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Archive for July, 2010

The vending machine business in the U.S. is huge. Americans are dropping approximately twenty to thirty billion dollars into vending machines every year. Vending has excellent profit potential and offers a great chance for any business person to have a very lucrative home-based business if they are prepared to put in the work in building up a route. Clever business people know that pocket change can easily become a large amount of money when you have many vending machines out there working for you. This article is an overview of this unique industry in the U.S. and offers useful advice for anyone thinking about getting into the business.

Some sectors within this industry are protected from a bad economy because vended goods are very competitively priced when compared to retailers and can be a cheaper and more convenient option for consumers.

You will find that this industry is competitive, like any business is. Sometimes this is not such a bad thing though as having two or three different machines in the same location means that they can support each other. As long as you are working with your local competitors instead of against them it is possible to group your machines together into blocks that collectively draw in more business.

While this business cannot be called seasonal some locations will do better in the summer months while others will produce better results in the winter. Remember that certain locations will shut down for short vacation periods leaving you with no income at all.

Certain U.S states require vendors to have a licence, a sellers permit, a sales tax licence or all three. So you will need to find out what the regulations are in your state. Also depending on the type of products you are supplying you may need to talk to you local health authority.

In this business you can choose to work independently, with a partner or maybe you will want to hire a team of people to look after the maintenance and restocking of the machines while leaving you time to focus on getting more machines out there. You will also need to develop good accounting systems to track inventory and to make sure that all goods and cash are exactly where they should be.

Vending machines really are the best employees. All they require is electricity, good maintenance and efficient restocking. Maintenance and repairs are a very important part of this business and if you are not technically minded you should make sure that you have access to someone who is and that they will be able to look after this side of the business for you.

Sites for your machine won’t always be free and some managers will demand 5% – 40% commission for the privilege of allowing you to place your machine on their floor. The best way to determine a fair commission is to judge the amount of sales that your machine gets over the first few weeks. So don’t be too quick to offer them anything until you are sure that the location can justify commission.

Finding suitable vending machine locations is one of the most challenging parts of establishing a new business and you must learn how to deal with and convince ‘decision makers’ at each location to permit you to place your machines there. Some vendors prefer to work with professional locators while others associate themselves with charities to help place more machines.

A good spot should earn you at least $70 in cash each time you visit to restock to make it worth your while.

The vending industry is a very appealing business as it looks set to continue its amazing rate of growth not just in America but also internationally. For entrepreneurs wanting to startup their own small business, vending represents a great opportunity to do so.

There are different strategies and techniques to be discussed when writing good-news and bad-news letters. In good-news letters a writer is conveying good news to the receiver. The first paragraph (introduction) provides the good-news topic (reason for the letter). The second paragraph (discussion) provides the details of the good-news and the third paragraph (conclusion) calls for action.

Bad-news letters use the indirect approach and opens with a neutral idea while providing facts and supporting evidence. The second paragraph presents the reason for the bad news letter. The third paragraph ends with a neutral close. Tact and politeness is required when writing a letter of bad news. A writer of a letter of bad news must pay attention to tone and structure throughout the letter to avoid future problems. Writers must prevent themselves from offending the reader.

All writing is a form of persuasion. A writer tries to persuade their reader to understand his, or her point of view. Attention to wording is essential in a bad-news business letter to prevent breaking the code of ethics. An example for a reason for a bad-news letter is:

A company I work for has been advised to downsize labor cost by any means possible. The only choice I have is to terminate all temporary positions within the company. This decision requires that I write bad news letters to each of the temporary employees, terminating them and explaining to each one the reason for termination. I must take care to use tact and politeness throughout the letter while making it clear that their job performance was excellent and had no bearing on my company decision. When writing to the employee, I should offer a severance pay and to write a letter of recommendation to help the employee with job search. Additionally, medical benefits should be extended for a short time after termination. Additionally, letting the employee know that with his, or her given qualifications and proven abilities, I am confident that he or she will find another position in the near future. End on a calm and upward happy note.

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A key determinant for setting up a business in a given jurisdiction is the tax regime in force. In this regard, both Hong Kong and Singapore boast of being one of the lowest tax jurisdictions in the world. Detailed below is a comparative overview of the tax system in Singapore Vs HK.

Tax jurisdiction

Singapore

Taxes are levied on a territorial principle i.e. companies and individuals are taxed on Singapore sourced income. Foreign sourced income (branch profits, dividends, service income, etc.) will be taxed when it is remitted or deemed remitted into Singapore unless the income was already subjected to taxes in a jurisdiction with headline tax rates of at least 15%.

Hong Kong

Taxes are levied on the territorial principle i.e. only on income “derived from or arising in” HK and not on income sourced outside the SAR. No tax is levied on profits arising abroad, even if they are remitted to Hong Kong.

