Government Grants for All

How to Avoid Loan Sharks

Copyright (c) 2010 Suzy Vanstrusen

People who are in need of fast financial assistance are the ones who easily grab credit deals being offered by loan sharks. Why is this happening?

Well, people with poor credit history often find it hard to get approved for the loans and credit accounts they need. It is a fact that people with less than perfect credit ratings are usually turned down by lending firms and banks. So what these consumers do, out of desperation, is to seek financial assistance from lenders who may take advantage of them. These type of lenders are commonly called loan sharks.

Individuals who took credit deals from loan sharks often realize the foolishness of their decisions a little too late. They cannot seem to keep up with their credit charges as their debts often carry exorbitant rates of interest. Not only that. Should they fail to come up with sufficient funds to pay their credit obligations, they discover that most loan sharks employ questionable ways of collecting repayments. In order to get back the money you owed them, they usually harass and threaten their borrowers.

Let us say that you are in need of financial assistance and a bad credit loan seems to be your best option, how can you spot and avoid making a deal with loan sharks? You will find the answer to this question in the succeeding paragraphs of this short article.

Tips on Spotting Loan Sharks

1. Ask for the rate of interest. The first tip on spotting loan sharks is to ask about the rate of interest that a lender charges on his credit account. If you think that the interest rate is way beyond the prevailing rates offered in the poor credit loans of most banks and credit organizations, then turn down the offer and seek financial assistance elsewhere.

2. Investigate the license or accreditation of the lender. The next tip that you can employ on spotting loan sharks is to contact the nearest government agency that handles and regulates money lenders in your area. Ask if the lender that you intend to deal with holds on to a license or accreditation from the state or federal government. If it does, then accept the bad credit loan that it offers. Otherwise, look for a more credible and legitimate credit organization and file for the poor credit loan that it provides.

But suppose you already made a deal with a loan shark. What should you do then?

First and foremost, you need to contact the local agency that regulates the money lenders in your locality. Then report the transaction you have made with a loan shark. The federal or state agency will certainly help you deal with both the bad credit loan as well as the lender.

Also, you need to be informed that you are not required by the state law to repay the poor credit loan that you have taken from a loan shark. After all, loan sharks do not have licenses to operate and extend financing deals with credit consumers.

If a loan shark starts to harass or threaten you just to collect the money you owed them, you can contact the police and file a report. This way, you can avoid further harassment and threats from the loan shark, and you will feel more secured as you try to responsibly manage your finances.

In order to avoid making the mistake of closing deals with loan sharks, all you need to do is remember and employ the tips we have enumerated above!

Expand the description and view the text of the steps for this how-to video. Check out Howcast for other do-it-yourself videos from ThirdPro and more videos in the Fast Cash category. You can contribute too! Create your own DIY guide at www.howcast.com or produce your own Howcast spots with the Howcast Filmmakers Program at www.howcast.com Looking for fast cash with no questions asked? There are legitimate ways to get it, if you’re willing to pay the consequences. To complete this How-To you will need: A credit card with unused credit A tax refund A car A small loan company A signature loan company A payday loan Step 1: Consider a cash advance If you have a low-interest credit card you haven’t maxed out, consider taking a cash advance. But check your interest rate first — some are as high as 33%. Step 2: Get an advance on your tax refund At tax time, you can get a “refund anticipation loan” from some tax preparers. Just realize you’ll be forfeiting about 10% of your refund check just to get the cash a couple of weeks earlier. Step 3: Use your car as collateral Get what is known as a “car title pawn” — if you can stomach an annual interest rate of up to 360%. The amount you can borrow is way less than the value of your car, but you get to keep driving it unless you miss a payment. Step 4: Visit a licensed lender Borrow money from a licensed small loan company, or head to a signature loan company, which won’t require you to put up any collateral. Both could charge you up to …

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Business Financing Advice – Commercial Lenders To Avoid

This business financing strategy article will describe the importance of avoiding “problem commercial lenders”. The article will NOT name specific lenders to avoid, but key examples will be provided to illustrate why prudent commercial borrowers should be prepared to avoid a wide variety of existing commercial lenders in their search for viable business financing strategies.

