Like everything else in life, the answers to these two questions are more complicated than most people expect. The principles of selecting a business appraiser, however, are fairly straight forward.

Both sellers and buyers need business appraisals. There are many varied reasons for needing to know what a business is worth. They range from selling to divorce, from tax planning to partnership disputes.

Chances are that you already need a business appraisal, or you wouldn’t be reading this article. And, you probably don’t know where to turn. Most people — even bankers, lawyers and accountants — don’t understand the ins and outs of choosing a business appraiser. Here are some suggestions to point you in the right direction.

Hire the Right Type of Appraiser

To appraise a business, you need a business appraiser. People get business appraisers confused with real estate appraisers and equipment appraisers. They are not the same.

Each of these major categories of appraisers (business, real estate and equipment) has its own separate discipline. There are even sub-disciplines and specialists within these three categories. Sometimes, an individual appraiser will wear more than one hat, especially in rural areas. However, when you need a business appraiser, you don’t want to hire a real estate or equipment appraiser by mistake.

The problem is that almost all businesses have equipment and many also have real estate. So, it can be difficult to determine what type of appraiser is appropriate. There are even times when you need more than one type of appraiser.

To determine the type of appraiser you need, start by asking yourself just what it is that you need to have appraised. Is it mostly equipment, mostly real estate, or are you in need of determining your business value above and beyond the equipment and real estate value?

Look for a ‘Professional Designation’

Let’s assume that you decide you need a business appraiser. You will want to hire the best business appraiser you can afford. There is, however, confusion in the marketplace about what credentials a business appraiser ought to have. The key is to look for the appraiser’s ‘professional designation.’

Business appraisers appear to have widely different backgrounds. To an outsider, it’s confusing. Different capabilities result from each appraiser’s unique experience and specialized educational background.

Most business appraisers will have a ‘professional designation.’ They will have initials after their names that indicate the designation(s) they have earned. The ones you are most likely to see (*1) that require serious study and actual appraisal experience and which are issued from reputable and recognized trade associations include:

Initials Which means: Earned from:
CBA Certified Business Appraiser Institute of Business Appraisers (IBA)
ASA Accredited Senior Appraiser American Society of Appraisers (ASA)
CPA/ABV Certified Public Accountant
Accredited in Business Valuation American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)
CVA Certified Valuation Analyst National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts (NACVA)
CBV Chartered Business Valuator Canadian Institute of Chartered Business Valuators (CICBV)

(*1) We have excluded the rarer, most senior fellowship designations (FIBA and FASA) of the IBA and ASA. The industry gurus have these designations, usually as high honors for a distinguished career spent in business appraisal. We have also omitted the advanced “Business Valuator Accredited for Litigation (BVAL)” designation being introduced by the IBA this year.

Lack of a designation does not, by itself, indicate incompetence. A failure to have one of these designations probably means that your would-be appraiser has either just started working in the field or is, perhaps, not active on a full-time basis.

Particularly if your business is small, an experienced business broker can help you set an asking price without being a business appraiser. If you need a written report or anticipate litigation, though, you definitely need a business appraiser with a professional designation.

You need to ask more questions of the business appraiser who has never earned a designation. While none of these designations is easy to earn, a full-time business appraiser of any tenure will most likely have at least one such professional designation.

Understand the Costs

There are several levels of service that business appraisers offer. Business appraisal costs can range from $295 to $35,000 and more! An oral appraisal for $295 is a bargain! A written appraisal for $35,000 is, in most cases, a – ! The price you will have to pay is likely to be in between somewhere.

Discuss your needs with your advisors and with the appraisers you interview. Set the minimum level of report that you need. Ask each appraiser for a cost estimate for that type of minimum effort.

The oral appraisal is much more cost effective than the written report. You still get the appraiser’s professional conclusion without making the appraiser write the big report you may not need. Most appraisers will then give you credit for the oral appraisal cost against the cost of any written report needed later.

