Mohit Tater's Blog, page 608

How to Make Money Online

Earning money without working on a nine-to-five job and leaving the house sounds like a pipe dream, but it’s completely possible. The internet offers many opportunities for individuals to earn money with just a computer and some skills. Some paid online jobs don’t even need any professional qualifications for you to be considered for the position.

An average person spends about 5.9 hours on the internet. Instead of mindlessly browsing through social media, you can make use of these online gigs and earn some cash to supplement your income or to save up for your financial goals.

Take Paid Surveys

You don’t need professional qualifications to earn online. You don’t even have to graduate to start. Paid online surveys are an increasingly popular way for nonprofessionals to earn money.

Earn some dollars by filling out forms and answering questions for a few minutes. You can start earning by joining paid online survey sites, such as Toluna, OnePoll, MySurvey, i-Say, Global Test Market, and the Opinion Panel.

You can also get paid for watching videos, playing games, browsing websites, and trying out apps.

Write Product Reviews

You don’t need to be a professional writer to make money from writing product reviews, but you can benefit from an excellent grasp of the language, knowledge on grammar rules, attention to details, and exceptional research skills.

To earn this way, you can sign up to websites like Swagbucks, ReviewStream, Inbox Dollars, and UserTesting.com. You’ll be asked to examine or try out a product and write about your experience with it. UserTesting.com pays you to review websites. You’ll earn about $10 for a review that can take an average of 20 minutes to complete.

If you have your own blog, you can sign up for an affiliate program and write reviews for products, services, and websites that are in you niche. You can also accept sponsored reviews, where you try the sponsor’s product and you get paid to write an unbiased review for products.

Try Freelance Work

Recently, there has been a boost in the freelance industry. Many writers, graphic designers, programmers, and other professionals are opting out of corporate offices and choosing to work on a freelance basis, which affords them more freedom and flexibility with their schedules.

Not everyone take freelance work as their primary means of making a living. Others take freelance work while having a full-time job. Taking a second job can result in over fatigue and lead to illness. Freelancing is considerably less demanding, and the compensation is usually very good.

If you have specialized knowledge on and skills for a certain field, you can find projects and tasks on websites, like Upwork, Toptal, PeoplePerHour, and other freelance job-listing websites.

Sell Your Crafts

Who says you can’t earn from your hobby? If you have excellent skills in making arts and crafts, you can use this to make money. You don’t have to go to craft fair to peddle your wares. There’s a large marketplace online for craft products.

You can accept commissioned works or sell ready-made crafts. With your favorite craft supplies, you can make accessories, personalized invitation cards, bookmarks, home decoration, and all kinds of trinkets and sell them online.

Open an Online Store

If you have a lot of stuff you no longer use, consider opening an online store and selling them online. Some things you can sell are accesories, books, clothes, decoration pieces, and furniture.

You can reach more people on the internet. Chances are, there’s someone looking for what you’re selling.

It’s not difficult to set up an online shop. You can use an online e-commerce platform to launch your website. You can also use social media to sell your things, but e-commerce platforms give you more freedom and functionality to do business however you want to. They offer tools that help organize your products, gather inventory, keep track of orders, and process money transactions.

You don’t have to man your online store 24-7 or stay glued to your computer all the time. With a smartphone, you can take care of business transactions anytime and anywhere.

Start a Blog

There are several opportunities to earn money through blogging. You can earn through writing reviews, ads, or joining affiliate programs.

First, you have to find a niche for your blog. It can be something about your interest, skills, or expertise. Some of the most popular niches for blogs are DIY (or do-it-yourself), travel, home improvement, fashion, and tech.

If you have some experience with technical writing, you can start a review blog for products in your niche. You can get paid by trying out products sent by merchants and writing a review. You can also accept sponsored links that are relevant to your niche and audience.

You can also make money through ads. Get paid every time a customer clicks an ad or based on how many people view your ad.

You can sign up to Google Adsense. Google posts ads on your blog that is relevant to your content, and you earn money. Chitika, Infolinks, and Media.net also offer the same program if Adsense doesn’t work for you.

Affiliate links are different from sponsored links. You’re usually paid an upfront fee to put up a sponsored post, but with affiliate links, you earn a commission when someone buys the product through the link you shared.

Final Word

Money is not an issue if you know how to use the opportunities available to you. Unlike many companies, the internet is not so discriminating. Anyone who has the time and the drive can earn money online.

You can make use of your talent and skills to make money by accepting commissions or taking freelance gigs. Or you can sell you work or products. If you’re not keen on starting an online business, you can also earn an income by answering surveys, writing reviews, and starting a blog.

If you’re serious enough, you internet gig can turn into your primary income generator, but that will take work and commitment to achieve.

The post How to Make Money Online appeared first on Entrepreneurship Life.

Are We Soon Going To Be A Cashless Society?

What Is A Cashless Society/Economy?

Over the past couple of decades, rapid advancements in ‘FinTech’ have reduced the number of cash-based financial transactions in many countries around the world. Many governments and financial authorities are discouraging the use of physical money (banknotes and coins) and encouraging the transfer of ‘digital information’ to conduct financial transactions.

