Reginald Chan

Category: Leadership

Leadership by Reginald Chan focuses on thought leadership, ways to become a leader and helping one to become a leader. This is a leader in the making group.

  • How to Decide What Size of a Loan You Need?

    How to Decide What Size of a Loan You Need?

    Whether you’re thinking about running a business or are just needing money to make general home improvements, loans can help you get the financial boost you need in a pinch. A lot of people have gotten through some tough times by taking out loans. Of course, loans are no easy matter, and it should be something that you need to plan for adequately. If you are taking an obligation to pay off the loan in the future, it’s best to begin knowing what lies ahead.

    Loans allow you to take out financial aid from either a bank or any lending institution. Generally, you have to agree to payment terms, including the duration of the time you have to pay the loan and the amount of interest that incurs throughout the payment time. Banks offer loans for various purposes.

    According to Debt, the most popular types of loans are student, mortgages, auto, veterans, small business, payday, and home equity. Each loan has its purpose, even though there also are general purpose loans available. The amount you can loan often depends on your credit limit, existing loans, and the type of loan you are considering. Taking out a loan is the easy part. The hard part?

    People tend to overshoot their goals and make loans that are more than what they need. This may sound like a great deal in the long run, but the interest will keep you at a loss. As such, it’s important to properly think about the amount you need to loan before making one. How does one determine how much he needs?

    Consider Thinking About What It’s For

    There are many purposes for loans, and it’s completely up to you what you’ll use it for. The first question you need to ask yourself is about what the primary goal of the loan is. This is an important question as it can help determine whether or not you are capable of paying the terms at the right time.

    Let’s say you want to take out a loan of $50,000 to run a business. However, the company you are planning on setting up still requires work, and it could take at least ten months before it can generate a decent profit. Knowing what type of loan you need can help direct you to the best options possible.

    Keep in mind that personal loans are very different from business loans. There’s a marketplace for small business loans that help direct you to possible payment terms that consider your business’ profits regarding the tenure. Institutions that offer such loans help you think about exactly how much you might need to take out.

    If it’s for a personal expense like a new gadget or even money for a home renovation, be more considerate of your loan. Do you really need to make that loan? This is just one of the questions you should be asking. If you do need it, then make sure to loan only as much as you need.

    Plan Ahead

    One of the last things you’d want is to fail to make payments on time. Not only will this leave you with bad credit under your name. You’ll also incur penalties that add hefty fees on top of the interest. In cases like these, it’s best to plan ahead and think about whether or not you have the means to pay the loan in the future.

    According to a Wall Street Journal report, Americans have skipped their payments on over 100 million student loans, auto loans, mortgage loans, and many other forms of debt during this pandemic. Now, they’ll have to pay fees unless the institutions they loaned from decide to waive these and adjust their payment terms.

    True enough, no one saw the pandemic coming. However, the same can be said for just about any emergency situation. You need to be prepared for what’s to come. Ideally, you’d want to make sure that there’s enough money in your savings account to pay for up to three months of your loan.

    Think About Your Other Future Financing Needs 

    Making the right loan means thinking about what else you need to pay for in the future. Other financial expenses like taxes, your employee’s salary if you have a business, utility bills, and many others are put into consideration when making a loan. If you have a lot on your table in the future, then it’s best to keep your loan to a minimum.

    Understandably, most loans can be paid for in manageable terms. Usually, the terms are between 12-36 months. Just because the terms are flexible doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t think ahead. Your future financial expenses will coincide with the payment of your loan, so it’s best to make sure that you are capable of paying for both.

    Study The Interest

    Interest rates are unavoidable when making a loan. It’s something that you should really look into before signing a loan contract. You might be enamored when seeing interest rates like 1.3%, but don’t be. Usually, this refers to the interest that’s added to your monthly payment. For example, you’ll be paying a total of 46.8% interest on a monthly interest rate of 1.3% on a 36-months term.

    Financial institutions are going to be upfront about the interest rates. They’ll even show you the total you’ll pay once you’ve made all of your payments on time. Interest rates can go up to over 50%, which is enormous. As such, you really need to be smart before making a loan. 

    Always make sure that interest rates are fair. The shorter your term, the more affordable the interest rate is. You’ll pay more for a large loan that’s on a longer payment term, so check out interest rates properly. 