A simple oral appraisal can cost as little as $295. There is a business broker (with no appraisal designation) in my state doing oral appraisals for this amount. It’s the lowest figure I have ever heard of from anybody. As far as I know, he is accurate enough for setting the asking price of a small business. Accredited business appraisers will also offer to sell you their time based upon a minimum amount. $500 is a more typical minimum charge for this type of service.

Most accredited business appraisers charge at least $100 per hour and will need to spend at least two to four hours doing the minimal homework required for an oral appraisal. It also takes an hour or two to explain it to the client. An oral appraisal can take as little as three, or as many as six, hours for the appraiser to complete.

A written business appraisal is going to cost between $2,500 and $5,000 in most parts of the U.S. It will typically take an appraiser from 20 to 50 hours of work to complete the appraisal. It will run anywhere from 15 to over 100 pages in length.

The cost can easily increase to well over $10,000, depending upon the circumstances. The highest fee that I know of for a straight-forward report is from a national company that charges $35,000 for the same thing that most appraisers would do for $2,500 to $5,000. So, beware! Appraisal work can vary so much that you really need to get some estimates for your specific project.

If the reason for the appraisal is litigation, the costs can skyrocket when the interrogatories and depositions start. Appraisers usually charge a premium hourly rate for litigation preparation and testimony because the time it takes is always lengthy, totally unpredictable and out of their control. $150 to $250 per hour is a typical appraisal fee for such court battles. Under these circumstances, the appraisal fees can reach dizzying heights.

Keep in mind, that whenever you ask an appraiser to put an appraisal in writing or to testify on the record, you require the appraiser to enter a whole new level of preparation.

The public record in the U.S. court system is researchable and appraisers’ written opinions and testimony on the record must be precise and accurate. The smallest details have to be considered. The words have to be carefully chosen. Mistakes could prove in another case many years later! This type of preparation simply takes more time and costs the client more money.

Insist Upon Independence

The business appraiser’s opinion about the value of your business must be totally independent to maintain credibility. You need to know this, and to insist upon it, to preserve the value of the appraisal itself.

Business owners often incorrectly assume that the business appraiser they hire is, like their attorney, a ‘hired gun.’ If this were so, then the business appraiser’s opinion and report would be worthless and without credibility.

You do not want an appraiser who compromises independence and credibility by becoming your advocate. Many real estate appraisers did this in the late 1980s. They ‘pumped up’ the real estate projections so that the banks they worked for could make larger loans. The entire appraisal community was called to task for this practice after the real estate crash of the early 1990s. Both real estate and business appraisers are now more sensitive than ever to this issue.

Every business appraiser with a professional designation subscribes to a code of ethics which requires independence. The appraiser must not become the employee, agent or advocate of the client. A professional appraiser is hired only as an independent expert and is to be an advocate only of his/her own professional opinion.

Before you actually hire a business appraiser, you will be asked to read and sign an appraisal agreement or engagement letter. This agreement will clearly describe the independent nature of the appraiser’s opinion.
Any report you receive will also have this independence clearly described.

Use Common Sense

When selecting your business appraiser, use common sense. Determine what you need appraised and choose the right type of specialist. Learn about your business appraiser’s credentials. Don’t agree to any fee without checking around.

The business appraisal field is complicated. You can become distracted by the details. The process of selection, however, is as simple as taking time to interview several candidates and asking about their credentials, experience and costs.

If all you are trying to book is an oral appraisal, don’t expect the appraiser to meet with you personally before a commitment. You will have to make-do with a phone interview and a review of credentials and/or references the appraiser might be able to send to you. If you are choosing an appraiser for litigation, however, a free initial consultation is in order and most will accommodate an initial meeting without obligation.

You want a person who adapts to your unique situation. Their ability and willingness to listen is critical. Their ability to be timely may be important. You want the proper credentials. You want a person who can speak and write in a way you can understand.

The ideal business appraiser is a person who can deliver a reasonably accurate, understandable and clearly independent appraisal to you in a cost-effective and timely manner.

