Stephen Huck | Complete Controller

Smooth Moves: Tips for Relocation

Posted on January 24, 2024January 15, 2024 by Stephen Huck

Moving for most people is like a nightmare that never stops haunting their dreams. Uprooting your life and packing everything up into different boxes is traumatizing. Changing your residence to an entirely new location can be stressful, and that can easily overwhelm you. To ensure your move is as smooth as possible, avoid these common problems during an activity.

Unnecessary Items

Retaining unnecessary items is a common mistake when beginning life in a new home. It’s impractical to pack belongings that have been collecting dust on shelves for years, especially when you know you won’t use them. To streamline your move, consider parting with items unused for over a year. Donate them to charity or include them in a yard sale—avoid investing time and money in things destined to remain unused.

Lack of Planning

The lack of planning is akin to setting oneself up for failure; as the saying goes, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” This phrase aptly captures the essence of moving without careful consideration. Would you embark on a skydiving adventure without a parachute, adopting a “Let’s see how it goes” approach? Moving shares similarities, albeit a bit scarier. Without thorough planning up to the last detail, things can quickly spiral out of control.

Here are the things you need to prepare

Plan your finances (enough money in the bank for payments)
Getting all the paperwork in order
Make a timetable or calendar of the involved tasks
Discussing your moving details with the moving company (how you want things done)

Before engaging a professional moving company, it’s essential to consider a few key factors. Movers won’t automatically identify sensitive or fragile items within your boxes and won’t be aware of your budget unless you communicate your needs. Establishing a two-way relationship with clear communication is crucial. Here are some effective strategies to optimize your moving experience and save money.

Hiring Professional Movers

Contrary to common perception, hiring professional movers is often more cost-effective than attempting a DIY move. When you enlist a moving company’s services, you ensure precision in handling every box and item according to your preferences. In a DIY scenario, the responsibility for any breakages rests solely on you, and you bear the expenses of replacing the damaged items. Opting for professional movers provides a service guarantee and minimizes the financial burden associated with potential damages.

Proper Labeling

It is crucial to label and categorize each box during packing meticulously. Proper labeling serves several purposes, including facilitating quick retrieval of items and ensuring that everything has been successfully moved to the new location. Additionally, clear labeling aids both you and your movers in identifying the designated area for each box in your new home. This simple yet effective practice enhances organization and streamlines the unpacking process.

Planning Ahead

Prioritize planning by ensuring you have all the necessary supplies well before the moving day. Avoid a last-minute rush for packing boxes when your belongings are already outside. If you’re opting for moving services, it’s advisable to make your booking in advance, especially before the peak season hits. Additionally, consider early bookings for other essential services such as painters, rental supplies, and cleaners to secure a smooth and well-coordinated moving experience.

Looking for any Leakages and Cracks

Upon moving into a new house, conducting a thorough check for any leakages and cracks is essential. Ensuring everything is in proper working order is crucial to avoid surprises. You wouldn’t want your first bathing experience in your new home to become a disaster due to overlooked issues. Taking the time to inspect for potential problems early on can save you from inconvenient and costly repairs later.

Bottom Line

In conclusion, we understand that moving is a challenging endeavor. To assist you in navigating this process more smoothly, here are crucial money-saving tips that can contribute to a comfortable and hassle-free experience in your new place. By following these recommendations, your next move, whether to a new home or office, can be executed quickly, comfortably, and, most importantly, cost-effectively.

About Complete Controller® – America’s Bookkeeping Experts Complete Controller is the Nation’s Leader in virtual bookkeeping, providing service to businesses and households alike. Utilizing Complete Controller’s technology, clients gain access to a cloud platform where their QuickBooks™️ file, critical financial documents, and back-office tools are hosted in an efficient SSO environment. Complete Controller’s team of certified US-based accounting professionals provide bookkeeping, record storage, performance reporting, and controller services including training, cash-flow management, budgeting and forecasting, process and controls advisement, and bill-pay. With flat-rate service plans, Complete Controller is the most cost-effective expert accounting solution for business, family-office, trusts, and households of any size or complexity.

Price vs Value: Smart Investments

Posted on January 24, 2024January 15, 2024 by Stephen Huck

When we go to a store or search for a service, we usually ask what the value of what we are about to buy is. But do you know that there is a difference between price and value? And as much as we do not always make that distinction when we go shopping, we’d better think about whether we are getting something for value or value when it comes to investments.

Are you confused? What do you think of going deeper into this idea to understand it better? Follow the post we prepared and ask your questions!

How Much Does it Cost to Produce and Distribute Products and Services?

When a company produces a commodity or a service, it calculates the resources needed to deliver the solution to its customers. This calculation includes fixed costs (water, electricity, telephone, internet, rent) and variable costs (inputs, payroll, and distribution). Once you calculate the cost of production, then you will add the taxes due and the profit margin together. At the end of the process, we have the price of the product or service!

