What Are Business Analytics – Why Are They Important?

A potent instrument in the market nowadays is business analytics.

A recent survey by MicroStrategy found that businesses all over the world use data to:

  • Improve process and financial efficiency (60%)
  • Promote change and strategy (57%)
  • Track financial performance and make it better (52%)

The study also reveals that 71 percent of multinational corporations expect their analytics spending to increase for the next four years and beyond.

Achieving a thorough appreciation of business analytics will help you progress in your work life and help you make wiser decisions at work in light of this trend.

Before exploring the data analysis benefits, it’s essential to understand the meaning of “business analytics.”

What Does Business Analytics Mean?

Business analytics involves using qualitative analysis methods to get meaningful data that can help make informed decisions essential to business growth. In other words, it involves gauging a business’s operational effectiveness. It helps assess both particular facets of a business and the broader organization.

There are mainly four approaches to conducting business analysis:

●      Diagnostic

Using historical information to evaluate past events and ascertain their causes

●      Descriptive

This is the process of analyzing past data to spot patterns and trends

●      Predictive

Using statistics to predict future results

●       Prescriptive

The use of tests to ascertain which solution will produce the best outcome in a particular scenario.

One must choose which approach to use depending on the current business environment.

Business Analytics Evolution

Business analytics has existed for a long time and has developed as more technology becomes available. Operations research, which was widely applied during World War II, is where it has its roots. An analytical approach to data analysis used in military operations was known as operations research.

Over time, this strategy began to be applied in business. Here, the study of operations developed into management science. Again, the data, decision-making models, and other foundations of management science were the same as those of operation research.

Management science changed into decision support systems and business intelligence. PC software began to expand as businesses grew more and more competitive.

The Importance of Business Analytics

1.   Making Smarter Decisions

Business analytics is a valuable tool when approaching a crucial strategic decision.

Uber, a ride-hailing organization, used prescriptive analytics to determine whether the product’s new version would be more efficient than its first version when it stepped up its COTA in 2018. COTA is a tool that makes use of natural processing language and machine learning to help agents enhance accuracy and speed when issuing responses to tickets’ support.

The company discovered that the upgraded product resulted in faster service, precise resolution recommendations, as well as greater customer satisfaction levels using A/B testing. This is a technique for comparing the results of two distinct choices. With the use of these insights, Uber was able to resolve tickets more quickly and at a fraction of the cost.

2.   Increased Revenue

Analytics and data-driven projects can have a huge financial impact on businesses.

According to McKinsey research, businesses that make big data investments see an average gain in earnings of 6%, which rises to 9% for five-year investments.

According to a recent BARC study, which supports this trend, companies that do data analysis report an 8% rise in sales on average and an 11% decrease in charges.

These results demonstrate the unmistakable financial benefits of a strong business analytics strategy. Many companies will enjoy these benefits as the data market and big analytics expand.

3.   Greater Operational Efficiency

Analytics is utilized to optimize corporate processes in addition to generating financial gains.

Many businesses and business management service providers like www.cbs-cbs.com/ now employ prediction analytics to foresee operational and maintenance concerns before they escalate into bigger problems.

An operator of mobile networks who participated in a study said it uses data to predict failures seven days in advance. With this knowledge, the company may better plan maintenance to avoid outages, reducing operational expenses while maintaining assets’ peak performance.

Conclusion

Business analytics has been around for a long time, and organizations have used it to make smarter business decisions, increase revenue, and obtain more operational efficiency. It’s never too late for you to start too.

 

 

Why Cash Management Is Key to Business Success

Have you ever struggled to satisfy your financial obligations because your business was cash-strapped?

Cash shortages may be a clue that something is wrong with your business. Because cash is the business’s lifeblood, running low on it prevents you from fulfilling your financial commitments.

If you cannot pay your debts, the business may close. One of the reasons 85% of businesses fail is a lack of cash.

Lack of money is a highly stressful and uncomfortable situation. Effective cash management has several advantages, including less stress, the assurance that you will be able to meet your financial responsibilities, and knowledge of the timing of client payments to your bank account. Establishing a cash management strategy reduces risk to your business, resulting in business success.

