1. Do you constantly plan and prepare to leave your job but never take action?

2. Are you waiting for the perfect time to change careers?

3. Do you get a good idea and pencil it “to be done” later?

4. Are you overwhelmed by all your ideas to create your dream life and just put them on the shelf?

5. Are you waiting to be laid off to start working on your life?Did you see yourself in one of those questions? Most people are “comfortable” in their current jobs and don’t want to rock the boat. They have a steady source of income, health insurance benefits and that’s enough. But do you realize if you’re not working on your dream, on your life, on your future, you are helping someone else build theirs? Which would you rather invest in – yourself or someone else?

So you have a great job and the possibility of pursuing what would make you feel great is just not on the agenda because it seems like “too much”.Or maybe you’ve decided that you’re not ready to start living and putting yourself on the backburner is fine by you. Planning, brainstorming and starting does not mean you’re going to quit your job on Monday. It means just that. You’re planning, brainstorming and most importantly -starting.

Stop preparing to give, to share and to live. Just Do It.

If you have “red light thinking” here are 4 steps to help you start going:

1. Clarify what you want your life to look like. In your dream life, what are you doing for work?

2. Crystallize what you want to do for income. Get clear on exactly 5-7 sources of income that you demonstrate an aptitude for and are motivated to do.

3. Prepare to make your transition. Do you realize most people started on their plan by working on it nights and weekends. Do the due diligence, research and whatever it takes to examine the viability of your idea. Don’t make assumptions.

4. Begin taking small steps to create the life you love, doing work you love.

Enterprise Resource Planning(ERP) is a supportive package for the business and is still considered by many companies as a necessary evil rather than an investment. So, if the business is down, the need for the ERP seems to be down and the first reaction is to have a sharp cut on ERP expenses.

But, is the cost cutting, the only strategy for minimizing the impact of global recession, at a time when the corporate have already started considering ERP as a good investment and a booster for business growth?

Global economy has its own cycle. After each boom, it also goes through recession and after each recession it has to come back to the boom period.ERP managers should therefore consider this lean period of business as an opportunity for improvements in ERP and for increasing the rate of return on ERP investment in the long run. Economic cycle has to see bright days again. So, the wise man is the one who utilizes the bear phase to get ready in the bull phase. Cost cutting without effecting the performance of the ERP should only be a part of the strategy instead of being the only strategy.

For survival in global recession ERP strategy can be broadly classified in 2 parts 1) Cost Cutting without effecting the performance of ERP, 2) Utilising the lean business period for increasing the ROI for ERP investment

Cost Cutting:

ERP Support:There are 3 ways for ERP support:

o In-house support

o On-site support by external resources

o Internet-delivered remote support

The best approach could be the combination of On-site support and internet-delivered remote support as 70-80% issues can be solved by remote support. Remaining issues can be resolved on site. Server Maintenance: Setting up and maintaining your own server can be very expensive, looking at various costs incurred on such items as Staff, Electricity, air conditioning, Space etc. Server outsourcing to a data centre looks a better option AMC and License Cost: You can also renegotiate with the ERP supplier for license fee and AMC based on the latest or forecasted headcounts

Utilising the Lean Business period:

Normally the volume of business is reduced in the recession period. With the reduced business, availability of resources is easier. Due to reduced workload, management can also concentrate on the ‘important but not urgent issues’ which are normally ignored when the business is in full swing.

So, these resources along with management attention, can be used in many ways to increase the rate of return on ERP investment and to prepare ERP in a better way for the coming boom period.

Some of the ways suggested are:

ERP Optimisation: This lean period can be used for optimizing the ERP processes or introducing the new processes as per the present and future business requirements.

Data Cleaning: This lean period can be utilized for eliminating the duplication of the data and removing the data inconsistencies

Training of end users: Most of the end users could be having some amount of idle time. So, this idle time can be utilized for enhancing their ERP skills. They can be trained for advance functionality of ERP. This training could give very good returns once the business is again in full swing.

Training of suppliers/customers: Some of the applications of ERP may also require training for external agencies like vendors or customers. These external agencies can also be trained in this period.

Build Control: In a running business and high profitable years, the companies do not pay attention to the control & risk areas in the system. This may someday cause big financial losses. We have many examples like 7 Billion dollar fraud of Societe Generale SA, one of the largest bank of Europe, by a junior staff simply due to insufficient controls in the system.

So, ERP managers should also concentrate on the loop-holes/ risk prone areas in the system like excess or inappropriate access of the activities or the fields, to avoid any unforeseen disaster.

Data Analytics: ERP managers should also analyse the data generated in the past years to find out any data inconsistency or fraud through the system.

Implementation of ERP or new applications for ERP: When there is no business in the market, you can get the best deal in all respect. To survive in this period, suppliers give the best discount. Also, due to less number of projects, you can get the best resources which otherwise are busy on more lucrative foreign projects. Selecting ERP: When ERP is implemented in the company, it becomes backbone of the company’s business. It can affect your business in positive or negative way based on the quality and suitability of ERP to your business. Yet, the companies select the ERP like they are purchasing any other product.

Every company has a unique business model. So, before selecting the ERP, one should analyze the suitability of the ERP to the business. There are many ERPs available in market with very low cost to very high cost. Companies should do the cost benefit analysis of the ERP based on the size of the business before finalizing the most suitable ERP.