What Relevance Does the Consumer Usually Give to Products and Services?

Whoever values an investment is the buyer. So, what is a priority for you may be relevant for another person. For example, it is a case of taking a trip or buying a car. Both options populate the dreams of various consumers. While some want to cruise, others want to buy a new vehicle to make their family more comfortable. And neither of the two profiles is wrong! They are only different points of view, adapted to the reality of each one.

In the End, is it Better to Prioritize Price or Value?

We tend to prioritize lower prices when discussing everyday items such as pens. We can satisfy our needs in the same way as its more expensive counterpart. However, when making investments, you must consider other factors. Here comes the value of a good, which can have an influence overall.

You want to buy a new car because your family is growing. This may seem like an unnecessary luxury. However, this acquisition has excellent value for you, so much so that the price to pay does not equal the benefits you will get once you have your new car in the garage.

For those who dream of traveling the world, the money spent on travel, lodging, food, and other necessities does not compare with the experience of meeting new cultures, experiencing exotic foods, and people of different profiles.

However, you do not have to pay more than the fair price for what you are getting, do you? And this is worth it even if experiences, comfort, and safety have the most incredible value in the world for you! It is the case of buying a property, for example. You have the good at your disposal in less time by opting for financing, but for a higher price than it is worth it. Already choosing a real estate consortium, you can plan yourself more peacefully, paying less, but not for that, letting you see your dream come true!

The same logic holds for other investments. Do you need to travel today, or can you wait? Is the new car urgent, or does it still have time until the children arrive? Think about it: what you save with planning can be used in other investments!

And why are we talking about it? Simple: only end up spending what is necessary. You need to find the balance between price and value, investing wisely!

Conclusion

Distinguishing price from value is crucial for your brand’s success. Value, a magnet for lasting customer loyalty, is exemplified by American brands like Mac and Coke, which are desired by over 90% monthly. Satisfy customers with top-notch quality, and they’ll willingly pay higher prices, ensuring sustained brand reputation and customer satisfaction.

Complete Controller. America’s Bookkeeping Experts

What Is Value Investing?

Posted on January 24, 2024January 15, 2024 by Stephen Huck

Value investing involves strategically purchasing assets or investments at prices below their intrinsic value. Instead of relying on complex definitions or abstract financial theories, value investing boils down to a straightforward principle: buying something for less than its true worth.

To illustrate this concept, consider the scenario of a store, such as a clothing outlet, undergoing liquidation. During this process, merchandise is often sold at significantly reduced prices. Value investors recognize the opportunity in such situations, as they can acquire items at a favorable cost compared to their regular market value. This principle extends beyond retail scenarios to encompass investments in companies.

Similar to a store in liquidation, there are instances when a company is facing financial distress or undergoing a phase that can be likened to “liquidation” mode. This might be due to factors such as economic downturns, poor management decisions, or industry challenges. In these situations, value investing is a strategic approach to evaluate and capitalize on undervalued opportunities.

Value investors analyze companies experiencing temporary difficulties or market mispricing, allowing them to identify potential bargains that other investors may overlook. By delving into a company’s fundamentals and examining its assets, earnings, and growth potential, value investors aim to uncover discrepancies between the market price and the investment’s intrinsic value.

Value investors gain a distinct advantage through this careful study and understanding of a company’s true worth. While the broader market may be influenced by short-term fluctuations or sentiment, value investing remains rooted in the long-term perspective of identifying and acquiring assets at prices below their intrinsic value, ultimately seeking to benefit from their potential appreciation over time.

Is Value Investing a Fad?

Here is a humble opinion on value investing, and I will also point out what is and what is not. For those who do not know this investment flow, I will start from the beginning:

Value investing was developed as such by Benjamin Graham in the 1928 environment. Its investment philosophy is to buy assets for less than they are worth (intrinsic value) to generate a profit in the subsequent sale.

As you can see, nothing from the other world, buy cheap and sell at its price or more expensive. Sure, before Graham thought about it and carried it out, but Graham was the one who created the school.

Then came other mythical investors such as Warren Buffet, Peter Lynch, Carl Icahn, Seth Klarman, and Jeremy Grantham. It is fashionable because, in an increasingly efficient market, the way to excel is by finding inefficiencies such as those exploited by value investing.

Today, managers are doing things very well by following this philosophy. Therefore, the term and its followers have become popular, but we will study it to avoid mistakes.

Are There Different Types of Value?

Value investing is evolving. People like to make distinctions, although we discuss the same thing.