3 Reasons Why Cash Management Is Key to Business Success

1.   You Make Wiser, More Informed Decisions

Who likes being surprised by their business’s cash flow? No one. When you’re caught off guard, you frequently scramble for answers, which forces you to react and frequently settle for compromises you didn’t expect to make.

Once your cash management plan has been developed, you can start making more strategic, intelligent business decisions to help your business grow.

Making a projected cash flow that allows you to track where your cash flow is today, and the growth plan you intend to adopt should be a part of a cash management strategy. Planning out prospective financial requirements and monitoring the cash flow for the upcoming month or year is quite beneficial.

When the cash flow is too low for comfort, look for danger zones and make modifications to keep the cash within a healthy range. Imagine being strategic and confident about how to increase your cash flow.

You make better decisions every day when you strategically invest in your company, whether that investment is in marketing, your staff, mentors, or overall expansion. You now have the luxury of considering and getting ready for both the positive and negative outcomes.

2.   Financial Stability and Confidence Are Attractive

Have you ever been in a situation when you were scrambling for a client and voiced your need for one when you approached the table?

You probably didn’t land the client. Or, even worse, you ended up with the customer and had the worst encounter imaginable. Imagine conducting the same client interview with the assurance to end the conversation early if it isn’t a good fit.

Having a cash management approach will cause you to become more financially stable and cause changes in your life.

  • Your body language.
  • Your approach to the discussion.
  • Your general sense of confidence

Financial stability and confidence are attractive and have the benefits of attracting and keeping teams and new customers. Every individual wants to be a part of a winning team because they desire the same stability and security that you do.

3.   You Become More Appealing To Potential Funding Sources

Greater business expansion necessitates cash to support it. It seems that finding such funding is a crucial ability. Many businesses management services like Corporate Business Solutions Reviews agree that a lack of sound cash management procedures makes you less appealing to financiers and funding.

An adage goes, “The ideal time to ask for money is when you don’t need it. “Unfortunately, people frequently forget to consider this in advance.

As a result, they will apply for loans and get turned down, which is demoralizing. You don’t want that for yourself; thus, you must start implementing cash management techniques for your business’s success.

Conclusion

With adequate cash management, you can have time to allow your plans to bear fruit. You don’t need prior knowledge of accounting or finance background to do proper cash management. You can always hire professionals or start learning the ropes yourself. Get your hands dirty and start looking for ways effective and easy to manage your cash today!

 

Do You Need A Control Account For Your Business?

If you have been exploring the world of business accounting services, you have come across control accounts and learned about the benefits that they offer. This can leave you wondering: is it worth having control accounts for small businesses? The answer differs for each business but, in general, you can benefit from asking your accountant to create control accounts in your general ledger.

What Is a Control Account?

Control accounts contain summary-level information in a general ledger. They are used to display the aggregated totals of the transactions that are listed in subsidiary accounts, which contain an extensive list of daily, monthly, or quarterly transactions. Control accounts are often utilized to summarize accounts payable and accounts receivable, although they can also be used for other types of accounts. It is important to note that the ending balance in control accounts should match the respective subsidiary ledger to ensure that your records are in good standing and that all your transactions for the day have been properly recorded. Learn more by checking out www.cbs-cbs.com.

The Benefits That Control Accounts Can Bring

The primary purpose of having control accounts is to ensure that your general ledger is not too cluttered with minute details. By creating control accounts, you can keep your general ledger clean, tidy, and easy to scan while ensuring that it contains accurate balances and can provide correct information for your business’s financial statements.

However, aside from keeping your general ledger neat and clutter-free, control accounts can also provide you with a way to check the accuracy of your subsidiary accounts. Since you will have to check that your control accounts’ ending balances accurately reflect those in the subsidiary accounts, you can easily detect if any transactions were not recorded. This, in turn, will help you make sure that your accounts are always in good order and prevent costly mistakes along the way.

