http://www.financealley.com en-us editorial@financealley.com Many people have been frustrated to see their full-color vinyl banners fade or tear just a few short months after delivery. Oftentimes, we hear these sad stories from people who fail to recognize the costly mistakes they're making. Unfortunately, careless... http://www.financealley.com/article_601958_15.html 17th August 2008 The beauty about business today is that “not everybody knows everything.” You may be at the top of your game with printing or marketing, but to keep your clients happy you may need to diversify your product lines. The easiest way to do this is partner... http://www.financealley.com/article_568084_15.html 01st July 2008 Owning a luxurious beachfront home sounds like a great dream, doesn't it? Instead of fighting biting cold winds and the endless harsh noises of city traffic, you wake up every morning to warm, humid weather and the sound of the surf crashing on the beach.... http://www.financealley.com/article_543368_33.html 21st May 2008 In recent months, it seems that the trend of "going green" – living in an environmentally friendly way – has caught on with mainstream America. Clorox has started advertising green cleaning supplies. Paper towels and toilet paper made of recycled pape... http://www.financealley.com/article_527157_15.html 01st May 2008 Employee training is a vital part of any business, most especially in the health care industry. Health care has one of the highest accident rates of any industry in the country. As if that weren't enough, employees must also comply with multiple governmen... http://www.financealley.com/article_518707_15.html 16th April 2008 After spending far too much time deliberating which employee benefits plan to choose, you've finally made the decision and can breathe a sigh of relief. Everything has been taken care of, and you don't have to worry about insurance anymore. Right? Alth... http://www.financealley.com/article_497325_15.html 27th March 2008 With tax season right on your doorstep, it may be very tempting to follow Wesley Snipes's example and declare yourself a tax denier, and not pay your income taxes on the grounds that you believe you don't owe them. While that may be fine to believe in... http://www.financealley.com/article_492632_18.html 19th March 2008 Have you ever stood in a building and admired a gorgeous scene of nature carved onto the window? Then you've enjoyed the beauty of glass etching. Glass etching is the art of roughening or abrading certain parts of glass, like windows and mirrors, to creat... http://www.financealley.com/article_490030_15.html 12th March 2008 There are many vital steps to business success, but there are two steps no business can do without. One, you need to establish your brand, and two, you need to advertise your brand. Every year, companies pour millions of dollars into advertising and m... http://www.financealley.com/article_485402_15.html 04th March 2008 Choosing new software for your company sometimes feels like an exercise in futility, doesn't it? You've got about a dozen different kinds of software, half by companies you've never heard of, and all of them different prices. Each brochure practically... http://www.financealley.com/article_482822_15.html 27th February 2008 You may have worked with an employee benefits broker when setting up and reviewing your company's employee benefits program. This is the person that markets plans, usually from a number of different insurance companies, and assists the employer in selecti... http://www.financealley.com/article_464683_15.html 31st January 2008 You've met with three or four insurance brokers, and all have given you spreadsheets presenting proposals from a number of insurance carriers vying for your company's business. Most of these spreadsheets, from all the brokers you met with, show basically ... http://www.financealley.com/article_464681_15.html 31st January 2008 After months of research and agonizing over decisions, zoning laws, permits and paperwork, the time has finally come to begin construction on your self storage steel building. It's a prospect that's both exciting and frightening. However, things immed... http://www.financealley.com/article_459530_15.html 24th January 2008 All great success includes some risk, and owning a business certainly has its share. So before you open the doors to your new Go Junk business franchise, educate yourself on the possible hurdles you might face and takes steps now to divert any unnecessary... http://www.financealley.com/article_457896_15.html 22nd January 2008 You may think the line between an employee and an independent contractor is a pretty clear one. Unfortunately, that is often not the case, and the IRS loves to try and get independent contractors classified as employees. That way, if they are successful, ... http://www.financealley.com/article_253039_18.html 19th January 2008 Have you considered getting into self storage, but are unsure of where to start? Maybe you've done some research on the industry and while you're convinced