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Tristan D. Porter

How Many Stamps Do I Need? 7 Ways To Save On Business Postage

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If you’re wondering how many stamps you need, the number will depend on the weight, size, and class of the item or package you’re mailing. As soon as you have these details, you can use a postage cost calculator to have an idea about the total cost of postage.

The majority of businesses these days are good at reducing expenses. But, unfortunately, they are having a hard time saving on business postage.

While many don’t know how to save on small expenditures, such as postage, some businesses simply don’t care. But, little did they know that they’re losing a considerable amount of money annually on postage only.

Ready to post a mail

Businesses, no matter how big or small they are, can benefit by keeping their postage costs as low as possible. Aside from using the right amount of stamps, there are many other things you can do to save on business postage, such as the following:

Cut The Number Of Rushed Mailing Fees

In the business world, sometimes, mail needs to be delivered immediately. In these instances, most mailing companies tend to raise the fees. Of course, you’ll need to pay for that since the mails need to be sent urgently. As a business owner, you need to come up with a smart strategy ahead of time.

There are mails that don’t need to be delivered and arrive the following day. When you plan ahead, you need not be scrambling to send out mails at the last minute. Make sure to draw out plans to know which mail should leave when it’s best to send out. If there’ll be emergencies, possibly, they’ll be restricted.

Clean The Mailing List

If you’ve been in the business for quite some time, for sure, you’ve already built a long list of clients you’ve regularly mailing to. However, some of them may have already passed away or changed addresses, while some of them are no longer interested in what you’re sending out. When you keep on sending mail to these people, it is, in fact, one of the financial mistakes you’re making for your business.

When it comes to cleaning your mail list, the postal service can help with the addresses that have changed. What’s more, you’ll need to find a great way of checking with your receivers to find out if they’re still interested in getting mail from you. Although this may look drastic, doing this will help you save money, not only in postage, but in overall mailing list expenses.

Maximize Costs By Halving The Mails

Rather than sending out different mails at different periods, consider putting them together and then send them as one. For example, if you’re planning to send statements of accounts and marketing mails, rather than sending the statement of account and the marketing mail separately, put the documents in a single envelope. The receivers won’t even know about it; as a matter of fact, they’d even be thankful because they’ve received all the needed documents in one.

Automate The Process

Mail

One of the smartest things you can do when sending out lots of mail is to make the process much easier and simpler. For this, the easiest way is to automate the process. You may need to invest in mail software and equipment that can help in sorting out mailing information, as well as help you handle problems about sorting addresses and names so that data won’t be duplicated.

To make the process as smooth as possible, you might need to invest in an automatic mail opener, sealer, and labeler.

Invest In A Franking Machine

Imagine, your business is sending out thousands of mails each month at the cost of USD$1 each. On average, it’ll cost you USD$12,000 every year and USD$1,000 every month. Imagine if you could save 50% of the mailing cost, it means you’ll be able to save USD$6,000 annually and USD$500 monthly.

In fact, that’s a huge amount of money that you can use for other important needs of your business. With that in mind, a lot of business owners are on the lookout for a way to cut down the expenses. Hence, you should invest in a franking machine.

Typically, one machine will amount between USD$1,000 and USD$1,500, whereas the higher-end models will cost as high as USD$25,000 or more. On the one hand, you may need to spend USD$500 to USD$800 to lease.

Nowadays, a lot of businesses have invested in a machine like a franking machine in order to save a considerable amount of money. Both individuals and businesses are continuously looking for ways to save not only on postage and shipping, but on other expenditures as well. As a business, whether individual or corporate, you need to keep on looking for ways to save, including on postage, to stay competitive and afloat.

Consider A Forever Stamp

Did you know that there are special kinds of stamps that are readily available at the post office?  Yes, it’s true, and that’s popularly known as the forever stamp. The advantage of this stamp is that when the costs of stamps increase, a forever stamp doesn’t get affected by the changes. The price remains forever the same.

