As Halloween the beloved festival observed in many countries is fast approaching, the retail market is like steaming hot. Manufacturers and Marketers are on a constant roll to maximize the sales volume with a decent margin. Christmas follows suit and the market enthusiasm is never going to boil down. People will be on a “Shopping Spree” and will definitely not mind spending a few extra bucks on their purchases. So, how the retail market which is going to be the shopping hub react to this “Mega Holiday Shopping?” Holiday #ecommerce sales are important for many online retailers In some cases, small business owners might see a significant portion of total annual sales in just a couple of months. Understanding what to expect in terms of growth or trends may help with planning your holiday season. The holiday shopping season will start long before #Black Friday or #Cyber Monday. In fact, at least 25 percent of holiday shoppers in the United States will purchase a Christmas gift before Halloween. Year after year, online retail sales outpace retail sales overall, and 2015 will be no exception. But regardless of where a product is sold, it will be a good year for retail. 4 Predictions for the 2015 Holiday Shopping Season Early shopping, Ecommerce Sales Growth, Improved #email marketing, and #mobile commerce will be among the most important ecommerce trends during the 2015 Christmas shopping season, which lasts from the end of October through December 24. Two things will make email even better this holiday season First, expect to see more companies automate email messages, so that when shoppers make a holiday purchase they will see follow up messages that are designed to make additional sales and retain those holiday customers all year long. Second, email marketers are getting better at segmentation and personalization, which, in turn, should make an already effective #marketing vehicle even better. Three factors will continue to push growth for mobile ecommerce First, even more sites are responsive and mobile optimized. Having a responsive website is not a competitive advantage in 2015; it is a competitive requirement. Second, as smartphone screens get larger, mobile ecommerce becomes easier. The Samsung Galaxy S6 is 5.65 inches tall and 2.78 inches wide. The iPhone 6 Plus is 6.22 inches tall and 3.06 inches wide with a 5.5 inch HD display. On devices like these, it is simply easier to shop. Third, mobile payment options are improving, again making it easier to shop from a smartphone. Curated from 4 Predictions for 2015 Holiday Shopping Season | Practical Ecommerce How to prep your ecommerce store for holiday shoppers Even though it’s only early October, if you’re online #retail business isn’t already gearing up for the holiday season, you may miss out on revenue. So what should you and your staff be doing now to ensure your ecommerce store is able to handle the extra holiday-related traffic? Don’t make any drastic changes to navigation or layout right now Make certain your site can handle the additional holiday traffic  Ensure your site is up to speed Show that your site is secure Ensure you’re properly stocked – and can re-order inventory quickly if necessary Staff up Make sure people can shop from a variety of devices Optimize images and give your site a festive feel Showcase top-rated items – and offer gift suggestions Alert customers to holiday shipping deadlines Offer live chat Add a gift-wrap option Offer free shipping Provide hassle free exchanges/returns Make checking out easy Provide a self-service option so customers can check on shipping and get answers to FAQs Curated from How to prep your ecommerce store for holiday shoppers | CIO Ultimately the customers must leave...

