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4 Things to Consider Before Purchasing a New Fleet Vehicle

Our fleet vehicles are the lifeblood of our business. It is imperative that we give them the best treatment and care, so they can perform to their best every day.

The importance of having the perfect vehicle for your fleet was highlighted by a recent study which found that a fleet vehicle with more than 100,000 miles on it has an 80% chance of reaching 300,000 miles or higher.

If you find that your fleet of cars and trucks are high-mileage and due for maintenance, you should look into some quality options at an affordable price.

4 Things to Consider Before Purchasing a New Fleet Vehicle

Before buying a car or truck for your fleet, there are a few things you should consider. By following these principles, you will increase the chances of finding a new vehicle that is economical and has a longer lifespan.

Vehicle purchase decisions have a significant impact on the company’s bottom line. You need to be sure that you have done your research and carefully considered what features are most important to your company’s driving needs before purchasing any type of vehicle for your fleet.

With the rising number of new car options in the market, it’s time to consider what you really need and how much you can afford before purchasing a new fleet vehicle.

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1. How much does each driver spend on gas?

There are several factors that go into how much a driver spends on gas including the distance to drive, the number of miles per gallon, and the cost of gasoline in their area. Of course, electric vehicles are now also a consideration, as are hybrid ones.

2. Should you lease or should you buy?

The decision to lease or buy a new fleet vehicle is an important one. It should be made with careful consideration of the company’s needs, including how much it will cost to maintain the vehicle over its lifetime.

3. Look at the overall cost of ownership and maintenance of different makes in comparison with each other

Which vehicle option is the best value for your money? The cost of ownership and maintenance of a car or truck can vary significantly depending on the make. It’s important to know these costs – servicing, replacing truck tyres, replacing various other parts – before deciding which vehicle you should buy.

4. Consider how often you plan on replacing them in comparison to when they will need an expensive repair or replacement

As vehicles get older, they start to require more maintenance and repairs. To avoid spending a lot of money on vehicles in the long run, it is a good idea to buy a new one.

Replacing an old car or truck with a new one can be costly for fleets. They have to account for the depreciation in the value of their previous car and they would need to put money aside for future repairs. But if fleets invest in a new vehicle that may cost them less than what they would have spent on their old one, then that is an obvious choice.

Different Types of Lawyers You Might Consider Having

Occasions will arise when you require a lawyer, although it doesn’t always mean you’ve done something wrong or want to sue someone. Lawyers are helpful for a wide variety of purposes. 

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Although sometimes you might not need a lawyer, hiring one makes a lot of difference. It can even simplify processes and give you an advantage over your opponents or partners. Here is a list of different types of lawyers you might need at some point and what they do. 

Personal Injury Lawyer

A personal injury lawyer deals with personal injuries caused by accidents that were either the fault of another person or a company. When injured, a personal injury lawyer can help you file for insurance claims and try to negotiate with the opposing party to settle out of court instead of going through a tedious lawsuit.

A car accident lawyer will take care of accidents cases that occurred while driving, cycling, or by any other means of transport. For a successful personal injury lawsuit, look for a lawyer specializing in the type of injury you’re dealing with.

For instance, such as a brain injury lawyer for cases where the accident caused head trauma. Medical malpractice lawyers deal with medical accidents and errors that include surgery and medication.

A Family Lawyer

Family law is divided into many sections. The most common issues handled by family lawyers are:

  • Marriage dissolution
  • Child custody and support
  • Child adoption and surrogacy
  • Domestic violence and restraining orders.
  • Division of family property

A divorce lawyer deals with cases where couples plan on parting ways and issues like alimony, child custody and property division. A family law attorney can help you file for a separation or get out of an abusive marriage. Child custody lawyers protect the interests of children in divorce cases where there are disputes over whether a parent should have sole custody or share it with the other biological parent. Child support lawyers handle cases where the non-custodial parent is either unable or unwilling to pay child support.

A Criminal Lawyer

Criminal lawyers can either be defence or prosecution lawyers. If you find yourself in a criminal case, whether as a victim or an accused, you’ll need to work with a criminal lawyer. Public defenders work on behalf of those charged with a crime and cannot afford to hire a lawyer. 

In some cases, the person might be willing to pay for a defence attorney instead of taking the public defender option. Other times, people want a team of lawyers to get them acquitted or have their sentence reduced, or charges dropped.

If you’ve been charged with a DUI crime, you’ll need the services of a DUI lawyer who will argue your case in court by providing evidence or proof. A defence attorney may be able to help get your case dismissed or get you acquitted by proving that the police made errors during the investigation.

An Estate Lawyer

When you or your parents get older, an estate lawyer will come in handy. The attorney will ensure that everything is divided according to your will and avoid disputes amongst heirs. 

They can also handle cases where someone was wrongfully left out of a will or wants to contest it. Estate lawyers are experts in probates, wills, and trusts. 

A Tax Lawyer

If you have tax issues, you’ll need a tax lawyer conversant with your local tax laws. The lawyer will help you file for income tax returns, claim deductions, and pay your taxes on time so that you can avoid penalties or interest charges.