Dr. Mark Heitner is the founder of MidMEx (http://www.midmex.com). Many patients have been owners of mid-sized companies with a business for sale. MidMEx provides verified buyers and expert business appraisers, brokers and attorneys. Many resources are available to help owners sell the business.

Recently there has been a tremendous outcry in the Office community swirling around the rumour that Microsoft is removing Visual Basic for Applications from future versions of Office. Business managers are wondering if they should bother with Excel VBA training programs if the macro language is on its way out.

To paraphrase Mark Twain, the rumours of VBA’s death have been greatly exaggerated.

Office 2008 Ships Without VBA

The controversy began when the latest version of the software suite for the Macintosh, Office 2008, was released without VBA support.

The reasons for the change were rooted in the Macintosh itself. It has always been difficult to keep VBA compatible with the Macintosh processors. It would have required a great deal of effort to maintain support for something that is used by no other application than Office.

Instead, the Macintosh version of Office supports AppleScript for macro creation. The object models of the two languages are equivalent so it is a simple matter of changing syntax. However “simple” doesn’t mean “easy” and workbooks with large, complicated macros are going to be difficult to upgrade.

VBA Is Safe in Windows Office

Recently, The Register reported that Office 2009, the next Windows release of Office, would also not include VBA. This was an incorrect report and The Register has since retracted the statement, but not before creating an online firestorm.

The reasons for the removal of VBA from Mac Office are irrelevant to a Windows environment. Microsoft has stated definitively that VBA will be in Office 2009 and they have no plans to remove it from future versions.

Should VBA Be Deprecated?

There is good reason for Microsoft to consider abandoning VBA in favour of a more secure macro environment. VBA is one of the biggest security holes in the Office suite and Microsoft is working to protect Office from all vulnerabilities. However the balance between future needs and backward compatibility has always been a tough decision for software developers.

Although VBA may eventually be deprecated from the Windows Office environment, that doesn’t mean the macros well become obsolete. For example, Microsoft removed XLM macros in favour of VBA in 1995 and yet they still function even in Excel 2007.

If Microsoft introduces a new, more secure macro language in Office 2009, VBA will still be an available tool and that means there will always be a place for Excel VBA training in your organization.

Even if your business uses only Macs, VBA is still part of the picture. Most organizations don’t immediately upgrade so older versions of Office are in use well after they cease to be the leading edge. When you do upgrade to Office Mac 2008, you are going to need Excel VBA training to understand those obsolete macros so that you can rewrite them in AppleScript.

Author is a trainer with a Microsoft Office Training company, the UK industry leader in its sector. For more information on Excel VBA Training, please visit http://www.microsofttraining.net/pages/courses/Excel2002VBA.shtm

Managing cash flow has always been a bit of a headache for small businesses when taking care of their business banking. Customers often leave payments until the last minute or even overdue and this means that forward planning with money management is near on impossible.

Many small businesses leave financial planning and tax matters until the last minute because of this which can cause problems and incur financial penalties for the 35% of companies that miss deadlines through this practice.

However, there are things that the small business owner can do to simplify his business banking and even make themselves that little bit richer.

Changes being phased in as part of the new banking code governing small and medium enterprises (SME’s) mean that once a business cheque is paid you, you can be sure it will be cleared within six days. This will enable financial planning to run a little more smoothly and company bosses can rest assured that that cheque will not bounce.

Many businesses, particularly small ones, organise their business banking by setting up their current account and putting all finances through this with no further consideration as to how it can work for them. With a significant amount of money in a SME current account, it would be better to pay it into a business deposit account.

With a minimum deposit of 50,000, pounds interest rates are much more attractive and your money will grow without you having to touch it. Banks offer a fixed rate of interest for a fixed term on a ‘Term of Time’ deposit. The longer you can afford to have your money tied up for, the better the interest rate.

If you are not keen on having your money completely inaccessible for any length of time, try incorporating a ‘Restricted Access Deposit Account’ in your business banking. This will offer a better interest rate than your average current account and will allow you a limited amount of withdrawals before incurring penalty charges.