  Pay Down Credit Card Debt Faster – How to? They call credit card “PLASTIC MONEY” which is absolutely right because once you become a defaulter the card looks like a useless piece of plastic. Why people are so fascinated using credit cards when they very well know there is a severe consequence behind its usage? Only when you are sure about rotating your payments within the billing cycle of one month, go for a credit card payment. Otherwise it is wiser to spend with whatever is available with you. Read this post that clearly indicates the downsides of credit card debt and also points out how to come out of the hassle! Have you been in credit card debt for what seems like an eternity? Do you have so many bills that payday feels more like debtday? You and many other consumers are in the same boat. Total credit card balances in the United States are at $703 billion, a $19 billion increase from the first quarter of this year. Furthermore, total U.S. household debt is $11.85 trillion. This includes personal loans, credit cards, car loans, and educational debt. The following guide reviews multiple different lenders in the space, tries to help readers understand if debt consolidation is the right move, outlines different types of consolidation loans, offers tips on finding the right loan, and mentions alternatives as well.  Best Debt Consolidation Loans | Unsecured and Low Interest Rates Fortunately, there’s light at the end of the debt tunnel. Here are a few adjustments that can help you pay off your debt just a little bit sooner. Go for a Part-Time Job Attacking debt involves one of two actions: spending less or adding more money. If you’ve found that you can can’t cut any more fat from your budget, it’s time to bring in more cash. Income from a part-time job will provide you with the extra cash you need to make larger monthly payments. By throwing money at your debt, you can shave months off your anticipated payoff date. Negotiate for a lower interest rate If you have an excellent payment history, your credit card issuer may agree to lower your interest rate. Just give the card company a call and ask. This one simple move could save you a hundreds of dollars in interest payments and consequently help you clear out your debt earlier. Make more than the minimum payment While it’s great to pay your credit card bills in full and on time each month, it will take a very long time to become debt free if you only pay what is owed. Making a larger payment each month (an additional $10 or $15, for example) is beneficial in the long run because you’ll pay less in total interest. A Well – Researched Guide on  debt consolidation loans by experts at Reviews.com  Many individuals have several loans, sometimes so many they can’t keep up with all the accounts and due dates. That’s why our team set out to create a guide that would help consumers manage their debt and tackle the decisions that come with consolidating: https://www.reviews.com/debt-consolidation-loans/  We also recognized that different credit scores need different resources, so we offer recommendations for those with poor, average, and excellent credit. Focus at one debt at a time Center your attention on paying off one debt at a time. If you try to pay off all of your credit card debt at once, you will just get overwhelmed and give up before you make any real progress. Start by focusing on the debt with the highest interest rate. If you find that you have trouble staying motivated, another method that may work...

    As entrepreneurs, business owners and marketers, we are obsessed with growth. You must be agile and capable of coming up with intelligent, reasonable solutions that will put you ahead of your competitors.     Writing business plan for investors 6 questions you must answer. 1. How big is the business opportunity and is it growing? The first question is how big the business opportunity is and is it growing? To answer this, you need to provide information on the size of the market in which you’re competing and trends affecting the market.     2. What are the financial implications of investing in your company? How much money are you asking the investor for? What are you going to do with that money? What are the projected financial results? For example, what do you expect revenues will be in year one, in year three, in year five? What is expected net income in year one, year three and year five?     3. What is your exit strategy? Your exit strategy is critical when writing a business plan for investors, since the exit strategy dictates how the investor will ultimately receive payback for their investment and get their money out.     4. Who’s on your management team? This is key because most investors, or at least the smartest investors, are betting on the management team as much as they’re betting on the market opportunity. You see, even if you have the greatest business idea in the world, if the management team can’t execute on it, then the business will fail.     5. What risk factors have you altready overcome? Every business has risk factors, and the earlier on in your business, the more risk factors. For example, if you currently have an idea for a new product, the risk factors include, Whether or not you will be able to design the product Whether you could cost effectively manufacture the product Whether  consumers/businesses want/will buy the product Whether you can cost effectively market the product Whether you could build a quality management team that can execute on the opportunity     6. What are the barriers to entry? Specifically, once you start growing your company, what is there to prevent others, individuals and companies from stealing your customers?   Part 2 of this series is coming through….     Here’s another humble attempt to showcase India’s ‘Most preferred Startups to work for’, startups that promise a great deal of work, value and learning to the professionals and freshers out there. 1. Ola – Founded in Jan 2011 by IIT Bombay alumni Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, Ola is not only India’s most popular mobile app for personal transportation, but also one of the most talked about ‘startups’ from India. Ola has also emerged as the top preferred startup to work for in our survey. The Billion Dollar Unicorn has surely caught the imagination of the young employable population. 2. Zoomcar – At No. 2 is another startup that is solving the problem of urban transportation. This self-drive car rental company raised $11 million from Sequoia Capital, Empire Angels and NGP, a week back. 3. FreeCharge – FreeCharge occupies the third position on the leaderboard. Earlier this year, FreeCharge was acquired by Snapdeal in one of the biggest M&A in the Indian internet ecosystem. 4. Freshdesk – It is encouraging to see a B2B startup occupying the fourth position on this list. Freshdesk is steadily appearing to be one of the best product startups built out of India. Perhaps a testimony to this was its latest $50 Million Series E funding from Tiger Global, Google Capital and Accel. 5. Housing – Unscathed by the myriad controversies surrounding it,...