This is exactly what a cashless society/cashless economy is. In a cashless financial system, the circulation and use of cash are eliminated and all payments are made through electronic methods only. These methods include:

Credit and debit cards
Card-swipe or Point-of-sales (POS) machines at merchant establishments
Mobile phone e-wallets or payment apps
Electronic banking

In a completely cashless society, there would be absolutely no cash in the financial system. Although the world is far from realising a perfectly cashless economy, many countries around the world are already well on their way, including:

Sweden : The country is one of the world’s most cashless societies. By late 2017, over 95% of financial transactions in Sweden were digital. Back in 2014, 96% of the population had a debit card which meant that non-cash payments had a whopping 89% share in the total value of consumer payments. In addition, notes and coins are banned on public transport and Swedish banks are carrying less cash than ever before.
Denmark : The central bank stopped printing banknotes in 2016 in a bid to encourage consumers to make more payments through mobile and digital platforms.
USA : As of 2014, a majority of Americans carried less than $50 cash on their person and at least 50% carried less than $20. With the easy availability of digital wallets and electronic watches with payment capabilities, it is unsurprising that at least 80% of all consumer payments in the USA are made through non-cash means.
UK : A 2016 study by Mastercard found that the average person in the UK carried less than £5 in cash because at least 88% of the population owns and uses a debit card for financial transactions.

Many other countries are not overly cashless, but are making a concerted and deliberate effort to change the situation:

Germany : Although traditionally a cash-favouring country, the increasing digitisation of the payments landscape in Germany is pushing more and more consumers towards cashless payments through credit/debit cards, e-wallets, credit transfers and direct debits. In 2016, the total number of electronic payment transactions increased by a respectable 8.1% over the previous year.
India : In 2016, India pulled all 1,000 and 500 rupee notes from circulation – 86% of the total currency – to curb non-traceable cash transactions, expand mobile and Internet banking, improve economic transparency and weaken the country’s ‘shadow economy’.
Vietnam : In early 2017, Vietnam announced a new policy to reduce cash transactions and improve the electronic payment infrastructure to make the country cashless by 2020.
China : As of mid-2018, over 50% of the Chinese population used smartphone-driven cashless payment systems to make more than 80% of purchases on online marketplaces like Alibaba and Tencent.

To know more about some more of the world’s most cashless countries, check out the next section.

Which Are The Most Cashless Countries In The World?

A number of countries, particularly in the developed world, are seeing a fundamental shift to a digital, cashless economy. In addition to the countries already mentioned in the previous section, some of the most pronounced examples of this official push towards ‘cashlessness’ are:

Singapore : With 61% of consumer payment transactions done through non-cash methods, Singapore is one of the most cashless countries in the world. The largest cashless payment operator in the country is NETS (Network for Electronic Transfers Singapore Pte Ltd). Singapore is also home to  InstaReM , a leading digital money transfer firm that provides low-cost, reliable and secure cross-border remittances, with the ability to send money to over 3 billion people worldwide. To learn more about how InstaReM can help YOU be a part of the cashless revolution, click here!
South Korea : In May 2018, South Korea’s central bank, the Bank of Korea (BOK) launched its cash-free society pilot. As part of this project, it announced that it was exploring possible uses of blockchain applications and cryptocurrencies to reduce the use of cash and eliminate the cash-driven ‘underground economy’.
Netherlands : Almost 98% of the Dutch population is estimated to own and use a debit card, especially in restaurants and retail outlets, many of which refuse to accept cash. Parking meters also no longer accept cash or coins in payment, pushing the country further towards cashlessness.
France : In France, banknotes and coins account for a little over 50% of transactions by number but only 15% by total value. Not only is this share much lower than many other OECD countries, it is also continuously declining. In addition, the country has banned all cash transactions exceeding €1,000, a steep reduction from the previous limit of €3,000.
Belgium : Belgium has also limited cash payments to €3,000 by law. But the country goes one step further: violators of this law could be fined up to €225,000. This rule discourages cash transactions and plays an important role in the national plan to eventually go completely cashless.

What Are The Biggest Drivers Of A Cashless Society?

Illegal activities such as terrorism, drug trafficking and human trafficking are by their very nature cash only. According to Peter Sands, a Harvard University academic, “Drug trafficking is the biggest driver of illegal financial flows and a major source of funding for terrorism. And drug trafficking always ends up in cash at some point in the chain.” Thus, these illegal ‘businesses’ are not only the biggest purveyors and customers of cash; they are also important driving forces that push many governments towards a cashless economy.

Other national goals that are important drivers of a cashless society are:

To promote financial inclusivity  to bring more people under a country’s financial umbrella so they have better access to financial services (banking, credit, loans, etc).
To increase tax earnings  to root out illegally earned and stashed ‘black money’ and identify people who have not paid tax on their earnings.
To eliminate the shadow economy  to curb illegal activities and break up crime networks dependent on cash for all transactions. The shadow economy has implications for a country’s financial progress, social growth as well as overall development.

What Are The Risks Of A Cashless Society?

