Sahel Rafael Tamayo - A Cuban American Entrepreneur

March 12, 2019

How to Build Trust in Business

Was there ever a time when you purchased something from a brand, company, or store that you don’t even trust? If you are a wise consumer, chances are you never made such a risk in the past. This is because trust is the one thing that makes people buy or use something in the first place.

For business owners, the only way for them to sell their products and services to customers is to build trust in business and give them the assurance that these will have a positive effect on their lives. It is impossible to sell anything if customers don’t trust a certain product. This is the reason why you have to make sure that you can convince customers that your offer is the best possible option available in the market right now.

Below are a few surefire tips on how to build trust in business.

Show Your Trust for Others

One of the best ways to do this is through being forgiving and generous if another person disappoints you or makes a mistake. A person who makes the wrong conclusion about someone else’s motivation or competence will only create wariness and not trust.

Everyone isn’t set out to be stupid or mean so always give them the benefit of a doubt until contrary information proves it wrong. You will feel much better about the other person and in return, he or she will trust you for the generosity you showed.

Establish Mutually Beneficial Relationships

Employees, coworkers, and customers all wish to believe that they made the right decision when they chose to work with you. It takes more than platitudes and clichés. Customers must understand the value of services and products to them. In addition to that, employees must feel good about taking ownership that introduces more accountability and shows the trust level you have in them. In short, trust is all about showing individuals that you really care about them. With this, they’ll trust you and care about you.

Tell Only Nothing But Truth

Tell the truth. Don’t assume that particular people cannot handle the truth. You should be as honest with your customers and employees as you expect all of them to be with you. Once you get caught in a lie, nobody will trust you. More often than not, you won’t get any second chance because first impressions last.

Deliver the Unexpected

A good way to deliver trust is delighting and surprising customers and clients. Provide them what they asked, yet deliver more time, more service, more sensitivity, and more convenience. Delivering more than what your customers expect may go a long way as well as adds trust and real value. An extra bonus is that customers will tell other people about how you delivered and it will net your business more.

Be Patient and Flexible

Never be an inflexible judge and be tolerant of the mistakes. Meet other people in the middle. You should also be considerate of the negative experiences and events that might have affected a person’s ability to trust. You should make some exceptions to the rules once common sense dictates. Consider the unusual alternatives for issues that cannot be resolved by the usual methods. Take note that you cannot earn trust easily.

March 12, 2019

How to Avoid Financial Turmoil

Knowing how you can avoid debt or financial trouble before it happens has become more critical than ever. Unfortunately, many people are unwilling to take the necessary steps. For sure, you have heard those rumors of a crucial economic crisis looming over the horizon. It doesn’t matter if this happens at a national or personal level because it is always great to do something to soften its effect in your life or avoid it altogether.

Take a look at some effect ways to avoid debt or financial trouble in the future:

Develop a Budget

As the adage goes, failing to plan is planning to fail. Budgeting is one form of future planning. Some people have this wrong misconception that they can go about with their daily lives even with no budget. But, most of the time, those who don’t follow a budget are the ones who find themselves in a financial trouble.

It doesn’t have to be too complicated to make a budget. In fact, it just takes several minutes of your time. Determine where you money goes and make sure that you keep track of every single penny leaving your wallet. If you have a loan, pay this debt off first before you spend on optional or unnecessary things.

Also, remember that planning doesn’t just end in budgeting. You have to stick to this and discipline yourself. Avoid becoming a slave to impulse buying.

Savings First Before Expenses

Whenever you spend on something, your pocket loses cash. This can decrease your wealth. Putting your money on unnecessary things may also mean that you ended up using your precious resources for useless things.

However, this doesn’t mean that it is bad to enjoy the fruits of your hard work and buy things you love. The point here is that there are times when you need to make small sacrifices for now so you can reap better future rewards. And this is exactly what your savings are for.

The best and simplest way to avoid debt or financial trouble is to save penny a day. Try to increase the savings every month little by little. This may sound small initially but remember that great leaps start from small steps. Consistency is the secret here. Just continue to save and soon, you will see how this will help you establish your financial security.

Earn Extra Money on the Side

Aside from reducing your expenses, it is also important to increase your cash flow. Working means you are trading your precious time for money. This is why it would be great if you can look for a passive source of income. Determine a need, come up with something valuable to meet this demand then sell this to people who need your products or services.

Avoid putting all your eggs in just one basket. See to that you got a safety net you can land on if ever your main source of income is cut off. Work hard and work smart at the same time.

