Money and Personal Finance

The lure of easy dishonest money is temptation for many a criminal. Illicit gain has attracted thieves into the financial arena. Dishonest fraudsters are easily prevented by employing ordinary security measures.

Dishonest weights and measures, where the trademark of con artists when silver, gold or purchasing products from merchant’s way before paper money made its appearance. With the advent of paper money and financial institutions, bank check fraud became the number one money transaction crime.

The process by which a check transaction takes place is when a bank check is written to someone, they deposit it in their account. The bank proceeds to send the check to a clearinghouse whose main purpose is to verify that there are funds sufficient for the transaction. Armed with this information, the bank can then deposit the funds into the person’s account knowing they are covered.

For instance, consider home thefts and in store thefts.

Studies support that most thefts are done by individuals working for and friends of the company. 80% of thefts are in house and equally divided between employees and delivery persons, so-called friends of the company. All research studies support these general conclusions.

You can’t control another’s perceived need or their rationalizations but can control their perception of going undetected. The reality check is that you can only affect the feeling that they are being watched, the cookies are being counted and that they cannot go undetected. They need mechanisms in place that makes them think that the cookies are counted before and after they leave.

Criteria for bank check security is the hallmark of the American National Standards Institute’s (ANSI).

It is accepted and adhered to by all financial institutions. One security feature is that small micro-print is employed that makes photocopying unfeasible. The print breaks up and is easily spotted.

Studies show that 90% of people will steal from you if they feel they can go undetected and if they have a perceived need and can rationalize their behavior.

Another ploy is to alter bank checks by changing the details. The criminal takes a good check and uses chemicals such as acetone or brake fluid or other means to erase the payee information and/or the amount.

Check to see if you have a healthy paranoia concerning your security. Healthy paranoia can be described as accurate thinking. Dealing with reality in a positive way without ignoring reality as others may do by focusing solely on positive thinking is essential for your balanced footing. Routinely check over your financial statements as a preventative.

Early in the year there were cries everywhere about food shortage all over the world. There was real scarcity of rice and definitely an accompanying upsurge in price. This made a lot of us put on our thinking caps again. Nigeria should be a major rice producing country. All of sudden a vogue started in Nigeria. Our local breed of rice was being served at parties in leaves as was done in the olden days. Our local breed popularly referred to as “ofada” especially in in the Lagos, Ogun axis. Rice is richly cultivated in Ekiti, Edo, Abakaliki, Lagos and Ogun states, definitely breeds from these states vary,

Our leaders in these states should consider creating INVESTMENT out of this situation, these would bring adventurous businessmen into the country seeking to experiment with our various local rice breeds. Our local rice breeds have turned out to be very great delicacies.

These various breeds in Nigeria will create an excitement in the world rice market. People are used to the regular long grain type of rice as made popular by the known world producers of rice Thailand et al. With some technology Nigeria can break into the world rice market as a major rice producer. Every sector in life comes with varieties, our local breed will come as an alternative to the usual.

This is where I believe businessmen from rice producing countries should come in with their experience and also technical expertise in Rice production. Even if the target is the local market initially. Our leaders and our financial institutions should look into rice cultivation and production as an investment window.

Creating a dynamic small business plan is a critical step to understanding your business and developing successful strategies and goals / objectives. One essential feature of business plans that guides entrepreneurs to growth and profits is an effective business plan layout. After all, if the plan doesn’t cover the essential components of your business clearly and correctly, it will probably not be very relevant.

Here is a general outline for a success small business plan that covers all of the areas financial institutions and angel investors look for when lending capital and also provides an excellent roadmap for owners in tracking business milestones.
• Executive Summary – This needs to be a concise, hard-hitting overview of your business’ information, priorities, and projects. Keep it to 1-3 pages and write this section last so that the narrative accurately reflects the rest of the document. Remember, if this section must grab the reader–making her want to read more–or the entire business plan will be compromised.
• Mission Statement – Mission statements are ridiculed but it is always a good idea to document what your small business is going to do and why it is so important. The mission statement should not be any more than 1-2 sentences and should reflect the primary purpose for opening the business and why it is so important.
• Company Description – This is where you describe the nature of the business-does it sell a product or service, what target audience will it serve, what is the general territory it will cover, and what is the staffing arrangement.
• Risk Assessment – This allows you to do an honest evaluation of your business, its industry, and what pitfalls may affect you when you least expect them. It is very important to show that you have spent time to anticipate problems and identify potential solutions.
• Operations – This reflects the nuts and bolts of the business including location, staffing, employee recruiting, hiring, training, and evaluating processes, building / equipment lease or purchase, etc.
• Marketing – It is essential to have a strong understanding of target audiences or types of people who will be most likely to purchase your product or service. This is also the opportunity to discuss primary competitors and how you plan to optimize your business in a particular market or niche.
• Products / Services – Provide a detailed description of the product and / service your business will promote and other relevant information such as production / distribution methods, pricing, etc.
• Sales – Products and services rarely sell themselves so you need to describe how you plan on generating revenues and profits. Are you going to use advertising and, if so, what type (print, radio, TV, etc)? How will you measure the success or failure of your chosen method(s) to generate revenue?
• Financial Projections – This is another “nuts and bolts” section of the plan. It is essential to document overhead costs, product pricing, and anticipated profits from your business. Create a spreadsheet that shows each line item and tracks projected figures as well as actual.
• Appendix – Pull together all relevant documents for your business such as insurance policies, leases, and industry-created information about your product or service. Most investors will want proof or evidence to show that you have complied with all regulatory / professional standards and to justify your optimism in your business model.

