Posts tagged: business

Long Term Investment Options

long term investmentsInterested in investing for the long term? Can’t figure out a suitable option? Your primary aim is to get a decent return on your investments. Risks do exist in the financial world, which you can mitigate by diversifying your portfolio and combing the available options together.

The time period associated with long term investments is around 7 years or greater. Generally, you are on the lookout for return rates averaging to 8 % to 8.5%. High risks are expected for some of the options, but are usually acceptable because the returns are also worthy.

Before proceeding ahead, educate yourself on the various options available, and accordingly make a decision. Let’s walk you through the best choices for long term investments in Australia.

Savings Account

A savings account offers an interest rate of only 1% to 3%, but is still utilised by many Australians, simply because it is risk-free. You deposit a certain amount from your income monthly, over which interest is compounded.
You can open up a savings account with any bank of your choice, and can manage it through the offered app.

Bonds

Bonds are type of a loan, issued by the government and companies in an attempt to raise money. Investors lend an amount to the issuer of the bond for a certain time period during which they receive a return regularly. The return rates associated with bonds are higher than savings accounts.

Gold

Gold is a popular long term investment option, especially for those looking to diversify their portfolios. Gold always tends to maintain its values and cannot default unlike fiat currencies, which makes it a suitable investment option when economic disturbances and fluctuations are prevalent in the financial market. In such scenarios, gold responds differently compared to other assets, which helps you mitigate risks.

Investment advisors at goldbullionaustralia.com.au suggest that gold should ideally take up around 10% or more of your investment portfolio, but there can be variations. Once the value increases and you start realising returns, you can sell gold through simple processes to generate a profit.

Shares

If you invest in shares, it means you are a partial owner of the company. Your wealth grows when share prices increase and when you’re paid dividends. Shares are a risky investment option, and so it can be hard to figure out the ones that would maximise returns.

Property

Buying and selling property is a common investment strategy in Australia. You get money from the profits earned on the sale or as a regular income, if you rent out the unit or land. Property investment has become riskier these days, but you can address them through numerous ways.

Term Deposits

Terms deposits are god way to accomplish your long term saving goals. You put your money into a term deposit, which is then tied down for a certain period. Choose any suitable period from between 1 year and 5 years, keeping in mind that you won’t be able to make any withdrawals during this time. You earn an interest during this period, and aren’t allowed to make any withdrawals.

So which of these options have you already invested in? Do let us know what works best for you.

Why to invest in South Florida Luxury Real Estate

large real estateSouth Florida is amongst the strongest luxury real estate markets worldwide. Alongside with NY and London,this is the perfect spot for wealthy investors to run business and the reasons are simple; low taxes,the central hub for international business, strong population growth, diverse cultural offerings,and high quality of life continually improving, among others.

South Florida is one of the most populated states in America and one of the wealthiest economies in the world, occupying a GDP leading position in the United States.Definitely the best place whether you want to own a luxury home or invest in real estate property.

Investing in a South Florida luxury real estate also means high returns as its prices are always soaring and regardless of any market variables, there will always be people willing to go high-end. Renting is another option if you don’t want to get rid of your property; whether you rent short term or long term, South Florida enjoys a strong rental market with high demand and good yields.

What is even more appealing is the variety of state-of-the-art properties you have access to in the luxury housing market. World-renowned developers and architects have devoted to constructing an overwhelming portfolio that includes features normally found in luxury resorts and 5-star hotels. Here’s a short list you may want to check out:

Continuum South Beach

Continuum South Beachis beautifully located in the southern tip of Miami. This is a two-tower condominium with resort-like amenities, services and fixtures that will provide owners the lifestyle they always dreamed of. The sophistication of the towers is evident just by entering the imposing two-story lobby and the unparalleled resort-like amenities, services, and fixtures this residential masterpiece has to offer. Prices can range from $975,000 to $15 M

South Pointe

South Pointe condominium prides itself with a convenient “SoFi” or “South of Fifth Street” location, dazzling views, and condominiums ranging from 850 to 1,270 square feet. The building offers a cozy café to get the day started a business center where you can impress your clients. Of course, the swimming pool and spa, billiard room and spa are not to miss. A residence in South Pointe starts at $849,000.

Auberge Fort Lauderdale

This is an exclusive new residential construction set on 4.6 acres with 450 feet of Fort Lauderdale oceanfront. The lavish tower features astriking oceanfront frontage and expansive terraces with ocean and city views.One of the prime features in the building is the upgraded spa services it offers. Find units at $2.5 M.

