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Despite making changes to their home lives, workers are unlikely to be quite so environmentally -minded at work, particularly if their employers are not seen to take the issue seriously. For this reason change must happen top-down, unless you have an eco-warrior employee who is prepared to plan and implement carbon-saving changes. Here are a few simple things you can do to make your office greener, and I’m not talking USB kettles or reusing teabags.

Travel

Use public transport where possible, and consider implementing a car sharing initiative, it will help you become greener and maybe even bring the workforce closer together. Many firms are also introducing a ride-to-work scheme whereby the company helps out with the cost of a bicycle for the employee to cycle to work. It improves the environment and the mental and physical health of your employees.

Lights

Turning lights off when they’re not in use and replacing old bulbs with energy saving ones greatly increases your green credentials. Utilise natural light wherever possible. It may sound obvious but there is a tendency to put the lights on instead of opening the blinds.

Technology

Replace old energy inefficient hardware with new economic items. You’ll save the world and some money!

Don’t use the air conditioner when opening a window will do. Conditioned air is not nearly as good for you and your employees as a nice bit of (free) fresh air.

Nothing Disposable

Replace paper and plastic cups and cutlery with real ones. Not only are mugs and glasses much better for the environment, but they’re also much nicer to drink from!

Don’t use the dishwasher unless you have a full load, it is easier just to rinse.

Turn Your Computer Off

Turn your computer off when you leave the office, not just the monitor. And that goes for the air conditioner as well.

Really, what is the point turning the lights off and recycling your waste if you’re going to leave your computer on?

Recycle

The emphasis should be on employers to make recycling at work easy and convenient for employees. Getting employees to separate their waste will force them to think about how much paper they waste.

Communication

Use electronic methods of communication rather than leaving notes or memos around the office. Consider using an online forum, messageboard or messenger applications for staff chit-chat instead of passing notes around, you naughty boys and girls! Shall I read it to the whole class?

Only print emails if it is absolutely essential, and add a ‘Think before you print’ disclaimer to your email signature. If you do need to print to paper, set up your printer to double-sided, every little counts!

For more information about corporate responsibility, sustainability and climate change in your business please visit the Arc Vision website.

http://www.arcvision.co.uk

Generally top offshore choices are made on the basis of confidentiality, cost, ease of communication, complexity of the incorporation e.g. trusts, protected cell companies, resident companies or simple IBCs, and speed of response.

There are different types of jurisdictions:

1. Well established, full service, expensive, can handle complex incorporations, require extensive Know Your Client due diligence, and are manned by very experienced professionals. e.g. Switzerland, Guernsey.

2. Full service, focused on international business companies, with experienced professionals, require extensive Know Your Client due diligence, but without the glamour of a Switzerland, but not so expensive. e.g. British Virgin Islands [BVI].

3. Established only in the last 15 years with extensive tax treaties with selected countries, less extensive KYC due diligence, can handle complex incorporations but have less experience than their European counterparts, are less formal and less expensive. e.g. Mauritius.

4. Established in the last 10 years, simple KYC documentation, focused on International Business Companies [IBC], have better confidentiality norms because are not so big and do not have disclosure treaties with the US or EU. e.g. Seychelles

A lot though depends on what you are going to use the company for! Below is a summary of the different types of jurisdictions:

1. Switzerland: Old, well established, good for complex transactions, experienced service providers, good for the wealthy, very expensive.

2. Guernsey: Well established, focus on financial services companies, Know Your Client [KYC] documentation is complex. Expensive but easily accessible for the old world clients.

3. Mauritius & British Virgin Islands [BVI]: Medium costs, full service, Mauritius has double tax treaty advantages, and simpler KYC documents.

4. Seychelles: Focused on simple International Business Companies, inexpensive, simple to form a company, quick.

But which kind of company do you need? Do you want to invest in India or China or a specific country? Or is it for trading overseas? Or another reason?

You will need to examine why do you want an offshroe incorporation? What is your type of activity. Do you want a full service jurisdiction or one that is cheap. And what about communication ease? How comfortable are you with the documentation?