March 12, 2019

Five Essential Tips to Grow a Successful Business

To achieve success in business these days, you have to be flexible and must have organization skills and good planning. A lot of people who are starting a business think that they’ll just have to turn on their computer and open the doors, only to know that making money in business can be tougher than they expected. You may avoid this in your business ventures through planning out necessary steps and taking your time to grow a successful business.

Accept That You Cannot Do Everything

Part of starting a business is embarking on the adventure of being your own boss. As an owner of small business, you need to be comfortable wearing lots of hats like being a marketing manager, accountant or salesperson. However, it does not mean that you may do everything on your own. Sure, you can manage it on your own, yet it cannot last if you like to grow your business.

It is important to know when to look for talented individuals who have the same vision like you. There are many things you can do by yourself, if you want to grow, you will need help in the long run. You do not have to relinquish your freedom and control it to make that happen, yet you have to realize that you are only one person.

Stay Organized

For you to have a successful business, you should be organized. The organization will help you complete the tasks and would stay on top of the things that must be done. The best way to do it is to make a to-do list every day. Once you complete every item, you should check it off on your list. It will make sure that you are not forgetting anything and you are completing every task that is important your business survival.

Never Dip into the Bank Account of Your Business

Once you are up and running, it can be tempting to see your business as kind of your checking account’s extension, but you should resist the temptation to borrow the funds from your business. You must also splash out on the lavish expenses.

You have to take note that growth costs money, even for successful ventures. Each time you dip into the funds of your business, you are hurting your chances to grow. See to it that you are compensated for your job, yet make reinvesting in your business your main priority and keep your salary modest.

Always Be Creative

Always search for ways to boost your business and make it set apart from your competitors. Recognize that you do not know everything and you must always open to new approaches and new ideas to your business.

Be Consistent

A crucial component when it comes to making money with your business is consistency. You need to keep doing what’s necessary to be successful. It will make long-term positive habits, which will help you make more money in the end.

Regardless of the kind of business you like to start, those five essential tips will help you grow a successful business in the long run.

March 12, 2019

How To Make Your Rentals Indestructible

Many tenants have less invested in their homes than homeowners do. At simplest level, it is the difference between a thousand dollar security deposit and down payment. However, it goes deeper than that. Majority of tenants plan to move away for a year or two, while some homeowners buckle down for long haul. Homeowners are both financially and emotionally invested.

So, how can a landlord protect his hard-earned asset against an inbound natural disaster? Even though you hire property managers, this type of prevention and advance planning is beyond their service level.

Below are some of the ways to make an indestructible rent:

Avoid Carpets

Carpets aren’t a landlord’s friend. They easily stain, hold odors, and lifespan is short because they discolor rapidly as well as show wear and tear. If your tenants have pets, pet dander and fur is hard to remove from any kind of carpeting. It could be the allergen nightmare for the next renters.

Use Hardwood Substitute and Not Real McCoy

Hardwood flooring always looks good and there is no doubt about it. It can be also delicate and expensive. Unless you purchase expensive planks that are made of woods, hardwood floors would scratch. You can also consider either high-end laminate wood or bamboo. These are less expensive, more mold-resistant, and more resilient compared to hardwood. Also, they look beautiful.

If You Use Carpets, Follow Some Rules

First and foremost, use the darkest possible color carpeting you may get for your rental unit. This differs by unit. Other units handle darker carpeting better compared to others based on the room size, wall colors, lighting, and so on.

The reason why you should choose darker carpets hide stains much. These work better than light colored carpets. The idea is making your carpets last as many tenants as possible without the need to be replaced between each single tenant. For low-end units, you can consider combining high-end padding with a low grade quality carpeting. Thick padding may create an illusion of plush and thick carpets, yet it does not need to be replaced just for the reason that tenants tracked mud across the carpet or spilled some red wine during a party.

Plexiglass Solution

Have a storm door or screen door? How frequent have your tenant’s pets or children put their faces, hands or baseballs through these? If your rental unit has pets or kids, consider replacing screens or glass of storm doors with plexiglass. It is much easier to install, cheap, flexible, and strong. It can also handle no matter what your tenants throw at your door. However, there is an exception and this includes scratches. That is the flaw with the plexiglass. It scratches easily compared to the glass. Luckily, you may swap for a new piece if you want to.

Those are just some of the ways to make your rental indestructible. You can follow any of those tips. Just make sure to consult professionals if you cannot do it on your own.