I have been advising business owners for over 25 years, and I have encountered many business financing situations which have involved commercial lenders that I would not recommend as a result. These problematic situations have especially involved commercial mortgage loans, business cash advance situations and unsecured working capital loans. As a direct result of these experiences and daily conversations with other commercial loan professionals, I do in fact believe that there are a number of commercial lenders that should be avoided. This conclusion is typically based on more than one negative experience or an obvious pattern of lending abuses.

I have published many commercial loan articles which are designed to assist commercial borrowers in avoiding business loan problems. One of the most serious business financing situations is a commercial lender that causes business loan problems for their commercial borrowers on a recurring basis. It is particularly this type of commercial lender which prudent commercial borrowers should be prepared to avoid unless viable alternative business financing options do not realistically exist.

Here are a few examples of why certain commercial lenders should be avoided.

BUSINESS FINANCING STRATEGIES AND COMMERCIAL LENDERS TO AVOID EXAMPLE NUMBER 1 – Yes or No?

I have published an article which discusses the tendency of many banks to say “YES” when they mean “NO”. Such banks will typically attach onerous business financing conditions to commercial loans instead of simply declining the loan. Business owners should explore other commercial loan alternatives before accepting business financing terms that put them at a competitive disadvantage.

BUSINESS FINANCING STRATEGIES AND COMMERCIAL LENDERS TO AVOID EXAMPLE NUMBER 2 – The Commercial Appraisal Process

For commercial real estate loans, commercial appraisals are an unavoidable part of the commercial loan underwriting process. The commercial appraisal process is lengthy and expensive, so avoiding commercial lenders which have displayed a pattern of problems and abuses in this area will benefit the commercial borrower by saving them both time and money.

BUSINESS FINANCING STRATEGIES AND COMMERCIAL LENDERS TO AVOID EXAMPLE NUMBER 3 – Think Outside the Bank

In smaller metropolitan markets, it is not unusual for a dominant commercial lender to impose harsher commercial loan terms than would typically be seen in a more competitive commercial financing market. Such commercial lenders routinely take advantage of a relative lack of other commercial lenders in their local market. An appropriate response by commercial borrowers is to seek out non-bank business financing options. It is neither necessary nor wise for commercial borrowers to depend only upon local traditional banks for working capital and business cash advance solutions. For most business financing situations, a non-local and non-bank commercial lender is likely to provide improved commercial financing terms because they are accustomed to competing aggressively with other commercial lenders.

BUSINESS FINANCING STRATEGIES AND COMMERCIAL LENDERS TO AVOID EXAMPLE NUMBER 4 – Meaningless Pre-approvals

Commercial borrowers frequently want a commercial lender to approve their commercial loan at the earliest possible point. The assumed benefit to this early business loan approval is that it will enable the commercial borrower to make other business plans which depend on the business financing being finalized.

Because an ethical commercial lender will treat any form of an approval very seriously, commercial borrowers should expect that a meaningful version of such an approval will not be realistically possible in just two or three days. Nevertheless there are commercial lenders who provide their own special version of a pre-approval within just a few days of receiving preliminary application information. Because this abbreviated approach to pre-approvals almost always produces unexpected surprises for the commercial borrower as the business financing process goes forward, commercial borrowers need to be extremely wary of any commercial lenders that take this approach.

Why do some commercial lenders provide such meaningless pre-approvals? There are two likely reasons. (1) To motivate the commercial borrower to stop considering other potential commercial lenders. (2) To provide a pre-approval that is similar to a structure prevalent with residential mortgage loans. Since many business loans are arranged by residential mortgage brokers who are frequently unfamiliar with common business financing procedures, this reason will be especially applicable when dealing with commercial lenders that specialize in dealing with residential mortgage brokers.

