The 50 Choices Dilemma of Leadership

What should I do next? Isn't that one of the most prevalent and confounding questions - and one that every leader, manager and professional faces many times a day?
That leads to what I call the 50 Choices Dilemma - a situation where all of the leaders I coach find themselves in more than they would like. Very briefly it looks like this: You have 50 things to do on your to-do list. Don't get me wrong, for many of us that would be a pretty good day. I am going to offer you 2 very common choices, and ask: Which one are you going to choose?
One more caveat - you only get to choose one of these options, and you never get to deal with the other. Here are your options:
· You can either choose to do the number 1, 2 and 3 priorities on your list, but you never touch the other 47; or...
· you can take care of priorities number 4 to 50, but you never get to touch number 1, 2 and 3.
Every competent leader and top professional knows what the answer should be. But when I ask this question, extending one hand to represent each choice, everybody hesitates, instinctively starts to lean a little toward the hand holding the 47, and thinks: "Forty-seven things off my to-do list? What a great day. How could I do that?"
We all know the best answer is to take care of the top three priorities. So why do we hesitate - or even think about choosing priorities 4 through 47? We all know common sense says: Take care of number 1, 2 and 3. The rest are secondary, are subsidiary, and we will be dealing with them ONLY AFTER the most critical ones are taken care of. But often we look at our rush of things to do, and we just attack our list.
The greatest failure comes from not even knowing what priorities 1, 2, and 3 even are. It is hard to choose the most effective option when that choice is not even clear. Always knowing what your top priorities are is essential for every leader, manager, and effective professional.
In fact, if you want to make your team and organization more effective, make sure everybody knows what priorities 1, 2, and 3 are. With that knowledge firmly communicated, everything will be far more successful and effective, and your performance and your results will go way up as well.
Knowing and choosing to act on priorities 1, 2 and 3 is decision making at the most effective, common-sense level. However, it is too rarely common practice. One of my primary messages to everyone who cares about outstanding performance and results is: When common sense becomes common practice, amazing results become commonplace.
Until next time,
Steve Lishansky

Steve Lishansky is a sought after Keynote Speaker, Hall of Fame Executive Coach and Leadership Team Facilitator.
He is an internationally recognized leader in:
* Creating high-value, high impact relationship and communication skills;
* Executive coaching and development;
* Facilitating exceptional organizational alignment and performance.
A trusted advisor to senior leaders, their teams and high-potential executives for more than 20 years, Steve brings a unique professional focus on optimizing leaders' and executive teams' effectiveness, performance and results. Among his legendary programs are: Strategic Alignment of Executive Teams™, Executive Coaching and Development, Becoming an Indispensable Partner™ (Building High-Value Relationships), and "Leading Self, Leading Others, Leading Teams."

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How outsourcing your payroll can benefit your business?

Have you considered outsourcing your payroll? Payroll in the US is one of the most common departments for business' to outsource as it reduces costs but the trend doesn't seem to be the same in all countries.
Payroll processing can be challenging and confusing to businesses especially small business owners. This is where an outsourced payroll provider can help. They will take the responsibility of payroll processing off your mind completely, ensuring that your pay is processed correctly, is compliant and most importantly your employees are paid on time. When engaging an outsourced provider they will keep track of all the different state and tax laws for you so you don not need to worry about paying your employees incorrectly.
Affordability, Simplicity, Efficiency, Maintaining Control and Accuracy are five main benefits to outsource your payroll.
1. Affordability
An outsourced payroll service in most cases can be an affordable option for every business. Engage a provider that will grow with your business so that you only pay for the services that you require. Now consider the 'hidden' costs of running your payroll internally-software updates, staffing, administration costs, printing costs, etc. This all add ups, that's why outsourcing payroll could save you money.
2. Simplicity
Outsourcing your payroll is simple as most outsourced providers have easy to use systems that are user friendly. Some providers have a learning centre or training guide that is available online for users to access at any time. So you REALLY do not need to be a payroll expert to use the systems.
3. Efficiency
You don't need to worry about staffing, training, employees on sick or annual leave and other internal issues when you use an efficient, outsourced payroll service.
4. Maintain Control
Entering your payroll information online allows you to maintain control of your payroll processing and helps eliminate double entries. The outsourced payroll provider will process the pays and validate the process, making sure that all is done correctly. You still have the power to review all reports and change anything before paying your employees.
5. Accuracy
Payroll mistakes can be potentially disastrous for the company (and your employees). An experienced and professional payroll management company is less likely to be the cause of such mistakes.
In a nutshell outsourcing your payroll is a beneficial relationship as it allows you to stay in compliant with tax laws, but also allows you to focus on your business instead of trying to become an expert in payroll.