These subtypes are:

GARP (growth at a reasonable price). We could not consider these companies cheaply concerning the market average, but this is because their development is much higher than the average of companies. For this reason, they do not list multiples such as PER and EV / EBIT, which are as low as those of other value companies.
Deep value investing. It is value investing using elements of the “old school” balance. It is about finding companies looking at the balance. They usually hide jewels that are typically true treasures. For example, the NCAV, Graham & Dodd liquidation value, P / Net cash, and modifications of both.

What is Not Value Investing?

Value investing is NOT buying “apparently” good companies and keeping them forever. As much as they are called Coca-Cola, Santander, or Iberdrola, they are large and good companies because they have worked for years. Buying and maintaining them is not value investing. It will be a buy-and-hold or buy-and-hold strategy, but not value investing. See this continuously.

Investors who invest in Telephone or BBVA for dividends deceive themselves by telling themselves and others that they have made a “Valiu” investment when, in the best case, they will long-term aspire to approach inflation.

How Do You Learn About Value Investing?

There are valuation methods. Suppose you want to learn to detect sound and priced companies to enter the world of value investing. In that case, I leave you the link to the most recommended article in my blog on performing a “Fundamental Analysis for Rookies.” A common mistake is to use the same valuation method for all companies.

Each company is different and is in a different cycle (growing, already mature, expanding). Therefore, the considerations we need to know about each company are additional, and we will weigh variables more than others.

The differences are the most complicated part. Although there is a more rational and logical part, I explain myself. Once we understand the analytical role better or worse, we must see if our assumption is crazy.

Conclusion

As we explore value investing, this article aims to demystify its principles, dispel common misconceptions, and equip readers with the tools to discern true value. In a world where financial landscapes evolve, value investing remains a stalwart philosophy that transcends market trends, offering astute investors a timeless advantage.

Mastering Property Purchases

Posted on January 23, 2024January 15, 2024 by Stephen Huck

Since purchasing a property mobilizes an incredible number of resources, it is necessary to negotiate the right way. We have mentioned this step before, but it is never too much to point out. For this purchase, you must first evaluate your financial situation to study the possible impact on your budget. With that in mind, you will have three forms of payment: financing, consortium, or cash. Check out the major features of each alternative.

In Cash

To make the cash payment, you must have many resources in one go. So, it is recommended to think twice before making a final decision. Thus, if the property costs two hundred thousand dollars and you have 250 thousand dollars available, this may not be an innovative idea since you will immobilize a tremendous amount of your money.

On the other hand, if 200,000 dollars correspond to 10% or even 20% of what you have, this is a beneficial alternative.

Financing

With the financing, you pay the property’s value (plus an interest rate) in a diluted way over the years. It is usually the preferred option of familiar buyers, but it can also be possible if your budget involves a commitment of about 30% of the monthly income. In this case, you will need to get the property back as quickly as possible so that the rent is responsible for paying the most massive portion of the financing.

Consortium

The consortium, in turn, is the option that unites the best of cash and financing. In this form of payment, you pay monthly installments to an administrator, which can be contemplated with a letter of credit in the property’s value at any time.

The detail is that you can make monthly bids to ensure early contemplation. With the letter of credit, you can negotiate the property’s value insight and acquire it to make the subsequent resale or monetize it through the rent. So, suppose you want a real estate of two hundred thousand dollars and have 250 thousand available. In that case, you can bid in the consortium of fifty thousand and increase the chances of being contemplated. With this, you can buy the property by trading sight – and therefore, more cheaply.

What Should You Evaluate When Investing in Real Estate?

When it comes time to choose the property to buy effectively, you must consider factors that can make a massive difference to the success of your investment. To increase your chances of profit, you should evaluate:

Location

Remember that location is one of the few items that cannot be changed on a property, regardless of what you do. Therefore, choosing a property situated in a valued place is essential since this increases the exposure to sound investments. A residential property usually works best in a safer neighborhood with access to different city services. In turn, commercial property should be as close as possible to the city’s financial heart. It is not that complicated.

Appreciation

It is also necessary to keep an eye on the possibilities of valuing both the property and the region. Sometimes, the area is still not highly valued but is in development. Thus, it is possible that soon, it will become a stronghold of highly prestigious real estate. If you realize this trend of acquiring property there while still cheap, you can benefit greatly when the region is more valued.

To do this, check the data on the investments made in the region, look at the development and the local economy, and look for news about future installations and improvements. The more attractive the future looks to the area, the greater the potential for property appreciation.

Age

Another factor to consider is the age of the property. Although this is not a rule, the ideal is to look for newer properties or, if possible, still in the plant. But take your time, too. No discarding older real estate! That is because they tend to be more spacious and are great options, especially if you plan to renovate and improve to achieve more profitability later.

Future

As the property is a durable good, when choosing, you should also consider the future and the projections. Remember: a property that shows trend today may not always be the most sought after, and one that does not seem incredibly attractive at present can become rare and much sought after in the future.

