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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" > <channel> <title>sviwqms.info</title> <atom:link href="http://sviwqms.info/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://sviwqms.info</link> <description></description> <lastBuildDate>Tue, 04 Apr 2023 13:04:40 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en</language> <sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency> <generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3</generator> <item> <title>Strategic Plans Can Make Your Small Business Boom</title> <link>https://sviwqms.info/strategic-plans-can-make-your-small-business-boom,html</link> <comments>https://sviwqms.info/strategic-plans-can-make-your-small-business-boom,html#comments</comments> <pubDate>Tue, 04 Apr 2023 13:04:40 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>admin</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <category><![CDATA[management]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://sviwqms.info/?p=66</guid> <description><![CDATA[There is evidence to prove that many small businesses (nearly 85%) do not use strategic plans for conducting their business. This causes them to miss out on defining and reaching their goals. Many of them are under the assumption that only large companies should use this though in reality, they would achieve tremendous success and [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p> There is evidence to prove that many small businesses (nearly 85%) do not use strategic plans for conducting their business. This causes them to miss out on defining and reaching their goals. Many of them are under the assumption that only large companies should use this though in reality, they would achieve tremendous success and rewards if they adopted any strategic plan.It does not matter if you own a small business, or if you have been handling your own business for a while now, as you will realize that it is not enough to just work hard and tirelessly or display tenacity to succeed. What do you need to succeed is the million dollar question here.In short, you need to start out right:1. Learn to be professional right from the start. Be serious about the business. You should take into account your likes and dislikes, customer service terms, sales collateral and response that you need to deal with. Make sure you use phone lines, including an answering service for your business needs and use a professional web site and cell phone exclusively for the business along with the right stationery and business cards. You are able to make a stand and prove firmly that you are a strong contender, when you use a proper outlay that spells out your worth, highlights your brand image and your standing in the market.2. Initially you need to capitalize on a business idea that will work – this does not have to be something that will make you popular; you however need a constructive, cohesive plan that will get you funders because it is SMART.3. It is important that you love what you are doing. You realize the business belongs to you but it is advisable to have a support system. Sometimes you reach the point where you want to throw in the towel! This is what could have happened to Dyson who might have given up if it were not for the support received from his spouse and children. It is vital to love what you do. It does not matter if you are running a day-care, or starting out with a horse ranch, it is going to take up a lot of your time, money and effort and if you are planning to make it a long-standing venture, you should enjoy what you are doing.4. An old adage, “fail fast” was coined a long time back but still holds true today. You need to quickly learn what doesn’t work as fast as you can and keep at it to grow and succeed. You will be able to grow successfully and expand your business without quaking at the prospect. It is in your best interests to spend on growth, expansion and investing in staff if you want to succeed in business.5. Make sure you account and pay tax from the start.Once you enjoy the support, use the right resources and tools and surge forward with that tough entrepreneurial confidence, there is no stopping you from making it to the top and paving your niche is the small business success sector! </p><div class="mads-block"></div>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://sviwqms.info/strategic-plans-can-make-your-small-business-boom,html/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Why Your Small Business Needs to Market Online?</title> <link>https://sviwqms.info/why-your-small-business-needs-to-market-online,html</link> <comments>https://sviwqms.info/why-your-small-business-needs-to-market-online,html#comments</comments> <pubDate>Tue, 04 Apr 2023 09:13:22 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>admin</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <category><![CDATA[management]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://sviwqms.info/?p=64</guid> <description><![CDATA[Online activities have grown manifold across the globe. Businesses are increasingly realizing the importance of marketing online. Many small businesses are, however, confused whether or not to go for online marketing. This is mainly because they are not aware of the importance of marketing online. We discuss here the importance of online marketing for small [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p> Online activities have grown manifold across the globe. Businesses are increasingly realizing the importance of marketing online. Many small businesses are, however, confused whether or not to go for online marketing. This is mainly because they are not aware of the importance of marketing online. We discuss here the importance of online marketing for small businesses.Nearly 94% Internet users, search products online before buying. People are thus relying more on the Internet to find businesses. That means, businesses need to focus more on increasing their online visibility.To make local audiences aware:You may have a great product line or services, you also should make sure your target audience know about your business. Local audiences are more likely to become customers for small businesses. In online marketing, you can use local SEO to enhance your online visibility in local search results. This will make customers aware of your brand, business, products or services thus helps you to reap the rewards by being available to these people.To make your business accessible to the right audience:You can easily target audiences in online marketing. Instead of targeting many people, who are not interested, targeting a specific group will reduce marketing expenses and will also generate quality leads.To increase the right kind of traffic to your website:Getting traffic to your website may not always serve the purpose of improving your business. What if majority of users who visit your website do not have any intention or need to buy your products or services? You can effectively use online marketing to drive the right kind of traffic to your website. You can use SEO and search ads for this purpose. By the right SEO strategy, your website will rank better for relevant keywords and this in turn, helps in getting relevant traffic to your website.Placing of search ads also will help in getting relevant traffic immediately. When you can attract right kind of traffic to your website, the potential of translating that traffic into sales will be more.To avoid losing online customers to competitors:Now-a-days, having a website is a common practice for businesses. Many customers research online before they purchase a product. Your competitors will have a clear upper hand if they have online visibility and you do not. Since yours is a small business, customers may not know you. You need to market online to make them aware of your presence. This will avoid losing out customers to your competitors who are already on the web.To make selling and marketing easier:Traditional marketing uses mass media and it is difficult to target specific customers. For small businesses, there will be a limited number of customers. By using online marketing, they can easily target the potential customers. By targeting the potential or relevant customers, you can increase the chances of converting them into buyers.Marketing becomes easier when you know the results of your marketing activities. It helps you know and rectify the drawbacks in the online marketing strategy. One of the primary advantages of online marketing is that you can measure the results. There are many tools that help in measuring the effectiveness of online marketing.These points clearly explain the importance of online marketing for small businesses. As a small business-owner, go for online marketing to leverage the benefits it offers. </p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://sviwqms.info/why-your-small-business-needs-to-market-online,html/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Records Management in Government Agencies in Sierra Leone</title> <link>https://sviwqms.info/records-management-in-government-agencies-in-sierra-leone,html</link> <comments>https://sviwqms.info/records-management-in-government-agencies-in-sierra-leone,html#comments</comments> <pubDate>Tue, 04 Apr 2023 06:55:49 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>admin</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <category><![CDATA[management]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://sviwqms.info/?p=62</guid> <description><![CDATA[IntroductionRecords Management is the systematic control of all records from their creation or receipt, through their processing, distribution, organization, storage and retrieval to their ultimate disposition. Because information is such an important resource to organization, the records management function also includes information management. Therefore, records management is also known as Records and Information Management or [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p> IntroductionRecords Management is the systematic control of all records from their creation or receipt, through their processing, distribution, organization, storage and retrieval to their ultimate disposition. Because information is such an important resource to organization, the records management function also includes information management. Therefore, records management is also known as Records and Information Management or RIM (Magnus, 2006).Records management may also