February 6, 2019

Top Five Reasons You Should Borrow Money

Once used properly, debts can be a tool that may grow your business and boost your quality of life. However, once used incorrectly, it may become a weight on your shoulders, which can hold you back as you try to expand and grow.

The key to use debt properly is through knowing the difference between bad and good debt. Debts are a positive tool if it is being used for fueling growth. It is basically an unnecessary burden when it is used to purchase unnecessary and frivolous items. Distinguishing between bad and good debt can make a huge difference in your success.

Expanding or Growing a Business

If you have business ideas that enable you to expand your income capabilities significantly, you might suffer an opportunity cost through not borrowing. Borrowing money, which can result to hefty ROI is sensible relative to avoiding debts as well as losing out on money-making opportunities. For instance, businesses could borrow money for financing growth initiatives, which can result to greater profits and sales, which is something they’d miss out on without accessing loans.

To Widen Budgets Monthly

Loans like money advances and payday loans are by some individuals to help them tide over the bills before payday. Because of financial crisis, cash crunch has become real for most people. The usage of payday loans has increased as the key way to help others sort out several payments while they’re waiting for their pay to come through. Depending on the loans each month isn’t a great idea and money advances and payday loans must be used only in short-term when pressing financial needs come up.

Buying a Home

One of the reasons why people borrow money is for their home mortgage. Mortgage loans with reasonable interest rate have some advantages. For one thing, a lot of people cannot pay cash for homes so borrowing is the option to be a homeowner. Once you buy a home, the cash you pay on debts contribute to equity buildup.

To Consolidate Loans

You might some loans in the past and you’re having a hard time managing those loans. There are times that it is advantageous to take out new loans to pay off all other loans. This way, you have only one payment and lender. This could save you as well as your bookkeeping staff serious time each month.

Building Credit and Discipline

Entrepreneurs recommend that taking on debts is one of the strategies to develop disciplines with the use of debts. Parents of young adults or teens might use student credit cards or secured cards to teach their children about debts like how payments monthly work. Moreover, you have to use credit to build your credit history.

Why It’s Important to Borrow Money for the Right Reasons?

Avoid and try borrowing money from family and friends for short-term requirements like going shopping and buying presents. It is essential to get into the habit to save your money for such occasions so once they come around, you can buy what you like instantly. Borrowing money with right reasons in mind include not borrowing from family and friends for short-term requirements. You could feel stressed and worried about money and it might cause you to contact your family and friends. You must only do this if it’s a total and complete emergency.

February 6, 2019

How to Fire a Family Member

If you hired a family member and things aren’t great the way you want it to be, it might be time to learn how to fire a family member. There is nothing wrong about and you do not have to feel bad. After all, you’re the boss and you have to make some wise decisions. Below are some of the steps that will help you make this uncomfortable process easier. While it’s not easy to fire a family member, such methods may help you.

Write Everything Down

Have a list of the pros and cons of firing your family member. If you already have a clear list, run it by somebody you respect and trust in your business. It can be your fellow executive or your business partner. Have them question things you have on your list to ensure that they agree and to ensure that your personal ties are not clouding your own professional judgment.

Establish Communication

Majority of people like to succeed. However, when family members at your company begin to feel entitled and they act like they’re doing you a favor, you should establish some communication. You need to sit down with your employees in a collected and calm way and describe your problems you’re facing. If you cannot stay calm because there’s too much emotion, you might have somebody to moderate the session. Write down what your family member said and take notes to know how he or she feels. You should listen to your family member. Never get defensive. Odds are that you haven’t communicated properly with that person in the past.

Find a Mentor, Coach or Other Professional Help

Once you understand the case and you can see the point of view of your employee, meet with somebody outside the situation to review what your family member said. You can’t make good judgments call yourself, you’re very close to the situation. Look for a mentor, coach or another help or entrepreneur to see what you can’t see. You might come up with other solutions to your issues that are creative and can be a win for every party. The key is to find some ways that you can either end the relationship or fix the minimal damage to your family.

Review Your Creative Solutions with Your Family Member

Show your family member that you care and you’re trying to find some solutions to help. If it isn’t an option for that person to continue working with you, you could help him find new work. You might lend him money to open up his business. You should determine what would make him happy. The most important thing is communication. It isn’t always what you say, it is actually how you say it. Practice and role-play goes a long way. Once you understand the point of view of your employee, you should do role-playing. The last thing you like to do is assuming you know what he likes.

Get Ready to Take Action

The last step is to take action. If you wait for a long time to take action, the situation might get worse. You like to move forward and be brave. If that means taking away all your responsibilities to reduce the risk, you should do it right away. If you show your family member that you’re serious, he or she will be able to understand everything.

