Everyday Leadership: Influencing Your Company’s Culture and Strategy As An Individual Contributor

February 1, 2020

In the absence of effective leadership, organizations are not capable of effectively implementing changes at the competitive level. In this article, the author places a new emphasis on leadership and its implementation by executives at all organizational levels in companies. The implementation of leadership enables organizations to cultivate an effective corporate strategy coupled with cultural changes to remain competitive.

Executives are faced with challenging economic conditions today with global competition increasing and the need to be number one or two in an industry or fail to keep up with the market place. This new economic environment may have a negative emotionality that can seriously reduce people’s capabilities in changing and overcoming challenging situations. To offset the negativity associated with widening the gaps of success and failure, executives that act as leaders can manage a firm’s internal resources (corporate culture and corporate strategy) and use them as an important driving force for business success. This may be the answer executives need but may also lack the fundamental fortitude necessary to be an all-encompassing model to predict customer satisfaction, employee or follower satisfaction, and financial profitability. Executives that embrace leadership around the globe realize that they have a positively impact on corporate culture and corporate strategy and play a critical role to achieve the best climate for implementing strategic changes that create learning and growing the organization.¹ This effective leadership will be covered in-depth throughout the rest of the article with the main focal point being introduced here as the simple application of leadership, which is describes in the following sections.

How Can Leaders Leverage the Power of a Strategic Approach?

In the military, leaders often provide what is called “Top Cover” flying above their followers to ensure their mission is a success. Submarines travel with pilot ships to guide them. This is what you and executive need to do. Leadership, being the core of management, is crucial to organization’s success – both from a performance and management level. However, leaders across the globe have found that corporate strategy is critical to business success. Corporate strategy could be the most important component of success in this ever changing business environment of today. This, by far, is why some organizations are successful and some are not. The key take-away for executives is that corporate strategy is a resource that enables organizations to solve problems and create value through improved performance and it is this point that will narrow the gaps of success and failure leading to more successful decision-making.^2,3

Executive that implement corporate strategy as an important driving force for business success find their organization to be more competitive and on the cutting edge. However, corporate strategy implementation in large corporations is determined by a set of critical success factors, one of which is the strategic dimension of leadership.⁴ Thus, one tool for executives to use when considering on lessoning the gaps between success and possible failure, is to adopt leadership and implement corporate strategy. One that can be immediately applied to limit the gaps between success and possible failure. Thus, the burden of success when effective implementation of corporate strategy is concerned is heavily dependent on the capabilities of the organization’s leaders. Therefore, the outcome is success which narrows the gap between success and failure and this can be achieved by corporate strategy and facilitated by an executive acting as a facilitative-leader.

Executives evaluate the success of corporate strategy. Corporate strategy reflects the degree to which a company can expand and determine the right pathway to success. The key function of corporate strategy is to help executives use it for goals achievement.⁵ In this context, corporate strategy is becoming the forefront to success in corporations worldwide. Success, therefore, is dependent upon how executives formulated their organization’s strategy. Thus, corporate strategy has been a focal point of executive span of control but has not been associated with leadership enough to make it an integral part of organizational success. Leaders, in fact, positively impact corporate strategy implementation through enhancing the dynamic relationships among employees and departments, but most importantly, through satisfying customer needs and adding to financial success. However, financial success does not come overnight, it encompasses consistent hard work and absorbing several useful pointers from various financial coaching experts. One outcome of corporate strategy is to connect knowledge with other companies that want to share successes and failures. It is about getting the information needed to be successful in the right hands of executives worldwide. Leaders can inspire organizational members to network with more successful competitors by sharing successes to build alliances and not only enhance competition but communicate best practices as a way of keeping the highest standard of operation in the industry and being the go-to organization for successful modeling of profitability, customer service, and employee satisfaction. In doing this, leaders implement corporate strategy to develop relationships with external environments to identify new opportunities that occur in an ever-changing hypercompetitive marketplace. Leaders, in fact, implement corporate strategy to expand the growth opportunities available to organizations that may be challenging but important to close the gap between success and failure. This leads to converting acquired knowledge into organizational processes and activities to improve or discontinue processes that contribute success. Therefore, leadership is pertinent to corporate strategy implementation and an organization’s success.

Does Corporate Strategy Really Build Corporate Culture?

Executives focus on individuals as the major source of knowledge, and show how follower’s ties together so that they can affect the sharing, storage, transfer, and apply knowledge within organizations. Executives, therefore, see these connections, and the related shared knowledge and memory, as central to the effectiveness of corporate culture. Executives know that corporate strategy through sharing individual knowledge around the organizations can positively contribute to build a strong corporate culture. Therefore, executives should build an atmosphere of trust and openness and use corporate strategy to convert individual knowledge into valuable resources for their organization to close the performance gap and help organizations prosper.^6,7 The key is for executives to inculcate corporate culture within organizations so that information can be found and used instantaneously. Corporate culture enables organizations to promote the depth and range of knowledge access and sharing within companies.

Corporate culture is enhanced though providing further opportunities and information sharing. Executives can enhance knowledge sharing by providing access to knowledge, and stimulate new ideas and knowledge generation, transfer an individual’s knowledge to other members and departments, and improve knowledge capturing, storing, and accumulating, aiming at achieving organizational goals. Executives that employ corporate strategy can propel knowledge sharing in the company to generate more innovative ideas and solutions for new and demanding issues that come up constantly in our hypercompetitive economic environment. In doing this, executives can employ corporate strategy though implementing coaching and mentoring practices by sharing experiences gained by imitating, observing and practicing. Executives that use corporate strategy have found that it builds a strong corporate culture through facilitating knowledge sharing throughout all levels of the organization. Corporate strategy focuses on defining and recognizing core knowledge areas, coordinating expert opinions, sharing organizational knowledge, and scanning for new knowledge to keep the quality of their products or services continuously improving. Corporate strategy, therefore, is an essential requirement of corporate culture by which knowledge is shared among people.