In the current economic and political climate, a global cashless economy is not without its problems:

The digital/cashless financial system is susceptible to the risk of ‘going offline’. Since digitalisation is so closely tied to the availability and performance of the Internet and power systems, downtime could pose serious problems to the health and future of its financial and economic structures. This is especially true in developing countries where a lack of adequate telecom/Internet infrastructure and frequent blackouts are among the biggest challenges to the adoption of a cashless economy.

Another problem is that the current digital payments environment is too segmented and disparate. Consumers and sellers use multiple payment platforms, each with their own user interfaces and authentication systems which gives rise to multiple friction points during the payment process. This lack of consolidation prevents consumers from enjoying a seamless transactional experience and ultimately prevents the adoption of a truly cashless economy.

Some critics also believe that eliminating cash can lead to unplanned overspending. A 1986 paper by Richard A Feinberg, then an associate professor at Purdue University, found that the availability of credit cards led to an increase in both the size and probability of consumer spending. With plastic becoming more ubiquitous and an important driver of cashless societies in every developed country (and many developing countries as well), it is likely that in future, credit card stimuli-driven spending will only grow in volume. This increase in electronic payments and the move towards a cashless society is already correlated with higher levels of consumer debt and this worrying relationship is likely to get stronger in future.

In many countries, the economy’s purposeful shift away from cash has not necessarily percolated to its marginalised and vulnerable segments such as the elderly, the disabled and the homeless. These sections still depend on physical money, and are, therefore, especially susceptible to becoming victims of crime. More importantly, they are in danger of being pushed to the very margins of the financial utopia that is purportedly the main aim of a cashless society.

Finally, a cashless society is vulnerable to systems breaches and data theft. Until foolproof methods are devised to keep data safe from cybercriminals, critics will continue to quote this issue to shore up their argument against the adoption of a completely cashless society.

What Are The Benefits Of A Cashless Society?

In spite of problems, the advantages of a cashless society seem to outweigh the disadvantages, as long as the implementation is handled correctly and with an eye on the future.

1. Lower Costs

One ‘macro’ advantage of going cashless is that electronic transactions are cheaper than cash transactions because they eliminate the costs associated with the printing, storage and transportation of large amounts of cash. India alone faced an annual currency operating cost of over 21,000 crore rupees ($3394 million) according to a 2014 study by Tufts University. From the individual’s, i.e. ‘micro’ perspective, cashless transactions are usually protected by end-to-end encryption, fraud-preventing technology and digital receipts and, hence, not susceptible to physical theft.

2. Greater Financial Inclusion

The drive towards digitalisation provides a number of easy-to-use digital and contactless payment options which allows for faster and convenient transactions and also enables more individuals to access financial services. In low and mid-income countries such as India, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Kenya, the growth of a cashless society and development of its associated supply-side infrastructure will push digital payment methods into rural areas that had previously accessed credit through informal channels only. By eliminating a reliance on cash and by formalising the credit network, financial systems will become more inclusive, affordable and transparent for all sections of society in general, but especially for weaker sections and low-income groups.

3. Broadened Tax Base & Prevention Of Tax Evasion

Informal cash-based transactions are almost impossible to track. They also make tax evasion easier and thus deprive national economies of critical tax income. For example, in India, because a huge proportion of transactions (including wages and property purchases) are mainly cash-based, tax revenues are much lower than in other countries.

However, in a cashless society, since all financial transactions will be conducted through formal, organised, trackable channels, they can be traced and monitored by authorities and appropriately taxed. At the same time, tax evaders can easily be identified and penalised. Such financial transparency would not only raise a country’s tax income, but also reduce cash-related corruption.

4. Containment Of Underground Economy

The presence of a shadow economy is a huge problem for many developing countries. It promotes crime and corruption, increases opacity in the economic system and makes it more difficult for authorities to hold terrorists, mob bosses and tax evaders accountable for their crimes.

In India alone, the size of this shadow economy is believed to be as much as 20% of the country’s entire GDP. Moving towards a cashless economy makes it easier to track black money and curb illicit, cash-only transactions; which will ultimately raise tax revenue, curtail crime and make the economy more transparent and financially inclusive.

5. Stifle International Crime

The versatile, ubiquitous, ‘liquid’ and non-transparent nature of cash makes it a magnet for international terrorists, money launderers, drug traffickers and human traffickers (which also causes a spike in illegal immigration). Cashless/digital payments allow for full transactional traceability which then gives security forces the necessary tools to crack down on terrorism funding, money laundering and illegal trafficking.

Of course, criminals have found ways to keep going through the ‘dark web’ by using gold coins and cryptocurrencies. Even so, for these activities, cash is still king, and, hence, going cashless is a step in the right direction to wiping out this menace.

How InstaReM Is Leading A ‘Cashless’ Revolution & How You Can Be A Part Of It!

InstaReM, a fast-growing FinTech firm based in Singapore, is leading the cashless revolution in the global remittance space. With its broad network of 8000+ banks in 55+ countries across Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania, InstaReM can help you manage money transfers to your overseas staff, freelancers and suppliers easily, quickly and reliably.

Traditional banks and Money Transfer Operators (MTOs) charge hefty transactions fees and margins which reduce the amount actually transferred. They also take days to process transactions. But InstaReM’s low-cost online remittance service eliminates both issues faster than you can say ‘cashless’!

