The Five Components of a Business Strategy

Can you define exactly what makes up a business strategy? Some people say no, but we think you can.

In fact, we believe a valid business strategy has five components:

1. Your company's current or desired core competencies
2. A description of how you will differentiate vs. competitors
3. The industry or industries in which you intend to compete
4. The initiatives you plan to implement in the areas of marketing, operations, information technology, finance and organizational development
5. A financial forecast that shows how your plans will meet stakeholder requirements over the next 3 to 5 years

Let's look at each of these components .

The first component of a valid business strategy is a clear description of your company's current or desired core competencies.

You may be thinking, "Great, but what's a 'core competency?"' While there are many definitions, here's a good one from Wikipedia:

" ACore competency is something that a firm can do well and that meets the following three conditions:

• It provides consumer benefits
• It is not easy for competitors to imitate
• It can be leveraged widely to many products and markets.

A core competency can take various forms, including technical / subject matter know how, a reliable process, and / or close relationships with customers and suppliers. It may also include product development or culture, such as employee dedication. "

For example, we could say that Southwest Airlines is a reliable airline that offers low fares. But in order to provide those benefits, it has to have certain "core competencies," important capabilities that enable it to have low fares and to be reliable. We believe that Southwest Airlines has four core competencies that it executes so well that it regularly beats all other US airlines in terms of profitability.

These core competencies are:

• The lowest operating costs per plane
• An economic point-to-point airport network
• A fanatical culture focused on customer service and cost savings
• An ability to keep planes in the air more of the time than its competitors.

Southwest airlines could not offer the benefits of low prices and reliable service if it did not master these core competencies. What key benefits do you want to offer your customers? What core competencies do you need to master to provide them?

The second component of a valid business strategy is a description of how you differentiate vs. competitors.

In our experience, differentiation is about being the best at something. This should be encapsulated in your mission statement - what are your company's aspirations and how are you going to beat the competition? We just talked about how Southwest Airlines differentiates - what are you going to offer customers that will make them choose your products or services so that you can grow your business?

It takes a lot of hard work to come up with a great answer to this question and even more work to make that difference real. It's easy for us to say that Southwest is the best low-cost airline in the US, but it's extraordinarily difficult for them to pull it off.

The third component of a valid business strategy is a description of the industry or industries in which you intend to compete.

You need to be able to define just what kind of company you are - are you a furniture manufacturer? A gift card retailer? A consulting firm, a bearings distributor, a toy importer, etc.? This step sounds easy but we find that companies are often so concerned about getting too narrow in their focus that they fail to become really clear about what they want to do. A company with a good business strategy will have thought through these issues and made the hard decisions necessary to clarify its identity. If it has, it can easily pass the litmus test of identifying the industry or industries in which it operates.

The fourth component of a business strategy is the set of initiatives you plan to implement in the areas of marketing, operations, information technology, finance and organizational development.

These are the plans that guide your company's focus and resource allocation over the next several years. If your business strategy is specific enough to be relevant, you will have detailed plans in all of these areas.

The fifth component of a business strategy is a financial plan that forecasts the results you expect to get from your plans and illustrates how they will meet stakeholder requirements over the next 3 to 5 years.

Your strategic planning process can not be separated from your annual budget process. In the vast majority of companies, if it's not in the budget, it does not exist. That's why you have to have a very senior financial person on your strategic planning team, preferably the CFO. During the planning process, your team must agree a financial plan that estimates the results of implementing your strategy. This plan needs to earn the approval of your company's management and board and should be reviewed on a regular basis to track results and make refinements.

So - those are the five components of a valid business strategy. Good luck planning your success. And succeeding because you plan.

Choosing a Web Designer

Many small business owners struggle with deciding on how to make the right choice for designing their website. They search the web for help with their website and find that the choice is harder than they thought. Currently there are (literally) millions of websites who claim to be professional web designers. However, one must be careful in choosing the right person or people in which to trust their company image. In this article, I will attempt to categorize web designers into manageable groups, and teach the reader the difference between the types.

Web designers fall into four general categories: freelance amateur, freelance professional, Web Design Company, Web Development Firm.