you could make a self storage steel building profitable, you're not entirely sure where to build, o... http://www.financealley.com/article_251562_15.html 18th January 2008 So you've been toying with the idea of opening a self storage building. You've done a bit of research and determined that your market is ripe for it and you've got the real estate available to build it. Now, you've got to decide what kind of self storage ... http://www.financealley.com/article_244471_15.html 10th November 2007 For some time the self storage industry has been moving toward climate controlled self storage in their steel and metal buildings. Climate control costs about $1 to $1.50 more to install per square foot, as opposed to a regular self storage building, but ... http://www.financealley.com/article_240446_15.html 06th November 2007 No one plans to rack up tens of thousands of dollars of debt with the IRS when they open their business. Most of these problems start small. Little things, like maybe forgetting taxes for one or two payroll periods. Eventually things spiraled out of contr... http://www.financealley.com/article_223922_15.html 08th October 2007 You've taken care of the hard part. You've planned out your self storage facility, written up a business plan, and gotten together the funding and materials. Now one major hurdle remains before you can be open for business: actually building the darn thin... http://www.financealley.com/article_213079_15.html 13th September 2007 So let's say you've got some commercial property. Maybe you've been trying to lease it for awhile and nothing's come up, and you're wondering what you can do with that commercial building just sitting in the middle of town. You've racked your brain for di... http://www.financealley.com/article_205922_15.html 24th August 2007 Health care billing is a nasty, convoluted animal. There are hundreds of different insurance plans, from Medicare and Medicaid to private companies and HMOs, and all of those insurance plans have different health care billing requirements. And making a mi... http://www.financealley.com/article_202958_15.html 17th August 2007 It's important to ensure your employees get the training that they need in everything from mechanical and electrical tutorials to courses on safety procedures and environmental regulations. However, actually developing the courses can be both time-consumi... http://www.financealley.com/article_195862_15.html 02nd August 2007 There are more than 30 million RVs on America's highways, and one out of six households without an RV said that they would be interested in purchasing one in the future. That's a lot of RVs on the road. Unfortunately, as interest in RVs is growing, pl... http://www.financealley.com/article_191876_15.html 25th July 2007 Summer is a beautiful time of year, and every year millions of boating enthusiasts descend on rivers, lakes and oceans to enjoy some time on the water. But when they're not wasting the day in Margaritaville, they need someplace to store their boats. And u... http://www.financealley.com/article_190928_15.html 24th July 2007 In any business, it's always good to offer something your competition doesn't. That could range anywhere from additional expertise to going above and beyond the call of duty. Another way to win over customers around the country is by going where most comm... http://www.financealley.com/article_186036_15.html 13th July 2007 Since the late '90s, climate-controlled self storage has become more and more popular. If you're considering upgrading your facility, here are a few things to keep in mind. Ask yourself some important questions. Is climate control something t... http://www.financealley.com/article_182108_15.html 02nd July 2007 Do you hear it? That's the call of the open road. Are you itching to answer that call from the seat of a new motorcycle? Heading for the motorcycle dealership with nothing more than a bad case of wanderlust and an empty wallet can lead to big payments... http://www.financealley.com/article_177921_19.html 27th June 2007 Turnover, it seems, is a serious problem and an expensive one, according to Willis Mushrush, Business and Industry Specialist for the University of Missouri. "Turnover costs for many organizations are very high and can significantly affect the financia... http://www.financealley.com/article_177221_15.html 26th June 2007 Most people wouldn't imagine driving a car without insurance. Nobody would think twice about making sure the home they owned was insured. After all, there's no telling what could happen tomorrow, a week from now or in the next five minutes. Yet millions o... http://www.financealley.com/article_172787_19.html 11th June 2007 Junk hauling is a fun, profitable way to make some money. It also looks deceptively simple. Just pull up to somebody's house, toss their stuff in the back of your truck, get paid, and haul it off, right? Surely that's all there is to it. Like many thin... http://www.financealley.com/article_171628_15.html 08th June 2007 The most valuable thing that you give to your