A dispute over what workers referred to as “life threatening health and safety issues” at Langage Energy Centre a power station under construction for the French company Alstom that led to a walkout by 50 scaffolder’s who were subsequently fired, has been resolved and the men have been fully reinstated.
The scaffolders who all work through company called Vange walked off the job last week and illegally picketed at the gates of the facility. The company has now agreed to urgently look into the complaints from the men about what they consider to be highly dubious health and safety issues on the site.
This is not the first time that the company has seen employees walk out over health and safety problems at the £400 million construction site. In August a similar protest erupted in which 200 workers walked off the job over health and safety irregularities.
Alstom has now pledged to fully investigate and resolve all of the workers safety fears which revolve around the company making use of what other workers see as completely “unqualified labour” which they see as a threat to their safety and possibly their lives.
Scaffolder’s claim that since the protest during the summer, not only were things not improving but in fact, the health and safety situation had deteriorated drastically. They have agreed that in future they will take no illegal action in order to settle disputes.
Health and safety issues can cause massive disruption to any workplace especially construction sites. Make sure that your company is fully aware of the latest health and safety regulations by contacting Workplace Law and finding out about their NEBOSH training courses.
Entity structuring is the use of limited partnerships, limited liabilities, and corporations. These can help you accomplish three things:
1. Bullet-proofing your assets so that the bad guys are worse off if they try and take them away from you.
2. Slashing your taxes so that they are within single digits.
3. Protecting your privacy and building lasting wealth.
Let me explain how this works with the following example:
A case study: My friend Patrick grew up with the family business. His family sold expensive boats. His business grew. He was a financially intelligent man so he wanted to add a stream of income. Therefore, he decided to start a Marina, a land storage facility, a parts shop and a show room. I wanted to make sure he was properly protected and that he had bullet-proofed his assets. However, he was too busy making money to focus on it at that time. This was his fatal flaw. One day, I got that dreaded call from Patrick. The sheriff deputy was there to shut down his businesses: the Marina, the parts shop, the storage facility, and the show room. His business was locked down with pad locks in a matter of hours. Within six months, he lost all of his personal assets and filed both personal and corporate bankruptcy. The tragedy here is beyond his loses but the fact that this situation was completely avoidable. You can prevent this from happening to your business by using two power tools:
1. Limited Partnerships: separate legal entities. They separate your personal assets from business investments.
2. Limited Liability: similar to Limited Partnerships as they form a wall between you and the creditors and predators.
These two power tools include a built-in charging order that does not apply to your typical “S” or “C” corporations. A charging order basically states that the “bad guys” cannot go after your assets. They will be able to go after income but not after you employ the following strategy. We can set up a separate management company for you. Then, you can shift your money from your LLC or LP into your separate management company. The last step in your protection is called imputing income, and it finalizes the prevention of lawsuits. The IRS can step in and tax these bad guys for the money they are suing for (even when they are unable to collect this money.) This ensures the fact that suing you will not be worth the effort.
In summary: They cannot touch your assets because you have protected them. They cannot receive the income because you have shifted it out. They are left with heavy taxes imposed by the IRS. Therefore, the likelihood of you being sued is next to nothing.
Pathfinder is offering consumers who visit their website a free tax savings special report & Free Tax Saving Webinar.For information about these tools visit www.Save10kinTaxes.com
Water Filters www.1a-water-filters.com Water is the basic necessity of human beings, as without it you can’t survive for a single day. Being the basic necessity today people have become more aware and alert regarding water, as they know that water is the prime source of many diseases. Due to growing awareness among people water filters too are gaining equal attention. By seeing this sudden awareness many water filters producing companies have joined the bandwagon in providing the best and safe water filters. They are said to be selling like hot cakes in the market as everyone wants to have long and healthy life. If we talk about water filters, they are the device primarily used for providing safe and pure drinking water. Scientifically talking it is the barrier or hurdle which obstructs impurities to mix in the drinking water. It not only cleans the water but also keeps the water nutrients intact. Water filters have become the real rage as now you will not only find water filters in houses but also in offices and even at public places.
