Starting An Online Business? ECommerce Solutions – The Conclusion

Over the past few weeks we have covered the various aspects of setting up an online business and what a business owner needs to create to become successful with their ecommerce solution. Operating any business is hard work offline or online, so by managing both, the business owner takes on the responsibility of dictating offline and online strategies to best suit their business.By going over the various guides that I have previously created, the business owner will have an online plan of what it takes to operate a successful online business. There are a few extra points that I would like to state that will encourage a business to start trading online, whether it be using ecommerce software or finding a web development company.Starting and managing an internet business is very similar to managing any other business. Solid, good business practices such as customer service, good appropriate advertising, supplying products and services at a good price and forming long-lasting business relationships, are relevant to an internet business as they are to an offline business.Some differences that relate to an online business are:Low Start-Up Costs – When setting up a business online it does not need to cost the owner a great deal. Ecommerce software can be utilised to build and create a solution to sell online for little cost. If the owner decides to go with a web development company then prices can be much more for a bespoke web solution. However the internet is not a place where money and sales are easy to get, it requires planning, creativity, money and significant hard work to get the ecommerce solution working to a successful standard.Marketing Opportunities – Having an online marketing strategy to promote the business is now an essential requirement. The possibilities for marketing on the internet are huge; these could include social networks, online partnerships or digital releases. The options are far greater online and cost-effective, than offline techniques. A business owner should know there target audience and that is where online marketing can be beneficial as ecommerce software solutions can now pinpoint your area and target particular groups.Global Audience – A business owner may want to keep their service local but they must realise that the internet is a global tool to drive an international audience to your brand. Your website visitors are likely to come from all over the world so consideration must be taken to have your website readable in different languages, if financially viable. A good ecommerce software package may have this feature available.I hope these guides help business owners with making that first step into online business. The opportunities online are increasing all the time so all businesses serious about making a successful impact online must use these guides to create their best online solution.

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Don’t Break the Bank – Cheap Ways to Finance Home Solar Energy

Most people would love to install solar panels on their home and truly “go green”, but they stop short because of money. Many people think the only option to pay for solar power is to put cold-hard cash on the table at the time of installation. While this may be the “best” option in terms of overall cost (by the way… so is paying cash for a home, but most people didn’t do this!), most of us don’t have the extra $20k to $60k sitting around burning a hole in our pocket. For the lucky few who can afford this, great! However, for the rest of us normal folks, we would still like to go green and have some other options. Well, there is good news. There are some creative ways of financing your desire to go green.Let’s first talk about the traditional ways of financing solar and then we can get to the new and upcoming ways that are starting to come about with the recent increase in interest in alternative energies. Let’s make this quick and simple.1) Pay cash – This is great for saving money in the long run but is limited to the more affluent.2) Home Equity Loan – Also a good option, but limited to those that have a good amount of equity in their home. Be careful because if the loan kicks you over 80 or 90% Loan-To-Value, you may be paying a more interest than necessary.3) Refinancing – There are several options as far as wrapping the cost of your solar installation into the mortgage of the home. This is perhaps the cheapest on a monthly basis because you can amortize the loan over 15 or 30 years and thereby drop the monthly payments. In doing it this way, you should have a net savings over your old mortgage plus your old utility bill. Freddie Mac has programs that will finance up to 10% above your base loan as long as the total loan is below $240k (for a free guide to financing solar energy systems see below).4) Build your own solar panels – Okay, perhaps this isn’t a method of financing, but ultimately it could enable the more tech savvy to be able to afford solar energy for their home. Heck, you can save 50 to 75% off the cost of going solar by doing it yourself. Besides, there are many great Ebooks out there that make building homemade solar panels easy even for a novice with video tutorials in addition to detailed plans and equipment/supplier lists. If you have every thought about what it would take to make your own solar panels and save a lot of money, I invite you to read my review article “Save Thousands by Building Your Own Solar Panels – A Review”.5) Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) – If you can give up the attachment to owning your own solar panels there is a way to help the financial burden of installing solar power in your home. PPA’s are a hot topic right now so keep an eye on this. A PPA is a financing tool that allows a independent company to install solar panels on your house and then sell you back the electricity it generates. They own the panels and the electricity they generate, but you get the benefit of going green and most likely a little drop in utility costs since they amortize this long term. They typically request that you kick in about 33% (on average) of the cost of installation, but they take this into account when setting the fixed rate they charge you for electricity. The more money you kick in, the cheaper the fixed rate. The great thing is that your rate for your solar generated electricity is fixed over the agreement period, so as public utility costs go up you can sit back with a big grin on your face. For a listing of companies that are active in the PPA market, visit PPA Companies6) Lease – Another great candidate for creative financing is leasing your panels from an outside company. There are companies that will take care of everything as far as costs and installation and you simply lease the panels from them by paying a monthly lease payment that is equivalent to paying your utility bill, but cheaper. There are a couple of really nice features with this option: there is less money required down than the PPA option (typically 0 to 2% of installed cost), system maintenance is handled by the leasing company, and the homeowner gets 100% of excess production.To summarize, the financial market is starting to view solar energy as a good investment and therefore many new programs are being developed to help the homeowner convert to green energy. Solar companies are also figuring out ways to alleviate the costs to the homeowner by PPA’s and lease agreements. In addition, more traditional sources of financing like banks are starting to figure out that financing solar can be a lucrative endeavor. Couple all of this with government incentives and the push towards a “green energy economy” and you have yourself a great opportunity to finally fulfill on your dream of going solar.Visit Solar Energy Systems for more information. You’ll also find the following helpful references on our website:- Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy (DSIRE)
- Free Borrower’s Guide to Financing Solar Energy Systems
- Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) Companies

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Low Cost Home Improvement Project

Most of the time, home improvement projects are costly. In some cases, people resort to tapping their savings to be able to get some home improvements done. This can be very hurtful to ones pockets. In some cases, people resort to getting home improvement loans which can sometimes drag your budget off track and getting you more buried in debt than ever.However, you should not be in desperation, there are different ways of doing home improvements without spending too much money. Money is a resource that’s very important and should be spent in more important things like the education of your children and emergency situations like sicknesses.Here are some tips on how homeowners can do home improvement programs the cheap way:1. Know what you wantMany people hire contractors to do home improvement jobs for them precisely because they do not know what they would want to do with their homes. Consulting these professionals can really hurt your pockets only to find out later that you don’t want what they have done to your house.You can use different home improvement magazines, watch some television shows regarding home improvements or even look around in other people’s homes to be able to get some ideas regarding what you would want to do with your house. These ideas can be put on paper in drawings or in short descriptions.2. FeasibilityThere are many ways of improving your home. YOU should think about the feasibility of home improvement projects before undertaking them.3. RearrangingChanging the arrangements in your house can be considered as home improvement projects. Putting your furniture in good and new positions can be a good way to change the overall ambience of the house.4. Change the color schemeColors have big roles in terms of giving the home a good ambience. If you are getting bored with the overall ambience of your house, you can do some repainting jobs yourself. YOU can also involve the other members of the family and this will make the job easier and more fun.5. Be greenPutting in plants into the overall scheme of home improvement is a good way to give the house a fresher look. Plants add warmth and freshness to every home. If you are clumsy when it comes to plants, you can use synthetic plants as well.These are just some tips on how to achieve a better home with lesser budget. However, a cheaper way doesn’t equate to a less effective way. The more important thing is that you enjoy your house and feel comfortable with it.

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