ABC Money

Why Your Business Should Consider Video Conferencing

Business

ABC Staff

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17 December 2018

Why Your Business Should Consider Video Conferencing

Communication is at the heart of every great team. Whether you’re dealing with colleagues, clients or collaborators, regular contact is always essential in pushing projects forward and ensuring everyone’s on the same page.

But the way we work is changing, and so are the ways in which we communicate. According to a study by IWG, 70% of professionals work remotely at least once a week, as teams around the world begin to remove the shackles of the nine-to-five and complete projects in a way that works best for them.

So, businesses are beginning to move away from the emails and phones they’ve relied upon for so long; turning to WebEx Meetings and other video conferencing technology as they look to provide a more flexible, engaging form of communication. But why should your business consider doing the same?

Reduce Travel Expenses

The need for face-to-face interaction will never go away, with over half of message interpretation coming from body language and facial expressions, according to Forbes. Previously, this meant businesses had to spend a fortune on transport costs, hotel bills and other travel expenses, with teams required to physically attend client meetings, conferences and presentations.

But video conferencing lets team members enjoy the advantages of face-to-face interaction from the comfort of their own home, with high picture quality ensuring virtual meetings are just as good as being there in person. Most platforms allow workers to join sessions from multiple devices, saving the company both time and money as they’re able to attend meetings in whichever way suits them.

Help Employees Work Their Own Way

This level of flexibility is bound to make employees much happier in their work. Constant travel and rigid office hours can be absolutely exhausting at times, especially when employees are trying to work around busy schedules or working remotely. Video conferencing allows team members to participate in meetings from almost anywhere in the world, saving them a significant amount of time and helping them achieve a much stronger work-life balance. Ultimately, this leads to a happier, healthier workforce.

Boost Productivity and Collaboration

When workers are happier, they tend to be more productive. Additionally, 89% of remote workers believe that video conferencing reduces the time it takes to complete projects or tasks. The technology allows them to communicate faster and smarter; reducing the amount of time they waste chasing up email chains or arranging phone calls.

Video conferencing makes it easier than ever for teams to collaborate and work together, with the visual advantages allowing participants to share presentations, demonstrate new products and hold interactive debates. Instead of having to worry about constant interruptions or issues with miscommunication, teams are able to come to much faster decisions– helping to drive projects forward, boost productivity and improve results.

Increase Attendance and Engagement

Issues such as travel delays, long distances and strict time schedules have always hampered attendance at meetings, making it difficult to regularly get full teams together and ultimately affecting the progress of projects. However, video conferencing completely eradicates those issues, making it easier and faster for entire teams to meet and collaborate; while the use of digital whiteboards and virtual workspaces can provide a more engaging, interactive meeting experience that encourages creativity.

Strengthen Working Relationships

Video conferencing allows staff based in different countries (and time zones) to stay connected through a few simple button-clicks. By holding the doorway to meetings in the palm of their hands, video conferencing makes it easier than ever for team members to collaborate, communicate and achieve their collective goals.

Although you might have previously relied upon email and desktop phones, the face-to-face interaction provided by video conferencing helps to build trust and strengthen relationships. Recent studies show that 93% of workers believe that video conferencing improves the connectedness between remote workers and other team members, while 71% believe it can be used to improve client-customer relationships.

The advantages of modern video conferencing go way beyond saving time and money; providing a level of connection, flexibility and understanding which just isn’t possible through other forms of communication. Driving collaboration and enhancing working relationships, video technology is already an integral part of the modern workplace and, without it, your business seriously runs the risk of falling behind.

Streamlining the Customer’s Online Experience to Achieve Better Conversions

Technology

ABC Staff

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14 December 2018

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Streamlining the Customer’s Online Experience to Achieve Better Conversions

A streamlined and seamless website is a valuable asset in e-commerce marketing. From order placement, payment method, shipping, to after-sale services, integration plays a crucial role in maximising your business’s chances of success. A streamlined online experience creates a hassle-free shopping experience for your customers, saves time, resources and helps avoid errors. Additionally, streamlining of the payment method helps reduce shopping cart abandonment and increase sales. Below, we look at factors to be considered when setting up an e-commerce website.