However, executives may lack the required corporate strategy to interact with other organizations or distrust sharing their knowledge.^8,9Executives are, therefore, clearly the right focal point for developing networking with environmental components by adopting corporate strategy to develop relationships and interactions. They key here is to inspire their organizations as a whole to develop networking with more effective enterprises through employing corporate strategy directed at connecting knowledge with other companies. Executives are finding that corporate strategy creates a shared understanding about problems which can develop an effective corporate culture that enhances the knowledge sharing process. Through the corporate strategy, executives could build a climate inspiring followers to share their knowledge, and facilitate the knowledge sharing process. Thus, executives can apply corporate strategy to enhance knowledge sharing among human capital and stipulate knowledge to be shared around the organization and with other companies.

In Conclusion

Executives can now see how leadership not only can directly support corporate strategy, but it can also cultivate an effective strategic decision making process, which will enable corporate culture within organizations. Leadership has a significant effect on organization’s internal resources. Executives can also see that cultivating an effective strategic plan coupled with cultural issues requires developing leadership within organizations – not only at the higher echelons of the organization but at every level. Thus, in light of the increased pressures of the global workplace that inspires leaders to exert effective change at the organizational level, this article points out the vital importance of leadership in reshaping an organization’s internal resources to have access to more effective strategic initiatives and higher performing culture within organizations. This article also suggests that both internal resources of corporate strategy and corporate culture constitute the foundation of a supportive workplace to improve business success and reduce operational risk. Standing on the shoulders of scholars before us, I indicate that corporate strategy and corporate culture are major internal resources for business success and support the positive impact of these two vital factors on business success.

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About the Author

Mostafa Sayyadi, CAHRI, AFAIM, CPMgr, works with senior business leaders to effectively develop innovation in companies, and helps companies – from start-ups to the Fortune 100 – succeed by improving the effectiveness of their leaders. He is a business book author and a long-time contributor to HR.com and Consulting Magazine and his work has been featured in these top-flight business publications.

References
1 Avolio, BJ, Waldman, DA, & Yammarino, FJ (1991). Leading in the 1990s: The Four I’s of Transformational Leadership. Journal of European Industrial Training, 15(4), 9-16.
2 Cohen, M.D., & Sproull, L.S. (1996). Organizational Learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
3 Talke, K. (2007). Corporate mindset of innovating firms: Influences on new product performance. Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, 24, 76-91.
4 Bass, B.M., & Avolio, B.J. (1997). Full range leadership development: Manual for the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, California: MindGarden.
5 Zheng, W., Yang, B. & Mclean, G. N. (2010). Linking organizational culture, structure, strategy, and organizational effectiveness: Mediating role of knowledge management. Journal of Business Research, 63(7), 763-771.
6 Lee, H., & Choi B. (2003). Knowledge management enablers, processes, and organizational performance: an integrative view and empirical examination. Journal of Management Information Systems, 20(1), 179-228.
7 Fugate, B.S., Stank, T.P., & Mentzer, J.T. (2009). Linking improved knowledge management to operational and organizational performance. Journal of Operations Management, 27(3), 247-264.
8 Jianbin, C., Yanli, G., & Kaibo, X. (2014). Value Added from Knowledge Collaboration: Convergence of Intellectual Capital and Social Capital. International Journal of u- and e- Service, Science and Technology, 7(2),.15-26.
9 Zehua, Z. (2012). Knowledge Collaboration (KC) and the relationship between KC and some related concepts. Library and Information Service, 8, 107–112.

Greater Innovation Ahead: Global Social Development Through Blended Finance Structures

February 1, 2020

By Ranajoy Basu

Impact finance heralds a new frontier for finance: one in which an investor’s drive for financial return is coupled with a key motivating factor (commonly referred to as the “double bottom line”) to generate and maximise a social impact. This innovative and growing market of bringing together public and private sector funding for targeted social interventions aligns with the scale of funding required to achieve the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which provides a common pathway for a better and more sustainable future by identifying seventeen global sustainable development goals (“SDGs”).

The International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank Group‚ has created a new framework of nine principles to bring greater transparency‚ comparability and rigour to the impact finance market (the ‘Operating Principles for Impact Investing’). Sixty fund managers managing over $350 billion in assets have signed up to these principles. The Impact Investing Institute, an independent non-profit organisation (supported by the UK government) is also one example of a recently established taskforce which aims to accelerate the growth and improve the effectiveness of the impact investing market in the UK and globally.

There has also been an exponential growth of consumer and general public interest in impact investing. A clear message is being delivered‚ especially from millennials: corporates need to be more socially responsible. As a result‚ many forward-looking companies are responding positively to this consumer-led demand‚ with one example being the Beyond Meat post-initial public offering performance.

This article aims to explore the spectrum of impact investing, its various forms and structures‚ and the challenges as well as opportunities for investors who are looking to participate in this what is now truly emerging as a mainstream asset class.

What is “impact investing”?

Impact investing is “an approach used by investors to harness the power of their investment capital to actively contribute to improvements in people’s lives and the health of the environment.”¹ What differentiates impact investing from other forms of investment is the positive social or environmental impact that the investor seeks to achieve, alongside its financial return. This includes both ‘finance first’ investing‚ which looks to achieve a social impact while generating competitive financial returns‚ and ‘impact first’ investing‚ which looks to achieve a social impact while accepting lower financial returns.

What differentiates impact investing from other forms of investment is the positive social or environmental impact that the investor seeks to achieve, alongside its financial return.

It is this duality in social and financial return, that sets apart impact finance from traditional finance structures at one end of the spectrum‚ that target competitive risk-adjusted financial returns with no expectation to enhance social value, and philanthropic funding at the other end, which addresses social impact with the expectation of full capital loss.

