The Importance of Setting Investment Goals

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article |Investment Goals|The Importance of Setting Investment GoalsAlmost anyone can start investing nowadays, and they can do so without the guidance of a financial advisor, a stock broker, or any guidance at all. While novices are urged to start small and do their due diligence and research prior to getting involved with investments, there is a reason why some people choose to jump right in. The stock market is a big draw for novice investors looking for a big payday, and sometimes they do hit big. However, without a plan and investment goals, that one-time payout usually ends up being a case of beginner’s luck. The importance of setting investment goals should not be lost on anyone who will be building a portfolio of investments.

Setting a Healthy Financial Standard

There are various ways to make money and earn an income, with the majority of working age individuals choosing to seek out gainful employment. When you have a relatively steady income, you can estimate your expenses, and then live in a manner that allows you to stay within your means. Investing is one way of “beefing up” your finances, so to speak. If done properly, your investment portfolio will represent one of your assets that can be leveraged, liquidated, or transferred in the event that you need financial relief. In order to set a healthy financial standard, you have to look toward developing multiple channels of income.

Knowing What’s Going Out Versus Coming In

During the initial phase of investing, there will definitely be more money coming out of your bank account than going in. It doesn’t matter if you are investing $50 or $1,000 a month, as all investing plans should be developed with the investor’s budget in mind. Using the best Robo advisors will allow you to easily track the total amount you have invested and compare it against current total profits. Wealth Simple offers tools designed to help investors meet their personalised investment goals. Make your investments while operating in autopilot mode with Wealth Simple and you can always keep track of your investments made versus profits earned.

Having the Ability to See Consistent Returns

One thing that new investors need to learn quickly, is the term volatile. This single word perfectly sums up the stock, forex, and cryptocurrency markets perfectly, as anything and everything can happen. What all traders want, in spite of the volatility of the markets, are consistent returns. You can lose money on one trade, but quickly make up for it and then some on your next investment. Some investments will promise small, yet regular returns that can slowly bolster your portfolio. When you have investment goals, it is easier to see the act of investing as a long-term and large-scale plan as opposed to overanalysing individual trades.

Allocating Your Free Time

When you have an investment plan, you start to think about structure, resources, and time. While you are learning about investing and getting your first few trades underway, it’s okay to be as slow, careful, and methodical as necessary. Soon though, the amount of time you spend trading has to match up with the profits you are earning. Consider your work schedule and how it coincides with your salary. If you get hired at a set salary, then you would expect to make more money in the form of raises, bonuses, and other increases over time. So, someone hired in a position for $50,000 annually today would not usually expect or be okay with earning $35,000 annually, in a decade. The time that you spend investing works in the same manner.

Changing Priorities and Investment Goals

It is not uncommon to have set investment goals change. A change in income would definitely be reflected in your investment goals, while buying a home, getting married, or enrolling in college would also cause a change in your priorities as well as your investment goals. Don’t think that whatever you plan has to remain set in stone. It is actually a great thing to evaluate what your investment goals are from time to time, as the market and economy are going to change frequently, too.

Starting from Where You Currently Are

Some people are raised in families where everyone starts investing from the time that they are quite young. Parents may purchase stocks and bonds for their minor children, turning them over when they mature. As such, there are also many novice investors who have to learn everything themselves. Don’t worry much about where you are currently. Motivated investors can and do learn very fast. In addition, you don’t have to learn about investing on your own if you are also making use of all available resources.

Learning More as You Hit Your Investment Benchmarks

Investors who develop their portfolios with a goal in mind are simply more likely to hit their benchmarks. So, your ultimate goal might be to amass an investment portfolio worth $1 million by the time you retire. Logically, you will have several benchmarks to meet before you can even think about hitting that goal. The first benchmark may be $1,000, or $10,000 or some other relatively low amount. If it takes a very long time to reach those first critical benchmarks, then you will have to shift your approach in order to meet that end goal.

Guaranteeing You Won’t Take a Financial Loss

Setting investment goals helps you to avoid taking lasting financial losses. The fact of the matter is that all investors take losses. It’s just part of the nature of all the various trading and investing markets. Your losses might get offset by the close of the day, or you could be looking at making up that loss for months. Either way, if you have an investment goal, you will be focused on creating strategies to recoup your losses and not be caught up on one potentially dangerous plan of action.

Being Methodical About Making Investments

A good investor will always move methodically, which is what you can look forward to as you develop your investment goals. If an investment looks strong, you might purchase shares over the course of a few days, until you have a healthy amount. When selling, you will probably offload your shares in no particular rush. Biding your time might even help you to gain more profits than expected.