Freelance Amateur

The majority of web designers you will come across, especially searching the Internet, are freelancers. That is, individuals who do web design but are not employed by a web design company. Some are self-employed professionals but most of these freelancers are amateur-hobbyist types. They find a copy of FrontPage™ came with their MS Office™ Suite. They discovered how fun it could be to make web pages so they started telling their friends that they could "design" web pages.

The "pros" of using an amateur is that they are very cheap. The "cons" are too numerous to mention, but I'll point out a few. They have no training; they have little knowledge of what makes a good website work; they do not understand HTML code or CSS but only FrontPage point and click; they do not understand general design and layout concepts and they have little real experience. The biggest reason they should be avoided for the serious businessperson, is that their work looks amateurish, which makes your company look amateurish. Who wants that?

Freelance Professional

A professional is often defined by simply being paid. People think that if you are paid for something, then you are professional. Maybe that's true in the Olympics, but for the business services world, you are not a professional until you are established and respected as one by your clients and peers. Freelancer professional web designers are a giant leap from the amateur in that they have established a portfolio of respectable work. They have some sort of qualified training and experience and they have credentials that can be verified by contacting references. They have a good reputation with their clients and other professionals. In general, a good freelance professional web designer can be good person to have doing your site. But they are hard to distinguish from the amateur when you are just searching the web.

The upside is, if you find a good one they are significantly cheaper than a web design company. But that is usually the only upside. If the budget limits you, then a freelancer will do for a small project. But anything seriously important should be left to a professional company.

Some downsides to using a freelance pro are that they are usually part-time, meaning they are limited in how much time they can devote to your project. They are also limited in what they can do for you. Most freelancers are specialists in one area and generalists in everything else. Some have no skills in anything except their one specialty and often you will have to find others to fill roles. In addition, freelancers are not always cheap although many of them are aspiring to create their own company; some are highly sought after and charge $100 per hour or more for their work. My advice here is, if you have that much to spend, go with a company that has a team of professionals to get the job done in a timelier manner.

Web Design Company

This is the next step beyond a freelance professional. The web design company offers the "whole show". They provide real project management and have pulled together a team of web experts to get a wider range of jobs done. A company can provide a much higher level of expertise in web design, programming, content development and more.

Such a company is usually very small, yet large enough to handle larger scale projects. Compared to the most highly qualified freelancer, a company has a diversity of talent and collaboration working for them. The end-result is usually a much higher quality product.

The only real drawbacks are on the one hand, the web design company is more expensive than a freelancer because there are many more people on the job. However, you get what you pay for rings true. On the other hand, for very large projects or long term development, web design companies may be too small and usually do not have the human recourses to accommodate that $500,000 contract. In the end, for serious business people looking for quality and professionalism and who can't afford the big firm, this is the way to go.

Web Development Firm

As the title implies, a web development firm is like any traditional company. They have a staff of office workers, they have owners and officers, and they have a team of talented professionals who are paid a good salary for their work. They often have a sales force that do inside and outside sales. The quality of their work goes without saying, as you could not be so well-established by doing shoddy work. These firms offer teams of very talented professionals who work on your project and get the job done in a timely and extremely efficient manner. Additionally, they usually cover all aspects of website development including marketing and advertising. They may have teams of specialists that they can deploy to your location and work in-house under a temporary contract. The possibilities are endless.

If price is not an issue and the highest quality work is necessary, then this is who you want to do the job. For smaller budget businesses, a quote from an established web development firm might knock you off your chair, but know that companies who have project requirements that reach hundreds of thousands of dollars know the score. Thus, the only real drawback for a web development firm is that they are usually very expensive. Then again, cost is relative and bigger companies like to work with bigger companies.

In summary, the choice is yours. I would recommend for the serious businessperson, that you budget a decent amount of dollars to properly design and execute a professional website. I would avoid the amateur and outsource to an individual or company with good experience and reasonable rates to create my web presence. If money were no object, then I would only deal with established firms and pay the big bucks to get the job done right and done well.

Drive Your Business With the Automotive CRM Tool

If you are always scrambling for active leads, future leads, dropped leads, or sold cars, then your CRM data management is up for a drastic overhaul. You can not give the lame excuse that you're not computer savvy that's why you can not make use of the automated CRM tool. This is suicide if you're in business.