Murano at Portofino

With panoramic ocean, bay and city views, this luxurious tower has got it all, and is one of the most stylish bay front properties in the South Beach area of Miami Beach. This opulent condominium affords a private Bay Side Beach Club and on-point amenities for residents to delight in, including 2 heated lagoon pools a sport club and a luxury spa giving it an all-round exclusive feel that’s yours to keep. You can find units starting at $825,000.

Apogee

This residential masterpiece offers 67 exclusive residences set right on the waterfront in the elite area of South Beach in Miami Beachoffers 67 exclusive residences set right on the waterfront and it pampers it residents with only four residences per floor, each with flow-through design plus water and city views, a state-of the art spa to Take a break from your daily routine, and an infinity-edge pool overlooking the water, among others. Units start at 8.5 M

Why it Pays to Have Your Fingers in Many Pies When You’re Self Employed

freelance moneyThere are so many great benefits of being self employed. Flexible hours, you can work from wherever you want and there’s no superiors to answer to. You can really fit your work around your life, instead of trying to fit your life around rigid work hours. However there is a downside, self employment work can be unreliable and unlike regular employment you don’t have a set paycheck that lands in your bank each month. Things can be a little up and down, which is why it’s so worth having a number of different options available to you for earning money. If you’re having a slow month, you can always pick up one of the others. Here are some ideas.

Run a Business

For most self employed people, their main focus will be running some kind of business. You could be baking cakes, making clothes, buying and selling things online or something else completely. Either way, this is a great way to make money when you work for yourself. However you could experiences peaks and troughs with your profits throughout the year, and if you’re having a quiet few weeks or months, you could earn extra money with the following methods.

Start a Blog

It takes time to build a blog, but if you start one up and publish regular content (even once a week) it will grow. Later down the line, your blog can be a real cash cow- sponsors generally pay well to have their content or links posted on your site and so it can be a quick and easy way to earn some extra money. Plus you can link your blog to your main business, and use it as a promotional tool as well. Blogging brings with it all kinds of opportunities, and so it’s well worth setting one up, even if it’s not your main source of income.

Freelance

It’s always worth signing up to a freelance site, that way if your business or blog is slow you can pick up some extra work. There’s almost always work available, and you can work on it any time you’re free to boost your bank balance. Whether you’re a writer, app or website designer, illustrator or something else completely, your skills will be needed online and freelancing gives you the ability to earn cash from home in a legitimate way.

Stocks and Trading

If you’re interested in finances then chances are you’ve took a keep interest in crypto currency over the last few months. While Bitcoin is still the one you hear most about, there are lots of others that can give you opportunity to earn well. Look at these Ethereum facts for example. While there’s always an element of risk when it comes to investing, as long as you’re smart about it it can be a good way to secure yourself some extra cash.

Don’t risk a slow financial month leaving you in the lurch. When you have bills to pay and other expenses to cover, when you’re self employed it pays to have your fingers in many pies. That way, you can always make up the necessary amount each month in your bank.

Put Your Customers At The Front Of Everything You Do

business customersIf you do absolutely everything with your customers best interest at heart, then you can’t really go wrong can you. Well, hypothetically you can’t, but we all know how awkward customers can be sometimes. They have to be among the most hardest of people to please in the entire world. But how true is that statement. Is it that they are hard to please, or is it due to the fact we aren’t doing enough to please them. Whilst a lot of business owners wouldn’t like to admit it, money is always at the forefront of their minds. Everything a business does is money orientated, even if some like to sugar coat it as caring for the customer. Think of typical adverts such as ‘Tailor made phone contracts designed with you in mind’. No, they’re not designed with the customer in mind, they’re designed to make the most money. So, if you know you’re guilty of this we’re here to change you. Putting the customers at the front of everything you do will completely transform your business, and here’s how you can do it.

Your Website

Your website plays a crucial role in the happiness of your customers, and happiness always equals more sales. Now we’re in an era where most people chose to go to the internet to buy pretty much everything. The internet is now even better than the local supermarket that might be a two minute drive down the road. It just makes everything so much easier, so you better believe that the majority of your sales are going to be coming through your website. So, the more effort you put into it, the better you’re going to be in terms of customer happiness. One thing to think about doing is having a UX agency help to upgrade, or even design you a whole new website. UX is a user experience based website. It puts the customer at first and helps to improve things such as the ease of use, and the ordering process to better suit your customers needs. They have expert knowledge to make sure that the customer is always pleased when using your website. The second thing you need to think about doing is actually getting your website out there for customers to notice. The best thing to do here would be to use a marketing agency to set up the best strategy for your website and business. Different strategies work better for different companies, so going it alone isn’t always the best thing to do.