Within the impact finance space, however, exists a myriad of impact investing structures. This reflects both the lack of consistency in approach in impact investing and‚ perhaps more so‚ the level of innovation within the market space. Impact investing structures include, amongst others:

Results-based financing instruments that enables investors to finance development or other social programmes for the achievement of specific target outcomes
Green or environmental, social and corporate governance (“ESG”) bonds that are capital market issuances enabling investors to finance climate-related or other social projects backed by the issuer’s balance sheet
Funds financing solutions that blend public‚ private and grant funding which can be leveraged to generate additional funds

Although more commonly associated with developing markets, some of the greatest innovation in impact investing structuring emanates from developed markets. The Royal Bank of Scotland’s recent bond issuance under its green‚ social and sustainability framework is the first by a British financial institution, which it said would boost lending to small firms in disadvantaged areas.

A further example of a unique impact financing structure relates to an investment facility for education, which is being set up to deliver improved multilateral development bank financing in the education sector. The international finance facility for education (“IFFEd”) aims to unlock significant new funding for education from the global community. The funding will be used to fill a gap in the international financial architecture where currently lower-middle-income countries are unable to mobilise sufficient funding to achieve SDG 4 (i.e. to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all).

Results-based structures

The appetite for results-based financing instruments such as government-backed social impact bonds (“SIBs”) has been growing since the first SIB launched in 2011 by Peterborough Prison. That SIB raised £5 million from 17 social investors to fund a project with the objective of reducing recidivism rates of prisoners who had served custodial sentences of up to one year. Development impact bonds (“DIBs”), the close cousins of SIBs backed by non-governmental entities, have seen a concomitant rise in popularity, with the first DIB being launched in 2014 aimed at reducing the gender gap in education in rural India by increasing the school attendance of girls. SIBs and DIBs (which, confusingly, do not necessarily include an issuance of ‘bonds’ at all) seek to channel money to projects with a positive social impact while only providing a repayment or return to investors once the desired results have been achieved.

While there are several ways of structuring the contractual framework of a DIB or SIB, the basic concept involves a risk investor providing upfront capital to an intermediary in order to achieve pre-agreed target outcomes for the benefit of a specified target population. The intermediary acts as a project manager by coordinating and managing the ongoing implementation of the project and brokering relationships between the key transaction parties. The service providers execute the actual intervention and coordinate with the intermediary on the implementation of the project. An independent evaluator is engaged to evaluate and confirm whether, and to what extent, the success metrics, as agreed between all key stakeholders at the outset, have been met. To the extent that such target outcomes have been achieved, the outcome funder will make a payment to the risk investor commensurate with the extent to which the target outcomes have been achieved. Depending on these outcomes, the risk investor may receive more or less than its initial investment in the DIB or SIB. A simple impact bond structure is outlined below:

DIBs and SIBs transfer the risk and upfront capital commitment required for social impact projects from governments and philanthropic organisations (who may already be too thinly stretched, as well as being constrained by bureaucratic red tape) to private investors that have broader investment capabilities and greater appetite for risk. It also means that, unlike traditional philanthropic activity, it measures actual ‘outcomes’ rather than just ‘inputs’.

Innovations and market trends

Pilot projects

A SIB or DIB may be used to fund innovative and untested interventions, therefore appropriate due diligence of the funding mechanism, the implementation framework and the evaluation process needs to be undertaken to reduce the risk of potential pitfalls when the actual project is implemented on the ground. Where there is a lack of underlying baseline performance data, which makes it difficult to evaluate and measure the success of the social impact and hence calculate the financial return, pilot projects can be undertaken to measure the baseline against which the results of the social impact can be evaluated. Such pilot projects are increasingly being utilised to help fine-tune the proposed intervention to provide further assurance of the success of the project for investors. A properly designed SIB or DIB can allow innovative concepts, which would otherwise never have even been tested, to be implemented with little or no track record whatsoever.

Debt issuances

Although green and ESG bonds are typically done through debt issuance and most funding of SIBS or DIBs is done by way of grant funding, a recent innovation in the impact finance sector is the use of privately placed or publicly issues listed bonds and securities to raise funding for results-based SIB or DIB structures. Driven by the need to increase the scalability of impact investing (the funding gap to meet the SDGs is estimated to be USD 2.5 trillion annually), participants in the sector are increasingly developing structures involving debt issuances to access loan or capital markets for funding. While this introduces additional costs and takes time to launch, the goal for market participants is to establish SIBS or DIBs that can be marketed to institutional investors much like any capital markets offering. From an investor perspective, this approach allows funding to be channelled into the social impact directly, taking risk solely on the success of the intervention, unlike investors in ESG or green bonds who must take issuer credit risk by de facto purchasing corporate bonds.

An interesting market trend is the establishment of funding vehicles to aggregate funding either at the risk investor, outcome funder or issuer level.

Funding vehicles

An interesting market trend is the establishment of funding vehicles to aggregate funding either at the risk investor, outcome funder or issuer level. Although such an approach introduces additional complexity and incurs higher costs (due to, for instance, the need for specialist advice in relation to the management of the fund as well as tax and regulatory law), it could lead to cost savings over the long term if the fund is set up as a programme to enable participation in multiple SIBS or DIBs. For example, funding vehicles which provide for funding streams from different impact investments to be compartmentalised supports the scalability of SIBs or DIBs, driving demand and increasing standardisation in structure and contractual documentation. Funding vehicles at the outcome funder level reduces the cost of funding for participation in SIBs or DIBs and also allows greater sized SIBs or DIBs to be issued.

Governance

Whether it be in relation to businesses engaged in the delivery of ESG products or services, or in the context of an impact bond, the core governance structure responsible for the manner in which capital is used is arguably the backbone of successful impact investing. A strong governance model is one in which financial resources are managed with a view to maximising the value of the social impact while balancing the efficient and responsible use of capital. Impact investors will require transparency and appropriate checks and balances in the form of, for example‚ corporate finance policies and strategies‚ steering committees‚ budgeting of capital deployed and the strict measurement and reporting of any impact achieved. It is common‚ for example‚ for impact investors to restrict the ability of the business or project manager of any impact bond to raise any further funding for a particular intervention‚ in order to prevent an inefficient allocation of capital relative to the social impact.