 

Another benefit of having control accounts is that it can help you save time. If you are confident that your control account balances, you can use them to produce management accounts reports without having to go through each subsidiary account and wait for individual balances to be reconciled. If you are looking for ways to have general management and financial reports without any fuss, consider asking for control accounts when signing up for professional accounting services.

A lot of companies even use control accounts to prevent fraud. Since these accounts must be balanced with subsidiary accounts, they provide an additional barrier that fraudsters will have to overcome before they can successfully conduct their plans.

Should Small Businesses Have Control Accounts?

Many tax and accounting services providers recommend control accounts for large companies, which often have hundreds of daily transactions that will instantly clutter up the general ledger when recorded on it. Smaller organizations, on the other hand, have fewer transactions and will not need to create subsidiary accounts that are linked to control accounts.

However, just because your business is on the smaller side does not mean that you cannot benefit from having control accounts! If your business has started to boom and you find yourself dealing with more transactions per day than usual, consider asking your accountant to create control accounts and subsidiary accounts so you can easily track these transactions. This will also make it easier for you to grow your business into a mid-size or even large company since your general ledger is already ready to manage numerous transactions and you are used to balancing control accounts and their subsidiaries.

5 Reasons To Pay For Outsource Accounting Services For Your Business

Owning a business puts you in a position where you must wear different hats. Most entrepreneurs hone different skills that serve them well in the business world, but the reality of the matter is that not one man can do everything alone. This is especially true when it comes to skills that take time to learn and master. One of those skills is accounting.

Having an in-office accountant can be unnecessarily expensive, and if your business is expanding, you just might not have the resources to add another accountant to manage all the paperwork. Fortunately, there is one thing that can help you out: outsourcing accounting services. Here are five reasons why outsourcing accounting services is better for your business. 

1. Save time by skipping the hiring process

Hiring takes time and money and you might not have all of that now. Going through the steps of posting a job online or in the weekend newsletter, to then scanning resumes and inviting people over to your offices to interview them in person, can be daunting of a task. When you outsource accounting to online professionals, the only thing you have to do is find a good third-party provider.  However, you want to make sure that whichever provider you choose, they will integrate well with the management reports you need to run the business.  Corporate Business Solutions can help design a fully integrated dashboard that incorporates both the operational and financial reports needed to run a business, including those which would be provided from any accounting function which may be outsourced. 

2. Focus on continuing your business as usual

Managing a business is hard. That is just the reality of it. Handling employees, while delivering on orders, and other responsibilities you must take care of can leave you extraordinarily little to no time at all by the end of the day. Things get even harder during the holiday season, and you need to worry more about finding someone who will fill in the job of an employee who is on a leave than dealing with your financial paperwork. Outsource your accounting tasks and make sure that business is running smoothly while your financials are being kept in check.

3. Guarantee accurate services every time

When you outsource to professionals, you know you are getting the worth of what you are paying for, and you do not have to double-check and see if work is being done right. Whether it is about getting your taxes done, managing your day-to-day finances, or preparing a full-blown financial report for your business, when you outsource to a professional third-party provider, you are guaranteed there will be no time wasted, and no loss of productivity within your business. 

4. Have full control over the service

It can be something as simple as tracking expenses or something as complicated as balancing your books. When you outsource, every time you get as much work done as you need. Say you have a small business and there is not much work needed to be done from your accountant. With an in-office accountant, you can lose money while paying them just for showing up when no work is required from them for the moment. When you outsource you hire based on your current need, and you pay only for the work that you need to be done now. 

5. Control how much you should pay

There are no leaves, no holidays, or no calling-in sick when you deal with an outsourced accounting service provider. This means that you agree to the work that will get done at the start of the month, you agree on the payment plan and amount, and you avoid any unpleasant extra fees when it comes to paying them.

The Real Reason Why You Need Business Consultants

When it comes to running a business and making sure that everything is on an even keel, there are many things that you can do for yourself. However, there is one thing that truly stands out as the single most effective means of giving your company the best chance of success in the future – engaging a professional business consultant to help you with your business.