Car Dealers, Sit Up!

A sale a day keeps the bankruptcy at bay. Car dealers have to reach a target sales quota monthly to reap their rewards from the wholesale purchase of cars. That's how they make a living. If you're in the car business, you know how important it is to keep your customer information updated and manageable. The automated CRM tool saves all the trouble of wading through messy files.

If you are not computer savvy, or if your CRM staff is not that clever with computers, you still can not give the reason that the technology is beyond your ken. Software architects had this in mind when designing the software. They have made the features easy to use, and they did not design a rubic-like puzzle just to confound users of the software.

The screen layout of the software has recognizable buttons and have different color codes for different files. You can even keep track of the weekly appointments you have scheduled, so there's no time wasted; you have the customers well within your speed and mileage meter. You can also send your customers emails or chat them up.

You can even do a quick inventory of supplies and spare parts in just one go. You do not have to get up and rifle through old files to update anything needing a quick touch up. This expediency is not limited to your customer databank, but also extends to your suppliers' info tank.

Easy collaboration with suppliers from all over the globe makes it effortless for you to be updated about their latest products and stocks. You can always have first hand and consistent information to share with customers and target leads. This improves your customer care and services, helping your business pick up speed.

Efficient Collaboration

The automated CRM tool enhances your accounting methods. It becomes easy for you to track customer accounts and company expenses. You do not need many workers to manage your CRM databank. A fully trained employee can do the job of three persons efficiently with the CRM tool for automotive dealership.

You still have the option to let a third party manage your system. This comes cheaper because you do not have to pay for add-ons that may be required later or measures for your data security. Instead of paying the wages for a worker to manage your CRM, the service provider does this competently and costs much less when expenses are summed up.

The technology gives you the edge in sharing information with different departments in the business and with the car makers, gives better communication links with customers and suppliers, and helps personalize customer interaction.

Improved Sales

When there is a ready and updated file on customer information, it is easy to track leads and consistently follow them up, especially when there are new car models or spare-parts that have become available.

The automated CRM tool contains modules for sales force computerization and customer communications administration. Collection of customer data becomes efficient and the information that is collected is organized for easy analysis, which determinates consequent action.

With prompt action on leads and better customer service, sales is improved. Automotive CRM tool gives the business the better drive.

What Business to Buy

There's a twofold answer to the question 'What Business to Buy' simply because in its' core it involves two aspects: You and The Business.

At first it is all about Your Skills, Knowledge, Experience and Interests. When looking for Opportunities in Business You are a fundamental part of the Process. Make list to narrow down personal interests, traits and characteristics and look for a Business that suits these exercises. Most of the time when entrepreneurs buy businesses that do not match their Temperament, they end up unsuccessful, unhappy and selling the Business.

Ask yourself the following questions to get Your Ideas for Businesses:

• What are my 5 Strongest Personality Traits? You can also opt to ask your friends and family to send you lists with their observations (can be very revealing).
• What are my 5 Strongest Skills when it comes to doing my current or previous jobs?
• What Role do I want to Play in the Business?
• What Destination and Location do I want my Business to have or can it be a Business without a fixed Location (such as internet based).
• Do I prefer a large-scale business with many contacts and customers or do I prefer to focus on a niche market, dealing with a smaller number of contacts and clients?
• Do I want a Product Supply Type of Business or a Service oriented business?
• What is my Business Investment Budget?

When going over all the answers to these questions, you will have a Clear Picture What Type of Business you want to Buy.

Find a Business to Buy

After having identified What Type of Business you want to Buy it is time to Find a Business to Buy. You will want to opt for a Business that offers Value for Money. Its Valuations have to be backed up by Reliable and Detailed Financial Data.

Some Investors are Buying Businesses because they are Cheap compared to their core Value. They believe that as long as the market undervalues ​​the business relative to the core value, they are making a Solid Investment. This way of Investing fully depends on the reasoning that the market will eventually realize it has undervalued the Business and will correct its Course.

Below some questions you can ask yourself when determining What Business to Buy:

• Does the Business Match my Personal Characteristics and Expectations?
• Is there a Solid Business Plan available?
• What are the Top-5 Competitors of the Business?
• Do I have access to all Detailed Financial Data?
• What is the Trend in Profits over the last 5 years?
• Does the business show healthy and consistent cost margins?
• What is the expected Return on Investment?