Water filters are basically used to purify water that can be used for drinking, irrigations, water aquariums and also for swimming pools. These days’ water filters not only cleanse the water but also remove the smell and bad taste from it making it drinkable. They are generally equipped with special filters which never allow bacteria to pass through it irrespective of its size and type. With technology boom big water filters are significantly replaced by portable water filters. They are as handy as they can be simply attached with the running water tap which makes you get instant germ free water. Despite having various added features they are still easy to install and operate.
For operating water filters you don’t require any technical know how as they are fully automatic and can be easily operated. But always makes sure that the cartridge or filter paper is frequently replaced with the new one as it has got its own life. Being the backbone of water filter, cartridge should be properly handled and periodically changed. Currently counter water filters are becoming real trend as they cover less space after installation and also perform the complete transparent water filtering operation. But countertop water filters are too equally effective as they perform a more scientific modus operandi for water filtration. So if you want to live a healthy and germ free life then you must install best water filter in town as healthy and pure drinking is the doorway to happy living.
The voice you heard by the majority of people in the Net is true, the real true money generating machine is to offer your own product or service where you can keep 100% of the profits.
Before you even start creating or introduce your own product or service, you should do some research to check the target market size, competitors and the available pricing methods available for the type of product or service that you intend to offer.
The most common product that people develop are ebook or what is commonly known as info product. It is based on the experience that you have accumulated over the years either through your jobs or hobbies and convert them into writings.
Everyone of us have a special skills and things that we do better than the rest. You can further expand your knowledge database via further education or self-education in order to create the business.
Many new business are created not by developing new products or services but by improving something that already exists. The initial innovators of products might received lots of recognition for their innovation might not know how to make the product appeal to the mass consumers and sell like hot cakes. Subsequent bright businessmen or women succeeded in relaunching the same product after some improvement as they are able to saw the mistakes that have been made and was able to capitalized on it.
The movies industry is the best example, many movies are just about repackaging to appeal to the movies consumers. Why develop new super heroes when you can make good money from old familiar heroes like Spiderman. Many movies goers grows up watching Spiderman cartoon and although they maybe adults now,
they still enjoy it like when they was young. It is so familiar with them.
Therefore, time spend trying to find brand new idea should instead be spend on improving existing idea. The most important criteria is to try and find a NEED which you can filled.
For improving your business success rate, try not to go into a hot industries that are already overcrowded with suppliers unless you can offer something cheaper and better than them and still make a profit. Finding a niche market is a better strategy as an unique product or service will increase your chances of success.
Starting a Work At Home Online Business means that you should look for product or service that can be sold online and delivered to people living around the world. It should be cheaper or more convenience to order online rather than offline.
The most famous successful niche finder is Amazon.com. The books they sold already exist offline and by bringing it online and pricing its books competitively, they slowly build up their niche market and have now become the world largest online books sellers.
Therefore, open your eyes wide and start looking at things around you and think of ways to improve them.
Deciding to buy a Franchise is a huge decision. Once you have convinced yourself that franchising suits your character and business aspirations, have identified the right franchise, done your sums, attended the initial training and perhaps paid an initial deposit you will be presented with a Franchise Agreement to sign.
Typically this agreement could run to 40 or 50 pages and can be a daunting read to those unfamiliar with commercial contracts. The very nature of a franchise business structure means that the agreement will be fairly complex. Remember that this document provides the framework for your business life over the next seven years or so.
Franchisors, particularly established ones, will rarely change or negotiate the terms of their standard Franchise Agreement as they will want to maintain uniformity across all the franchises. However, it is essential that you understand what you are being asked to sign. Once you have signed an agreement as a business person (without the cotton wool treatment given to consumers) you will struggle to persuade a court later that the terms were unfair or sufficiently unreasonable to be void. You will be stuck with it! I strongly recommend that you seek legal advice from a commercial solicitor familiar with franchising.