    Loans are a significant and sometimes necessary step for your future. As this is your future we are talking about, you need to be wiser before signing any contract. Planning means being able to ensure that you are going to pay your debt fully. If you plan properly, you won’t even feel the debt making a dent in your savings.

  • 5 Ways To Sell Online Quickly In 2021

    5 Ways To Sell Online Quickly In 2021

    If you have things to sell or you want to start making money by selling online then these days there are loads of ways to do it. It really depends on what you’re trying to achieve, if you just want to declutter your house and sell your old things social media or an auction site might be the best option. However, if you’re looking to start a business and make some money then there are other options to look at. 

    Dropshipping

    You might have heard the term ‘Dropshipping’ now as it’s become a pretty popular way of making money. Dropshipping is what is known as a retail fulfillment method and what it means is that you can essentially have a ‘store’ but not keep any products. You will sell the products but then pass the order onto a third-party supplier, who then ships the order to the customer. It can be easy money if you get it right as essentially you sell other people’s goods and take a cut for yourself. You need to know where to get the goods that you want to sell and know things like how to import from 1688, but if you do your research and follow all the tips and guides you can find online then dropshipping can be a great way to make some cash.

    Etsy

    Etsy is a fantastic place for small, independent business owners to sell online without having to have their own website. It is a great place for those amazing and talented creative people to sell their handmade jewelry or artwork and crafts to people who they might otherwise not be able to reach. 

    Amazon

    Everyone knows what Amazon is and these days it’s the first place people go to when they are looking for a particular item. Amazon is the biggest online shopping website in the world and accounts for almost half of all retail sales online. If you have something to sell then get it on Amazon because that is where the buyers are and you can even pay an extra fee to get Amazon to deliver your stuff for you too.

    eBay

    You can pretty much buy and sell anything on eBay and that’s why it’s such a great place. The things that you might see as complete trash and taking up space in your home, someone else would pay good money for. If you’re not sure if something will sell then try it on eBay and you might just find a buyer.  

    FacebookIf you’re looking to sell a big item that will be difficult to deliver, then Facebook Marketplace is the perfect place to target local buyers. Most local communities even have a Facebook group where people buy and sell things and you can often sell your item within hours. You might find yourself with a lot of time wasters too but seeing as it’s free to sell on Facebook and it can be really easy to do, then time wasters aren’t too much of a headache to deal with.

  • How to Conduct a Successful Audit?

    How to Conduct a Successful Audit?

    Conducting an audit can be more difficult than it seems. However, it is mandated by ISO Management System Standards. Successful audits can be great tools for your organization. They let you know what you are doing right and what needs to improve. Internal audits can help you streamline your company’s processes to promote efficiency. They can give you insight into compliance issues. The following are a few tips to conduct a successful audit.

    1. Initial Planning

    Initial audit planning is important. It ensures that everyone on your team knows the purpose of the audit and what is expected of them. During the initial planning stage, you need to answer the following questions;

    • Does the audit aim to address specific enterprise risks?
    • Why is the audit project important?
    • How will the audit help the organization meet its objections?
    • Has this process been audited in the past? If so, what were the results?
    • What significant changes have been made since the last audit?

    2. Schedule an Open Meeting

    Schedule a meeting that involves the administrative staff and senior management before conducting an audit. The open meeting is a chance to present the scope of your audit. During the audit, you can determine the timeframe of your audit and discuss other important issues. Heads of the department may inform members of their teams about possible interviews with the auditor. Take the following steps to prepare for a planning meeting with the relevant stakeholders:

    • Validate your flowcharts and draft narratives with experts in the subject  
    • Outline important process steps by flowchart, narrative, or both.
    • Create a pre-planning questionnaire to facilitate the meeting

    3. Choose the Right Audit Software

    The right audit software can make work easier for you. It can help you get a closer look into the finer details and inner workings of your business. The tools in safety audit software can improve your general performance. They can help you identify inefficient procedures and under-performing departments.

    If you completely rely on traditional auditing, you may spend a lot of time in the auditing process. Traditional auditing demands the use of manual methods in many functions. The larger the organization, the more difficult traditional auditing will be. Automated auditing software eliminates the possibility of human error and you can do everything without disruptions.

