How To Make The Most Of A 3-Day Vacation

Nowadays, taking a long holiday has become tough due to the demanding nature of jobs. Which is why most people prefer taking short trips in between to detox and come back with a refreshed mind. If you are one among them, then it might do you some good to go on a 3-day vacation. However, when you are going on such a short holiday, it might be difficult to get the best of it. So, here are some tips that will help you have the best experience.

Choose a Location That Requires Minimum Travel Time

If you are going to need a long time to travel to your destination, then you will be wasting a lot of time on just getting from one place to another. Pick a place that you like and is also close to your place of residence. You could choose a small place on the outskirts of your city. If you, however, want to fly out then make sure that you keep the travel time in mind. Also, if you are looking for the lowest airfares on domestic flights, then the shorter the distance, the cheaper they will be.

Decide What You Want to Do

When you are going on a vacation, you might have some idea about what you would like to do while you are at it. If you are just going to destress, then you don't have much planning to do. All you need to do before flying out is to book a hotel so that you don't have to worry about it later. On the other hand, if you want to explore a place, then you must narrow down the places you would like to visit. Get in touch with a travel agent or a local guide who will be able to take you to these places.

Visit a Spa

One of the best ways of giving your body some much need relaxation is to get a spa massage. This will loosen up your knotty muscles and also improve blood flow in your body. Additionally, it will also help you get rid of all work related worries and just enjoy the vacation. However, pick a spa wisely. Generally, hotels have spas or can put you in touch with one. Consult a spa expert before going in for a massage so that you get the best out of your experience. They will be able to recommend the right kind of treatment for you.

These are some ways in which you can have an amazing 3-day vacation. You will come back fully relaxed and rejuvenated to take on the world again. Bon Voyage!

Get in touch with us and book lowest airfares on domestic flights today or call us now 1300 837 920. Complete travel agent services for corporate travelers. The experienced business best travel agents at Fortune World Tour support in your business travel management needs

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Business Financing Strategies - Proof of Product

For individuals that aspire to start a business or even for those that are in the early stages of business operations, one of the key components for attracting investors or obtaining traditional credit via a bank loan is offering a product and / or service with sustainable demand. Warren Buffet talks much about one of his priority criterion for business investment is the sustainable demand derived from a company's "competitive advantage. How does this translate in a practical way to start-up and early stage businesses?

It is a well-known fact that the engine of the US economy is small business. According to the SBA, small businesses account for 99.7% of employer firms. For clarity, the SBA defines a small business as any manufacturing or non-manufacturing business with less than 500 employees. Prior to start-up and even during the early stage phase (0 to 2 years) of the business, intentional focus and time investment is needed to legitimize the projected demand of the product and / or service offering. Is it enough to just have a desire to operate and own a business? Well, it's half of the puzzle honestly. True, it's pretty dreadful to operate a business for the exclusive purpose of making money, but there's a need for balance. The optimal route is to start and operate a business that you have a desire for and that gives you the opportunity to earn a living and become wealthy.

Here are two ways to "test" the competitive advantage of your product and / or service for sustainable demand:

(1) - Give Away for Free a Sample Version
You can't beat free. Yeah, there are some that think you can't give away valuable business offerings for free and expect the market to take you seriously. Well, that's sort of the point. In other words, value is in the eyes of the market. Ultimately, the market decides whether or not you have something of value to offer with their willingness to consume your free sample version and then demanding more. Also, from a production and cost standpoint, generating free samples is typically marginal in comparison to building out the entire product with an unproven market.

(2) - Create a Presentation of the Proposed Offering and Share with Perceived Target Market for Feedback
Yes, I know it's scary and down right crazy to expose yourself and your business offering to others in order to get their unfiltered feedback, but there's an upside to doing this. More often than not, you will discover that either you were way off base OR you just needed to tweak a few things to deliver something of value. Is there a chance that someone could steal your idea and attempt to offer the same product and / or service as you? Sure... if not here then at least in China or the Ukraine, right? Also, it teaches you to have thick skin and not take yourself too seriously.

