable email archiving software ensures tamper-proof storage by keeping them heavily encrypted and in read-only format.

Additionally, it pays to have an email storage system that has multiple backups. Because email forms a good chunk of your business communications, losing them can cost you. Multiple backups spread in many off-site locations helps prevent this worry.

Keeping the spam away

With the rise of email comes the rise of spam. This kind of junk email makes up a large amount of email traffic worldwide. It can be as harmless as a chain letter or extremely destructive as a well-disguised communication with a virus payload.

Other than being a source of annoyance or viruses, spam can clog up your inboxes and storage space with the digital equivalent of junk. Memory costs low these days, but too much spam can take up valuable space You can easily get a hundred spam in a single workday, and if each has around 10 kilobytes, that is easily a megabyte worth of junk in your email storage.

This is why having a reliable anti-spam service is also important. Filters will redirect the spam away from your inboxes and allow for easy removal. Coupled with excellent email archiving software, your company is prepared for the demands of 21st century business.

Exposing the Top 5 Myths About VoIP Service Providers

It’s stunning to think about the changes we’ve experienced with communication methods in such a short time. What used to take months with a stamped letter now takes seconds with the click of a mouse or tap of a finger. Unfortunately, as with most things people come into contact with, there are bound to be some critics.

Despite VoIP having proven time and time again that it offers clear benefits in regards to business communications, VoIP service providers have garnered a bad reputation that has kept businesses from experiencing its vast benefits. Some would say this is due to fear of the unknown or a simple misunderstanding of the technology itself.

It’s time to turn this fear of the unknown into growth! That’s why we’re here to dispel the 5 common myths about VoIP.

Small Businesses Can’t Benefit

This is an unfortunate myth because its stopping so many small business owners from pursuing a resource that can ultimately save them time and money. We’re not talking a few pennies every month, either; some businesses see 30%-60% savings in annual cost! Although large enterprises have successfully managed to rely on VoIP service providers, small businesses would actually benefit the most! When you’re running with a tight budget and scarce resources, consider VoIP service providers who can offer valuable business communication tools such as auto attendant, call logging, customized caller menus, and more.

Unreliability

You wouldn’t run a business without internet connection, would you? Of course not. How would you receive emails, research competitors, and keep in touch with colleagues across the pond? Many VoIP deniers oppose the technology because it is seen as an unreliable resource when in reality, it’s just as reliable as your internet connection. In fact, if you already have an internet connection established in your business right now, then you’re just about ready to start using VoIP. As for dropped calls, call continuity is there to ensure you never miss an opportunity.

Call Quality Suffers

This may have been true in the earlier PBX days, but just as businesses themselves evolve and improve over time, VoIP has seen significant improvements since its inception. With a wider range of frequencies for voice data to travel through, congestion is less frequent and adding high-speed internet connection will only make the call quality better.

Higher Cost

Gone are the days when you needed to spend a fortune just to add another line of service or expand across locations. These days, VoIP service providers have made it easy to expand your team and business locations without compromising your budget. Most VoIP service providers offer different tiers for the type of services your business currently needs, which saves you money by providing you with the absolute necessary and none of the excess. VoIP is truly a more cost effective telephony method; maybe that’s why millions of businesses are already relying on VoIP service providers for their communication strategy.

Installation and Maintenance are a Headache

When you think about a business phone system, you may be picturing a server that needs to be stored in a closet and maintained by a highly-trained (and pricey) IT staff. Thankfully, clunky equipment is no longer needed when implementing a VoIP phone service. Most VoIP service providers offer remote provisioning with their hardware for fast and easy set up. If you decide to purchase phones along with service, all you have to do is connect the phones to the correct ports and watch your phone initialize. In under 10 minutes, you can be up and running with your new office phone; no cabling or heavy equipment needed. As for maintenance, most VoIP service providers have their own IT staff who are responsible for handling software updates.

Renewing Your Trust in VoIP Providers

It can be scary to take the first step towards something you previously thought was bad for business; but if you know someone who is currently using VoIP, ask them about their experiences. What did they like? How did it help their business? If possible, start on a trial period and see for yourself if VoIP is really living up to its hype. Once you’re familiar with the many ways VoIP providers can make a positive impact on your business, you’ll be wondering why didn’t make the switch sooner.

So what should you do when you decide that VoIP is right for your business?

Choosing Between Business VoIP Providers

We’ve established that business VoIP providers bring benefits to businesses of all sizes. If you’re a small business looking to save on costs and time, there is a practical communication technology waiting to be discovered.

How to Write an Effective Resume – Top Ten Tips From a Recruiter’s Perspective

Your resume is one of your most important marketing tools. But remember, no matter how great it is, your resume will NOT get you a job. If it if written properly, however, the odds are much greater that you may gain a recruiter’s interest and be invited to interview.

As a Senior Recruiter for both small firms and large corporations, I have reviewed thousands of resumes during my 15+ years of recruiting and HR experience. My experience is that applicants often tend to miss these most important aspects that could make their resume more effective in attracting the attention and interest of recruiters and hiring managers.

Resume purpose: to market and sell your background, skills, accomplishments, and experience to those who have a need for your expertise or a problem that you can solve.

Resume role: to create interest, to show that you indeed have the requisite skills and experience, and to get a recruiter and/or hiring manager interested enough to invite you to interview.