    4. Have a Clear Set of Processes

    Having a set of processes will make your job as an auditor a lot easier. The main purpose of having a specific audit process is to standardize your operations. Standardized processes use the best practices. A standardized process will:

    • Communicate audit expectations effectively
    • Mitigate risks
    • Engage staff members
    • Maintain consistent quality
    • Make it easy to identify what went wrong
    • Automate repetitive tasks and save time
    • Promote efficiency

    Following specific audit processes will protect you against audit error. Mistakes can have significant consequences.

    5. Create an Audit Program

    After understanding the process and risks involved, you need to create an audit program. The program should include the following details:

    • Process risks
    • Process objectives
    • Control attributes such as:
    • Control frequency
    • Whether the control mitigates the risk of fraud
    • Whether the control prevents or detects risk events

    6. Request Financial Documents

    Once you have notified the organization about an upcoming audit, you may request the documents listed on your preliminary checklist. The documents include receipts, ledgers, a copy of the last audit report, and original bank statements. Other important documents include the organizational charts, copies of their standing rules and bylaws, and copies of the committee and board minutes.

    7. Maintain Independence and Objectivity

    The audit activity has to be independent and the auditors must remain objective. If an auditor has been assigned to a department, they should have no professional or personal association with the processes being audited. They should be able to report all non-conformities without fear or bias. As an auditor, you have to examine all the available evidence objectively before determining the findings.

    8. Expertise In Subject Matter

    Conducting an audit based on information from the internal company is a good idea when you are trying to assess process controls and the effectiveness of operations. However, you need external expertise to ensure that your audit matches the changing landscape of the industry. Use at least one of the following when evaluating the design of your processes:

    • Relevant blog posts
    • Subject Matter Expert (SME)
    • Articles from top business periodicals

    9. Initial Document Request List

    When preparing to conduct an audit, you need to request and obtain the relevant documentation. Make your request for the documents before starting the planning process. They may help you understand the relevant applications, processes, and important reports. Some of the most important things to request include;

    • Access to the main applications required in the process
    • Procedure documents, policies, and organization charts
    • Reports used in managing the efficiency and effectiveness of processes

    10. Conduct Onsite Fieldwork

    Gather information from an open meeting and use it to finalize your plan. You can conduct fieldwork by speaking to the members of staff and reviewing the processes and procedures. Evaluate internal controls and ensure that they are adequate. If there are any problems, discuss them as they arise and give the company a chance to respond.

    1. Draft a Clear Report

    After fieldwork, you need to prepare a detailed report of your findings. Important things to include in your report include mathematical errors, payments that were authorized but not paid, posting problems, and any other discrepancies. Write a commentary with the details of your findings. Recommend solutions where appropriate.

    Businesses all around the country need procedures to record, monitor and calibrate the functions, inputs, and outputs of different departments. They need to assess the efficiency of all departments and their contribution to the company’s goals. Without a proper auditing process, it may all be difficult or impossible. Employers and their supervisors may not always provide objective feedback. Relying on their opinion may give you inaccurate information. Audits add credibility to your financial statements. They give your shareholders confidence and help you detect and avoid fraud.

  • How Can You Give Your New Business The Best Chance Of Success?

    How Can You Give Your New Business The Best Chance Of Success?

    The most important thing to you when you’re starting a new business is figuring out how you can make it successful, right? All every business owner wants is to run a successful company that provides a high-quality service to clients. But, do you know some of the things that you can do to give your business the best chance of success? If the answer is no, then you need to keep reading down below where we’re going to give you all of the information that you need. 

    Hire The Right People

    You’ve got to make sure that you are hiring the right people. Your business is never going to get anywhere if you don’t have the correct teams and employees looking out for you. What we mean by this is that there are some people who just aren’t interested in working, so instead, they are happy to simply sit back and allow everyone else to do the work. You don’t need these people on your team because they are just a constant drag on everyone else. Instead, you’re going to need people who are dedicated to providing a high-quality service or product to your customers and also doing everything they can to make a successful business with you.

    Your team is going to be the backbone of your business. At the end of the day, experience must come second to a willingness to learn and succeed. Those who are willing to put the effort in and learn are more important than those who think they know everything because they’ve held a similar role previously. 

    Make Sure You Are Insured

    Something else that you need to do is make sure that you are insured. When it comes to your new business, the last thing that you want is for something to happen and everything to go down the drain. We highly recommend that you speak to an insurance broker and see what they can do for you. For example, if you are insuring your house cleaning business, they will let you know what kind of cover you need and what you can ignore. This is the best way to make sure you’ve got the right level of cover without going overboard.