Well-Versed Expertise

Why should you hire an expert business consultant? That is a great question. The answer is that experts can help your company improve your business operations to make them more productive, more efficient, easier to manage, reduce costs, drive sales…and most importantly, they will deliver results.

There are a lot of myths out there when it comes to running a company, but the biggest myth of all is that you can get everything done yourself. Hiring the services of professional business consultants means that you will not have to try and solve every problem on your own or deal with aspects of the business which may be beyond your scope of expertise.

Business consultants offer a unique combination of skills and experience. Some of the senior-level consultants spend their entire careers working for large corporations where they have learned how a business with the right methods, systems and controls can maximize results. Other business consultants have successfully run other businesses themselves and now want to share their knowledge and expertise with other entrepreneurs. What is more, every single one of these experts has the expertise that can benefit business owners who need a new pair of eyes to help them see what needs to be done to maximize their success. This can serve as a great foundation for you to build upon your company’s success. And you can witness that mirrored in what people say, just as you can see it for yourself in these Corporate Business Solutions Reviews

Building Unique Business Models

If your business is growing, then you should be able to see a great increase in profits over the next couple of years. The problem is that as your company grows, it is also easier for certain expenses to creep up without you even noticing them. Hiring an expert business consultant can help you put the proper methods, systems and controls in place, so that you not only know what your true costs are but can effectively control your costs.  A lack of cost controls in your business can quickly result in a narrowing of your margins to lower your bottom line.

The best thing you can do for your business is to hire an expert business consultant for one simple reason: nobody in business has all the answers to the complex problems facing entrepreneurs today!

Business Oriented Focus

A business consultant goes through every aspect of your company and develops a custom business plan just for you designed specifically for your needs. This process ensures that the plan is not a cookie-cutter approach or one size fits all.  Rather, hiring a business consultant ensures you are going to get the best advice possible on how to grow your business and increase profits while also protecting your assets – all at the same time!

Remember this:  Whatever challenge you are facing, some other business owner has faced that same challenge and figured out how to successfully solve the problem.  Instead of you taking the risk with your own trial and error, hiring a business consultant with a proven track record of success will allow you to see what other business owners have done when confronted with the same challenge.  Now you can work with your business consultant to model your business after a proven path of success to substantially reduce your risk of failure.

It’s just simply the right thing to do.

How To Get the Most Out of Your Business Tax Returns

Here is a trick that not a lot of business owners know about. Tax returns. As a business owner, it is well known that you must play distinct roles to keep your profits coming in. However, it is impossible to be a free-kicker and a goalie at the same time. You must complete different tasks, on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. But some of these tasks must be completed for you, usually by a third-party provider who knows what is best for your business. An expert strategic tax planning company can help you out. Here’s how it goes and why you should work with a third-party provider like Corporate Business Solutions Inc. to get the most out of your business tax returns.

Tax Expertise

The most crucial factor why you should be working with a third-party provider is their expertise. There are tax professionals out there that simply know the ins and outs and all the loops of business tax returns. They can easily represent you to the IRS concerning taxes, as they stay updated with all the new state and federal tax laws and policy changes. The policies change every year, and as busy as a business owner is, it is time-consuming to keep updated.

When you work with a well-versed strategic tax planning provider you always stay on top of your game, as you are also making sure you come clean through every audit, and you do not miss any tax opportunities. An expert will help you get the most out of your business tax returns while also assuring that you do not pay more than you should be paying.

Business Credits and Deductions

Your local CPA is focused on tax preparation and by nature is looking at past transactions to keep you right with the IRS.  However, there are often opportunities for tax savings by working with a firm that utilizes attorneys who specialize in tax matters who bring an entirely different level of expertise than the CPA who prepares your returns.  These specialized attorneys can prepare a strategic tax plan that can take advantage of certain tax credits and deductions for future returns by making changes to the operation of the business.  Sometimes this may involve creating multiple entities that can provide both asset protection and tax savings that result from the re-organization. Business owners may also find tax savings in changing the way they compensate themselves from a simple paycheck.  Tax attorneys can provide a level of expertise that is now available to small business owners which heretofore were only available to large corporations.