When it comes to SME’s, it is reported that only four of the high street banks hold up to 90% of the business banking accounts. With complicated systems for switching between banks and very little incentive to do so, competition has been weak. In fact, only 8% of small businesses had moved their business banking account in the last three years.

On top of this, price controls were set in place by the Competition Commission after investigations into the SME banking market in 2003.

An Office of Fair Trading study has revealed that there really needs to be more competition in the business banking market to ensure customers are getting the best deal with the choice to shop around.

Price controls are now to be lifted with banks still under an obligation to advertise and inform their account holders of any price changes. The process of switching your business banking to a different bank has also been made easier and banks will now have to work harder to keep your custom.

So, with all these new measures in place, business banking should be simpler, more competitive and more profitable.

Expert banker Catherine Harvey looks at some of the answers to business banking difficulties. To find out more please visit http://www.lloydstsbbusiness.com/accounts/index.asp/

If you want to experience business growth, you will need to foster employee satisfaction. Happy employees equal loyal laborers. When your employees are happy, your customers are more likely to be happy, and you will be happy with your business.

So, how do you make an employee happy, especially if you are just starting out? Unless you have a wealthy uncle, you are not yet in a position to offer much in the way of employee incentives. Fortunately, fostering worker loyalty does not have to cost money.

First, treat your employee with kindness and respect. You can still maintain your position as the boss, and still exercise common courtesy. Let your employees know your rules and expectations, and subsequent actions for noncompliance, from the beginning of their employment, and avoid disciplinary problems. However, do not be a tyrant. Allow your employees to grow as well. Listen to their ideas and give them room to try something new. Yes, you can experience business growth with happy employees, and it will not reduce your bottom line in the least.

Second, treat your customers with kindness and respect. Whether they enter your establishment with smiles on their faces, or have a black cloud of doom overhead, it is equally important that you keep your eye on the big picture. Your customers are actually the best advertisement for your business.

Unfortunately, if you have disgruntled employees, you will likely lose some potentially long-term customers. Even with the best efforts to be positive and cheerful, a customer can tell if employee relations are suffering, and will be less eager to pay a return visit. Similarly, when a really cantankerous customer walks in the door, it will be almost impossible to maintain excellent customer service, if an employee already feels devalued by you-the boss.

Third, you will be much happier, if your employees are happy and building a community of loyal consumers. The bottom line: you need to worry about the people associated with you business, customer and employee. If you truly want to experience noteworthy business growth, forget obsessing over the bottom line.

As a result, you will be less likely to compromise productivity while training new employees on a regular basis; you will spend less time worrying about advertising the business, if you employees have helped you establish a loyal customer base. Likewise, do not forget about your faithful employees, and they will stick with you during the trying times and the periods of prosperity. In the end, you will experience substantial business growth by practicing two simple words with your employees: common courtesy.

Paul Sutherland is an Accelerated Business Growth Coach. His company – Daniel Thomas International – http://www.dti.eu.com helps SMEs to grow their businesses with tried tested and proven techniques and strategies, increasing their bottom line profits in 90 days or less.

Fire exits should be strategically located, with an outward opening door that has a crash bar and outward leading signs on it. Knowing where to find the emergency exits in a building that you frequent can save your life. Inward opening, rotating and sliding doors are unacceptable for use as fire exits, as they might need to be fixed open using a latch or chain if the door is needed as an exit route.

In the UK, one exit is satisfactory for buildings where no more than 60 people work, as long as that the building is on the ground floor level only. The outsides of fire exits need to be kept clear and marked with a suitable keep clear sign. Whenever the building is in use, the exits should be well lit by normal mains lighting. Once your workplace follows a course of scheduled assessment, unsafe conditions can be recognized and corrected before they cause serious injuries.

Learn the location of fire escape routes and how to set off the fire alarm. It might be necessary to make available “refuge points” for disabled or elderly persons to wait for assistance in some larger buildings. You should also remember staircase exits, since elevators may not function during a fire, or may expose passengers to gas, heat or smoke.