    Learn About Marketing

    The final thing that we are going to suggest is that you learn about marketing. The more knowledge you have in this area, the better you are going to market your business. You don’t have to hire a professional if you don’t want to because once you have the knowledge you need, you will be able to create a fantastic marketing campaign on your own.

    We hope that you have found this article helpful and now have a better understanding as to how you can give your business the best chance of success. Take this advice, and you should be able to give your business the best boost possible to see success on the market. Good luck, and we hope that this works out in your favor.

  • The Difference Between Business Coaching and Mentoring

    The Difference Between Business Coaching and Mentoring

    No matter what job you have or industry you work in, you cannot always assume that you know it all, even if you are greatly experienced and invested many years of your life into this line of your work. Getting someone else’s guidance is very important if you want to progress in your career, as you can learn so much from other people’s experiences and advice to you.

    If you have a standard job, you may benefit from having the guidance of a manager or a designated mentor that can show you the ropes and guide you through the job so that you developed the necessary skills and become better at it. When you are an entrepreneur, developing your own business, you may not have someone else to rely on. 

    Therefore, getting a business mentor or a coach can be the preferred step for you, so that you get the same benefits. Many people assume that a mentor and a coach are the same. However, in this article, we will advise you of the difference between business coaching and mentoring – this way, you will be able to decide which one best suits your needs.

    What is a Business Mentor?

    Essentially, a business mentor is an individual who provides their expertise and guidance to others with less experience in a certain industry. By doing this, a mentor guides individuals learning from them in the right direction. A mentor can support individuals and think about career opportunities for development, to increase confidence, and facilitate interpersonal skills, and this is the main focus of the mentoring relationship.

    What is a Business Coach?

    A business coach concentrates on particular abilities and development goals by breaking them into real tasks to be accomplished within a detailed timeframe. As stated by the folks at Gro.Team, business coaches support and guide businesses to understand their vision for growth and development. In many cases, companies find that identifying and prioritizing an aim is often difficult. A business coach can help businesses overcome these barriers by helping them focus on what they need, what their aims are, and how important each one is. This way, they generate a structured strategy to solve problems and accomplish particular features of the job.

    Timeframe

    The duration of the relationship between you and a coach or mentor will differ. A Mentor will spend more time with you, and the mentoring relationship is often one of the long-term and can last over a year. On the other hand, a coaching relationship is more focused, and therefore shorter, with most usually lasting up to 6 months. However, this will depend on your specific goals and how long it should take you to achieve them. If you are not sure whether you need a coach or a mentor, thinking about how long you would want your relationship to last is a good starting point.  

    Focus

    As we mentioned previously, there will be differences in the focus of a mentor and a coach. A coaching relationship will concentrate strongly on your performance and make sure that you achieve the tasks you have set your mind to, to improve overall performance on the job. Whereas, a mentor focuses on your personal development, not only necessary when it comes to your job, but also in other areas of your life you can improve, which will impact your careers, such as improving interpersonal skills and confidence.

    Structure

    Considering that you will have less time with a coach than you will with a mentor, there is an increased need for the coaching relationship to be more structured. This means that appointments are scheduled and happen on a regular basis. Mentoring relationships tend to be more informal, and they will happen as you require, rather than on a scheduled basis as the coaching one. Of course, if you have a mentor and need things to be structured, this is also something you can discuss with them.

    Expertise

    When you get a coach, your main goal will be to focus on specific aims to accomplish. Coaching does not take a holistic approach, unlike mentoring. This means that a coach will usually have the expertise in the specific area you need support with, such as presentational skills or interpersonal communication. On the other hand, a mentor will have vast expertise in the industry, and it will be someone the mentee can learn from overall and even use the mentor for inspiration.

    Agenda

    If you know you are not sure what you want to achieve, a coach is a great idea, as they will devise a plan together with you. They can use their expertise to guide you and formulate timeframes to achieve your goals, as we discussed above. With a mentoring relationship, usually, the mentee already knows what they want, and they will already have a plan. The job of the mentor is to support this plan, as wished by the mentee.

    Questioning

    Questions are always part of both relationships, coaching, and mentoring. However, they differ a great deal. Coaches are put in place to test you and make you think outside of your comfort zone. This means that they are trained to constantly ask you questions that will make you consider your thoughts and behaviors and improve your critical thinking and take action independently. The mentoring relationship is not as thought-provoking as they are more based on the mentee asking the mentor questions. The mentee is meant to observe the mentor and ask questions as they see pertinent, to investigate further, and obtain some of the mentor’s knowledge and expertise.