Determining What It Means to Take Calculated Risks

While slow and steady is said to always win the race, there are times when investors can benefit from the chaos that sometimes develops here. When you get an alert that a stock is way up or way down, you will probably pause for only a second before making up your mind and going for it. There are times when a risky move is your best course of action. With more experience in the stock market, you will come to know what those moves are and when you should be making them.

Remaining Calm During Market Shifts

Throughout a single day, prices are going to go up and down, sometimes quite sharply. The key to making good investments and creating intelligent investment goals is holding tight when the market shifts. Realise that major shifts in the markets ultimately lead to corrections in the polar opposite direction. So, if an investment you have just made goes way down unexpectedly, you have to remain calm until prices correct themselves. You have to know it will happen, even if the signs don’t seem to be there presently.

Gaining Confidence in Your Ability to Pick Profitable Investments

As you learn, trade, and build up your portfolio, you will feel much better about each subsequent decision. There won’t be that nagging feeling that you have done something wrong, and you won’t second guess yourself even if an investment does not turn out how you had hoped. The confidence that is gained during the course of you setting investment goals is going to change your perspective on a lot of things.

Being Sure That It’s Worth It

Whether you keep track of your investments by checking stock prices continuously while the market is open or utilise a suite of automated tools to collate data, what you gain on your investments has to be worth your time. People invest because they want to make money, build up their nest eggs, and have something substantial to rely on in case their primary sources of income dry up. Of course, you may need decades of investing to get there, but you will know along the way if your efforts have been with the reward.

Understanding The Asset You’re Investing In

If you’re making any particular investment a part of your portfolio, then you need to understand how it fits into your goals. This means understanding the characteristics of the investment itself. If you’re investing in a company’s stock, then you need to follow the news around that company and understand how it can affect the worth of said stock. If you’re investing in Forex relationships like the euro to dollar exchange, then you need to know how its volatility impacts your goals and what other investments you might make to mitigate it. Individual trades need to fit within the broader picture of your goals.

You don’t need to be a stock market expert in order to make smart and profitable investments. In fact, you will learn just as much by actively investing than you will by reading predictions or finding out that a stock has skyrocketed after the fact. On the other hand, there are ways for you to learn about investing that don’t require you to blindly wager your hard-earned money. Check out various automated investment tools, including robo advisors and automated trading signals. Eliminate as much risk from your investment plan by taking advantage of all these resources and technologies.

Raise the bar: how to demonstrate to your boss that you deserve a pay rise

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article |Pay Rise|Raise the bar: how to demonstrate to your boss that you deserve a pay riseYou could easily feel jittery if you approach your boss to ask them for a pay rise. After all, you don’t want to risk striking an arrogant or self-important tone – but, all the same, you don’t want to come across as so humble and reluctant that your manager could wonder why you asked in the first place.

Fortunately, it’s more comfortable to bring up the idea of a larger pay packet if, before then, you have excelled more than usual in the workplace, making it easier for you to justify the salary hike.

Invest in self-development

In a sense, you are probably already doing that by honing your existing job skills. However, you could go a step further by enrolling on a course. The Muse points out that plenty of free courses are available online, but taking classes at a local college or university is also an option.

Before you do any of this, though, you should directly ask your boss exactly what new skills you – or perhaps “the team”, if you would prefer to be more subtle – ought to learn.

Ask for your boss for boring-but-essential tasks

In probably every workplace, there are a few responsibilities that people only do because they have to, not because they want to – and your boss probably has some of those tasks on their own plate.

Just imagine, then, how much further you could get into their good books simply by asking your manager whether there are any important-but-dull tasks you can handle for them. Even if there aren’t, your offer to help won’t go unappreciated.

Surpass your manager’s expectations

If there aren’t any extra assignments for you to take on, doing even better with your existing ones can be a great way for you to ease your argument for a pay increase.

For example, you could endeavor to hand in completed projects ahead of the officially-set deadlines. Still, make sure that, in your attempt to do that, you don’t compromise on the quality of the work – as submitting a sloppily-done project early would be rather defeating the point.

Mentor a junior member of the team

That doesn’t necessarily have to mean enrolling in a formal mentorship program, though it would certainly be convenient if your company had one. There are more informal means of mentoring someone, such as by providing them with impromptu feedback and support from time to time.

As you do so, your relationship with your mentee should develop naturally – and, as their career takes off, yours will inevitably improve, too.

Be ready to negotiate in a flexible way

Sometimes, no matter how persuasively you put forward your argument for a pay rise, your boss might have to resist due to factors outside their control, Chron notes. In that case, you could indicate that you are still open to receiving other perks.

