As a first-time house flipper, you may mistakenly consider flipping easy. After all, how many times have you seen some random person on TV buy a house, renovate it, and sell it at a handsome profit? Anyone could do that, right? That�s where you�re wrong.

Remember, even decrepit houses do not come cheap and nor do the loans with which to buy them. Also, you face stiff competition, and renovations sometimes cost more than you thought. Here are a few useful tips for those beginning in the field.

1. Approach the Right Lender

Before you start flipping houses, you have to think about approaching a mortgage lender for a loan. But, as you do, note a few things. On the one hand, traditional lenders always demand a 25% down payment, and this is after checking your credit.

On the other hand, hard-mortgage lenders couldn�t care less about your credit, so they�ll loan you as much money as you need. However, they�ll charge you as much as 10 to 15% more interest. For this reason, before approaching any lender, you should check mortgage company reviews on a site like dollar cents for instance to get a clearer view.

2. Buy the Right House

Once you have access to credit, you can buy the right house. Even though this sounds straightforward, it isn�t. See, when you buy a house at retail price, any improvements you make on it only add to your final retail price. So, what�s the problem with that?

For one, you might struggle to sell the house. And when you eventually do, you�ll make a loss. As a general rule, buy houses selling below retail price, add value to them, and sell them for more for more than you spent on them.

3. Make the Right Estimates

The question now begs: How much value do you add to a house before selling it? To answer this question, you must make the right cost estimates. This means calculating every cost in detail.

Besides the buying price, figure out how much it will cost you to renovate and market the house. Also, throw in the cost of retaining and maintaining the house before you sell it. What�s more, remember to include property insurance, property taxes, mortgage payments, and the realtor�s commission.

4. Get the Right Contractor

Now you�re ready to hire a contractor. Although there are plenty of good contractors out there, you must do your homework before finding one. Before hiring, ask for references and then call these references. And, if possible, also look at the candidate�s completed projects before hiring.

5. Don�t Overdo the Renovations

With the contractor hired, it�s time to get to work, but here�s a cautionary word. Don�t go overboard with the renovations. If you do, your house will cost more than other houses in the neighborhood, making it harder to sell. Instead of expensive additions, add a few special but cheap touches here and there.

Conclusion

If you want to be successful as a home flipper, you not only have to know how to spot a good catch but learn how to deal with financing as well. Make sure you�re well informed about every aspect of house flipping and ownership before you even think about buying your first house.

Every successful business person and entrepreneur needs some downtime. They need to shut off their brains for a while and do something completely different to their day job so that they can have the chance to relax and unwind. If you are busy all the time with work and never take a moment to do something just for yourself, you�ll quickly burn out. We�ve come up with some of the very best hobbies for busy business people to stop that from happening.

Cooking

Everyone has to eat, even when you�re super busy at work. So why not combine that need with a new hobby and learn how to cook? You�ll get a lot more enjoyment out of your meals if you aren�t simply slamming them into a microwave or taking them from the freezer to the stove and setting a timer. If you think about the ingredients you want to use, the way you�re going to prepare them, and see the act of cooking itself as the enjoyable part as well as the eating, then your food will even taste better. There are thousands of different recipes online, and you can filter them using budget or ingredients to come up with something that suits you perfectly.

Trading

Although trading could be seen as work � you are (hopefully) making money, after all � it�s not quite the same as sitting in your office all day working hard to make a living. The money that you make from trading should be considered �fun money,� and as long as you�re not relying on it and you only trade what you can truly afford anyway, then it can be an exciting hobby to try. Before you begin, you need to learn as much as possible about how to trade and what is happening in the market through sites such as prodigiousnews.com. Understanding how trading works will give you an edge and should make you more successful.

Coloring

Adult coloring books are extremely popular right now and for a good reason. Have you ever wondered why kids get so much enjoyment out of simply coloring in pre-drawn shapes? It�s because they can focus on it entirely, they can create something beautiful, and it relaxes their minds and bodies too. Of course, they don�t understand all of that, and neither do they particularly care; all they know is that they love coloring. The same could apply to you. For a cheap, easy, yet utterly satisfying way to unwind after work, invest in a coloring book for adults and some coloring pencils or even crayons and see where your imagination takes you.

Listen To Podcasts

Podcasts are fantastic, and there is sure to be at least one (but probably many more) that you enjoy. You can download podcasts to your smartphone or tablet and then listen to them when you have a bit of free time, or you need to take a break from the screen for a while. You can listen to comedy, learn a language, hear interviews with your favorite stars, and much more.

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Health and safety may sometimes seem like one of those things that only affect certain Industries, but whatever field you work in as an entrepreneur, you have a serious responsibility to make sure your staff are not at risk of Injuries or health problems as a result of the environment they work in or the duties they are expected to perform.

Here are three of the reasons why you as a business owner need to pay serious attention to your responsibilities when it comes to workplace health and safety – aside from, of course, the mandatory requirements for being in business at all in your state.

