Posts Tagged ‘business’

By Angela Baca
 

In 1997, Hong Kong became a Special Administration Region (SAR) of the People’s Republic of China, marking the end of 150 years of rule by the UK. In the 21st century, the Chinese government makes it easy for foreign investors to create a business entity in Hong Kong through the special government. A business owner can open a business in 4 days. On the Internet, a person can begin importing products from Hong Kong immediately. Tapping into the Hong Kong market opens up a new source of cheap products for Internet wholesalers. 

If you decide to trade with Hong Kong, keep these benefits in mind. First, Hong Kong is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and imposes no customs tariffs on its imports or exports. Second, the Hong Kong government makes free trade easier by requiring a minimum of paperwork. Third, the Hong Kong government operates a comprehensive website (IRD.gov.hk) that spells out exactly how to register for a business, complete other forms, and make payments for registration fees and taxes online. This article provides basic information on opening a business in Hong Kong using online resources and how to find leads on sourcing Hong Kong products using resources provided by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC). 

As a person interested in establishing a business in Hong Kong, try these steps:  

1. A potential business owner chooses from one of the five frameworks popular among foreign investors in Hong Kong—a sole proprietorship, a private limited company, a branch office of an overseas company, a representative office, or a joint venture.

2. The business owner must register his or her business information using the form supplied by the Business Registration Office of the Inland Revenue Department. Obtain the form by email or fax request. The business registration form requires basic information, including personal and business address information, the nature of the business, and the names of the business in English and/or Chinese. When a business owner completes an electronic application, the business information is transferred electronically to the Hong Kong Business Register. 

3. The new registered business owner must pay government fees to the Inland Revenue Department using the eTAX system (IRD.gov.hk), including fees for business registration, the cost of obtaining an official certificate of the business registration, and later for payment of annual taxes.

4. Hong Kong’s government website also recommends that business owners obtain their own domain name (with the “.hk” suffix) in order to build an online corporate presence. The cost of the Hong Kong domain name varies from HK$150 to $HK250 per year.
 

(HKTDC) at HKTDC.com. This council organizes over 13 international trade fairs annually and serves as a leading resource for trading with Hong Kong. HKTDC offers many resources for foreign buyers, including free registration and buying tips. For example, after completing the registration process, a new member can visit the online marketplace and access tips about hot products from Hong Kong. If you are interested in fashion belts and click on the link, a page posts with photos of the fashion belts as well as photos and links for similar products. This page also includes an email submission form which enables you to contact the supplier directly.
 

Becoming an importer of products from Hong Kong has certain legal implications for business owners in their home country. For example, a U.S. citizen would begin by visiting the websites of the municipal or county government, the state government, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to determine what business licenses and fees are required for international trading. If you live in the U.S., you should also research what documentation that each level of government requires you to maintain for your international trading activities. Explore the possibilities of free trade by importing wholesale products directly from Hong Kong!

By Audra Bianca

Managing chaos means different things to different business owners. Why? That’s because business owners have problems on a different scale, such as problems with a small operation of 5 employees and problems with a large operation of 400 employees. The commonality for both types, big and small versions of small businesses, is that the owners must manage the workforce so chaos does not diminish productivity.

Small business owners may turn their attention to performing their administrative functions and to business strategy. If they are lucky, they can afford to hire one or more managers to supervise employees. Even with managers in place, small business owners need to ensure the working environment is productive and not chaotic.

If you are a small biz owner worried about managing chaos, even if it is productive chaos, try these tips to ensure your company employees can help achieve your business goals:  

1. Study the causes of chaos in your company. This step might require taking an employee survey or bringing in outside consultants to evaluate your workforce, organizational structure, and operations. If you know what is stopping employees from working together in a pleasant workplace environment, you can move to the next stage of planning.  

2. Use planning models such as the SWOT analysis or the priority matrix to select which real causes of workplace chaos your company will solve. Planning is a complex process requiring input from multiple people in the company. This planning may be part of strategic planning or it might be conducted as a special project. Using a model such as SWOT (identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) in relation to workplace conditions ensures you and your staff will consider sources of chaos from multiple perspectives.  

3. Create an implementation plan. The goals identified through the planning process must be achieved through stages of implementation. Each stage should include a map of how managers will structure the workplace activities, performance measures, assignments, and other aspects of organization differently to create a less chaotic environment.

4. Communicate the plan to all employees. You need employee buy-in for your plan to work. Therefore, you might need an incentive plan to motivate workers. Also, show employees how each stage of implementation leads to achieving the objective of a better workplace. Hold employees accountable for their roles under a new plan. 

If you have a very small staff, you may conduct most of these steps yourself. Keep yourself organized and focused on the stages of studying the problem, planning solutions, implementing solutions using a plan, and communicating the plan to all employees. If you use this type of structured approach, you can slowly transform the workplace into a more pleasant environment and increase productivity.

A very inspiring video from Ted with an interview from Richard Branson. Richard describes his life and experiences.  The video can inspire anyone who want’s to follow his dreams and build his first startup.

Many individuals who offer services in a specific industry and are experts at what they do take up freelance work on the side. Their motive may be to increase income or build upon their resume. Regardless, as a business owner looking for experts to work for your company, you will benefit from outsourcing to freelancers. Below are three main advantages to outsourcing to freelancers.

Save Resources and Save Money

Hiring people to work from your office means that you have to spend more time, money and effort. You will spend money on software, Internet, office space and, not to mention, training. These costs will add up and it is more resourceful for you to outsource to freelancers. Freelancers who work from home have all the tools and knowledge to do the job.

Spending Time On Important Projects

Another advantage of outsourcing is being able to have more value for your time. Repetitive, tedious and certain technical tasks can be handled by freelancers. This way, you will spend more time on marketing, managing and making money.

Work With Experts

Why give someone a salary-based job, train them for three months and have them under-perform when you can work with experts? Outsourcing allows you to pay individuals on a project basis for a certain amount of time because they know what they are doing. You can take advantage of their knowledge for the specific task at hand. This allows you to work with multiple people for less money but more targeted expertise.