customers isn’t a product. It’s the service they get when they call or visit your place of business. You could have the most valuable product in the world, but if you don’t have customer service to match... http://www.financealley.com/article_164280_15.html 24th May 2007 If you’ve decided to build your next home, you’ve got a lot of big decisions ahead of you. Before you start agonizing over paint samples and flooring options, you’ll have to make the hardest choice of all: Who will build your home? Three quest... http://www.financealley.com/article_160947_33.html 17th May 2007 The Energy Star program was developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy to help Americans reduce energy consumption, which in turn lowers greenhouse gases and energy costs. Since its inception, homeowners have c... http://www.financealley.com/article_155326_33.html 04th May 2007 The vending machine industry is booming. Every day millions of coins are inserted into soda, snack and candy machines. But Michael Burnett and Jeffrey Marsh have discovered the formula for the most durable, best-looking and most profitable vending machine... http://www.financealley.com/article_151584_15.html 25th April 2007 Humans are a visual species. According to the secretariat of the Seoul International Color Expo 2004, 92.6 percent of consumers put more importance on visual factors when purchasing products than on physical feel, hearing or smell, and 84.7 percent think ... http://www.financealley.com/article_151578_15.html 25th April 2007 Business marketing is more complex than ever. Giant retail chain stores, online shopping and rampant franchising make it tough for individual businesses to stand out in the crowd. So, how can you woo and win today’s over-stimulated consumer? It’s easi... http://www.financealley.com/article_151236_15.html 24th April 2007 Vending Machines: A Sweet Investment Owning a home-based business has become many people’s dream over the last few years. Although entrepreneurship is rising in America, most small businesses don’t survive their first year. While this can be due to... http://www.financealley.com/article_151233_15.html 24th April 2007 How to Score in Sales Would you like to be the kind of salesman who could sell ice at the North Pole? The first thing you have to do is stop selling ice. I’m serious. The folks at the North Pole don’t need it. It may sound counter-intuitive but if ... http://www.financealley.com/article_149847_15.html 20th April 2007 Most vending machine suppliers offer very few choices to their customers. Therefore, most vending machine owners overlook the effect the color of their vending machine can have on their sales. Before purchasing a vending machine, owners should be aware of... http://www.financealley.com/article_149838_15.html 20th April 2007 First impressions are important, especially when dealing with customers. For impulse purchases, such as vending machine items, fickle buyers will choose whatever catches their eye. Vending machines will always attract buyers because they contain decad... http://www.financealley.com/article_149828_15.html 20th April 2007 Without question, the self-storage industry is still the most profitable real-estate investment around. Start-up and overhead costs are low allowing you to recoup initial expenses start making money sooner. Factor in the special tax breaks available, appr... http://www.financealley.com/article_149490_15.html 19th April 2007 A recent innovation in the way vending machines are made has turned the vending industry on its ear. Interchangeable canisters, made of thick, high-impact, shatter-proof polycarbonate, protect the vending machine products while simplifying the vending ma... http://www.financealley.com/article_146377_15.html 11th April 2007 It only takes one unexpected expense or income shortage to unravel your financial safety net when you’re living pay check to pay check. Luckily, finding financial security is more feasible than you think. The big picture There are thousands of boo... http://www.financealley.com/article_143672_19.html 03rd April 2007 Conflicting descriptions of no-risk investment and reports of a collapsing self-storage market have potential self-storage business owners scratching their heads. Can self storage units stay on top of the undulating economy? The answer is: Yes, with few e... http://www.financealley.com/article_140331_15.html 27th March 2007 When 1.800.VENDING founders Mike Burnett and Jeff Marsh began tearing apart and studying all the vending machines on the market several years ago, their goal at 1.800.VENDING was to build the best-looking, best-built machine ever. A few years later, they... http://www.financealley.com/article_136457_15.html 09th March 2007 Across the country, entrepreneurs are talking about the self storage business. The buzz is that investing in the mini storage business can be very profitable. What's more, seasoned investors aren’t the only ones with their eye on the mini storage prize.... http://www.financealley.com/article_122432_15.html 23rd January 2007