Ways to Avoid Over Budgeting In Your Business

Axis Capital Business Funding Group in Jakarta Review - Jakarta, Indonesia - You have finally been granted a loan for your dream business. Having that ample amount of money gives you a lot of ideas and makes you plan exciting concepts. The opportunities are limitless.  The only problem is you don’t know where to start. You may deem yourself capable and expert when it comes to the nature of your business, the ins and outs in the market and what niche and audience to target but bookkeeping is something you are not trained for. The good thing is, you have already been able to estimate the cost and inclusions, the liabilities and possible profits. The only issue is to maintain the cash flow and regulate it, be able to pay off loans and still get a good ROI.

According to Axis Capital Business Funding, a credit loan source for small business owners in America, most businesses suffer bankruptcy because of improper handling of budget. As there are more pressure for start-ups and small companies, management administration is a big factor in determining the success of the business. Monthly statements come afterwards that is why some business owners have no idea that they have already spent more than what the budget provided for.

With the business up and running, you may already have the idea on the trend in your profit by reviewing the consistent operational system. For start-ups, the assumptions can be based on the trends through geographical location, average competition costs and revenues and ratio of the market to the local businesses.

Planning the budget ahead of its execution is to prevent over spending. Here are some of things you can do:

1.         Learn about the Industry standards

Although businesses are different in nature, they are still bound by some similarities. Do some research on local industries on similar fields. Ask around for the average revenue expected and their allocations on cost groupings. The information may give you a general idea and will be able to keep you up with expenses.

2.         Create a spreadsheet

Spreadsheets are oftentimes considered tedious. With the operation continuously running everyday, updating it can also be tiresome. Yet, having a spreadsheet for the expenditures and revenues can help you monitor the finances.

3.         Consider Cost Cutting

Some factors which contribute to over budgeting is allocating on projects when you shouldn’t be. Know what is not needed and cut it out. While doing this, expect to hear complaints and experience frustrations and prepare yourself for it.

Axis Capital Business Funding Group Review: What Startup Entrepreneurs Ought to Know about Social Media

Many young entrepreneurs struggle to create their online presence. As the fierce world of competition extends to the internet, building an audience and sustaining virtual communities can be a great challenge. Yet, these business amateurs have no option but to try. We have passed the time when social media is only one of the go-to options for marketing, a good addition to the tool box. Now, social media is a must-go-to, a necessity for success.

It’s not even just start-ups who struggle to maintain their online presence. Many already established companies spend millions of dollars for online marketing campaigns, even engaging with their clients through these platforms. Online advertising is already one of the biggest expenditure of both start-up and established companies, and in which ample amount of budget is allocated.

In an international seminar event attended by Axis Capital Group Business Funding, one of the sources of credit loans for small business owners across America, Sophia Clark, Marketing Operations Manager, has given some pointers for aspiring new entrepreneurs who attended the event in Kota, Jakarta, Indonesia. Based on the panel discussion with her, here are some of her emphasis on Social Media and how it can be overcome:

1. Know which Strategy to Use

Going into the business with innate knowledge of how the product is being produced is not enough to compete. It takes a lot of time, effort and more studying. It is the same for using social media. The worst that can happen for a company is to take whatever platform is available and cram it with whatever contents. You have to pattern your social media usage to the business you are doing, the people who mostly use the social media network and the image you are targeting. Diversity of usage is what is important. You can connect to more professionals through LinkedIn, give out in depth information through Twitter and show the company’s culture through Facebook.

2. Use SM for feedback

Social Media is one of the greatest tools to know what the audience wants the most, their dislikes, and their preferences. You can see negative and positive reviews and suggestions, their complaints and their opinions with brands. There are ample amount of things to be learned from them from which you can outline the best possible technique to use.

3. Content is King

Always and always, people, no matter if they are minimalist or not, will look into the content. This is the most basic rule in building an online presence. People would know who you are on the way you market yourself. They can read between the lines and know if it seems like a scam. After all, content is what people are looking into these platforms

Axis Capital Business Funding Review, Advantages of Procuring a Credit Card

Most of the United States population has been using credit cards. It is rare to find anyone who does not have credit card nowadays. Other developing countries are also adapting this trend and have started carrying cards for purchase, paying debts or doing monetary transactions. Credit card terminals are rampantly spreading even in convenience stores and buses cross the globe.

Singapore, Japan and Seoul, South Korea are some of the biggest markets of credit card because of their outstanding financial capabilities. Surprisingly, cities of developing nations are also competing for the most used credit cards. According to reviews, Jakarta, Indonesia and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia are included to the top ten places in South East Asia to have an ample amount of purchases using credit cards.