Top Ten Tips for Writing an Effective Resume (from a recruiter’s point of view):

1. You can (and should) have more than one resume! Create a separate resume for the top two to three main areas of your expertise. (For example, one resume for marketing, one for sales, one for engineering). Each resume should highlight specific examples of your accomplishments, skills, and experience from your current and previous roles that directly relate to that particular area of expertise.

2. Two Pages in Length, Max. Condense, condense, condense! Pretend that each word costs you $100 and you will write less, enabling you to fit your most important information on two pages. (Exception: doctors and other published professionals often need a few more pages to list their credentials and published works. But even they should keep it as short as possible). Have someone whose opinion you trust proofread your resume and edit where necessary before sending it out.

3. Choose an Appropriate Format. The best and easiest resume format to review is chronological (starting with most recent job and date and working backwards through your job history). However, a functional resume format is often suggested as an option especially for those who have been out of the job market for a while or who want to change careers. But it can raise red flags that could stop your resume from being reviewed further. Recruiters know that a functional format is often used to hide gaps in employment dates. In addition, details for skills and experience are lumped together into separate functional areas, instead of under each particular job held in the past. In many cases, because of the time and difficulty involved in reading a functional resume, recruiters often pass them over and move on to the next one.

4. Focus Your Attention on The Most Important “Real Estate” on Your Resume: the top half of the front page. Why? Because recruiters today are inundated with resumes, especially in these tough economic times when so many are out of work. Often, recruiters are managing anywhere up to 50+ jobs at one time, with each one having hundreds and hundreds of resume submissions. The average time an experienced recruiter spends initially scanning a resume to determine if it is relevant to the position is approximately 7 to15 seconds. If the top half of your resume does not quickly differentiate and sell you as a viable candidate with recent and relevant skills and experience for the specific job for which you are applying, the recruiter will simply move on to the next one.

5. Develop a Keyword Rich Resume. Be sure to add the main keywords for your skills and experience as well as your industry and organizational keywords all through your resume. Recruiters use various types of search tools in ATS (applicant tracking systems) where they type in main keyword terms for the specific job and position qualifications to search for related resumes. They also conduct similar keyword searches online on major job boards and even some social media sites. Only resumes that contain those keywords will appear in their review box and those are the only resumes that they will scan for consideration. If your main keywords are not in your resume, it is very likely that your resume will not be reviewed, even though you may be very well qualified.

6. Create a Brief Bullet Point Summary. At the top of the front page of your resume, list 5 to 7 bullet point phrases that highlight your most compelling skills, experience, accomplishments, training and education. This summary should be located somewhere within the very top third section of the resume underneath but close to your name and contact information. Critical: avoid “fluff” or trite phrases such as “Good at multitasking” or “Detail oriented”, etc. The reader’s eye should be able to quickly scan the summary section and determine at a glance that your resume is one worth continuing to read through to the end.

7. Quantify and Qualify Your Experience. Recruiters and hiring managers highly value proven accomplishments and results. The more you can quantify or qualify your bullet point statements under each of your position listings, the more strongly you will be perceived as a person of action and results. After each statement, ask yourself, “What did I accomplish?” or “What was the result?”. Try to tie a quantifiable result to the end of each statement if possible, such as, “and as a result, saved the company $X” or “increased revenues by X%”, or “sold the most widgets on the team and was selected as employee of the year”.

8. Focus on Your Most Recent and Relevant Job Information. Recruiters and hiring managers want to know what you have done most recently that is relevant to the position for which they are hiring. Write the bulk of your resume information about your skills, experience and accomplishments for the most recent 5 to 7 years of your job history. Unless your experience past that point is unusually helpful for stating your case, minimize that information to save valuable resume space. Beyond 7 to 10 years of job history, you can just list one or two line entries for each position held. Save the rest of the details of those positions for the application form and interviews.

9. Place Your Key Credentials, Certifications, and Educational Experience Sections In a Conspicuous Place. A bachelors degree should typically be located near the end of the resume under the educational section heading. However, do you have a job-related advanced degree such as an MBA, PhD, or other certifications or credentials that you want to make sure a recruiter or hiring manager sees? Place them toward the top front section of your resume, right before or after the summary section. Why? If you bury them at the end of your resume, they may never be seen. (See Tip #4)

10. List Organizations, Associations and Affiliations of which you are a volunteer or member. Often overlooked, this information can be a great way to show an employer that you stay current with information and contacts in your industry. If you volunteer for positions, especially leadership roles, be sure to list those as well. This information is especially important for those applying for roles in financial services and sales and marketing firms who need to show that they already have an established network. Place this section of information near the end of your resume.

This final tip is a bonus. However, it is THE single most important tip of all in writing an effective resume.

Always tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth on your resume…always! Never, ever misrepresent what you did or be tempted to tell a “little white lie” on your resume or to a recruiter – period! Be especially careful with job titles and job responsibilities you list. Make sure that the job title and responsibilities you put on your resume can actually be verified if someone were to call your current or former employer or colleagues and ask about you. Untrue and misrepresented statements, no matter how innocent they may seem, are a breach of integrity and can come back to haunt you many years later. You could even be fired as a consequence! It just isn’t worth it.

Use these ten tips to tighten and refine your resume and then you can submit it with confidence!