How to save the world

The world is in rough shape right now. We’re still licking our economic wounds when suddenly – BAM – there’s more oil blasting into the Gulf of Mexico than we can possibly manage… and it just keeps flowing and flowing. The world’s attention is focused on those two catastrophes because they are simply gigantic and not easily stopped.

As business owners, we can feel powerless when faced with what seems to be insurmountable issues that even large governments and trillions of dollars cannot correct. But nothing can be further from the truth! If there is anyone who can effect change, it’s the small business owner and his or her customers.

Small business owners represent millions of people and billions of dollars of influence and their customers represent even more. We can all step out and create change. So, if the two biggest issues right now are financial and ecological, where can we start?

Financial
Let’s start with some ethical, customer-service-focused, good old fashioned sales hustle. Let’s get out there and make sales, ethically selling our high value products and services to the people who need them. And, as consumers, let’s buy from others even if the price is slightly higher than we want to pay. Getting money into the economy is going to be the best thing for it and getting a bunch of money into the economy is going to skyrocket our personal, professional, and national economies toward better conditions.

On that note, here is a great article about good and bad profit – there is a difference! – and the few simple things you can do to make sure you are earning good profit.

Ecological
Individually, we’re not going to be able to cap the oil spill or reverse the trends happening there. But collectively, we can make progress elsewhere in the ecosystem to influence an overall change for the better. That starts with going green in our business. When we go green and ask our vendors to go green and buy green products and services, we’re making a significant contribution (in dollars and commitment) toward a better environment.

And here is a great article about green marketing; about turning your business from a regular business into a green business that can promote itself as an eco-friendly alternative.

Jessica Routier, IAC-EZ

What lenders want to know

When you go into the bank or lending institution to borrow money – whether for personal use or for your business – lenders need to decide whether or not they should lend you the money. They base the interest rate they charge on (among other things) the amount of risk they take in lending you the money and hoping for it back. If you’re a high risk borrower, they charge higher interest. If you’re a low risk borrower, they charge lower interest.

So what makes a borrower a high risk borrower? There are a few factors that include your likelihood to pay back money based on your history of paying back money.

But there’s also something called the debt-to-income ratio. This is the amount of monthly debt payments you make compared to your monthly income. It’s a number that consumers don’t often think of because those numbers are frequently disassociated in their minds but lenders are very aware! They want to know, essentially, how much of your monthly income goes towards your monthly debt. Too much of it is cause for concern because it hints that you’ve been buying on future earnings.

If you want to read more about the debt-to-income (DTI) ratio, visit FiveCentNickel.com and read “Your Debt-to-Income Ratio: What it is and why you should care“.