Creditor Bankruptcy Lawyer

A debtor may need a creditor bankruptcy lawyer’s services if they face financial difficulties and can’t meet their debt obligations. The lawyer will help the client file for bankruptcy and deal with lawsuits that affect their repayment ability.

A Real Estate Lawyer

Real estate legal issues such as buying and selling property, renting out properties, and paying property taxes are all handled by real estate lawyers. If there is any violation of the agreement terms between buyers and sellers, the lawyer takes care of the dispute. 

Business Lawyers

When it comes to financial or business matters, you can seek advice from corporate lawyers who work on behalf of companies. They also deal with contracts, mergers, acquisitions, mediation, and much more. Business lawyers help startups incorporate their business, protect their intellectual property rights, and assist them with regulatory issues.

Lawyers also help settle cases out of court before they go to trial. This saves time, money, and even the environment because less energy is spent fighting in the courtroom. They negotiate a settlement between parties avoiding going to court to get a verdict.

Everything You Can Do To Improve Your Business’ Public Image

When your business is starting to come into the spotlight, you want people to be able to see you in a positive light, rather than the lesser option when compared to your competitors. There are many reasons that a business might gain a poor reputation, and it’s because of a lack of care when it comes to how they represent themselves and their values. For example, higher-up members of your business being involved in controversy can be a serious issue to how the public views you, and it depends on how you handle it as a business.

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Work on the appearance of your business

The appearance of your business is about more than how you act and show your values, but your physical appearance. It’s the way that you dress for work and the money and time that you’ve put into your workplace. Your physical presentation both as an individual and a business says a lot about your business. While it might not be an important attribute to everyone, there are many people who will take their first impressions from what they are presented with. Spend some money on your appearance, and your business will be rewarded for it in the long run – it will practically pay for itself!

Pay attention to your employees

If you have people representing your business, it’s important that you make sure they’re doing things according to the company values. Having a publicly known employee being outspoken on social media can be bad for business, and you want to make sure that there aren’t any individuals within the business who are bringing you a bad reputation. While you can’t control everything everyone does, you should at least make sure that your values are held up and you take that seriously through all aspects.

Evaluate employee satisfaction in the workplace

While your main focus might be on the things that are externally visible, it’s vital to make sure that your employees are happy and satisfied while they work for you. Not only is it crucial to their motivation and morale while at work, but it will help you become the desired business to work for. If people see your vacancies as great opportunities, you’re going to have a better pick of candidates, and your current employees are going to work hard to ensure they keep their job. Customer service isn’t always the most important factor, and people will favour your business more if you’re treating your employees properly.

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Work on your online presence

If you’re going to grow as a business, you want to be present in as many markets as possible. If it doesn’t put you out of pocket, it helps to make sure you’re making the most of what you have. Having an online presence can increase your reach significantly, and there’s a lot you can do with it. For example, if you’re running a social media account, you can use it as a tool to bridge the gap between you and your audience. Putting yourself out there to interact with your consumers can help to create a stronger level of trust overall.

If you have a website, you want to make sure it’s well made and easy for your customers to use, otherwise it could lose you sales. Making use of usability testing tools and services can help you to make sure that your website is well-made enough for your consumers, and if not you can figure out what you should be improving! These tools are important if you’re going to find out what changes you can make to overall improve your business and customer experience.

Hold fundraisers

One thing that’s great for reputation is giving back. People love to see good deeds, and when you’re running a successful business, you’re in the perfect spot to give something back. Holding fundraisers so that people can gain from donating money to charities can not only help you to gain a better reputation by giving a lot of your profits to charity but also incentivizes customers to invest in you as they’re doing a good deed at the same time. There are plenty of charities to choose from, and it would be no challenge at all to find one that aligns with your company’s values.

Open more avenues for feedback

It’s important to know and follow the direction you want to take your business overall, but you should still take the time to listen to what your customers have to say too. While they can’t give you too much insight on major changes, their feedback can still be of great help when it comes to making changes in small areas. Whether it be customer service, the quality of your product, or the kind of product that you sell. Listening to your customers can help you give your business the edge it needs over your competition, and there’s no one who knows what your customers want more than the customers themselves.

Don’t cut corners on quality

The products and services that you sell are going to be what contributes to the majority of your reputation. You’re known for what you have to offer when you’re running a business, and having the best presentation in the world isn’t going to stop your customers from noticing the quality of your products and services. Ensuring that the quality of what you’re selling is up to standard is key to gaining customer favor, and people will happily shop with you again knowing that they’re going to be satisfied with what they get.

Improve your security

If you’re a business that stores a lot of private data and information on customers and employees, it is absolutely vital that you know how to keep that information safe. Having a security breach and leaking any of that data can severely damage your image as a business, and clients can easily lose trust in you. No one wants to give their private information to someone who can’t keep it from the hands of those with malicious intent!

What Are The Advantages Of Operating As A Sole Trader?

Setting up a new business is going to require you to make a number of important decisions, but the very first one has to be how you’re going to run that business. In other words, will you run it as a sole trader, or will you be a limited company? Although both will have their pros and cons, being a sole trader has some advantages that are hard to ignore; read on to find out what they are so you can make an informed decision and then move on to other things.