Key areas include establishing the true cost of the franchise including ongoing royalties, advertising costs, minimum stock purchases. What location and territorial rights have been granted? Are these exclusive to you? What property and equipment is required? What obligations are there on you and the Franchisor relating to the ongoing operation of the franchise?
Often the most complex area relates to renewal and termination of the franchise. Are you granted an automatic renewal right beyond the franchise term of 5 or 7 years? What renewal fee is payable? Can you sell the franchise on? Usually you will need to give the franchisor first option and/or a right of veto over the acceptability of any proposed transferee, often coupled with a % fee. What are the consequences of an early termination by you if you want or need to get out prematurely? There will usually be a minimum period with forfeiture of the franchise fee, stock and possibly other financial penalties and compensation. What if you are in breach? What circumstances would lead to an automatic termination? Are you given a period in which to remedy your breach?
Ask yourself some “What if?” scenarios. What if you died or were seriously ill? What if you failed to meet your sales targets? What if you wanted to sell product out of your territory? What if a customer sued you for faulty products? If you cannot answer all your What ifs, do seek more advice. Don’t be afraid to ask the Franchisor these questions. But don’t expect an impartial response. The Franchise Agreement will usually have an express term preventing any reliance upon representations or claims made by the Franchisor in the initial presentations or documentation. Much to the disappointment of many clients who come to us for advice having run an unsuccessful franchise, this applies particularly to any claims as to how much money can be earnt… Buyer beware!
Martin Truman is head of commercial law firm, Truelegal Solicitors. For more information about Franchise Agreements visit The Legal Advice Centre.
Chicago, IL– There’s no place like home…To earn a living!!
Over 27 Million Americans are now working from home. The U.S.
Department of
Labor has predicted that number to Double in the next ten years.
So how are all of these people getting paid to work from home?
It’s very simple today
with the convenience of personal computers and affiliate
programs.
Don’t have a web site or product?
Most of the work from home opportunities and affiliate will
provide you with your own
web sites and products to sell.
Here are a few simple things you can use to get started:
Find an affiliate program or product and sign up. Almost all of
the affiliate programs you will find will be free to sign up.
Many affiliate programs will have multiple products for you to
promote. Most affiliate
programs will also have advertising pre-written for you as well.
This makes it very easy
for beginners. I recommend writing your own sales letters or
promotions.
This generally gives it a more personal feel. When choosing a
product, make sure to
research the commission rates. The last thing you want to do is
spend a lot of time
trying to promote things for peanuts. I have found the Internet
Marketing Center to be
the best paying program as they will pay you over 60% of their
net profits!
With the Internet Marketing Center, you will get proven ads that
they have field-tested to generate very high numbers of click
through’s.Which includes buttons, banners, text links,
classified ads, e-mail promotions, and even pop-ups. You’ll get
commissioned on procrastinators — even after 3 years! If you
send them a visitor who doesn’t buy right away, but comes back
to the IMC site and buys within three years, you are still fully
commissioned! (They don’t even need to go through your site the
second time.)
You’ll learn how their top affiliates can make $7,500+ in a
single month.
Immediately after joining, you will get personalized access to
their private Affiliate
Resource Center, where you can learn the exact techniques their
top affiliates use to
earn more than $7,500 in a single month!
You can get more details about the Internet Marketing Centers
program here:
After you have signed up for your affiliate program, the next
step is to drive traffic to
affiliate web site to make sales. You can pay for advertising
and hope for the best or you can use the millions of ways to get
free online advertising via free classifieds, blogs, web sites,
banner and traffic exchanges, groups, boards etc…
If your on a shoe string budget, free ads are the way to go.