The point here is not to get bogged down with the analysis paralysis syndrome and looking to create the perfect business. Here's a news flash: the perfect business does not exist and probably never will. Interact with your target market and understand intimately their pain points. Once you learn these, then it's time to generate a product and / or service that alleviates these pain points. By listening to your target market and delivering what they want, you in effect will have created a business with a competitive advantage and increased the chances of having sustainable demand.

jerichobizfinance.com is an online platform that specializes in providing expert level advice and guidance to the micro entrepreneur in the areas of accounting / finance, operations, management, sales and marketing, human resources, and lending in order to help grow your business and maximize your cash flow
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5 Tips Small Businesses Can Take Away From The Tiny House Movement

What on earth could small businesses learn from the tiny house movement if your industry is unrelated? It comes as no surprise that the growth, mission, popularity and purpose of the tiny house movement have grown over the past decade. People are joining this movement for financial freedom, environmental and leisure enjoyment. These owners reduce skyrocketing maintenance costs and living expenses that come from soaring mortgage payments of capacious houses. This movement also frees up more time to spend with family and travel.

Over the past decade, we have seen the increase in restructuring, downsizing and corporate dismantling by many large firms. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, 99.7 percent of all employer firms are small businesses. While this percentage is an impressive number, there are some great tips many small businesses can take away from the tiny house movement.

Compact and mobile: Owners of tiny houses downsize to reduce the overabundance of clutter, high mortgage payments, and freedom to do more things they want to engage in. They have the capability of hitching their home on the back of a vehicle and can save money on hotel costs when traveling. Depending on your type of business, with the ease and digitization of many applications and smart devices, you can mobilize your business and take it anywhere. Even if you relocate, your business can be just as portable. Small businesses may be compact in scale, but can be substantial in their return on investment.
Energy and cost-efficient: Tiny house owners save money by lower operating costs, energy usage, and maintenance costs. You will find innovative ways to curb your budget in certain areas that will free up money for other important business investments to grow your business. Small businesses may not use up as much energy and power as larger organizations. You can operate more efficiently as well as effectively.
Environmentally conscious and sustainable: Tiny houses may be built using environmentally friendly and repurposed materials. They are built to last but are as unique and aesthetically appealing as the details in a larger home. Small businesses can apply similar eco-friendly elements and recycled supplies to their organization. Make a statement with personalized and customized brand installations on a smaller scale, but with great innovative curb appeal.
Technological advantages: Technology is not as big and bulky as it once was. Tiny houses can embody the same level of digitization as larger homes, just on a smaller scale. At one time, big businesses had the upper-hand with harnessing more advanced applications in technology. Nowadays, not only is technology more advanced and constantly evolving, many elements are far more affordable than they've ever been.
Innovative: While tiny house living is not a new phenomenon it is increasing in popularity. The idea of living a quality life on a small-scale pushes us to new levels of residential creativity. We are inspired to try something new, creative, and innovative that will make us stellar in our industry. Since many quality products and services are more affordable and reliable, small businesses can make quality purchases and outsource services that will save on equipment and personnel budgets.
Just because a small business may adopt a few ideas from the success of the tiny house movement, some of these applications may not be feasible or appealing to your particular industry. You don't have to sacrifice quality for affordability. Small businesses have the power, however, to promote their business with creative, personalized and exceptional customer experiences, regardless of size and budget.

Kym Gordon Moore is an award-winning poet, author, speaker, philanthropist, certified inbound marketing specialist and an authority in strategic marketing communications. http://www.kymgmoore.com She is the Content Marketing Director for InKNOWvative Concepts, a creative disruption think-tank raising the frequency of limitless possibilities to supplement core business. http://inknowvativeconcepts.com/

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How Much Sales Is Involved With Business Development?

If you ask a group of people what they think business development is, you would most likely get a few different answers. There is even a chance that your own view of business development and sales may be used interchangeably.
Business development involves more of a strategic approach such as strategy, marketing, customer management, and partnerships; these activities encompass about 75%-80% of the approach, and sales about 20%-25%.
When I get asked the question, does business development have something to do with sales? Yes, it does. Is it related to business growth? Most definitely it does. Does it have anything to do with business strategy? There is a good chance it does.
Business development is a culmination of these different activities but most importantly, it's all about shifting to the point of view of the client. This will provide you with that new perspective and will have you balance your efforts across these key activities that you and your client will both need and address. Whenever you conduct your business development efforts make sure to take the perspective from the client's point of view and try to develop a deeper understanding of what their problem is. Realize that the client only cares about one thing and that's their own group or company's survival and the problem that they are facing. The client is only interested in you if they identify a need/problem or pain point that you can solve and provide a solution for it. It's the kind of value that you can provide them that will enable them to consider your firm for the project.
If your firm's approach is strictly from a sales perspective, generally, the economy of scale is to grow as large as you can. The strategy is to sell your product or service with a clear price and value directly to an identifiable individual client.
From a Business development perspective, the economy of scale is much smaller because the approach to your service is more strategic with the intent to create a partnership. It entails cultivating a relationship with the client and provide a service that could be more cyclical by working through existing partner infrastructures.
In my 14+ years of professional experience in management consulting, business development has been stretched to encompass a wider variety of activities with the intent to stay smaller in size. In its most traditional definition it is all about developing partnerships, which often includes some sales. Whereas, strictly sales are more transaction oriented where scalability is the differentiator.
Ernest is a Director for Bradson Consulting. The firm with a unique model, combines client relationships from Fortune 100 and 500 companies like Nike, T-Mobile, AT&T, Microsoft, and Expedia etc. with a deep network of the region's top consulting talent. This approach provides our clients with senior consultants with the specific expertise and industry experience that is relevant and applicable to their needs. Our clients engage us for both leadership and execution within critical business initiatives.
For consultation or to learn more about how we can help your company, Feel free to reach Ernest at ernest@bradsonconsulting.com or visit http://www.bradsonconsulting.com.