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Five Benefits To Outsourcing Your Payroll

If you own a small business and you handle your own payroll processing, it is time to consider the benefits of hiring a company specializing in payroll to process your employee's paychecks. Outsourcing payroll services is one of the best solutions for business owners who want to free up their time. If you are not familiar with all of the benefits of outsourcing, review 5 of the top benefits and make a wise choice for the sake of your business.
1. Free Up Your Time to Handle Core Tasks
Small business owners who handle their own payroll processing will spend hours each week calculating the hours and cutting checks. If you are tired of being responsible for this time-consuming task, hiring a company who will perform online payroll processing for you is the best choice. With the time you save, you can focus on core tasks like sales and customer retention.
2. Hiring the Right Provider Can Help you Reduce Costs
When you process your payroll or you pay an employee to do the job, you are paying a pretty penny just to process checks. In fact, studies show that a small business pays almost $3000 per year just on the labor costs that are associated with payroll processing. When you hire an outsourced payroll processor, you can save money on your operation costs without compromising the quality of service.
3. Offer Your Employees Direct Deposit
If you do your own online payment processing, managing direct deposit can be difficult. You need to keep your loyal employees happy and offer them direct deposit if you want keep your employees around long-term. When you outsource your payroll processing, you can offer direct deposit without worrying about errors. This will make your employees happy and will ultimately benefit your business.
4. Avoid Potential IRS Penalties
Did you know that almost 40 percent of small businesses will pay penalties to the IRS because of incorrect filings and short payments. If you want to prevent paying the IRS extra money in penalties, you should consider outsourcing payroll services with a tax guarantee. This guarantee means that you will not pay penalties and if you are penalized, the company will take the responsibility for the penalties.
5. Quality Assurance
You cannot stand behind your bookkeeper to make sure they are doing their job right every moment of the day. When you trust an online payroll processing company, you will have peace of mind in knowing that the company monitors their controllers. This means that you benefit from the quality assurance procedures without having to put them in force yourself.
These are just 5 of the many benefits associated with outsourcing payroll services. If you want to save money, save time, and save yourself potential penalties, you need to hire a reputable company you can trust. One Price Payroll offers the best online services in the industry at a fair price. Price the cost of their payroll services and take the burden off of your shoulders.

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Interest Of Bank Loan Rates For Different Types of Loans

There are lots apply to bank loan rates for such as, housing loans, car loans, private student loans, business loans and other kind of loans. Knowing that the interest rates vary in different types of loan is important.
Usually banks have lower rates in regards to interest rates compare to other financing institutions. When you have your loan at the banks, you are secured surely but in other financing institution or other lenders, you might get higher interest rates.
Before taking any loan, one must know the bank's loan rates. If you try to purchase a house for the first or attempt to have a car finance by the bank though loans then you need to study and think it over. Don't be excited to jump on the loan, be sure you have some knowledge or idea regarding their interest rates and terms.
Several factors can affect the bank loan rates a person is able to get, knowing what can affect someone's chances of obtaining competitive rates is the first thing you need to know. Perhaps the most important terms to understand in regards to bank loan rates are either fixed or variable annual percentage rate or APR.
One should weigh the pros and cons of either option, understanding deeply that depending on one's financial situation when deciding between fixed and variable. For fixed bank loan rates, borrower never have to worry that sometimes during the course of loan, interest rate will drop or increase.
Knowing that one's payment would never increase is comforting and the borrower will enable to budget more effectively. Usually those who go too fixed have a fixed percentage wherein they are paying higher percentage from the beginning.
Many people choose to have variable APR since this type of loans have come under much scrutiny recently due to the recent boom of foreclosures and many people were unable to pay their houses payments. One other thing to consider on bank loan rates is how a person's credit affects the terms of loan. Of course, having a good clean credit history is accommodated compare to having a bad credit history.
The credit history and score are big impact by several different things, where in the length of credit history of a borrower, ratio of their debt to income and numbers of delinquent accounts. Spending times repairing any negative marks may help and can save thousands of dollars although it's time consuming but it is great at the end.
People must still proceed with cautions when borrowing money from the bank because that's a big commitment and never rush to have a loan. Think it twice or over and have a good plan on it. In finding a good bank loan rates at reasonable interest rates that suits your budget, one should go around and shop from different banks. Compare their interest rates and terms of loans.
Before you decide to have a loan, try to have some idea or knowledge regarding different types of loan, the interest rate of each bank and understand the contract. Use the money according to what you plan and never waste it.
You can also shop online through the internet just to do some research although you can also have your loan online to which bank you want to have your loan. What is important is you know your obligation to pay your loan on time and keep a good credit record. Since this is one of the useful records which financing institution or banks require for future lending.