Donations

Donations to any charitable organization that qualify under the law are usually deductible. So, consider developing a list of charitable organizations the business would like to support to contribute to the social good of the community. Receipts are mandatory for all the donations that you make for cash or goods, as evidence of the value of the cost of the materials that you have donated.

Tax Returns

Keeping track is a must if you are to get the most out of your business tax returns.

Every business owner should consider getting a strategic tax plan done by a firm that specializes in tax planning for small and medium-size businesses by tax attorneys.  The IRS is not going to tell you what credits and deductions you may be missing!

What Should Happen if Your Business Partner Passes Away

Your business partner’s death is probably the last thing you think of when you start in business together.

However, it is generally believed that one of the key aspects of starting a business is planning for when you leave the business.

Most people expect to leave a business they own either when they retire, or when they sell their share to move on to another venture.

While most businesses end with the existing business owners still alive, that is not always the case. While most people live beyond the usual age of retirement, it is a fact that some do not, and some of those who do pass away at a younger age will be business owners.

Normally when a business owner decides to leave a business, they part own, they will sell their share of the business to one or all the remaining business owners, or with the other partner’s agreement, they may find someone else to buy their shares off them.

Some sort of valuation formula will be agreed upon so that a fair price is struck. One of the problems facing business partners is how to fairly evaluate the worth of the business. Disagreements often arise when the selling partner believes the business is worth more than the other partners who are interested in buying his shares are willing to pay. One of the fairest ways to resolve differences in the worth of the business is to have the business valued by a Certified Valuation Analyst with the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA).  This removes the partners with differing interests in the transaction from determining the value of the business and puts it in the hands not only of a neutral party, but one who has been certified to determine the fair worth of a business.

Once the value of the business has been ascertained in manner fair to all, the departing business owner walks away from the business with a fair monetary exchange for the value of their share of the business.

In the event of a business partner dies, the outcome should be almost the same.

It is unlikely that a new owner has been sitting waiting for one of the business owners to die, so it is more likely that the deceased’s share of the business should go in equal shares to the remaining business owners.

The valuation formula will then pay for these shares to the estate of the deceased.

Simple?

No, not always.

Just as the death had probably been unexpected, the need to front up with the money to buy the deceased’s shares is equally unexpected for each of the remaining business partners.

Let’s assume there are five business partners, each owning 20% of the business.

When one partner dies the remaining business partners must each buy 5% of the value of the business and pay this to the deceased’s estate.

What if three of the remaining partners can’t afford to buy the shares at the time of death. But the other partner can afford to buy the full 20%.

That partner now owns 40% of the company and the other three partners only own 20% each. The previously even ownership status of the business has now changed markedly. Decisions over the future of the business will have a far greater effect on one business owner much more than the others.

The solution is reasonably simple and includes three steps and the purchase of life insurance policies to fund the transfer of ownership and the payment of a fair value to the heirs of the deceased partner.

1) A formula is created on how to value the shares at any time and the value of shares is reviewed at least annually – everyone knows what the fair value price of each share in the business is worth.

2) A formal (and legal) agreement is signed by all business owners that in the event of the death or permanent departure of any single business owner, the remaining four partners commit to paying the departing business owner – or their estate – their 20% ownership (5% each) of the business, based on the valuation formula.

3) A Life Insurance policy is taken out on the life of each of the five business owners for the current value of a 20% share of the business. The value of the Life Insurance cover is adjusted each year to remain the same as the current business valuation.

Each Life Insurance policy is owned equally by the four other business owners.

With this plan in place, if a business owner dies, the remaining four business owners have agreed to buy the deceased’s shares off the deceased’s estate, at an agreed price. The Life Insurance policy ensures the right amount of money is received by each of the remaining business owners at the right time. The agreement commits them to pay that money to the deceased’s estate. The deceased’s estate is committed to selling the shares at that agreed price.