be used to define as the way official records (correspondence files, information) are organized in such a way that they have a meaning, and can be used continuously by the users such as managers, records professionals, educational institutions,Importance of Records Management in Government AgenciesEstablishing a records management programme, in government agencies for example, the Meteorological Department may result in both immediate and long-term importance to the department. Below are stated some of the importance of records management in the government agencies, civil service, companies and businesses as a whole:• Records management reduces lost or misplaced records. Because the human element is always with us, even the best system in the world will occasionally have misplaced records. But properly designed document management systems can gradually reduce misfiles. Most often misfiled records can cost the clerical staff a huge wastage of time in searching for records;• Records management act as evidence in the time of dispute. It is important for the settlement of dispute because it can be shown as proof in court;• It helps in evaluating progress of organization. It helps in the preservation of history of the organization. The past records shows direction to organization. It helps in finding out the weaknesses and strength of organization. Records management gives the account of progress and direction in which organization is giving on;• Records management is the memory of business. It is useful for future decision making process. The study of past records shows direction for future. It supplies information to organization whenever it is needed therefore, it helps in taking decision;• Records management helps to evaluate business progress and performance. It helps in comparison between one period of time and another or between sometime of businesses;• Records management helps in management and control of important records. It helps to protect necessary records with care and disposes useless records;<br />• To minimize litigation risks. Organization implement records management programmes in order to reduce the risks associated with litigation and potential penalties. This can be equally true in government agencies. A consistency applied records management programme can reduce the liabilities associated with document disposal by providing for their systematic, routine disposal in a normal course of business;• It increases accountability. A records management will put in place a system for tracking actions on each record, therefore increasing accountability and providing access reports; and• To improve working environment. Implementing records management programme improves the working environment through the organization of records and storage offsite. Organized working environment can then improve the perception of the business by clients and potential employees. New employees are also easily trained to manage the company’s records when an efficient records management programme is in place (Jackson, 2008).The Historical Background of the Meteorological Department Sierra LeoneSierra Leone was the headquarter (HQ) of the West African Meteorological services which was established in 1923.Meterological services were provided for four West African countries namely Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria and The Gambia respectively. The Sierra Leone Meteorological department is an offshoot of the British West African Meteorological services founded on the 27th April 1961. Since the establishment, the department has been governed by series of directors and the presently director is Alpha Bockari who has served in this capacity from 2012-to date. The headquarter is located at F18 Charlotte street Freetown.The Meteorological Department exist to provide cost effective weather and climate services by collecting, processing, archiving and disseminating meteorological and climatological information and services to support end user contributing to the management of Sierra Leone’s economy with special regard to protection of lives and property and safeguarding of the environment and recovering the costs of the services so rendered so that it expenditure will not exceed it income.As a department under the ministry of Transport and Aviation, they are charged with the following mandates /responsibilities:• Safety and well being of citizen and their protection against severe weather situation and devastation from natural disasters;• Provision of reliable climate data to facilitates project design for agricultural planning and implement, water supply systems, infrastructure, and tourism;• Contributing to the socio- economic (including providing end user services for agricultural activities, marine) development of the country;• Carryout weather and climate related activities e.g. Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), Climate Change Services (CCS), Reduction of Emission from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD), and National Communication (NCS) (Meteorological Department, 2014).Objectives of the Meteorological Department Sierra LeoneThe overarching objective of the Meteorological Department established as the sole authority, which issues weather and climatological warnings and services are, to:• Forecast, plan and deliver meteorological and climatological services which meet national socio- economic development needs.• Collect, process, store and disseminate meteorological and climatological information both nationally and internationally in accordance with rules and practices and procedures established under the WMO Convention of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), International Maritime Organization (IMO), etc and other relevant conventions of the United Nations systems such as the Frame work Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), and Convention to Combat Desertification, Drought etc.• Provide a range of customer/ sector specific operational meteorological services to such major sub sector as those for aviation, water resources, agriculture, defense, marine, tourism, sports and recreation, and construction;• Provides advice on meteorological and climatological matters to the national community and other governmental and non- governmental agencies.• Develop adequate manpower to enhance functional effectiveness and efficiency of agencies.• Reduce its reliance on the national budget and generate its own revenue by charging for services rendered to other clients;• Arrange for and manage surface and upper air observation networks and accurately and effectively record the weather and climate condition for Sierra Leone’s economic development;• Provides meteorological services for search and rescue operations during disaster and relief operations as well as during national emergencies; and• Participate on behalf of Sierra Leone in the activities of relevance international organizations to which its belongs, in particular the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), World Weather Watch (WWW), Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), Global Atmospheric Watch (GAW), Inter- Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Developments (ACMAD), United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP) etc role in all climate change activities of the country (Meteorological Department, 2014).Methods of Managing Records at the Meteorological DepartmentRecords keeping are of great importance to any institution. One of the most crucial decision managers, directors or heads of organization have to make is to choose the suitable methods of managing their organization’s records. There of two methods that is significantly used. These include centralized and decentralized methods of managing records.Centralized MethodsA Centralized method of managing records is the one in which all physical documents are located in one central location or office. The location is controlled by the records management office staff. The number of employees in the records department will depend on the size of the organization. In a centralized method, end users have the comfort of knowing all physical documents relating to a particular case are held in the same location. If for instance, end user needs to reference a file he/she would be required to contact the records office staff. The file would then be checked out to the end user. A complete claim of custody of file is captured, so the location of file is known at all times.A centralized method has a heightened level of security. For example, the entrance is locked so only the records staff has access to the files in the records office. This process yields much more control over physical document than the decentralized methods. For efficiency of purpose, uniform office procedures are documented and circulated to all end user. These procedures address topics such as hours or operation, file request and delivery times.Decentralized MethodA Decentralized method is one in which the physical documents are located across the entire office. This may mean they can be found in every staff offices or other work room space. Unlike centralized methods, where the files are controlled exclusively by the records office. A decentralized method is controlled by the staff that created the file. The physical files are stored at the employee’s desk not in a centralized location for all to access. Thus, the method would not require a full time record staff.Employees would have access to their files at all times and would be responsible for maintaining accuracy. The decentralized method of managing records has its demerits. For instance, suppose group of employees are working on the same case at the same time suddenly, the employee who is responsible for maintaining the file is absent. The rest of the group may have trouble in locating the file if the organization does not have claim of custody procedure in place. Along the same lines, a decentralized method of managing records will have little or no security over files. This can prove problematic especially if an organization handles high sensitive cases.However, in the meteorological department, a centralized method of managing the department’s records is adopted. That is to say, both physical and electronic or other records are centrally managed by the department’s office clerk. Although, there are challenges with regards to the keeping and managing of records, nevertheless the method is well utilized. (Meteorological Department, 2014).Types of Records generated by Meteorological DepartmentThe records generated by the meteorological department office plays a vital role in managing the operations of the department. The department documents past activities, phenomenon and events that serves the basis for further actions. The records are both manual and electronic in nature. Examples of manual records include:• Office administrative records;<br />• Human resource records;<br />• Financial/ fiscal records;<br />• Meteorological data/ records;<br />• Material records;<br />• Public information records;<br />• Conference/seminar service records; and<br />• General programs.Electronic Records: These electronic or machine readable records are data in a form that can be read and processed by a computer and that satisfies the legal definition of a record. At the Meteorological Department in Sierra Leone these are records relating to divisions and out stations in the department and these include:<br />• Electronic mail and messages;<br />• Electronic spreadsheet;<br />• Primary data files and data bases;<br />• Machines readable indexes; and<br />• Word processing files.Users of the Records at the Meteorological Department in Sierra LeoneThe users of the Meteorological Department records in Sierra Leone include:<br />• Administrative personnel;<br />• Research/ external users;<br />• Human Resource Management Office (HRMO);<br />• Government ministries and agencies;<br />• International organizations e.g. