Deciding to close doors can be a defining moment for retail stores. It signals the end of its existence and the beginning of its liquidation process. Businesses use liquidation stock procedures as an exit route to efficiently do away with their leftover stock and pay off any remaining obligations before calling it quits and filing for bankruptcy. Retail stores undertake liquidation proceedings with one final attempt to inform the public it’s going out of business. The huge closing sign becomes its last-ditch effort to dispose of merchandise for some profit before eventually retiring the business.  When retailer stores close their doors to the public, they unlock other channels to unload inventory. They no longer sell items in pieces to consumers but instead offer them as package deals and bulk to interested back channels planning to resell them online or in flea markets and thrift shops.  Where Stock Goes Retailers who still have a lot of inventory left after their final closing out sale need to dispatch of them as soon as possible as these goods’ value will just continue to depreciate. They also need to remove all of these products before their lease expires, so they use several means to dispose of their remaining merchandise through: Post-Closing Sale  After customers scour aisles for best deals, hosting a post-closing sale allows retailers to sell inventory in bulk. This way, they can get rid of their merchandise at markdown prices to provide considerable profit. Another difference between the closing out and post-closing sale is that the latter sets a minimum amount for purchases. It also specifies operating hours when the wholesale prices are available.   Other alternatives for post-closing sales include selling online through the retail store’s website or via e-commerce sites, Craigslist, and Facebook Marketplace. Selling closing out merchandise online can also allow flea market vendors, nonprofits, and thrift stores to take advantage of the discounts and resell them back to consumers for profit.  Liquidation Auction  If there is still stock remaining, retailers can organize a business-to-business liquidation auction or use this online auctioneer to dispose of it. They can host online auctions for retail liquidation stock and sell them in pallets or truckloads, making disposal quick and efficient.  Employee Shopping Day Retailers going out of business can also reward their employees and relatives with discounts and allot a special shopping day to enjoy the store’s products. This offer serves as a farewell incentive for staff and a token for their immeasurable contribution to the company. Return Products to Vendors There are times when vendors allow retail stores to return products. While these sell at prices lower than what retail stores initially paid, selling them back to the vendor is advantageous. It allows retailers to unload part of their inventory while vendors may be more than willing to accept product returns to resell them to other customers.  Contact Competitors  Contacting competitors is also one way retail stores can dispose of part of their remaining items. They can also offer resale and thrift shops their merchandise and have them place bids for the items they want. This way, businesses can profit from its closing by assuming products they can use in their own companies or establishments.  Donate to Charity Donating leftovers to charitable organizations helps retailers distribute their products in a humanitarian way. These organizations can use donations of clothes, shoes, and appliances to help impoverished individuals and communities. They can even use your donated items to raise money to support their causes.  What’s good about donating to charity is that retail stores can obtain receipts from beneficiaries and use them for tax purposes. Apart from the tax break, donations elevate business by helping retail stores fulfill their social responsibility to the community in spite of the closure. Sell to New Owner There are also instances when retail stores do not close entirely but rather regroup by transferring ownership to another business entity. As one of the steps in dissolving the business, the retailer or owner, under the guidance of a business attorney or an accountant, can sell inventory to the new owner as a part of their turn-over agreement. Conclusion  Business closures pose several challenges for stock disposal. Retail stores need to undergo several sales methods to effectively dispatch remaining inventory.  In-store and online closing out sales help reaps profits despite discounted rates, while post-closing and liquidation auctions provide ways to sell merchandise in bulk. Selling leftover stock to new owners or competitors and returning them to vendors ensures that products are disposed of properly. Retail stores can also use this opportunity to acknowledge their employees’ immense contributions by holding a special shopping day. At the same time, it can fulfill its social obligation by giving away products and items to support charitable causes. Retail stocks make their way to alternate market venues despite the physical store closing its doors. Although such events are always sad, products will eventually make their way back to the market as resale items on online sites, flea markets, and thrift shops.  Now that’s something customers can smile about.     