February 6, 2019

How to Set New Year Resolutions

It is as easy as 1-2-3 to set your New Year’s resolutions but the hard part is sticking to all of them. In fact, only 8% of people who make resolutions achieve them.

How do you set your New Year’s resolutions and ensure that they will last for the rest of the year? Well, the real secret here is simple – you have to set realistic goals. To help you out, here are some useful tips on how to set New Year resolutions and achieve them to the best way you can.

Don’t Make a Lengthy List of Resolutions

Many people make the common mistake of having too many resolutions. You have to avoid this and instead, you have to pick just a single realistic goal. Making too many resolutions means you will have to spread yourself thinly and it becomes less likely for you to achieve any resolutions you made. Being extremely ambitious will just make you end up disappointed.

Small steps are the key here. You have to create small and tangible steps to lead you to a bigger and more overarching goal. For instance if one of your New Year’s resolutions is to finish a half-marathon, come up with short achievable plans of running short distances until you can complete the full length. Again, set small yet realistic goals.

Give Yourself a Pat on Your Back

Prepare some rewards for yourself as you go along the way. You can stay more motivated if you praise your achievements at every milestone throughout the journey instead of waiting for the reward until the finish line. Try to reward yourself with a new pair of kicks once you have completed the 6 miles, for instances.

Write Them Down

One of the best ways to stick to your goals is through writing them down, either on pieces of paper you can pin on the wall or in a journal. See to it that you post your notes in visible places to serve as your daily reminders. Write down each goal you have, the tiny steps you take to attain them, as well as the rewards you will get.

Share Your Goals with Family and Friends

You will become more accountable to others aside from yourself if you share your New Year’s resolutions with your family or friends. You can stay on track and remain motivated if you ask them to check in on the progress you make every now and then.

Plan How to Deal with Missteps

Progress is never something you can do in a straight line. Setbacks will be scattered along the way and obstacles will stop you from achieving your resolutions. However, the very best thing you can do is to come up with an action plan if you end up veering off the track. Also, make sure you don’t stop just because of those setbacks.

If you ever miss a day of running for your training plan for the half-marathon, you can add a mile to your next run instead. This helps you achieve your small milestones and avoid missing other scheduled runs in the future.

February 6, 2019

How Much Money Do You Need to Purchase Commercial Property?

Are you planning to purchase a commercial property? Well, you made the right choice because now is the great time to do so. Investing in commercial property offers a lot of benefits, and the top reason is that this provides a great return on investment.

But, just like other investments, it is wise to know everything about this purchase before you take the plunge. So, how much money do you need to purchase commercial property? Read on to learn the different costs involved in buying a commercial property to determine if this is a practical investment for you or not.

Pre-purchase Costs

To find an ideal type of commercial property and location, you might want to work with a commercial broker. These professionals know the ins and outs of the market and they can help you find the property in your preferred location that suits your budget.

After you identify a suitable property, the next step is to determine your pre-purchase costs:

Due diligence fees that include the following:

Cost of property inspections to know if the property is in good condition
Environmental screening to let the buyer check the past uses of the property and latent defects that call for attention and potential risks associated with these.
Hiring a specialized commercial real estate lawyer to access, evaluate, and verify several legal documents.
Probable need to hire an accountant to determine how much you can afford

Costs related to mortgage that may include application fees as well as legal fees during the process of application
Property appraisal to determine the property’s market value

Costs Associated with Property Ownership and Operation

Owning a commercial property is associated with three categories of costs, namely variable costs, fixed costs, and replacement reserves.

Fixed costs

Property taxes – Whether it depends on geographical location, property type, or as determined by the municipality, each situation is unique that results to varied property taxes.
Commercial insurance – This covers you for any unexpected event such as floods, theft, fires, windstorms, vandalism, and others.
Mortgage payments – Down payment on commercial mortgage ranges from 25 percent to 35 percent. You need to pay monthly payments to pay off mortgage principal on top of the interest fees.

Operating costs

Property management costs – You can save money and time if you hire property managers who will handle daily concerns related to property maintenance, collecting rent, preparing lease agreements, and tenant relations.
Maintenance and repairs – You might discover that repairs are needed sooner than later during the due diligence process. This may include big ticket items such as roof replacement, cooling and heating systems, siding, plumbing, windows, and others. You also need to consider regular maintenance costs like janitorial services, landscaping, snow removals, and others.