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Meteorological Organization (WMO); and<br />• Clients to which Meteorological Department information is given. For example, the media in Sierra Leone such as: Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC), African Young Voices (AYV), and Star Television).Filing System at the Meteorological Department in Sierra LeoneFiling System in Records Management is the process of classifying, arranging, sorting and storing records so they may be easily located and retrieved when needed. It is the classification and control of basic file groups, material collection procedures, file preparation, sorting, indexing, maintenance and cross referencing. A well defined and maintained filing system allows vital information to be accessed quickly and saves company money by saving time. Business, schools, government agencies and even every day, people use filing systems to keep their affairs organized. Thus, the following various types of filing systems may enable agency to carry out proper filing system efficiently.Alphabetical Filing SystemIn the alphabetical filing system, records are arranged according to name that is from A-Z either the name of a person, company or subject in accordance with the letters of the alphabet. There are two methods involve in alphabetical filing system.The topical alphabetic filing system, also known as a dictionary system. In this system files, individual record are in alphabetical order. This filing system works well when storing a small number of records. It proves to be problematic when individual has a lot of client sharing the same name.The other method is the geographical filing system; also know as encyclopedia or classification system. This system is used to organize larger volume of records. It groups subject together under broad categories based on a location such as a city, country or state. The categories and the files within each category are arranged alphabetically.Numerical Filing SystemIn the numeric filing system, numbers are assigned to each file and arranged the numbers in segmented order. Files of people with the same name won’t have duplicate headings as with the alphabetical system. This system also offers better filing confidentiality since names are displayed in the files and work well when handing a large volume of files.Terminal Filing SystemIn the terminal digit filing system also, numbers of assigned files are in sequential order but filed according to the last two digits. For example. If an individual is filing number 18547; first the individual go to 47 section of the filing system then look for the 85 area of the section and finally look for the number one (1).Alphanumeric Filing SystemThe alphanumeric filing system, both letters and numbers are used to organized files. For example, two letters are used to signify the client files in, followed by a number to denote his account number.The meteorological department filing system, have adopted the alphanumeric filing system. In that record, they use the end-tab folder and pockets that simply stand on shelves and filing cabinets. No hanging pocks with a use of office space. The meteorological department has some challenges but the filing system is organized and use efficiently.Records Storage SystemsRecord should be kept in good order, in a secure location. Those containing confidential or personal data such as staff files must be stored in lockable units and should not be left on desks overnight or view of visitors. Only records which are required frequently should be stored in the office. Those which need to be retained for legal or other reasons should be stored offsite with the records office offsite, while those which have outlived their usefulness should be destroyed. However, records which are less than one year will not be stored offsite.Storage systems used in records office most provide appropriate protection for records based on format and volume of records, how frequently they are used, how quickly they need to be accessed and security requirement. The main types of records storage systems used include:Vertical Filing CabinetsThese are adequate for small filing systems, but are less suitable for large runs of records and records that require frequent access. Access is slow, since drawers have to be opened, and these can significant impact where there is a high volume of records activity. The cabinets require large amount of space and drawer space is often not use to full capacity.Book ShelvesThese are suitable for books or files that are stored upright, such as box files and lever arch files.Lateral Filing UnitsThese have long drawer for storing files laterally and use space more efficiently than their vertical counterparts. Alternatively, static unit without drawer can be use, where files are stored in hanging pocket or cradles. Where prompt filing and retrieval are required open unit will be the most efficient. If file access is to be restricted, units with lockable doors or shutters can be used.Mobile ShelvingThis may be suitable where a large volume of records need to be stored near at hand, as it reduces the number of access aisles require. It is the most expensive type of shelving, and is very heavy. The floor must have sufficient structural capacity to support these shelves.Open Shelving SystemThis usually found in large offices and in central file rooms, it allows for rapid retrieval and refilling. This type of lateral file, which resemble open book shelves allows files to be retrieved horizontally. It also offers full viewing of the folder tabs, which makes for rapid retrieval. And there is an estimated 50 percent saving space when files are moved from vertical system to an open shelve system. This unit usually requires professional installation, which can be negotiated with the vendor is an inclusion in the cost of the equipment. These are the most efficient kinds of files available. They also have doors and can be locked. Some of those with doors have flush backs and can be used as attractive room dividers with a built-in advantage of providing a good deal of sound- proofing. These doors and 6 openings are easily accessed over 200 inches of filing. Those without doors provide even more filing capacity and should be consider, even if there is a perceived need to lock them.Records Storage Systems at the Meteorological Department in Sierra LeoneThe main types of records storage systems used at the Meteorological Department in Sierra Leone is the open Shelve System which is mentioned above where files contacting records are usually found in large offices and in central file rooms which allows for the rapid retrieval and refilling. This type of lateral file, which resemble open book shelves allows files to be retrieved horizontally.Records Retrieval at the Meteorological Department in Sierra LeoneRetrieval is the process of locating and removing a record or file from storage. It is also the action of recovering information on a given subject from stored data. It deals with standards and procedures in retrieving paper, electronic and image records. For example, finding a name and telephone number in a telephone directory or data base is a common storage and retrieval activity. Records or information can be retrieve in three ways:Manually: people go to a storage container and remove by hand a record wanted or make a note of information requested from it.Mechanically: a person uses some mechanical means, such as pressing the correct buttons to rotate movable shelves to correct location of a record, remove the record manually, or record information requested from it.Electronically: a person uses some means, such as a computer, to locate a record. The physical record may not need to be removed from storage. The requester is informed as to where it can be found, or the information requested is showed to the requester in some way, perhaps on a screen in a data base or electronic mail file.Request for stored records may be made orally over the telephone or by a messenger or in writing memo, letter etc. The request may be delivered in person, sent by mechanical, such as a conveyor system, or sent electronically by email. The record must be retrieved from storage and given to the requester quickly. Every minute of delay in finding a record is costly in user or requester wasting time and in filers searching time and could possibly lead to loss of money for the business (Stephens, 2009).However, manual and mechanical procedures are normally utilized in retrieving records at the Meteorological Department since majority of their records are in paper based form.Challenges facing Records Management at the Meteorological Department in Sierra LeoneThe Sierra Leone situation in business of record keeping and management especially in the Meteorological Department system has not been too successful because of the lack of management component. Writing in support of the above finding, I have noted that many years of neglect had done great damage to meteorological sector and record keeping is not an exemption. The following are some of the challenges