Copyright 2005-2007 AEX Commercial Financing Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Technology is changing rapidly, content is freely available across the net, traditional funding structures are dissolving and the film and TV industry desperately needs to find alternative finance sources and ways of reaching audiences…. This video is one of a series of highlights recorded at a session hosted by Screen Yorkshire in Sheffield in April 2010. Speakers on this panel include: Barry Ryan, (Warp Films), Ed Sharp (Film Tree), Andrew Critchley (Red Production Company), Hugo Heppell (Screen Yorkshire), Alex Marshall (Warp Films) and Joe Morris (independent filmmaker).
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Tags: Advice, Avoid, Business, Commercial, Financing, Lenders

5 Traps to Avoid for New Real Estate Investors

5 TRAPS NEW REAL ESTATE INVESTORS MAKE

The common trap/mistake that new investor’s fall into when it comes to real estate is the notion that real estate goes up in value irrespective of what price is paid to acquire it, this may have been generally true in the recent past, where money was easily borrowed and governments were providing first home buyers with large non refundable grants to buy their first home. This created an artificial market where demand exceeded supply forcing property values up to unsustainable highs, everyone and any one seemed to be getting wealthy by investing in real estate.

So hot was the market, that new derivative real estate markets were created exploiting this phenomenon, such as wraps, flipping, Reno’s, options (which were once only the domain of sophisticated investors, were now being taught to ordinary mums and dads by self acclaimed Gurus. Something eventually had to break, the majority of these derivatives were created during the boom of 2000 to 2007 and when you investigate the people and companies pushing these derivatives you will discover they all came to life around 2001 and 2002, and most will slowly go out of business and disappear within the next couple of years, unfortunately the average investor will be hurt and hurt badly.

This is already occurring with the global financial melt down and the massive collapses of sub prime lenders and highly regarded companies such as Lehman brothers, the fall in real estate prices especially in the residential sector and the high rise in foreclosure rates have put a much different frame on what once was a market where the naïve and unsophisticated investors stood a good chance of increasing their wealth by investing in residential real estate, with little or no knowledge, and with out following any sound investment principles.

So what caused new real estate investors and experienced ones make mistakes?

The following 5 mistakes are made by new investors,

1. Lack of Knowledge,

New investors do not have the knowledge required to invest successfully in a sustained fashion in real estate, they tend to follow the crowd and jump in because everyone is doing it so it must be a good idea, or my friends are doing it and making money so it must be ok, or the news media hypes up the market by having a single mom with four young kids and no real income source suddenly telling the world how she has become a property millionaire.

2. Easily led and influenced,

New real estate investors are easily led and never tend to check the information they are given, often blindly trusting the sale person or their adviser to do it correctly.

3. Don’t Get Emotionally involved,

Once an investor gets emotionally involved in an investment and when investing in real estate this is a major problem for new and some experienced investors, this mistake takes away rational thought replacing it with irrational thinking, which is never a good strategy when it comes to any form of investing.

4. Buying emotion rather than a business,

This mistake will cost the investor dearly when the market turns from an emotion driven irrational market to a market we are experiencing at the moment, where lenders are looking harder at the investment before advancing any funds, investors that look at there real estate investment as a business will survive any market condition, as the principles they have used to invest are sound.

5. Failing to seek independent qualified advice,

New investors fail to get advice as they think they know it all, after all how hard can investing in real estate be right? Property values keep going up and people will want some place to live. Wrong, this type of thinking will send you broke in the current climate, seek out good independent advice and be prepared to pay for good advice as it won’t come for free, it will be well worth the expense.

I teach all new real estate investors and experienced ones as well to always have an independent valuation done of the property you are buying and make it a condition of the contract, this way should the value be less than what you have agreed to pay for it you can withdraw from the sale or renegotiate a lower price, this keeps you in control of the game.

I am releasing a new book on Real Este investing sign up for a copy now click here

Tags: Avoid, Estate, Investor's, Real, Traps

Scholarship And Government Grants ? How To Avoid Paying Post College Debt

Too many people that get out of college have the burden of paying off their student loans. It is so sad to see men and women with such high paying jobs making so little money each and every month because they are now having to pay tens of thousands of dollars back to the lenders that gave them the money to go to school.