Can you really make money while doing good?

A key challenge for the impact finance market is dispelling any perception that investments that generate both financial return and social impact are mutually exclusive. This includes the work required to educate the financial sector‚ including investors‚ financial professionals and policy-makers, as to the potential and proper use of impact investing. Despite the lack of a globally accepted definition for or approach to impact finance‚ measuring the extent of the social impact is already a fundamental requirement for impact investors. As a result of this‚ the use of impact finance for the sole purpose of public relations is becoming increasingly harder.

Methodologies designed to identify, measure, track and report the wider benefits of the social impact is a key requirement of any impact investment. From a documentation perspective‚ this means that it is vitally important to have clearly defined and measurable success metrics in place. Impact investors should be particularly careful that underlying documentation clearly defines the parameters for the actual outcome or impact and also outline a reporting system for various stages of the project upon achieving key milestones. The level of information can significantly vary between projects and jurisdictions and this is one of the biggest challenges in achieving consistency of data. The provision of clarity in reporting between different projects will ultimately help build investor and market confidence.

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About the Author

Ranajoy Basu is a partner in Reed Smith’s Structured Finance group and the head of the firm’s Social Impact Finance group. He is widely recognised as one of the world’s leading impact investment lawyers. He regularly advises on complex, cross-border social impact finance structures, including social and development impact bonds, renewable energy, “green” structured finance transactions and other capital market solutions in the social impact space.

As a true pioneer in adaptive sustainable development and impact finance, Ranajoy has made a significant contribution through structuring impact bonds and other cutting-edge impact finance solutions. Ranajoy is one of the lead architects of the International Finance Facility for Education (IFFEd), a ground-breaking financing mechanism designed to deliver funding for the education of millions of children around the world and target the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for Education (SDG 4). He also advised on the Educate Girls Social Impact Bond, the Utkrisht Bond and more recently advised The British Asian Trust on the world’s largest impact bond for education. Ranajoy is extremely passionate and driven to create a positive social impact around the world using the law and finance as an instrument of innovation.

References
1. GIIN, “Core Characteristics of Impact Investing”, available at https://thegiin.org/assets/Core%20Characteristics_webfile.pdf.

How A Life Insurance Agent Helps With Your Priorities

January 31, 2020

A lot of unexpected things seem to happen when we least need it in life. Things could be going your way when all of a sudden you are hit with something out of the blue that messes all your plans. This is why it is very important to be prepared and to always have a backup plan because this is the only way you’ll ever be able to take life’s blows and keep going. One of the better ways to do that is getting a life insurance agent to help you set a policy that will do you more good than you could possibly imagine. Here’s how they can help you.

A safety net for the family

A lot of people’s most important financial priority is making sure their families are well taken care of when they are gone, especially if you are the primary caretaker. This is exactly what a life insurance agent could help you do. They will set up a life insurance policy that ensures that your family will comfortably be able to pay any funeral or other medical expenses. More importantly, they would be able to have enough money to keep them going for quite some time, as beneficiaries of your policy. The death benefit they receive will support your family long after you are gone, which is why most people get life insurance policies in the first place.

Paying off debt

After having secured your family’s financial future when you are gone, there comes another financial priority for most people, and that is paying off debt. But how can your life insurance policy help you do that? Well, you invest money in your policy by paying premiums every month, and, fortunately, you can tap into that money in case of emergencies and take out a loan so you could settle some urgent debt or pay for an unexpected medical operation. As you can see in articles from StateRequirement, helping people like that is actually the reason why a lot of people become life insurance agents, though there are several steps entailed here. Back to the debt, you are basically borrowing from your own money here, but it won’t happen overnight, though. You need to have actually been paying premiums for some time before you can start taking a considerable amount.

Still, borrowing money from your life insurance policy has a lot of pros –– and cons. The money you borrowed won’t show on your credit reports, and the initial access to the funds is quite easy and straightforward because there are no credit checks or long approval processes. Because it is your money, you can pay back the amount taken as you please, without any actual deadlines. If there are interest rates, they will most definitely be less than a typical bank loan. The biggest downside, though, is the fact that you are taking from the death benefit you’re leaving your beneficiaries, which means they will receive less money if you don’t pay it back.

Settling inheritance

Settling inheritance is another reason why you will need the help of a life insurance agent. There doesn’t have to be a beneficiary in its traditional meaning. Some people do get life insurance policies with the goal of leaving the death benefit as some form of inheritance to one of your loved ones. They don’t even need to be a direct relative if that is what you choose. By doing this, you will be making sure that your life insurance money will go to the person you intended and not someone else.

Tax benefits

One of the greatest things about life insurance policies is the tax benefits that come along. The death benefit that the beneficiary receives is tax-free, which is something very important to the people getting the money and to you, as you’ll basically be leaving them more money without the need to pay any taxes.

Additional income

Assuming you make it to old age, you will find that expenses are piling up and your pension isn’t covering your financial needs. This is when you can access your permanent life insurance policy to get some extra retirement income, which does come in handy and could save you a lot of nuisance in your old age.

A life insurance agent will help you take care of your financial priorities, and you will be able better able to relax when you retire. The ultimate goal is making sure that your family is taken care of when you die, and having a source of money on the side to tap into in case anything goes wrong, and a life insurance agent will help you sort that out.

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How to Successfully Start a Small Business

January 29, 2020

We’ve almost reached the new year, a time to reflect on the past, and put necessary changes in place for the future. It’s natural to fall into habits that don’t exactly suit us, simply because they’re easy, especially when it comes to careers. Worryingly, one 2018 study found that 53 percent of Americans are unhappy at work, and for many of us, the only way to feel true job satisfaction is to quit and set up our own business.

Starting a business is something that requires a lot of thought, time and effort. Even taking the first few steps can prove incredibly daunting, because there’s likely so much that you’re putting on the line to make things work – your career, your finances, and your spare time. If you fail, it’s doubtful that you’ll get any of those back.