This infographic from workfront is a classic representation of the 9 most despised work perosnalities you may come across as your colleagues or in any work environment. To deal with rude people, you first have to understand their behavioral pattern in order to make the work place amiable. Despised Work Personalities Visit Human Resource Development to save pins more of this kind. How does human behavior influence the work place ? Before delving into the solutions for handling difficult co-workers , I would like to present a small statistical summary on how does human behavior influence the work place. Humans are at the heart of a company. Their behavior not only influences its success, but also its failure. How does one understand them? Or know that there is a problem? The avearge employee spends about 15 hours a month criticizing or complaining about their boss.Studies have found highly engaged employees were 87% less likely to leave their companies than their engaged counter parts.Highly engaged employees also bring out the most creative ideas than their 3% of the less engaged .Companies with highly engaged staff report employees taking an average of 7 absence days per year against 14 days in low engagement companies.About 84% of the managers do not have the know-how of measuring productivity 4 Mantras to Handle Difficult Co-Workers in the Office Remain calm and disciplinedUnderstand the opposition’s perspectiveDon’t take anything personallyAcquire constant skills to deal with difficult people How to Deal With Rude People Don’t lose your cool – Get a hold of your anger firstConfront- only if the person is way out of lineDon’t expect the rude behavior to change any soon – their behavior is suchUse a selective respsonse system – Acknowledge postive responses while ignoring rude commnets.Ask the person how you can help – Help them release their pent up emotionsRaise your consciousness where you can’t be affected.Think about the times when you were rude to others.Opt out of interaction – You don’t have to get involvedConnect with people who can help youUnderstand why the person is rude – and then address those...

When you write your business plan, start with the basics, and write the things that you have already thought about. The name of your business, your goals, your team and the products/services you propose to offer. This gives a clean headstart to further evolve your business plan. A business plan should mainly focus on the future fund flow that will pique the interest of the bankers you are trying to pitch for a loan or investors whom you want to genuinely impress. Here are a few Business Plan Starter Questions 1. What is your mission statement? Your mission statement is what you want to do now, and your vision statement is what you want to do in the future. 2. What are your top keys to success? Don’t write a laundry list of keys, keep it simple, and focused. 3. What is your value proposition? Why should someone do business with you? 4. What are your core competencies or skills? 5. What is your start up budget? Write it like a grocery list, at first, and add up the numbers. 6. The executive summary is written last; after the entire business plan is, absolutely, finished. Think of the executive summary as your movie trailer, build to attract interest in your business. Writing a business plan is a huge undertaking, and if you have never done it before, it is down-right scary. Planning to start a small business? Think no more.. You’ve hit the right spot and we have compiled all that is necessary to win over the challenges of a new startup. This guide will serve as a jump start for your new venture and make it exciting. The web has loads of sample plans, but how do you, really, write your own business plan, your own way? How do you write the plan that accomplishes the goals that you want to accomplish in your business? This Business Planner will make your process simple and hassle free! How to Start a Small Business at Home – Read on to find out the Benefits and Advantages of a Home-Based Business Ask Yourself the Right Questions First things first, you have to start thinking about what you’re not thinking about. Ask yourself the right questions, about your business and put it into your plan notes. The best way to write a business plan is to write it in small segments or pieces. Forget trying to consume, writing the entire plan as a large, mammoth, assignment. It is, too, overwhelming, give yourself a break, and write small bursts, of information. It is easier, to write your top three to five business objectives, clearly and concisely when you are not looking down the barrel of a twenty-thirty page business plan....