How much you will always profit from your Business depends on the level of Original Investment and Your Management and Marketing Skills.

AdSense Money Making Tutorial

How does anyone make money with AdSense?

1. Keyword optimization
2. Content
3. Promotion
4. Commitment
5. Dedication
6. Consistency

If you're going to add AdSense marketing to your Internet Business Empire you need relevant content and lots of it. Making a killing with AdSense also takes research. Let's face it, you can have a site with thousands of content rich pages but if content is of no interest to anyone online then your website traffic will reflect that. Do not set your goals too high in a low to no traffic market. Patience is an helpful attribute to have but it is contingent upon other exercises that are already in place like consistency and dedication. If your consistently researching, promoting and adding the best possible content to your website then and only then will patience be relevant to your earnings. Search engines and RSS feeds like new content and so do visitors. Your market may not show up the first, second or third time they see your ad, link or post but the more they see it more than probably they will click on it.

Once your market knows you're committed to giving them the best most relevant information possible they will show up, bookmark your site, tell their friends and absolutely click on some of the relevant ads on your website. You will have to continue to add new content to your website and appropriately place your keywords through in order for Google AdSense to know exactly what your webpage is about. Without this basic step you will fail to receive relevant ads on your webpages. With search engine optimization being the focal point of AdSense it is hard to ignore the fact that you need to use every management tool Google has to offer. If you ask 10 different marketers how much and how often you should add new content to your website you will get 6 varying answers but on average the answer will be once a week.

Tests have shown that submitting content to your website daily (not your blog) has in some cases gotten websites removed from the Google index. Unfortunately its an algorithm that makes this decision and you can appeal it. I add new content twice a week and I've not been removed from any index. If search engines are not your main traffic generator you need not worry. Before you start an AdSense marketing campaign be sure to have a solid plan with realistic expectations.

Elevate Your Business With Data Entry Services

The sole aim of many organizations is to progress well in their objectives and hire people who are good and efficient in their work. However, sometimes, there are some work profiles that are mundane in nature but equally important like data entry services. You will be amazed to know that these services also play a crucial role in building the future of an organization.

In fact, with the coming of information technology, the data entry services have actually become a kind of industry, as various businesses need accurate and detailed information for various reasons. So they are relying on such services that not only help them in growing but they cost effective too. These data entry services are an asset for any organization irrespective of its size in both the terms of work, financial status and area. With the help of such services you are able to get the information on the market trends, your clients and moreover, about the status of your own business. Here, there is a lot of demand for data entry services in order to do great business.

As you must be aware of the fact that data data services can be time consuming; it it requires efficient work to execute various tasks perfectly and diligently. Every transaction has to be recorded, processed and analyzed so that the management or the decision-makers can have a clear picture of the actual financial standing of the company. In fact, there are many organizations that are interested in the data of the company so that they can strike a business deal with the company in the future; the competitors are also the one's who are constantly following the events of the company. However, the most important part that constituents group are the shareholders, employees, creditors, consumers and the market in general. Therefore, this service plays a significant role in determining the future of the company. Thus, it is taken very seriously by many business enterprises for various reasons that can elevate their businesses by many fractions.

In fact, data entry services are now being outsourced from various leading vendors to further simplify the requirements of every business. Well, these services cover many business activities like document and image processing, data conversion, image enhancement, image editing, catalog processing, and photo manipulation. In fact, you can use data entry services for transferring hard or soft copy to any database format; insurance claims entry; PDF document indexing; online data capture; product catalogs to web based systems; online order entry and follow up; creation of new databases. Moreover, banks, airlines, government agencies, direct marketing services and service providers are using these services for better businesses.

The data services are also utilized for mailing lists; data mining and warehousing; data cleansing; audio transcriptions; legal documents; indexing of vouchers and documents; hand written ballot or card entry; online completion of surveys and responses of customers for various companies. Now its up to the company to whether go for a vendor or hire in-house staff to accomplish tasks in a better way; the main purpose of this service is to offer convenience that can help in curbing time as well as other resources.