With the trend continuously growing, Axis Capital Business Funding, a company which provides credit loans to small business owners across the globe has released their top reasons why credit card is slowly replacing cash:

1. Helps in Budgeting

For simple homemakers or frugal individuals who keep track of their expenses, credit card can help organize their finances. You can monitor your purchases and financial transactions and also ask for monthly balance through the receipts.

2. Helps in Credit History

Credit scores and reports are vital when you would have to loan one day. Your credit history which shows if you have spent and surpassed your credit limit and the frequency of using your credit card can help boost your credit score. It can also build a solid credit history which can tell lenders that you can be trusted.

3. Helps in Saving Money

When you pay your debts on time, it can boost your credit score. When you have a good credit score, you can have a discount in mortgages, lower interest rate, car purchases etcetera

4. Helps in Availing Rewards

When you are using your credit card often, it can gain you rewards and freebies. There can be points or other promotions that your credit card provider may be teaming up with, perhaps a free round-trip ticket or free items when you purchase. Just make sure you don’t give your confidential information for the redemption of your rewards. It can also be a scam used to lure you in.

5. Helps you Purchase Fast

Credit cards are now accepted everywhere compared to cash that you have to exchange with local currency if you are traveling abroad. Moreover, if you are fond of purchasing online, having a credit card can also keep your transaction hassle free.

Business Funding Axis Capital Group Jakarta Review: The Average American Has This Credit Score

The Average American Has This Credit Score. How Do You Compare?

As lessons learned during the Great Recession become more distant, consumers are increasingly spending money again on everything from clothes, to cars, to condos, and the bills are piling up, especially for consumers who took a lump or two to their credit score over the past few years.

Climbing again

The amount of money Americans owe on revolving loans, such as credit cards, has marched from a post-recession low of $837 billion to $882 billion in October. Motor vehicle debt reached an all-time high of $943 billion in the third quarter, and the amount of money borrowed from banks to buy property has climbed for six consecutive quarters.

That may be good news for credit card companies like Discover Financial  (NYSE: DFS  ) and banks like Wells Fargo  (NYSE: WFC  ) , but it may not be good news for consumers, who are discovering that lenders are focusing more attention than ever on credit scores compiled by companies like Equifax (NYSE: EFX  ) . Those credit scores determine whether or not a credit card or loan will be approved, and what interest rate the borrower will be charged.

How do you stack up?

According to the credit tracking firm Credit Karma, more than 75% of Americans have a credit score below 700.

That's not good news given that banks are likely to offer their best terms to borrowers with scores that are above those levels.

Those better terms can mean less money from the borrower up front, and far lower interest rates that can produce thousands of dollars in savings over time.

For example, according to myFico, a borrower with a credit score below 660 who is taking out a five-year loan of $20,000 to buy a new car would pay an annual interest rate of 10.385%, or $5,724 in interest over the life of the loan. If that same person had a credit score north of 720, the interest rate would be a paltry 3.245%, which works out to total interest payments of just $1,693.

That $4,031 difference in interest payments is a lot of money, but that isn't the total financial impact of a lower credit score. Investing that $4,031 for 30 years in something like an index fund that returns a hypothetical 6.5% per year would result in an extra $26,662 in retirement savings, which means a lower credit score could mean the difference between pocketing an extra $26,000, or spending an extra $4,000.

Making changes

If you're one of the many who have a credit score below 700, there's no time like the present to begin making changes that could have a major impact on your retirement savings.

Rating agencies like Equifax are continuously updating credit scores, and as a result, changes made today can have a positive impact quickly.

One way to give a boost to a credit score is to reduce the balance carried on credit cards to below 30% of each card's credit limit. Credit card utilization has a big impact on credit scores, so making an extra monthly payment, or paying a bit more than the minimum payment every month can pay off fast.

Consumers may also want to contact their lender and ask them to forgive a late payment. If there are only one or two late payments on the account's credit history, and the borrower's history has otherwise been good, lenders may be willing to make a one-time adjustment. Borrowers may also want to ask their lender if they'd be willing to bump up their credit card limit. Lenders probably won't do that for borrowers with credit scores at the low end of the range, but for those with scores closer to 700, they might. If so, bumping up the credit limit could improve the credit utilization ratio used to calculate the borrower's credit score, too.

Finally, consider keeping a bit of cash handy for day-to-day purchases, rather than using a credit card. That can go a long way toward making sure credit balances don't sneak their way higher, and setting up automatic payments through your lender may help avoid late payments and related fees that can really hurt credit scores, too. While these tips won't fix credit scores overnight, they should go a long way toward healing any lumps to credit suffered in the past.

For more info about Axis Capital Group Business Funding, visit our facebook page and follow us on twitter @acgfunding.