It is important that there be sufficient and adequate fire exits so that people can safely and swiftly leave the building without being put in any danger should there be an outbreak of fire. The combined use of ordinary and special fire exits allows for quicker mass departure, while it also gives another option if the route to the usual exit is blocked by fire, etc.

The number of people who could potentially use the exit, together with several other factors, will decide the amount of fire exits used in any situation. Fire exits should be spread around the building so ensuring that people can reach a safe exit route. Fire exit routes must be kept clear at all times. Fire protection measures can include the installation of fire doors, a common sight in larger buildings.

Having a sound escape plan will greatly reduce fire deaths and protect you and your employees’ safety if fire occurs. Remember, in the event of a fire, time is the biggest enemy and every second counts! Practice escape plans at least twice per year. Designate a meeting location at least 500 feet away from the building, but not necessarily across the street. Remember to escape first, and then notify the fire service.

Small Fire Procedures
If a minor fire appears controllable, do the following:
1. Avoid personal injury and extreme risks
2. Warn people in the immediate area and set off the alarm
3. Call the fire brigade
4. Smother fire or use the nearest fire extinguisher
5. Always maintain a way to leave the room

Immediately notify the fire brigade if the fire seems unmanageable, and then vacate all rooms, closing all doors to confine the fire and reduce oxygen. Follow your evacuation plan and walk quickly to the nearest marked exit and ask others to do the same. Assist the handicapped in leaving the building. If requested, help the emergency crews as necessary. Do not return to an evacuated building until the emergency crew pronounces that it is safe to do so.

Each workplace building should have at least two separate means of escape. The local fire brigade should from time to time make a plant walk-through to check on fire safety, and to ensure that fire exits are located far enough from each other that a fire in one area won’t block both or all exits. Fire exits must never be locked or blocked when people are working in the building.

http://www.FireProtectionOnline.co.uk sells a full range of fire extinguishers and fire safety equipment for business and homes and gives expert fire safety advice

One of the best ways to be more effective in your work is to take control back, wherever possible. By working on your own area where you work, you can ensure that you feel better and much more in control. This can easily lead to a more confident and capable performance.

1) Closing the Door

Closing your door, if you have one, is a great effective working practice.

By ensuring that anyone who sees your door closed knows that you are in ‘do not disturb’ mode, there are no misunderstandings, except perhaps, the first couple of times you need to tell someone. And make it only a couple of times – no more.

You see that your people need to be trained and when you are changing your behaviors, there will always be a few teething troubles, so you have to be gentle and firm at the same time.

In fact this a very productive exercise in itself, because as you display new and much more effective working practices yourself, your people start to notice and, hey presto, start mimicking your change style. You don’t even need to make the point sometimes. It’s like magic!

2) Remove Distractions

It’s very easy to get clutter piled up on your desk or other places you might describe as your work area. Sometimes it’s worth taking the step to have a clearout before you start work.

By moving these ‘visual distractions’ out of sight, you will find it much easier to focus on a special task. It’s not a magic way of making things ‘disappear’. No, you still have to evolve a system to manage the pile of stuff you’ve hidden.

But you can declutter your brain for a short while to get something done and then get back to that pile at a different (better) time for you.

This activity (hiding stuff for a bit!), is a very freeing thing to do – give it a try – you will feel wonderful, for a while!

3) Position Your Computer

In reviewing visual distractions, it’s easy to have your computer monitor lined up in such a way as to interfere with your concentration, with other’s movements maybe catching your eye.

If that’s the case, position it such that there are less likely to be any interactions that cross into your viewing space. This will significantly add to your effective working practices.

Remember, you are not in control of a lot of things when you work for an organization – it’s just the way it is, working as an employee at whatever level you are at.

Making sure that you attend to what you do have control of, is a step to maintaining your own dignity, self-respect and control, as well as a very effective working practice in itself.

