Shoe Repairs And Several Other Things When I Was 7
My Dad repaired most of our shoes believe it or not, I can hardly believe it myself now. With 7 pairs of shoes always needing repairs I think he was quite clever to learn how to “Keep us in shoe Leather” to coin a phrase!

He bought several different sizes of cast iron cobbler’s “lasts”. Last, the old English “Laest” meaning footprint. Lasts were holding devices shaped like a human foot. I have no idea where he would have bought the shoe leather. Only that it was a beautiful creamy, shiny colour and the smell was lovely.

But I do remember our shoes turned upside down on and fitted into these lasts, my Dad cutting the leather around the shape of the shoe, and then hammering nails, into the leather shape. Sometimes we’d feel one or 2 of those nails poking through the insides of our shoes, but our dad always fixed it.

Hiking and Swimming Galas
Dad was a very outdoorsy type, unlike my mother, who was probably too busy indoors. She also enjoyed the peace and quiet when he took us off for the day!

Anyway, he often took us hiking in the mountains where we’d have a picnic of sandwiches and flasks of tea. And more often than not we went by steam train.

We loved poking our heads out of the window until our eyes hurt like mad from a blast of soot blowing back from the engine. But sore, bloodshot eyes never dampened our enthusiasm.

Dad was an avid swimmer and water polo player, and he used to take us to swimming galas, as they were called back then. He often took part in these galas. And again we always travelled by steam train.

Rowing Over To Ireland’s Eye
That’s what we did back then, we had to go by rowboat, the only way to get to Ireland’s eye, which is 15 minutes from mainland Howth. From there we could see Malahide, Lambay Island and Howth Head of course. These days you can take a Round Trip Cruise on a small cruise ship!

But we thoroughly enjoyed rowing and once there we couldn’t wait to climb the rocks, and have a swim. We picnicked and watched the friendly seals doing their thing and showing off.

Not to mention all kinds of birdlife including the Puffin.The Martello Tower was also interesting but a bit dangerous to attempt entering. I’m getting lost in the past as I write, and have to drag myself back to the present.

Fun Outings with The camera Club
Dad was also a very keen amateur photographer, and was a member of a camera Club. There were many Sunday photography outings and along with us came other kids of the members of the club.

And we always had great fun while the adults busied themselves taking photos of everything and anything, it seemed to us. Dad was so serious about his photography that he set up a dark room where he developed and printed his photographs.

All black and white at the time. He and his camera club entered many of their favourites in exhibitions throughout Europe. I’m quite proud to say that many cups and medals were won by Dad. They have been shared amongst all his grandchildren which I find quite special.

He liked taking portraits of us kids too, mostly when we were in a state of untidiness, usually during play. Dad always preferred the natural look of messy hair and clothes in the photos of his children.

There are several potential financing options available to cash-strapped businesses that need a healthy dose of working capital. A bank loan or line of credit is often the first option that owners think of – and for businesses that qualify, this may be the best option.

In today’s uncertain business, economic and regulatory environment, qualifying for a bank loan can be difficult – especially for start-up companies and those that have experienced any type of financial difficulty. Sometimes, owners of businesses that don’t qualify for a bank loan decide that seeking venture capital or bringing on equity investors are other viable options.

But are they really? While there are some potential benefits to bringing venture capital and so-called “angel” investors into your business, there are drawbacks as well. Unfortunately, owners sometimes don’t think about these drawbacks until the ink has dried on a contract with a venture capitalist or angel investor – and it’s too late to back out of the deal.

Different Types of Financing

One problem with bringing in equity investors to help provide a working capital boost is that working capital and equity are really two different types of financing.

Working capital – or the money that is used to pay business expenses incurred during the time lag until cash from sales (or accounts receivable) is collected – is short-term in nature, so it should be financed via a short-term financing tool. Equity, however, should generally be used to finance rapid growth, business expansion, acquisitions or the purchase of long-term assets, which are defined as assets that are repaid over more than one 12-month business cycle.

But the biggest drawback to bringing equity investors into your business is a potential loss of control. When you sell equity (or shares) in your business to venture capitalists or angels, you are giving up a percentage of ownership in your business, and you may be doing so at an inopportune time. With this dilution of ownership most often comes a loss of control over some or all of the most important business decisions that must be made.

Sometimes, owners are enticed to sell equity by the fact that there is little (if any) out-of-pocket expense. Unlike debt financing, you don’t usually pay interest with equity financing. The equity investor gains its return via the ownership stake gained in your business. But the long-term “cost” of selling equity is always much higher than the short-term cost of debt, in terms of both actual cash cost as well as soft costs like the loss of control and stewardship of your company and the potential future value of the ownership shares that are sold.

Alternative Financing Solutions

But what if your business needs working capital and you don’t qualify for a bank loan or line of credit? Alternative financing solutions are often appropriate for injecting working capital into businesses in this situation. Three of the most common types of alternative financing used by such businesses are:

1. Full-Service Factoring – Businesses sell outstanding accounts receivable on an ongoing basis to a commercial finance (or factoring) company at a discount. The factoring company then manages the receivable until it is paid. Factoring is a well-established and accepted method of temporary alternative finance that is especially well-suited for rapidly growing companies and those with customer concentrations.

2. Accounts Receivable (A/R) Financing – A/R financing is an ideal solution for companies that are not yet bankable but have a stable financial condition and a more diverse customer base. Here, the business provides details on all accounts receivable and pledges those assets as collateral. The proceeds of those receivables are sent to a lockbox while the finance company calculates a borrowing base to determine the amount the company can borrow. When the borrower needs money, it makes an advance request and the finance company advances money using a percentage of the accounts receivable.