But you only have to look at the hundreds and thousands of businesses that currently exist to know that you can create a success story out of your business start-up, and there are things you can do to sway the whole process in your favour.

To get inspired, take a look at the 4 practical tips below on how to successfully start a small business: For more tips and ideas on how to run a business successfully, Click here.

1. Make a plan

No good business can begin without a plan. You don’t need to plan to extensively to begin with, but you definitely need to consider a few things from the get-go. For starters, what problem are you aiming to solve with your business? What are your core values? Do you want to own a physical store or do you prefer the idea of online-only? These first few considerations will become the foundations for your business, so don’t be hasty to work through them. Check out some trending products, simplify the processes, and write attainable goals on your business plan.

2. Take out a loan

Ironically, while your business is still in its very early stages, you’ll find it incredibly difficult to take out a small business loan to get things started. Instead, you’ll have to take out a personal loan, which is considered the most flexible and secure funding option. You could also rely on credit cards to get you started, but you’d have to be certain you could stay on top of your payments. Visit LetMeBank for more useful info on your loan options.

3. Register a business name

If there’s one way to make your small business venture feel real, it’s to register your chosen business name. You need to register your name so that your business officially exists, and the simplest way to do so is by filing a DBA at your state or county clerk’s office. Paperwork and filing fees come at a cost, but it’s an essential investment for your business.

4. Look at licences and permits

Starting a business is rarely as simple as registering and getting going. Depending on the services or products you plan to offer, you may need to sort a licence or permit to legally do so. Insurance is another element to consider at this time – you want to cover your back in as many ways as possible, and it’s always better to sort sooner rather than later.

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How to Beat a DUI Charge in Canada

January 29, 2020

Section 320.14(1)(a) of the Canadian Criminal Code is unique among common law jurisdictions in that a defendant may be charged with a DUI if his/her “ability to operate it [the vehicle] is impaired to any degree by alcohol or a drug or by a combination of alcohol and a drug.” There is no required minimum blood alcohol content (BAC) in Canada, although, crown prosecutors may use a defendant’s BAC level as proof of operation while impaired, even retroactively. Canada prosecutors have the burden of proving a defendant’s operating ability was impaired by drugs or alcohol beyond a reasonable doubt, not simply that drugs or alcohol was present in the defendant’s system. Here are three ways to beat a DUI charge in Canada.

1. Challenge the Sufficiency of Impairment Evidence

For Section 320.14(1)(a) impaired driving charges, witness testimony must corroborate operative impairment. This means police witnesses, first responders, or civilian witnesses must provide detailed, sworn testimony that the defendant’s driving was impaired. Sufficient evidence of impairment typically includes testimony that:

The vehicle was behaving dangerously and/or abnormally by swerving, driving too slow or fast, or braking suddenly
The defendant lacked coordination and focus after exiting the vehicle
There was a strong odor of alcohol on the driver’s breath
The driver was not able to clearly answer police questions
The defendant was seen consuming alcohol and/or drugs immediately prior to operating a vehicle

A lack of admissible evidence that (1) the defendant was seen operating the vehicle; (2) the vehicle was being operated in a dangerous or illegal manner, and (3) the defendant had some level of drugs/alcohol in his system at the time of operation may result in dismissal of Canada DUI charges. The veracity and admissibility of witness testimony may also be challenged.

The defendant may challenge the scientific accuracy or method of collection if charged with driving over the legal limit pursuant to a breathalyzer or retroactively applicable BAC test. For example, a BAC test conducted more than 2 hours after the defendant ceased operating the vehicle is per se invalid under Canadian law. The evidence obtained thereby must be excluded from consideration during an impaired driving prosecution.

In such circumstances, seeking advice from a skilled criminal lawyer Mississauga becomes crucial. A competent attorney can effectively challenge the sufficiency of impairment evidence. For instance, they might question the reliability of the eyewitness accounts or the accuracy of the observations made by law enforcement officers. If the evidence was collected inappropriately or if there are inconsistencies in the testimony about the defendant’s behavior or the manner in which the vehicle was being driven, a criminal lawyer in Mississauga can seek to have this evidence dismissed. This can significantly weaken the prosecution’s case and potentially result in the charges being dropped.

2. Challenge the Constitutionality of the Stop and/or Medical Testing

Whether the defendant has been charged with impaired driving under § 320.14(1)(a) or driving over the legal limit in violation of § 320.14(1)(b-d), any evidence obtained must have been gathered in accordance with Section 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This right protects Canada residents from unreasonable searches and seizures. Both vehicular stops and BAC testing (breathalyzer or blood) are types of “seizures” in Canada and must be done in accordance with the law. This may mean obtaining a warrant and/or articulating a valid reason to conduct a warrantless seizure.

Any evidence of the defendant’s impairment or BAC obtained upon false evidence or in violation of § 8 must be excluded from consideration during court proceedings. For example, police officers may not arbitrarily wait near a local bar and pull drivers over to see if they are impaired. The police must actually witness illegal and/or dangerous driving behaviors to justify the stop, i.e., seizure of the defendant and his vehicle.

3. Raise a Reasonable Doubt as to an Essential Element of the DUI

Prosecutors have the initial burden of submitting evidence as to each element of a DUI charge during a DUI trial. If they fail to do so, an Edmonton DUI lawyer may move for a dismissal of all charges due to failure of proof. These motions are rarely granted, however, and the burden will then shift to the defendant to raise a reasonable doubt as to one or more of the essential elements of a DUI offence. This typically means focusing on the weakest element of the crown prosecutor’s case. For example, a defendant may submit evidence that:

She was not the operator of the vehicle
She was not under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol
Her driving was not impaired and/or any impaired driving witnessed was not the result of the drugs/alcohol
The witnesses had a reason to fabricate their testimony

Canada DUI defendants need only raise a reasonable doubt as to the prosecution’s case. They do not have to prove their defence beyond a reasonable doubt, but the evidence submitted must be such that a reasonable jury could question the sufficiency of the prosecution’s evidence.