of proper records management faced by the Meteorological department in Sierra Leone:Inadequate FundingThe problem of inadequate funding of records office in the meteorological department is more intensive than the other departments. This is a problem that was not only experienced during the colonial era but has passed on even to today’s records management programs. Payment of employee’s salaries, purchase of modern preservation equipment and chemicals among the other day- today activities that facilitates records preservation are vital activities that call for proper adequate funding to enable the institution to achieve its objectives are not quite seen. For this reason, the meteorological records office practice is abandoned with unqualified personnel thus suffering from inefficiency and ineffectiveness.Inadequacy of Space and EquipmentThe records office at the Meteorological Department is rather too small to contain current and non- current records. The equipment used is somehow crude in nature and also of inadequate capacity. The record staff do not have access to modern equipment due to combine problem of inadequate funding and know- how technology.Problematic Nature of FormatMost record materials are still organic nature, most of them been paper based. This means they are capable of aging, advancing, deteriorating with time. For this reason, they need equipment to be treated and handled with for the purpose of preserving them. For such a country like Sierra Leone which lies within the tropics such conditions are worsen by high level of humidity in the atmosphere and high temperature all around the year. All these conditions combine work to hasten the nature chemical process of decaying records. Furthermore, records keeping facilities in the Meteorological Department do not have weather control preservative where all weather conditions can be controlled to enhance record preservation thus, making the whole preservation process even more difficult.Absence of Records Management LawsThe National Records act of 1964 is outdated and is no longer serving its usefulness. Records do not have legal description, backing or definition of their service. Legal laws provide for authenticity, which serves to promote and also provides confidence to the public and those practicing in the profession about the service being offered. These are the very important elements that the Meteorological Department’s record keeping facility lacks.Lack of Understanding and AppreciationThe records management program in the Meteorological Department is rarely appreciated and its role in the provision and management of information understood by only a handful of staff. This is also true as it is the culture in many other public and private sectors that generate vital records on a daily basis have no basic understanding of records life cycle and requirement of the records disposal act. They are extremely ignorant of the vital role that can be played by the records office to help them properly managed and preserve record both at the current and semi- current stages. Staff is totally uninformed about the records activities and for this reason it is recommended that the records office should engage in programs that will help to educate staff and other users in the requirement and content of the activities.Conclusively,Record keeping in an organization set up is very important and cannot be over emphasized. This is because continuity depends on availability of useful records of the past activities. In a complex organization like that of the Meteorological Department, it is not possible to keep every single information in the brain, because the volume of information is heavy, therefore records must be kept. In Sierra Leone, meteorological laws demand that every meteorological station should keep certain meteorological records such as weather fore cast data, personnel records, visitor’s book, inventory book, account book. Record keeping occupies a strategic position in the efficient and effective management of meteorological system. In fact, it is central in the administration of institution of learning because it document the planning and implementation of appropriate course of service allowing monitoring of work.Unfortunately, the Sierra Leone situation in business of record keeping and management especially in the Meteorological Department system has not been too successful because of the lack of management component. Giving credence to this assertion, records management practice in the Meteorological Department has a number of problems as indicated above. By paying close attention to all these problems and addressing them one at a time we help solve the problems and enhance good management of records in the Meteorological Department in Sierra Leone. </p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://sviwqms.info/records-management-in-government-agencies-in-sierra-leone,html/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>The Most Outstanding 15 Local SEO Tools To Improve Your Ranking</title> <link>https://sviwqms.info/the-most-outstanding-15-local-seo-tools-to-improve-your-ranking,html</link> <comments>https://sviwqms.info/the-most-outstanding-15-local-seo-tools-to-improve-your-ranking,html#comments</comments> <pubDate>Thu, 30 Mar 2023 11:54:39 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>admin</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://sviwqms.info/?p=60</guid> <description><![CDATA[The Importance Of Local SEOLocal SEO is an essential part of your SEO strategy, especially if you’re a smaller to mid-sized company that relies on the business of local customers. There are many different strategies that you can implement, from optimizing your content using keywords to submitting your NAP (name, address and phone number) to [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p> The Importance Of Local SEOLocal SEO is an essential part of your SEO strategy, especially if you’re a smaller to mid-sized company that relies on the business of local customers. There are many different strategies that you can implement, from optimizing your content using keywords to submitting your NAP (name, address and phone number) to various local directories. To help organize, streamline and track all of your local SEO efforts, you should make use of these local SEO tools.The following are 15 different local SEO tools that you might find extremely useful, some of which are available at a small cost and some of which are free also.1. Google AdWords Keyword PlannerThis tool works for strengthening your local SEO keywords. During the keyword research phase, you can identify the traffic for specific keywords as well as find new local keywords based on local searches. The Keyword Planner tool even lets you conduct research based on geographic regions. Not only it is a useful tool to have for your local SEO keyword efforts, it’s free to boot, and arguably one of the most useful free SEO tools available as well.2. SEOProfilerThe most powerful local SEO tools that you can put in SEOProfiler, as it includes features such as a website audit tool, website page optimization, a link disinfection tool that identifies bad backlinks, the ability to identify strong local keywords and even customizable PDF reports.3. Moz LocalMoz Local is a basic local listing management tool that allows users to manage local listings as well as claim and verify listing submissions. The tool also works with data aggregators to help push listings, making sure that your business is visible. Additionally, the tool will scan through your citations and notify you of any errors that it finds which could be hurting your local SEO. Moz Local will give you a rundown on what kind of categories you’re listed under and what type of media is used for your citation.4. BuzzStreamBuzzStream is a tool for earning local backlinks as it can help you identify and build relationships with local influencers to help drive word-of-mouth traffic as well as boost local awareness of your brand. The tool is also effective for content promotion and digital PR.5. SEOPressorSEOPressor is a tool that scores your site’s overall SEO strength and provides guidance and recommendations for how you can improve it, which will in turn help with your local SEO even if it’s not specifically built for that. Particularly useful is its audit feature that will notify you of any pages that need to be optimized in certain ways, it’s a feature that has earned SEOPressor as one of the best SEO tools for small business.6. Whitespark Local Citation FinderThe most full-fledged local listing management tool that you can invest is Whitespark Local Citation Finder. In addition to basic local listing management, the tool finds where you should list your business to improve local SEO rankings. It also boasts a number of additional features, including the ability to collect customer feedback and online reviews, monitor local search rankings by a city, discover create link opportunities and more.7. SynupSynup is useful for submitting your NAP to local directories. It’s a tool that allows you to easily manage your local listings as well as review and analyze your listings and NAP data. It’s one of the most comprehensive directory lists that you can have and it will allow you to check listings to see if you have existing credentials on them, to add your NAP to listings and fix incorrect data on existing listings.8. Screaming FrogScreaming Frog helps to audit and index the website’s HTML and Meta Data in addition to helping you find any broken links to avoid hurting your local SEO rankings. There are advanced features available as well, but for a price.9. SerplifySerplify is web software that will help you to achieve a page one ranking on Google’s results pages by adding domains and locations you want to rank for and automatically adding thousands of optimized unique pages of content for every keyword, as well as automatically mass indexing, optimizing and syndicating your content.10. Local SEO ChecklistThis tool will ensure that you can boost your local SEO rankings. As this tool offers 40 different options that detail specific tasks to help you optimize your site and increase your ranking by developing your blog, your on-page SEO, your social media and more.11. Upcity Free Website AnalyzerUpCity is basically an SEO report card. All you have to submit your website as it will analyze every aspect of the page, giving you an overall score out of 100 that compares your page to your competitors.12. ReviewTrackersReviewTrackers