When you sign up with InstaReM, you are assured of secure online data access, full transfer amount (no deductions!) and easy reconciliations. Transparency and reliability are the cornerstones of a cashless society, and no one personifies these qualities more than InstaReM.

With InstaReM, you get:

Guaranteed zero-margin FX rates
Nominal transaction fee and the promise of no hidden charges
Easy sign-up and straightforward transfers
Short transaction timelines

To check out their services, visit www.instarem.com

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3 Ways Entrepreneurs and Freelancers Can Get More Done in Their Workday

There are many benefits to being an entrepreneur or freelancer. Picking your own clients, choosing your own work hours, and working from home are all reasons why 42 million Americans are will be working for themselves by 2020.

It’s easy to see why- autonomy is a beautiful thing. But while self-employment is hugely rewarding, you don’t get paid for the downtime you enjoyed at your 9-5. Coffee breaks, lunch breaks, water cooler chats- these are now unpaid. This is why it’s so important to work as productively as possible.

Here are 3 ways you can get more done in your workday:

Use the Right Tools

There are thousands of tools, apps, and services that make life easier for entrepreneurs and freelancers.

From branded email to invoicing software, time-tracking apps to Google Docs, the right tools can massively boost your productivity. Here are a few of the best tools around:

Toggl

This time-tracking app shows you where you’re spending your time each day. It’s also excellent if you’re working hourly for multiple clients or working on a number of different projects.

Self-Control

Can’t stay off Facebook during the workday? You need some Self-Control. You hit the timer and the app prevents you from accessing social media sites and other distracting websites (even if you restart your computer) for a predetermined length of time. You can also add websites to the blacklist depending on your biggest time sucks.

Waveapps

This free financial software allows you to send invoices, track your expenses, send payment reminders, and more.

And Co

Created by the team at Fiverr, And Co also helps you track your time, income, and expenses. But it really excels with its proposals and contracts. You simply enter in the information and terms you need, and you get all the necessary legalese.

Try Deep Work

If you haven’t heard of Deep Work, you’ve been missing out. This book by Cal Newport is indispensable if you’re hoping to focus and be more productive during your workday.

Deep Work is when you’re completely focused (without distraction) on a demanding task. It allows you to produce better results and understand complicated information in less time. This technique is made up of four ‘rules’ which help you focus for longer. Instead of switching blindly between tasks, deep work is about shutting off all distractions and focusing intently on one task until it’s completed.

Educate Friends and Family

How often are you interrupted by friends and family members during your workday? If this is something that constantly happens, it may be time to sit them down for a chat.

People who work 9-5 tend to assume that entrepreneurs and freelancers are spending their days drinking coffee and watching Ellen (and maybe sending an email or two). Do yourself a favor and gently let them know that you’ll be turning your phone onto “do not disturb” between certain hours so you can focus.

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Continuous Monitoring for Real-Time Compliance

There has been an increase in the number and sophistication of data breaches raising concern to the data environment. Protecting information has to be a top priority. Establishing a secure compliance program means securing your landscape to ensure you comply with the required regulations. Continuous monitoring, therefore, enables you to both protect your data and enable continuous compliance.

Continuous compliance monitoring
Security first compliance approach

This approach commences with securing your environment. Information security experts argue that tracking assets, assessing risks, assessing threats and establishing controls first allows you to develop a stronger security stance. You need to develop IT security controls before persuading the frameworks that will enable you to align better protection and compliance as these function overlap.

How continuous monitoring enables security first compliance

If your main objective is security, then continuous monitoring allows you to track the threats that hackers pose to your system and network in real time. Monitoring notifications that detect attempted breaches into your system offer a shallow defense mechanism. In addition, you also need information into external controls that maintain the system and network integrity.

How artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data enable continuous assessment

With modern information technology, there is a variety of cloud-data solutions. As compliance increases the places and people interacting with their data, they increase the likelihood of attacks. The more you assess your data surface, the more likely it is you will find a point of vulnerabilities. Closing these weak points in your data security necessitate the need for automation enabling faster scanning of large amounts of data.

Predictive statistical and big data collection models allow you to automate information collection and help you detect the most significant risks to your environment. For instance, security ratings enable an organization to assess their external controls the way hackers would. As the firm collects public data from across the internet, they organize it and run it through mathematical programs hence providing insight into how well your data is protected.

How continuous monitoring aligns with risk management

Risk management means evaluating your information assets and assessing potential risks to their integrity, accessibility, and confidentiality. Continuous monitoring in combination with big data and predictive analytics enables you to determine both current and potential risks to your environment.

Malicious hackers are continuously updating their techniques in finding new vulnerabilities. A secure system remains secure as long as it takes hackers to detect a new vulnerability. These threats are known as “zero days”, vulnerabilities previously unknown, pose a huge current risk to your environment as hackers continuously attempt to penetrate your system.

Continuous monitoring, therefore, allows you to maintain your current controls and also predict potential future threats. As threats change, risk management needs to continuously assess new risks to the environment.