3. Asset-Based Lending (ABL) – This is a credit facility secured by all of a company’s assets, which may include A/R, equipment and inventory. Unlike with factoring, the business continues to manage and collect its own receivables and submits collateral reports on an ongoing basis to the finance company, which will review and periodically audit the reports.

In addition to providing working capital and enabling owners to maintain business control, alternative financing may provide other benefits as well:

It’s easy to determine the exact cost of financing and obtain an increase.
Professional collateral management can be included depending on the facility type and the lender.
Real-time, online interactive reporting is often available.
It may provide the business with access to more capital.
It’s flexible – financing ebbs and flows with the business’ needs.
It’s important to note that there are some circumstances in which equity is a viable and attractive financing solution. This is especially true in cases of business expansion and acquisition and new product launches – these are capital needs that are not generally well suited to debt financing. However, equity is not usually the appropriate financing solution to solve a working capital problem or help plug a cash-flow gap.

A Precious Commodity

Remember that business equity is a precious commodity that should only be considered under the right circumstances and at the right time. When equity financing is sought, ideally this should be done at a time when the company has good growth prospects and a significant cash need for this growth. Ideally, majority ownership (and thus, absolute control) should remain with the company founder(s).

Alternative financing solutions like factoring, A/R financing and ABL can provide the working capital boost many cash-strapped businesses that don’t qualify for bank financing need – without diluting ownership and possibly giving up business control at an inopportune time for the owner. If and when these companies become bankable later, it’s often an easy transition to a traditional bank line of credit. Your banker may be able to refer you to a commercial finance company that can offer the right type of alternative financing solution for your particular situation.

Taking the time to understand all the different financing options available to your business, and the pros and cons of each, is the best way to make sure you choose the best option for your business. The use of alternative financing can help your company grow without diluting your ownership. After all, it’s your business – shouldn’t you keep as much of it as possible?

What is digital marketing?Today nearly 80% of all the media that we consume come through digital channels. Massive internet usage and digital media has given rise to a new marketing concept called Digital Marketing. It is a broad area and considered to be the future of business development.Digital Marketing is the most commonly used term for online marketing and it has several advantages over traditional offline marketing. With the help internet and mobile devices customer these days have access to information from anywhere in the world. Marketers these days use digital tactics to attract and convert audiences online.This new age marketing methods helps to gain good reputation which is essential for a business to survive. It is the best way to reach out to your targeted audience. With the help of digital marketing one can reach many customers at a very little marketing budget. Unlike traditional methods you can measure the success of digital marketing campaigns with the help of analytical tools. Ever year more and more marketers put aside traditional marketing and focus on this approach. Successful marketing campaigns can be accomplished by integrating traditional methods with the digital marketing techniques.Common methods of digital marketingEmail MarketingThis is one of the commonly used methods of online marketing. Email marketing enhances business communication, cost effective and Eco-friendly. By this method a message could be sent to a group of people by the use of electronic mail.It is an efficient way to stay connected with your audience while promoting your business and also one of the easiest ways to reach your target audience.Search Engine OptimizationIt is an organic way of optimizing your online content to improve the ranking of your website on the search engine.There are a lot of factors involved in ranking of a website such as title, keywords, relevance etc. SEO helps to ensure that your site is accessible and improve the chances of being found by the search engine. It is classified into two types on page and off page optimization. On page optimization is achieved through careful distribution of keywords and the quality of content on your site. Off page optimization involves factors that are beyond the control of your website. The primary goal of link building is to get other websites links to yours to improve SEO.Search Engine MarketingWhen someone searches for information or a keyword, SEM makes sure that your site appears at the top of search engine results. It uses a variety of techniques which helps the search engine to deliver your site to the web searchers.One must clearly understand SEO before using SEM. It is one of the most efficient ways to spread your business across in this competitive world. Some of the components of SEM are ad auction, bid and quality score. Your maximum bid for a keyword with a great quality score determines your ad position.Pay Per ClickThe fastest way to reach your target audience can be achieved through P P C campaigns. You pay each time when someone clicks on your ad. For example, if you pay 1 rupee per click and when 1000 people click your ad it will cost you 1000 rupees. Based on the CTR (click through rate) the performance of you ad campaign is determined. It generates faster results by targeting the right people at the right time and at the right place. Since it costs money it is suitable for businesses that sell product/services.Social Media MarketingThe process of marketing through various social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram is known as Social Media Marketing. The primary objective of SMM is to produce content on social media that help an organization to increase brand awareness and customer reach. In social media companies can share content to achieve marketing goals.Display AdvertisingIt is a form of conveying a message with elements like images, logos, graphics, audio or video to communicate to the target audience. Also known as banner ads, it gives a unique opportunity to re-target the ideal audience. You can also display ads to people based on their search behavior. Generally, display ads are seen alongside on search engines such as yahoo, Bing and Google.Content MarketingThis type of marketing is done by creating and sharing free content to attract new prospects and retain existing customers. Informative content is shared in the form of articles, videos, info graphics etc. It helps in building strong relationships with your audience by providing them with relevant high quality contents. Your business goal should be aligned with content strategy to gain critical success.How a fresher would benefit from digital marketing?In digital world, online marketing is essential for running a successful business. Marketers these days are adapting from traditional to digital approach.Digital marketing provide small businesses with resources to perform sales and marketing that were previously available only for large companies. It ensures the survival of online businesses. Today, brands are putting more focus on digital marketing than ever before. Digital marketing skills are in serious demand and provide a unique competitive edge for one’s career. It offers great opportunities around the world. There is a wide range of digital marketing roles which include jobs related to social media as well. It also provides a variety of opportunities to start your own career as an Entrepreneur. There are lots of benefits that digital marketing professionals can look forward in upcoming years. More companies embrace digital marketing as their primary marketing strategy which creates a plenty of job opportunities for freshers. The future of digital marketing seems to be very bright at the moment.