This analysis requires good market knowledge to understand, for example, that a smaller property may make more sense in each area because of the natural reduction of households. At the same time, more significant commercial real estate can be beautiful.

Economic Dynamics: Challenges

Posted on January 23, 2024January 15, 2024 by Stephen Huck

In economics, there are fundamental differences between depression and recession. For example, in the US, the last natural depression was the Great Depression of the 1930s. The US economy has experienced frequent episodes of recession, however.

Depression VS. Recession

Generally, a recession in the economy is much less severe than a depression. A recession decreases a country’s gross domestic product (GDP) for over a quarter of a year. The GDP decrease is smaller than a 10% decrease.

Also, the economic recession tends to be measured in quarters of a year rather than whole years. Depression is a decrease in GDP of 10% or more each year. The fourth drop rate was more than 10%, which you could not describe accurately as a depression unless the same conditions existed for one year.

If economic conditions improve in the fourth quarter of the year, and the decline in GDP becomes an increase, then the year is considered to have been the subject of a recession. However, GDP has declined steadily, and year totals show a reduction of 10% or more in GDP.

Recessions tend to occur more frequently than depressions because a country’s economy is fragile, and slight changes or shocks, such as the dot.com outbreak, produce a decrease in spending that reduces GDP by less than 10%. A diversified economy quickly recovers from this kind of shock because of other ways to spend money.

The dot.com recession lasted for years. People mistakenly call this a depression. It did not reduce GDP by more than 10%, hence the economy in recession, and it was not depressing.

Economic Dynamics

People tend to produce a term that reflects more than its real meaning. A depressed economy is reminiscent of the type of depression people find when they must do less, spend less, or invest less. A recession seems more neutral or more favorable in comparison.

Sometimes, people deliberately use the terms to give a negative or positive turn to declining economic conditions. A politician who supports a particular monetary policy may refer to depression as a recession to lessen the responsibility of the wrong approach. A politician on the opposite side of economic policy could call a recession a depression to exaggerate how politics affects people.

However, depression and recession can use specific terms, and economists often visibly correct those who misuse words.

Getting a job during both a recession and a depression can be difficult.
In general, depressions cause difficulties for everyone, not just a particular part of the population.
Recessions tend to occur more frequently than excavations do.

Great Depression’s Situation in the United States of America

Depression stayed in the country for 43 months
The crust and trough rate of GDP decline was 26.5 percent
The reduced rate of industrial Production is around 46 percent
There was an 80% decrease in stock share.
A significant drop in the labor force increased unemployment; that percentage was 24.6%

Ways to Overcome Depression and Recession

Governments should take the initiative to arrange different programs to strengthen the clients’ pocketbooks to level up small businesses. It should include enhanced unemployment benefits. There are other ways to overcome the issue of recession or depression.

Throttle Your Expenses

Lockdown mode has made our financial condition worse. On the one hand, people cannot earn, and on the other hand, there is a complete restriction on extracurricular activities. But there is the best opportunity for saving maximum money. This period also lets us know our rate of prodigality. Track your budget, whatever the situation is. Do not compromise in this regard.

Keep Your Emergency Funds Active

A financial emergency is an exposure that brings you into a state of desperation. In such cases, your only focus is to keep yourself stable financially. At that time, you need extreme demand for an emergency fund to cool down your financial catastrophe. The best way to keep it safe for these is to throttle the amount from your annual or monthly income.

Conclusion

In economics, the distinction between depression and recession holds crucial significance. While recessions are less severe, characterized by a GDP decrease lasting more than a quarter of a year but below 10%, depressions are marked by a 10% or more annual GDP decrease. The dot.com recession is an illustrative example, lasting for years but not meeting the criteria for depression. People’s tendency to use these terms interchangeably, often influenced by political motives, highlights the importance of precision in economic terminology.

Examining the Great Depression’s impact on the United States provides a historical context, emphasizing the challenges faced during that period. Overcoming economic downturns requires proactive government initiatives, such as programs to bolster small businesses and enhanced unemployment benefits. Additionally, individuals can navigate challenging times by managing expenses, tracking budgets, and maintaining active emergency funds to weather financial crises.

Insurance Dynamics: Damage vs Personal

Posted on January 23, 2024January 15, 2024 by Stephen Huck

The insurance contract contains two different natures. One refers to the insurance of damages, and the other to the insurance of people, concepts that, although they can resemble in principle, in this article, we will see that they are opposite.

What is Damage Insurance?

Damage insurance will be responsible exclusively for repairing the damages suffered by the insured, there being a direct relationship between the covered warranty and the injuries suffered.

Its nature is compensatory so that the insured can never obtain any benefit. At most, you will restore your situation. You will return to the exact point just before the incident occurred.

It would be best if you did not profit from damage insurance.