An Introduction to CNC Turning Machines and How They Can Help Boost Productivity

For those that are not sure of what CNC turning machines are, these devices are machines that would make your milling, drilling and machining tasks a lot easier with the help of Computer Numerical Control (CNC). Highly thought-after in the world of manufacturing and processing of components, these machines are able to produce precise, accurate parts and components in fast and cost-effective manner. Some of the parts that are manufactured precisely through the use of these devices include aerospace components, automobile parts and many other different components. If you are unsure of whether you need these CNC turning machines or not for your business, going through the benefits of these devices and exploring how they can help to boost productivity might help you decide.

Wondering how CNC turning and milling machines can help enhance your productivity and increase your profit margins? Here are some of the reasons how:

1. CNC-based machines work based on CAD / CAM software that can produce and manufacture large output numbers without any compromises in terms of precision or accuracy. In return, you would have an advantage over your competitors that do not own such machines, as they would be limited by the limitations of manual labor. One good example is the outstanding capacity of these CNC milling and turning machines to perform multi-axis cutting processes, for instance a machine can work on 5 or 6 different axis, so you can produce fine and precise components when you own such a machine


2. You would be able to save your design and re-fabricate the same design over and over again when required. The utilization of CAD / CAM software allows this to happen, so you would save plenty of time once you have a design saved, all you have to do is retrieve the design and start manufacturing


3. These CNC turning machines come with good waste and chip management modules, so you could rest assured that you will minimize waste and your device would also be able to manage your wastage well


4. By owning a CNC turning machine, you are also making your plant environment a lot safer to work within. Instead of exposing your workers to the dangers of cutting, milling, drilling and other machining processes, let the machine take all the danger and shield your workers from such dangers. Your machine can also work for long hours without much issues, so instead of having a manual worker perform the same task (he would be given to fatigue), opt for a machine to do the task instead. You would automatically increase your productivity rate!


5. You would be able to produce a wide range of products without much restrictions when you own a CNC turning machine. When you are able to manufacture different products with varying levels of complexity and difficulty, you have found yourself a niche in the marketplace to distinguish yourself from your competitors

CNC turning machines are suddenless expensive, so if you can not afford these machines, consider outsourcing the processes instead and continue to reap the benefits. All the best!

How to Upgrade WordPress!

WordPress is a widely accepted and extremely preferred content management system which offers a simplified and user-friendly operations and a lot more to look upon. Any software or application, when used in the latest version, offers the best of services and functions so possible and so does WordPress. The procedure of updating can be transported out in two ways namely Automatic and Manual.

• Automatic Updates: You may often get infurated with the update notifications of various kinds. WordPress relieves you with the automatic update option. For the version 3.7+, the user needs not to imprise an even bit of efforts. If the site is designed to install updates without the use of FTP credentials, the updates will itself run in the background allowing the version to update from 3.7 to 3.7.1, 3.7.2 etc. This is facilitated for minor and security updates however even for the purpose of major updates, the user just needs to click 'Update Now'.

WordPress provides the users with minor bug fixes with the minor latest versions as available. Therefore, a user is suggested to adopt minor fixes as and when available. Automatic updates are so very useful and valuable. Neverheless, if one wants to disable the option serving automatic updates, he can do it too.

If the notification conveys 'failed updates', the way out is to delete the file named .maintenance which is present in the WordPress directory. This will eliminate the message. If all the efforts of automatic updates go in vain, the user can turn up to Manual Updates.

• Manual Updates: Manual Updates can be time-consuming and tiring, however, the sense of accomplishment is satisfactory. The Manual Updates option can be exercised if the blog's URL is in the form [http://example.com/wordpress/].

The procedure involves few steps that are mentioned below.

1. The User needs to download the latest available version of WordPress.

2. All the plugins are to be deactivated which can be done by using the deactivate button in the drop-down list after selecting all the plugins.

3. Replace the previously annexed WP-includes and WP-admin directories with the latest installed ones. This can be done using the FTP or Shell Access)

4. The users without deleting any WP-content folder or directory are required to overwrite the existing WP-content folder's individual files with the new files. This can be done using FTP, file manager or shell SSH.

5. The same process needs to be followed by the rest of the files. All new files available in the root directory of the new version must overtake the old files in the existing directory.

