Basic Archives - GUJRAT INDIA

Small Business Commercial Insurance Overview: Understanding Basic Business Insurance Needs

It’s a given that all types of businesses require – at the very least – basic liability insurance. It’s always wise to safeguard your business against as much as possible. All industries are vulnerable to lawsuits for one reason or another these days. Even if you do most of your work from the home, there are still some risks you need to be aware of, such as copyright infringement. Luckily, there are custom small business commercial insurance policies are available, so you can look for quotes tailored towards your type of company and size of business.

You should take the time to educate yourself about the four primary coverage types general liability, commercial property, commercial auto, and workers compensation. If you don’t do any deliveries or use your car for anything relating to your business then you probably won’t need that coverage in your policy. If you don’t have any employees, then you won’t need workers compensation.

Even if you do have a few employees, you might or might not have to have workers compensation, depending on your state’s laws and the amount of risk involved with the employees. There is professional liability insurance for individuals such as attorneys, accountants, consultants, real estate agents, and so forth. General liability and professional liability are not the same thing.

There are some risks that are excluded under small business commercial insurance, despite the fact that they might involve large losses. For instance, floods and tornadoes require “specialized policies” This is because the insurance companies don’t like to have to pay out such a large amount of money to all of the businesses damaged within a small geographical area.

Small Business Commercial Insurance Coverage

Here are a few things from which a small business commercial insurance, in general, will protect your company:

• If someone gets hurt in any way while on physical property associated with your business

• If a customer has any property damaged by you or your employees

• If your products cause harm to someone or their property

• If you use a customer’s photo in your advertising and they try and sue you for copyright

• If your company is named in a lawsuit for medical expenses and property damages

What about your OWN injuries? What would become of your business if something were to happen to you? These are also things to consider when adding specialized coverage to your policy.

Just use the internet to help find the right small business commercial insurance for you, starting with Hiscox Business Insurance. Review your insurance each and every year to make sure it still lines up with your needs.

5 Basic Parameters That You Should Look For In A Website Development Company

A website is a vital marketing tool which has become necessary for every business owner today. With the growing trend of website development, several web development companies have been launched so as to provide high-quality services. Business owners have a wide range to make a choice from because of the presence of a big number of service providers in the market. When it comes to finding the right and suitable firm for the development of your business website, you need to focus on plenty of things. In this post, I have made a great effort to cover 5 basic parameters that you should look forward to in a Website Development Company and these include:

Portfolio: An experienced and knowledgeable web design company will have an exuberant portfolio, which is worth showcasing to a potential customer or client. A company that is experienced in managing various types of the project successfully can be the best route to your final end.

Web Designs Sample: Going through sample designs provided by a web development firm can help you in making an opinion, an outlook and an impression about the service quality. So, asking the service provider about the samples can be of great help for you.

Understands Your Business: Remember, a good sense of business understanding proves to be a vital factor. A web development firm needs to understand your business so as to suggest the best website design and User Interface. An attractive design appeals directly to your future clients and sets up a mental bond. Ensure that the development company executes the right method for the development of your website.

Cost Effectiveness: Keep in mind that a great quality web design is a long-term investment and cost you some more money in the initial stages compared to an average one. A professional service provider will always advise you on a dynamic design, bearing in mind the future aspect of your business.

Reference Of Clients: Business requirements vary from entity to entity but talking to previous clients will provide you the idea about work quality of the service provider. You need to ask relevant questions to them in order to analyze the kind of experience they had while working with them. Some relevant questions that you should ask are how was their experience with the firm? Was the web development process easily carried out? Was the project completed on time? How were the support and guidance? Was transparency maintained at every stage of the process?

These fundamental parameters mentioned above are important to consider while choosing a professional web development company that suits best for your business needs and your budget.

An Insight on Basic Off-Page Optimization Tactics

Digital marketing is all about making the client website or other web resources search-engine friendly. It is all about enhancing the ranking of client websites or other web resources in the various search engine results pages. If a website has enhanced ranking in a search engine result page, it implies that it attracts more and more web traffic. If the website is meant for commercial purposes, enhanced web traffic in it contributes to lead generation and sales. Thereby, through proper digital marketing of a web portal, one can ensure business profitability. Digital marketing is incomplete without search engine optimization or SEO. In this context, it is relevant to add that SEO is of two types and they are on-page and off-page. This blog is an honest attempt to discuss the various off-page optimization tactics that the web marketer must do to enhance the visibility of client websites.

