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5 Guidelines to Pick the Right Investment App for You

The pool of investors is larger than it has ever been.

Several trends have given rise to a new generation of first-time investors. Those factors include more free time during the pandemic, disposable income from government assistance, and the sudden availability of trading via mobile phone apps.

These have led to an explosion of new investors and DIY investors, including millions of people who have signed up for RobinHood, Stash or one of the many other options now available for easy investing through your smartphone.

And for good reason, as the stock market continues to be the safest and best way to grow wealth over the long-term. The stock market proved its resiliency yet again during the pandemic, with a quick rebound and record growth since.

If you’re considering the start of your own investing, how do you choose what app is best for you?

Let’s dig in.

What Are Your Goals?

Before you hit download on Stash, Mint or Robinhood, you should ask yourself what exactly you hope to accomplish with your investing, said Matt Choi, founder of Certus Trading, which offers educational courses to traders.

Are you trying to build wealth for retirement? Are you trying to help build wealth to buy a house? Or are you just looking to try out investing as a hobby?

“Don’t buy an app and start trading unless you know why you’re doing it,” said Matt Choi. “While it might sound like fun to start trading immediately, you need to know that there are no safety nets if you’re doing this on your own, and you can lose a lot of money very easily if you don’t know what you’re doing and you’re not paying attention.”

Look into insurance and security

You will want to research the basics of personal identity protections before handing over all your financial data.

So what to look for exactly? Well, check to see if the app you’re considering uses two-factor authentication and has other security practices in place to guard against breaches, said Trina Patel, financial advice manager at Albert, a mobile banking, savings and investing app.

Patel also suggests checking what kind of insurance the apps have in place. For example, for a banking-related app, make sure that the financial institution backing the app is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. If so, then you can trust that up to $250,000 of your deposited money will be protected if the bank fails.

Even with that backing, apps like RobinHood have their dangers, according to Tara Falcone, a financial planner and analyst and the founder of financial education company ReisUP.

“Apps like that, especially ones that are reducing trading costs, or in this case having zero commission trades, are great from an accessibility standpoint,” Falcone said. “One thing that has previously kept a lot of small investors out of the investing game is the fact that they had to pay a broker. However, I do think that targeting the millennial generation, which is very instant-gratification driven, can be a little dangerous when you’re considering the mix of investments and different investment strategies that are available through an app like Robinhood versus through another fintech app such as Acorns or Stash.”

Read the reviews

This should be a no-brainer, but many of us forget the value of researching the many platforms that offer reviews for apps, especially investing apps.

Don’t end your research with reviews on Google, Facebook, or Yahoo, either. Try to read articles about each app and its products, as well as the customer reviews.

“There’s so many new tools out there, I think it makes sense to do a little research and maybe talk to some people who’ve used it in the past,” said Ben Carlson, director of institutional asset management at Ritholtz Wealth Management.

There are tons of great tools for investing and learning about investing, Matt Choi said. It’s a positive thing that we live in a time when the stock market has become so easily accessible to so many people.

“But if you want to be successful, then don’t forget to do your homework,” Choi said.

Call centers are offices from where trained professionals help out businesses remotely. The professionals carry out tasks like answering incoming calls, messages and emails; make outgoing calls as preferred by the businesses and transfer calls to the concerned people. Though a virtual receptionist does not remain physically present at the site of businesses, they carefully work for them. As a business grows and so does the query and expectations of people, it becomes tough to answer all the calls and mails in the real time. A remote receptionist does this job efficiently to maintain communication between a business and its customers and clients.

Outgoing calls

Many businesses require to make outgoing calls to present and prospective customer and clients. The main purpose usually is to let them know about new services and products. Often clients and customers are approached through mails. The receptionists are trained to present everything to the concerned people in an impressive way and convince them.

They are present even when you are not

Running a business does not mean you cannot enjoy your life. You can definitely decide to stay away from those phone calls and e-mails for a weekend or on a vacation. There is nothing to worry about as the receptionists got you covered. You might be on a holiday while they remain at the desk to promptly answer a call or mail. Though you might stay away from these things for a few days, you will never miss anything. The professionals will notify you of everything important to help you get back to the job without any problem.