Match your design with products

Your e-commerce website needs to be consistent for it to deliver positive results. Coherency between your product design and what is offered in the market contributes to the overall image of your site. Your colour scheme, image, and text should be in sync with your business website. For instance, if you are dealing with products for children, your website’s design should look colourful and fun.

Showcase your products and descriptions in the best format

Your e-commerce website plays a crucial part in marketing your products. It is therefore paramount to have products adequately highlighted in the website. Make use of high-quality images to grab the attention of potential buyers. The images should be of high quality to ensure the customer has a clear view of the real product. Give a detailed description of your products and maintain consistency in every page. A vivid description from every angle of your products is vital in customer retention.

Ensure fast loading of your site on both a mobile device and computer

Slow loading websites discourage customers from visiting and shopping with you. With a high number of consumers now using their mobile devices as the primary mode of accessing the internet, it is paramount to ensure they have easy access. All customer services should have mobile functionality for seamless customer experience.

Guest checkout

Today, it is common among websites to demand that customers first create an account before being able to make a purchase. Besides this being useful to such businesses in enabling follow-up and account management, to customers, this is unnecessary trouble. Customers prefer a quick and anonymous shopping experience.

Seamless guest checkouts in e-commerce marketing help boost conversion rates, thus increasing the bottom line by removing the unnecessary bottleneck in a purchase (signing up/registration process). Additionally, it is essential for an e-commerce site to simplify a customer’s checkout time in their website to motivate repeat purchases.

Payment options and security

It is essential to provide a wide range of payment options to your customers. When you become considerate of your customers’ payment preferences, this increases their drive to do business with you, thus, increasing your sales volume. E-commerce marketing sites are increasingly being targeted by hackers, making it vital to secure your site. Hacking attempts can leave you, and your customers exposed and further hurt your reputation. Encryption is one way to secure a customer’s sensitive information including e-mail, phone contacts, address, and credit cards.

Support and contact information

You can earn loyalty from customers by instilling confidence in them and showing your passion for helping solve their problems. It is vital to let your customers know that you are always only an email, text, live chat, or a call away. Try to respond to queries as quickly as possible and always offer help. You should ensure to prominently display all your contact information on your site to show the willingness to be engaged in discussions concerning issues faced by your customers as they shop from you.

Finally, instil confidence in potential shoppers by availing reviews from past customers. Customers should be able to rate the products and services they buy after completing a purchase on your website’s product page.

Dental impressions, how to avoid rejection (and make the dentist’s life easier)

Health

ABC Staff

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13 December 2018

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Dental impressions, how to avoid rejection (and make the dentist’s life easier)

A dental impression is a precious tool which allows dentists and dental technicians to have a detailed representation of the patient’s oral cavity, for diagnostic purposes or to make more accurate prosthodontics or orthodontic products.

The procedure used to obtain an accurate dental impression is rather a delicate one. One the one hand, the dentist needs materials designed to offer superior quality standards to accommodate his/her preferences, technique and the requirements of each specific case; on the other, the need to appease the patient’s worries and his/her need for comfort during treatment, especially for those suffering from Emetophobia, a phobia that causes overwhelming, intense anxiety pertaining to vomiting and the sense of nausea caused by the presence of “chemical” aromas and foreign bodies in one’s oral cavity.

The problem is quite common but certainly not insurmountable. Indeed, it is the materials used for dental impression that make the difference in these situations, both for preliminary impressions as well as high precision ones, in synergy with modern automatic and mechanical mixing equipment.

The best alginates used in the production of impressions guarantee:

the dentist a high thixotropy (in other words the ability to vary their aeriformity when stressed by the impression taking), superior precision in detail reproduction, simple use and an appropriate setting time (which in the case of alginates must be very short);
the patient does not suffer from emetophobia and limits the feeling of discomfort, thanks to the pleasant taste that helps overcome any fears and feelings of gagging or suffocating. The pleasant aroma is particularly recommended for younger patients, since it reduces the stress of impression taking and leaves an enjoyable feeling of freshness in the mouth.

Zhermack, a leading international company offering cutting-edge materials and solutions for the dental industry, has developed specific alginates which, owing to their original formula and even texture, are easily mixed and guarantee the dentist outstanding standards of dimensional stability and elasticity, making impression taking easier, while also enhancing the end result in terms of performance and accuracy of details, in addition to greater resistance to tearing.