This plan keeps everyone happy (in financial terms) upon the death of any of the business owners, at the time of death, and into the future. It also avoids the complication of the four remaining business owners being forced into business with the deceased’s estate or their spouse, who most likely can provide no positive input into the business but would naturally want a maximum income from the business.

Instead, the deceased’s estate has been paid a fair price for the deceased’s shares, the remaining owners have each gained an extra 5% ownership in the business at no cost to themselves, and the balance of the ownership of the business has remained the same.

If you want to know how to plan for the transfer of shares when one partner dies, contact Corporate Business Solutions for a confidential consultation.  You can find more helpful information by consulting Corporate Business Solutions Reviews.

Is Income Protection Worth having if you are Self-Employed?

For the self-employed in the US, you are the business. Every day you feel unwell and can’t go to work is a day when no income is generated.

Of course, that isn’t true for every self-employed individual. You may have staff who can continue working and generating income without you, so a day or two absences won’t matter too much.

But what if your illness or injury is more significant, and the period you will be unable to work could be several weeks or even months!

It won’t happen to me

Maybe you’ve always maintained good health so a scenario like that will never happen to you?

Maybe.

And maybe not. Up to a third of US, workers have a period during their working life when they are unable to work for three months or more.

How would three months of no income affect you and your family?

This takes us back to the question of whether Income Protection is worth having if you are self-employed.

What is Income Protection Insurance?

If you suffer from any illness or injury that stops you from working, you will receive a monthly payment until you are able to return to work.

There will be a stand-down period before you can claim, e.g., 4 weeks. A waiting period of 13 weeks may halve the cost of the insurance, but if you are off work for 12 weeks only, you would receive nothing.

On the other hand, most policies will keep paying right through to age 65. Although you can choose shorter payment periods, as little as two years. Again, that could almost halve the cost). Some policies may even pay for longer periods, beyond 65, recognizing that many intend to work longer these days.

Another key benefit of Income Protection insurance is around when payments stop.

If you are considered well enough to return to work, payments will cease.

However, most policies have an ‘own occupation’ definition.

Let’s assume you are a builder and spend 80% of your time doing physical building work, and 20% of your time doing paperwork or marketing duties.

If you suffer a back injury that permanently prevents you from ever doing physical work again, then even though you could return to work and do 100% just paperwork, the insurance company can’t make you. You can continue to receive your monthly payments until age 65 or whatever your payment period is.

You can choose to return to work part-time or even full-time and just do administration work, but that is your choice. If you earn the same amount as your monthly benefit or more, your payments will stop. But if you earned less, perhaps because you aren’t working full hours, the insurance may still pay you a pro-rata payment to top up your earnings.

How much will I get paid?

The amount you are paid may also be increased each year to keep pace with inflation.

The amount you can typically cover varies between a maximum of 50% to 75% of your income.

If self-employed, you may need to be able to show your three most recent years of income and ensure a percentage of the average income across those years.

If you take advantage of various tax deductions to reduce your taxable income, this does not help you with Income Protection, as you can only insure your taxable income.

Like all insurance, Income Protection is worth it if you become eligible to claim. You need to understand your policy and find the right balance between cost, what you would get paid at claim time, and for how long.

If you can ensure a suitable income, and you do suffer some illness or injury that has you off work long-term, then Income Protection guarantees ongoing income that could keep your business going until you can return to work. Alternatively, it enables you to close down the business, but still, receive a suitable ongoing income to pay your everyday ongoing family living expenses.

Corporate Business Solutions provides business analytical, consulting services and strategic tax planning to the owners of small and medium-size business throughout the United States.

What you Need to Know About Starting a Business Partnership

Going into a business partnership is like going into a marriage but without any of the “fringe benefits’’.

You could argue that you should know more about your future business partner than you need to know about your future spouse!

Before the partnership begins

You need to know if your partner has any skeletons in their background, as well as why they want to get into this business with you, and what their vision is for it.

You will almost certainly vet any employees you hire, so vetting your business partner is even more crucial.

