Phoenix Business

Since June 15, 2009, the United States Small Business Administration has been processing deferred payment small business loans of as much as $35,000 to be given out to 10,000 small businesses. This is covered by the SBA’s America’s Recovery Capital (ARC) Loan Program.

To qualify, companies should be private enterprises that are for-profit. They should have up to five hundred employees only and should be at least two years old. Furthermore, they should be able to prove financial need with a twenty percent decrease in sales, revenue or working capital. On the other hand, they should be able to prove that one of their two years in business has been profitable, and that with the infusion of cash they will be able to meet their existing and future debt obligations. This means positive cash flow projections. The ARC small business loans are intended to be used to pay outstanding debt such as payables to vendors.

For this batch of small business loans, there are no fees or costs involved, except if the borrower defaults on the loan later. In that case the SBA-approved lender can charge costs for securing and liquidating collateral.

The ARC small business loans also do not charge interest. Actually, the SBA pays the interest for the borrowers. Disbursement of the loan can take as much as six months but payment of the principal is also deferred for the next 12 months. After that, the borrower has five years to repay the loan principal.

Hotel management consultants

With professionalism being the buzz word in practically all the sectors, newer and newer avenues are opening for trained professionals. Hotel management consultancy is just one of the avenues among them.

Hotel management is an old concept with a large number of hotel management institutes churning out scores of graduates. After passing out all these graduates eventually join any of the big hotel chains of the country like Taj, Oberois etc. Some of them seek greener pastures by joining international brands. The spread of these hotels was limited to major cities or tourist centers.

With the rapid urbanization and industrialization the demand for hotels increased in tier II and tier III cities. Sensing opportunities many builders constructed hotels. However, building hotels was one thing managing them was a different ball game altogether. The big daddies of the industry were not willing to run their hotels.

Realizing good prospects in smaller cities, some of the experienced hotel management professionals met these owners/builders and started working for them. That is how hotel management consultants were born.

By and large these consultants form an experienced lot with most of them having an experience of successfully running big hotels in major cities.  The owners also felt comfortable working with them as they carried the necessary experience to run their respective properties.
Many of these hotel consultancy firms are doing good business; one of them is Shaw Hospitality. It started its operations this financial year has managed to bag 15 hotels (4 hotels in Dubai and 11 hotels across the country) in the first six months of its operations. As of now the company is managing/marketing more than 1050 rooms, 602 rooms are in four states across the country where as 462 rooms are in Dubai.

To say that every family should have a monthly budget is an understatement. The only way to control your family’s finances is with a budget which keeps track of where the money comes from and where it is ultimately spent. A budget, or cash flow plan for those who don’t like the B word, is a critical part of any family’s secure financial future.

For most families a budget is far down the list of things that are important in the day to day happenings for most families. For most people doing a budget is another task for which they have little time to deal with. Unfortunately this is the reason so many families are having the financial troubles they are dealing with today. A budget can also be a divisive thing if it is used as a way to control the spending habits and place blame for the financial failings being experienced. For a family budget to work properly it must be used as a tool by all family members that involves financial goals and compromise to reach them.

A budget is actually not that hard to create and keep simply because it is just a list of monthly income and expenses that is kept either on a sheet of paper or on a computer equipped with budgeting software. The idea behind any budgeting process is to create a balance between income and expenses so that at the end of the month there is money left over to save, invest, and build wealth.