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Bitcoin Vs Goldcoin

Bitcoin... Monetary Nirvana?
If you don't know what Bitcoin is, do a bit of research on the internet, and you will get plenty... but the short story is that Bitcoin was created as a medium of exchange, without a central bank or bank of issue being involved. Furthermore, Bitcoin transactions are supposed to be private, that is anonymous. Most interestingly, Bitcoins have no real world existence; they exist only in computer software, as a kind of virtual reality.
The general idea is that Bitcoins are 'mined'... interesting term here... by solving an increasingly difficult mathematical formula -more difficult as more Bitcoins are 'mined' into existence; again interesting- on a computer. Once created, the new Bitcoin is put into an electronic 'wallet'. It is then possible to trade real goods or Fiat currency for Bitcoins... and vice versa. Furthermore, as there is no central issuer of Bitcoins, it is all highly distributed, thus resistant to being 'managed' by authority.
Naturally proponents of Bitcoin, those who benefit from the growth of Bitcoin, insist rather loudly that 'for sure, Bitcoin is money'... and not only that, but 'it is the best money ever, the money of the future', etc... Well, the proponents of Fiat shout just as loudly that paper currency is money... and we all know that Fiat paper is not money by any means, as it lacks the most important attributes of real money. The question then is does Bitcoin even qualify as money... never mind it being the money of the future, or the best money ever.
To find out, let's look at the attributes that define money, and see if Bitcoin qualifies. The three essential attributes of money are;
1) money is a stable store of value; the most essential attribute, as without stability of value the function of numeraire, or unit of measure of value, fails.
2) money is the numeraire, the unit of account.
3) money is a medium of exchange... but other things can also fulfill this function ie direct barter, the 'netting out' of goods exchanged. Also 'trade goods' (chits) that hold value temporarily; and finally exchange of mutual credit; ie netting out the value of promises fulfilled by exchanging bills or IOU's.
Compared to Fiat, Bitcoin does not do too badly as a medium of exchange. Fiat is only accepted in the geographic domain of its issuer. Dollars are no good in Europe etc. Bitcoin is accepted internationally. On the other hand, very few retailers currently accept payment in Bitcoin. Unless the acceptance grows geometrically, Fiat wins... although at the cost of exchange between countries.
The first condition is a lot tougher; money must be a stable store of value... now Bitcoins have gone from a 'value' of $3.00 to around $1,000, in just a few years. This is about as far from being a 'stable store of value'; as you can get! Indeed, such gains are a perfect example of a speculative boom... like Dutch tulip bulbs, or junior mining companies, or Nortel stocks.
Of course, Fiat fails here as well; for example, the US Dollar, the 'main' Fiat, has lost over 95% of its value in a few decades... neither fiat nor Bitcoin qualify in the most important measure of money; the capacity to store value and preserve value through time. Real money, that is Gold, has shown the ability to hold value not just for centuries, but for eons. Neither Fiat nor Bitcoin has this crucial capacity... both fail as money.
Finally, we come to the second attribute; that of being the numeraire. Now this is really interesting, and we can see why both Bitcoin and Fiat fail as money, by looking closely at the question of the 'numeraire'. Numeraire refers to the use of money to not only store value, but to in a sense measure, or compare value. In Austrian economics, it is considered impossible to actually measure value; after all, value resides only in human consciousness... and how can anything in consciousness actually be measured? Nevertheless, through the principle of Mengerian market action, that is interaction between bid and offer, market prices can be established... if only momentarily... and this market price is expressed in terms of the numeraire, the most marketable good, that is money.
So how do we establish the value of Fiat... ? Through the concept of 'purchasing power'... that is, the value of Fiat is determined by what it can be traded for... a so called 'basket of goods'. But his clearly implies that Fiat has no value of its own, rather value flows from the value of the goods and services it may be traded for. Causality flows from the goods 'bought' to the Fiat number. After all, what difference is there between a one Dollar bill and a hundred Dollar bill, except the number printed on it... and the purchasing power of the number?
