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One and Co

Archives for February 2018

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Reasons Why You Should Improve Your Credit Score

Your credit score determines your financial future. Although this score will not visibly affect you and your daily life, it is important to anchor yourself into this belief so your finances are secured and managed.

This rating is a three-digit numerical indicator of your trustworthiness as a consumer. Lenders and loan providers look at this score when they accept applications and whether they will open an account for you. There are several aspects on why this score dwindles down for most people, and these include not paying bills on time, inability to settle debts, and some recurring bad habits.

Here are the top reasons why you should improve your credit score.

Relationship Seekers Now Look At One’s Credit Score

Are you a single man or a single woman who wants to take a leap and enter into a relationship? New studies have revealed that individuals are now more practical when it comes to entering an emotional commitment. Not only do lenders judge you based on your credit scores, but also potential lovers as well. If these financial institutions are concerned about their confidence of you paying their loans, these people are concerned about you being able to financially sustain your family once you start to raise one.

  1. It Affects Your Home Purchases, Rents

Getting approved for a house loan during the time you decided to purchase new properties depend on credit scores. Interested real estate investors need to make sure that you are eligible for the most cost-efficient rates.

  • If you ever want to avail these good deals, then your credit rating should be high. Aside from earning yourself a new house, individuals planning to rent out spaces may also be asked to show their scores.
  1. It Is An Important Tool For Aspiring Business Owners

Thinking about starting your own business? It is not as simple as spending your capital, building the store, and opening it. Aspiring business owners need to obtain the right financing from investors – often called angel investors – to get started. With the concept of loans and financing coming forward again, so as your credit scores.

  • Note that there are also business partners and, in rare cases, consumers that take a peek at your personal scores when deciding on hiring the services or getting the products that you will be selling in the future.
  1. It Can Make Or Break Your Ownership Of A New Car or Home

What is better than being able to finally own your new car or home? Parents need at least one family car to take their children to school, and an individual that has a car is a sign of independence.

  • However, if you have bad credit scores, companies will think twice about giving you good interest rates on car and home loans. Not to mention you won’t get pre-approved for home loans if you’re credit is bad enough. If this happens, it will increase your expenses and instead of saving as much when buying such a luxury, or when paying to maintain additional expenses involved such as, maintenance, household bills, etc. This means you may end up in financial trouble.
  1. It May Cost Your Acceptance To That Dream Job

Most people, especially those who took up various degrees, are attracted to getting jobs that involving taking care of other people’s money. This involves insurance agencies, investment firms, and property selling businesses.

  • When you are eyeing for a job that will entitle you to your client’s finances, they have to be sure to they are in good hands. One thing that human resources teams and business owners look at when seeking for talents is their credit scores.
  • You may have a nice resume, a very promising experience list, or a credential that everybody dreams of, but when you show a bad credit history, it may get you from top to bottom. Aside from building up your resume, think about taking care of your credit scores. This is not a major reference point of hiring professionals but the impacts of maintaining a good one can affect you landing on your dream job.
  1. It Opens Up Possibilities – Travel Rewards, Shopping Perks, And More

The responsible consumer looks at all avenues of opportunities that he or she can use. Travel and shopping are both fun to do, but aren’t really a necessity to survive. However, we can’t deny that being offered with perks and entitlements such as travel rewards and free gift items by major companies can be delightful. Unfortunately, only those who good credit ratings can be eligible of these.

  • Most of the time, credit card companies for instance will make it available for their clients to earn points and get rewards when they use their cards frequently and of course, when they pay bills on time. It follows that not being able to settle bills can affect your chances on landing onto these perks.

Conclusion

Your credit score can be a valuable asset should you want to make plans for a more financially stable future. This helps determine the kind of loans you get, and your score helps you assess your current financial situation and plot the necessary steps in order to improve your situation. Improving on it might be a pain, and it can take time and effort, but these can bring a lot of benefits in the long run.

With these tips in hand, you are on your way to a bright financial future.