In addition to the superior precision and easy control, these solutions make it possible to have more time to cast the model after the impression taking process. Specifically, certain particular alginates make it possible to cast the impression within 5 days instead of 2, and to obtain incredibly reliable and accurate models, making the dentist or dental technician’s life a little easier.

Unauthorised overdrafts and how to avoid any additional charges

Finance

Elliot

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12 December 2018

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When it comes to unauthorised overdrafts, how much do we really know? Many of us have used an overdraft at some point or another – whether we find ourselves in a cash emergency or simply need a little extra to get us through the month. But did you know your bank can charge you in a number of ways if you go overdrawn and haven’t authorised this payment?

Find out more about unauthorised overdrafts and how to avoid any additional charges by reading the tips and tricks in the below infographic – you’ll be more money savvy in no time!

Provided by Sunny Loans

What Everybody Ought to Know About Sales Enablement in 2019

Business

Claire James

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7 December 2018

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What Everybody Ought to Know About Sales Enablement in 2019

If you haven’t yet heard of Sales Enablement, 2019 will likely be the year it makes itself known in your business. At its most basic, Sales Enablement is the tools, resources and training that help salespeople sell more. Whether it’s led by sales, marketing or a separate Sales Enablement function, it all amounts to different versions of the same thing:

Aligning sales and marketing operations to focus on customer experience and revenue growth
Providing content, market insight and support to salespeople for every stage of the customer journey
Using technology and software to streamline sales processes
Increasing learning and development opportunities so that salespeople are better able to serve customers.

Sales Enablement or Customer Enablement?

Sales Enablement is an evolving function. It’s only relatively recently that Sales Enablement professionals banded together to form the Sales Enablement Society and create a working definition of the role of Sales Enablement in a business. While this endeavour was undertaken in an attempt to standardise this relatively new field, it’s fair to say that Sales Enablement activities will still look different from one business to the next. In fact, as the industry evolves, it’s becoming clearer than ever that the purpose of Sales Enablement is as much to improve the buying process as it is to boost the selling process.

In 2019, we expect Sales Enablement professionals will find themselves thinking as much about the buyer as they do their sales team. So let’s take a look at how that might manifest, given the intention of Sales Enablement as outlined above.

Aligning Sales and Marketing Functions to Focus on Customer Experience

What difference does it make to customers if a business’s sales and marketing departments are out of sync? The answer is, a lot. When sales and marketing functions aren’t singing from the same hymn sheet, customers receive a disjointed experience, which may be enough to turn them off a company altogether.

Moreover, when the two departments are siloed, the volume of customers tends to be less, since marketing and sales may be working with a different perspective on who the ideal customer actually is.

Presenting a united front, a unified brand message and a consistent tone will all help to reassure customers and build trust. Meanwhile, working together on lead qualification and nurturing helps ensure the right contacts are going through to sales and being followed up in the proper way.

Providing Resources for Every Stage of the Customer Journey

One of the reasons for the existence of Sales Enablement is the transformation in buyer behaviour. Customers have gone from trusting most of the buying process to the sales rep to undertaking the majority of the journey alone and only contacting a salesperson once they are almost ready to make a decision. The result? Salespeople have less of an impact on customer decisions.

It is the responsibility of sales, marketing and Sales Enablement, therefore, to make sure there is plenty of material out there to answer customer questions as they conduct this research. Where previously you may have thought about using content to build brand awareness or as part of a sales presentation, you now have to think about content for every stage of the buying journey. And that means answering as many customer questions as you can, in as many ways as you can. Blog posts, case studies, ebooks, white papers, infographics, newsletters and — increasingly — video, are all essential components of your content strategy.

The goal is to empower the customer with all the knowledge they need to make their buying decision — and to pick you. If this sounds like inbound marketing, it is. It’s all about customer — and sales — enablement.

Using Technology to Streamline Sales Processes

The more time salespeople spend on admin, the less time they have to spend selling. Sales Enablement tools such as CRMs, content management systems, and learning and development tools are all becoming key parts of a sales rep’s arsenal. Tracking the customer journey, tailoring content offers to suit individual customers, and using software to enable increased levels of learning all allow salespeople to deliver an improved customer experience. If you don’t already employ some of these, expect to see them coming to your offices next year.