What is a rental application? It is a type of application that is written by the people who want to rent a property. The recipient of these applications is usually landlords. For a landlord, it is not easy to decide who should be chosen as a tenant. Therefore, the rental application is written for making it easy for them to take this decision. Writing a rental application: There are different ways in which a rental application is written. The format and the details to be added vary from state to state. However, every tenant is required to provide information such as rental history, personal information of the potential tenant, and much more. The tenant should try to be accurate and concise at the same time Guidelines for writing the rental application: Collect all relevant documents: Before you apply, one should be prepared for it. Paperwork is important for every legal process. You can never get away with the process of submitting the supporting documentation along with your application. The documents attached with the application act as proof that whatever information has been provided can be verified from the documents attached with the application Fill the application form: Many landlords provide a form for application. In case you want to apply, you don’t have to be different and start using a different way to apply. Fill the form and then if you feel you could not explain several things, go for the written application.   Design a cover letter: A cover letter for the rental application can play a major role in making this application a successful piece of writing. The cover letter is used to make an impression on the reader. Additionally, it also makes the reader know some very basic things about the application it covers. The design of the cover letter should be attractive which can compel the reader to read the entire application. Dull and boring applications are usually discarded Create an outline: There is no such application that can be written effectively without outlining. Many people think that outlining wastes time and is not necessary. However, this is not the case. Before you start writing the rental application, you should be aware of the period of the tenancy. Furthermore, the specifications of the property should also be known so that you can determine whether you need to rent that property or not. Making a rough draft of the application turns out to be a turning point and you end up deciding something completely different. Don’t add ambiguous details: Sometimes in confusion, people add ambiguous details. This often gives the impression that you are trying to tell a lie in the application. Therefore, you should be clear about what you want to say in the application and then start writing to eliminate the chances of adding ambiguous details to the letter.

With the stamp duty holiday set to end on 31st March, many homebuyers are rushing to take advantage of the tax break while sellers are making use of the increased demand to get higher prices. The scheme is eligible for first time buyers and those replacing their existing home to buy a property valued up to £500,000 without the need to pay stamp.  In the run up to the deadline property owners looking to extract the highest price have been deploying a range of tactics to make their homes as appealing as possible. According to property buying agents ‘Spring’, the quality of the kitchen plays an important part in the valuation process when considering a property for purchase. 65% of homeowners renovate their kitchens before selling the house according to industry sources. The cost of a full kitchen makeover can easily stretch into tens of thousands of pounds, but for a small budget, a touch of paint and replacing broken fixtures and fittings can make a big difference too. First impressions are important. Ensuring the outside of your home is welcoming as possible can often be the difference between a buyer passing over your property entirely or taking a closer look. Many successful sellers have noted that cleaning up the approach to the property as high on the list of areas to improve. Addressing factors such as rubbish or fallen foliage in the walkway, fixing broken paving tiles and touching up aging and cracked paint can help with the sales factor. Going further with the exterior theme – a well-designed garden is another common factor that home sellers look to exploit. Trimming borders, overgrown bushes and clearing pathways can all help showcase what is often a major selling point. Even in the instance where an outdoor space is not landscaped, removing clutter can help provide a prospective buyer with a better understanding of its potential. Smart homes are becoming more commonplace and a home that is already integrated with a hive heating system can be a relatively affordable upgrade that can increase a property’s desirability.  Minimising surface items in your rooms can increase the sense of a space, and can make a smaller property appear roomier. The optics of space are known to place a big part in informing a buyer’s decision making. Other methods of making a property feel bigger are to use light pale colours on walls, allow in as much natural light as possible and to considering the careful placement of mirrors. Much like the kitchen a well-presented bathroom can offer significant appeal.  Renovating the bathroom is among the best ways to add value to your home. Eliminating unsightly mould, steam cracked paint or peeling sealant are quick wins for home sellers. As the stamp duty deadline approaches and the time frame shrinks, bigger renovations may become more difficult to achieve, but simple quick wins like decluttering, cleaning and touching up paintwork will help you achieve the best price possible. Sources https://hoa.org.uk/2020/09/stamp-duty-holiday-2020/ https://hoa.org.uk/advice/guides-for-homeowners/i-am-buying/5-things-you-need-to-know-about-stamp-duty/ https://www.ft.com/content/7c7d1b57-cbe8-4e96-b7bb-e36ae53d1758 https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/news/stamp-duty-holiday

You’re a new residential construction business. You have the manpower, the expertise and some prospective clients, but you need to win contracts. What you’re looking for are the tools and services that could give you an edge in the market, and help your business succeed.  Luckily for you, there is a wealth of options available to new construction companies, many of which will be alien to your more entrenched competitors. By being open to new ideas and ways of working, you can adopt these tools successfully, and benefit from the efficiencies they provide.  