is a tool that tracks the customer reviews of your business. It plays a big part in your local SEO strategy, not to mention your reputation, which makes this tool very useful. Basically, it collects online reviews and feedback from over 70 review sites that you can use to determine your brand’s reputation as well as awareness.13. CopyscapeNothing will hurt your site more than copied content. Duplicate content is a way to damage your ranking, for regular SEO and local SEO. Put your content through Copyscape to make sure it’s completely original and it avoid plagiarism, whether it’s content duplicated from your own site or content duplicated from another source outside of your site.14. PageSpeed InsightsThe rate at which your web pages load will have a huge impact on your local SEO rankings. The slower your pages load, will less likely visitors are to remain on your page. This can have a big impact on your bounce rate, which could hurt your rankings. PageSpeed Insights will not only review the load times of your site but also make suggestions on how to improve it.15. AhrefsAhrefs can help with your local SEO strategy by providing a detailed backlink profile for any website you want. This allows you to see who is linking to your site, what anchor text they’re using for backlinks and how strong your backlinks are. It also allows you to check the strength of your competitor’s backlinks. The tool is used by thousands of users throughout the world.SEO is incredibly important to the success of your online marketing efforts, because of this, a lot of marketers implement various SEO tools including local SEO tools, some of which can be found for free, in order to track, measure and analyze their SEO efforts. You may already even be using some of the more common SEO tools, such as Google Analytics. However, it’s important that you don’t forget about your local SEO efforts as well.By using these local SEO tools it will make you easier to implement local SEO strategies as well as to track them and measure the performance, thereby helping to ensure that your local SEO efforts are as strongest as they can be. </p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://sviwqms.info/the-most-outstanding-15-local-seo-tools-to-improve-your-ranking,html/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>There is an excessive amount of traffic coming from your Region.</title> <link>https://sviwqms.info/there-is-an-excessive-amount-of-traffic-coming-from-your-region,html</link> <comments>https://sviwqms.info/there-is-an-excessive-amount-of-traffic-coming-from-your-region,html#comments</comments> <pubDate>Wed, 29 Mar 2023 18:33:33 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>admin</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Internet Marketing]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://sviwqms.info/?p=58</guid> <description><![CDATA[#EANF#]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>#EANF#</p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://sviwqms.info/there-is-an-excessive-amount-of-traffic-coming-from-your-region,html/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Software Management – It’s Not What You Think</title> <link>https://sviwqms.info/software-management-its-not-what-you-think,html</link> <comments>https://sviwqms.info/software-management-its-not-what-you-think,html#comments</comments> <pubDate>Wed, 29 Mar 2023 17:06:53 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>admin</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://sviwqms.info/?p=56</guid> <description><![CDATA[So as not to cloud the issue, software management is not to be confused with management software. Management software is for organizing business activities. Software management is a broader and more variable concept.What is it then? One of the more straightforward types of software management is for managing the software assets and acquisitions within companies [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p> So as not to cloud the issue, software management is not to be confused with management software. Management software is for organizing business activities. Software management is a broader and more variable concept.What is it then?<br />One of the more straightforward types of software management is for managing the software assets and acquisitions within companies that have larger Information Technology departments. The need to do this involves keeping track of software licenses, scheduling software upgrades, and keeping software subscription renewals current.Software makers have had policies in place, since software was first written for computers, that state when a program is purchased it is to be used on one computer and one computer only. To load a singular program onto more than its intended computer, against the policy, is called piracy. Software piracy carries stiff penalties and hefty fines for those who violate these standard software agreement terms. Software makers are also keenly aware that the multiple computers, business environment is optimal for potential violations to occur.Proper Procedures = No Trouble<br />Long ago companies were put on high alert that the software makers would be checking up on them, so it is now a routine part of the IT function to avoid any trouble by adhering to proper licensing procedures. For a company with a lot of computers this is a big task. Software management in this vein involves (of all things!) software that aids the IT department in organizing their companies software licenses, scheduling of upgrades, and acquisitions.Along different lines, software management can involve the actual development and testing used in the process of producing new, or updated software products. Managing multiple programmers, organizing debugging tests and results, programming rework and beta testing are some of the goals. However, this can also expand to production, packaging, and marketing functions as well, when a software product is scheduled for release.What else does it do?<br />There is more still to the mysterious realm of software management. In larger businesses they do what they do best, that is sell the products, or provide the services that they are in business to do. Often software management comes in the form of hiring a software product provider to install business software. From that the software provider trains the businesses employees in the use of the software, may maintain data backup systems, supply ongoing technical support, or install regular updates and add-ons. In other words, they provide management for the software they sell, hence software management. This type of management may be permanent, long-term or short-term depending on the situation and the needs of the purchasing company.In the last use of the term, “software management,” we go back to the cloudy management software issue first mentioned. Undeniably the phrases are used interchangeably in that software management can mean, “management via software,” as opposed to management via less efficient paper record keeping. While it would be the rare business that still operates sans computerization of some sort, the phrase still applies from the reference to times gone by.Management via software encompasses a huge variety of applications for businesses large and small. Inventories, customer data, order processing, invoicing, and those IT assets can all be streamlined for efficiency and accuracy using management software. Within those broader business functions, industry and task specific software have been developed. These are custom tailored programs that cater to the little nuances that every different business has for the products and services they sell.When referring to software management know of what you speak or you might be poorly communicating to somebody, somewhere. You can save yourself a lot of time by knowing the lingo and using it correctly. </p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://sviwqms.info/software-management-its-not-what-you-think,html/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Forex Trading Tips</title> <link>https://sviwqms.info/forex-trading-tips,html</link> <comments>https://sviwqms.info/forex-trading-tips,html#comments</comments> <pubDate>Wed, 29 Mar 2023 15:36:18 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>admin</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://sviwqms.info/?p=53</guid> <description><![CDATA[Why do hundreds of thousands online traders and investors trade the forex market every day, and how do they make money doing it?This two-part report clearly and simply details essential tips on how to avoid typical pitfalls and start making more money in your forex trading. Trade pairs, not currencies – Like any relationship, you [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p> Why do hundreds of thousands online traders and investors trade the forex market every day, and how do they make money doing it?This two-part report clearly and simply details essential tips on how to avoid typical pitfalls and start making more money in your forex trading.</p><p>Trade pairs, not currencies – Like any relationship, you have to know both sides. Success or failure in forex trading depends upon being right about both currencies and how they impact one another, not just one.</p><p>Knowledge is Power – When starting out trading forex online, it is essential that you understand the basics of this market if you want to make the most of your investments.<br /> The main forex influencer is global news and events. For example, say an ECB statement is released on European interest rates which typically will cause a flurry of activity. Most newcomers react violently to news like this and close their positions and subsequently miss out on some of the best trading opportunities by waiting until the market calms down. The potential in the forex market is in the volatility, not in its tranquility.</p><p>Unambitious trading – Many new traders will place very tight orders in order to take very small profits. This is not a sustainable approach because although you may be profitable in the short run (if you are lucky), you risk losing in the longer term as you have to recover the difference between the bid and the ask price before you can make any profit and this is much more difficult when you make small trades than when you make larger ones. </p><p>Over-cautious trading – Like the trader who tries to take small incremental profits all the time, the trader who places tight stop losses with a retail forex broker is doomed. As we stated above, you have to give your position a fair chance to demonstrate its ability to produce. If you don’t place reasonable stop losses that allow your trade to do so, you will always end up undercutting yourself and losing a small piece of your deposit with every trade.