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Finding a Way to Get Payroll Services Quotes

When you are trying to find ways to save yourself time and money as a small business owner, one of the important things for you to consider is whether or not you may want to outsource some of your routine duties to other service providers. There are some things you never need to consider, of course, before you take any action and make actual moves and decisions. If you are thinking about making a change in the way to handle your business' payroll, then you will to find a way to get payroll services quotes that will give you the answers you need.
Payroll administration is probably the one duty that is most outsourced among small businesses. Many companies do not want to spend the manpower to handle it within the business itself. Also, few small businesses have the resources of an expert in administration of payroll and knowledge of all the necessary tax laws to do it both efficiently and properly. If improperly handled, it can lead to penalties and actions from the IRS.
Most companies do not want to have to hire accountants and experts to take care of payroll since it can be too costly. This causes the businesses to go outside of their own workspace and consider other companies for these services. There are many experts in the filed today that offer to handle the payroll tasks of your business no matter how big or small.
One of the most important tasks you are confronted with before making a decision on which provider to go with is to see who the best fit for your business is. You need to examine more than just the price that is offered to you. While the price on payroll services quotes is important, there are other details you need to pay attention to as well.
You want to check and be sure the provider you choose has a strong record of reliability. This means that they make few, if any, errors in regards to an employee's pay, their check and the proper taxes being taken out of their check. You can ask each company for a history so you can see what their efficiency percentage is.
Check the references of all the providers you are considering. Ask current and former customers of theirs what the experiences were, how the customer service was and how well they responded to any problems. All of these reactions are important in seeing how they will handle your business.
Probably the best way to get payroll services quotes is through the use of a networking portal that can provide you with information and quotes from multiple sources and providers. This saves you the many hours of investigation and legwork and gives you all the information you may need to make a well-informed choice about which company to go with. Once you have made your final decision, you can then feel that you have done your due diligence and your choice will help your business in the long run.

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Flat Fee Collections Save You Money

Debt collections strategies all point to sooner is better. Debt isn't like a fine wine, it doesn't get better with age. Your accounts team should trigger their collections process beginning the day the account becomes delinquent. However, in the world of streamlining, reductions in staff, and increasing cost; just focusing on new clients becomes more difficult when bogged down with chasing old money.
According to the Dartnell Institute, the average cost of working an account internally over a six month period is $31.60 per account*. Compared to your own in-house process how do you stack up? Outsourcing this task will save you time and money and at a low cost per account you save yourself the hassle of dealing with the people who have stiffed you. Depending on the type and amount of claims you submit you could be having a whole team of professional collectors working your claims for an average of $7.00. You have now already saved over $20.00 by taking the first step. The biggest value add when dealing with flat fee collections is that you receive 100% of your money back.
Using this approach according to allbusiness.com's article "The Business of Outsourcing for Small Businesses", one of the major factors influencing the initiation of outsourcing is being able to focus on your core business. Trying to recover old money just wastes your time and money when you could outsource collections actions to professionals who integrate with you or your company to systematize the process of gathering up the past dues that are owed to you.
Think outside the box!
Think outside the box! Don't continue with processes that may not be giving you the return you deserve. Drastically reduce your in-house costs and enable your staff to concentrate on the earlier aged receivables, correcting problems/disputes, new invoicing, etc., thereby ultimately reducing the number of accounts that would typically go into the 90 day category that probably never should have. In other words, they ended up there due to a dispute/problem or billing error that no one had time to look into.
Recap:

• Focus on your core business by outsourcing collections tasks.
• Save time and money using a flat fee approach to collections.
• Reduce the number of accounts reaching 90 plus days delinquent.
• Get the money owed you back faster.
• Play a proactive active role in your collections process.

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Tips On Translation: Translating Your Business Cards Into A Foreign Language

Handing over your business card is often the first contact between you and a potential customer. There are few better ways to show a customer that you have a genuine interest in them than by having something they can readily understand - such as a business card translated into their language.
When you're translating material so that it can be used by overseas customers it's worth thinking of what information they will benefit from. Translating your marketing material means taking care of everything: your website, brochures and any written material including your business cards.
When you are 'translating your business' into a new language, there are a few things that you may not think of but could be vitally important.
As most business cards just have contact details and title, it may seem like a lot of trouble for some very small changes. However, it does help your business look professional on the international market. Business cards can be the face of your business and are often the first thing that people see, so you want them to be clear, easy to follow - and correct.
The essentials that need translating are anything that might cause confusion (or mirth) when potential overseas customers are looking at your card. This may mean even starting with your company name. Is it offensive, strange or silly in the target language? Hopefully you won't have to change your company name, but it may be worth using a transliteration of your company name in brackets below the name in English, so potential customers at least know how to pronounce it correctly.
When translating your business card, you may consider simplifying it so you do not confuse potential customers. A less cluttered card is less likely to contain translation errors - this will also keep translation costs lower. All that potential customers need to know from your business card is who you are, what your company does and how to contact you. Keeping the card simple and clear has the added benefit of being minimalist and modern looking.
Possibly the most important thing to translate correctly (after your business name and any small points about what your company does) is your job title. If your title is complicated or long-winded it may be worth simplifying it. Check that your translator has adequate knowledge of what you do so they don't assume your title means one thing, when really it means another.
Each language has variants; it's worth noting these differences when translating your business card. For example, German spoken in Germany may vary to German spoken in Switzerland, as may Traditional Chinese (Taiwan) and Simplified Chinese (mainland China). If this is the case, you may consider having a number of German or Chinese versions, for example.
Your company will have thought very carefully about the design and the colours used for company logos, graphics and images. These are things that can also be 'translated'; western ideals and styles are likely to be quite different to Chinese or Japanese, for example, where even colours (especially red, gold and white) can have connotations.

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