You can also purchase targeted leads. This is one of the fastest
ways to build an
opt in list. These leads will be targeted towards marketers,
network marketers and
people with interest in work from home opportunities. One Cent
Opt In Frenzy is one of
the best I have used for targeted opt in leads. They can be
found here:
How To Make $50.00 A Day Hiring Two Jobless Persons From The
Unemployment Office. This is the auto cream puff service. You
will find a small classified ad will get business for this one,
and all you do is provide a place to work, and put half the
money in the bank. Since you will be making your clients several
hundred dollars richer, it is not hard to get business! People
are selling used cars every day. Many of them could make a lot
more from the sales if they spend some money to have the car
cleaned up. In this report you will find a system for doing
this. You can hire common labor from the unemployment office to
do the work, all you have to do is find the customers. You can
do this by running ads in the paper offering the service at
whatever price the traffic will bear. The only time you have any
overhead is when you have a cash customer. Many buyers who
haggle long and hard to get a good deal on a new car lose
hundreds of dollars by not knowing how to sell their old car.
The mileage, and condition of the body - inside and out - often
can make a difference of several hundred dollars. Whether you
sell it yourself or trade it. Most experts agree that the better
the car looks, the more money it’s going to be worth. A couple
of days of hard work (or one REAL hard day) and less then $25.00
in supplies can often make a difference in hundreds of dollars,
turning a below average, or average car into a “cream puff”
worth top dollar. The owner’s manual should be consulted for
special cleaning requirements. Another good source of
information is the book “Car Owning Made Easier”, available for
50 cents from the Public Relations Department, Ford Parts and
Services, 1 Park Lane Blvd., Dearborn, MI 48126. The trick is to
get the car looking “good as new”, starting with the outside.
For openers, the cars should get a good bath, using a lot of
soap and water. It’s a good idea whenever you wash your car to
force lots of water down the vents in front of the windshield to
wash the salt out of that passage. The water usually runs out of
the rocker-panels - the section under the door frame - where
accumulated salts often causes rust.After the car is cleaned,
inspect the body carefully, noting all dents, rust spots and
scratches. If you have a dent that looks like an inverted
watermelon, “Car Owning Made Easier” suggests the following
remedy: Deflate a football and push it, with an air hose
attached, behind the dent. Inflate the football slowly and watch
the dent pop out. Most of the time, it’s a near perfect repair.
If the dent is not in a place where this method works, gently
tapping with a rubber headed mallet will often put out a dent.
The next step is to take care of the rust. Be sure to look
around the trim of the car, and around then rocker-panels under
the door frame. If you find any rust, you should fix it
immediately even if you don’t plan to sell the car. If the rust
has made a hole in the metal, you will need a patch kit (you can
get one for a few dollars) which contains its own instructions
for making the repair. (Prices in this article are average ones
for products at automotive stores. All are readily available.)
After any holes have been repaired, the body putty should be
sanded so it is smooth and blends with the rest of the body. All
rust spots should be sanded with extra fine sand paper (30
cents) until the rust is gone and the metal is shiny. Then take
touchup paint ($1.89) and lightly paint the areas you have
sanded. Be sure to mask off the surrounding areas if you use a
spray. Whether you use a spray or small brush, be sure to apply
a very thin layer. While the paint is drying, take care of the
rest of the exterior.The appearance of old tires can be improved
when painted with tire black ($1.89), a special paint that
doesn’t dry out the rubber. There’s paint for the whitewall
section of the tire too, cost - $1.95. Another important part of
the exterior appearance is the wheel covers. If any are missing
or badly damaged, you can get replacements from the local
junkyard for between $2 to $5 (fancy ones can cost as much as
$10.00). Metal wheels should be cleaned with a magnesium or
aluminum cleaner ($2.67) and a stiff brush. All metal parts of
the car not covered by paint should be cleaned. Metal or chrome
cleaner (69 cents) should be used to polish mirrors, side
moldings, wheel covers, bumpers, antennas, and all other
exterior metal. If there is a lot of rust on the bumpers that
won’t come off with metal cleaner, steel wool will usually take
it off, but it may pit the bumpers. Finally, all glass and
plastic on the outside should be cleaned with a glass polish.