(c) 2007 “How To Land Your Dream Job”. You can have the job of your dreams. It takes application, attention and the information you need to get you there, young or old. There’s all you need at Martin Haworth’s website, at http://www.HowToLandYourDreamJob.com

International business company owners face one common challenge in their organizational structure: language barrier. While it is true that transport links and globalization of business have made the world a smaller place, language barrier still exists, and it doesnt look like its going to go away soon.

So how does an international business company owner overcome such a major hurdle in business?

The key of course is translation. If you want effective global operations for your international business company, then you need to somehow find a way to translate your business language into that which your foreign operations understand. Speed and accuracy in the translation process are also important in order to ensure efficiency in your translations team as they work with contract research organizations all over the world.

Intranets, Interoffice Materials, and External Websites

You know already that communication is the key to creating a more cohesive organization, especially when it comes to an international business company. But the existing language barrier can defeat your international business companys communication processes, rendering it useless.

In order to prevent this and bring employees of your international business company closer together, the translation of interoffice materials and intranets is a huge help. Not only will it help empower non-native speakers of the language of your head office, it would also facilitate communication among member offices, creating a more cohesive organization.

Translation should not be limited to intranets and interoffice materials alone. External websites are your companys vital link to your international customer base. In order to reach more customers worldwide, your external sites must answer to the various languages to increase understanding.

How to Choose a Translation Provider

As mentioned, accuracy and speed are the goal of every translator. The most important thing to remember is that the translation must be able to effectively communicate the message into the local language in the most accurate and fastest way possible. A translator who is able to do this without diluting in any way the local language (so that it results in insulting text!) is a must. That is why it is not often recommended that you do the translation job yourself, even if you speak the language. Because speaking the language does not necessarily mean translating it into writing a language.

Look for a certified translator to handle the translation processes in your company. If there is no certification process for translators in your head offices country, then look to translators associations, such as the American Translators Associations, that offer accreditations to translators through a voluntary testing process.

Freelance translators are also another option. However, if you ever decide to use the services of a freelance translators, then be sure to have someone in your international business company coordinate the workflow.

T J Madigan has been established in online business since 1998 and is director of a number of successful online projects one of which is http://www.articles.net.au your best source for FREE articles and information.

As the volume of business transacted between the developing and developed world businesses grows, so too does the need for a fair and efficient process for resolving disputes arising therefrom. Frequently, American businesses demand that an arbitration clause be included in business contracts so that any dispute will be resolved in a United States arbitration forum. Developing world businesses might be suspicious of this demand and assume that the process must favor the U.S. party: Why else would a U.S. Fortune 500 company demand arbitration under the auspices of an American arbitration organization?

A closer look, however, reveals that American arbitration can offer several advantages for the developing world business, among them, flexibility, efficiency, fairness and knowledgeable adjudicators. However, these advantages are attainable only if the developing country business identifies its particular needs and negotiates a process that meets them.

U.S. LAW SUPPORTS AND ENCOURAGES ARBITRATION

The United States is several decades ahead of most other countries in developing an arbitration system that courts and the business community trust and support. Over the last half century, laws have been enacted and courts have issued rulings that encourage parties to resolve their business disputes through arbitration. American courts read arbitration clauses broadly and routinely enforce them. American courts rarely overturn an arbitral result, doing so only where fraud or some other extreme deficiency has corrupted the process. Finally, U.S. courts generally enforce arbitral awards, giving it the same dignity and legitimacy as a court-entered judgment.

ARBITRATORS ARE OFTEN MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE AND OBJECTIVE THAN JUDGES OR JURIES

A non-American party might be suspicious of arbitration under the auspices of an American arbitration organization such as the American Arbitration Association, believing that rules must favor Americans and that the arbitrators will have a nationalistic bias in favor of the U.S. party. This is by no means inevitable. Just because an arbitration is brought under the auspices of a U.S. based arbitration organization, does not necessarily mean that the arbitrators will be American nationals. The parties could agree before or after a dispute arises that one or all of the arbitrators will be non-American; alternatively, a party can use any preemptory challenges it has to strike American arbitrators during the arbitrator selection process.