Your Products

The better your products, the happier your customers. It is a no brainer really, but something a lot of businesses seem to struggle with for some reason. Market research is one of the best ways to make sure you’re always on the right track. It will give you access to vital information such as what your customers like and dislike about your products, and what they expect to see from you. Take the feedback onboard and make sure you’re always improving upon their advice. Our main advice would be to make sure you’re not cutting any corners. We understand you’re in the game to try and make as much money as possible, but poor quality products aren’t going to get you very far, no matter how much money you’ve saved making them. What the people want is high quality, long lasting, and even unique products if you can achieve something like that. It might be worth having a sneak at what your competitors are doing, and how they’re making their products or services so you can have a little inspiration.

Your Sales Strategy

This is where so many business go wrong. A good sales strategy isn’t one that is aggressive and has the aim of reaching out to as many customers as possible. A successful sales strategy is one that waits for the customers to come to it. The last thing you should be doing is things such as cold calling to try and get sales. Nothing will anger your customers more. Gentle sales techniques such as offers and discounts will help to naturally draw the customers in. You can then work your magic either face to face, or over the phone or email. Never be too aggressive, and never try and oversell a product to your customers. Make it sound exciting, but never pressure. There are plenty of guides on the internet that will help you to improve your sales strategy.

Your Customer Service

Bad customer service is being too pushy with things such as sales, as we’ve already discuessed. But something even worse than that is the poor customer service you can give when a customer is actually trying to purchase a product or your service. You should always be polite, attentive, and make sure you’re giving the customer everything they want, obviously within reason. It isn’t just you that needs to nail this, your employees do to. As a business owner we would hope that you already know what is required when it comes to customer interaction, but your employees might not always be so clued up. They’re often the reason why you’ll be getting complaints in the first place. Make sure you hold regular training days and reviews to make sure they’re always giving customer service to the highest standard.

Beat Your Competitors

Finally, if you want to keep your customers at the front of everything you do, you first need to make sure you’ve got the customers. Always stay one step ahead of your competitors, and don’t be afraid to take a few sneaky ideas from them to improve your own business. Make sure you’re checking out their faults, and use them as your own strengths. Just like customers talk about your own business, they’ll talk about your competitors too. This can easily be found online, and it can easily be used to your advantage. Marketing is another good way to make sure you’re always in the limelight with potential customers, therefore keeping you one step ahead of competitors.

Moving Across The World Shouldn’t Cost You The Earth

moving costsAre you planning on moving abroad sometime soon? Whether you are moving for work and a new position or because you just want to try and start a new life in a new country, there are going to be some big financial burdens that could stand in your way. In fact, the cost of moving to the other side of the world can be so big that some families end up spending their entire life savings on the move. But does it really have to be so expensive?

Thankfully, you might not have to take out your entire savings to pay for your new life abroad. There are some ways you can make the transition a lot more affordable. Read on to find out more!

Ask For Moving Costs To Be Reimbursed

If you are moving because you have got a new job or your current firm wants you to relocate, there is a good chance that they will be able to help you with your moving costs. If the company haven’t mentioned anything to you as of yet, it’s worth asking them to find out if they can contribute to the costs. Sometimes, they might pay for your moving company or shipping costs. Even if they don’t cover all of the costs, they should still contribute a small amount as they are the ones making you move!

Hire Specialist Removal Firms

A lot of work and effort goes into packing up your whole life and shipping it to another country. Not every moving firm will be able to help you with this. But there are some international removalists that specialise in long-distance moves. It’s really worth hiring one of these firms as they will have a lot of experience in this kind of thing. They will advise you on the best form of shipping for your belongings, and will be on-hand to help with the practicalities of moving at each end of the journey.

Be Flexible With Your Moving Date

If you can be, it really is worth being as flexible as possible with your moving date. After all, the price of flights will go up and down depending on the time of year. If possible, you should try and wait to move until your destination’s low season. This will be when fewer tourists will be traveling there, so flights should be cheaper than in the high season.

Consider The Best Way To Transfer Money

It’s not just the practicalities of the move itself that could end up costing you big time. There are some hidden costs that you might forget about, such as transferring all of your money into a foreign bank account. Ideally, you need to wait until the exchange rates are in your favour so that you get as much for your money as possible. Even if this means waiting for a few weeks after you transfer your money, it will be worth it so that you don’t lose out on quite as much cash.

Follow these tips and your move abroad won’t be so pricey!