6. The default files so customized must not be overwritten or else you will lose access to the preset ones.

7. Try the WP-config-sample.php as it might have certain new settings that could attract you and fascinate you to implicate your own WP-config.php.

8. Just in case, you hired the manual procedure after the auto-upgrade failure, a file named .maintenance will hamper you. This needs to be deleted from the directory through the FTP.

9. Log in to your database and further follow the database update instructions which are offered with an update link to assure compatibility. Also, reactivate the plugins and at this note, the task is accomplished.

Fleet Managers Using Geofencing to Monitor and Track Company Assets

Asset monitoring using geofencing is a cost effective way for businesses to track inventory and high valued content.

Asset monitoring and protection is an important part of fleet management.

An essential part of monitoring and protecting your company's equipment, fleet, or high valued content is being able to know where they are and what they are doing at all times.

This is what makes geofencing so valuable.

Geofencing or geo-fencing, is the process of using GPS tracking software to create a virtual boundary around a specific geographic location to be tracked using GPS tracking hardware.

Aside from just being a way to track activity within a specific geographic location, geofencing is a powerful tool used in establishing driver accountability, improving daily operations, and increasing overall company productivity.

Creating geofences to efficiently begin monitoring activity into and out of a specific location is very simple.

Step One: To begin creating your geofence, select the polygon radio button. Then give your geofence a name.geofencing

Step Two: Draw a polygon around the geographical location you want your geofence to encompass.

Step Three: After completing the polygon shape, type in a contact name and email for the geofence alert to be sent to. Click 'Set Geofence' go create.

NOTE: When creating a geofence, you want to make sure to create an entry / exit point to be used to trigger incoming and outgoing geofence alerts. If the location you are creating a geofence for contains a wash area, make sure to create an entry / exit point for it to trigger it's own event when trucks / vehicles are done unloading and need washing before being reloaded. Geofence alerts can help businesses to further manage a positive customer experience with real-time data about a drivers current location and whether they are loading, unloading, or even in a washing event.

Once a geofence is established, anytime traffic enters or leaves that specified area, alerts will be sent to fleet management specifying either an entry into or an exit out of the location.

Geofence alerts and reports allow dispatch to not only know where their fleets are, but also gives them the ability to know if their fleet, whether it is a vehicle, loaded trailer, or a piece of equipment, is moving or not.

This is especially important in cases where construction equipment left on a site sets off a geofence alert after-hours.

It may also indicate a possible theft or off-hours use of company equipment by an employee or someone else.

Either way, asset monitoring using geofencing means being able to catch both instances of activity and could mean a savings to the company bottom-line.

BYOD - A Device Responsive Practice

The unpresented growth of smartphones and laptops in an individual's life has made the gap between personal and professional life negligible. This de has led to a new revolution in the market which we know as BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). BYOD is a practice that enables employees of an organization to use their own devices (ie smartphones, laptops, tablets and computers) at work. Like BYOD, businesses also implement Bring Your Own Computer (BYOC) and Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT), which fall under a greater umbrella of consumerization of IT. This is blending of the personal and professional workspace with help of the internet and smart devices, majorly pushed by the millennial these days.

" BYOD is making significant marks in the business world across the globe with about 75% of employees in higher growth markets such as India, Brazil and UAE and 44% in the developed markets using their own devices at work." - CXOUnplugged.

How BYOD can transform your business

BYOD has created various opportunities in the market and is making workplaces flexible than ever. Here is how BYOD will help you take your business to the next level.

• Enhanced productivity

When you allow all employees to use their own devices at the workplace, the comfort of working on a similar device increases the employees work efficiency. By making use of familiar technology and user interface the employees will not have to engage their time in understanding a new device.

• Reduced infrastructure cost

Many times for a company, major amount of capital goes into building IT infrastructure and maintaining it which can come from the cost by implementing BYOD. When a company implements BYOD, it automatically reduces its cost of procuring devices for each employee and instead can provide better connectivity services in the organization.

• Improved employee loyalty

When a company allows its employees to bring their own devices at work, absolutely gives them a sense of trust by the company on them. By giving the freedom to use a foreign device at work and giving them the access to company's confidential data on their device, you generate loyalty among the employees, which makes them give the better result at their work.