This money was not given. It was a loan, and it legally must be repaid. Here are a few ways that people can take advantage of the current recession and apply for grants and scholarships to help them pay for college, and not have to face the inevitability of paying back a large after school debt.

I would like to share with those of you pursuing grants a few tips on how to apply and successfully acquire grants to avoid paying huge debts after college. First of all, never think that you are overqualified for money for the cash that you were trying to receive.

Many people think that only needy seekers of these funds are eligible to receive money that will come their way through the grant process. This could not be further from the truth. Anyone can qualify for a grant. It is simply a form that is filled out with the correct and necessary information, but it must match up with the evaluators demands.

The people that evaluate candidates are actually looking for a specific kind of need and personality to represent them so that in the following years you can return and represent their company or group in a very professional way. So, regardless of need, some companies base their choices upon your code of conduct and your appearance. You will never know until you try, and in the end, scholarships and government grants are the way to go when trying to avoid paying post college debt.

Tags: Avoid, College, Debt, Government, Grants, Paying, Post, Scholarship

Small Business Consultants: Avoid Clients Using Peer-to-Peer Networks

Very small businesses, those with less than a handful of PCs, often use informal peer-to-peer networks to share files and printers. This is in sharp contrast to a more robust client/server network with a dedicated server computer, and often selected to keep costs to a minimum.

They are generally built around a consumer-oriented operating system, such as Microsoft Windows 98 or Microsoft Windows ME.

Small Business Consultants and Peer-to-Peer Networks Don’t Mix

Although rarely utilized in the field, a business-grade desktop OS on a dedicated, business-class PC can provide a solid “happy medium” between extreme low-budget solutions and more robust (and more expensive) client/server solutions.

For small business consultants however, peer-to-peer networks are generally not a good thing – unless of course an upgrade is imminent.

Peer-to-Peer Networks Often Come With Other Problems

Since peer-to-peer networks are often selected to keep costs to a minimum, there is generally little or no budget for outside small business consultants or the owner or manager has plenty of funds, but just doesn’t “believe” in the value of technology.

Many times peer-to-peer networks go hand-in-hand with lots of other undesirable IT issues, such as a complete inattention to software licensing, data security, virus protection and data backup.

The Bottom Line about Small Business Consultants

On the flip side however, the above “IT-plagued” small business may be so fed up with the unreliable performance of their peer-to-peer network, the owner or manager may finally be receptive to your dedicated-server recommendations. And as their small business consultant, that’s your golden opportunity!

Copyright MMI-MMVI, Computer Consulting Blog. All Worldwide Rights Reserved.

About the Author:

Joshua Feinberg can help you get more steady, high-paying computer consulting clients. Sign-up now for Joshua’s free audio training on proven computer consulting secrets from the Computer Consulting Blog now at http://www.ComputerConsultingBlog.com

Tags: Avoid, Business, Clients, Consultants, Networks, PeertoPeer, Small, Using

Mistakes to Avoid With Florida Refinance

Today, for the borrowers, one will find that the mortgage rates are favorable. If you have been thinking of purchasing a home in Florida, then you are going to have a lot of thinking to do. Florida refinance is offering some pretty good deals that you can take advantage of. However, despite it all, there are still some refinance traps that you need to avoid. In the paragraphs below, we are going to give you a helping hand by telling you some mistakes to avoid with Florida refinance.

One of the mistakes many individuals make involves comparing companies. Failing to compare companies can be a big mistake on your behalf. If you are not comfortable with the current lender, then you should look for others and compare the interest rates that they are offering.

Of course, your current lender will want to continue doing business with you, therefore, you may be able to negotiate on the rates. In order to know if your Florida refinance company is legit, you do not have to be an expert in the field. Their loan agents or consultants will know them.

Those individuals will be there to help you out. They will not talk you into a loan that you are not able to afford. If you have come to the conclusion that they are trying to rush you with your decision, then you should drop them and move on to somewhere else.