Off-Page Optimization

As the name suggests, Off-page optimization has everything to do with optimizing a web resource like website, externally and this means that not focussing on internal work associated with the website. The seasoned web marketer can do such type of optimization by means of link-building. The concept of link-building is to pass the website link using blogs, articles, press releases, and other content posted on other websites. Then, optimizing the posts in a manner so that the contents along with the website link attracts more and more audience. This is important because of the enhanced chances of lead-generation and lead-conversions to sales.

Link-Building Strategies

Following is a list of link-building strategies that web-marketers usually follow:-

Write Blogs

Digital marketing professionals can write blogs relevant to the business, themselves, or with the help of professional content writers and post them in more than one blog posting website. When they do so they also pass the link to the client website. In this manner, the client website gains visibility in the various search engine results pages.

Write Articles

Web marketing professionals can write articles relevant to the business and post them in various articles posting websites. Common article posting websites include EzineArticles, article base. The SEO professionals also pass the link to the client’s website along with the posts. This increases the visibility of the client web portal.

Do Blog Commenting

If you are pondering on increasing the visibility of your website then you can visit relevant websites online, check relevant blog posts, and do blog commenting. While passing blog comments make sure that you pass the links of your client web portal.

Post Forums

There are a number of forum posting websites available online. As a seasoned digital marketer you can register with some of the forum posting sites and post forum contents along with the link to the client website. In this manner, you can attempt to increase the visibility of your client website.

Questions and Answers

There are a number of questions and answers sites and you can post questions, answers on relevant topics, pass the link to your client website along with the answers.

Social Bookmarking

There is a popular social bookmarking website available online. These include Twitter, Stumble Upon, Dribble, Reddit, Digg, and many more. As a digital marketing professional, you can post on social bookmarking sites and do search engine optimization activities.

Post in Social Media Websites

There are a number of social media websites online and they include Facebook, LinkedIn, to name a few. You can post content on these websites. While posting contents you can pass the link to your client website. This enhances the visibility of your client’s website.

This blog focuses on few Off-page SEO practices. Apart from those discussed above, there is available a wide variety of other Off-page optimization strategies that the seasoned digital marketer uses to enhance the visibility of the client website or web-resources.

Basic Things You Need to Know About Custom Packaging

Packaging plays a significant role when it comes to marketing a product. It’s what the client sees first, and it will establish their opinion on the company they just subscribed to. And you don’t even have to be an expert to know that first impression can easily dictate whether your business will reach the high road or end up in a ditch. Custom Packaging is not recommended for startup businesses. However, for established ones it can do wonders when it comes to brand marketing. Hitting all the right details at the same time can elevate your company to a whole new level of success. If you think conducting a proper custom packaging on your product is simple well, then you made a mistake. It is not, there are a lot of playing factors that can easily affect the outcome. Listed below are some of the basic things you need to know first about custom packaging before you give it a try.

TYPES OF BOXES

Different types of parcels and boxes can be used for packaging. From the regular ones to unique new items that can improve the overall aesthetic of your business. Here are some of them.

• Bubble Wrap Mailers

• Traditional boxes

• Rigid Envelopes

• Customized Envelopes

WAYS TO PRINT THE CUSTOMIZED PACKAGING

.Just like the types of boxes, printing can also be done in a lot of ways. Having the right amount of knowledge on how the flow works can work to your advantage and avoid getting ripped off or sold out by fraudulent people.

• Digital Printing – used in most small-sized batches. It is almost similar to home printers that almost everyone has in their homes.

• Flexographic Printing – this one is typically used for mass production. It works in a stamping-like manner.

• Li tho-Label Printing – Unlike the first two, the litho label provides a cleaner finish and a name that has a higher resolution.

SIZE MATTERS

One way to save you money is to know what box sizes are you going to need for your business. Doing bulk orders on each size available are not that recommended because of the high probability that you’re not going to be able to use all of them.

Now that you’re already aware of some basic but important thinks in custom sized subscription box packaging, here’s a list of what you need to consider next.

• The way you’re going to print it. – Since there are different types of printing, the design or resolution of your box can be affected.

• If you chose the right colors to represent your company – Make sure it goes well with your brand.

• The program where you’re going to make it. – You’re going to design an essential part for your business, go for nothing less than the absolute best.

• Samples for everyone to see. – Before you do mass printing, it’s great to ask everyone first for their opinions. Maybe they could even give proper inputs that can help you a lot.