With the rise in AI, we are already seeing an increase in the number of Sales Enablement tools offering a degree of artificial sales intelligence. We can expect to see even more of this in 2019.

Increased Learning and Development Opportunities

With all the tools and tech out there, there are a lot of hard skills to learn. But when it comes to soft skills, ask any sales training professional what it takes to be a top salesperson and you’ll get the same answer: ask great questions. It’s all about uncovering buying motivations, emphasising the impact of doing nothing, and presenting yourself as a resource — a consultant, if you like — rather than a seller. New ways of learning, such as microlearning, which enables you to do a little bit of learning every day, will come into their own in 2019.

It could be a response to the craziness in the world right now, or perhaps it’s the influence of Millennials and Z-genners as they rise up in the workforce. But, ultimately, what we’re seeing in buying behaviour and sales trends is a tendency to favour more human-to-human interaction — greater personalisation, more listening and, overall, an increased sense that the customer is the centre of every business. In 2019, businesses that don’t implement a buyer-centric growth strategy may find themselves facing an uphill struggle.

3 ways to keep your SME flush and money-manageable

Finance

ABC Staff

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6 December 2018

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3 ways to keep your SME flush and money-manageable

For some people, trying to keep hold of money is like maintaining a bullet train in mid-transit. No matter what you do, those finances race away from you. And alas, that journey will terminate at Bankruptcy Station, a destination where it’s painstakingly difficult to purchase a return ticket.

For one person to mismanage their finances is foolish. But to mismanage an entire businesses’ financial portfolio? Foolishness beyond reproach.

If you’re overseeing your own SME, the onus is on you to ensure that your cash flow is up to scratch, and there’ll be hell to pay if you don’t keep it ticking along satisfactorily.

With a business debt, you could become financially insolvent. Banks will avoid you like the plague, even for the most trivial of transactions, and potential corporate backers will stop returning your calls as though you’re a clingy ex.

This is a nightmare scenario, but it doesn’t have to be this way. You can slow that bullet train right down, turning it into a steam engine friendlier than Thomas the Tank Engine on ecstasy.

How can you pull off this spectacular administrative feat? For one, we’d recommend you follow a few of these tips.

Check with the professionals

You’re the big boss, the Don Corleone of your organisation. But while that means you have to show a certain degree of authority, you don’t have to face the problems of running an organisation alone.

This rule applies two-fold if you know jack-diddly-squat about a certain area of your company. And it applies three-fold if the world of finances leaves you scratching your head more than a dunce at the Annual Rocket Science convention.

Getting in touch with professionals who understand the legal side of business finance is a wise move, and we’d wager on a company like Switalskis. Give them a call if you’re an English company in need of advice.

Cut out the credit cards

There are plenty of benefits to giving the upper tier of your management their own company credit cards. It shows that you trust and respect them.

But for every 10 employees that respect you, there’ll be one that’ll abuse that card like they had four hours to live.

If you want a tight leash on your cash flow, we’d recommend keeping company credit card usage to a minimum.

Don’t leap!

Making giant leaps in your business plan is about as advisable as drinking arsenic for breakfast, and just as lethal to your SME.

Baby steps are a must in the development of your company. If you jump foot-first into a new business proposition without appropriate financial backing, for instance, you’re gambling the monetary health of your company – and the odds are stacked against you.

Those are our tips. Are you a financial expert who reckons they can help SMEs? Or maybe you’re a business owner who went bust after a few too many bad decisions? Either way, let us know in the comments below.

3 lessons that gambling teaches you

Technology

ABC Staff

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3 December 2018

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Gambling is a source of cheap fun and entertainment for many people. While others look at it as an opportunity to make some bucks. However, gambling can also teach you some very good lessons.

You experience a wide variety of emotions by gambling and so along the way it lets you learn many important lessons. We have listed some of those lessons below.

1- Hard work pays off

Most human beings tend to seek short-cuts for the fulfillment of any task. This is because it is difficult and often boring to remain committed to anything for long. But if you want to be an expert at anything, then working hard is the only sure way to succeed.

Gambling teaches you this very important lesson. You only get better at gambling if you remain committed and devote sufficient time and energy for it. You need to understand gambling rules, learn good strategies and remain patient even if you are not winning initially. In the end, you will know that your hard work will always pay off.

