How to Survive in Business When the Economy is Bad

It's funny how people are more afraid to venture into businesses when the economy is having a slight downturn. It is risky, very true. But unlike staying in the office doing your day-to-day job, you can use all of your time and energy to generate more income for you and your family. When the economy is starting to look bad, prices will definitely hike up but your paycheck, of course, will definitely not. You and your family will appreciate every extra cent that is being put on the table.

Managing your business in this situation is not an easy task. During the good times, you have room for mistakes every now and then. But at times when stock values fall and people are afraid t spend their money, every little decision will be crucial. Do not make hasty moves and think about every possibility very carefully.

Here are some tips on how to survive a bad economy!

1) Trim Unnecessary Expenses

When times are good, business owners do not really pay attention to how much goes out as long as a lot keeps coming in. You would be surprised that there are lot of things that can be ruled as unnecessary expenses. You could also ask for discounts from your suppliers. If you do not try, you would not know if they could give them to you or not.

2) Be More Flexible

Be prepared to adjust your products or services according to your customers' needs. Find out what they want, how they want it and draft out a different price for them. Customers will feel happy that you are going out of your way to meet their needs and will keep on coming to you with other opportunities.

3) Advertise, advertise and advertise

If you do not advertise, your business might die. You need the public to know what you are doing. Even though you have a good number of regulars, it is always better to have more. If you are on a tight budget, try the social networks or blogging online, where advertising can be free!

4) Be Different

You cannot escape from having other companies to offer the same products as you do. But you have the choice to be different. Whether it is the design, price or color. Be creative and make your products or services stand out from the rest. Humans are very curious, as long as it is within their budget, they will want to try something different. If they like it, they will keep on being your customers.

5) Offer Something Extra

A gift, an experience or a smile. Offer something extra that will make your customers feel appreciated and come back for more. Even traditional information on the product or the benefits that it brings will make customers feel that you care enough to go through the hassle to tell them what they are getting.

So, even when things are bleak, just stay with your business, or if you have not started one, why not do it now?

~credit to Majalah PUM Selangor Bil. 35~

ANNUAL RESULTS FROM ACCA SHOW RISE IN DEMAND FOR ACCOUNTANTS

Healthy growth rates for member and student numbers

ACCA continues to see growth in member and student numbers, reflecting the need for professional accountants, especially in the context of the global economic conditions.

The global membership of ACCA now stands at 140,000, a growth of 6.5% from the 31 December 2008 figure of 131,500 members. Student numbers have increased from 366,000 to 404,000, a rise of 10.4%.

As a result of its increased global network and the reputation of members in 170 countries, ACCA is increasingly rated as the leading global professional accountancy body by employers around the world.

'ACCA has made significant contributions to the public debate on matters of world importance, such as the agenda of the G20 nations and in particular their call for the adoption of international accounting standards, COP15 and climate change, the value of audit, financial regulation and access to finance,' said Helen Brand, ACCA chief executive.

'This healthy growth comes during an economically challenging time, but it shows that the finance profession is an attractive global career. Accountants’ skills are more important than ever, to restore confidence in the global economy, to help businesses large and small to identify and manage costs and deliver sustainable growth.

'Following significant investment in enhancements to service delivery, ACCA students and members have recorded increased satisfaction with the levels of service they receive. The organisation is pleased to see that the enhancements delivered have led directly to perceived improvements in service levels by customers.'

Last year, ACCA opened offices in Brussels, Bangladesh, Chengdu and Macau, and also began collaborative work with major organisations such as KPMG, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the IAAER (International Association for Accounting Education and Research). ACCA also partnered with CGA-Canada and CPA Australia for an Economist Intelligence Unit research report into small businesses and access to finance.

ACCA now has 57 global accountancy partnerships with organisations around the world. In 2009/10 ACCA forged partnerships through a range of agreements and Memoranda of Understandings (MoUs) with:

• the Auditors Chamber of Ukraine
• the Georgian Federation of Professional Accountants and Auditors
• the Jordanian Association of Certified Public Accountants (JACPA)
• the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Greece - SOEL (Soma Orkoton Elegkton Logiston)
• the Business Development Company Ltd (BDC), the umbrella body for small business development in Trinidad and Tobago
• the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC)
• the Barbados Small Business Association (BSBA).

Table: ACCA's regional performance in 2009 (please note: ACCA changed its year-end from December to March, so the table represents 15 months)

10 Inspiring Quotes for a Depressed Heart

Entry for this time I want to share something that I guess everyone need to face our daily~~ I remember one of my friend tell me "When you feel like there is no one standing there for you, He always with you."

Guys, let live our life with smile in our face. Here you can some quotes to help you thinking positively.

Begin Each Day Anew

"Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them -- every day begin the task anew."