Basic Steps to Set Up a Business in Dubai

Are you thinking of starting your business in Dubai? Congratulations, you have chosen one of the best business ecosystems in the world for your new endeavor. Dubai is more than mere a city of architectural marvels- it is one of the most fertile grounds for new businesses. This is just one of the many things that make the commercial capital of UAE the best place to live and work. And as for starting up a business here, there’s no question that there’s a lot of potential to be tapped here in Dubai. So, if you are eager to set up your own enterprise, this article will help explain what you need to know and do to get your company registered and off the ground.

We have equipped this article with necessary links to guide you about the process and documentation required. Take a good look at the below before you kick off the actual process- the good news, though, is that on average, if you are ready with all required documents, it takes less than 10 days to start your company in Dubai. So, let’s start!

But before you start your legal formalities, you need to consider some elements required in the process:

Know your business

The success of a great business venture depends on sound knowledge of the local region, thorough research into the viability and demand for your product or service and a credible business plan that is likely to attract investment partners.

Yes you have a great idea, but is there a demand for what you are offering? What does your competition look like and what puts your business offering a notch above the others?

Select a Location that optimizes suitability, convenience, and costsAnother important step in planning a business startup in Dubai is to determine the most suitable location for the business. Setting up a profit-based enterprise in the city wouldn’t do you much good despite the growing economy if you’re customers or clients can’t reach you.You need to set up your business in an area that is most profitable for your business or most convenient to your business. A location in the right city can be selected for a shop or an office is most known for the type of product or service you are dealing with.

If you are planning a Free Zone company then you must make the selection based upon the criteria of distance, costs and if it is suitable for your product, business model, and trade requirements.

A tenancy contract must be concluded. If you’re aiming to start a small-scale enterprise, then the basic amenities, like telecommunication, storage, and space inside the establishment is the basic concern that must also be satisfied. Other services available in the commercial property can vary greatly.

Financial viability

Once you business is registered, the Ministry of Commerce will require owners to show proof of financial investment. If you are new to the region and have no track record, you must be prepared to find your own financial resources through your bank or by other means rather than relying on local support.

Once you have established the validity of your concept, from a marketability stand point as well as financial viability, you can now look at the steps for turning your idea into a booming business.

UAE Commercial Companies Law and Federal Law define seven basic categories of business organization that can be established in Dubai and the UAE. The requirements for minimum capital levels, shareholders and procedures for incorporation will vary with the type of business structure.

Changes to Foreign Ownership and Visa Rules Announcement

Anyone coming into the UAE as a professional or as an investor is typically granted a residence visa of two years, which is renewable. This has now been changed to a ten-year visa for investors and professionals in highly skilled fields such as engineering, medicine and science. Students will be given a special five-year visa, while those who consistently perform well and earn top grades will be granted a ten-year visa as well.

Another very significant change is in the ownership of companies.Businesses within the UAE are divided into two main categories: mainland businesses and freezone businesses.

At present, mainland businesses can be partially owned by expatriate entrepreneurs, but must have a UAE national as a majority shareholder in the company. Freezone companies, on the other hand, can have full foreign ownership and are subject to separate regulations depending on the freezone.

With the new regulations, every business, whether mainland or freezone, will be able to have 100% foreign ownership without the need for an Emirati partner.

Confirm your Visa eligibility and requirement

For a business startup in the UAE, a visa permitting you and employees to live in UAE is essential to run your business.

Visas are allowed for almost all businesses.

However, their number varies according to a variety of criteria such as the size of the office, nature of the business, the category of the employee or the investor.

Documents Required for LLC

Investor’s passport copy

Local Sponsor’s passport copy

Manager’s Passport copy

Registration application form from Economic Department

Trade name reservation

Initial approval from Economic Department Tenancy contract for the Office/warehouse or showroom attested by planning department and civil defence department of Dubai municipality along with location plan.

Memorandum of Association duly attested from public notary.

Documents Required for Professional firms

Parent Business formation certificate duly attested from the UAE embassy in the home country of the parent organisation.

Board resolution for establishing a branch and to appoint the manager for the same

Attested copy(from UAE Embassy) of organisation memorandum / articles of association

Financial statements for the last two years

Local service agency agreement duly notarised in the UAE courts

Passport copy of the local service agent

Passport copy of the Manager

Company profile

NOC letter in favour of the Manager from the sponsor, if he is a resident of the UAE

Company Registration in Dubai, UAE

Businesses of any category operating in the UAE must have a license for registering into the business network of the country. Company registration in UAE requires a trade license and permission from different law enforcement agencies and the state government for setting up your business. Company registration in Dubai for businesses like financial services, food, health services, printing and publishing requires a lot more clearance than any other business.