Moreover, most international arbitrators (of whatever nationality) know that if they gain a reputation for favoring American (or any other nationality’s) businesses they will likely not be asked to arbitrate again. By contrast, an American judge is fully employed with cases regardless of how he treats foreigners, and his chances of reappointment or reelection will, if anything, be enhanced by ruling in favor of U.S. nationals vis a vis foreign nationals. Juries too will most likely be much more parochial than international arbitrators.

DEVISE A PROCESS RIGHT FOR YOU

In deciding to arbitrate the parties chose to opt-out of litigation — a one size fits all system administered by courts and government bureaucrats — and into a privately devised system, which they can tailor to their particular needs. For instance, if the parties’ transaction concerns the manufacture of ball bearings, they might agree that at least one of the arbitrators has some experience in the manufacturing of ball bearings. Or if they do not have the financial wherewithal to pay lawyers and arbitrators hundreds of thousands of dollars, they may wish to streamline the process by providing for only one arbitrator (rather than the normal three), by limiting the time each party has to present its case, by prohibiting the taking of pre-hearing testimony, or by eliminating pre-hearing discovery completely. Of course, if the transaction is worth hundreds of millions, or billions of dollars, then the parties can devise a process that provides for three arbitrators, all with extensive experience in handling such arbitrations or expertise in the industry, and for quite extensive pre-hearing discovery.

CONCLUSION

The American arbitration system is by no means perfect, but it has proven in many instances to be far superior to litigation in the courts, and this is true both for American and non-American parties. Thus, when an American company suggests arbitration in the United States, a developing country party should not necessarily resist. Rather it should seek to negotiate rules for the arbitration process that fit its particular needs.

Robert Y. Lewis is a founding partner of Freeman Lewis LLP, a business litigation and arbitration law firm in New York City. et more information about the arbitration process at http://www.freemanlewis.com.

Are you just starting out in business? Are you wondering what IOVC and the “O” of IOVC technology means? You heard about office process improvement, business process improvement, business process management, workflow management and you wonder what these IOVC technologies can do for improving your business operation?

IOVC technologies can cut your business costs sharply. Business process improvements that address your office processes have demonstrated many business benefits for a long time now. This set of IOVC technologies has been primarily associated with large corporate business but no more. Small and medium business can benefit from an office process improvement or BPI/BPM tool. If you need to ring more profit from an existing business operation then you owe it to yourself to make yourself profitable with the many readily available business process improvement technologies.

In this series examining the “O” of IOVC (internet, office, voip and crm) technologies, the office improvement or business process improvement movement has many tools and products available to help the business owner improve their business operation. To sort out the complexity of business process improvement, business process management, technology and application support we need to answer a few key questions such as:

What is your BPI, BPM process?

What is your potential problem?

What do you need to learn about your business?

What is the business process improvement process?

What is the best way to train you and your team?

What benefits can you expect?

What are the next steps?

What is your BPI, BPM process? Those new to business process improvement and business process management need to understand just what is a business processes. The office or business process is really your normal office workflow that you and your team use daily. Within that workflow are people, process, products and projects. Supporting and or enabling these components are your software applications and supporting technologies that allow you to perform the business functions.

What is your potential problem? The complexity that occurs after your business has been operating for a while means your business processes by their nature become complex, disjointed and out of sync. The ability to manage your processes and keep your processes operating at peak efficiency is what’s needed to keep your business healthy. Viewed from a top down perspective, it is your end-to-end business process or business workflow that drives your business.

What do you need to learn about your business? With that understanding your team needs to define your business process and unearth the perceived business problem. Yes you have to make the problem real on paper. The team needs to define what tools are used when identifying your business processes.

What is the Business Process Improvement process? The team would document the existing business process by developing beginning to end process maps. They would identify which steps in your process add value. Then the team would identify the steps that cause pain and detract from the efficiency of the process. Then the team works to eliminate those business steps that fail to add value. Once all is documented, the team transitions from identifying and knowing what steps to improve, the team would collectively be able to understand and discuss what to do when the identified solution conflicts with business policy or a current external process and still make it functional within your organization.