    Outcome

    The very final outcome of the relationship with a mentor is specific and measurable. The structured and focused approach enables you to see actual improvement in your desired area. This is not necessarily the case with a mentoring relationship, which can change over time and is not so focused on measuring results. The main focus of the mentoring relationship is to improve the mentee’s overall growth and development, and this may not be something others will be able to see.

    Having either a mentor or a coach is very important. Both of these will enhance your skills and help your development. They each offer different benefits – depending on what you want, you may choose a mentor or a coach. Just make sure that you learn the differences between the two so that you can make the best choice for your needs.

  • 6 Ways Knowledge Sharing Will Boost Your Bottom Line

    6 Ways Knowledge Sharing Will Boost Your Bottom Line

    At some point in your life, you might get the unfortunate opportunity to witness untapped talent. You yourself might possess intellect or special capabilities that could help take an organization to the next level, if only the right people engaged you in a meeting or gave you an assignment where you could showcase your skills. This can be irritating to witness, and chances are, employees won’t stick around for long. Creating a work environment that promotes the sharing of intel and unique information has many benefits in the long run, and here are just a few. 

    1. Improves the Quality of Products or Services

    The more an employee knows, the better he can execute. Formal education can provide a foundation of knowledge that the daily tasks of the job will simultaneously build onto. The experts at ecosecretariat.org/best-online-course-platforms/ can guide you through all the best online education solutions your company is looking for if you take this route. By providing your bottom line with fundamental knowledge, you can set the standard you want for your company and watch as the overall quality of your goods and services rises to meet your standards. 

    2. Stay Ahead of the Curve 

    We’re living in fast times. By the time something becomes popular, you can bet that somewhere, something is being developed that will take its place. Take the app Vine for example. This was a lovely little app where people could record videos and post them. It really added to viral culture and people were enjoying it… Until Instagram added the video feature to their already very successful app. Now since people could post photos and videos in the same place, they didn’t have a need for Vine. 

    This is why knowledge sharing is so crucial. If you can pool together all of the innovative ideas your employees might have, then you stand a better chance of staying relevant. If Vine had developed their app so that it offered something more unique that would separate it from the pack, much like Snapchat did, then they might still be up there as a major competitor in social media platforms. 

    3. Increase Company Morale

    If you’ve ever been the little guy, then you know how satisfying it feels to get the spotlight every now and then, much less get one of your ideas implemented. There are many ways to boost company morale, and maximizing the flow of information is one of these ways. Not only will it benefit the organization in the long run to have the best course of action or methods of production in place, but your employees will feel valued and respected for getting to share their ideas. This will result in a more informed staff and higher employee retention.

    4. Employee Retention = Skilled Staff

    As mentioned previously, allowing employees to throw in their two cents about ways to improve some aspect of a company betters the chances of them staying on board. What happens when employees continue to renew their contracts? They begin to grow and flourish into experts in their field and are extremely knowledgeable about the organization they’re working for. So, by creating a culture of sharing in the workplace, you will later see that your staff can grow into a group of highly skilled, loyal veteran workers. 

    5. Diversify and Expand Resources

    What is inside an employee’s head could possibly be the best resource an organization has. So many avenues of opportunity open up when you increase the flow of knowledge throughout your company. There could be a massive time or money saving method that is going to waste because the right people aren’t getting any spotlight. There are plenty of ways to practice resource management, but the one that’s disregarded the most often are the resources that each individual worker can provide. By including employees in the affairs of an organization, you diversify and expand your set of resources for employees, making an altogether happier staff. 

    6. Supportive Company Climate

    When colleagues communicate often, they tend to sympathize with each other and the challenges of each position more so than not. Increasing the sharing of knowledge within a work community, whether it’s information about a job or a client, associates will naturally learn how to provide a listening ear with no judgements. They will also get to practice solution-based thinking for both themselves and their team, resulting in a more proactive work environment that supports each other. 

    It’s astounding the changes that just a little more communicative practices within a company can cause. By sharing thoughts and ideas surrounding important topics in the workplace, you’ll soon notice the positive trickle-down effects it has on the production and office atmosphere. Implement a knowledge sharing philosophy in your company today and reap the benefits tomorrow.