Company registration in UAE falls into following three categories depending on the nature of your business:

Company Registration in Dubai, UAECommercial License – This license is issued to those companies who are just looking for trading business activities.

Industrial License – This license is for those companies who will engage in manufacturing or other industrial activities.

Professional License – This license is issued specifically for different service providers, artisans, craftsmen and other professionals.

For the company registration in Dubai, the Department of Economic Development (DED) of UAE issues the required licenses.

Get a License Notification

There are many complex requirements associated with the issuing of the business license. The company registration in Dubai for financial services must need the approval of the Central Bank of UAE. The license for the manufacturing companies requires approval from Industry ministry of UAE. Similarly, the medical service providers require approval from the Health Ministry of UAE.Once the necessary documents are obtained and formalized, the initial application process will begin at the relevant issuing authority along with registering the company’s formal name. This crucial stage paves the way for clarification of the final fees and the final acceptance of the company’s proposed activities.

Hire a registration agent to take you through the process of business startup

Hiring a business advisory firm to register your business startup may be your best option.

These consultants will not only hold your hand right through the setup process but will also actually register the company for you. And will help with opening your bank account, arrange for an auditor, do your renewals and offer you nominee services.

You may find their expertise in dealing with the local government bureaucracy and with Free Zone Authorities to be of great help in planning and itemize your business startup costs.

In most cases, these firms offer a team of experts to plan out your company registration from scratch – this includes the strategies you need to follow in order to smoothly set up your business, itemizing potential costs, offering licensing and location options, coming up with solutions for potential business hurdles, and so on.

Also, they will take care of all the necessary requirements to help you to have your business registered legally with minimal problems on your end.

If you are looking for trading in any of these industries in Dubai or any other, then we can give you the best advice for your company registration in UAE. For more details visit: http://www.namaccountants.com/ or Contact us: 971-558876440

Basic Guide For Foreign Buyers of Real Estate in the USA

As the Great Recessions is slowly but surely fading away with the hopes of eventual recovery showing up on the horizon, foreign buyers and investors starting to pursue opportunities in the US real estate market again. Even though stable recovery of the housing market is still “work in progress”, many foreigners recognize that American real estate is “On Sale”, plus the dollar is historically weak, so many buyers are trying to snatch the bargains in residential and commercial properties here. However, a foreign buyer investing in the US must take extra diligence to plan the acquisitions due to nuances in taxation laws, title holding rules, money transfer rules and many other factors. There are many aspects to consider, I’ll concentrate on some key points:

(1) DOCUMENT EVERYTHING: Before you transfer even a dollar here, make sure you can verify where the money came from. Any transfers over $10,000 into the US, including your all cash real estate buys, will be reported to the federal authorities, and when the Feds come asking questions, you need to make sure that you can prove legal sources of your cash. According to 2001 Patriot Act and the Money Laundering Control Act of 1986, escrow and title companies, brokers, banks must report to the federal authorities any large deposits and money transfers over $10,000. Make sure you have documentation backing up your sources of income, taxes paid overseas, bank account statements, investment account statements, in other words – the paper trail.

(2) FINANCE OR ALL-CASH? If you are planning to buy with all cash, it will give you many advantages as the “all cash” buyers might enjoy deeper discounts from motivated sellers in many areas. All cash buyers can close deals very fast, and some sellers prefer to deal with buyers like this. However, I recommend that you plan the acquisitions with a real estate investment adviser to see if buying with some type of financing will be financially more beneficial for your investment strategy because of leverage-enhanced ROI and distribution of risk among several properties.

If you’re looking to finance your real estate acquisition in the US, be prepared to encounter some tough times. Real Estate Financing is pretty tough for even Americans these days, but for foreigners it’s even tougher. There are only a handful of institutional lenders who will consider loans for foreign nationals, but they will all require a large downpayment (at least 30% or more) and verification of income from your country. If you have a work visa in the US, such as H or L, and have an established credit history in the US, you may be able to qualify for regular financing with as little as 3.5% down even though you are still considered a “foreign national”.

If you have established relationship with your bank in your own country or another foreign bank, you may consider obtaining financing from them and then bringing the loan proceeds into the US as “all cash” purchase, again just make sure to have documentation as to where the money came from.

Alternatively, there a many private lenders who will lend up to 65% of the asset value at 9-12% annually regardless of your immigration status, and if you are looking for a commercial property, you might be able to finance it easier too, because commercial lenders underwrite loans primarily on the merits and income of the property itself, rather than the borrower.