Corporate Tax Rate

Singapore: Current corporate income tax rate – 18%. However, corporate income tax rate effective 2010 – 17%. Note: The effective tax rate is much lower – below 9% for profits up to SGD 300,000 and capped at 18% for profits above SGD 300,000 Hong Kong: Current corporate income tax rate – 16.5%

Goods and Services Tax (known as VAT/Sales tax in other countries)

Singapore: 7% Hong Kong: Nil

Capital gains tax

Singapore and Hong Kong: Nil (Capital loss expenses are correspondingly not allowed as deductions)

Group relief for losses

Singapore: Allowed HK: Not allowed

Withholding tax

Singapore: Interest, royalties, rentals from movable properties, management and technical fees, and director’s fees paid to non-residents (individuals or companies) are subject to withholding tax. There is no withholding tax levied on dividends.

Bankruptcy and Taxation have become household terms. The recent age shows an abrupt increase in the average rate of debt intake by the general population. Almost everyone seems to be in short of funds and is unable to maintain a decent lifestyle. It may be due to the sudden abnormal hike in price of all articles, from necessities to luxuries or also due to the more number of people being fired almost every day. As a result, there are no options left to them, but ask for loans from various companies. It is not unnatural at all that the use of credit cards has reached an aberrant height. These unsecured debts add more to your woes as the lack of collateralization makes it almost impossible to repay.

When your loan amount becomes colossal, you may think of filing for bankruptcy but then it is not a very safe option. It may help you to eliminate debt but then the negatives are far more than the positives. Bankruptcy is a crucial situation and need to be avoided at all cost. The consequences of liquidation are immense. Not only is it a loss to your reputation and brand value in the market but also a great setback to your self-reliance and esteem. You tend to lose the strength to recover. The most important part is that once you have applied for liquidation, you cannot reapply in the next seven years. Therefore, once you have involved yourself into it, there is no turning back.

Bankruptcy and Taxation can be avoided if you can eliminate debt in another wonderful way. Liability settlement is indeed a wonderful alternative to liquidation. The recent amendments made to the old tax structure promote the settlement policy more. According to the new tax rules, if you avail the relief policies, you will be totally freed from the burden of paying tax. Thus, you get double benefits. Your loan amount is reduced as well as tax is exempted. It is a win-win situation for you. Thus if you have to choose between bankruptcy and taxation, we will suggest that you select taxation.

Sometimes, an investor may receive less returns than would have been anticipated. The reason for this is in most cases as a result of taxation of the investment. This is more so with investments like mutual funds. However, the securities under this category tend to be charged much lower tax than others. Ordinary dividends are the returns that are more prone to taxation.

For your dividends not to be taxed or to be given a special treatment, they must be included in a category known as ‘qualified’. Your dividends may be non-qualified if they include terms like taxable interest. This means that when a mutual fund receives taxable interest, the interest gets paid out as dividends, but at a lower amount because of the deducted tax.

If your investment also receives some non-qualified dividends, it gets paid out to you the investor as unqualified. This means that it will be subject to tax. To convert it into qualified dividend, the fund must hold the dividend for about 61 days for it to be paid out to you as a qualified dividend. Short-term capital gain is also a term that disqualifies your dividend from favorable tax rates. This means that when a divided has a short-term capital gain, the income is paid out as ordinary dividend, which again is subject to tax.

When trying to determine how much tax your dividend is subject to, you can make use of some simple tips. One, look at the forms 1099-DIV and form 2439 to see the amount of tax allocated to any amount of the dividend. This is given in percentages. Then look carefully to see whether the income was from interest or from dividends.

There are various sources available when you are looking for information on finances. It is important for anyone out there to enlighten them on the various aspects of finances. This is because it is a complex topic and few understand how money works. It could be you are going through financial hardship, or you want to know more about investing and saving options or you are curious on how you can expand your financial portfolio. Whatever your reason for seeking our information, you should ensure that you get clear and accurate information.

This will guide you while you make decisions that will greatly influence your financial future. There are many sources of information available in finance magazines and journals for those of who like to turn pages. This however may not be a wide source to gather knowledge and that is why you should venture into the Internet world. There are many financial websites that contain a wealth of information and have answers to your questions. Depending on what you want to know, there are various sites that specialize in the different aspects of finance.

There are websites that are interactive and you have the chance to ask questions and you can get answers almost instantly. These could be from experts or individuals who have experienced similar situations. You will get a variety of opinions, but eventually you have to make a decision on what you think can work best for you.

On finance websites, you will also get to compare the various rates provided by the different lending institutions. You can also get advice on the type of investment firm and investment opportunities that can work best for you. If you are looking for qualified and certified financial advisors then this is a great place to source one.