Making a choice for your top offshore jurisdiction is dependent on various factors as also anonymity. Mauritius and Seychelles have followed in Switzerland’s footsteps and made it a criminal offense to disclose client information to anyone.

However, since 9/11, both the US and EU have put severe pressure on most of the popular jurisdictions to disclose information. British Virgin Islands [BVI] has signed a comprehensive treaty and Mauritius a water down version. In any case both Seychelles and Mauritius are far enough away and not very important to either the EU or the US at this time.

I recommend Seychelles as the top offshore jurisdiction for most of the simple cases and Mauritius for the more complicated requirements. However if you are more comfortable with the ‘Old World’ tax havens, then the top offshore jurisdictions are Switzerland for the complicated cases and BVI for the simple ones.

Ramapati Singhania specializes in creating and managing web businesses. His latest website http://www.incorporation-offshore-saves-wealth.com focuses on helping you to incorporate offshore companies in Seychelles, Mauritius and BVI. You can also visit his blog, http://www.ramapatisinghania.com

Getting in front of the right person is crucial to the success of any construction related business. The beginning and end of marketing for construction is found in “building the right relationships”.

So here is the scenario we have all encountered:
You are facing an impenetrable fortress. There are guards on the main entrance and you cannot get through without a secret password which is changed on a regular basis. The person you want to see is on the other side of the reinforced wall and is rarely seen in public!

What does this remind you of? Yes, right! It’s that BIG PERSON who makes the decisions about who gets on the tender list who is sitting at a big desk behind the wall. How do you get through? Perhaps the question to ask before you even reach the wall is: “Who do I call?” “Who is the decision maker?” “How do I find out the right person to speak to?”

It goes without saying that even trying to penetrate this wall is crazy without adequate research and preparation. Checking out the company website may reveal all, often giving a list of directors and management personnel along with their job titles. You may even get an email address or a direct phone line number, although that would be unlikely in the larger corporations. In a larger organization it may not be immediately apparent who is the decision maker dealing with your construction sector.

So where do you start?

I have found that once you start to dig, you can uncover the identity of the person you need to speak to even if it takes a few phone calls. This is where keeping notes on all your calls is essential. You can easily build a company profile and structure chart and it’s often the first person you speak to i.e., the person on reception who will help you.

There are a few obvious things to understand before progressing to your final objective:

1. Large companies and corporations are made up of smaller, autonomous units with their own staff structure and management responsibilities and once you have established the key pecking order in one, it will be easier to uncover the next.

2. The ‘gate keeper’, the person who answers the phone, has been briefed to screen all calls coming in and may not mean to sound aggressive and unresponsive.

3. Unless you have something specific to say, don’t bother to call.

4. Don’t be disheartened if you get a negative reaction on the phone. If you work with telesales often, you will need to have a thick skin in order to cope on occasions. Remember, don’t take it personally, unless you’ve gone out of your way to be discourteous, in which case, you deserve it!

If you are having difficulty tracking down the right person to speak to about a particular project, here are a few approaches that have worked for me:

1. As soon as the phone answers, say, “Hi! I have a question about doing business with your company. Can I ask you?” A surprised receptionist almost always agrees. Then say, “I want to send a short letter that introduces my company. Would that be okay?” The receptionist generally says this will be OK. You now
have two ‘yes’ answers! Finally say, “If I explain what we do, would you tell me who to address the letter to?” The response is almost always positive and you will get the persons name you need to contact.

2. If you are having difficulty finding out the right person to contact, often the Human Resources Department of major companies will help you out.

3. Another avenue would be to look at the Company’s Annual Report which you find on a Google search on the internet. You will find key people listed and by contacting one of them, can usually find the right person.

4. A good way to build your database of important contacts would be through the trade press. Get names of people being interviewed in feature articles and check out who is writing about whom.

5. If you run high quality seminars on subjects of
interest to the professionals you would like to work with, ‘Continuous Professional Development’ events, this is a great way of meeting people and providing them with a service. Kudos for your company and great networking for all involved.