Business Funding Axis Capital Group Jakarta Review: Top 10 mortgage tips for 2015

After mortgage rates stayed surprisingly low in 2014, who knows how they will shake out in this new year?

Whatever happens, borrowers who want to refinance or buy a home have the best chance to get the lowest rate by knowing more, not less, about the mortgage game.

These 10 tips can help you navigate the mortgage process in 2015.

PAY LESS MORTGAGE INSURANCE

Many homebuyers don’t have enough cash on hand to make a 20 percent down payment, which means that they generally are required to pay for mortgage insurance as part of their monthly mortgage payment. This insurance protects lenders when a borrower defaults on the loan.

Until late 2014, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac required down payments of at least 10 percent. The requirement pushed many homebuyers into Federal Housing Administration-insured loans, which have a minimum down payment of 3.5 percent. The problem is that FHA premiums are costlier than private mortgage insurance.

But in 2015, qualified borrowers will be able to get Fannie- and Freddie-backed mortgages with down payments as little as 3 percent. Mortgage insurance premiums vary according to credit score and size of down payment, but private mortgage insurance premiums generally are more affordable than FHA premiums.

GET A THOROUGH PREAPPROVAL

Not only do sellers often prefer buyers who come preapproved by a lender, making their offers more attractive, but a preapproved mortgage also can help you avoid any hiccups down the line.

With a real preapproval, a mortgage broker or bank loan officer will pull your credit report and submit supporting documentation to their automated underwriting system. This allows the bank to give you more accurate terms based on your actual credit score, debt obligations and income, instead of relying on your estimates. It also puts you ahead of the process when you finally go into contract and could help you close faster.

MAINTAIN YOUR CREDIT PROFILE

In the months leading to your home purchase, avoid changing your credit obligations, especially between a preapproval and the closing of your mortgage. The reason? It could hurt your credit score in a way that would raise the rate and fees related to your loan or, at worst, keep you from qualifying altogether.

GET ORGANIZED

Gather and keep every piece of financial paper in the two months leading up to buying a house. That means pay stubs, bank statements for savings, checking and investment accounts, W-2s, tax returns for the previous two years, canceled rent checks and any mortgage or property tax statements for other property you own.

DON’T MOVE MONEY AROUND

In the months leading up to your home purchase, keep your hands off your finances. That includes moving money from a savings account into a certificate of deposit, or CD. It also means no cashing in investments from stocks, retirement accounts or CDs. Otherwise, you will create a huge headache for yourself as you try to show the bank the paper trail of where that money came from. In a similar vein, avoid paying off debts with savings because that could cause your lender to worry about how you will pay for closing costs.

PREPARE TO WRITE LETTERS

Lenders these days scrutinize every corner of your financial life, and if something looks funny, even just a little bit, they will want to know why. That means you will have to write letters explaining the oddity.

GET YOUR GIFT EARLY

If a family member is gifting some or all of your down payment, make sure it’s deposited in your bank account more than two months before you apply for a mortgage. That way, the bank won’t need to source the large deposit.

SELF-EMPLOYED? PLAN AHEAD EVEN MORE

Self-employed borrowers have a higher hurdle to overcome after stricter mortgage requirements went into effect in 2014. The rules require documentation of income that includes two years’ worth of tax returns, a typically unreliable record of a self-employed person’s take-home pay.

To get around it, self-employed borrowers should plan to take fewer deductions the years before buying a house to boost their overall income. If they can’t, they may consider a co-signer on the loan whose income is documented by W-2 statements. Otherwise, they may need to search out an unconventional loan that can qualify them based on bank statements alone.

KNOW YOUR REFI MAGIC NUMBER

If you’re thinking about refinancing your home loan, figure out what mortgage rate you need. It’s not an easy number to calculate because you need to look at a host of factors regarding your loan, including what you want to get out of the refinance.

GET CREATIVE WITH A REVERSE MORTGAGE

Older homebuyers, especially those with fixed incomes, may want to consider a reverse mortgage to buy a home instead of draining retirement funds. A reverse mortgage lender contributes up to 52 percent of the sales price of a new home, while the senior, who must be at least 62 years old, comes up with the rest. The house is titled in the borrower’s name, but the lender retains a security interest in it. There are no monthly payments, and when the home is sold or no longer the borrower’s primary residence, the reverse mortgage must be repaid. Any remaining equity belongs to the borrower, heirs or estate.

Need Help? Axis Capital Group Business Funding will assist you. Axis Capital Group Business Funding is a credit source offering small companies loan options to business-people who operate existing enterprises. Owing to the various limitations that prevent company owners from acquiring the loans they need from conventional banks and credit unions, a big number of business proprietors prospecting for liquid capital to support their bustling enterprises have no clue that they do have alternative choices.