Another mistake would be negligence with deciding on the most responsive loan. There are many refinance loans that one will be able to pick from. The loan that is suited for you is going to depend on your financial and personal circumstances. Depending on your finances, you will be able to go for a fifteen year contract or a loan term for thirty years. It is important that you weigh those pros and cons of yours. Sure, a loan term for fifteen years may look expensive on paper, but when you compare it to the thirty year contract, it will not last as long.

Failing to look over the impact of one’s expenses is another mistake to avoid. When getting a refinance in the state of Florida, it is important that you figure out when you will be able to break even with the expenses that you have for the loan. In order to do this, you will need to add up all of those expenses.

Then, take the total amount of those expenses and subtract the new monthly payment from the first one. Multiply the difference with the amount of months before you will be coming up with the full amount you have spent for documentary requirements and loan processing. The ending result is going to show you the amount of months you will be able to break even with the refinance.

Not paying attention to the mortgage insurance and not paying attention to the mortgage rates are two other mistakes you will need to avoid when you are looking into Florida refinance.

Tags: Avoid, Florida, Mistakes, Refinance

How to Avoid the Freshman 15

College education is one of the most exciting phases of a student’s life. Being exposed to an altogether new world with people of same age groups is a beautiful experience during college life. While attending college plays a vital role in the growth and development of the personality, there are certain negatives that creep into the life of a teenager, though quite unknowingly. Alcohol consumption and smoking, for example are some negative habits that students get addicted to, mostly during their college life. Freshman 15 that is an occurrence related to weight gain in first year of college or university students worries many students who don’t want to put on extra weight. How to avoid the freshman 15 is not something that needs herculean efforts from students. All it requires is to be consistent in practicing healthy habits. Let us know more about freshman 15 concept further.

What Exactly is Freshman 15

Freshman 15 is not a term that needs some introduction. In the US, students gaining weight, close to 15 pounds or less, are referred to as freshman 15. This term generically refers to weight gain of college students especially in the first year of college or university. While stress in academics and loads of assignments are cited to be reasons of lack of physical inactivity in college students, these causes of freshman 15 are just a tip of the iceberg. Some more prominent reasons are the fast food culture and alcohol consumption that promotes unhealthy weight gain. In short, poor lifestyle and eating habits contribute to freshman 15. Many hostels in the US colleges promote all-you-can-eat style and so gaining weight is not something that must come as a surprise to teenagers. Late night parties, alcohol addiction, fast food, beverages and drinks add a lot to weight

How Not to Gain the Freshman 15

Avoiding the freshman 15 requires an individual to follow numerous steps that have been discussed below.

Quit Bad Habits
Liberty in the first year of college life is something that students experience at the fullest. They’re inquisitive and curious to try new things, though more due to negative peer pressure than self assurance. Assuming whatever everyone is doing is right makes them vulnerable to unhealthy habits like smoking, drinking and drug addiction. Mostly, alcohol drinking and teen smoking are the habits that make students fall prey to physical inactivity, unhealthy eating habits and consequently weight gain occurs rapidly. To learn how to avoid the freshman 15, students have to ensure that they stay away from unhealthy habits that are biggest deterrents to weight control measures adopted by students.

Get Adequate Sleep
Loads of work and fast work culture has promoted late night working habits. Students sleep late nights due to numerous reasons ranging from partying to studies and hence they don’t get adequate hours of sleep needed for e healthy body. Medically, it has been established, at least too some extent that lack of sleep and weight gain are interrelated to a great extent. Learn more about how to fall asleep fast so that you’re able to get up early and give sufficient time to your body to rest after a day’s hard work. Remember, there no 100 or 10 ways to avoid the freshman 15, it’s all about healthy lifestyle.

Stop Excessive Fast Food Eating
McDonald’s and KFC are yummy to the core. While you must be a fan of lickonomics of KFC, remember that fast food in essence, is not healthy, at least, for your weight. So if you’re a student who skips lunch or dinner and relies mostly on fast foods, remember, there are numerous advantages and disadvantages of fast food and you must ensure that you don’t consume fast food in excess. Learn more about foods that help you lose weight so that you can become aware about best diet to lose weight.