6. If you get to speak to a lower mortal in the organization, mention their name when calling the Big Guns! “I’ve just been speaking to Chris in your HR department and he said I should talk to you about…”

7. Sometimes talking to the Finance Director of a company and offering to save the company money, can get you a direct link with the top person.

Most importantly, don’t give up! If you are polite, but persistent, you can normally reach the right person! It is hard work and a little discouraging at times, but once you have cracked it, it’s worth it!

Steve Flashman is a Marketing Consultant with a unique edge! He is a public speaker, published author, recording artist, media broadcaster and communications expert.

http://www.marketingforconstruction.com

http://www.architectsdomarketing.com

http://www.ontheboxmarketing.com

A holding company owns part, all, or a majority of another company’s outstanding stock. They normally do not produce goods or services themselves and their primary function is to own the shares of other companies.

This type of company reduces the tax and business risks for the owners and makes computation of actual income that much more flexible for tax purposes. An offshore company makes even easier to save tax and allows for the possibility of it owning several operating companies in different parts of the world. Rules governing tax free dividend vary by country and type of company, and also depends on double taxation treaties.

Sometimes the name of the company itself includes “holdings”, signifying that it is a pure holding company and does not do any operations.

In the United States, Berkshire Hathaway is one of the largest publicly traded parent companies; it owns numerous insurance companies, manufacturing businesses, retailers, and other companies. Two other large notable parent companies are UAL Corporation and AMR Corporation, whose primary purposes are to wholly own United Airlines and American Airlines, respectively.

Advantages of Parent companies

The greatest advantage is the flexibility to buy or sell businesses without disrupting it’s operations. The holding company structure ensures that the legal business name, any licenses or grants obtained by it in the past, any brands owned by it, any tax credits or other liabilities incurred by the business remain with the subsidiary company and does not involve the parent holding company.

For example, in U.S. broadcasting, many major media conglomerates have purchased smaller broadcasters outright, but have not changed the broadcasting licenses to reflect this, resulting in stations that are still licensed to the earlier licensees.

Personal holding company

In the United States, a personal holding company is defined in section 542 of the Internal Revenue Code. A corporation is a personal holding company if both of the following requirements are met:

* Personal Holding Company Income Test.

At least 60% of the corporation’s adjusted ordinary gross income for the tax year is from dividends, interest, rent, and royalties.

* Stock Ownership Requirement.

At any time during the last half of the tax year, more than 50% in value of the corporation’s outstanding stock is owned, directly or indirectly, by five or fewer individuals.

Parent or holding company

A parent company is a holding company that owns enough voting stock in another firm (subsidiary) to control management and operations by influencing or electing its board of directors. A parent company could simply be a company that wholly owns another company.

A good example is Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A), which owns GEICO, See’s Candies, Executive Jet, Dairy Queen, The Pampered Chef, and Benjamin Moore paints, among many other businesses.

While many companies routinely gobble up other companies, they frequently aim to blend these acquisitions into their operations. Parent companies keep the businesses they buy more separate.

Another major advantage is when legislation forces companies to remain separate because of anti monopoly laws. e.g the financial. insurance or broadcasting sectors in most countries. Here it is sometimes better to keep the different business arms at a distance via a holding company and to make the desired acquisitions when the legislative opportunities arrive.

Financing

With a holding company structure, the management and the shareholders also have greater flexibility in raising funds both in terms of equity or debt. The holding company can be listed or the operating company can be listed in the local stock markets or in global ones. Similarly debt can be raised where it is needed so that the lenders are more comfortable with risk assessment.

A registration offshore company which acts as a parent company is becoming more popular because of the added flexibility in tax computation.

Ramapati Singhania specializes in creating and managing web businesses. His latest website http://www.incorporation-offshore-saves-wealth.com focuses on helping you to incorporate offshore companies in Seychelles, Mauritius and BVI. You can also visit his blog, http://www.ramapatisinghania.com

Developing a successful brand strategy is essential to the success of your business. The name of your company, the product that you sell, and the overall impression, style, and perceived direction and mission of a business or company.

This article will describe some instances in which a branding strategy or rebranding strategy can be beneficial, and some of the steps involved in the creation of one.

