How to Make a Realistic Budget for Your New Business

Starting a new business comes with a lot of work. One of the most important areas of planning is creating a budget that is actually realistic. If you're at this stage in your new business prep, here are a few tips to help you create a feasible budget.

Start by Assessing Your Income

No budget will work without a person first having an idea of what their monthly income will be. Take a few moments and track your business's income. You'll want to record the amount and the sources. 

If you have different categories of income, say from freelance writing and selling a writing course, then breakdown your income into these categories. This will better set you up for understanding how your income changes over the long-term and why.

Figure Up Your Fixed Costs

The next step that you'll want to take is figuring up your fixed costs. These are going to be expenses that cost the same each month. Some examples are rent, utilities, payroll, and even web hosting. 

You can easily find these expenses on your business spending management software reports or by going through your business bank statements. Once you get all of your fixed costs written down, total them up.

Record Your Variable Expenses

Variable expenses are the next section of your budget that you need to concern yourself with. These are expenses that change in amount each month or are only charged once in a while. 

Some examples of variable costs for your business may be gas, electricity, sales commission, travel costs, and shipping costs. Over time, you'll get to see how much these expenses fluctuate, and you'll be able to create a more accurate average of what your variable expenses will be monthly.

Take a Look Over All You Have

Now, we're getting into the fun part. You've done all the research work to get your numbers. It's time to put them all together and do the math. Take your income and subtract your expenses, both fixed and variable. 

This will reveal how much your business is cash flowing each month. From here, you can determine if your business can handle taking on more debt or if you need to find ways to cut down your expenses.

Creating a realistic budget for your business is all about using real numbers in your calculations. When you notate what you're paying on fixed and variable costs and reduce that total amount from your income, you can clearly see how well your business is doing in a financial sense. Budgeting can be very easy as long as you take the time to do it.

Reasons Why You Should Have Your Home Appraised

Home appraising is the process of conducting an unbiased assessment of the value of a home. It is typically done by a licensed professional who evaluates the property based on its location and physical condition. Below are some of the reasons why you should have your home appraised.

Applying for Business and Cash Loans

Commonly, when applying for loans such as business or cash loans, you may require to present your home as collateral. Due to this reason, the bank will inquire about the prevailing value of your home to make sure it supports the amount you request. 

In such a circumstance, you will have to conduct a home appraisal, which will help you decide on the amount to loan from the bank.

Refinancing Your Home

Home refinancing involves replacing an old mortgage loan with a new one. Most people conduct a refinancing when the value of the home changes. 

To refinance your home, you will need to carry out an appraisal so that you can justify the new loan to your lenders. This approval also helps you understand the financing loan you can get per the price of your home.

Applying for a Home Equity Loan

Unlike refinancing, a home equity loan acts as an additional loan to the existing house mortgage. The loan amount to receive in home equity depends on the equity left after deducting your existing mortgage from your current home value. 

Therefore, you should conduct a home appraisal to determine the amount you can get from this type of loan.

Selling Your Home

A home appraisal is also essential whenever considering selling your home because you can come up with a reasonable selling price once you understand your home's prevailing value, increasing the chances of a fast sale.

Appealing the Tax Assessment

In many states across the US, property taxes get calculated according to a home's current market value. Therefore conducting a home appraisal will inform you if your property taxes are unfair. If they are indeed unfair, the home appraisal will act as the basis of an appeal.

A home appraisal is an essential process that every homeowner should have conducted on their home. It gives homeowners the financial insight required to carry out various loan processes. It also allows them to understand and correctly assess the fairness of their property taxes.

Why Bitcoin and Other Digital Currencies Matter to Investors

If you have ever traveled to other countries, the first thing you did was pay a visit to the bank to exchange your money into the local currency. When you invest your money into cryptocurrency is the same as exchanging your money into another country’s currency. 

Bitcoin is among the example of foreign currencies that operate in a unique way within some online communities.

What is Cryptocurrency?

These are assets that you keep in the digital form used to purchase online and for investments. You buy tokens or coins of a unique cryptocurrency by exchanging real currency like dollars. The art of solving or writing a code is called cryptocurrency.

How to Buy Bitcoin

Bitcoin exchange is the most common way through which you can buy bitcoin. It where you can sell and buy bitcoin from others and the exchange controls this process. 

The exchange that provides buying and selling of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is called CEX.IO. The steps involved in purchasing bitcoin via CEX.IO are as follows.

The 1st step is to open a digital wallet; it where you interact with others via a technology called blockchain and where you store your cryptocurrency. 

The second step is to register and open an account. Once inside the CEX.IO, you open and register an account to provide you with their services. Step three involves receiving a 2FA Code; it an authentication code and password used to access CEX.IO. 

You will receive the code via SMS after being generated by the application. Then you choose the payment method that is convenient for you.

Why Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Matters to Investors

As an investor, you must have an interest in cryptocurrencies. Because it has soured in its value. They have become an alternative investment from just a fringe obsession that permitted coin holders to run businesses outside the financial system. 