The Insurance Contract Law exposes articles that make obtaining any insured benefit with insurance difficult. Let us mention the most prominent:

Insured Interest

The owner of the covered asset receives the compensation. You cannot repair damage to someone who has not suffered it.

Sum Assured

It will be the maximum amount that the insurer will pay to the affected. Two values will determine the amount to be repaid: the damages produced and the sum insured. The total that the insurer will receive will be the smallest amount between those two values.

Underinsurance

Underinsurance is the case that occurs when the sum insured is less than the value of the insured good. If an accident occurs, in this case, the compensation will be the maximum of the sum insured. But if the incident is partial, the thing is complicated since the affected party will only receive an amount in proportion to the capital. How is this figure calculated?

With an established formula, we call the proportional rule:

Insured Sum and Damage Value

Over-insurance

Over-insurance would be the opposite of the previous when the sum insured is greater than the guaranteed substantial value. The insured will only receive the amount of the value of the damage that has occurred, the insured amount. But you will be thinking, would the difference that paid more lose it? No, of course not. The insurer would return that part that was overpaid.

Coinsurance

When we ensure an object by insurers, this procedure is legal and, in principle, does not have to be a problem as long as the total amount insured does not exceed the absolute value of the asset. If this were the case, the procedure followed would be the same as in the previous point.

Subrogation

In this case, we are facing a transfer of rights of the insured to the insurer. This process occurs when there is a third person responsible for the incident. With this, the company manages to claim from the person causing the accident the amount he had previously paid to his insured.

What is personal insurance?

Here, the situation changes completely. There is no longer a relationship between the covered warranty and the damage suffered. As with damage insurance, reversing to the point before the accident is impossible.

In the case of death or amputation of a member, it is impossible to repair the damage caused. In these cases, people insurance gives the affected party or beneficiary an amount previously agreed upon and reflected in the policy.

As it is impossible to calculate the value of human life, here we are not talking about compensation but the nature of savings or capitalization. Capitalization means that the insured will pay fees for what may happen in the future through salvation.

Summary

In summary, damage insurance focuses on compensatory measures to restore the insured’s situation after an incident, ensuring no profit is gained. The intricate nature of insured interest, sum assured, underinsurance, over-insurance, coinsurance, and subrogation form a legal framework that restricts unwarranted benefits. On the contrary, personal insurance diverges by offering predetermined amounts in the face of irreparable damages like death or amputation, emphasizing a form of savings or capitalization rather than mere compensation.

Business Through The Ages

Posted on January 18, 2024January 8, 2024 by Stephen Huck

When we think about business, we may conjure thoughts of sole entrepreneurs, large corporations, or mid-sized offices; we always think about the great American Dream and giving our best to deliver a valuable product.

History and business are inevitably intertwined since huge business players could shape history altogether, and innovators have taken advantage of those opportunities of all historical circumstances.

Here are some historical business facts.

Business in the Pre-Industrialized World

The economic activities before industrialization were the world’s agriculture. But even during those times, there were non-agricultural activities in handicrafts, trade, household, and rural industries. Exchanges began as barter between individuals and families but gradually grew into a systematized form and spread across multiple countries and continents. Evidence of local and international trading can be traced throughout the major ancient civilizations, showcasing extensive economic interactions.

Historical records and archaeological findings in China reveal the Silk Road’s significance, facilitating trade in precious jewels, silk, and spices. The Roman Empire thrived on international commerce, exchanging goods such as metals, wine, and olive oil. With its strategic location, Egypt engaged in the trade of precious metals, papyrus, and spices. These transactions exemplify the diverse and valuable commodities exchanged globally, highlighting the interconnectedness of ancient civilizations in their pursuit of economic prosperity and cultural exchange.

During the early days, manufacturing had diverse levels. The rural accumulation consisted of metal crafts, weaving, and wood-based manufacturing. In the urban centers, trade activities dominated. Like always, multiple classes of people specialized in these trading activities only.

By the century B.C., international trade spread across Europe and Asia. All the traders would cross across the countries and exchange products. During this time, there were significant empires across regions in Europe, Persia, India, and China. Just the existence of large conglomerates helped trade to thrive.

Business During Industrialization

Industrialization developed a new meaning for business with the advent of machines. Before that, the factors of production were labor and land, both of which were limited. Machines came into technology, which multiplied the labor competency and allowed for extra production far beyond the producer’s consumption capacity.

This capacity of surplus production created the incentive for trading and, in turn, shaped the modern markets. The surplus production gave rise to the need to find a new trade route and markets. The European sailors started to attempt their historical journeys to find new ground. Christopher Columbus, who went on a search journey of a sea route to the East, discovered the new world now called America. From 1602 A.D. onwards, the Dutch East India Company enjoyed its dominance over these routes for two centuries. It became the first multinational corporation until the British East India Company later replaced it.

