Business and Money Tips

Many people think it is impossible for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to train their staff.  There are 5 key concerns: ·         “We don’t even have enough people to work, how to send them for training?”  ·         “My staff are very elderly with low education, how can they understand the training?”  ·         “Even if they can understand the training, how are they going to apply the training without our managers and bosses guiding them at the training?” ·         “If we send my staff to the Training Centres, who is going to cover their work? With so tight labour, we cannot afford to release them for two to three hours, how can they ever attend a two or three days training?” ·         “Even if the above concerns are addressed, the training will not be relevant and immediately usefu...

The reason people make mistake is that they are unaware of the mistake.  But if you tell them and they still make the same mistake, that 2nd mistake is no longer a mistake but a belief.  Mistakes are not the same as Fraud in that they are all made unintentionally and are all 'honest mistakes'. When you make mistakes in PIC (Productivity and Innovation Credit) claims, you won't get fined but the IRAS will just simply delay the claim process.  So the more mistakes you make, the longer it takes for you to get your money .  The top 11 mistakes make in PIC claims are (in order of frequency) are: Wrong Y/A (Year of Assessment).  YA is always one year faster than this year, so for this year 2014 claims, it should be YA 2015 Include GST when the business is GST registered.  You have to take out the GST portion as you're already getting back the input GST in your monthly GST returns Include non-qualifying amounts , like warranty, consumables, finance c...

Note: click here for PIC training As we know, the PIC ( Productivity and Innovation Credit ) scheme has been in place since 2010, and has just been extended till 2017.  Under this general and generous scheme , the government gives 60% cash or 3 times additional tax deductions to businesses that invest to innovate and up their productivity. The 8 types of expenditure eligible for PIC Claims are: Training , IT Solutions, IT Hardware, Software, Automation Equipment, R & D, Intellectual Property Rights and Singapore Design Council design projects. Many employees that we talk to feel that such a scheme only benefits their employer and they cannot see any benefits accruing to them. In fact some employees told us that making PIC Claims only adds up to their already heavy work load.  It's just a government's gimmick, right? Make no mistake: the Government is serious about making Singapore's employees more productive . When employers receive money from the gover...

As we know, Sun Tzu does not advocate a martinet-style of leadership. Instead, he states that a leader must be strong enough to executive the strategy in the organization. On the other hand, the leader must also be confident and trusting enough to allow his team to carry out the strategy successfully.  It is thus both HARD and SOFT: Hard on the Problem Soft on the People .  There are 5-Ways to Sun Tzu Leadership: Build Your Character, not just Your Image .  To Sun Tzu, a leader must be courageous, sincere and yet humane. But a leader must always  appear to be in control  of the situation, exuding confidence and assurance at all times. This confidence is not a facade, but based on true inside confidence. In short,  if the leader has even one doubt, his followers will have several . Lead with Actions, Not Just Words .  The best way to show your character is not to talk about it, but set the example. Talk is cheap.  You should ne...