(3) CONTROL YOUR ASSETS: In the US you can hold title to the property in many different ways: as an individual, corporation (either domestic or foreign), Limited Liability Company, partnership, living trust, pension fund, or many other form of entity. Each of these forms has advantages and disadvantages, especially when it comes to taxation of the rental income received from your investment property, transfer of the property to related or unrelated parties, estate planning and many other situations. You need to decide BEFORE you buy a property in the US how you will own the property, spend some time with a knowledgeable international tax advisor to learn about your options.

Investing in real estate is a very hands-on enterprise. You must think through the details before you buy the first property. It’s very hard to operate a rental business when you don’t see what’s happening yourself. I’m working with many investors and have owned many rental properties, and can tell many horror stories about property management companies embezzling money from out of town investors, renting units for cash but reporting them vacant, overinflating repair bills, etc. How are you planning to control your investment physically while living in India or Russia and owning properties in the US?

(4) BEFORE YOU ENTER, PLAN YOUR EXIT. Are you planning to sell for profit? How long before you sell? Did you account for the future capital gain tax? Will you take the money out of the country? If you are planning to sell for profit but re-invest proceeds into another property, you need to become familiar with 1031 tax-deferred exchanges that allow you to trade and consolidate properties for years and decades without paying a dime of taxes until their final disposition. It’s a great tool for smart investors that can make you very rich, but again, you have to plan for this strategy in advance and consult with a knowledgeable person. Besides, when you are selling a property here as a foreign individual, you are subject to all kinds of withholdings regardless if you made any profit or not, including 10% withholding under FIRPTA just because you are a foreigner, 3 1/3% withholding in California because the property is non-owner occupied, etc. But, you can avoid some of these withholdings if you learn the rules and plan your title holding strategy in advance!

(5) VISA CONSIDERATIONS: Important misconception I see among many foreign buyers that I’d like to address here: don’t assume that owning real estate in the US will automatically entitle you to a US visa. You can own $10 million of properties in the US, but still be denied an entry visa. So, make sure to get your visa status cleared first and then come to the US to look at areas of interest and specific properties. DO NOT EVER BUY PROPERTIES SIGHT UNSEEN!!!

(6) WHY REAL ESTATE? Finally, ask yourself honestly: why are you investing in real estate in the US? Because of visa, passive income, future market appreciation, or because you are thinking of making it your future home? If visa and investment potential are your main decision factors, consider some alternatives that can provide you with similar ROI (return on Investment) and visa opportunities, such as EB-5 visas ($1 million dollar minimum), “Regional Centers” ($500,000 minimum), E-2 small investor visas ($200,000 investment), etc. Or you can combine several strategies, depending on your preferences and access to capital.

Bottom line: your investing in real estate here should be a RESULT and the FINAL STEP of some serious planning path. Measure seven times, cut once, as we say in Russian. It’s much easier to avoid costly mistakes before you step into this market than waste time and money undoing mistakes made in the course of a rushed poorly planned real estate venture. Happy Investing!

Two Basic Business Functions: Innovation and Marketing

I have met a lot of entrepreneurs recently who have told me how superior their product or technology is compared to their competitors. But their competitors have far more customers and market penetration.

As a result, in the last several months I have found myself sharing some or all of the following quote from the great management thought-leader, Peter Drucker:

“Because the purpose of business is to create and keep a customer, the business enterprise has two-and only two-basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of business.”

This may be a painful realization for some, but the best product or service doesn’t always win. In business, usually the best marketer wins. So, here are some general recommendations for any entrepreneur who thinks their infatuation with their product is blinding them from being the best marketer among their competitors.

– Complete a market analysis relative to your competitors and your product, preferably with clear recommendations on the best segments of the market and the most valuable positioning in that/those markets

– Get someone on your team now who has marketed and sold to the same customers. This addition to your team should also get the hands-on, roll-up-your-shirt-sleeve mentality your entrepreneurial company was founded upon.

– Care more about how best to solve your customers’ needs than your technology or product. Many entrepreneurs really struggle with this one, thinking that they know what’s best for the customer. The challenge is always getting the customer to believe that. So get their feedback throughout your product life-cycle and be willing to shed features and design elements that you’re holding onto because of your love affair with the product, not because of what is best for the customer.

– Have fun. Marketing is one of the most exciting parts of business. When done correctly, it is quantitatively based and often more measurable than many other things you do in your company.

This is just a ‘starter’ list. Does anyone want to add any more to the list?

These thoughts don’t apply to products only. The same concepts can help in marketing services and can help in marketing you if you are looking for a new job or need to position yourself for a promotion.