Enter Business Process Management phrase – Then the business improvement solution is implemented and becomes operational. To ensure continued success, the group proceeds to manage the business process using a selected business process management tool. This requires the complete understanding of current routines, future goals and the gaps in between. Once the process is operational, the process becomes a business process management procedure.

What is the best way to train you and your team? Since your personnel work daily to complete specific business processes using technology that you have within in your business, they should become intimately involved with learning about managing your business processes especially since they are a part of them everyday. For BPI assessments to be effective, the best way to learn is in a situational manner which enables you to identify and manage your specific business processes. You may even consider having customized courses that can be defined to target your specific situation.

What are the expected benefits? The benefits of a business process improvement and management assessment is that your business will be able to continuously strive for a more effective business process and therefore you will gain improved efficiency. The resulting office process improvements enable many other products and services to operate more efficiently. Working with a team and understanding the issues associated with your end to end business operation can help you define the gaps in your business and remove the daily problems and disconnects with your vendors. This can come from keeping your business processes in sync with the proper support of your technology and your people. The gains can sometimes approach a 50 percent or more gain in efficiency.

In today’s business environment, we continuously strive for a more effective business process operation and a firm with actual hands on experience can help you learn and apply these strategies. That is because business process improvement and business process management have become essential tools to just about any organization.

In summary, with proper people, education and learning in a situational environment, one can first identify the process, then analyze the process and move on to improving and monitoring the process. The complexity and payback of business process improvements are many because one improvement can lead to many more and sometimes it’s a simple fix and other times a lot more complex. The details require more explanation then we can provide here, however you owe it to yourself to investigate this area of IOVC technologies further and profit from these capabilities.

Gregory L Burrus, http://www.techoss.com , a former Director of a Fortune 500 Telecommunications company, consults for major telecom and operational support system vendors. Greg provides small business solutions as an internet, office, voice over internet protocol technology solutions.

Boiler and machinery insurance refers to the insurance of machines. Boiler insurance is not only applicable to boilers, but any machines that generate electrical power including generators and motors. It includes the damage to the machine and the surrounding area through explosions and fire.

If you have ever tried to settle a simple insurance claim related to the breakdown or damage of a machine or equipment, you know how difficult it is to get the company to pay for additional damages like destruction of property and loss of business. This type of insurance covers not just the damage to the machine, but also other damages caused by the malfunctioning machine. These damages may include business loss and property damage. In fact, some types also cover damages to neighboring properties, and pay for setting up temporary arrangements to run the business.

Anyone who runs any kind of business that uses electrical or mechanical devices of some sort should buy this type of policy. Many people have the misconception that this is only for large factories and manufacturing units. As a small business owner, you probably do not use heavy machines, but even the smallest of businesses use equipment like air conditioners, refrigerators, ovens, and coffee machines. A malfunction in any of this equipment could cause an explosion or fire, damage to property and business loss. It will cover all these damages.

There are different types of Boiler and Machinery Insurance. Some kinds cover a specific boiler, which is recognized by year of manufacturing or number. Other policies cover electrical motors. The more extensive policies cover all kinds of machinery and equipment, as well as damage caused by equipment malfunction.

Most small business owners opt for the policy to cover the items that are not covered by other kinds of insurance policies, like property or vehicle insurance. Choose a policy that not just pays you for the damaged machine, but also helps you recover from business losses caused by the accident. This means that you should look for a policy that will help you set up a temporary business unit after an accident, pay for damages to the property and compensate for business losses.

Additional Help
If you are a small business owner who is unsure of which boiler and machinery insurance policy to opt for, you can approach a small business consultant for help. Insuring your machine is the best way to safeguard yourself from not just damage to your equipment, but also business losses.

David Gass is President of Business Credit Services, Inc. His company publishes a free weekly e-newsletter on Small Business Consulting at their web site http://www.smallbusinessconsulting.com