The colonization of Asian countries was based on gunpowder power, and industrial wealth was just a by-product of international trade, which these trading companies dominated globally.

In the 19th century, business and trade reached unprecedented levels and took center stage in human social existence. It was at that time the economy became monetized. Money that seemed like gold or silver was now just held as paper. Additionally, this was also the time when artificial business identities started taking deep roots in America. By the end of the 19th century, the company recognized future giants.

And these involved the Carnegie Steel Company, which Andrew Carnegie created in the 1870s. By the early twentieth century, European countries were competing to dominate the world business, followed closely by the American company. Japan made noteworthy progress, but the rest of Africa. Asia and even Latin America should have been included.

The efficiency of business of certain countries in today’s age placed them in the developed category, which is why creating a North-South division in the global community. Plus, it also made stakes that were entirely worth it.

Overall

If you sit to talk about business history, it is a vast, complex, and controversial topic for most. You will hear people telling you different stories and concepts. We are not saying pictures are wrong, but every country, continent, and region has ways of figuring things out and continuing a business.

Learn as much as you can about the business history; it can help you while producing your corporation ideas or establishing a business. Learn from the mistakes of previous business owners.

Leadership & Management Synergy

Posted on January 18, 2024December 1, 2024 by Stephen Huck

Leaders and managers, while often mistaken as the same, fulfill distinct yet complementary roles within an organization. Leadership is an art—a skill that involves the ability to inspire, motivate, and empower individuals to work passionately toward shared goals. A leader embodies vision and charisma, energizing their team and instilling a sense of purpose. Conversely, management is a profession rooted in discipline, focusing on planning, organizing, and overseeing operations to ensure efficiency and effectiveness. A manager acts as a crucial connection between the organization and its stakeholders, ensuring that day-to-day activities align with broader business objectives.

In the dynamic business landscape, owners must prioritize growth as their ultimate objective. However, defining what growth truly means can be complex. Is it measured by increased revenue, expanded market share, enhanced employee satisfaction, or the development of innovative products? Understanding the metrics of success is essential for evaluating the health of your business. To foster growth, you must engage in strategic planning, cultivate relationships, and continuously seek improvement.

Moreover, the question arises: do leaders or managers drive business growth more effectively? The answer is that you need to embody both roles. A harmonious blend of leadership and management skills allows for not only achieving immediate objectives but also fostering a resilient and thriving organizational culture. By integrating inspiration with discipline, you position your business for sustainable success.

Critical Differences Between Leaders and Managers

The chief difference between a leader and a manager is that a leader has people who follow him, while a manager has people who work for them. If you want to become a successful business owner, you need to embody both roles but be careful not to confuse the two. You must be a strong leader and an effective manager to get your team on board and guide them towards your vision of success.

Here’s a closer look at the key differences between a leader and a manager:

A leader influences and inspires their team to achieve a goal, while a manager oversees the entire organization.
A leader sets directions, whereas a manager plans the details.
A leader possesses foresight, while a manager relies on intelligence.
A leader has followers, while a manager has employees.
A manager makes decisions, whereas a leader facilitates decision-making.
Leaders promote change, while managers react to changes that occur.
Leaders focus on people and their concerns, whereas managers concentrate on procedures and processes.
A manager organizes people, while a leader assigns tasks based on skills and strengths.
A leader believes in their teammates’ growth and development, while a manager aims primarily at achieving results.
Leaders promote change, while managers implement it when they deem it appropriate.

Leaders

A leader pushes his people beyond their limits and influences his followers to reach a goal and complete the tasks. A leader has a vision that inspires others and becomes their vision. Leaders help create a strategy to achieve a specific goal. If you want to be a leader, motivate your teammates or subordinates, create more teams, develop trust among stakeholders, welcome innovation, and much more.

A leader is needed at all levels of any organization to function as a representative of the organization. As a leader, you must encourage the entire team to work together and support them in accomplishing their tasks. It would help if you strived hard to inspire, lead, and allow people to make mistakes.

Managers

A manager manages the organization and is responsible for direction, planning, organizing, control, and coordination. They are assisted by other employees and have the sense of superiority and authority to hire and fire people.

There are several types of managers, like top-level managers, project managers, functional managers, and general managers. Their roles depend on their work nature; for instance, a top-level manager is responsible for its mission and vision. Project managers accomplish specific projects, while the general manager manages various activities performed in the business.

Overall

While anyone can assume the role of a manager, not every individual in that position embodies the qualities of a leader. Leadership transcends titles and formal roles; it is about the ability to inspire and motivate others. A true leader can instill a sense of purpose and enthusiasm in their team simply through collaboration and support, fostering an environment where everyone feels valued and empowered to contribute.