All lights should be checked and broken lenses and burned out
bulbs replaced. If the car is more than year old, it should get
a thorough cleaning with rubbing compound or similar substance
(99 cents). These special cleaners have a very mild abrasive
which removes a minute top layer of paint and restores the
original shine. After rubbing the alcohol compound, the car
should get a good waxing ($1.25). If the car is less than a year
old a good car cleaner wax which combines the cleaning and
waxing steps may be used. If the car has a vinyl top, it should
be cleaned with a vinyl cleaner ($1.35). The interior of the car
should be good and clean too. The first step is to clean all the
instruments, the dashboard, and the other non-fabric parts
inside the car. Because the covers over some of the instruments
are plastic, strong solvents should be avoided as they could
make the plastic cloudy. An ideal cleaner for the inside, “Car
Owning Made Easier” says, is one part of vinegar to 20 parts
water. Use a pipe cleaner on the hard-to-get-at places like push
buttons on the radio or the heating controls. Fabric upholstery
should get a good shampoo ($1.59) and tears should be sewn by
using regular sewing supplies. Vinyl should be brightened with
vinyl cleaner and leather should be get a saddlesoaping. If
either the vinyl or leather has nicks in it, shoe polish can
often be used to cover them up. The car, including the trunk,
should get a thorough vacuuming and carpets should be cleaned if
they are spotted and dirty. If you have owned the car for more
than two years, the foot pedals may be worn. New brake and
clutch rubber pads cost approximately $3 each, while the
accelerator pedal costs about $8, but they can increase the
value of the car by adding “cream puff” look to the inside.
Lastly, the engine should look good. Cleaning the engine can be
a simple matter with a special cleaner ($1.59) which removes the
grease, oil and other dirt that makes your engine look bad!
The retirement account I am going to tell you about is really neat if you work for a small company or own a family business that is home based or “brick and mortar.” A company-sponsored IRA can even be opened by the smallest of businesses known the “sole proprietor”. Under the SEP-IRA plan, an employer (your boss or any business entity you or your family owns that is recognized be the IRS) can contribute to an employee’s existing IRA.
The penalties for early withdrawal remain the same as with the traditional IRA. Contributions are deductible. If you are a small business owner, IRS Publication 590, Individual Retirement Arrangements, explains the contribution limits for these plans and your accountant can advise you. You can set one up with an online stock brokerage to invest in the stock market to legally avoid taxes on some of the profits of your business. Self-employed taxpayers have a different standard for contribution limits than employees of a firm that offer a SEP-IRA plan.
SEP-IRAs are flexible for employers. An employer does not have to contribute every year. The contributions are tax-deductible. Once you have the account open you buy and sell stocks using the techniques such as those that I teach!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dr. Scott Brown, Ph.D., a.k.a. “The Wallet Doctor”, is a successful futures trader, real estate investor, and stock investor. Dr. Brown holds a Ph.D. in finance from the University of South Carolina. His 1998 articles in Technical Analysis of Stocks and Commodities were prophetic in predicting an impending stock market crash. He has helped many people become profitable investors by teaching them to look out over many years to spot stocks that are low and primed for rise in the new bull market. His second article met with approval by Dr. Bob Shiller of Yale University. Dr. Shiller is the economist that Alan Greenspan most highly regards who coined the term “Irrational Exuberance.” In 1998 he shouted to the world to “get out” of the stock market but now he is shouting to everyone that it is time to “get in!” The Wallet Doctor is not only sought after for investment advice and coaching in stock investing but also in futures trading and real estate investing.
It’s surprisingly easy to virtually kill your eBay business, if
you’re not careful.
Yes, I know, you can probably start over again from scratch
without it costing you anything, but do you really want to?
So, if you want your business to end up dead in the water, here
are some simple ways to do it.
1. Lie about an item
Say it works fine when it sometimes doesn’t work. Say it’s in
perfect condition when it has a scratch. Your customers will
hate you!