How continuous monitoring relates to compliance

Risk compliance and governance are the main pillars of data security. If you are focusing on compliance as the documentation of your security stance, then c continuous monitoring gives evidence of effective controls. Compliance with the best practices means aligning your controls to a set of standards. If a control breaks, then you are not compliant.

To begin with, continuous monitoring allows you to design a more streamlined risk mitigation process. Annual risk evaluation only offers insight into current threats to your environment. Most compliance standards require risk rating of your information assets and continuous monitoring enables easy compliance.

Secondly, many standards and regulations need continuous update and protection against new malware and ransomware threats.

Maintaining a security first compliance, therefore, means that you maintain a secure IT environment ensuring you are the complaint. By prioritizing data integrity, confidentiality, and accessibility, you can align controls and activities easily ensuring a clean audit.

Software platforms that ease continuous monitoring for compliance

Continuous monitoring without proper documentation is pointless. After ensuring that you have mitigated threats to your environment with proper controls, you need to ensure that you have mapped these controls across the various frameworks and regulations. Once you map these controls you need to document the continuous monitoring appropriately.

Some software platforms make data collection for auditing process easy. They offer a unified control management feature that allows forms to map controls across multiple frameworks and regulations in order to determine whether gaps to compliance exist. By mapping, you ensure consistency that results in stronger audit results.

Such software platforms enable firms to concentrate on significant issues of compliance while doing away with tedious tasks that make compliance feel overwhelming. This enables an organization to make the process of governance and continuous monitoring more effective.

Author Bio

Ken Lynch is an enterprise software startup veteran, who has always been fascinated about what drives workers to work and how to make work more engaging. Ken founded Reciprocity to pursue just that. He has propelled Reciprocity’s success with this mission-based goal of engaging employees with the governance, risk, and compliance goals of their company in order to create more socially minded corporate citizens. Ken earned his BS in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from MIT.

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Business Lessons to Learn from the Booming Online Casino Industry

As you will know, the online casino industry started off in brick and mortar buildings dotted around the USA and many other countries across the world. But, with the realization of the internet, some savvy software designers saw an opportunity to spread their offering to everyone in the world, creating the first online casino in 1994.

Since that year, the online casino industry and online gambling market as a whole has just continued to grow in size. In fact, by the year 2020, online gambling is expected to be a $59.79 billion market from being worth a mere $20.51 billion back in 2009. It’s consistent yet fast growth has many lessons to teach along the way: lessons that could apply to your business.

Offer a safe-looking and trustworthy website

Source: Pixabay

In the early days of the internet, the news was awash with stories of people being scammed when spending money online. These days, the internet is a much safer place with websites such as online casinos being verified by governing bodies and offering preferred online payment methods such as e-wallets. Some other services are targets of hacking, but online casinos have been able to avoid such issues by making safety a priority. As online casinos feature gambling games – which have been given a dim image in some Hollywood creations – they have had to go the extra mile to offer websites that not only are safe but look appealing and fun. This can be applied to any business’ website as, if it doesn’t look up-to-date, appealing, or offer a trusted payment method – if applicable – people will simply click away.

People love free stuff

Source: Pixabay

As more and more people began to understand the potential of having an online casino grew, the scene began to see huge volumes of new websites pop up. Now, the market is so full up of websites that people turn to the reviews of the best online options to see which site’s unique offering is best for them. To stand out, online casinos started to offer welcome bonuses, such as bonus cash for new players. As the industry continued to grow, they had to get more creative, bringing in what is now an ocean of free spins and no-deposit bonuses. If your business is in a crowded industry and needs to stand out, offering anything for free can be the decisive factor when people are browsing through their options.

Evolve and adapt to technology and trends

Source: Pixabay

The first big leap that casinos made to move with the times and evolving technology was setting up an online presence. Then, that online presence has become so huge that it’s in its own category, with the land-based casinos left with their limited offering. It even has people with close ties to brick and mortar casinos, such as veteran blackjack players, moving their insights online to appeal to a much bigger audience, and to play their games online. From there, online casino game designers churn out new games every week using the latest technology and adapting the newest trends while the online casino websites will update their website regularly to stay fresh. Online casinos also recently made a huge adaptation to the massive mobile market, which required them to make old games playable and their websites accessible on mobile devices. The industry is even embracing the possibilities of virtual reality gaming, integrating grand virtual casino halls and slot games into the immersive medium. These moves likely won’t directly apply to your business but, in the modern day, it’s important to be open-minded to new technology and adopt it when you see it serving a purpose to your business.

The rise of the online casino industry is very impressive, with its desire to provide a safe online experience, offering free stuff, and ability to evolve on the fly allowing it to continue to grow in popularity. These are lessons to keep in mind for any business owner. 

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How Can Second Hand Pallets Help Your Business?

The supply chain that connects growers, makers, distributors, and retailers within the food industry is improbably complicated; however, this complete infrastructure rests on one easy component and that is the pallet.

Wooden pallets are created to use in chassis so as to form significant points where the containers can rest on them. They are promptly available on the market. Although pallets are made of different materials, wooden is the most preferred option among buyers. These are used all across the world as food storage and even merchandise maintaining containers.

Without the pallet, the flexibility to move massive quantities of food items on this offer chain would be greatly hindered, perhaps even not possible.