If there are issues, make sure you are fully aware of them and discuss each one fully. If you and your partner cannot get on the same page over each of the issues, walk away.

Make sure you both understand all the paperwork you are signing and use different lawyers.

If any business partner is married, or they get married, ensure their spouse also signs all partnership and operating agreements. This is to protect both partners and the business in the event of a divorce.

The partnership agreement

Make sure all parties clearly understand who is responsible for what, and what each can and cannot do on behalf of the business. These duties and responsibilities need to be written down and agreed to.

Make sure that all contributions of capital are noted and updated, who receives the profits, distributions, compensation, and losses from the business, and under what circumstances might a vote on some issue occur.

Exit strategies and buy-sell agreements are prepared and fully understood. Don’t forget to utilize the various insurances developed to protect small to medium-sized businesses.

Be aware of what situations might trigger expulsion from the business, and if a partner does leave, will a non-competing provision be put in place, and how will that work.

Successful partnerships

Businesses that do operate successfully are usually set up as limited liability companies as this provides many protections for all parties concerned with the business.

Other common features of successful partnerships include accurate recording of all communications and retention of all documentation. It sounds boring, but it can be a real business saver when things might seem to be turning sour.

Ensure all tax information and bookkeeping duties are handled professionally and legally. Don’t ignore this. Too many businesses have run into problems because of a trusted employees taking 100% responsibility for all the money transactions and secretly pocketing a small fortune for themselves.

This leads to the most important factor in achieving a successful business partnership.

Do not think that the business will ever get to a point where it practically runs itself. Once you take your eye off the ball of running the business something unexpected will almost certainly crop up and you will be unprepared for it.

Checks and balances must be maintained, each partner must keep an eye on the other partners to ensure they are still pulling their weight and taking their business responsibilities seriously.

For professional advice to make sure your business will always stay on the right track, you can always talk to Corporate Business Solutions Inc. for assistance.

 

Choosing References for your Resume

If an employer is contacting your references, then they are already convinced you can do the job but want to hear from someone who has personal experience of seeing you at work.

They want to hear only positive things from your references, so selecting the right people is crucial to a successful job application.

Where do you Start?

Your references should be someone you have worked with in your current or a recent job (or during an internship), preferably in a more senior position than yourself (e.g., your Manager/Supervisor), or a tutor from a University level course you recently completed.

The longer and more recently they have known you, the better.

Do not use personal friends or family as references, unless there is nobody else.

You should always ask these people if they would be a reference for you before you put their details on any job application.

What will your Reference Say About You?

The first and most important aspect of choosing a reference is to choose someone who is only going to say good things about you.

If it is a boss, you did not get on well with, then that is not the person to put on your CV. Even if you feel the response from that person was unfair.

If there is somebody you know who has a strong reputation in your industry, their name alone can be extremely influential.

Having someone as your reference that the employer or recruiter immediately recognizes makes them think, that if this person is prepared to give you a good reference, then this candidate must be well suited to the job.

A quality reference can make a big difference to any Job Application

Don’t be afraid to coach your references when you ask them to be your reference

How do you Coach your references?

You phone them or speak face to face if you can, or maybe email them, and ask them if they will be your reference

If you are about to apply for a specific job, tell them a little about the position and the skills that are required. You might then suggest to the references that these are among your strongest skills!

Let them know that they may be contacted soon. This ensures they keep you in their thoughts and are not surprised when they do get contacted.

When the reference gets contacted by the employer, they are now more likely to speak positively about you concerning those skills.

If you had some areas of weakness in the past and you have now made improvements, then you can also let the reference know what you have been doing recently to improve your skills in those areas.

Again, the references might mention when they are contacted that you have upskilled recently in areas that had not previously been your strongest.

You might have a great resume and crush the interview, but a conversation with a reference that raises questions rather than confirms your abilities can be the end of the road. Choose your references wisely and make sure they are aware of being contacted. Then you will have satisfied businesses like those at http://www.cbs-cbs.com/.