Engage in Lots of Physical Activity
Although, sports activities are not excluded in college curriculum, majority of the students stay away from it. While individual interest is not something that needs to be challenged, disengagement from physical activities is something that needs attention. Exercises, if not sports, are another way to stay fit and healthy and are vital for losing weight. If college students wish to learn how to avoid the freshman 15, then they must engage themselves in numerous physical activities that interests them. There are many exercises to lose weight fast that one can try to get rid of the extra fat in the body.

Relax and Avoid Stress
Youth is the time to take up challenges, no matter how big they’re, with grit, determination and courage. While youngsters brimming with energy and enthusiasm about their interest area subjects, perform brilliantly, those who’re weak and find studies uninteresting and may get stressed to the core. Learning to avoid stress forms the core of how to avoid the freshman 15. This stress may further trigger several other negative traits in their personality.

Learning how to avoid the freshman 15 is not difficult if students are aware of tips to lose weight in college. Remember, freshman 15 may or may not occur to you in the first year of college or university. It’s possible however, if you indulge in any of the above activities that are unhealthy.

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Home Improvements – Three Mistakes To Avoid

Home improvements are made for a variety of reasons. Sometimes those reasons are confused in the mind of the homeowner. That explains the first of the common mistakes listed below.

1. Not Being Clear About Your Purpose

With any home improvement, you should be clear about why you are doing it, so you can be clear about whether it is worth the cost. People often confuse their motivations, saying that a given project is not only to make the home more livable for them, but is an “investment” as well. The problem is, it may not be an investment that yields any return.

In a report recently in Remodeling Magazine, the average cost and added value of various home improvements was shown for different areas of the country. The worst remodeling projects, including creating a home office, only returned about half of the cost in added value. With the best, including a basement remodel, you get back about 90% of what you spend.

Let me do the math for you: every single one of the improvements in every area of the country was a money losing proposition on average. Now, it is true that some are better than others. The average attic bedroom addition only cost $13,000 more than it adds in value to the home, while you lose $30,000 on the average master bedroom suite project. It is also true that if you are knowledgeable and creative, you can add more in resale value than you spend.

Be clear about this. If you spend $68,000 creating a master bedroom suite, and it only adds $38,000 to the value of your home, this is not an “investment.” The real cost in the long run is $30,000. That’s what you pay for your personal enjoyment of it.

With that in mind, you may want to consider how long you will live in the house, and divide that costs into those months to decide if it is really worth it. If you move five years later, that nicer bedroom cost you $6,000 per year to enjoy, or $500 per month. If that seems reasonable, do the improvement. If an extra vacation or two annually, or $500 per month going into a retirement account, or any other way you could spend that $30,000 sounds better, drop the project or scale it down.

2. Not Being Clear In The Contract

If you don’t know what you want, you are likely to pay a lot more than you think for home improvements. This is because whatever you agree with the contractor on, that’s what you get for the price. Every little change will be extra, so know what you are trying to do in advance, and make sure it is included in the bid and the contract.

You may be wise enough to have a deadline in the contract, rather than just an “estimated date of completion.” But a deadline alone may not be enough. You may also want to consider a clause that specifies penalties for not completing the job on time. A line saying that the price will be reduced by $100 for each day past the deadline is a “motivational clause.” Also, never pay in full until the job is done.

3. Not Being Prepared For The Process

Large home improvements involve large messes. You may have to deal with dust and piles of construction materials for weeks or longer. Consider this when planning when to do the remodeling. Ask the contractor (before you sign the contract) if he will be completely cleaning up the mess in the end, and what you can expect during the process. Will they be providing a bathroom, or will the worker need access to yours? Will there be security issues, like walls that are open to the outside for days? Will you have to chain up your dog or warn the children about dangers?

The bottom line? Avoid these common mistakes and you will probably be happier than most with your home improvements.

To see a photo of the house we bought for $17,500, get a free ebook on how to buy Cheap Homes.

Tags: Avoid, Home, Improvements, Mistakes, Three

Plumbing Contractors – Avoid Being Taken Advantage Of

Plumbing Contractors – Avoid Being Taken Advantage Of

You can find a quality plumbing contractor, but if you don’t do your research before signing a contract, you could end up being scammed.