Working with call centers has become much popular due to its low cost and efficient results. Even small businesses can easily afford the services as it is cheaper than setting up an in-house team.

Nowadays businesses want to gain canniness i.e. competitive edge over their competitors in the market. It provides healthy competition in the market. Strategic management is the procedure of identifying goals, procedures, and purposes so that a company or an organization can be more competitive in the market. If we say in precise terms strategic management looks at properly placing of staff and resources for the achievement of goals.

Generally, strategic management includes the following aspects:

  • Internal Organization Analysis
  • Strategy Evaluation
  • Strategy Execution throughout the organization
  • Allows a company to analyze areas of operational improvement.
  • Identify potential opportunities and threats.

Strategic Management lets businesses be more proactive rather than reactive which means that businesses anticipate the future in advance and then they work actively when a problem arises. One of the prominent saying by Peter Drucker “ Strategic Management is not a box of tricks or a bundle of techniques. As businesses are evolving day by day people understood and recognized the importance of strategic management.

Here in this article, you will learn about 5 good effects of strategic management for your business.

Smooth decision making:

In an organization, everyone has their own goals but all of them are concentrated towards the main organizational goal. The strategy provides a proper structure. Staff performs a daily decisional activity which is impossible for senior executives to know all these decisions. Therefore strategies set the defined boundaries within which staff perform their activities. These small decisions possess a significant impact on businesses. Having proper structure and boundaries helps all the personnel to focus their efforts in the same direction.

Enables progress measurement:

Strategic management is not a one-time action but is Continual action. Strategic management helps in setting practical objectives and evaluate success or failure. When there is a deviation in expected results and actual results. Then considering that deviation they plan new objectives and present n front of senior management. Bradley Fauteux a leader in the service industry also provides services related to strategic management and strategic planning. 

SWOT Analysis: 

Strategic management is a useful tool for SWOT analysis. SWOT here means

  1. Strengths
  2. Weaknesses
  3. Opportunities
  4. Threats

SWOT analysis is crucial in this dynamic environment. A business has to identify opportunities at the correct time and prepare itself for future threats. It should not disclose the strength to its competitors and work upon its weaknesses.

Ease communication:

For accomplishing any objective everyone in the organization must be aware of it so that they could work accordingly. Strategic management makes sure that appropriate communication flows in an organization at all stages. Subordinates and superiors have stable relations between them.

Benefits in planning:

Strategic management lets businesses develop the plan according to the current situation. Also, it helps in building economic plans. For example, now people are showing concern towards the environment in this case one of the prominent leaders Brad Fauteux advises their clients to explore new areas in businesses which is eco-friendly.

Have you wondered about what it takes to open a hotel business? When business owners decide to go into the hospitality field, there are many things they’ll need to take into consideration. Hotels require various permits and inspections for the diverse services they provide in the course of business. It’s a very intense and interesting process to be able to open a hotel to the public.

Get Various Safety Inspections

When a business owner wants to operate a hotel, there will be necessary safety protocols they will need to follow to get all their ducks in a row. If the building will be equipped with an elevator system, this must be checked by the right authorities to ensure it’s safe for operation. If the establishment will have automatic doors installed, they will need to be inspected to see that they align with automated door safety compliance. These types of machinery are powerful and useful, and it’s important they’re not only installed correctly but that they function in the safe manner for which they were designed.

Acquire the Necessary Permits

All businesses that serve the general public will need some sort of permit for operation. Usually, the municipality in which the building lies is responsible for issuing the necessary certificates. Public operations will need to be inspected for fire safety, and this will include issuing a certificate of maximum occupancy. Another type of permit a hotel may need is an alcohol license. If the hotel serves food or beverages, they’ll need a seller license for the alcohol and a health inspection to ensure the food they’re serving is clean and safe.

Secure the Right Kind of Insurance

Business owners must protect themselves and their companies by securing a liability insurance policy. Insurance policies protect entrepreneurs from potential lawsuits from customers or other employees. Sometimes accidents happen no matter how safely an operation is run. Business insurance policies help pay for damages on the building, medical bills for an injured person, and other expenses that result from an accident. Most lenders require businesses to have some sort of insurance before extending loans to fund the enterprise.