Gold, on the other hand, is not measured by what it trades for; rather, uniquely, it is measured by another physical standard; by its weight, or mass. A gram of Gold is a gram of gold, and an ounce of Gold is an ounce of Gold... no matter what number is engraved on its surface, 'face value' or otherwise. Causality is the opposite to that of Fiat; Gold is measured by weight, an intrinsic quality... not by purchasing power. Now, have you any idea of the value of an ounce of Dollars? No such thing. Fiat is only 'measured' by an ephemeral quantity... the number printed on it, the 'face value'.
Bitcoin is farther away from being the numeraire; not only is it simply a number, much as Fiat... but its value is measured in Fiat! Even if Bitcoin becomes internationally accepted as a medium of exchange, and even if it manages to replace the Dollar as the accepted 'numeraire', it can never have an intrinsic measure like Gold has. Gold is unique in being measured by a true, unchanging physical quantity. Gold is unique in storing value for thousands of years. Nothing else in reach of humanity has this unique combination of qualities.
In conclusion, while Bitcoin has some advantages over Fiat, namely anonymity and decentralization, it fails in its claim to being money. Its advantages are also questionable; the intent is to limit the 'mining' of Bitcoins to 26,000,000 units; that is, the 'mining' algorithm gets harder and harder to solve, then impossible after the 26 million Bitcoins are mined. Unfortunately, this announcement could very well be the death knell of Bitcoin; already, some central banks have announced that Bitcoins may become a 'reservable' currency.
Wow, sounds like a major step for Bitcoin, does it not? After all, the 'big banks' seem to be accepting the true value of the Bitcoin, no? What this actually means is banks recognize that they could trade Fiat for Bitcoins... and to actually buy up the 26 million Bitcoins planned would cost a meagre 26 Billion Fiat Dollars. Twenty six billion Dollars is not even small change to the Fiat printers; it is about a week's worth of printing by the US Fed alone. And, once the Bitcoins bought up and locked up in the Fed's 'wallet'... what useful purpose could they serve?
There would be no Bitcoins left in circulation; a perfect corner. If there are no Bitcoins in circulation, how on Earth could they be used as a medium of exchange? And, what could the issuers of Bitcoin possibly do to defend against such a fate? Change the algorithm and increase the 26 million to... 52 million? To 104 million? Join the Fiat printing parade? But then, by the quantity theory of money, Bitcoin would start to lose value, just as Fiat supposedly loses value through 'over-printing'...
We come to the key issue; why search for a 'new money' when we already have the very best money, Gold? Fear of Gold confiscation? Lack of anonymity from an intrusive government? Brutal taxation? Fiat money legal tender laws? All of the above. The answer is not in a new form of money, but in a new social structure, one without Fiat, without Government spying, without drones and swat teams... without IRS, border guards, TSA thugs... on and on. A world of liberty not tyranny. Once this is accomplished, Gold will resume its ancient and vital role as honest money... and not a moment before.
Rudy J. Fritsch was born in Hungary in 1947, and fled Socialist tyranny during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. His family had lived through WWII and the consequent Hungarian hyperinflation, thus he has intimate experience with financial destruction.
As an engineer and entrepreneur, he ran a successful family business in Canada for decades, at its peak employing over 100 workers, until economic upheaval destroyed the profitability of North American manufacturing. Driven out of business, he decided to study economics... to discover the cause of this unhappy circumstance.
As mainstream economics "The Dismal Science" made no sense to him, he ended up studying Austrian economics, the only school of economics grounded in the realities of Human Action. When he discovered Professor Antal Fekete's work he came to admire it and made a firm commitment to help preserve and disseminate the Professor's legacy.
He is the Editor in Chief of The Gold Standard Institute; // http://www.goldstandardinstitute.net/ and the author of an easy to read book on Austrian economics and the Gold Standard; http://www.beyondmises.com/
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Financial Planning Service Companies - Why Select the Best?

The world without any considerable doubt can be easily considered as one big market. Trade and business are the only two things that keep the world running. Yes, there are inventions and discoveries as well, but they are also traded to get through with an ample amount of profit.