For the most part, the average plumbing contractor you call to work on your home is going to give you a fair, honest deal. However, you do need to be on the lookout for those who might want to take advantage of your lack of knowledge about the pipes and faucets in your home. These tips will help you avoid being scammed when hiring a plumber.

Know What You Need and Want Done

Many contractors, even honest ones, will try to make the job a little more lucrative by finding other aspects of your home’s issues that could be fixed or tweaked. You may or may not want these additional services, and they may not be fully necessary. Before you call contractors for quotes, have a list of what you need to have done and fixed while they are there, and do a little research to determine what the job should entail. Do-it-yourself websites can be invaluable resources as you research the task at hand.

Call the Contractors Directly

Avoid working with contractors that call you, no matter how competent they may sound. You should call the contractors directly and interview them, not the other way around. Those who are actively seeking work likely need the work for an obvious reason. This is less common work than other types of jobs, like roofing or siding, that the contractor can see need to be done from the street.

Check References

Once you have found a plumber you are interested in using, ask for and check his or her references. If the plumber has no references, you should wonder why. Don’t just ask for the references either. Take the time to call one or two to confirm that the contractor does a quality plumbing job.

The Written Bid and Contract

When the plumbing contractor comes to your home to give you an estimate, request a written statement about that estimate, and have the contractor date it. This will allow you to compare the bids from several plumbers, and will also give you a recourse if the plumber decides to raise the rate after you accept the bid.

When you do accept a bid, make sure to get all of the payment and job details in a written contract. This ensures that the contractor knows exactly what you want to have done, and it also gives you proof if the contractor takes advantage of you. Someone who is willing to write out the details of the job and the payment structure is far less likely to scam you than someone who asks for your outright trust. Have the plumber put details about warranties offered in the contract as well.

The key when hiring a contractor is to take your time, do your research, and trust your instincts. It’s not hard to find a qualified, quality plumber, but you do need to be thorough when checking them out. By taking a little extra time to do your homework now Article Tags:
Avoid Being

Tags: advantage, Avoid, Being, Contractors, Plumbing, Taken

Small Business Consultants: Avoid Clients Using Peer-to-Peer Networks

Very small businesses, those with less than a handful of PCs, often use informal peer-to-peer networks to share files and printers. This is in sharp contrast to a more robust client/server network with a dedicated server computer, and often selected to keep costs to a minimum.

They are generally built around a consumer-oriented operating system, such as Microsoft Windows 98 or Microsoft Windows ME.

Small Business Consultants and Peer-to-Peer Networks Don’t Mix

Although rarely utilized in the field, a business-grade desktop OS on a dedicated, business-class PC can provide a solid “happy medium” between extreme low-budget solutions and more robust (and more expensive) client/server solutions.

For small business consultants however, peer-to-peer networks are generally not a good thing – unless of course an upgrade is imminent.

Peer-to-Peer Networks Often Come With Other Problems

Since peer-to-peer networks are often selected to keep costs to a minimum, there is generally little or no budget for outside small business consultants or the owner or manager has plenty of funds, but just doesn’t “believe” in the value of technology.

Many times peer-to-peer networks go hand-in-hand with lots of other undesirable IT issues, such as a complete inattention to software licensing, data security, virus protection and data backup.

The Bottom Line about Small Business Consultants

On the flip side however, the above “IT-plagued” small business may be so fed up with the unreliable performance of their peer-to-peer network, the owner or manager may finally be receptive to your dedicated-server recommendations. And as their small business consultant, that’s your golden opportunity!

Copyright MMI-MMVI, Computer Consulting Blog. All Worldwide Rights Reserved.

About the Author:

Joshua Feinberg can help you get more steady, high-paying computer consulting clients. Sign-up now for Joshua’s free audio training on proven computer consulting secrets from the Computer Consulting Blog now at http://www.ComputerConsultingBlog.com

Tags: Avoid, Business, Clients, Consultants, Networks, PeertoPeer, Small, Using