Use Mail In Sending A Smaller Item

When you’re only shipping a small item, the mail is an inexpensive solution you can use. You can use this method to send all items that can fit inside a big envelope and weigh not more than 750 grams. Sending cards and letters via usual mail is the least expensive option available. As a matter of fact, no courier can beat that. As the price is constantly changing, you can stock up on stamps since they never expire.

Final Say

As a business person, you need to keep looking for ways to cut down expenses, and, hopefully, the above-mentioned ways to save on business postage will be beneficial to you. In addition to that, a little research on your part and consulting other business owners would definitely help you look for other methods you can use to save on postage.

How to Find Truck Drivers? What Works and What doesn’t

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In this era of high competition and low application rates, it’s no surprise finding the right truck drivers for your factory or business is near impossible. Once your company’s old drivers retire, looking for the younger and newer ones becomes a challenge as you have to check them from the scratch.

What makes it even more complex is that there is a large variety of different types of trucks each requiring their specific knowledge to operate. So you have to make sure the driver you hire is an expert on all the trucks or at least the trucks that you have.

But new entrepreneurs often don’t know how to find truck drivers the right way, they often opt for the wrong approach and end up regretting it. So you see, there are a few aspects to consider while hiring truck drivers, not all things work the same way so you must know what works and what doesn’t.  

Now what you need in such a situation is a proper Guide to Driver Recruiting. So here we are, to guide you all the way through the hiring process so that you can confidently hire truck drivers for your factory.

So let’s begin;

Steps to Find Truck Drivers for Your Company

Mark Down Your Requirements

The very first step to consider is to know your requirements. Identify the qualities you need in your driver and then make a list to organize things in a better way. The more you’ll become specific, the easier it will become for you to find the right person. But remember, along with being specific with your requirements, you should always leave a free space for flexibility, otherwise, things can become more complicated and complex.

Write an Attractive Job Description

Once you’ve marked down all your requirements, now come up with an attractive job description to attract more and more drivers. Add some benefits with a good-paying salary and bonuses so that drivers won’t take your job for granted. You can also depict your working schedule to let the drivers know how long they would be needed in the ground.

Post your Job Description to Large Job Boards

Now to spread your message to the utmost boundaries, start posting your job description to large job boards. You can also start posting the job description to the targeted job boards for drivers to narrow down your search.

Star Ad Campaign for Your Job Advertisement

An advertisement campaign is the best way to hire anyone. Whether it be your company’s employees or your factory’s truck drivers, running a proper ad campaign would make it easier for you to search for the right person and you won’t have to search house by house.

So once you have come up with an attractive job description, approach any of the best advertisement companies to manage and carry out your truck driver ad campaign. Or you can also carry out the campaign by yourself by following the right guidance. The best way to start advertising your job is either via TV broadcasting, newspapers, or simply on social media platforms.

Send Interview Questions to Applicants via Email

The moment you start advertising for your job, you’ll begin to receive the applications in thousands of numbers. Of course, you can’t hire all the thousands of applicants, so what you need now is to narrow down the candidate’s list. How are you gonna do that?

Simple, just start interviewing each of them and you’ll come up with your decision. But of course, you’re not gonna conduct in-person interviews of each of the thousand candidates, so start by sending screen questions to each of them via email.

Write down some common questions regarding the requirements you are looking for in your driver, and mail them to all the candidates.

Once you receive all the replies from applicants, start selecting the candidates who match your requirements to proceed further.

Conduct an In-person Interview

Once you have marked down all the right people on your list, now it’s time to conduct one final interview to lock them. For this, you’ll have to carry out an in-person interview of each of them to judge the person you’re gonna hire.

Talking over the phone is one thing, and meeting someone, in reality, is another. And as it is said, the first impression is also the last one, so to judge them by their first impression, it is important to conduct an in-person interview. Once you have interviewed each of the candidates, now it’s time to follow up with the next step.