The cost of one bitcoin is $30000. If you want to become an affluent investor, you have to take bitcoin the same way you see other high-risk assets. These assets are like venture capital and private equity shares. 

There is a consideration by trust officers, estate lawyers, and financial planners are to include bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in trusts and portfolios that have straight penalties and rules for mistakes. 

It would be best to treat bitcoin like any other asset because it is gaining more mainstream participants and adoptions now.

Though people see it as an investment, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies might become more popular in the future and gain more trust. 

Some online retailers have already started accepting Bitcoin, like overstock.com. If you have another person interested in tokens, you can exchange them for services and goods.

What to Do when You Think Your Stockbroker Is Cheating You

Stock markets are full of brokers whose conflict of interest may dearly cost you if you are not very keen. Such brokers are out to swindle you out of your money. You are probably wondering what to do when you think your stockbroker is cheating you. 

With all the technicalities surrounding stock trade, it is hard to tell if your stockbroker is cheating you out of your money or leading you into an inappropriate investment that will lead to massive losses. However, a stockbroker fraud lawyer from Wolper Law Firm will be in the best position to handle this for you.

With their vast experience in dealing with stockbroker fraud, their lawyers can spot fraud and help you build a case that will ensure you receive refunds for all your losses. But even before you approach your lawyer, here is a list of what to do when you think your stockbroker is cheating you.

What Are the Signs to Look for in a Cheating Broker?

1. Misrepresenting and Omitting Facts

Suppose your broker intentionally held back important information such as risks, sales-related compensation, liquidity, or other material facts. In that case, you need to be keen to ensure that your broker is not deceiving you.

2. Unauthorized Trading

Unauthorized trading is when your broker makes purchases with your account without your prior approval. The only time your broker is allowed to transact on your behalf is when you give them expressed and detailed permission or if they receive discretionary authority. If your broker transacts without these two conditions, it is possibly an investment fraud. 

3. Churning

When looking through your account, do you notice any repeated sales of the same stock? If you do, and your broker has been in control of your account, churning has occurred.

Churning is where a broker sells and resells your stock to increase their commission regardless of what is best for you. This is one of the most rampant fraudulent deals that brokers indulge in.

4. Untimely Execution

Does your broker tend to delay executing your orders on your investments, or sometimes fails to execute them at all? If he or she does this, the law considers him or her to be a fraud. There could be ulterior motives causing your broker to make these delays.

5. Illegal Accounts

Suppose your broker has ever suggested that you lie about your home or work address or that you use misleading information while making your investments. 

In that case, there is a high likelihood that they are involved in fraudulent deals that you don’t want to be dealing in. Who knows, they are probably deceiving you too.

What Action Should You Take?

Upon establishing that you are indeed a victim of a fraudulent broker, it is best to take immediate action against your broker.

1. Report the Fraudulent Broker

To start your funds recovery process, you should report your broker to the relevant authorities, like the SEC, for their cheating tendencies. Reporting them will also stop them from taking advantage of other investors.

2. Hire a Broker Fraud Lawyer

Fraudulent brokers can be very elusive people to deal with. To get the justice and compensation you deserve from your failed investment, you need a qualified lawyer to take you through the entire process.

What Does Not Count as Cheating?

You should always bear in mind that all investments, at some point, suffer losses. Yours is, therefore, no exception. It would be best if you were very keen before you make assumptions and accusations.

It may greatly help if you seek your lawyer’s guidance before suing your broker for fraud. Wrongful suing may lead to great consequences such as a defamatory lawsuit against you, which will further lead to unnecessary losses on your part.

How to Get a Credit Report for Business: Things to Know

To get the money you need to run and grow your business successfully, a good business credit report and score are essential factors to consider. 

A good corporate loan value can save you money at lower interest rates, provide a business loan without a personal guarantee, and improve your company's overall image. Do you know how to pull a credit report for a business as it plays a vital role in managing your credit risk?

Businesses can be granted credit scores, just like individuals. These numbers continue to determine the creditworthiness of a company, i.e. its ability to pay back loans. 

Having a good credit score can help your business qualify for a great credit card, loan, or term financing for business, all of which can help improve your cash flow and accelerate growth. 1 of the 4 major reporting agencies - Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, Equifax, and FICO - predominantly issues small business credit scores. 

This guide will help you understand what variables drive each of the various business credit scores and how you can improve your company's standing.

What is credit for business?

Business credit is just a way of measuring how accountable your business is when managing its finances so everyone must know how to pull credit report for business.

This is analogous to personal credit. The difference is that only financial activity related to running your business is looked at by business credit.




Regularly checking your business credit reports can help you set up your business to obtain financing when needed, and to manage and grow your business better over the long term.

Business Credit Scores Explained

Each of the various business credit reporting agencies has a different scale and score-enhancing methodology. All of these various credit scores depend heavily on a company's payment history with its previous suppliers, creditors, and lenders. Having records of timely payments, as a rule of thumb, will help establish a good score.