Their can be many other strategies for surviving the recession period based on the individual business. But, the approach should not only revolve round cost-cutting, it should also be seen as an opportunity to strengthen the muscles of the business to gain the maximum and achieve fastest growth once the boom period is back.

There are three things that make a chart ugly:

* Lack of Focus

* Wrong Type of Chart

* Poor Color

There are two ways a chart can lack focus; unrelated variables and variables outside of the span of control.

A chart that shows unrelated variables lacks focus. Putting the Accounts Payable with Inventory and Share Price doesn’t make sense. It is like the Sesame Street game. One of these things is not like the others. Share Price is not directly related to either Inventory or Accounts Payable.When the variables presented in a chart are not all within the control of the viewer, there is a lack of focus. If you can’t change a variable, why show it?

Wrong Type of Chart

It is surprising how often people choose the wrong type of chart. Usually it is because a tool or vendor hypes the type of chart. The best current example is the gauge. The Business Intelligence industry has included gauges in its tools. The message is “You need to simplify your reporting like a car dashboard.”

The problem with this logic is that the car dashboard instruments provide information you use once and forget. If you look at your speedometer and see you are doing 75 in a 45 zone, you slow down. In a business though, you need to know whether 75 is a good or bad number. To make this decision you need to see what the history has been. Has it been increasing or decreasing?

The other reason for choosing the wrong type of chart is making the wrong decision between point in time and time series chart types.

A point in time chart shows the values for a number of variables or organizations at a single point in time. Chart types which can show a single point in time are pie, stacked bar, and bar charts. The pie chart is the most commonly used single point of time chart type. A pie chart shows the relationship between segments for a single point of time. When it is misused, you have multiple pie charts of the same variables for different time periods. Variations in pie charts are difficult to compare which makes them the wrong choice.

Time series charts show one or more variables over a range of time. The most common chart types used to show time series are line, bar, and surface (also known as area) charts. These chart types are made into the wrong choice by using the 3 dimensional (or 3D) features of the charting software. In my opinion the 3D capability should never be used. It hides numbers behind other numbers or makes it hard to impossible to see the scale behind the lines, bars or areas.

Poor Color

Color should be a tool to help people read and make sense of your charts. The problem with color is the way people choose to apply colors. The two main problems are mismatched colors and inconsistent colors.

Mismatched colors are those which make it hard to read or even look at the colors. Too much contrast or too little both cause problems. Bright colors with different shades are hard to read when presented side by side. Red and green are great at Christmas but lousy when you are trying to make a useful chart. Other colors which are similar are especially bad choices when making a bar chart. Examples include yellow and green, red and orange, and purple and blue.

Choosing colors for each chart separately creates confusion. Using a legend does not solve this problem. You should select colors over a group of charts, not on each individual chart. Use colors consistently to show organizations across charts.

Making your charts ugly is easy. But it is just as easy to make charts that are easy to read and useful to your audience. Take the time and make your charts better.

The art part of website design is the web design. You want your site to be attractive, you want it be functional, but you you also want it to get results.

So how do you achieve both and increase your revenue for your Adelaide business online?

There’s an old saying among web developers which is “An ugly website that makes money is more attractive than a pretty one that doesn’t.”That may be a true statement, but even more attractive than an ugly site that makes money is a beautiful website that makes money. And you’d better believe that your visitors will judge your business by the attractiveness of your website just as they judge your business by how you dress.

So when it comes to ensuring that your Adelaide Business website is profitable, make sure that you plan its fundamentals and strategy well and don’t leave out its attractiveness. Make sure your web designer understands this. Otherwise you will have a website that doesn’t produce any results. And for an Adelaide Business owner understanding that your website can be bringing you money instead of costing you money is crucial.

Most web designers will tell you to have a brochure online and they want to make it pretty. However what they miss is that this approach leads to a website costing you money instead of making you money.

A website for you local Adelaide business is important but it needs to produce results. Turning visitors into leads and leads into paying customers.

This is what we do here at Maverick Web Marketing, we specialise in attractive websites that have the fundamentals built in as well as the best marketing strategies to achieve your desired business results. Therefore turning visitors into leads and leads into paying customers and turning your website into a profit centre instead of an expense that costs you money each and every month with no results.

Mutual mystification in the sales process is a real deal killer. It happens when either a buyer or seller has different expectations for an outcome of a meeting. Or it can happen when one party does something bewildering that is not clarified-leading to the “two ships passing in the night” syndrome.

The seller must provide leadership throughout the deal flow and must not allow mutual mystification to occur. To ensure that there is no mutual mystification in your deal making, discuss before each meeting:· The purpose of the meeting and time length.

· Your specific agenda, especially on the items requiring action.

· Your buyer’s specific agenda/expectations, you do not want to be blindsided!

· Budget issues, if any.

· Expected results from the meeting (e.g. accept or reject the proposal being reviewed).

Often in sales negotiations there is a tug-of-war between buyer and seller; each at cross-purposes with the other. It is important for you, the seller, to isolate hidden agendas and areas of disagreement before your sales presentation. This way, you have time to adjust your proposal while educating the buyer to the reality to what is feasible in solving his problem. (Having unrealistic expectations, improperly handled, is the leading cause of failed sales closings.)

When you discuss ahead of time, and mutually agree to what’s coming next; you will build and maintain rapport, credibility, and trust throughout a profitable relationship.

Mutual agreement is the antidote to mutual mystification and your formula for sales success.