Don’t Forget to Carry Out a Road Test

Now to practically check whether the people you’re gonna hire are eligible for the job or not, you’re gonna have to conduct a road test. Schedule the road test day with each of the drivers, though it’s gonna be a time-taking process, but trust me, it will be worth the effort because by testing their driving abilities, you can be more sure about your decision and a hint of doubt and confusion would be cleared.

Do their Medical Test

While hiring a truck driver, it is vital to make sure they are not on drugs because otherwise, it can bring many problems for you and your company. So once you have decided whom you’re gonna hire, don’t forget to do a drug test for the last time and make their MVR report for emergency situations.

Now Start Hiring

Once all is set, you’ve found the ones that meet your requirements, conducted their road test, and cleared any doubts of drug use, now it’s time for the action. Start hiring the candidates you have chosen, prepare their documents, take their oath and signature, and complete all the formalities to get them started on the job.

Don’ts

Don’t Be Hasty

This is the one mistake people often make while recruiting new drivers. They rush off with their decision of either choosing or regretting someone. It’s not something appreciated and suggested because you should take complete time before making the decision and also give your driver a time too. Haste makes waste, as always said, so make sure to look over and over your decision before finalizing it.

Don’t forget to examine the Truck before Testing

Never take your driver for a test driving before examining the condition of the truck. It can either lead to severe circumstances, or you may end up losing a good driver because the problem might be in your truck but you think it’s the driver.

Don’t Test on the Outdated Trucks

Don’t ever compromise on the updated technology while testing your driver. Get rid of outdated trucks and provide your driver with the most recent models of trucks so that he can perform to his utmost.

Do’s

Do provide them with a Flexible Schedule

While handing over the drivers their schedule, make sure to add a free space and provide enough flexibility, because after all they too are humans and have families to give time. So you should never expect them to give you their 24 hours of service.

Do give them a Little Importance

Showing respect, a bit of importance to the drivers you are going to hire, and making them feel they are an integral part of the company can really help you with the hiring process.

Get to know them in person

Before hiring the truck drivers, make sure to know and understand them in person, check their track record, meet their families and friends so that you can be assured of whom you are hiring and your mind can be cleared of any doubts regarding the drivers.

How a Special Purpose Vehicle is Set Up to Launch a Fund Successfully

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Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) are affiliate legal entities of a parent company that are not vulnerable to financial risks. Also called Special Purpose Entities (SPEs), SPVs are formed during a limited business acquisition. Since it is considered a separate company, it remains secure even if the parent company files bankruptcy.

This bankruptcy-remote entity is preferable in various financial situations. But before knowing the circumstances when you can consider it, you must know how it works.

Read on to learn about how a special purpose vehicle is set up and its benefits.

How a Special Purpose Vehicle Functions

The SPV has its balance sheet, although it is a subsidiary of a parent corporation. It becomes an indirect source of funds and attracts independent equity investors. So, it helps the original corporation find debt purchasers for long-term credit obligations.

When an SPV forms, it purchases the risk assets from the parent organization. After grouping them into specific credit risk preferences, it finds different types of debt buyers.

How Is a Special Purpose Vehicle Formed?

In the U.S., special purpose vehicles created are mostly limited liability corporations (LLCs). Capital-raising SPVs can also be limited partnership (LP) entities. It can form with the same requirements as these entities.

How a special purpose vehicle is set up depends on the transferred assets’ market value. The parent company sells some assets to raise funds for the SPV. By paying over 3% of the “at-risk” investment, an independent third-party becomes its legal equity owner. The investors get paid in highly-rated investment-grade securities that bear interests for the assets purchased.

When Can You Use Special Purposes Vehicles?

From protecting the parent company from liabilities as well as insolvency or bankruptcy, SPVs offer many benefits. They are excellent ways to raise capital and do not have the original organization’s regulations.

Here are some common reasons to create an SPV:

Risk Sharing

A company can isolate the significant risks of a project and share it among other investors.

Asset Transfer

A company can let the SPV own the assets that are hard to transfer. When it is time to move the assets, it can simply sell the SPV.