1. Sustainability forecasting One area in which your business can overtake others is the adoption of sustainable practices. While sustainability has been a tenet of new builds for some time, the focus is often on the building itself, and not on the process of building it. With action against climate change, pollution and other environmental damage accelerating, many clients are likely to seek assurances about the impact of your projects, and the carbon footprints they accrue. With so many different aspects of a project to assess – including tools, labour, materials and transport – this can be an intensive and time-consuming endeavour. Yet without doing it, you will increasingly be missing out on business, and increase your own costs. The increasing urgency of climate change is likely to see a rise in audits for things like waste transfer, which could lead to expensive penalties. Thankfully, tech companies are beginning to step into the breach, and provide all-in-one solutions for sustainability forecasting. Apps such as Qflow allow you to automate the environmental data collection process, and predict how your actions on site may affect your environmental impact. As well as telling you what’s wrong, it also advises you on how to fix it, helping engineers to implement improvements. Using both an app and browser interface, Qflow gives you a holistic view of the sustainability of your project. While the data is being analysed on desktops, operatives on site can use the app to log information, and ensure that they comply with building and safety regulations. Other apps such as Fieldwire show promise in offering simple digitisation of worksites, and address the more fundamental issues of management and communication. Online estimating One of the biggest timesinks for new residential construction businesses – and one of the easiest ways to slip up – is planning your costs and build times. These aspects of construction are critical in order for you to deliver results on time for your clients, and not lose money in the process, or be caught short through a lack of resources. This planning isn’t for everyone, though, and can easily become muddled as a project develops. The other aspect of estimating and planning a build is communication with the client. You want to deliver on time for them, but you also want them to be involved in the process, and to maintain full transparency about what you’re planning and what you build. This can be difficult to manage in the middle of a project, and presents a logistical and administrative burden, as you try to marry what happens on site with what happens in your offices. For residential construction businesses looking to outsource this process, online estimating may be the best option. Services such as ProQuant Estimating combine expertise with in-house software to deliver precise estimates, costing everything from materials to plant and labour. Each quote is timed and priced using regional rates, which are constantly updated to give you the best value for money. Such online estimating tools are extremely valuable for reducing your costs, allowing you to invest in other areas and grow more quickly. They will also increase the trust between you and your clients, and drive repeat business. The ability to accurately cost a project, provide a more competitive price and give an accurate completion date are all aspects that will improve your product, and help your business get a leg up on others. Safety training As much as you may want to get out there and get stuck in, modern construction gives you a lot of hoops to jump through. One of these is health & safety, and making sure that all operatives on site are kept safe, along with anyone else in proximity to the site. This means not only meeting the minimum standards for training (e.g. through the CSCS Green Card), but also instilling a positive safety culture in your organisation. Operatives on your site will likely have completed some site safety training as a basic prerequisite, but this is something you need to be mindful of when hiring. Taking safety seriously will also start your business off on the right foot, and ensure you have a safety culture at the heart of your business, which grows and adapts along with you. This is something you can then evidence to clients, and turn into a key part of your tenders. Safety training may not be at the top of many construction companies’ priorities, particularly given the lingering fears about the coronavirus. However, the training industry has gone to great strides to increase accessibility, and make training available remotely. In many cases, this has lowered the cost of delivering courses – making this a great time to improve your safety practices, and protect your business and your employees. Course providers including NEBOSH, IOSH, the CITB and Qualsafe have all made courses available for remote learning, which often takes place over Zoom calls. These are delivered live by qualified trainers, with materials emailed or physically sent out to accompany them, depending on the complexity of the course. In some cases, you can also then take the test or tests online, allowing your employees to qualify entirely from home. Bolstering your employees’ safety credentials has several benefits. By helping them spot risks and deal appropriately with hazards, you’ll improve your reporting and avoid any costly fines or injuries. You’ll also provide peace of mind to operatives, and a sense that you care

Every business owner should have goals not only for their business but also for what they intend to do with the profits they earn from the business as you start to improve your income. However, when you start to think about these goals, it’s easy to see how they can start to become a jumble and it can be hard to think about which ones are better worth pursuing. Stability comes first First of all, if it’s looking like you’re about to lose your car or your home, or you’re in enough debt that it can start to affect your ability to run the business, that’s where you should be aiming the bulk of your expendable income from your profits. Get out of debt and get some stability in your life so you can start looking at other goals. If it’s looking like you’re not recovering from your losses, it might be time to consider filing for bankruptcy. By doing so, you can pay a portion of the original debt and have the rest permanently disregarded. While it may come with consequences, it is a good way to sort out your finances and to start with a clean slate. What happens when you file for bankruptcy? Many online articles can help you understand the process. Just remember that this should be your last resort in saving yourself from further financial casualty. Contribute to the long-term No matter what else you do, you should always ensure that at least some of your cash is heading for your retirement. The sooner you start putting aside some cash, even a little, the easier it can be to meet your eventual retirement goals. If you’ve reached your thirties without anything set aside, you need to dive into a retirement checklist and make it an active goal to make sure you’re sorted for the future. It’s going to become harder the longer you leave it. Have some emergency savings It’s never easy to tell when you’re going to need a little extra cash, but without any sort of buffer, it’s too easy to go raiding the savings every time a sudden expense hits. It’s a good idea to have some form of emergency savings set aside so that you’re not either going into your savings or building up needless unplanned debt. Investing it back You can invest some of your own earnings back into your business but you should already have money set aside from the overall profits to do just that. Rather, if you have expendable income after meeting your primary needs, it’s a good idea, in general, to start building an investment portfolio. At a minimum, it can help boost your retirement plans, but it can also help you generate real wealth. Rank, divide, and achieve When you have worked out what your financial needs are, you might find you have several. Depending on which is the most urgent and has the highest priority, think of a hypothetical division for each. For instance, 50% towards paying off debt, 20% towards retirement, 20% towards emergency funds, and 10% towards investments. Pay yourself first, setting aside a portion of every paycheck that is designed to meet your financial goals, and split that portion along the ratio you decide on. The truth is that all of the goals mentioned above are worth considering, but there’s no single answer as to which is your priority. However, by outlining your existing financial needs, for yourself and the business, present, and future, it becomes easier to see where you should be putting your profits.