Through LifeWorks’ perks and savings scheme, many employers can provide their employees with price cuts on such routine purchases as cars and family outings – so, you could point this out as an option.

How To Incorporate Virtual Marketing Into Your 2020/21 Strategy

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Virtual Marketing|How To Incorporate Virtual Marketing Into Your 2020/21 StrategyWhether you’ve been just starting out your first business venture, or trying to adapt your existing business to the ever-changing working environment, this year has been turbulent for everyone. As the winter months start to set in, now is the time to start thinking about your new marketing strategies going into the new year.

You could well be feeling a sense of despair about the vast unknown of the future, but any marketing expert will tell you that the essence of their job is learning how to handle the unexpected. With this in mind, here are some top tips for incorporating the reliability of virtual marketing into your new strategies.

Put The Effort In To Grow Your Socia Media Presence-

With people spending more time at home than ever before this year, social media has unsurprisingly boomed. People are spending much more time on their phones, and brands are subsequently focussing much more of their marketing attention onto that of social media campaigns and exposure.

It is, therefore, more important than ever to make sure that your brand is present on social media, reachable through it for customers, and consistent in sharing content for, and engaging with, followers. Social media can be a fantastic way to maintain customers long-term, and competitions offering free products or services in return for a follow are one of the best ways to attract new followers and potential future customers.

Professional Virtual Event Production-

If you’re looking to splash the cash with a bit more than a simple social media campaign, then one of the best places to start is with an official event production service. Nobody can know for sure what the situation will be in 2021 in terms of live events, but this does not take away from brand events being a critical part of your marketing strategy.

If you aren’t in a position to be taking risks with the planning of live events right now, why not work with a production service on hosting a creative and unique virtual event? This industry might not have appealed to you before 2020, but it has been established for many years, and those working in it are experts at making even a virtual event one to remember.

Ensure That Your Website Is Easy To Navigate-

You will struggle come-by someone who hasn’t spent more time on their laptop than they would have liked this year. Many have become used to working, shopping, communicating with friends and family, and even reading on their computer screens. Whilst this has made more people comfortable with purchasing products and booking services online rather than in person, it also means that it takes a lot more for a website to hold a customer’s attention.

One way to combat this is to ensure that your website is simple, reliable, and easy to use. Website changes and over-hauls can be a notoriously time-consuming task, so if you intend to attempt one for 2021, it is best to start planning the logistics of it out now.

There you have it, three super important aspects of virtual digital marketing for you to get started on planning for next year. Remember, these things take time. You have plenty of time before 2021 really gets going, so make sure to make the most of the weeks you have until then to ensure you showcase your business the best way possible through your chosen marketing strategies.

Why your business needs to do Ecommerce this Covid19 Season

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Ecommerce|Why your business needs to do Ecommerce this Covid19 SeasonNo one expected a pandemic to happen this year. 2020 was immensely hyped as the year of growth – and yet almost everything came to a halt. Our mobility was reduced due to a majority of establishments closing down. Our day-to-day movements were also restricted due to strict safety protocols.

During this time, there was an increase in online consumer activity. People were relying on deliveries and shopping apps for their necessities along with other items. This has become a new habit that we have adopted. Especially now, this trend is continuing to rise upwards without any doubts that it will fade away anytime soon. A lot of businesses have already taken the chance to promote their brand on the digital platforms – where the audience is now at.

Using eCommerce websites, some businesses were able to survive when the pandemic hit our country. Physical stores had to close which heavily affected the flow of income. Until now, there are still health risks people consider before going outside, which means lesser foot traffic and profit.

If you’re still not convinced you need to have an eCommerce website, here are the reasons why:

1.The audience is already digital

Many countries in Southeast Asia, such as Singapore, are growing very quickly in their e-commerce market size. This shows that people have quickly adapted to the digital marketplace.

Besides the essentials, office and home-related products saw an increase in sales, as people had to make their space conducive for work, studying, and even entertainment (since social gatherings are still discouraged). Office staff began to buy items to work from home; students bought items such as desk lamps due to the restrictions in public libraries; others have bought gaming consoles and accessories as a way to pass the time and connect online with friends.

With these opportunities that have risen despite the restrictions, it can be said that the customers are not gone, but have simply migrated to another platform where your business should also be present.

2. A website is more sustainable than leasing a space

Since people are more active on the internet, and considering the ongoing pandemic, there is a lesser need to expand your store’s physical space. In fact, having a physical store nowadays could cost you more compared to the pre-pandemic period due to the mandated safety measurements.