Why are Pallets Popular?

Move one box at a time or up to at least a hundred? Pallets are one of the greatest innovations of the 20th century. The utilization of pallets alongside the palletization of materials was once thought of to be a robust part of handling strategy; today, trade takes observation for the part without any consideration. In fact, within the effort to continually improve offer chain operations, pallets were typically checked out as a technology to be avoided, in an attempt to eliminate their price, their weight or their cube.

When you talk about a shipping pallet, the image will come to your mind is wood, isn’t it? Pallets were historically wood-manufactured, plastic pallets became a lot of rife in recent years as firms shipping usually and in high volumes understand its benefits. However, 90-95% of shippers still want the old version of the wood pallet.

Benefits of Wood Second Hand Pallets:

Wood is the most common material used in pallet construction for the food and beverage industry. To help you choose the wooden pallets over plastic and aluminum pallets, here are five benefits of wooden pallets that you can get when transporting items.

Affordability

Second hand pallets that are made of wood are cheaper than any other pallets made of plastic or aluminum. Although reducing your pallet costs can help you realize tremendous overall savings in your transportation chain.

Retained Value

As second hand wood pallets are less expensive than the plastic or aluminum ones, they still retain their value well over time. The potential resale value can help your business recoup some of its investment if your transportation needs a change in the future.

Strength and Durability

Food and beverage shipments can be quite heavy. However, without any doubt, you can opt for second hand pallets made of wooden because they are strong and capable of holding more weight than the other options available in the market.

Another advantage of buying second hand pallets is that you get to save a lot of money. But, before buying you need to make sure they are highly durable like the new ones. The strong and sturdy construction of wooden pallets means they are less likely to be damaged, helping reduce replacement costs and keeping your supply chain flowing.

Natural Antimicrobial Properties

Wood contains antimicrobial properties that are not present in plastic or aluminum. The use of wooden pallets can help cut down on the spread of dangerous bacteria, as long as your company takes time to regularly inspect them for contamination.

Overall Environmental Impact

As a natural product, wooden pallets have the potential to be recycled once they have reached the end of their life. If a wooden pallet gets damaged and needs to be repaired, do not get it fixed simply use it as mulch. Plastic pallets, in particular, cannot be recycled, greatly increasing a business’ carbon footprint.

Now that you know it all, buy second hand pallets and make your life easier.

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Behind-the-Scenes Needs for Manufacturing

One of the most important indicators of a strong economy is the manufacturing sector. If the overall economy is doing well, people can afford to buy manufactured products, leading to growth in that sector.

Often, a result of that growth is innovation in manufacturing. When profits are good, companies can afford to develop new techniques and materials that lower costs, improve efficiency, or benefit the environment.

Laser engraving is one such process. By using lasers to create imprints on materials, manufacturers can reduce the damage to sensitive materials, increase accuracy and quality of those imprints, and do many other things that were previously not practical.

Other innovations are on a bigger scale and actually begin outside the manufacturing facility itself. It has long been assumed that manufacturing equipment should be built out of high-quality steel, but even that top material has proven to have its flaws.

When used in areas of frequent movement on a piece of equipment, ordinary steel wears out quickly. It loses rigidity and causes the machine’s movement to become less efficient. The machine must work harder to compensate, consuming more energy. In addition, because its parts are not moving true to their designed path, the quality of work declines and the product may even fail to meet standards, specifications, and required tolerances.

Further, the general wear of a piece of steel will finally cause it to fail, leaving the machine inoperable until repairs can be made. This wastes lots of production time, generates repair costs, and can even cause an accident that injures workers or damages other equipment.

It is this need that has led The A.J. Weller Corporation to develop new alloys. These specialized materials have been developed with an eye toward preventing all the shortcomings of standard steel. They have greater rigidity, allowing them to withstand more movement. They also have a higher tolerance for heat, making them ideal for heavy manufacturing applications.

What results from this innovation? First, the movement of mechanized equipment follows the correct path. That means that the product is cut, bent, extruded, or otherwise manipulated into its final form in a way that is more consistent with the expected result. It also means that the machine doesn’t have to work harder to complete its operations, which lowers energy consumption and yields benefits to the environment. Finally, the machine is less likely to break down, which improves worker safety and cuts repairs costs and downtime.

Laser engraving and improved steel alloys are just the beginning, though. Both of these processes involve innovations that came years before, specifically the development of computer technology that allows the manufacturing system to operate more accurately than it ever did in the earliest days of mass production. A computer can more accurately and consistently command a piece of machinery than a person can, so the output becomes much more uniform and more humane to produce.

Computers don’t just build the product, either. They also design it. Computer-aided design (CAD) is a field of technology in which workers are able to create three-dimensional models on a computer and then produce detailed, precise designs that can be carried over to architecture, manufacturing, engineering, and countless other fields. CAD and all other forms of computerized industry are creating amazing new ways of making things, and there appears to be no end in sight.

Manufacturing has long been recognized as a reliable indicator of a strong economy, but through its innovation, it has become a tool for driving the economy into positive territory. New technologies that reduce costs, cut downtime, reduce energy consumption, and increase quality are making products more affordable to customers but more profitable to producers. This win-win arrangement provides the financial power to develop even greater innovation, fueling the economy and creating jobs and wealth.