Replacement reserves

You can prepare this to account for future repairs of big ticket items such as roof replacement or parking lot resurfacing, just to name a few. During the process of inspection, the inspector will determine what needs replacement and when to give you a good idea of how much you have to save to afford future costs.

February 6, 2019

Hiring the Best Credit Repair Company

Hiring the best credit repair company offers many advantages. All you need is choose a reliable company to help you solve issues with your credit report.

Here are the top benefits of hiring the best credit repair company.

Save Your Precious Time

It will definitely take so much of your time if you will try to work on your credit report. Since this is a very slow and lengthy process, it can get quite boring. For each item that is incorrectly added to your credit reports, it will take time to question every single one of them.

However, if you choose to work with the best credit repair agency, the time required to do the necessary repair will be the time of the company, not yours. They may need to talk to collection agencies, credit companies, your original creditors, and the credit bureaus.

When you pay these professionals to help you repair your credit score, it is a great way to free yourself from the need to gather all the critical information, draft the important letters, get the credit reports, and so much more.

Entrusting these responsibilities to the hands of a credit repair service will let you free up most of your time so you can use it for yourself in doing other important tasks. It saves you from worrying about such things.

The Best Credit Repair Company Knows the Laws

The moment you hire a credit repair company, you can be sure that these people are knowledgeable about the credit laws, all the more reason to work with them. Your creditors or the credit bureaus will never be able to manipulate these people. They are well-versed with the existing laws as well as the laws that are still pending to be passed. It lets you get exactly what you need and deserve.

Credit Repair Companies Work Hand

It is not a secret that trying to improve your credit score will take up so much money and time. Everyone needs enough time to spend for themselves or spend some quality time with their loved ones and families. It definitely requires a lot to gather the data and collect the necessary information. You even need to exert a lot of physical energy and even emotional energy at times.

But, when you hire the best credit repair company, you are giving yourself a chance to free yourself from having to working for long hours and all the hard work. The credit repair company will handle everything on your behalf and deal with your conflicts.

If you have some concerns with your credit report that you want to repair at the soonest time possible for whatever reason, hiring the best credit repair company is the wisest decision you can ever make. These companies are made up of experienced professionals and experts who will work for you in order for you to see the much needed improvements in your current credit score. Why do such a difficult task on your own when you can simply let the experts do the job?

February 5, 2019February 5, 2019

The Top Five Credit Cards for Travel

In terms of credit cards, you like the one that will suit you and the needs of your business. A lot of credit cards provide kinds of rewards to give their customers incentives when applying for their card, to encourage them to use cards in various categories that would earn them reward points, and for being good customers. If your company or you have business travel expenditures, looking for a credit card that would offer best travelling benefits can be a wise investment.

What You Should Know about Travel Credit Cards

These credit cards can reduce the travel cost once you use them for daily purchases and earn reward points or bonus for your spending. You may also get rewarded in points, miles, cash, and some means each you use and spend your card. In terms of time planning for your next trip, you might be surprised on how much savings you could get on the travel expense once you cash in your rewards.

Travel credit cards will differ with the kinds of perks they provide to their customers. The kind of card you get must depend on the kind of spending you do, how much traveling you often do, the kind of rewards the card offers, and so on. With the available credit cards, it does not suit you to apply for one that is not going to give you something back and it definitely will not benefit you to get cards that do not offer some travel benefits if your company or you need one that would help you minimize your travel cost.

Before applying for any particular credit card, you would want to find which cards provide the best perks for your travel spending. Below are some of the best credit cards for travel:

American Express’ Starwood Preferred Guest Business Card

It is different on Starwood Preferred Guest card, which provides few different benefits.

American Express’ Starwood Preferred Guest

American Express is a famous credit card used, particularly in the world of businesses. It does provide travel rewards to the customers and Starwood Preferred Guest card is one of their travel credit cards.

Venture Card by Capital One

Lots of people rely on Capital One in terms of their credit. They know that Capital One provides travel benefits as card holders and it might provide them what they require in travel cards. Venture Card of Capital One is a good travel credit card.

Arrival Plus World Elite MasterCard of Barclaycard

This travel credit card is one of the choices of people travelling because of their benefits and perks. Barclaycard has outstanding benefits for people who travel and have to get most the most out of their hard earned money.

Sapphire Preferred Card of Chase Manhattan

Chase Manhattan basically owns Citi card and one of the recognized names in financial world. Their cards are the best if you are looking for a travel credit card. You can consider their Sapphire Preferred Card if you want.