For all your betting, you can choose freebets for the best betting experience. Find new bookmakers in the UK here and enjoy all their great offers. You will have more bet options, more betting markets, and more licenses and safeguards. Additionally, you can enjoy the offers of all the new bookies and betting sites which are added on a weekly basis.

When it comes to choosing a bookmaker, you should consider several factors. You should look for the best odds that suit your bet. You should also take into account the reputation of the bookmaker while other options like live streams are also a plus point. Of course, this all depends on the type of punter you are. If you are a casual punter, then free bets upon sign-up bookies would be the best fit for you while if you are a regular punter, then you would need good customer support as well.

Coral, Paddy Power, and William Hill are very reputed bookmakers who are giving amazing offers. You can get £50 free bets on betting £5 with Coral. Betfair can get you up to £100 free bets while you can enjoy £20 risk-free bet with Paddy Power. William Hill and Betfred are also giving great offers. You can enjoy the Bet £10 Get £30 offer with William Hill while with Betfred, you can avail the same offer plus 30 free spins. After looking at all the offers, you can choose the offer that suits your needs the best.

2- The virtue of Balance

Betting offers only two possibilities- winning the bet and losing the bet. When you win your bet, you feel happy, excited and content. But when you lose, you feel sad and sorry for yourself.>

Good gamblers know how to handle both types of situations. They don’t get overjoyed when they win, but they don’t get depressed either when they lose. They understand that one has to deal with both types of situations in life. Therefore, they always seek a balance between the two extremes.

3- If you want the best, then you should work the hardest

The best fruits will often be at the top of a tree where it is the hardest to pick them. The same is true in real life as well where you will get the best if you work the hardest.

In gambling, the most difficult games usually provide the most generous payouts. Craps is one such game which is extremely hard. Not all gamblers can play and win at this game easily. Its rules are not easy to pick for a beginner. However, craps offer very delicious odds compared to other games.

6 Ways RFID Benefits Farming and Food Supply

Technology

Claire James

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1 December 2018

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6 Ways RFID Benefits Farming and Food Supply

Farming and food supply are unlikely to be at the top of anyone’s list of hi-tech market sectors. However, farmers and food producers across the world have found that technologies such as RFID have a range of valuable tracking applications that can help improve food standards, maintain health and safety and reduce costs without cutting quality. Here we’ll look at some of the ways RFID benefits farming and food supply.

Keeping fruit fresh

Fruit producers need to know the quality of the produce they are processing for sale. One way they are achieving this is to attach passive RFID tags to the crates in which fruit is stored and transported. Using this RFID solution, producers can monitor their fruit at every stage of its processing: they’ll know the date it was harvested, the location it was stored and the temperature it was stored at – and can have this information to hand instantaneously. If there is an issue with the fruit in that container, it is also easy for the company to locate all the other containers in the same batch, helping to prevent spoiled food from reaching the consumer.

When fruit is grown in greenhouses, it is even possible to monitor growing times, temperatures and air moisture levels. This information can be used to find ways to increase yield or speed up the growing cycle.

Preventing the spread of disease

The tracking of livestock is essential to help prevent the spread of infectious diseases such as foot and mouth, bird flu and swine fever. In the EU and many other parts of the world, the tracking of farm animals is a legal obligation and the chief way of doing this is through RFID. Livestock is microchipped in a similar way to pets, usually through a having a passive RFID tag attached to their ear or, for poultry, an RFID leg band. Each chip is encoded with an animal’s unique ID which can be scanned by readers to record its location.

Should an infection be discovered, the data held on the tags can identify all the animals that were present on the farm at the time the infection broke out. This ensures that any potentially infected livestock is swiftly quarantined to stop the disease from spreading. Tracking means that an infected animal can be found even if it has been sold on.

Tracking livestock

As each RFID chip has a unique identifier, each animal on the farm can be accurately identified. If there is one sick sheep in a farm of 500, scanning the herd can ensure that the sick animal is found and treated. Compared to having to manually check ear or leg tags, this saves workers hours of time. A scanner can read multiple tags at once and can be linked to RFID interrogator headphones worn by farm workers which issue a beep when the animal or animals being looked for are found.