Reaching the decision to write a small business plan is certainly an important step in attaining success and profits. However, careful attention needs to be given to the business plan layout to ensure that you include all essential elements needed to guide your actions / decisions and attract financial institutions or angel investors.

Writing a business plan is very important for a small business. You have to explain your background, qualifications, experience and your capacity to implement the project. A good business plan is absolutely essential to convince the banks and financial institutions to lend you money for the project

Your business plan should explain who is starting the project. What is the project? When are you starting the project? Why are you starting the project? How are you going about it? The results expected from the project, should also be mentioned.

Your background and qualifications have to be explained in detail. You have to explain what projects you have done before. You should give a detailed explanation of the product or service you are going to launch. And also the competition you might face. If you are already in business, you should also give details of the activities of the company or business. The revenue expected should be mentioned in detail.

If it is new business the details of how you are setting up the business. How long it would take to set it up? Your production and sales targets should also be mentioned. How you are meeting these targets should also be explained.

Where are you going to set up the business? Whether it is a shop or a factory? How are you acquiring the land? The details of construction of the building and the costs involved should be mentioned.

Your marketing plans will have to be explained. Who are your customers and how are you going to reach them should be explained. Whether you are hiring a marketing company to market your product or marketing it on your own has to be explained. If you are planning an expansion, the details of how it would be financed should be mentioned.

You have to do quite a bit of ground work and research before starting any new project. It is always better to have contingency plans to get over any unforeseen problems. I have seen people visualizing various scenarios, and making plans to face them. It is always better to look before you jump.

Going through college can be financially difficult for student belonging in the lower and middle income families. Some students look for scholarships just to finish their education. However, getting a scholarship is never an easy thing. There are lots of requirements to comply. Some institutions offering scholarships even do background checks. If students can be lucky enough, they can grab the scholarship to help with their college life. However, scholarships are not for everybody. Some students don’t have any choice but to go to financial institutions and avail student loans. Then, debt management service will come into the picture. Students might need services like that to help them in managing their debts.

To cater to their needs, student management services were born. Some regular debt management programs are intended for non-student individuals who are also experiencing financial difficulty. You might be asking why students need the service. Let’s face it, they don’t have steady source of income. Some aren’t even working- they still depend on their parents financially. On the other hand, there are also working students who support themselves financially. Yet, the monthly income will not be enough to cover all the expenses in school. Getting a student loan can add another burden to their finances. Moreover, expenses connected to school were way expensive to their means.

Tuition fees are expensive nowadays especially if one is enrolled at a private university or college. Not only that, other expenses such as daily allowance and other stuff are additional list to the student’s monthly payments. Then, they will experience difficulty in paying expenses. If a student is dependent on student loans, they will surely face trouble. Even though the interest rate is somewhat reasonable, interest still entails a cash outflow from them. It is rather advisable for them to avail student debt management services. The service is very helpful in making them free from all their debts. Programs will provide ways on how to reduce their monthly dues.

Student debt management services can be located by just searching on the net. There are various services available on the internet. Students must be patient in looking for a service which is appropriate to their financial problem. Student management services will assist students in setting up repayment agreement which they can afford. It can even make help them in matters regarding returned checks, past due debts and loans. Not only will the debt management service give a hand in making plans on repaying debts but to teach them on money matters. Included in the service are strategies on how to manage money efficiently.

Debt management services can provide sample budgets which students can use in everyday undertaking. Moreover, financial planning is also instilled to the students. The said service will integrate the importance of having financial goals. Short-term as well as long-term goals are expected from students. Debt management services will not only help solve the present dilemma of students but provide future plans. So, if you are a student who has financial problem, better go online and avail debt management services.