Buying business equipment is something the majority of business owners will need to do at some point – unless this business is one that can run with nothing but an internet connection, although that is rare.  Since you are thinking about buying business equipment now (or you wouldn’t be reading this post), we have a few things you can do to ensure that you get it right. You’ll end up with the equipment you need and you won’t burn through your budget – read on to find out what to do.  Consider Whether You Should Rent (or Borrow) The Equipment Instead  Before you buy any piece of equipment outright, consider whether you should rent or borrow the equipment first. Doing this will give you a better idea of how much you’re truly going to use and need the equipment, and whether you could do without it. Renting for a short period could be cheaper than buying outright if you discover that you don’t actually need this piece of equipment fulltime. If you’re lucky enough to know somebody who could lend you the equipment, you’ll save a fortune to begin with.  2. Set Your Budget For Equipment Knowing your business equipment budget will help you to ensure your cash flow does not suffer and that you’re not going to run into financial trouble shortly after purchasing your equipment. A budget is essential in business, and knowing what percentage of that budget you’re going to spend on certain things is key. It’ll stop you from overspending and you can come up with a plan to buy what you need to buy. Make sure you come up with your budget carefully and even go over your numbers with a pro if you can.  3. Identify What Needs To Be Outsourced  Identifying what needs to be outsourced will have many benefits. You won’t end up hiring too many people and have too many permanent mouths to feed, and you can cut back on equipment costs.  4. Ensure You Have Accurate Measurements  Assuming you have a business premises, you need to know your measurements before purchasing equipment to ensure everything fits. Carefully measure each area where equipment will be placed and note the ideal dimensions you’ll need. You can use space planning tools to get a better idea of what this will look like and stop you from making expensive mistakes. Don’t cut corners when it comes to finding these numbers or you might regret it.  5. Decide Whether You Need New Or Used Equipment If you have a limited budget, you’re likely going to benefit from buying used equipment rather than new equipment. This will not only end up better for your budget, but better for the planet. You don’t always need to buy new equipment, and refurbished equipment can be just as good.  6. Prepare To Spend More On Your Essential Items  If an item is truly essential, then you should be willing to fork out for it. Don’t scrimp on items that you know you will use a lot, such as an air cooled chiller for your food and beverage business. If you know something is a must, then buy it without guilt. There’s a big difference between equipment you’re going to use to grow your business each day, and equipment that makes very little difference. Spending a fortune on computer chairs, for example, is not a good idea, but a half decent computer could be a worthwhile purchase!  7. Consider The Tax Implications of Buying Equipment You are able to claim ‘Annual Investment Allowances’ on capital expenditure on new items of plant or machinery. A capital allowance is a sum of money that can be taken aware from the amount of tax that a business needs to pay. If you purchase an asset through hire purchase, you can claim back the VAT, and there are further capital allowances available. Make sure you research the tax implications of certain purchases in depth.  8. What About Your Growth Plans & Usage? How well is this machinery going to fit in with your growth plans? Do you have enough work to make sure that the machinery will be used regularly? External economic factors might impact on the demand for your services, so make sure you think about this aspect of things, too. However, outside of that, it is very important that you ensure the purchase will improve the performance of the company and generate increased output to cover the additional financial output the purchase will cause.  9. What Are The Running Costs of The Equipment? Considering the running costs of equipment is just as important as anything else. There are many aspects to consider, and of course, this will depend on the type of equipment you are buying. Aspects include fuel costs, maintenance costs, repair costs, manpower, and anything else you can think of. Will the benefits of the piece of equipment justify the amount it is going to cost you to buy it and run it?  10. Can You Outline What The Transition Period Looks Like? Buying equipment should increase your productivity, lower your costs, and increase your profitability. Initially, however, you should expect a slowdown while people get used to the equipment and how it fits in with their everyday work life. You should also have a budget for the training required, so take this into consideration. Many businesses expect an instant increase in productivity, but this is often not the case. If you can plan for what this might look like and what needs to happen in advance, then you won’t come up against any nasty surprises.  Buying business equipment can make or break your business, so use the advice above to make sure you get it right the first time around. Don’t rush into it and make sure you compare and consider your options carefully before you part with your cash. Do you have any advice that helped you to purchase the best possible business equipment? Leave it in