Information about individual animals, stored on the farm’s database, can be linked to its RFID tag. This lets farm workers access detailed records about each animal, such as its pedigree, date and place of birth, breeding yield, vaccination history, weight, food consumption, milk yield or any other information the farm wishes to collect. This allows farms to track the health and productivity of its livestock populations at any time and enables a more effective way to manage the farm.

Better hay

Hay is a crucial source of animal feed and, in the UK, farmers are using adhesive RFID tags attached to hay bales to record helpful information about their crops. This includes the harvest date, the field from which it was harvested and the bale’s nutritional value. Once in storage, it is then possible to keep track of the bale’s age, weight, temperature and moisture levels.

RFID and food authenticity

Deaths from allergic reactions to poorly labelled food and the 2013 horsemeat scandal are clear signs that food producers need to have a better knowledge about the ingredients they are using. Today’s consumer is much more demanding – they want free-from foods, whether that’s free from GM, gluten, dairy or meat. They also want to know that food is authentic: that organic means organic and that free-range eggs are genuinely from free-range hens.

By using RFID tracking it is possible for food producers to have an accurate history of each ingredient they use. They’ll know its origins, the conditions in which it was reared or grown and the environments where it was harvested and stored prior to production. This makes it far easier to know that nuts haven’t been used in the baking process, that horsemeat hasn’t been minced into beef burgers and that pesticide treated ingredients haven’t found their way into organic dishes.

Looking after farm equipment and assets

It is not only animals and produce that can be tracked by RFID; it is also possible to attach tags to equipment and assets. This can help farmers find them easily, monitor their usage and keep a record of their maintenance.

On farms where equipment is used over a wide area, installing scanners at appropriate locations, such as in sheds, barns and storage as well as at exits to the farm enables misplaced items to be found quickly. And if something is taken off the farm, it can show you exactly when it happened. This kind of tracking can prevent loss and significantly reduce the time wasted looking for equipment.

Wrapping up

RFID technology is helping to transform farming and food production. The tracking of livestock and arable produce is helping to provide better management, increased efficiency and better yields, whilst making the food we eat safer. Using RFID scanners and tags, such as those from Universal Smart Cards, makes it easy to track produce, containers, tools and equipment and keep highly detailed and accurate records.

Aussie Adventures: 3 of Sydney’s Hottest Spots

Holidays

ABC Staff

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29 November 2018

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Aussie Adventures: 3 of Sydney’s Hottest Spots

It’s easy to dismiss Australia as a blistering outpost where nature is determined to maim you.

Home to the world’s most venomous snake, more dangerous spiders than you can shake a stick at, and an ocean teeming with toothy sharks and lethal jellyfish, it’s a country accustomed to making outsiders feel decidedly uncomfortable.

However, the planet’s largest island offers much more than skirmishes with deadly creatures.

Sydney, for instance, is a melting pot of culture, with stacks of first-rate entertainment, museums and art galleries, as well as a rich history of sport, and a raft of beaches where locals and tourist alike can soak up the sun.

If you’ve never visited the state capital of New South Wales, what are you waiting for?

But first …

Pre-Book Airport Parking

If there’s one thing we’ve learned on our travels it’s to ensure you make your life as easy as possible … and pre-booking an airport parking service is our hottest tip.

The simplest way to book is by using Looking4.com, a comparison site that’ll find you the best deal and get you ready for the long flight down under.

And once you’ve landed at Kingsford Smith, make sure you hurry to check out these three Sydney hotspots …

1. Royal Botanic Gardens

Head to the Royal Botanic Gardens on a gorgeous Sydney morning and spend the day reading a book and enjoying a picnic in this awe-inspiring natural amphitheatre. Once you’re fuelled up, take some time to explore the 74 acres before a trip to the visitor centre at the Palm Grove Centre.

Pleasingly, you won’t need to go out of your way to enjoy the Royal Botanic Gardens, as it’s located next to the Sydney Opera House, offering you the opportunity to take a stroll back towards the CBD via some of the area’s welcoming hostelries.

2. Luna Park

Take a trip over the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge to Milsons Point and you’ll find Luna Park, an amusement park on the northern shore of the harbour. The rather disconcerting Luna Park Face welcomes you, which is a good indication of the crazy fun to be had inside.

Before you spend your cash in the various sideshows, however, make sure you take a ride on the Hair Raiser, a 160ft drop tower designed to empty your stomach of its contents, as well as getting your kicks on the stunning 35-metre tall Ferris wheel.