The primary objective of these scores is to have a measure of the financial stability of your business. That is why good balance sheets, stable and organized, tend to correspond with high scores. 

On top of that, things like your company's size and age, or its credit history, may also play a crucial role. If you are set to improve your companies' credit score, you should first ensure that you get these fundamentals down. 

In order to fine-tune and optimize your credit score, based on the various factors each of them considers, you can then look at the individual reporting agencies.

Why you should check your business credit reports

In comparison to personal credit reports, to help determine how risky it is to work with you, anyone can buy a copy of your company credit report. To keep an eye on the details, lenders and service providers see when they buy your information, it is a good idea to review your business credit reports periodically.

A lender may want to check whether your company has a loan repayment history and is on stable financial ground. To ensure that your business is not a risky gamble, a company will obtain your business credit reports, either for lending credit or working together on a project.




A strong history of business credit and favorable business credit can mean the difference in whether your company is accepted for a loan or a vendor gets better terms.

A business credit score is a critical piece of data looked at by banks and lenders when evaluating finance applications. To them, it's a rundown of how you're having trouble handling your debt. 

As such, to define the rates and terms of your loan, they will also use your credit score. Good credit scores would mean that, ultimately, the loan will be less costly, because you pose less financial risk to the lender.

Credit scores are also critical for obtaining customer contracts - before signing any contracts, your customers and suppliers can well review your business credit report as part of their due diligence. 

This ensures that the company is in a stable financial condition and calculates the risk that you will go into liquidation or fail to pay your invoices when doing business.

What are credit ratings for businesses?

Business credit scores are based on business credit report information. Depending on the product you purchase, each of the business credit bureaus will usually provide credit ratings along with the reports they produce.

Knowing about how to pull a credit report for a business gives you the ability to challenge any mistakes that could harm your financial credibility.

When they decide whether to lend to you and help you find ways to develop your business credit, your business credit reports will give you an idea of what borrowers will see.

Keeping track of your business credit will help you ensure that a company of your size and longevity has access to the best interest rates and loan options available. It's an essential way to keep track of how others view you and how you see yourself. 

But when exploring your personal credit, it needs a few more hoops to leap through than what you would experience. That does not make an effort any less important.

Elite Document Management Services Pioneers Financial Restoration Solutions

Finances and the proper management of the same is a priority in the lives of adults from all walks of life. After all, so much of what we do personally and professionally is tied to how much we earn, keep, and essentially have to spend. 

Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we all face financial challenges of varying degrees and circumstances. When we do find ourselves in a financial trouble spot, having the right support goes a long way. 

This is where organizations like Elite Document Management Solutions (Elite DMS) become particularly handy.

Below, we take a closer look at financial dilemmas and how financial restoration may help.

First Things First: What Is Financial Restoration?

Also known as 'Credit Restoration,' financial restoration is what occurs when measures are taken to 'repair,' 'fix,' or otherwise improve one's damaged credit score or rating. 

This is usually done through disputing (and consequently deleting) some of the information in your credit history that has directly resulted in or caused the poor rating. 

For persons with less than desirable credit ratings, one reserves the legal right to dispute any information on your credit history through the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). 

Of course, it is not recommended that individuals pursue this option on their own. Instead, it is best to have the assistance of trained professionals for the best possible results.

About Elite Document Management Services (Elite DMS), Financial Restoration

Those who find themselves with a poor credit rating and mounting debt are qualified for financial restoration. As such, their next step is to seek out those who can help successfully turn things around. 

Elite DMS is equipped with a team of specialists who have themselves been touched with the experience of high debt and low credit scores. Consequently, they have both the expertise and empathy necessary to find the most effective solutions for their clients.

Engaging the Process: How It All Works

Truth is, no two circumstances of financial challenges are the same. Each is as unique as the individuals experiencing them. Understanding this, the team at Elite Document Management Services works to provide consumers with a wide variety of custom solutions to choose from. 

The Elite team utilizes its wealth of experience and Debt relief proprietary techniques on behalf of the consumers and helps them navigate the challenges of dealing with their financial restoration.

For the team at Elite DMS, it is important that each client understands their financial restoration process, including what will be expected of him or her. As such, the entire process includes two (2) critical steps, namely:

- Gathering and reviewing all relevant information for clarity and accuracy

- Educating clients to help them navigate the complexities of their financial restoration




From there, clients and team members work together to execute the outlined way forward - seeing it through to successful completion. Importantly, each step of the process is simplified so that clients are able to understand and follow through on their commitments with relative ease.

Get Started Today!

Whatever financial crisis consumers may be faced with, they can rest assured that Elite DMS has a solution to get them to the "light at the end of the tunnel." 

Even better is knowing that getting started is as easy as getting in touch. Consumers can begin the process of restoring their financial stability and health with one email or telephone call to the team at Elite Document Management Solutions. 

Once they have made contact with the Elite team, prospective clients will find the team to be friendly, empathetic, non-judgemental, and competent; all of which are features desired and needed from a financial restoration team.