A brand can be solidified and recognized by logos, customer service, and by the family brand under which it is marketed. This is also called family brand, and companies like Disney and Coca Cola incorporate this strategy into their marketing plan.

Disney yogurt, for example, may feature pictures of Mickey Mouse and the Magic Kingdom logo on the box. This connects the product to the Disney Corporation as a whole in the mind of the consumer. When the same consumer purchases a Disney movie, Disney licensed clothing, shoes, or sunglasses, they are showing a brand preference, which is the goal of any effective marketing strategy.

Newer companies work hard to establish their brands, employing marketing teams in house or employing outside marketing and branding experts, with the goal of making sure that any time that a consumer comes in contact with anything associated with a specific company, the brand for that company is reinforced in the minds of the consumers who do so.

Older companies may decide to undergo a rebranding process as their business expands, comes under new ownership, or attempts to appeal to a different demographic.

Many large companies, including McDonalds, have done this successfully. Initially, the restaurant was a take out eatery, but as more and more people, namely families, began to frequent it, the company realized that it could make more money and attract a larger demographic by redesigning and remodeling their restaurants in order to accommodate booths and tables.

Other companies, mainly tobacco companies have gone through more dramatic rebranding, in order to keep abreast with trends, new research, and the general public opinion and consensus of their products.

A brand is a company first chance to make a good impression on the minds of consumers, investors, employees, and anyone associated with, or potentially associated with, a product or service.

Development of a logo, of a set of standards, of a mission, and even of a color scheme for franchises all contribute to this overall feel of a company, product, or service.

For more information about business naming and corporate brand strategy visit http://www.namelab.com/brand_strategy.html

There has never been a time when marketing for the construction industry was so important. However, those of us who are involved in this crucial aspect of business development are acutely aware that the industry has been notorious at making huge blunders in its marketing efforts!

On of the top five blunders people in the construction industry make when trying to grow business, is in the way it deals with prospective and current clients.

Most business development professionals recognise that all marketing for construction begins and ends in one simple principle – knowing how to build relationships.
It is at least 5 times easier to win a new contract from an existing client than to go out and find a new one! That is not to say that we should not be extending our client base because this is essential for ongoing company growth and to ensure a healthy sales pipeline.

However, if you are producing good quality work, you should find that 70% to 80% of your turnover comes either directly from current or past clients, or from referrals and recommendations from clients you have worked for. You need to spend a lot of time developing relationships with these key people as they can become your best marketing tool.

Current and past clients are like gold dust to your business. Your existing client base also forms potential sales revenue for backend products and services.

If you have no track record with your potential client, you need to be able to demonstrate that you are trustworthy. Endorsements and testimonials from people you have built relationships with, are crucial to substantiate this. It is also important to be available to your prospects so that they can have a face to face meeting with you. This is crucial even at the highest management level of your company. This will build confidence and reassurance because they are dealing with a real person and not just a marketing consultant with an ulterior motive!

There are many ways that relationships can be built:

1. Run a Lunch Club for your project team at completion.
2. Hold Continuous Professional Development Training Seminars with guest “experts” in the industry
3. Promise less, deliver more
4. Make sure there are open lines of communication
5. Give you workforce “Customer Relationship” Training
6. Distribute a high content newsletter
7. Open a Social Networking forum
etc., etc.,

You will find that if you apply these strategies every day, you will reap the benefits.

Steve Flashman is a Marketing Consultant with a unique edge! He is a public speaker, published author, recording artist, media broadcaster and communications expert.

http://www.marketingforconstruction.com

http://www.architectsdomarketing.com

http://www.ontheboxmarketing.com

The emergence of the World Wide Web as a global, around the clock marketplace has opened a multitude of new opportunities to businesses which have never before been seen. Computers and global communication networks have brought vendors, customers and markets together in new and beneficial ways. Along with all of the benefits which business has gained from the information age come some downsides. New crimes have not been created by new technology, but rather new technology has given new tools to criminals to commit the same crimes as they always have. The difference is that criminals now have a global reach, just as businesses do. In the U.S. at least, the responsibility for protecting consumers from having their personal information pilfered is placed upon businesses.

