Are you aware of planning in business?

Human beings are rational agents. Rationality endorses one to take up planning in every sphere of life from shifting to a new house to marriage, as well as business. A business plan is first and most significant premise to reach and run a successful business. It is not just that capital that makes a business successful but it is also planning done in a prudent manner that plays a crucial role.

In simple terms a business plan is nothing but a written plan that delineates monetary or fiscal structure (an outlay)-for purpose of either promoting an already established business i.e. to say a new venture or for starting up of a new business. Like map of a building made by an architect prior to its making demonstrates how building will look like with all its rooms, lawns, lobby etc. similarly a business plan is a guide that presents all details of a business- from money to amount of people involved, from flow of capital invested to money expected to be accrued in form of profits, from predictable rate of growth to snags one can land into.

A business plan gives an entrepreneur a fair idea of how much investment is required, in what areas and how will it lead to benefits in his business. This in turn enables him to seek loans and finances from market. For once a business plan is made it becomes trouble-free for individual to explain his idea (for example if he wants to launch a new product), its uniqueness and material gains that follow from it. Such a plan well demonstrates passage of money required to meet a horde targets that one seeks to achieve through his business. It is an easy guide that facilitates navigation to all crucial aspects of a business like – significance and exclusiveness of idea (business), chosen native place for it, market planning, kind of consumers targeted and in what areas, approximate budget involved in promotion or growth of business, tentative dates to meet targets, key areas and factors of escalation and last but not least methodology adopted in this enhancement. All these therefore form basic components of a business plan.

Fraud - would you credit it?

Findings from a recent study by APACS show that amount of overseas fraud exploiting UK debit and credit cards has hit a five-year low. However with ID fraud as one of UK's fastest-growing crimes, this should not be a cause for credit card protection complacency. The figures show credit card fraud overseas £92.5m in 2004, which is lowest figure since 1999, and following a £138.4m peak in 2001. This downward trend was largely attributed to improved fraud detection systems which enable card companies to spot unusual spending patterns associated with fraudulent use of cards, rather than recent introduction of chip and pin cards. Sandra Quinn of APACS said "Simple things like making sure your cards never leave your sight, and remembering to dispose of receipts carefully, can make all difference." Holidaymakers need to take care when using their plastic abroad, especially in US, France and Spain, which account for nearly half of fraud against UK cards. Foreign fraud on UK cards now accounts for 18% of total UK card fraud, which reached just under £505 million in 2004. APACS advised that holiday makers should: * Keep valuables safe and out of sight, for example in a concealed money belt * When driving, keep handbags and wallets out of sight of opportunistic thieves, especially in slow-moving traffic and always remove cards and valuables from parked cars * When paying be wary of letting your card out of your sight * When you return home, check your statements carefully for any unfamiliar transactions * Inform your bank in advance that you will be using your card abroad * Carefully dispose of any receipts or statements * Don’t tell anyone your PIN, even if they claim to be from bank or police. * If you have chip and pin cards make sure you memorise your pin numbers * Make sure you have 24-hour phone number to cancel your cards in case they are lost or stolen Source: APACS ( http://www.apacs.org.uk/ )