Property Sale

If the property sale taxes are higher than the capital gain, a company has another option. Instead of selling the properties, it can sell the SPV and pay tax on the capital gain.

Securitization

For instance, high-risk loans can be separated by the bank. The company offers investors these mortgage-backed securities.

Since the SPV has fewer statutory requirements, it has more freedom to operate. The parent company has more options in making asset allocations without having to reveal them to investors.

The parent corporation can make high-risk future investments and current transactions without fearing insolvency. Creditors buying the assets have protection as the SPV doesn’t get affected by the entire company.

Off-Balance-Sheet

The special purpose vehicle has a separate balance sheet to record its assets and liabilities. Debt and equity also remain isolated from its parent company, with limited capitalization and no independent managers. When the risk of bankruptcy is high, it is better to use an off-balance-sheet SPV.

Merits of Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer

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Each year, over 4 million people in the U.S. suffer a workplace injury. On the other hand, with over 5 million car accidents in the country, nearly 90 lives are lost in fatal car crashes almost every day.

In the case of personal injury, it is ideal to hire an attorney, who can legally win you the compensation you deserve. Once in an accident, the emotional and financial ramifications can be overwhelming. The personal injury attorneys like https://www.latuliplaw1.com can significantly strengthen your case and get the maximum compensation for your losses.

Here are some plausible reasons for hiring an attorney for legal assistance after an accident involving personal injury.

Personal Injury Attorneys Have a Better Understanding of the Legal Process

In states like Indiana, if you happen to have an accident and wish to claim compensation, you have to file the case within two years from the accident date. Likewise, some states are “fault” insurance states, while others are “no-fault” insurance states.

An experienced lawyer will guide you with the state laws and the paperwork so that there are no loopholes in your claims that the other party may use in their favor.

Offer Guidance for the Litigation Procedure

The insurance company or the other party often challenges your claims, giving you no other option but to take your case to court. Though your injury claims are legitimate, you might not win your case if the other party has a powerful legal team.

Hiring a lawyer can even things out since a legal representation can bolster your case, helping you win the most of your claim.

Help you Build a Strong Case

You need to have all your evidence in place to prove that the offending party is at fault.

A skilled lawyer will work on collecting the required evidence. They interview other witnesses, obtain police and accident reports, and get your medical reports analyzed by medical experts.

With the legal documents in order, the lawyers will surely help you win your compensation.

Excellent Negotiation Skills

Whether it is the insurance companies or other party’s legal team, all will put their best foot forward. It’s not easy to match the negotiation capabilities of such professionals. 

Even if the other party is guilty of injuring you, their representatives might convince you to accept a settlement that does not do justice to your losses.

Thus, a proven solution is to hire personal attorneys like https://www.latuliplaw1.com. Owing to their bargaining skills, lawyers can surely argue in a way that your case becomes more potent, ensuring the compensation you deserve.

A Personal Attorney Can Estimate the Right Value of Your Claim

It is less likely that you can decide the exact compensation you should claim that justifies your sufferings.

An experienced personal injury lawyer knows the actual value of your claim. There are plenty more nuances that go into valuing your compensation, that only a skilled lawyer is well-aware.

Ideally, the lawyers analyze your injuries, assess your pain and suffering, understand the insurance company’s tactics, and estimate your future medical needs. If required, they consult medical experts to make precise estimations.

Offer Guidance to Settle or File a Lawsuit

The personal injury attorney has complete knowledge about the state’s laws and the civil justice system. Also, being aware of your case’s value, your attorney will know whether you will surely win the compensation. If they sense that your case is not strong enough, they will guide you to accept the insurance company’s deal. Likewise, if they are confident about your stance, they will advise you to take your case to trial.

The manufacturing industry in the U.S. claims nearly 400,000 workplace injuries, while technical services account for over 65,000 workplace injuries. If ever in a workplace accident, it is best to hire a personal injury lawyer to win a well-deserved compensation.