Therefore, you should take this time to make your online presence more prominent. Here, we would recommend investing in a website, because you can use it in the long run. Even when the pandemic is finally over, you can run your eCommerce business there, and experts also predict that the eCommerce trend will be here to stay. Also, if in the future your business is able to expand to other countries, you have an already well-designed website to work with.

Also, a website is available for your customers 24/7 compared to a physical store that has a limited time to stay open. Your potential customer can send their inquiries or make purchases wherever they are, whenever they like.

If you are looking for a web developer, check out FirstCom Solutions here: https://www.firstcom.com.sg/

3. Have an analysis like never before

Once you have your own eCommerce website, there is an array of website analytics and services you can utilize to see how your customers are using your site. Using these tools, you will have a better understanding of your customers’ behaviors. You can also view your competitors’ performances, and create counter-strategies from those.

There are numerous ways to use your website’s data to your advantage. From discounts to special promos, you can target the market you want to penetrate more accurately with website analysis. You could see what products people are most likely to view but not purchase, and act on that data. You can also conduct affinity analysis more efficiently if you have an eCommerce website, which could help in creating cross-selling and up-selling strategies for your business.

This is a great way for you to be proactive in managing your business. Having data you can access whenever and wherever you please will help you improve your business.

Conclusion

It’s a no brainer that a business should always be open to changes and adapt. Even before COVID-19 happened, online shopping had already built its popularity. Now, it has become essential for businesses to have an eCommerce website of their own to survive and grow.

If you are a business owner who still doesn’t have an eCommerce website, there is still time for you to catch up. From the comfort of your own home, be secured in having income and proceed with business as usual.

Keep up with the new consumer mindset and move forward by having your own eCommerce website. Embrace the opportunities waiting for you in the digital platform.

Building Residual Income By Franchising Your Business

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship ArticleThe vision for every entrepreneur is to eventually figure out how to scale to the point where the day to day business isn’t reliant on the owner every minute of every day.  For many, this objective never comes to fruition as the business is structured in a way where the business owner is consumed and literally devoured by the entity.  The business owner becomes an employee in reality and the business never grows beyond what that business owner is able to accomplish with their own two hands.  The E-Myth, by Michael Gerber, says it best, to build a business, one must figure out how to get themselves OUT of the business before they can start to work ON the business.  Franchising is a the ultimate definition of scale where a business owner removes themselves completely from operational responsibilities in order to become a coach to others who wish to enter the world of entrepreneurship.  The reason why franchising lends itself to scalable, high-residual income is the same reason that Larry Ellison has a net worth of $49.6 billion and a boat that is larger than some countries.  Once you are able to create the formula for what you do and replicate that formula through scaled growth, you have achieved the ability to generate income for your intellectual property.

Franchising is a unique vehicle in that it allows businesses that traditionally are not scalable, such as restaurants, retail and service businesses to become scaled through franchisee’s investment and willingness to manage the local business.  When you franchise a business, you create a vehicle that supports residual income through long term relationships with independent franchise ownership and contiguous brand equity.  Franchisees pay a fee to you as the franchisor for the rights to your intellectual property and brand recognition in addition to making the investment in opening the new franchise location of your business model.  Where the residual income is derived from franchising is that a franchisee typically commits to a 10-20 year relationship where they are agreeing to pay a percentage of their revenues on a weekly or monthly basis.  In addition, many Franchises also require franchisees to purchase products and business items from the franchisor as well which may be sold at a profit to the franchise network.  This is where residual income is generated and at the time where a franchise system becomes self-sufficient is when the business owner can step out of day to day operations entirely and focus on building the business and moving the company forward.  Visionary entrepreneurs who leveraged franchising to expand such as John Hewitt in the tax preparation business or Ray Kroc in the hamburger business were most likely not the best tax preparers or burger flippers, they were great at finding scale and achieving residual income for their ideas.

To franchise a business one must be in a position where they have the right formula in place, systems, processes and procedures to be able to teach a third party how to do what you do.  In many cases, I’ve found that business owners don’t realize that franchising is a viable expansion model and that they could achieve this residual income sooner than expected.  My advice is always to let the market drive this decision of whether to franchise your business, if people are asking for what you do in their market and how to invest in your business, the franchise expansion model needs to be on the table.

For more information on how to franchise your business, visit Franchise Marketing Systems: www.fmsfranchise.com/

About the Author

Christopher James ConnerChristopher Conner, President of Franchise Marketing Systems has been in the franchise industry since 2002 working with several hundred different franchise systems in management, franchise sales and franchise development work. His experience ranges across all fields of franchise expertise with a focus in franchise marketing and franchise sales but includes work in franchise strategic planning, franchise research and franchise operations consulting.  To read Christopher’s complete biography, click here.