2. Mail your item whenever you feel like it
Make sure to leave your customers hanging around, wondering when
their item is going to turn up. This makes sure they buy from
someone else next time.
3. Let items end anytime
Few people will be around to care about your auction if it ends
in the middle of the night. Why go to the trouble of working out
whether auctions will end at a good time?
4. Don’t bother with email
Customers are just time wasters anyway. eBay businesses are
supposed to run themselves! Never give informed responses to
questions about your item.
5. Sell rubbish
Really, it’s just eBay. You can just sell any old tat from the
market for a 200% profit. Let quality be someone else’s concern
- I mean, really, what do they expect for that price?
6. Refuse to give discounts
You know what your items cost, you know what your profit margin
is going to be, and you’re not going to negotiate. Remember that
giving customers special deals might make them feel good and
come back to you again.
7. Make your listings ugly
As many colors, flashing lights and animations as possible will
really give those customers a headache. Write as much in
CAPITALS!!!! as you can. Preferably big, red capitals. Be sure
to use the fonts Impact and Comic Sans. For an extra special
touch, see if you can figure out a way to add some music.
8. Don’t take photos
It’s such trouble, after all. If buyers are picky enough to
actually want to see items before they bid on them, then screw
‘em, that’s what I say.
9. Write short descriptions
Be as brief as possible, and use lots of mysterious
abbreviations. This obviously makes you look very cool. You can
even just write the title again in the description box. Think of
the effort you’ll save!
10. Use reserve auctions
Now, this is a fairly controversial final choice, but it really
is one of the best ways to scare away your customers. They’ll
see ‘reserve not yet met’, and click that ‘back’ button before
you know it. Luckily, they can always bid in a normal auction
for the item somewhere else.
Well, there you are. How to close your eBay business in 10 easy
steps.
When you decide that you would like to go into business for
yourself, the first step is deciding on a type of business that
fits your idea of “comfortable” and “fun”. After all, the whole
reason you want to go into business for yourself is the fact
that what you are doing right now is “uncomfortable”, and “not
fun”.
So, the first thing you should do is make a personal assessment
of who you are. For instance, what do you like? What are your
favorite hobbies? Do you like working with or around people? Or,
are you a homebody? Do you have any skills that could help you
(such as typing, office skills, organizational skills, etc.)?
What do you dislike?
Yes, what you dislike is as important as what you like. Without
knowing what your dislikes are, you are liable to turn your
projects into something that you don’t want to do, but end up
stuck with. Figuring out what you dislike before-hand will
enable you to plan accordingly, and make sure that what you
dislike does not interfere with what you are trying to build.
Dislikes help you decide policies and procedures that you
normally would not think of when writing out your business plan.
For instance: Do you like or dislike knocking on stranger’s
doors? Are you comfortable or uncomfortable talking to strangers
face to face? How do you feel about telephones? Do you feel
differently about emails or letter writing through postal mail?
If you are comfortable talking to people face to face, then you
should start out with products that you believe in, and go for
the direct selling technique. However, if you are more
comfortable with writing, you may want to consider a mail order
type business, or an internet business.
Whatever type of business you choose, it will be up to you to
decide the best marketing strategies to fit your needs. You will
be making list after list of what works, what doesn’t work, and
why you feel it failed, and how you think you could have
improved the methods. After all, whatever business you decide to
get yourself into will be up to you to promote. If it fails, it
will be because either the market wasn’t there, or the promotion
wasn’t there. Both reasons will be your own responsibility to
account for.
While deciding what is “comfortable” and “fun” will help
alleviate the worry and dread of working at what you enjoy, we
must remember that running your own business is work — and
sometimes it requires breaking a sweat in order to make a
profit. So, once you have decided what is “comfortable” and
“fun”, you will need to decide what skills you are best at that
will help you manage and promote your business.
Test your targeted market by using several methods, at first, to
promote your business. Find the one that works best for you, and
then be consistent. When you are doing something you enjoy
doing, doing it every day doesn’t seem so hard.