Tech Marketing Roles Overview

Posted on January 18, 2024January 8, 2024 by Stephen Huck

Finding the perfect digital marketing skills for an open position at your company is challenging. There has been a rising number of career posting sites such as Indeed, CareerBuilder, Monster, and professional networking websites like LinkedIn. To offer you an inside look at the current state of hiring in digital marketing, we have compiled a list of roles to fill in digital marketing.

Digital Marketing

Digital marketing can help describe marketing using digital channels like search engines, websites, email, and mobile applications. The rise of the digital era [internet], big data, and smartphones has fundamentally altered how businesses market and sell their products and services during the last three decades and has created fresh marketing vocations.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is optimizing web content organically so SE can index it [Search Engines] and easily found by your audience. Paying for advertising space on search engines is called search engine marketing. SEM, SEO, and ever-changing trends have become integral aspects of Internet marketing that individuals specialize in — businesses also hire for them.

An SEO specialist’s tasks include optimizing a website’s ranking on a search engine results page (SERP), doing keyword research, offering technical SEO recommendations, creating the site architecture, and monitoring and implementing a website and keyword performance metrics. Search engine marketing specialist’s responsibilities include utilizing search engines like Google and Bing to boost website views, conversions, and revenue via sponsored adverts.

SEO and SEM specialists must be able to interpret and apply analytics, allocate and manage a marketing budget, read and use the website and search analytics, be proficient with Google AdWords and Google Analytics, and have knowledge of search engine trends and news.

Email Marketer

While email may appear to be a more traditional marketing channel, its effectiveness is far from dead. Email marketing leverages a single track to reach current and prospective customers through creatively designed emails and digital advertisements.

An email marketer’s tasks include:

Creating emails that recipients open and engage with.
Generating revenue and sales through digital marketing.
Expanding and segmenting email lists.
Reviewing and analyzing data to optimize promotions and available rates.

Email marketers must be proficient in email marketing and tracking systems, have good creative communication and design skills, and know HTML and data analysis and interpretation.

Growth Marketer

Growth marketing (or hacking) is a recent work that refers to funnel-wide marketing— not only at the top few tiers. Growth marketing recognizes that retention is critical to growth and prioritizes customer success and acquisition.

Growth marketers collaborate with media and teams, including but not limited to search engine optimization and search engine marketing, social media, public relations, and email. As a result, growth marketers may be responsible for everything from A/B testing to conversion funnel optimization to content generation and user experience design.

Growth marketers must have an imaginative and creative attitude, quantitative and qualitative problem-solving abilities, familiarity with various digital marketing technologies, and experience analyzing and implementing data.

Content Marketing

Because content marketing occurs online, it may be considered a subset of digital marketing. However, the professional path has grown in importance to the point that we believe it merits its section.

Content Marketer

Content such as blogs, eBooks, white papers, and manuals are critical components of an effective inbound marketing plan, and content marketers are responsible for their creation. Content marketing is marketing via long-form text, websites, blogs, and even audio and video content.

A content marketer’s responsibilities include:

Developing and executing content strategies.
Measuring metrics that impact content strategy.
Designers.
Managing a team of writers and strategists.

A content marketer’s talents and qualifications include:

Skillful writing and editing abilities.
Competency with content generation and management tools.
Project management.
Experience growing an online following.

Social Media Marketer

Social media marketing is another emerging form of marketing that has spawned its professionals and experts. Social media marketing utilizes platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to advertise a business and its products and services while establishing new and authentic connections with its audience.

Social media marketers are responsible for managing a business’s social media presence, monitoring online conversation, coordinating customer care via social media, generating content for social channels, and staying current on social media trends and news.

A social media marketer’s talents and qualifications include:

Superior verbal and digital communication abilities.
A creative and inventive approach to digital marketing.
Competency across all social media channels.
Experience in public relations or public brand management.

Specialist Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)

The primary objective of content marketing is to educate, engage, and convert readers into customers. However, the material cannot always accomplish this on its own. That is where CRO professionals enter the picture.

CRO specialists optimize websites, user flows, and content offers to maximize conversions — whether a conversion is a sale, a lead, or a subscriber. A CRO marketer’s tasks include:

Assessing content to determine its efficacy and return on investment.
Influencing content development to assure impact.
Track how visitors and readers interact with your material and use this data to optimize performance.

CRO professionals must possess the following abilities and qualifications: expertise in auditing and developing digital content, knowledge of A/B testing and assessing the impact of content, and familiarity with online content platforms and analysis tools.

Product Marketing

Product marketing establishes the tone for promoting a company’s products and services. Product marketers are often assigned to a specific product or range and serve as the product’s principal advocate and strategist.

A product marketer’s tasks include developing the product’s overall messaging and positioning, mapping the buyer’s route to purchase, and coordinating with product creators, designers, and other marketers.

Product marketers must possess superior verbal and written communication skills, a collaborative work style, prior expertise in strategizing and assessing marketing campaigns, and competitive intelligence capabilities.