Saint Francis de Sales

A Treasured Pearl

"A pearl is a beautiful thing that is produced by an injured life. It is the tear [that results] from the injury of the oyster. The treasure of our being in this world is also produced by an injured life. If we had not been wounded, if we had not been injured, then we will not produce the pearl."

Stephan Hoeller

Find Your Joy

"Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy."

Thich Nhat Hanh

Make Humor an Asset

"Good humor is a tonic for mind and body. It is the best antidote for anxiety and depression. It is a business asset. It attracts and keep friends. It lightens human burdens. It is the direct route to serenity and contentment."

Greenville Kleisser

The Building Blocks of Character

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved."

Helen Keller

Listen to Pain

"Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

C.S. Lewis

Be Healed by C

ompassion

"The greatest degree of inner tranquility comes from the development of love and compassion. The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater is our own sense of well-being."

Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

Change Your Thoughts

"What you thought before has led to every choice you have made, and this adds up to you at this moment. If you want to change who you are physically, mentally, and spiritually, you will have to change what you think."

Dr. Patrick Gentempo

What Saves You?

"Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime,
Therefore, we are saved by hope.
Nothing true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history;
Therefore, we are saved by faith.
Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone.
Therefore, we are saved by love.
No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as from our own;
Therefore, we are saved by the final form of love, which is forgiveness."

Reinhold Niebuhr

The Power of a Touch

"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around."

Leo Buscaglia

However your life goes, just remember one thing. SMILE and the world will smile with you. (^_^)

Are You An Accounting Nerd? TRY THIS QUIZ..INTERESTING

There are varying degrees of accounting nerdiness. Some accounting nerds live normal lives, marry and, according to Kinsley, even propagate. Some never marry since everyone they ever dated lapsed into comas, never to be heard from again. Others are complete introverts and should never have left the convent or monastery. (The Father of Accounting, Luca Pacioli, was a monk. He never left the monastery. Ergo, he was also the Father of Accounting Nerdiness.)

Do you know how much of an accounting nerd you are? Of course you do. Or do you?! Like most accounting nerds, you probably suffer from the mistaken belief that you are not an accounting nerd at all. However, unless the confidence interval of your belief of not being an accounting nerd possesses an alpha significance value of less than 5%, then how can you be so sure that you are not a nerd after all? Let’s face facts: chances are you don’t have a clue about how nerdy you really are. And it’s totally irrelevant how you perceive yourself; rather, what is relevant is how all of your friends, associates, clients, and family members laugh hysterically and derisively about you behind your back, ridiculing you as the nerdiest geek they ever met. But they won’t ever tell you how much of an accounting nerd you are because that would ruin their enjoyment of ridiculing and laughing about you behind your back at every opportunity they get.

Perhaps it’s time for you to assess objectively your accounting nerdiness. Below are a series of questions designed to measure just how much of an accounting nerd you are. Please answer all of these questions truthfully, since if you are truly the nerdiest accountant on the entire planet, no one would care in the least bit anyway.

1. Do you examine your sales receipt before you leave the register at a store, adding it up in your mind to verify its accuracy, even though twenty people are behind you waiting in line and the store is closing?

2. After you have examined your sales receipt while at the register of a store and added up every item on the receipt to ensure its accuracy, do you then tick and vouch each item on the receipt to the actual goods in your carriage?

3. When you go out to lunch with others, when the check arrives, do you whip out your calculator and tally up each individual’s share to the penny, including tip and tax?

4. When your spouse borrows money from you, do you
a. Charge her/him interest
b. Compound the interest daily
c. None of the above

5. Did your tax filing status influence the timing of your wedding date?

6. On your honeymoon, did you select a Caribbean resort offering a CPE course in order to deduct its cost?

7. During tax season, do you
a. Bring your laptop to bed
b. Have sex via remote access
c. Practice celibacy
d. A and b
e. None of the above

8. On your office desk, do you have a picture of Spock from Star Trek?

9. Do you reconcile your personal savings account bank statement every month in QuickBooks, even though the only transaction is an interest posting?

10. Out in the field on audit assignments, when you discover a client error requiring an adjusting entry, do you scream “gotcha”, and dance around the table singing “We are the champions of the world”?

11. Do you eat lunch at your desk, dropping your food in your keyboard, and continue typing with ketchup and grease on your fingers?

If you answered no to all nine questions and selected 4c and 7e, you are not an accounting nerd; however, you probably will never pass the CPA exam and should change careers before you are fired.

If you answered no to all nine questions but selected 4b and 7c, you are not an accounting nerd but you would be advised never to marry.

If you answered yes to at least five questions, and did not select 4c or 7e, you are bi-nerd and could swing either way.

If you answered yes to all nine questions and selected 4b and 7c, you are a true accounting nerd destined to be a partner at a public accounting firm as long as you do not enter a religious order in order to avoid taxes on your wages and obtain a non-taxable living allowance.