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Ways To Save Money On Your Household Bills

The cost of living in the UK is on the rise and has been for some time. A decade on from the beginning of one of the worst financial crises the world has ever seen, many British households still feel that they haven’t fully recovered. Coupled with the austerity program that the country has been under for the best part of a decade now, many households in the UK are caught up in a constant battle to reduce costs and make what money they have go as far as possible.

Things are not entirely bleak though! The good news is that there are a number of really simple things that any and all of us can do to reduce our household bills. Because these bills pay for essential services and utilities such as water, electricity, and broadband, we often just accept that these costs are a necessity and we don’t do what we should to investigate ways of reducing them.

Let’s take a look at the types of household bills, which tend to cost the most and represent the best opportunities for reducing your monthly expenditures.

Phone and Broadband

We are very lucky in the UK to have a great deal of choice when selecting a phone and internet provider. You have no doubt heard of the concerns that many in the US have now that net neutrality has been repealed. While we still have net neutrality here in the UK, we also have something that’s even better: a genuine choice of supplier. Oftentimes, we sign up for the best phone and broadband package that we can find as soon as we move into a new place and many of us never review our decision.

If you have been with your provider for some time, then you might want to phone them and see if you can negotiate a better deal. If you tell your provider that you are considering switching, then they will usually offer you a better deal to keep you as a customer. You can find some other tips for saving money on your phone and broadband here.

Water

The average monthly water bill for a UK household is in the region of £32. Unfortunately, homeowners don’t have a choice about who provides their water, but there are still a couple of things you can do to reduce your bill. Having a free water meter installed will make it easier for you to monitor your usage and adjust it accordingly. If you take baths, then consider switching to showers, which use much less water. If you’re cleaning the kitchen and need to wash dishes, make sure you do not leave the water running the whole time. Simple things such as, monitoring and being aware of how much water you are using can make a huge difference.

Gas and Electricity

There are a multitude of energy suppliers out there, so you should be able to shop around and look at a number of different packages. Once you’ve found the best value supplier in your area, you can then look at ways of reducing your electricity usage. The most significant savings here can be made by reducing the need to heat your home using electricity or gas. These aluminium radiators from Warmrooms are more efficient and ecologically friendly.

We would all like to be able to reduce our monthly expenditure on household bills, and yet few of us make a serious effort to do so. Be sure to investigate all the available suppliers of utilities in your area, then see if you can find ways of reducing the resources that you use.

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Understanding Business Clusters And How Can They Help Small Businesses Today

What are Business Clusters?

Business clusters can be described as a location where interconnected businesses are concentrated. For example, Saville Row in London is a street where many bespoke tailors have their businesses situated. The point of this is to create a hub where several businesses in the same field exist side by side and create an easily accessible location that potential shoppers can gravitate towards.

Other examples of business clustering in the UK include Hull which is famed for offshore wind and Dundee which is a hub for gaming innovation.

How can business clusters drive success

Business clusters drive success by providing a popular location where all shoppers know can be visited to get the quantity and quality of a specific product they want. Being part of a business cluster is in its own way an effective form of advertising that places a business in a location where it is most likely to get optimal exposure and actually make sales.

The Benefits of Business Clustering

The benefits of business clustering to small businesses today are immense and below are just a few of the more noticeable ones.

Partner Proximity

With business clustering, you can have trade channel partners located in one location. That is, a small business can be surrounded by its favourite distributors, suppliers, and manufacturers. This increases the ease of doing business and makes it easier and more cost effective for a small business to go about its daily activities.

Customer Convenience

Business clustering attracts more customers because it invites more shoppers to walkthrough and select a store of their choice among the many located in the same location. While competition can be stiff in a business clustering scenario, it still provides a great deal of opportunity for both shoppers and sellers alike.

Foot Traffic

Business clustering tends to attract more foot traffic which is often generated by the presence of neighbouring businesses. This means stores in a business cluster are more likely to have walk-ins in comparison to isolated businesses or online business.

Increased Buying

Increased foot traffic within a business cluster will likely lead to an increase in impulse buys by walk-ins. Social media advertising and other forms of marketing can also be used to generate even more foot traffic by generating publicity about certain sale events within the hub.