In rare circumstances, a defendant may have a valid defence to otherwise valid DUI charges. These common-law defences include necessity, self-defence, and involuntary intoxication. A woman unknowingly slipped the date rape drug at a bar may assume she’s merely tired, not impaired by drugs, when she starts driving home. Further, driving under the influence may be excused if the danger was minimal and the action necessary to prevent greater harm. This may include fleeing immediate danger from a potential shooting or sexual assault or transporting an injured restaurant patron to a local hospital. Provided the defendant didn’t drive further than necessary to avoid the danger, this is a rarely used but valid defence to DUI charges in Canada.

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Are You in the Business of Taxes? Here are 5 Tools You Need to Make Your Job Easier

January 29, 2020

Taxes can be a very stressful and tedious thing for even the most experienced accountant. Paper trails can be annoying to trace and if a business loses any of its receipts, it becomes a tedious process to figure everything out. As an accountant, you generally aren’t just doing taxes for one company, but getting involved with many companies and often the personal taxes of others as well. You don’t have the time to waste digging around making sure you have everything. Luckily, there are tools that can make your job a lot less stressful and ensure that you stay on top of things. To attempt to go into the business of taxes without proper tools would be like a painter trying to paint without his brushes. While certainly doable, it would lead to a very messy and disorganized process. Don’t be one of those accountants scrambling to meet deadlines at the end of the tax season. Get yourself some tools to make your life much easier.

Here are 5 tools that you will not regret using in your tax practice.

1. A Management Program

As you’ll be working for many people and companies, you can often forget deadlines and who needs what from you. A management program will allow you to input all your jobs into a calendar along with descriptions and deadlines. This will ensure that you don’t forget anything that your customers have asked from you and that you are always on top of the ball. Don’t miss a deadline and look like an amateur. Get a management program to help you deal with all that work and allow you to focus on the actual tax portion of your job.

2. A Tax Program

Once you’ve collected all of your clients’ information. It’s time to get down to the tax work. Getting yourself the proper tax program is vital for successfully doing the taxes of companies and people. Certain programs work best with companies, while other tax programs are best for people. Get an idea of who you are going to be working with and from there make the decision on what tax program is best for you. Don’t get stuck trying to do this all on paper, these programs are created to help you breeze through everything. Pick up a tax program today and start crunching all of those numbers.

3. A Communication Program

You’ve started to work on the first client you have listed in your calendar and you’ve turned on your program and started to crunch numbers only to find that you’re missing some information from the client. A communication program will help ensure that you are able to consistently get in touch with your customer and get the information required. According to https://messente.com/, communication programs can also be used to confirm transactions with your customers ensuring that not only are you getting the information you need to complete the job, but also getting transaction proof behind it as well. In the world of taxes, communication is vital, ensure that you are able to keep in touch with your client with a good communication program.

4. Storage Drives

Tax programs and their files can quickly add up on your hard drive and fill it up. Unfortunately, unlike other files, you are required not to delete any tax files from the previous five years, therefore you must always have space available to hold them and also any new files you create. Getting a large hard drive for your computer will make sure that you can keep working without worrying about cluttering up that hard drive. Don’t let your work be limited by space, get a larger hard drive to keep you working. Nevertheless, if you are in with the new technology, you can definitely use cloud computing.

5. A Place to Build Clients

While a communication program will help you talk with your existing clients, they will struggle to help you get new clients. Getting a website will allow people who are looking for their taxes to be done to find you and begin the initial connection. If you find yourself needing more clients, why not get yourself one of these websites. They are quick and easy to setup and will allow you to make more money, and who doesn’t like more money?

Good tax tools will help you stay on top of your work and expand your business. If you’re in the tax business, it means you are expected to provide top quality service to paying customers. Don’t fall behind on your dates and get yourself a calendar. Get a program from CalculatorBee.com to help you input all the numbers. Never fail to communicate with them with a good communication program. Make sure you have enough storage for them, and finally always give yourself room to build new clients. Get out there and become the next top accountant!

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7 Benefits of Working with a PEO Company

January 29, 2020

Every dollar counts when it comes to running or owning a small to medium-sized business. When businesses begin growing, so do their human resource responsibilities. The U.S. Small Business Administration stated that 25 percent of small business owners spend their time dealing with employee-related issues.

Dealing with employee-related issues is a waste of time for managers to spending their time on, instead of focusing on items that make money for a business. This is why small or medium companies are hiring professional employer organizations (PEO) to oversee employee-related tasks.

A PEO will oversee the significant human resource responsibilities, which will help streamline HR in your business.

What is a PEO?

A PEO organization enters into a contract with your business, and undertakes the employee-related HR responsibilities, which include payroll and benefits. A PEO organization frees up valuable time, so that you can focus on running your business.

Here are seven benefits of working with a PEO company

Benefits

PEO organization’s job is to help provide your employees with access to cost-effective and comprehensive benefits without the overwhelming costs. The PEO can offer a wide variety of benefits to your employees through PEO-sponsored benefit plans, like medical, dental, and vision coverage. As a co-employer, the PEO handles the administrative tasks that include negotiating with insurance companies, enrolling employees, producing legal notice, and handling other administrative tasks.

Payroll

A PEO organization can decrease your payroll-processing costs. The organization can automate the payroll process. You want to look for a PEO organization that can provide payroll services with a simple and straightforward fee.

Retirement Plans

PEOs have access to retirement savings programs. This is a benefit that can help with employee retention. A PEO handles the administration, and also provides educational materials that can help employees achieve better outcomes for retirement.

HR Compliance

The laws for employment are always changing and are complex to navigate. Not being up to date on employment laws, rules, and regulations can cost your business. A PEO company is up to date and guides to help avoid costly.

Workers Compensation

Worker’s compensation can be costly and time consuming if dealing with insurance premiums and claims management. A PEO, as a co-employer, provides worker’s compensation, handles compliance, audits, paperwork, and certificates that are associated with running the insurance program. The PEO company will moderate risks and provide employees the answers that they need on time.