Brand Marketer

In today’s economy, a business’s brand significantly impacts how consumers shop. Indeed, 59% of shoppers prefer to purchase from well-known brands, and 21% have purchased things purely for the sake of the brand. Consumer behavior is maturing, paving the path for brand management and public relations careers.

A public relations (PR) manager or brand marketer’s responsibilities include:

Developing and maintaining a company’s public image.
Collaborating with other departments to guarantee consistency in content and messaging.
Developing campaigns to promote and improve brand awareness.

A PR manager or brand marketer must possess superior writing and verbal communication skills, expertise in managing brands and crises, fluency with email and social media marketing, and managing projects and people.

Conclusion

Each marketing department has various roles, projects, and objectives. The distinction between these jobs might be subtle or significant – it all depends on the media they are using, the message they are promoting, and the audience they are advertising.

The Four Primary Business Systems

Posted on January 18, 2024January 8, 2024 by Stephen Huck

An organizational system is a complete structure of how an organization runs. The configuration defines how the division of businesses runs – the hierarchy and how communication flows throughout the organization. And if we break it down a little further, organizational structure explains how every role functions in an organization. With a distinct organizational structure in place, every employee knows what their duties are.

Business owners must think carefully about what systems to choose and improvise with each organization’s needs. It is simple: one structure that is right for a company may not work for another.

An organizational system is simply a company setup. One good organizational structure rests on both the flow of communication and hierarchy in a company. Each business needs to implement an organizational system, regardless of size. With a corporate structure, you invite multiple benefits, including improved productivity, efficiency, and decision-making – every arrangement has strengths and weaknesses.

Eventually, these pros and cons are based on your industry, the type of business you run, the organization’s size, and multiple other factors. Suppose you are considering every organizational system before determining which suits the company.

Four Types of Organizational Structures

Functional

If you have worked as an employee, you have worked in a functional structure. Functional structures are based on the organization being divided into smaller groups with specific roles and tasks. For instance, a company might have a group working in marketing, information technology, and finance.

Every department has a director or manager who answers at an executive level to oversee departments.

One great advantage of the functional structure is that the employees are grouped by skill set, letting them focus all their collective energies on executing their roles as a department. One of the challenges this structure brings is the lack of inter-departmental communication, with most discussions and issues taking place at the managerial level among the individual subdivisions. For instance, one division working on a project with another could have different expectations for its specific job, leading to issues down the road.

Divisional

A larger company that sometimes operates across multiple horizontal objectives uses a divisional organizational structure. The divisional structure permits more autonomy among groups within the organization. An example of this could be General Electric. GE has different divisions, including currents, transportation, aviation, and renewable energy.

Under this structure, every division fundamentally operates as its own company, controlling its resources and money on aspects of the division or projects.

This structure offers great flexibility to a large company with multiple divisions. It lets each one operate as its own company with one or more people reporting to the parent company’s management staff chief executive officer. Instead of getting all programs approved by the top level, you can also answer those questions at the divisional level.

However, a downside of this organizational system is that by focusing on the divisions, employees working in the same function in different divisions might be unable to communicate well. This structure raises problems with accounting practices and may have tax implications.

Matrix

Matrix is a hybrid organizational structure with a blend of organizational structure and functional structure.

In this system, employees report to two or more superiors depending on the situation’s projector. For instance, under normal functional circumstances, an engineer at a large engineering firm could work for one boss, but new projects may arise. The employee could also report to the project manager or their boss for other everyday tasks during the project.

The advantage of this structure is that employees share their knowledge across the different functional divisions, permitting better communication and an understanding of each function’s role. Also, employees can broaden their knowledge and skills by working across operations, leading to professional growth inside the company.

On the other hand, reporting to managers adds confusion and conflict between managers. And if the priorities are not clearly defined, the employees may get confused about their roles.

Flatarchy

Sure, the previous three organizational structure types may work for organizations, but another hybrid structure is better for small businesses or startups.

Blending flat and functional structures results in autarchy, which allows more decision–making among distinct levels of an organization and, overall, flattens out a hierarchy’s appearance. One of the best examples of its futuristic structure is whether it is an innovation program or an internal incubator. Within this system, the company operates in an existing design. Still, employees at any stage are encouraged to suggest ideas and run with them, potentially building new flat teams.

LinkedIn, Adobe, Google, and other companies have internal incubators where employees should be innovative and creative to promote the company’s overall growth.

This system’s benefit is that it permits more innovation company-wide and eliminates red tape that could stall revolution in the functional structure. As for the negatives, the design may be inconvenient and confusing if everyone involved does not agree on how to systematize the system.

Overall

See what structure works best for your organization. Just remember that every organization is different, and no system is perfect. You learn from failing and failing again. The proper organizational structure can bring you close to your motives; the key is never to stop trying!