</p><p>Independence – If you are new to forex, you will either decide to trade your own money or to have a broker trade it for you. So far, so good. But your risk of losing increases exponentially if you either of these two things:<br /> Interfere with what your broker is doing on your behalf (as his strategy might require a long gestation period);<br /> Seek advice from too many sources – multiple input will only result in multiple losses. Take a position, ride with it and then analyse the outcome – by yourself, for yourself. </p><p>Tiny margins – Margin trading is one of the biggest advantages in trading forex as it allows you to trade amounts far larger than the total of your deposits. However, it can also be dangerous to novice traders as it can appeal to the greed factor that destroys many forex traders. The best guideline is to increase your leverage in line with your experience and success. </p><p>No strategy – The aim of making money is not a trading strategy. A strategy is your map for how you plan to make money. Your strategy details the approach you are going to take, which currencies you are going to trade and how you will manage your risk. Without a strategy, you may become one of the 90% of new traders that lose their money.</p><p>Trading Off-Peak Hours – Professional FX traders, option traders, and hedge funds posses a huge advantage over small retail traders during off-peak hours (between 2200 CET and 1000 CET) as they can hedge their positions and move them around when there is far small trade volume is going through (meaning their risk is smaller). The best advice for trading during off peak hours is simple – don’t.</p><p>The only way is up/down – When the market is on its way up, the market is on its way up. When the market is going down, the market is going down. That’s it. There are many systems which analyse past trends, but none that can accurately predict the future. But if you acknowledge to yourself that all that is happening at any time is that the market is simply moving, you’ll be amazed at how hard it is to blame anyone else. </p><p>Trade on the news – Most of the really big market moves occur around news time. Trading volume is high and the moves are significant; this means there is no better time to trade than when news is released. This is when the big players adjust their positions and prices change resulting in a serious currency flow.</p><p>Exiting Trades – If you place a trade and it’s not working out for you, get out. Don’t compound your mistake by staying in and hoping for a reversal. If you’re in a winning trade, don’t talk yourself out of the position because you’re bored or want to relieve stress; stress is a natural part of trading; get used to it.</p><p>Don’t trade too short-term – If you are aiming to make less than 20 points profit, don’t undertake the trade. The spread you are trading on will make the odds against you far too high.</p><p>Don’t be smart – The most successful traders I know keep their trading simple. They don’t analyse all day or research historical trends and track web logs and their results are excellent.</p><p>Tops and Bottoms – There are no real “bargains” in trading foreign exchange. Trade in the direction the price is going in and you’re results will be almost guaranteed to improve.</p><p>Ignoring the technicals- Understanding whether the market is over-extended long or short is a key indicator of price action. Spikes occur in the market when it is moving all one way.</p><p>Emotional Trading – Without that all-important strategy, you’re trades essentially are thoughts only and thoughts are emotions and a very poor foundation for trading. When most of us are upset and emotional, we don’t tend to make the wisest decisions. Don’t let your emotions sway you.</p><p>Confidence – Confidence comes from successful trading. If you lose money early in your trading career it’s very difficult to regain it; the trick is not to go off half-cocked; learn the business before you trade. Remember, knowledge is power.<br />The second and final part of this report clearly and simply details more essential tips on how to avoid the pitfalls and start making more money in your forex trading.</p><p>Take it like a man – If you decide to ride a loss, you are simply displaying stupidity and cowardice. It takes guts to accept your loss and wait for tomorrow to try again. Sticking to a bad position ruins lots of traders – permanently. Try to remember that the market often behaves illogically, so don’t get commit to any one trade; it’s just a trade. One good trade will not make you a trading success; it’s ongoing regular performance over months and years that makes a good trader.</p><p>Focus – Fantasising about possible profits and then “spending” them before you have realised them is no good. Focus on your current position(s) and place reasonable stop losses at the time you do the trade. Then sit back and enjoy the ride – you have no real control from now on, the market will do what it wants to do.</p><p>Don’t trust demos – Demo trading often causes new traders to learn bad habits. These bad habits, which can be very dangerous in the long run, come about because you are playing with virtual money. Once you know how your broker’s system works, start trading small amounts and only take the risk you can afford to win or lose.</p><p>Stick to the strategy – When you make money on a well thought-out strategic trade, don’t go and lose half of it next time on a fancy; stick to your strategy and invest profits on the next trade that matches your long-term goals.</p><p>Trade today – Most successful day traders are highly focused on what’s happening in the short-term, not what may happen over the next month. If you’re trading with 40 to 60-point stops focus on what’s happening today as the market will probably move too quickly to consider the long-term future. However, the long-term trends are not unimportant; they will not always help you though if you’re trading intraday.</p><p>The clues are in the details – The bottom line on your account balance doesn’t tell the whole story. Consider individual trade details; analyse your losses and the telling losing streaks. Generally, traders that make money without suffering significant daily losses have the best chance of sustaining positive performance in the long term.</p><p>Simulated Results – Be very careful and wary about infamous “black box” systems. These so-called trading signal systems do not often explain exactly how the trade signals they generate are produced. Typically, these systems only show their track record of extraordinary results – historical results. Successfully predicting future trade scenarios is altogether more complex. The high-speed algorithmic capabilities of these systems provide significant retrospective trading systems, not ones which will help you trade effectively in the future. </p><p>Get to know one cross at a time – Each currency pair is unique, and has a unique way of moving in the marketplace. The forces which cause the pair to move up and down are individual to each cross, so study them and learn from your experience and apply your learning to one cross at a time.</p><p>Risk Reward – If you put a 20 point stop and a 50 point profit your chances of winning are probably about 1-3 against you. In fact, given the spread you’re trading on, it’s more likely to be 1-4. Play the odds the market gives you. </p><p>Trading for Wrong Reasons – Don’t trade if you are bored, unsure or reacting on a whim. The reason that you are bored in the first place is probably because there is no trade to make in the first place. If you are unsure, it’s probably because you can’t see the trade to make, so don’t make one. </p><p>Zen Trading- Even when you have taken a position in the markets, you should try and think as you would if you hadn’t taken one. This level of detachment is essential if you want to retain your clarity of mind and avoid succumbing to emotional impulses and therefore increasing the likelihood of incurring losses. To achieve this, you need to cultivate a calm and relaxed outlook. Trade in brief periods of no more than a few hours at a time and accept that once the trade has been made, it’s out of your hands. </p><p>Determination – Once you have decided to place a trade, stick to it and let it run its course. This means that if your stop loss is close to being triggered, let it trigger. If you move your stop midway through a trade’s life, you are more than likely to suffer worse moves against you. Your determination must be show itself when you acknowledge that you got it wrong, so get out. </p><p>Short-term Moving Average Crossovers – This is one of the most dangerous trade scenarios for non professional traders. When the short-term moving average crosses the longer-term moving average it only means that the average price in the short run is equal to the average price in the longer run. This is neither a bullish nor bearish indication, so don’t fall into the trap of believing it is one.</p><p>Stochastic – Another dangerous scenario. When it first signals an exhausted condition that’s when the big spike in the “exhausted” currency cross tends to occur. My advice is to buy on the first sign of an overbought cross and then sell on the first sign of an oversold one. This approach means that you’ll be with the trend and have successfully identified a positive move that still has some way to go. So if percentage K and percentage D are both crossing 80, then buy! (This is the same on sell side, where you sell at 20). </p><p>One cross is all that counts – EURUSD seems to be trading higher, so you buy GBPUSD because it appears not to have moved yet. This is dangerous. Focus on one cross at a time – if EURUSD looks good to you, then just buy EURUSD. </p><p>Wrong Broker – A lot of FOREX brokers are in business only to make money from yours. Read forums, blogs and chats around the net to get an unbiased opinion before you choose your broker. </p><p>Too bullish – Trading statistics show that 90% of most traders will fail at some point. Being too bullish about your trading aptitude can be fatal to your long-term success. You can always learn more about trading the markets, even if you are currently successful in your trades. Stay modest, and keep your eyes open for new ideas and bad habits you might be falling in to.