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The Trading Business will Surprise you all the Time

To concentrate on a certain job, it has to be interesting for an employee. Otherwise, a job holder will not become comfortable with their working environment. That is why you will see most people driving towards the trading business. Because there is diversity in that profession. And you can be an independent soul while you are a business-man. You can make your own discussion and modify it with time. Trading is also more like a business. And it is controlled by individuals that called traders. It has some surprising factors of its sleeves too. We are going to discuss that in this article. Don’t close this article right now. Because you can learn about this profession by reading until the end.

Dealing with uncertainty

The simple procedure of trading is placing a particular trade with a certain amount of investment. It is mostly known as risks per trade in this business. Before you place a trade you have to understand the condition of the market. For that, you have to observe the price charts. The most proper decision you can make based on the condition of the price, you can make the most. But, you should know that the market is not certain at all. The moment you decide to trade you will see the market is changing in an unfavorable condition. That is natural. Even some of the master traders experience this kind of phenomenon. So, you don’t need to worry about it, that you are facing the uncertainty most of the time.

Prepare for everything

You don’t really know what will happen to the market in the next few seconds. For this, the successful traders in the United Kingdom always prepare themselves for the worst case scenario. A few losing trades should never break your heart. You might have mastered different Forex trading strategies but still, you will have to lose trades. In fact, losing trades is just a part of the Forex trading profession. You need to train your main and be prepare for the worst case scenario.

Winners are not fixed

Just like the favorable condition of the market, winning in trades is also not certain for any trader. Anyone can lose in this business. Even the pro-traders who know the market really well, lose trades. They might have a profound trading edge but, no one can prevent them from losing a trade. But, the good thing about their trading is, they can overcome their losses eventually. It is hard for the novice traders to come back from a loss. That is the magic of this business. You can learn from the mistakes and create a good firewall against losing trades. The more you lose, the more you can build a strong trading strategy. But, be careful when you are losing. Because you cannot let your career to be lost before starting properly.

Trust in your guts

Trading has only one controller for it and that is you. There is no other superior to you in your trading business. So, whatever the result of your trading will be credited to you only. Your trading edge is the only thing that controls your wins and losses of trades. That is why you should trust in yourself and your guts. You can take advice from others but, the decisions will have to be taken by you. And that should be based on what you have learned from this business. Have faith in yourself and your own decision making. Without it, you won’t be able to trust in yourself and will fail miserably.

When it comes to the investment business, you need to be very careful about your trade execution. You can’t take a huge risk and recover your loss. You have to learn the advanced technique of trade management to save your investment. Take your time and master the required skills to become a successful trader.

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Never Fear to Trade the Good Setups

The most common mistake done by traders is waiting for a second good trend. They forget it is a live market and every moment is important. If one trend is gone, it is gone and when it will come back is not known. They cannot accept that good chance has been passed away and they try to ride on that train again. This is when they lose their money. This article will tell you why you should never wait for a second trend. Treat every trend like your first time and you will get success. If you are waiting for your favorite time to place a trade, that time may never come. Read this article and it will explain the rest to you. People have many misconceptions among themselves and waiting for a good trend is one of them. No trend is bad and no trend is good, it all depends on how well you can perform your strategy.

Every opportunity counts

The conservative and novice traders often make things overly complicated. They analyze too many variables which make trading extremely difficult. The senior analyst of Rakuten broker always suggests that new traders to simple but effective trading system. If you use too many indicators and EAs to filter out one good trade, it’s very obvious things will get disorientated. On the contrary, you can easily open a very good trade by using a simple price action signal at the key support and resistance level. Stop missing the good trades due to overthinking.

You need to act smart

You need to act very smartly to become a profitable trader. Develop the habit of snipper and wait in the sideline to filter out the best trade setup. The successful traders at Rakuten online trading community always believe in quality trade execution. In order to act smart, you must have clear knowledge about this market. Rookie traders might think about learning the different kinds of trading strategy is extremely hard but this is not all right. Every strategy serves on purpose and it’s to make a profit consistently. So craft a unique trading system according to your personality and trade with very low-risk exposure.

Every trend brings opportunity

When you are placing trades, remember every trend is profitable if you can use the right strategy. People use one strategy and they do not change it over time. The plan becomes outdated and ultimately it cannot adjust to the changing trends. When you see a trend coming, try to identify if it is a good trend or not. Waiting for a perfect trend is going to take you forever and it may come when you have no money left. The trend happens when the money is changing hands and you should try to get profit from the change. If you are waiting, it will only lengthen your time to achieve success. Every trend is profitable as long as it stays on the market. Look at the scalpers and you will find the answers. They are master to make a fortune even from a small volatility. They do not wait but they use the trend to their own advantage.

Perfect trends never exist, every trend has some risks

The trends that you are dreaming of is never going to come in your lifetime. This is an industry where every moment is traded by the people and waiting will only increase the competition. People wait for a risk-free trend that is nor practical. Every time you place trades, your capital is put at stake. You will always have some risks but do not mind that as it is natural in currency exchange. What we want to tell you is believe in yourself and go for a trend that matches with your trading style. It is not important if you make a profit or not because you need to first develop the self-confidence.