3. Tamarama Beach

With well over 100 beaches in the area, sun seekers and surfers are literally spoiled for choice in Sydney—but there’s really only one option if you’re looking to catch some of the finest waves in the city: Tamarama.

Nicknamed ‘Glamarama’ in the 80s due to the various flamboyant individuals who flocked to the beach, Tamarama is perhaps not the obvious choice if you’re looking to try out your new bikini—try Coogee, Bondi or Manly instead—but it’s worth a visit if surfing is your vibe.

Now it’s over to you …

What are your favourite parts of Sydney? Any hidden gems we should add to the list? Please let us know by leaving a comment below—we’d love to hear from you.

The Pitfalls of Moving House and Relocating With a Bridging Loan

Claire James

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28 November 2018

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The Pitfalls of Moving House and Relocating With a Bridging Loan

You’re about to move house but buying a new, larger house is a challenge?

Don’t worry, it’s actually very common to have difficulties when securing a funding for purchasing a more luxurious home at a better location.

The financial gap when buying a new house is often big enough that visiting a bank is the only option to fill it.

Bridging loans are designed to help people at this stage of their life. Mind that this type of short-term loan is not to be underestimated. If not planned carefully, a bridging loan may bring a minor or not so insignificant financial catastrophe to a household.

We’re about to unveil the pitfalls of moving your home with a bridging loan so you consider this step in your life with greater care, as well as to learn how to calculate the impact of the loan on your own budget.

What Is a Bridging Loan and How Does it Relate to You Moving?

A bridge loan is usually a short-term loan that is paid in a period of 2 weeks to 3 years on average. In some countries, it is also known as a “swing loan”. People usually get this type of credit until they receive additional financing from another source.

A bridging loan is indeed handy for those who’re buying a new property and seek for a quick way of finding the money they don’t yet possess to make a new property purchase.

On the negative side, getting a bridging loan is something you should consider with great care as it’s definitely a thing to look before you leap.

In this post, you will receive information on the most common downsides of bridging loans. Being informed will help you avoid the cons of moving house with a bridging loan while getting the most of this smart, short-term investment.

How knowledgeable are you when it comes to bridging loans? If you don’t feel confident enough, feel free to check out the frequently asked questions we receive about bridging loans.

Most Common Pitfalls of Bridging Loans

#1 Bridge Loans Are Meant to Be Temporary

Getting a short-term loan sounds like something positive as it provides a less legally binding method for securing some quick money but things are much more complicated than this.

Bridge loan lenders are familiar that most bridge loan borrowers are in a process of selling a property. This means that when loan borrowers get the money from their sale, they will try to pay their bridge loan as quickly as possible.

The only way for a bridge loans lender to earn a significant quick profit is to provide these short-term bridging loans at a much higher interest rate than a standard mortgage loan.

Failing to sell your old home on time increases the payment period of your bridging loan and with a high-interest rate, the short-term debt becomes a long-term problem to deal with.

In the worst scenario, the loan borrower ends up with a mortgage loan for their previous property, a new mortgage loan for the new house and a bridging loan to fill the gap at the moment of the second purchase.

For this reason, we highly recommend finding a decent buyer for your old home first before proceeding with any additional real estate manoeuvres.

#2 Qualifying for a Bridge Loan Is Never Guaranteed

The amount of your home equity is the primary factor when qualifying for a bridge loan. Simply said, this is the portion of the property that you actually own if you have borrowed money to buy it. Until fully paying your mortgage, your loan lender also has a partial interest in your property.

As long as you own at least 20% of home equity or more, you will have chances on your side to get approved for a bridge loan.

Complications occur when a home buyer owns more than one property because average home equity is to be calculated.

If your credit history is poor, there’s no cash in any of your bank accounts and the overall home equity you actually possess is insignificant, getting a bridge loan will be really hard.

Those who’re in this unfavourable group should reconsider opting in for a bridge loan and instead look for an alternative way to finance their next real estate purchase.

#3 Closing an Unprofitable Property Sale

Bridge loan burrowers aim at paying their debt as quick as possible. This whole bustle leads to making poor decisions, resulting in non-profitable deals. Many bridge loan burrowers actually sell their old homes on a little to no profit just to speed up the process of paying their bridge loan, especially at times when the UK house price growth is at its lowest rates for the last five years.