Owning a hotel can be a lucrative opportunity if the right steps are taken. There’s a lot involved in the day-to-day process of running a hospitality operation. When business owners make careful plans and take the right steps, they can end up having a very successful outcome.

Sunday, October 8, 1871. The story goes that a cow on a nearby farm in Chicago knocked over a lantern and burned everything in its surroundings.

In reality, the summer of that year was unusually hot, and as fall came, almost everyone in Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin knew the condition wouldn’t change. Instead, it transformed farms, homes, and buildings into a huge kindling.

And so the Great Chicago Fire began in the early evening of that October, destroying acres of land and ending lives. Later in the day, the smoke crossed over to the tiny towns of Michigan, rousing families to shouts of “Fire!”

It took about three days before the flame died, but the story didn’t end there. The Great Lake State has dealt more fires since then. As of May 2021, the Colfax Fire is raging in the north and destroying at least 420 acres of land.

Overall, the state experiences at least 8,000 wildfires and more home fires each year, some of which eventually make it to the headlines because of their severity. It isn’t surprising then that Michigan implements a strict fire prevention code.

For those doing business in the state, here are essential fire-related points that matter:

  1. Create an Emergency Plan and Involve the Local Firefighters

According to the provisions of the construction and fire codes for enterprises in the state, a business needs to meet three requirements to have an effective emergency plan:

  • Firefighter right-to-know, which means both employees and local firefighters need to be aware of the type of hazardous materials used in the establishment and their corresponding danger. In line with this, local firefighters have the right and obligation to inspect the site regularly.
  • HAZWOPER, which stands for hazardous waste operations and emergency response. It obligates companies that produce or use chemicals officially labeled as hazardous or dangerous by OSHA (broadly defined as one that can cause physical harm) to prepare for any emergency and train employees in the process. Based on the code, this plan will include first aid and other types of emergency treatment, evacuation procedures and routes, and coordination with outside parties, like firefighters.
  • SARA Title III, or the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act. Under this law, industries that produce or use extremely hazardous substances in volumes, which increases the risks of public exposure, may need to make their inventory or chemical data sheet public. Moreover, every county may have to set up a fund to cover emergency response and toxic waste clean-up.
  1. Work with a Qualified Electrician in the State

Many fires happen because of faulty or old electrical systems. This is especially true in industries that rely on huge power lines. When they are not maintained well, they can still begin a massive wildfire as trees or branches can touch the line.

Electrical wiring is one job that no layperson can do in the state unless they are duly licensed. This means that businesses need to work with an industrial electrician in at least two situations:

  • Before installing any electrical equipment in the building
  • Altering the electrical system (such as adding or replacing worn wires), especially if the cost of the equipment exceeds $100

Based on the local building code, in these two scenarios, the company needs to obtain an electrical permit. But a qualified contractor can already take care of that.

However, this electrician may need to coordinate with a state-licensed engineer or architect, who has to provide signed-and-sealed building plans and specifications. These are part of the requirements for getting an electrical permit.

The only time that alterations or rewiring won’t ask for a signed plan is if it is considered “minor.” The working area is no more than 3,500 square feet, and the electrical system rating doesn’t go beyond 400 amps.

  1. Obtain a Mechanical Permit

The 1972 Act 230 of the state says that a building that needs to use specific flammable equipment needs to obtain a mechanical permit. These include water heaters, chimneys and vents, cooling systems, incinerators, boilers, and air pollution control systems.

Businesses can only work with licensed contractors to get the permit. Local firefighters, meanwhile, may inspect the area and the quality and condition of this equipment regularly.

Fires cost a lot of money and endanger lives, but the good news is, in many cases, they are both preventable and controllable. If not, then companies have the means to prepare for an effective emergency action to significantly reduce human and property losses. It begins by following the state building codes and collaborating with the local fire department.

Meta title: Essential Fire Rules for Michigan Businesses

Meta desc: Every year, Michigan experiences thousands of fires. Businesses can decrease their risks of human and property losses with these three tips.