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How Solar Companies can Improve their Installation Process

Source

Solar panels and their purpose do not need an introduction anymore. They have taken the consumer market by storm with their amazing benefits. They rely on a powerful natural source – sun’s radiation – to work, and thus, will remain a popular commodity for generations to come.

However, despite all the efforts and technological advancements implemented in this sector, we are still only able to harness 0.0001 percent of the available energy. However, in spite of that, solar systems continue to gain popularity and for all the right reasons. After all, it’s a renewable energy source, which can help people reduce their electricity bills and maintenance costs. Besides this, their diverse applications and technological development benefits are worth a mention too.

However, this article is not meant to highlight the benefits users can reap by going solar. Instead, here we are going to discuss the benefits solar companies can earn if they make their solar systems more efficient and improve their solar installation process.

Solar systems – Improved manufacturing process

Solar panels consist of various components, and there are many ways a solar company can use that opportunity to improve the solar manufacturing and installation process.

Not all solar panels are created equal. Hence, one of the best ways to improve the installation process is to first pay attention to the manufacturing of solar panels. Utilizing a classification system for a solar system based on quality, performance, warranty, and durability can help make the installation process easier and much more efficient.

And here’s how you can go about it: There are two primary methods of making the manufacturing process more efficient. First, manufacturers can improve the cells of the solar systems, and second, they can improve the placement of those cells in the panel.

Improving textures, antireflective coating , and other materials

Have you ever seen a solar panel and notice the difference of color in solar cells? While the scenario is quite common, what most people fail to realize is that it’s a sign of bad quality. The more consistency you find in their color, the better it speaks of its quality and efficient power supply.

In fact, establishing a more consistent process is a relatively easy yet most effective way to improve the efficiency of solar panels.

Reduce busbars shading

Busbars are the thin metal wires present on top of solar cells. Usually placed vertically or horizontally at the front, these wires help the energy generated on the solar panel to travel to the desired destination.

However, in some cases, the light of busbars may reflect and thus may not effectively produce energy. An effective way to counter this situation is to make busbars thinner than they currently are or even eliminate them if possible.

Users might not know this, but the highest-efficiency solar panels available in the market have rear contacts, wherein the busbars are installed on the back of the panel.

Use solar cells on both sides

Most solar cells are attached to a durable backing or back-sheet in standard black or white color. On the other hand, some solar cells are clear on both sides and are more efficient in utilizing energy.

The technology is sometimes referred to as ‘bifacial’ and is considered more efficient than the traditional manufacturing method.

Improve the installation process

Here are the most viable steps a solar company can take to improve their installation process for better efficiency:

Conduct an inspection

Before beginning the project, designate a representative to carry out a preliminary inspection. As a solar company, this will give you a clear idea about the current and future needs of the recipients.

The representative can note down the specifications and offer solutions based on his or her own expertise – especially about the amount of energy needed.

Your representative should be able to warn you in case there are any obstacles, such as poor location.

Invest in the design phase

Use the expertise of your engineers and create a detailed schematic of the project to clearly illustrate how the solar panel installation should be designed.

The diagram will highlight the number of panels needed for the required power load and their location. It should also be able to tell you about the equipment upgrading required to accommodate the solar system.

This may require regular check-through with the representative, who initially visited the site and has maximum details of the project.

Assign a project manager

Other than a representative, who will be answerable to the company for providing the required services, there should be another person accountable to the clients; This will be the project manager who will answer the queries of the clients and ensure the project keeps rolling.

Moreover, a project manager is essential for each project so that he can deal with applications, utilities, permits, and other paperwork. It will be their job to keep the company as well as the parties updated.

Professionals, like scoop.solar, always assign a project manager to each of their ongoing projects to ensure the projects keep moving according to the timeframe initially agreed upon.

Approval

After the design and timeline have been settled, the project team must apply to all the central entities – including Power Company, local government, etc. – to get the approval. It is important to acquire all the required permits before the project can be initiated.

Consider upgrades beforehand

For a solar company to thrive, it is important for it to consider all upgrades during the design and installation process only. The idea is to ensure nothing in your plan goes wrong after a certain period in your client’s infrastructure.

Plan a timeline

A solar company’s installation process can improve if it follows the timeline religiously and the project completes on time. Therefore, it is important to plan the whole process to figure out how much time it will occupy. Depending on the size of your project, it can take from two months to an entire year for the project to complete.

Also, keep in mind to dedicate a few days if you have to deal with getting approval and upgrades. It may also take a few additional weeks.

Bottom line

It is crucial to plan everything out in advance, so you stay on track throughout the project. For larger solar companies, having everything strategized can save a lot of time and hassle.

The steps mentioned above can naturally improve the solar installation process and offer better efficiency. Do let us know which one you think is the most effective strategy out of all in the comments section below.

 ABOUT Alycia Gordan

Alycia Gordan is a freelance writer who loves to read and write articles on healthcare technology, fitness and lifestyle. She is a tech junkie and divides her time between travel and writing. You can find her on Twitter: @meetalycia

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