While some will blame the computer itself for crimes involving identity theft, it is usually not the computer but rather the way in which the victim has made use of it which is at issue. Their lack of attention to network and computer security has offered access to criminals – right into their home or business. After all, if we never lock our doors, would we blame the contractor who built our home for a burglary? In a corporate environment, it is typically employees, including IT staff who are really at fault.

About 70% of data breaches at businesses can be laid at the feet of people within the company. Employees using weak passwords or making the egregious mistake of writing down their passwords in plain view allow unscrupulous employees and others easy access to company information. Employees know that the quickest way to find a password is to sit at someone’s desk; quite often, employees will tape passwords on notes on the monitor, to the desk (or underneath it) or in desk drawers, often simply labeled “passwords” or worse yet, on the desktop of their computer in an unencrypted document. Keep in mind that if a security breach happens through the use of a legitimate user name and password, it is very difficult for your IT staff to catch. Poor password management on the part of your employees can give criminals complete access to sensitive corporate data.

IT departments try to reduce the risk of data breaches through the implementation of stronger security policies. There are six basic rules of password security which they commonly use. These are:

LENGTH – Passwords should always be at least eight characters long. The longer, the better as long as you can remember your password.
RANDOMNESS – A password should be difficult to guess. Use combinations of numbers and letters; words, dates and so on.
COMPLEXITY – Employ a mix of numbers, punctuation marks and lower and uppercase letters in your passwords.
UNIQUENESS – Use a unique password for each user account.
ROTATION – Passwords should be changed every two to three months.
MANAGEMENT – Never let anyone see your password. And never, ever write it down.

The conflict which is going here is between IT departments and other employees. As IT departments make security measures more complex and difficult for employees, they use weaker security habits to increase the ease of access for themselves. Employees will nearly always forgo security for the sake of convenience.

One way to avoid this conflict is to adopt token based password management. These sorts of systems include:

Security:
o PIN protected smartcards which lock data after a predetermined number of failed attempts at access.
o Passwords are never stored in computers, where hackers and snoopers can find and use them.
o Passwords can be as long as 20 characters, with all 96 possible characters on the keyboard being available to use.
o Each website, encrypted file and network can (and should) have its own unique, complex.
o Since your passwords are never typed in, a keylogger cannot record them.
o The card can be encrypted so that only the software used to manage the cards can access the data on them.

Convenience:
o The management system for these cards can handle logins for different accounts, files, applications and networks.
o The management system can launch a web browser, navigate to the appropriate login page and take care of authentication, all with a double click.
o Users never have to remember (or type)passwords.
o Users will have their passwords on them at all times.
o These cards can be carried in a wallet or even used as an employee ID badge.
o Passwords will not be written or stored where they can be found.
o Cards can store over 100 different passwords and their associated account information
o Login sites are saved to the card.

Portability:
o Passwords are available to users at any workstation once their smartcard is inserted.
o The card can be used in the office or at home or from another remote location. These sorts of smartcards are great for students and others as well.
o Smartcards are ideal for employees who work remotely but need secure access to the company network.

It takes more than just a password to make your network secure, but with the use of security tokens, passwords are no longer the weakest link in a company’s security scheme. Tokens have been developed by security companies for a variety of different applications – companies can evaluate these offerings on the basis of form, usability, the amount of modifications which will be required in their infrastructure, ease of installation and of course, cost. Some smartcards offer advances security but also mean that a lot of back-end server work must be done in order to implement them. Others are easy to set up and use, but are a risk if they are lost or stolen.

Business owners are required by the Privacy Protection Act to keep customer data secure. While no one security measure can provide total security, proper password management should be part of every company’s overall security strategy.

“May your data be secure and your identity be your own.”

Dovell Bonnett is the author of “Online Identity Theft Protection For Dummies(R) – Power LogOn Edition”, founder & CEO of Access Smart (http://www.access-smart.com) and the host of http://www.IDProtectionExpert.com. He provides security solutions to businesses, campuses, and mobile employees.