Increase productivity

Because of the synergy between establishments co-existing in a business cluster, individual firms can experience increased productivity thanks to specialised input and access to information from neighbouring companies

Faster innovation

Because competition is often fierce within a business cluster, companies have no choice but to be constantly innovative if they are to get ahead of other companies. At times, companies engage in cooperative research and join forces to develop new and better way to appeal to customers and satisfy their needs.

New business formation

With time, innovative firms within a business cluster will develop new products to satisfy unexplored niches and thus offer more to shoppers.

As can be seen from the above, rather than fear business clusters, small businesses can take advantage of them to gain greater exposure and reach new customers. Such small businesses simply need to have a plan that will help them stand out from the crowd and win over more members of their target market.

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What Would You Do If You Won The Lottery?

Winning the lottery is a dream that many people have. You might imagine how you would spend the money you have won. Depending on how much you win, there are so many things you can do with the windfall. There are smart ways to secure your money for long-term wealth and avoid common pitfalls. Check out the following for ideas on what to do if you win big from playing the lottery.

First steps

When buying your ticket, you might have to decide if you want to receive your winnings in a lump sum or in payments. Lump sum winnings are taxed upfront, but payments are taxed individually. If you know that you can responsibly invest the lump sum, then it might be worth taking that route, but the installment plan rations your winnings, so you have a steady stream of money over a set time.

If you realize that you are holding a winning ticket, immediately sign the back of it. Anyone with a valid photo ID and their signature on the ticket can cash it in. You can sign up for alerts to let you know when you have won; that is a good idea because lotto alerts inform you to quickly sign your ticket and claim your winnings.

Hire investors, accountants, and lawyers who have your best interests in mind when helping you manage your money. Gather a team together who will help you make prudent and cautious decisions about investing and meeting your long-term financial goals.

Dream purchases

What is your dream purchase if you win the lottery? Making a budget is essential with a cash windfall, but there are probably a few major purchases that you would like to make with a portion of the money.

  1. Think about buying your dream car. Maybe you have always wanted a custom-built home, so you can spend your days in comfort or you might choose to remodel your current home. A vacation home or a RV can allow you to travel with freedom.
  2. Look at life’s luxuries, like hot tubs, swimming pools, manicured lawns and gardens, ultra-comfortable mattresses, and designer clothing.
  3. Splash out on the latest technology. From smart devices to virtual reality, there are some incredible items on the market. You could even look into getting a new high-end computer loaded with design software or a new TV.
  4. For those who have the basics covered, you might spend big on a nice trip across Europe or Asia. Consider indulging in culture, food, language, and customs.

Mistakes to avoid

If your name is released as a winner of the lottery, it can be difficult to maintain your privacy. That can lead to being hounded by anyone you know who wants money, and attention by the press. Experts suggest hiring a legal representative to handle media questions and avoid sharing personal information about how you chose the winning numbers, especially if they are birthdates, social security numbers, or other personal information.

Keep your family out of it. Deleting social media accounts can cut off people seeking money or information from your connections. Avoid answering questions from reporters about friends and family members as well.

Believe it or not, no matter how much money you receive, you will still need a budget. Winners who eventually file for bankruptcy are always in shock that they went through a large sum of money in such a short time. While you are setting your budget and dealing with the legal aspects, it is smart to continue life as you normally would and avoid telling family members and coworkers the news until you have made investments and planned out your finances.

Previous winners

Most lottery success stories begin with making smart financial decisions, like investing money for long-term wealth and then carefully budgeting the rest.

Winners often use their money to retire early with proper planning and ensure that their closest family members have financial stability. Some found charitable organizations and help those in need, while others set up a trust or give away their earnings.

From securing your ticket to creating a budget, there are a few things that you can do when you win the lottery. Make sure that you have set up alerts so you are the first to know and be cautious about who you tell. Hire professionals to deal with the difficult aspects and create a clear vision of what you want to do most with your winnings. Hopefully by following these tips, you are able to get the most out of winning the lottery.