</p><p>Interpret forex news yourself – Learn to read the source documents of forex news and events – don’t rely on the interpretations of news media or others.</p><p>John Gainesonline trading, currency trading, financial service </p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://sviwqms.info/forex-trading-tips,html/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Small Business – When Government Stacks the Deck Against You</title> <link>https://sviwqms.info/small-business-when-government-stacks-the-deck-against-you,html</link> <comments>https://sviwqms.info/small-business-when-government-stacks-the-deck-against-you,html#comments</comments> <pubDate>Wed, 29 Mar 2023 12:48:42 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>admin</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Small Business]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://sviwqms.info/?p=51</guid> <description><![CDATA[We expect a fair degree of corruption, arrogance and drooling self-interest from our elected officials. After all, in the last 206 years, we have fallen a great distance from the days of the “virtuous republic” that existed-or was thought to exist-in that first decade after the Revolution. Yes, we expect it, but I would have [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p> We expect a fair degree of corruption, arrogance and drooling self-interest from our elected officials. After all, in the last 206 years, we have fallen a great distance from the days of the “virtuous republic” that existed-or was thought to exist-in that first decade after the Revolution. Yes, we expect it, but I would have more respect for the operatives, the party-men and the politicos themselves if they could be just a little intelligent about it. The current issue with the Bush Administration, Congress, the SBA and the awarding of a great deal of money earmarked for small business, is a case in point.When Big Business Seems SmallIt is illegal, a felony that comes with fines and a prison term, to try to pass your big business off as a small business to get one of the 23% of Federal contracts reserved for small businesses. Yet, it happens all the time. According to the American Small Business League, a non-partisan watchdog group, some $60 billion in Federal contracts go to major corporations each year. How it happens brings us to the question of how you decide that a business is truly small.Counting HeadsWhat is a small business? How do you measure it? Is it revenue? Sales? Staff size? Any one of these could be a viable measure, but for the most part the matter is decided with staff size. Depending on the industry, you can have a maximum of 1,500 employees and still be considered a small business! (Federal Regulations Title 13, Part 121, Section 201)These larger “small businesses,” with 1,000 to 1,500 employees, deal in oil, aerospace, rail transportation, textiles, and chemical and rubber products. Wholesalers, regardless of their products, are capped at 100; information technology value-added resellers are capped at 150 (a very recent change) while the rest are capped at either 500 or 750. In 2005 (the most recent data available), there were 5,966,069 firms in the U.S. with 500 or fewer employees and they employed 58,644,585 people out of a total employment of 116,373,003. That is 50.3% of the working population working in what could easily be described as legitimately small businesses. If you add up the firms with larger numbers of employees, you find that there are 11,546 of them and that they employ 9,475,180 people, 8.14% of the workforce.Call me crazy, but a firm with 1,000 employees doesn’t seem to be very small to me! It may be small when compared to the giants in its industry, but it is a giant compared with the vast majority of small businesses. In 2004, there was an effort to bring the number of employees down from 500 to 100 for a business to be classified as small. In spite of a great deal of support for the measure-including U.S. Representative Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), who said: “By working to change the definition of a small business for government contracts from 500 to 100 employees, federal contracts specifically designed to ensure the success of American small business would go where they belong – to support Americans, not big companies dressed in sheep’s clothing.”-the effort was killed by the SBA itself. That, however, is only the beginning. Another has to do with how small businesses are certified.Finding a Certified Small BusinessThe question of how many employees a small business can have is complicated even further when we see that the government has been rather lax in enforcing the contract award rules for small business. In fact, in 2005, some $49 billion in Federal contracts that were set aside for small business were actually awarded to the 13 largest government contractors. This lax enforcement has led to cases where the small business in question is actually a subsidiary of a much larger company, where businesses have outgrown their small business status, where big business misrepresents itself as a small business and where government procurement offices, such as with the military, simply disregard the rules and do business with who they like.The Small Business FrontTwo of the most prevalent ways that large companies can maintain a small business front are through the legal loopholes that allow a small business to retain its status throughout the life of its original contract-and bid on new business as a small business-no matter how large it grows and even after it is bought out by a large company.In either case, what the company in question is doing is, in fact, legal. Their actions are also limited by the fact that the loophole is based on the length of the small business’ initial contract. For example, if a small business wins a 10-year contract to provide computer hardware, it maintains its small business status for the full 10 years of the contract regardless of how large it grows or if some huge conglomerate buys it. This has been an issue for some time. Consider the following:According to a 2006 report on the U.S. Government Accountability Office: Commerce Information Technology Solutions (COMMITS) Next Generation Governmentwide Acquisition Contract, “We found that many of the 55 COMMITS NexGen contractors have grown significantly or have been acquired by larger businesses and may no longer meet small business size standards. We also found that a significant portion of the task orders intended for the smallest contractors were issued to larger, incumbent contractors.”Incumbent contractors tend to get the lion’s share of the government’s business. A 2004 SBA Office of Advocacy: Eagle Eye Publishers’ Report said that: “Of the top 1,000 small business contractors in FY 2002, Eagle Eye Publishers’ analysis found 44 parent companies it identified as either large firms or ‘other’. Contracts to these two groups taken together had a total value of $2 billion.” The report continued, saying that: “The Department of Defense and the General Services Administration accounted for 79 percent of the contract awards found to have gone to large businesses.” One of the conclusions drawn from the report was: “As a result of this lack of transparency, many awards that should be reserved for small firms go to large firms unchallenged.”Disregarding the RulesRules can be broken either directly, by a willful disregard on the part of those the rules were intended to regulate, such as a company that purposefully misidentifies itself as a small business in order to get a contract; or they can be broken indirectly by a lack of oversight and enforcement that creates an atmosphere in which the rules can be ignored. One of the problems sited against the SBA is oversight. “SBA did not review the majority of reported bundled contracts that we identified, though procuring activities must provide, and SBA must review proposed bundled acquisitions. As a result, 192 contracts identified by procuring agencies as bundled were awarded without SBA’s review. If all of these are actually bundled contracts, a minimum of $384 million would be potentially lost to eligible small businesses, based on minimum dollar reporting requirements of $2 million.” (SBA Office of Inspector General: Audit of the Contract Bundling Process, May 2005) And consider this from the SBA Office of Inspector General: Audit of Monitoring Compliance with 8(a) Business Development Contract Performance, March 2006:”Though SBA delegated 8(a) BD contract execution authority to 26 procuring agencies, SBA did not ensure that procuring agencies monitored whether companies complied with 8(a) BD regulations when completing 8(a) BD contracts . . . SBA has ultimate responsibility for ensuring that companies comply with 8(a) BD regulations”The SBA is the final oversight authority for these contract awards and yet through their lack of enforcement efforts, it is easy for large businesses to slip through. Why is this? There are two likely reasons. The first is that the Bush Administration, when it came into office, cut funding for the SBA. At the end of the Clinton Administration, the budget for the SBA was about $1.1 billion. By 2006 it was down to $456.5 million. Funding has increased since the 2006 low; for 2009, that number has increased to $657 million, mostly due to funding for disaster relief loans; but the agency has nowhere near the budget it used to have. Generally speaking, if you cut funds to an agency, certain things start to slip and that is not a message that the SBA, or the Bush Administration for that matter, want going public.However, it already has.An audit by the American Small Business League (ASBL) and two independent experts showed that even while the SBA was saying that it is a “myth that large companies, including large, multi-national corporations are taking away federal contracts specifically intended for small businesses,” it was discovered that the Bush Administration had in fact included billions of dollars in awards to Fortune 500 corporations and other large businesses in the United States and Europe in its small business contracting statistics. Also, the Bush Administration failed to comply with the congressionally mandated 23% small business contracting goal by including such corporate giants as:<br />Dyncorp<br /> Battelle Memorial Institute<br /> Hewlett Packard<br /> Government Technology Services Inc (GTSI),<br /> Bechtel<br /> Lockheed Martin<br /> General Dynamics<br /> General Electric<br /> Northstar Aerospace<br /> Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.