Englih Article> Tips for Prescribing a Future for Your Business

Englih Article> Are you wondering what the future holds for your business? Whether you want to predict your future or prescribe an outcome of your choosing, you'll have plenty of company!

Throughout history, we humans have tried many ways to predict the future, from reading palms to stargazing. Today, we refer to these as descriptive methods when we attempt to describe objectively what the future will be or could be.

On the other hand, prescriptive methods focus on determining what the future should be. These techniques can help us clarify our preferences and values so we can create a vision of what we would like to see in our lives, businesses, or communities.

Once we understand what we would like the future to represent, we're better able to take the actions required to implement it. Ideally, that future will align with our passions, gifts, and what we (or our companies) can really be the best at doing. This article suggests a two-stage process for achieving that goal.

First, Identify Your "Hedgehog Concept"

So, what can you be the best in the world (or at least in your community) at doing? This thought-provoking reflection is one of many from Jim Collins' "Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't."

Collins' team examined 1,435 companies to see which ones made substantial gains in profitability and sustained those improvements over 15 years or more. Since the 1970s, only 11 companies had risen from mediocrity to greatness and stayed there -- topping many other prosperous firms that lacked the same staying power.

Of eight characteristics these companies shared, all held an unshakable adherence to becoming the best in the world at whatever they did. Each company committed to doing only those things and nothing else. That sometimes meant dropping their core businesses to pursue other things at which they could become the best in the world.

Collins and his team coined the term "hedgehog concept" to reflect a single-minded determination and focus that, similar to that of the hedgehog animal, attempts to do only one thing really well, such as curl up and roll. A hedgehog concept actually represents the intersection of three areas:

1) What you're most passionate about
2) An understanding of what you could be the best at doing, and
3) A metric that drives your economic engine and helps you measure results.

Keep in mind that according to Collins, this concept is not a goal, strategy, or plan, but an understanding of what you can and can't be the best at doing. Until you develop your hedgehog concept, you won't know your true vision, mission, or purpose.

Next, Define Your "Business Success Criteria"

Do you have a crystal clear idea of the types of business undertakings that align with your gifts, talents, passions, and strengths? In that same context, have you thought about whether your business can be the very best in the world at doing those things?

If the answers are "yes," you are in an excellent position to choose the ventures that can give you the greatest satisfaction and results.

If you're not yet totally clear about the answers to these questions, developing a set of "business success criteria" can enable you to select worthwhile endeavors with much deeper insight, and thus set the conditions for successfully pursuing them. A hedgehog concept thereby represents part of the formula you can devise to identify and choose among your very best options.

by: Adele Sommers

Why is this so important? It's not uncommon for people to wander into businesses, projects, and professions opportunistically, which means that they often select the next available and convenient thing that comes along. At times, this may be necessary for financial reasons. But unless we understand our underlying success criteria, we might not recognize the options that truly fuel and inspire us -- those that are best suited to our passions and strengths.

Some of your criteria could be practical considerations, and others more lofty ideals. But all of your criteria will be essential to achieving balance, fulfillment, prosperity, and higher contribution in your life.

In conclusion, a set of carefully crafted success criteria fueled by a potent hedgehog concept provides an unbeatable strategic advantage, and an excellent direction-finder for prescribing your future!

English Article> Income Protection Cover Could Provide A Replacement Income

by: Simon Burgess

English Article> Those who have loan or credit card debts or a mortgage with repayments to make each month should give some thought as to how they would continue to make these payments if they were to lose their income. While you may turn to savings if an illness or accident prevented you from working for a short period of time, any savings you had would soon dwindle. If you were made redundant then it could take some time to find another job and struggling to meet your monthly commitments would only add pressure to already stressful circumstances. Income protection cover taken out with a specialist provider could give you a replacement income if you lost yours, along with peace of mind.

Payment protection insurance can be taken out for fixed monthly premiums, based on how old you are when applying for the cover and how much you need to cover each month. There is a limit to the amount of your income that you are able to cover and the provider will give details of this in the terms and conditions. By going with a specialist for the protection you can be sure that the policy will be a quality product. It will come with very few exclusions and cover is backdated to the first day you came out of work. Of course, the biggest advantage of getting a quote from an independent provider is the money you will save on the cost of cover. Standalone providers that only sell payment protection will not go for the huge profits that the high street lenders do.

There are exclusions to be found in income protection policies, as with all insurances, which could mean you would not be eligible to claim and so taking out the cover would be useless. While these exclusions can vary depending on the provider offering a policy, there are some that are standard in all policies. Those individuals who are retired, self-employed, suffer from an ongoing illness or do not work in a full-time position would have to give some very serious thought to the policy’s suitability before taking it out. For example, if you do suffer from a pre-existing illness but it has not bothered you during the past two years, protection cover might be suitable. And if you are self-employed and have to stop trading through no fault of your own then you might benefit from cover.

Income protection cover would generally begin to provide you with a tax-free replacement income after being unable to work for a specific amount of time. This is usually within a period of 30 to 90 days of being continually out of work, without having a break in between. Once the cover has started to provide you with security then it would continue to do so for the time stated in the policy’s small print – generally 12 to 24 months. This period usually gives plenty of time for recovery from illness or accident, or enough time to find another job and start earning an income again.