• Ease of transit management of employees

The best part of having a Bring Your Own Device Policy is that you do not have to keep a check on the physical devices when any employee joins or leaves the company. Any sort of configuration to the company's network can be done via the cloud. In case the employee is leaving the company, his device / devices can be simply removed from the company's cloud network. No hassles with LAN wires required.

"A recent survey by the handset manufacturer Blackberry stated that 41% of Indian organizations have a BYOD policy." - GadgetsNow

With such a huge percentage of Indian organizations implementing BYOD, the next question that needs to be answered is how to implement BYOD in a business. When implementing BYOD a company should also have a stringent policy to make sure the functioning is smooth. There should be no loopholes which can put the company's confidentiality in danger.

BYOD - How to implement it in your business

To have a seamless implementation of BYOD , an organization needs to have a strong policy in place. Here are the 7 things you need to consider while implementing BYOD.

• Payments for the devices and data usage

• Device support and access levels for everyone in the workplace (permanent employee, contractual employee, and guests)

• Data storage (Cloud / local storage)

• Employee data privacy (employee's personal data should not be leaked or shared across the network)

• Data authentication (type of data that an employee can view or edit while not at work)

• In case of theft, damage or missing device what steps need to be taken

• Restoring the data in case of the device is sold, disposed or is no more in use.

Stock Market Guide to Investing For Beginners

As a general guide to investing: the stock market and investing for beginners is a bit like a riddle. All investors should understand the stock market because stock investing is the key to higher investment profits. At the same time, investing DIRECTLY in the stock market is not smart investing for beginners, because it often leads to unnecessary losses. So, here's a basic guide to investing in stocks without playing the stock market, so you can make money and sleep at night.

No matter what anyone tells you, the stock market is not predictable over the short term. For example, not one person on the face of this earth predicted that in early May of 2010 that the US stock market would fall 999 points within one trading day. Most people do not even know what 999 points means. The good news is that you do not need to understand the day to day rhetoric of the market to make money investing in stocks. But you should understand how the stock market works; and how investing for beginners can be simplified.

Stock prices fluctuate based on only one thing: buying and selling activity. Every second the market is open, some people are placing BUY orders and others are placing SELL orders. If these orders are in balance prices change little. If buy orders far outweigh sell orders prices soar; and if sell orders swamp buy orders prices fall like a rock. The stock market is simply an auction where buyers and sellers (buy and sell orders) are hooked up with each other. What prompts investors to buy or sell? More than anything else, the news events of the day influence investment decisions.

For example, there was bad news on debt problems in Europe the day the Dow Jones Average dropped nearly 1000 points before recovering most of the loss before the market closed. Why the move was so extreme was a bit of a mystery, but one thing is for sure. Big sell orders swamped buy orders and prices took a dive. The Dow Jones Average started the day at about 10,000 (it was actually a few hundred points higher), so a 1000 point move translates to about a 10% drop in stock prices in one day. Now, let's move on to our guide to investing for beginners.

You do not need to play the stock market game of outguessing the market on a daily basis in order to make money in stocks. The good news is that over the long term stocks have been good long term investments, with average annual returns of about 10% over the last 80 years or so. There have been years when the stock market and stock investors on average lost 50%, and years when it gained 50% or more; but these are the exception.

Stock investing for beginners should focus on long term investing in stock mutual funds. As a basic guide to investing ... if you own stock funds, bond funds and money market funds in about equal amounts ... you should do just fine over the years without wild swings in the value of your total investment portfolio.

In mutual funds professionals do the management for you. By owning all three basic fund types (stock, bond and money market funds) your overall risk is lowered. When the stock market has a bad day or year, you've got money in safer investments to cushion the blow. The real secret to investing for beginners is this: allocate your assets to stocks, bonds and the money market by investing in mutual funds. Decide how much (what percent) to invest in each, and keep your money invested that way. Let's say you go with 50% in stock funds and 25% in each of the other two categories. Once a year review your results, and move money if your percentages have changed. For example, if your stock fund (s) is now only 40% of your total investment, move money from the others to bring it back to 50% ... ditto to keep your other funds in line with your original allocation.

If you keep your money invested across all three asset classes (like above) the stock market and its unpredictability should not longer be a major concern.