<br /> Raytheon.<br /> British Aerospace Engineering Systems<br /> Buhrmann NV (Dutch)<br /> Thales (French)<br />More than that, ASBL’s research also found that the government was forced to systematically increase the volume of contracts awarded to small businesses in order to balance out those that were going to inappropriately large companies. In addition, awards to legitimate small businesses were systematically inflated to equalize the reduction of small business contract dollars awarded to Fortune 500 corporations. The ASBL found that according to SBA numbers, Circle B Enterprises Inc. received $887.5 million during 2005. However, the government’s own figures indicate that Circle B Enterprises Inc. received $287.5 million during 2005, which represents a discrepancy of $600 million. The ASBL audit found several other instances where the contracting numbers of legitimate small businesses were also significantly inflated.The Bottom LineThe government decided to play fast and loose with small business contract money and they got caught siphoning it off to some of the largest companies on Earth. There are those that will only see the damage that this will do to McCain in the fall, yet another Bush Administration failure/debacle/betrayal-whatever you like best. That, however, is not the point. The point is why was the SBA hamstrung and placed in the position it has been in by the Bush Administration? More than that, why has this abuse been allowed to go on for so long? Call me a political cynic-I am from Chicago so I come by it honestly-but the only thing that makes sense to me is that government officials are paying back the people with deep pockets who helped to get them elected and they are doing it at the expense of, well, YOU. True, paybacks are a time-honored political tradition, but by stealing the money from small business, the U.S. Government as a whole turned its back on the overwhelming number of U.S. employers and employees in favor of a handful of major corporations. I urge you, as a small business owner; and you as an employee of a small business, to write your senators and congressmen, and to write to each of the presidential candidates, McCain and Obama, and their respective party chairmen-Republican and Democrat alike, and tell them that you want this to stop. Remember, small business contract set-asides are for YOU, not major corporations. It is time to remind Washington of that. </p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://sviwqms.info/small-business-when-government-stacks-the-deck-against-you,html/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Small Business Loans Bad Credit – A Way To Successful Venture</title> <link>https://sviwqms.info/small-business-loans-bad-credit-a-way-to-successful-venture,html</link> <comments>https://sviwqms.info/small-business-loans-bad-credit-a-way-to-successful-venture,html#comments</comments> <pubDate>Sun, 05 Feb 2023 20:02:07 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>admin</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <category><![CDATA[accounting]]></category> <category><![CDATA[business]]></category> <category><![CDATA[companies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[google]]></category> <category><![CDATA[near me]]></category> <category><![CDATA[offices]]></category> <category><![CDATA[restaurant]]></category> <category><![CDATA[sale]]></category> <category><![CDATA[services]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://sviwqms.info/?p=49</guid> <description><![CDATA[Bad credit is a serious problem. Credit can be damaged due to County court judgments, mortgage arrears, defaults on loans or bankruptcy etc. You need not deny an opportunity to borrow help flourish your business. You can take out small business loans bad credit for your personal purpose. With the help of these money provisions, [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p> Bad credit is a serious problem. Credit can be damaged due to County court judgments, mortgage arrears, defaults on loans or bankruptcy etc. You need not deny an opportunity to borrow help flourish your business. You can take out small business loans bad credit for your personal purpose. With the help of these money provisions, you can invest the amount on infrastructural development of your business.If you are willing to offer collateral for small business, you can opt for secured loan. It enables you to take out a larger loan at low interest and preferential repayment terms and conditions. You can repay business loan conveniently over 5 – 30 years. Larger repayment duration is useful for new entrepreneurs who have just set up a small business because they will have enough time in hand to repay the loan amount. On the other hand, if you are not willing to offer security for the loan amount, you can rely on unsecured business loan to get your business plan off the ground. You do not run the risk of losing your home or assets and at the same time, you are equipped to handle your business needs.As an entrepreneur, you need to shop around for the best possible loan deal. Like most other products, the more you know what is available to you the better informed you decision will be. There is a vast variety of interest rates attached to loans. You need to do a little homework and find yourself the lowest possible interest rates.Without money, an individual cannot start any business; much less, keep it growing and thriving. In today’s world, obtaining the money needed for a small business is possible and several solutions are available. Especially for those with bad credit, obtaining small business loans is now possible. With the help, you can help business rebuild and establish a pattern of outstanding credit. </p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://sviwqms.info/small-business-loans-bad-credit-a-way-to-successful-venture,html/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Brand Marketing Techniques – Brand Marketing Essentials</title> <link>https://sviwqms.info/brand-marketing-techniques-brand-marketing-essentials,html</link> <comments>https://sviwqms.info/brand-marketing-techniques-brand-marketing-essentials,html#comments</comments> <pubDate>Thu, 02 Feb 2023 09:42:05 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>admin</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://sviwqms.info/?p=46</guid> <description><![CDATA[What is brand? Is it just a name or a logo? Absolutely not, a brand is a word, term, design, symbol or their combination which gives an identity to products or services or both delivered by one seller or their group to identify and differentiate from the products, goods or services delivered by other sellers. [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p> What is brand? Is it just a name or a logo? Absolutely not, a brand is a word, term, design, symbol or their combination which gives an identity to products or services or both delivered by one seller or their group to identify and differentiate from the products, goods or services delivered by other sellers. So purpose of brand marketing is not to get exposure to the target group of buyers but it is to create a good look, a sober perception and creating a loyalty in which your consumer have no other way but to believe that you are solution of all their issues. The brand talks everything about the product one is going to set market for.Brand marketing techniques are tools and tricks to build a strong perception, a deep level of trust and passion in consumers. These techniques help the brand to bring up itself with stronger image and promise. As it is clear now that branding is the promotion of glowing perception in audience to convince and promise to provide them safe products, assurance of purchasing valuables, providing them with sense of social well being and acceptance and the brand marketing techniques are the ladders for brand to reach on such height. Brand marketing techniques involves everything starting from name and theme of brand to the advertising approaches.Naming the brand is first and most important part of brand marketing as names have their role in defining the personality of a brand as well the tone which brings life in marketing. Today naming a brand is a difficult phase as a lot of names are already taken in form of trade marks. While choosing a name for brand one must choose a name that is simple, evocative and pure in theme. Brand marketing involves a good deal of consumer’s analysis and a brand must know the needs and feelings of their consumer, also their expectations to brand. A brand must have to address the emotional feelings of the audience to receive proper ground in return. In marketing, feedback and its recognition has vital position to catch loyalty.Keeping in mind that a well marketed brand will have trust of consumers and consumer will trust all his products until brand is moving or offering something which is not in its genre. To understand the concept let us take an example. PlayStation is a powerful famous brand nowadays and is sub-brand of Sony Corporation. The idea is also known as endorsed brand, in previous case; Sony is endorsing PlayStation means Sony Corporation is sharing his trust with PlayStation. When designing a brand marketing technique, if your brand can get endorsed it doubles the exposure of the product.Advertising is the backbone of brand marketing techniques and internet brand marketing is more interactive that traditional advertising. Off course the reason is wide access to consumer and a huge space to deliver brand’s objectives, motives and its views and feelings for the customer. Online feedback system provides easy interface to user for feedback along with fast recognition of their feedback. Website visit counting system can also help the brand to monitor effectiveness and also the changing trends. Most of the brands are providing news feeds and other interactive things on their web portal to push consumer to visit them regularly increasing effectiveness of brand and command of loyalty. </p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://sviwqms.info/brand-marketing-techniques-brand-marketing-essentials,html/feed</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> </channel></rss> If you would like to create a banner that links to this page (i.e. this validation result), do the following:
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