Lawsuits

A PEO company shares the liability that is associated with specific employment-related claims, such as wrongful termination. Having a PEO as a resource, you can tap into the knowledge of multiple experts who can alleviate a costly settlement. A PEOs HR experience helps make sure agreements for terminations comply with all state laws.

Recruiting

Job positions open quickly and need a dast turnaround to find a qualified and knowledgeable employee. Most small or medium-sized businesses don’t necessarily have the tools, time, or budget to recruit strong candidates. A PEO should have additional services they can offer, that include assistance in recruitment, and the ability to provide access to professional recruiters who know your company’s employment needs.

Final Thoughts

Contraction, a PEO company, can help in relieving your business of many employment-related responsibilities and risks that can come with running your own business and hiring employees. By joining a PEO company, your employees will also have the opportunity for access to comprehensive benefit packages, online benefit information, enrollment tools, and help you attract top candidates to your business. You can find the top PEO companies on Retireat21.com.

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Immeasurable Advantages of Choosing A Personal Injury Lawyer

January 29, 2020

If you have been severely hurt in an incident caused by another’s carelessness, you may be empowered to compensation. Though numerous people are unknown with the personal injury claims process, and frequently get less than they actually deserve. For this purpose, it is more salutary to hire an attorney from gravesthomas.com to help represent your claim.

A lawyer will thoroughly assist you in recognizing how to manage claims and will guide you throughout the legal processes. Also, an attorney will negotiate with the insurance firm including demonstrating your right to pursue damages from the at-fault party.

In order to find more how an attorney may help you better, then you may take a peek at the below-mentioned advantages.

A lawyer understands the significance of your claim

There are diverse people in this world who do not have a single piece of idea of how much they can get through a PI claim. Sure, you may come over one of those PI compensation calculators online that provides you a rough idea, but these should never be relied on solely. Numerous differences go into evaluating your claim, that only an expert personal injury lawyer can probably put a firm figure to it. Even then, the measure could be off. There is no assurance until the case has been won or settled.

Your solicitor will examine many constituents when developing an estimated number for you. Here are a few of them.

Monitoring your damages, judging your injury and distress, factoring in the insurance company’s plans, and predicting future pharmaceutical requirements.

Definitely, you may be bothered regarding all the expenses. Though, you need to know that most utmost attorneys take the cases on a contingency basis, meaning they only get paid if you win or settle. And that’s enough and a good reason to hire a personal injury attorney.

Provides free consultations

Numerous PI lawyers provide free meetups and consultations to their prospective customers, which is actually a plus point. In some cases, the solicitor utilizes solid sales tactics throughout the introductory meeting. Because of this, sometimes it is tough to leave their office without contracting a contingency payment agreement. Though, since you do not owe the solicitors anything for the complimentary discussion, you can tell them that you need to talk to other attorney-at-law before making a decision. You can gather relevant knowledge regarding the benefits of your accident claim throughout this meeting.

If the lawyer does not consume much time with you throughout the first meeting and doesn’t clarify all of your problems, this is the sign of how he will apparently manage your request. So before making such meetings or appointments compose a listing of questions for the consultation. This will provide more comprehensive information and insight into your claim.

You can get the free case evaluation from nj personal injury attorney, contact Rosengard Law Group located at 496 Kings, Highway North, Suite 220B, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034. They will educate you about the statute of limitations and the deadline to file a lawsuit. Call at 856-284-6446 and get an evaluation of your case for free today.

Quietness or harmony of mind

Absolutely, the advantage of hiring a personal injury advocate is the harmony of mind it provides you. After a disaster, you are seemingly dealing with a broad range of sentiments from disappointment to outrage. Certain reactions can be exhausting to a person if they are left to manage everything on their own. Also, a good PI lawyer such as Flores, Tawney, and Acosta assists you in making accurate decisions regarding your case.

And obviously, who do not require help and benefits. Justin Kimball of Preszler Law (https://www.preszlerlaw-ns.com/) explains that in a personal injury lawsuit, non-pecuniary damages are hardships that are difficult to put a monetary value on, like emotional suffering or a reduced quality of life after the incident. Apart from this, attorneys also answer any questions or queries you have and solve your problems significantly.

An attorney improves your odds

Proceeding against your insurance firm is like equipping yourself for a raw fight. Tackling such a conflict by yourself is equal to showing up to fight with no weapons. No matter how generous you develop yourself, you just won’t be strong to put up a powerful fight or put your greatest foot ahead. The insurance firm understands that they have a piece of far more knowledge and power and they will employ this to assure you get the lowest compensation. Apart from this, they also know you are unknown with the claim process. So in order to protect yourself the best defense that you can garner for yourself is a proficient personal injury attorney. The attorney will lead you and will raise your possibilities of getting a great claim settlement.

Explain you your rights

Unfortunately, several people do not know their rights. As a result, the insurance company takes advantage and often denies providing them claims or providing less compensation.

However, an expert personal injury lawyer will better help you know your rights throughout the claims process. This involves the power to reject the insurer’s primary offer, denying to talk to a coverage adjuster, and pursuing a lawsuit for extra compensation. Additionally, your solicitor will identify which legal alternatives may be accessible to you after the accident. Also, the solicitor will notify you of which alternative is in your best interest to help you recover the damages you deserve.

Handles your paperwork

Insurance and medical paperwork can be overwhelming even in the best conditions. When you are active with your appointments and work, you do not have sufficient time to deal with paperwork. That’s where a lawyer plays a role, they handle all of your paperwork and all-important documentation.

Your recovery frequently depends on the evidence collected after the accident that caused you harm. An expert solicitor understands which evidence will benefit your case and will recognize how to get it.

Saves your time

Do you have hours and hours to request your own medical records? Review police and medical charts? Interact back and forth with the insurance adjuster? Let experts handle this for you.

These are some of a few benefits that you can get by hiring a PI attorney. If you are one of those who have experienced the same, then it may be wise to get in touch with a lawyer for the same. This mere step will benefit you get the most positive result as well.