Failing to complete a property sale on time and securing the money from the deal may result in foreclosure of your new home.

Don’t forget – making timely payments on your mortgage and bridge loans is a must. Any difficulties to sustain prompt payments will cause loan lenders to take action.

#4 Late Payments Are Not an Option With Bridge Loans

Bridging loans, in general, have a high default rate because of their high-interest rate and the legal requirement for timely payments. Making late payments of a bridging loan results in regular fees and penalties from the lender. This complicates the payments even harder for the loan borrower.

For each month a bridge loan borrower doesn’t succeed to make a prompt payment, compound interest is generated. Failure to make repayments within the loan terms leads to a bridge loan default.

Ending up with a default on a bridging loan hurts your credit score, leaving you with a status that will make any further loans much harder to borrow. A poor credit history also affects the interest rate of any loans borrowed in future.

Make a great evaluation of your budget and the terms and conditions of the credit before getting legally obligated with a bridging loan. Failing to make regular payments may result in long-term debt that will downgrade your life standard for a long time.

A Bridging Loan Has Been Secured. What’s Next?

You’ve finally taken the decision to get a bridging loan and you’ve just been approved for one. The money has been transferred to your bank account but what’s next?

No worries, we asked the experts from Fantastic Man and Van Removals for the following procedures to help you ensure your smooth hassle-free house move.

Hire a Professional Moving Company

A large-scale house move is impossible to complete without the help of trained and experienced professionals. Reputable move out companies will not just provide you with a high-quality service but they can do it at a competitive price and also inform you how to make the relocation process easier, providing all necessary assistance.

Ask about a moving insurance. Topnotch companies will always pay extra attention to your belongings and will do whatever it’s necessary to deliver them in perfect condition at the destination address. Companies like Fantastic Removals guarantee the safety of anything inside the moving boxes as long as it’s been packed by their professionals.
Lower Your Moving Expenses

Cut down on moving cost by decluttering your home. When movers arrive at your home, they’ll need lots of free space to efficiently do their job. The faster they finish and leave, the less you will eventually pay for move out jobs are an hourly-based service.

Remove anything that may possibly interrupt packaging and moving process such as pets, distracting rare items etc, take the children out too. Clean hallways and corridors in your property and double check door locks. The removals team will need full access to the premises so they can pack and load everything.
Defrost your Fridge Freezer / Refrigerator

You can save up to 48 hours of energy usage by unplugging and emptying the fridge on time. The move out experts will be able to load the fridge without having to deal with leaks and malfunction issues as longs as it’s been defrosted at least 24 hours in advance.
Sell Everything You Don’t Need

You can start selling online for weeks or even months before relocating. A faster solution is to organise a garage sale with the items that no one at home will use anymore.
Group all of these items at one place and label each with a price. People living nearby will have plenty of time to take a closer look and decide if they want to purchase anything from your collection of secondhand items.

Whatever remains unsold, you can donate it to a local charity, just make sure they’ll cover the expenses of collecting it from your current address.
Compare Move Out Companies

Before making the final decision to book your service, take a closer look at the service prices, provided by at least 3 different companies.

Each business uses a complex way of forming their services prices and some are more affordable at specific times. Our advice is to avoid the end of the week and the last 3 days of the month. It’s the time when moving companies schedules are busiest and prices reach their peak then.

Moving on a weekday at the middle of the month can be a hassle-free and pleasant experience.

Overall, bridging loans provide a very flexible way of funding your house move into a new home as long as you’re well informed about the pros and cons of this credit. A bridge loan is not to be underestimated but that doesn’t mean you should ignore it. Consult with professional loan lenders in your area and make the deal that looks most suitable for your long-term investment plans.

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What Is a Bridging Loan and How Does it Relate to You Moving?

Most Common Pitfalls of Bridging Loans

#1 Bridge Loans Are Meant to Be Temporary

#2 Qualifying for a Bridge Loan Is Never Guaranteed

#3 Closing an Unprofitable Property Sale

#4 Late Payments Are Not an Option With Bridge Loans

A Bridging Loan Has Been Secured. What’s Next?

ABC Money 2025 - 1st Edition