Avoid Expensive Lawsuits

Almost every day, there are stories in the news about companies who have been sued over workplace injuries or other health and safety cases. As an example, there were some high-profile McDonalds employee complaints where people who worked with the fast food joint giant were litigating because they had been injured in grease accidents, had experienced unnecessary risk due to being expected to work too fast by the computer systems monitoring them, and because they felt they had not been given the proper training to operate some of the equipment in the McDonald�s kitchens. These cases became complex because McDonald’s restaurants are, in most cases, operated by franchisees rather than the overarching corporation. Both McDonald’s and franchise owners had cases brought against them.

While businesses do have insurance against this kind of thing avoiding, lawsuits are obviously something entrepreneurs need to take seriously to protect both their finances and the reputation of their brands.

Even businesses that don’t have things like kitchen equipment or machinery on site need to consider things pertinent to health and safety when it comes to using computers and other hazards that can exist, even in offices.

Better Staff Retention

Another concern for entrepreneurs, especially when the business is a startup, is being able to keep the staff that you managed to attract. Businesses that are able to keep the talent that they recruit and train tend to be more cost-effective and can gain an edge over their rivals. When staff feel that their well-being is being regarded as a priority by the business that they work for, they are far less likely to consider moving to another company.

Better Compliance

If a company does more than the bare minimum when it comes to health and safety and actually goes out of their way to follow best practices, this can make the business compliant at a higher level. This can be important later on if you want to make a public offering or sell the business.

As you can see, there are lots of benefits to taking health and safety seriously and to looking at ways that your business can go beyond what is required by law and become a company that is seen as a center of excellence in this respect. A regular audit of your current processes can be a good place to start.

No matter whether your business budget is a mighty one, or you�re working on a shoestring, saving money always needs to be a priority. Those big corporations didn�t get where they are today by over-spending. It�s important, therefore, to look into what you are paying out for in your business and reducing as many of those costs as possible. Here are just a few ideas to get you started.

Double Your Advertising

Paying for marketing and advertising can take a big bite out of anyone�s budget, and it is, of course, extremely important. However, there are ways to get more advertising for the same amount of money. For example, you could send a flyer in with an invoice � you�re mailing it anyway, and the flyer will cost a minimal amount. You could include a special offer actually printed onto your invoice, or a coupon to encourage repeat business. If you are selling items in a physical store, tuck business cards and leaflets in with your customers� purchases.

Ask For Referrals

Having your current customers give referrals to bring in new customers is one of the most cost-effective ways of building your business. You could offer a loyalty scheme so that both parties feel they are getting something out of the deal.

Buy Second Hand

If you need more office equipment, tools, or machinery, look at the used market before you spend out many hundreds or thousands of dollars on something brand new. There are many bargains to be had by buying second-hand, and you can save a huge amount of money. It may feel good to buy brand new items for your business, but if you�re spending too much it won�t feel good for long. The important thing to remember when you are looking to buy a used item is to do as much research as possible first. Ask questions, make sure it all works, check that it is compatible with modern systems. If you don�t you could end up buying something that is no good, and you�ll have wasted crucial cash to do so.

Do It Yourself

In some situations it�s definitely a good idea to call in the professionals. At tax time, for example, a qualified accountant will always be worth the money as mistakes can be seriously costly. However, there are times when you can try to do things yourself if possible, as you will save yourself some money which could be used to reinvest into the business. If you have a fleet of vehicles, you might want to tune them up yourself; the instructions can be found online and you can buy parts at some excellent places online including http://andantex.com/product/spiral-bevel-gearboxes-z-series/. If you need to design a logo or other branding, you can do that yourself too. Unless it�s truly specialized, doing it yourself will always be worth trying.

Don�t Rent Office Space

One of the costliest parts of running a business is paying rent on office space. If you don�t have to pay this money, you�ll make massive savings. One way to stop paying rent is to work from home. This is great if you are a solopreneur or you have a remote team working for you. When you do need to get together for meetings you can rent a room and it will cost a fraction of the cost.

For every successful entrepreneur, there is going to come a time when you need to hire more staff and have a location to put them in. Although working from home is entirely reasonable in an age where we have so many ways to communicate, with an office based environment it is possible to implement more shortcuts to productivity. It also allows you to monitor the morale of your staff closely and provide perks that wouldn�t be possible if everyone was scattered. Although the basic requirements of an office seem obvious, some tips might help you improve efficiency, productivity and staff morale. Making efforts to make sure your staff�s working environment is a pleasant place to be can ensure their happiness, and a good business leader will work hard to keep their staff motivated and content.

Don�t fill the space

Clutter is not helpful for creativity and is one of the main causes of wasted time. If you can streamline your office, you will find that you will naturally produce better work results, simply because the distraction caused by unnecessary elements in your environment will vanish. Sometimes, decluttering your workspace is as simple as having a brisk tidy-up before the working day starts, but more often it�s a case of not having unnecessary items in the office to start with.

Color

It might seem redundant then to suggest scattering color around the office in the shape of flowers. The effect plants have on the people around them is well documented, with different colors producing different moods. Surrounding your workplace with red flowers is likely to boost productivity, whereas blue flowers are known to produce a calm state of mind. Depending on your work methods and business style, you can tailor the colors of your flowers to different areas of the office, further adding that individual touch to the environment.