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Control 

As a sole trader, you are going to have complete control of your business. You’ll be the one making all the decisions and you won’t have to involve anyone else in that decision-making (unless you want to, that is. Sometimes being able to gain advice from those in the know like Barr Rosenberg when it comes to business finance can be very useful indeed). This ‘keeping control’ can be a big reason why a lot of people choose to take the path of sole trader rather than anything else. 

More Personal

Sole traders also tend to have a more personal relationship with their customers. This is something that can drive people to choose to use a sole trader, a smaller business, rather than a larger limited one that can often seem faceless and corporate. The personal touch means a lot, and if it’s the difference between a sale or not, then it’s worth considering. Being a sole trader essentially means you can get closer to the ground when you’re working, and by doing this, you’re showing your customers you’re just like them. 

Easier To Start 

Starting a limited company is not a difficult thing to do, but when you compare it to starting a sole trader type of business, it is more complicated and it will take more time. It can even cost more. For example, a sole trader won’t have to register their business with Companies House (although they will still have to register as being self-employed) and you won’t have to fill in any long, official forms which can be tedious and, if you make a mistake, can cost you time, effort, and money. 

Fewer Regulations 

Sole traders are always subject to fewer regulations and have fewer legal requirements they have to meet. Altogether, as well as meaning that you are much less likely to accidentally fall foul of the law, you will also have less paperwork to do, and when you’re running a small business and trying to grow it, this can only be a good thing; who has time for lots of paperwork? 

More Privacy 

When you run a limited company, there isn’t much privacy around. You have to file all your accounts which can then be looked over by the public if that’s what the public wants to do. This can be uncomfortable, whether you’ve made a nice profit or you’ve suffered a loss. As a sole trader, your accounts are private and no one need ever know if you’ve been making money or not. No one apart from HMRC, that is, of course. On top of that, your personal details will stay private too; the same can’t be said of a limited company director. 

Why Knowledge Is Power In Business

The saying ‘knowledge is power’ is one that is proffered up plenty, but for those who are just starting out, entrepreneurs who are coming to the idea of business later in life, perhaps, the idea that knowledge is power can be a confusing one. When you think about it carefully though, it does make sense; the more you know, the better you can be at running your business, and the more you can grow that business in the future. But there is more to the idea than this simplistic explanation; read on to find out what we mean.

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Knowledge Removes Fear 

Starting a business is not easy, and it can bring with it a lot of worry, stress, even fear. This is perfectly normal, of course, especially if you’ve never done anything like it before. Most of the time, the excitement of what you are doing will help to counteract at least some of the worries, and with a good plan in place to launch and build your business, that fear will eventually disappear. 

The problem is that the longer that fear stays, the less likely it is you’ll want to build your business as you’ll be happier staying at the level you are. The longer that fear stays, the less likely it will be that you want to try anything new which would have the potential for great success. Fear holds you back, so you’ll want to reduce it or eliminate it as quickly as possible.

Knowledge will allow you to do this. If you are knowledgeable about marketing, you’ll be more confident in creating a marketing campaign that will bring you more customers. If you are knowledgeable about your target market, you’ll be more confident in trying new products that you know they will like. If you are knowledgeable in easy restaurant accounting, then you can see exactly how much profit you’re making and decide on what to do next thanks to those figures. The list is endless, and some online study, a night-class, or simply reading up on the subject can be all it takes to give you the knowledge you’re looking for. 

Knowledge Brings Confidence 

To run a business successfully, you need to be confident in what you are doing. This relates not just to the products and services you are selling, but to the way you are running the business overall as well. 

The more knowledge you have about how your business works, the more motivated you will be to let others know, and the more confidence you will have in what you are saying. Therefore, even if you outsource some elements of your business, or you have employees who carry out some of the tasks, it is wise to learn as much as you can about the jobs that you don’t do as well as the ones you do. When you do that, you can truly position yourself as an expert in your field, showing any potential customers or clients that you know exactly what you are talking about and that you are the one they should come to for advice (and purchases). 

Knowledge Gives You Opportunities 

When you run a business, you must always be on the lookout for opportunities for growth and expansion. Whether it’s a new product to the market that you can start selling before your competitors (perhaps even becoming the exclusive license holder), a business partner who can help boost the business or a new method of marketing that is going to help you find the right people to sell to, you must constantly be aware of what is happening and what new ideas are coming your way. 

This requires knowledge. If you don’t have knowledge, you won’t know which opportunities are going to be right for you and your business. If you don’t have knowledge, you might not even spot those opportunities at all because you just won’t know what to look out for. The more you know, the easier it will be to see new ideas and new paths to take. 

Conclusion 

It’s clear that knowledge is, indeed, power in business. Having knowledge about your own business and about the business world in general is going to help you become much more successful and, ultimately, happier. 

Knowledge is something that can be gained in many forms, and applying to take a degree might work for one person whereas listening to lectures from an expert in the industry might be better for others. Once you know the best way for you to gain knowledge you can really start to make a difference in your life.