People can easily come around with one or the other form of business. Either they own it or work for it. Each of these businesses thus has their financial statements and records. Without these, the business may well disappear.

There are many forms of finances that a person might practically have to deal with. There are the mutual fund investments. There are the hedge funds and many more. There are many best financial services companies that are present nowadays that help people.

These financial services companies ensure of the very fact that people do get the best results from the business that they are in. There are various advantages that people may enjoy if they hire the financial service companies.

Financial planning:

Before moving further on the topic, people should understand that what exactly is the financial planning? This is something that can help people in a long course of time and thus help in managing the finances the best.

Why Recruit the Financial Service Companies?

There are many reasons why a person should think of hiring these services. Financial services can be well considered as one of the very important services, and the following are the various advantages that the companies providing them can guarantee:

• Consulting: Yes! The financial consultancy services are one of those most important things that are necessary before any decision to invest. Consulting helps in various things. People can ensure that they are getting through with the most important knowledge of finance and these companies do provide with that. 

• Taking Care: the main aim is to take care of each and every financial gains and loss in the company. Evaluating them and taking the necessary actions. These can be done by the professionals only, and this is the only reason why people should ensure that they do have one of these financial companies to aid them.

Apart from these two important advantages that people can come around with they should also ensure that there will be much more advantages if people select the best ones for themselves. Only the very top financial services companies can ensure of the fact that the best services will be provided.

The following are the best advantages of recruiting the top notch services: 

Free Services: The top financial service companies believe in the very fact that the people can only get the very best of the results if they do have a hope in the fact that their services by no means are frauds. This is the exact reason why they provide the people with the various free financial planning services.

Varied Services: This is again one of the major advantages of the top notch companies. The very first thing is that each and every company that is top notch is there because of the excellent knowledge that they do possess. They believe in the fact that the various services that they will provide ill attract the customer's attention. They have knowledge about various things like portfolio management.

Creation of The Portfolio: This is something that cannot be achieved excellently just by any company. Only the top notch ones will work the best to provide with absolutely marvellous results on the portfolio. They will change as well as customize them according to the customers. Also, they will help in managing them.

Appointing the financial management companies can be the best thing that people can do. Remembering to select the best financial planners though is really important.

For More Details: http://www.finstem.com/

The Islamic Banking Model

The origin of Islamic banking dates to the very beginning of Islam in the seventh century. The prophet Muhammad's first wife, Khadija, was a merchant, and he acted as an agent for her business, using many of the same principles used in contemporary Islamic banking. In the Middle Ages, trade and business activity in the Muslim world relied on Islamic banking principles, and these ideas spread throughout Spain, the Mediterranean and the Baltic States, arguably providing some of the basis for western banking principles. In the 1960s to the 1970s, Islamic banking resurfaced in the modern world.
This banking system is based on the principles of Islamic law, also referred to as Sharia law, and guided by Islamic economics. The two basic principles are the sharing of profit and loss and the prohibition of the collection and payment of interest by lenders and investors. Islamic banks neither charge nor pay interest in a conventional way where the payment of interest is set in advance and viewed as the predetermined price of credit or the reward for money deposited. Islamic law accepts the capital reward for loan providers only on a profit- and loss-sharing basis, working on the principle of variable return connected to the actual productivity and performances of the financed project and the real economy. Another important aspect is its entrepreneurial feature. The system is focused not only on financial expansion but also on physical expansion of economic production and services. In practice, there is a higher concentrated on investment activities such as equity financing, trade financing and real estate investments. Since this system of banking is grounded in Islamic principles, all the undertakings of the banks follow Islamic morals. Therefore, it could be said that financial transactions within Islamic banking are a culturally distinct form of ethical investing. For example, investments involving alcohol, gambling, pork, etc. are prohibited.
For the last four decades, the Islamic banking system has experienced a tremendous evolution from a small niche visible only in Islamic countries to a profitable, dynamic and resilient competitor at an international level. Their size around the world was estimated to be close to $850 billion at the end of 2008 and is expected to grow by around 15 percent annually. While system of banking remains the main component of the Islamic financial system, the other elements, such as Takaful (Islamic insurance companies), mutual funds and Sukuk (Islamic bonds and financial certificates), have witnessed strong global growth, too. Per a reliable estimate, the Islamic financial industry now amounts to over $1 trillion. Moreover, the opportunity for growth in this sector is considerable. It is estimated that the system could double in size within a decade if the past performances are continued in the future. Source