Paper

It�s all well and good to declare yourself a paper-free office, and it is certainly a worthy target to aim for. However, paper is a useful thing to have close to hand for those times when you need to make a quick note. Useful for during phone calls, and if you�re adept at shorthand, then paper becomes a vital resource for when taking minutes of meetings or simply doodling during a brainstorming session. Doodling on a notepad is proven to be conducive to cognitive activity, so make sure that pen and paper are available to all of those that need it.

Water

Having a water cooler isn�t just about giving your employees a place to stand and discuss the latest episode of Game of Thrones. A water cooler is considered a vital piece of office equipment, especially if you live in a warm part of the world. Keeping your staff hydrated is good for work reasons, but also helps to reduce the sugar intake of everyone. People are less likely to crack open a can of soda if there is cold, fresh water close to hand. Having a water cooler in the office is easy to arrange, and no matter where you are in the country, it�s easy enough to get a water delivery San Diego, New York or the middle of nowhere.

A whiteboard

With iPads and projectors so prolific, you might think that the humble whiteboard has no place in the modern office environment. They are more useful than you think though, as they can transform any part of the office into a meeting space. They can start at someone’s desk, then be moved into your manager�s office, then moved down the hall (stopping on the way to show a passing member of staff the latest brainstorming results). The simple whiteboard is handy to keep everyone in the office focused on specific tasks which can then be physically wiped away once completed.� The fact that they can also double as a screen for your projector is simply a bonus.

Light

A gloomy work environment is going to kill your productivity rates faster than someone bringing a baby into the office. At all possible places, you should use as much natural light as you can, utilizing windows and mirrors to reflect all the ambient lightings. If that is simply not an option, then you need to make sure that the artificial lighting is as close to natural as possible. Overly harsh lighting and unnaturally gloomy lighting is going to have an effect on your employees and office morale, which will ultimately affect your bottom line.

Good food

Monday mornings can be so much more productive if you don�t start the day off with a bag of candy and a can of soda. Having already discussed the importance of water, fresh and healthy food being made available to staff is a huge boost in every area of office life. A study showed that staff members who were offered the option of healthy food and snacks were up to 16% happier than those without. Millennials especially have proven to be very responsive to free food, as more and more offices adapt to the changing status of the workspace.

These tips and suggestions are just the start of the changes you can be making to your existing office, or a good starting point to bear in mind when you are considering leasing your first business premises. As an entrepreneur, it is up to you to work out exactly what you need, while balancing it together with what you feel your staff needs. The ever constant battle between profit and expenditure is one that you have to work out and clarify. It can also help you to work out what kind of business you are going to be, and further create your own brand identity that will be seen by staff and clients on a regular basis. Considering the importance of brand identity to a start-up or new idea, it is vital that you give it serious consideration before starting off incorrectly and buying the first things you see.

Most entrepreneurs understand the benefits of using video as a marketing tool. With YouTube the second most popular social network, it�s clear we all love video. Of course, it is not surprising given that video is incredibly versatile. Words and images are powerful, so when you combine the two, you can tell a story and persuade potential customers to buy your products and services. So, where do DVDs fit into this plan?

Uploading a promotional video to your website or sending clients a link to your YouTube channel is a no-brainer, but there are times when an online video isn�t appropriate. For example, if your clients live in a developing part of the world where internet connectivity isn�t so great, directing them to a website and asking them to stream a 10-minute video might not work.

The Value of a DVD

DVDs provide instant access to video materials and can be played on a DVD player, laptops, and desktop computers. A DVD player can also be connected to an audio-visual system and projected on to a large screen, which is handy if you are a keynote speaker at a conference and you want to show off a promotional video of a product your company has designed.

Here are some of the scenarios where a promotional DVD could be used to market your business.

Key Places to Use Promotional DVDs

As we have already mentioned, DVDs are a useful tool if you are giving a presentation. It is easy to stop/start a DVD, so you can let your audience watch a few scenes and then stop the film to add your own commentary or further explanation. Once the presentation is over, hand out copies of the DVD in marketing packs, so attendees can take them home to watch again at their leisure.

Distribute DVDs in marketing packs if you attend a trade show. A DVD takes up less room than a company brochure or magazine, yet you can include a lot of information on one disc, including software, a catalog of products and services, detailed information on each product, and clips on how to use various products.

Offline marketing is often overlooked by companies, but offline marketing is still valid and promotional DVDs can be a part of your next marketing strategy. Send out DVDs to your loyal customers. Include software they might find useful or �how-to� videos of your best products. It is bound to capture their attention.

Creating a Promotional DVD

Quality is very important. There is no point burning a hundred DVDs for marketing purposes if the quality of the product is below par. Customers are more discerning these days and they expect a decent quality product. Spend time and money creating a good quality promotional film or �how-to� video. If you don�t have the right equipment, outsource the production to a third-party company. If you want to duplicate your own DVDs, visit Burn World for advice.

Don�t dismiss the notion of DVDs. They still have plenty of clout in an internet-obsessed world, especially for marketing purposes.