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How to Check the Legitimacy of Paid Survey Sites

January 29, 2020

Online survey scams are very common and people generally fall for them every day. It’s important to understand that legitimate paid survey sites are well-designed, have rules and their objective is to provide useful information to the customers. If you want to earn money from a paid survey site, it’s crucial that you must check the online testimonials or you can also go through the detailed reviews available on third-party websites like LearnBonds to see whether or not the website is genuine or fake.

The purpose of this post is to discuss some of the proven ways that can help you check the legitimacy of paid survey sites.

Real VS Pseudo Online Survey Websites

A pseudo survey site is basically a scam website that is run by a marketing or lead generation company instead of actual marketing research company. These websites has the appearance of a real online survey site but it usually includes very limited and unclear information.

Real Online Survey Websites

These websites are operated by legit marketing research companies
These websites never sell/share user registration information to the third parties
Data provided by users is used for research purposes only
You can contact the actual marketing research company to clear your doubts
Panelists are not asked to register with other marketing or survey companies
Users are not required to submit their credit card information
These companies offer realistic rewards and compensation
They have detailed privacy policy available on their website containing information about usage terms, Habeas mail seals, etc.

Fake Online Survey websites

These websites are generally run by marketing or lead generation companies
These websites sell/share user registration information to the third parties
Users are encouraged to register for other survey companies and offers
Users are required to provide their confidential details including credit card information
These websites send spam as a result of registering for other services
The marketing company is not easily contacted
These companies offer unrealistic rewards and incentives
Pseudo websites only list a basic privacy policy on their websites

How Does Survey Scam Work?

Many fake online survey companies will ask you to pay upfront to join the panel. Never ever pay any advance money to join the panel as they’re the ones responsible to pay you for using your services. Some of these fake companies will ask you to register for other relevant services and offers and will tell you that you can get paid immensely if you pay them some basic fee upfront or subscribe for other services costing anywhere from $30-$50. If you choose to pay this basic fee considering you’ll get long term benefits, you’ll either get nothing, or will receive a long list of other panels to register (information that is already available online). There are some fake survey websites setup for no other objective than

to have your email id so that they can forward lots of irritating spam. Although, these services may not harm you financially, they’re most likely to share your id and personal information to third parties.

Features of a Fake Online Survey Website

Unrealistic rewards/compensation and outrageous earning potentials for either signing up instantly or taking online surveys
Offers listed that are too good to be true
There is no company information or contact details listed on the website
Great rewards for referring website to others
Unprofessional website layout, poor grammar or spellings are yet another indication that the survey website is fake or unreal

How Can You Be Sure a Paid Survey Panel isn’t a Scam?

Generally, fraudulent survey websites make money in two ways:

When you provide information on the homepage of the website, the company sells this information to data collection companies, who then further share your details to firms looking to attract people to promote their products.
When you provide your details and fulfill the registration requirements, the website prompted you to register for other relevant services. The website takes certain amount of money for directing every user.

If you’re really looking to register for authentic and legitimate paid survey, then you must not provide your personal details to the websites we have discussed above. Make sure you look for proofs that the survey company does real business and isn’t just stealing email addresses. Look for a phone number or contact details and get in touch with the company to ask a few questions. Also, check the website’s name on Google and you would be able to access lots of reviews and testimonials about the company. Go through some of the current reviews as it will help you make your decision.

In conclusion, avoid paying to register to survey panels, be careful about websites that look unprofessional, and do thorough research online before you choose any paid survey service.

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How to Build Credit from No Credit History

January 29, 2020

After school, one is now left with the huge task of facing life head-on. At times, this means getting your first credit card that will help you to clear out your bills and other expenditure.

Getting approved for credit used to be a simple process, unlike today, where one is subjected to numerous screenings. You can simply fill out the application forms well, awaiting a reply from the issuing bank.

After a while, you get the feedback that your application was rejected. But how could this happen, yet you had never taken any loans before? Surprisingly, the fact that you have not received a loan previously could minimize your chances of getting a loan.

So how do you build on your credit history? Take a look at these few simple steps that can help you out.

Building credit with a credit card

Credit cards are handy when you wish to build your credit. However, they can also be a clear route to sink in debt if you do not use them wisely. Here are some ways you can use a credit card to build your credit score:

1. Open your first credit card account

Opening a credit card account might not be a difficult task if you have ever had a brief credit history. This can be achieved through the rent, student loans, or even the repayment of utilities such as water and electricity.

Once you get the credit card, you should only take on small charges that you can repay without fail. Doing this improves your credit scores and paints you as a responsible and reliable person.

2. Get a secured credit card.

This is one of the best ways to use credit cards to build credit when you have a negative or no credit history. These types of credit cards are often tied to the savings account where the lender can offer you credit based on the amount in the savings.

From there you have to spend small charges which you can repay in time. Even though the lenders might not report your timely repayments to the credit bureaus, they can ultimately convert it to a regular credit card.

Building credit without a credit card

1. Paying student loans

If you have been through college, the chances are that you might have taken some loans to finance your education. These student loans are reported to credit bureaus. Making your student loan repayment on time every month will do a great job of building your credit history.

2. Taking out an auto installment loan

An auto loan is pretty simple to get as long as you take your time to get the best possible deals. Companies that offer such auto loans may not need to check out your credit history, but other means can be used like having a cosigner. Once you get the auto loan approved, you have to make the repayments in time without fail, as this will also improve your credit.

3. Obtain a secured loan

A secured loan works the same way people use credit cards to help them to build their credit scores. These credit-builder loans, passbooks, or CD loans are used by people who have deposited some cash in an interest-bearing bank account. They can thereafter borrow against that amount. If you repay the credit in time, your credit gets built.

Credit cards are powerful tools that can help you achieve financial freedom and to achieve your goals. Our simple guide on how to use credit cards to build credit within a short period has also been tested and proven, so you shouldn’t experience any problems.

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