The virtual world has helped people to connect across the globe in both personal and professional capacities.  It has opened a door to unparalleled information sharing and brought the most remote reaches of the planet into homes and offices in the blink of an eye.  So it’s no surprise that this virtually limitless communication tool holds incredible pull for businesses seeking to expand.  And while operating in the online arena can definitely have a positive impact on just about every industry known to man, there may also be some unexpected drawbacks.

Let’s start with the positive aspects of operating online.  The biggest leap forward is the ability to reach an entire world of consumers, and at very little expense and effort.  While multi-national corporations once had to bear the cost of supporting offices around the world in order to compete on an international scale, anyone can now run their business across multiple countries and continents with nothing more than a basic internet connection and a couple of dedicated servers.  This has increased competition, which is always preferable in the eyes of consumers, and done wonders to level the playing field so that even small-time companies have the capacity to go head-to-head with larger corporations within an industry.  In short, the growth potential is incredible.

But don’t get ahead of yourself; operating online can also be risky.  Consider a company that sets up shop in foreign countries.  They have to make inroads with the local populace, often hiring from the community, in order to remain in business there.  They must learn the laws so as not to inadvertently break them, but they also have the ability to pick up on cultural norms and social mores that will allow them to operate more effectively within the local climate.  This allows them to avoid creating conflict due to ignorance.  When you operate overseas via virtual means, never leaving your base of operations, the chance that you might unwittingly do something to alienate potential customers in other countries goes up exponentially.  Google provides a good example; when they refused to censor search results in China they got the boot.  Currently they are spending millions of dollars to build a data center in Hong Kong with the hopes of making inroads back into the Chinese market.

Of course, there are also issues that have yet to be decided.  Anyone watching the news likely saw the uproar caused by the whole SOPA/PIPA debacle concerning the issue of media piracy in the online arena.  Although proponents of internet freedom won the battle, the war rages on.  It was only a day after the Wikipedia blackout protest helped to send SOPA back to the drawing board that New Zealand officials (acting in concert with U.S. authorities) shut down popular media sharing site Megaupload and arrested several executives.  While many online business ideas have nothing to do with media sharing, legislation has so far sought to make it illegal even to be linked to such sites, making one business liable for what others are doing.  This is a very real cause for concern amongst businesses operating online.  Even Twitter recently announced that they will have to offer the option to censor tweets in order to expand into other countries.

So while there are definitely plenty of reasons to consider taking a business into the online arena, and the move could have a decidedly positive impact on prospects for growth into new markets and increases in earnings, it pays to consider the potential drawbacks, as well.  You shouldn’t let it stop you from taking advantage of every opportunity to improve your business, but you do need to be aware of potential issues you may face when you move into a global business setting via the internet.

For starters, you need to consider whether teaching is actually right for you.  If you are looking at it merely as a means of supporting yourself while you travel, then you may be in the wrong mindset to realize success.  Teaching within a school system you are familiar with, where everyone speaks the language you have known since birth is hard enough.  You must have a passion for imparting knowledge and helping others in order to teach at all.  But when you go to other countries to teach you’re going to face a lot more hardships.  While for some this can make the experience even more rewarding, others may find that it simply ruins their entire adventure, especially if their real goal is to be a tourist.

While there are certainly fringe benefits to travel teaching, such as seeing new places, learning about and interacting with foreign cultures in a very personal way, and expanding your own horizons, you must be, first and foremost, a teacher.  In some cases you may be the only person that speaks your language.  And you might have to operate in less-than-ideal classroom settings for low wages.  This would be difficult even for seasoned teachers, but for young college grads that are just starting out, it can seem impossible (or at the very least, highly undesirable).  So you really need to consider your motives for seeking this profession.  If what you really want is a cheap vacation, try backpacking and staying at hostels instead.

The real problem here is that as a teacher, you have a responsibility to your students.  Whether they come from privileged homes or poverty-stricken refugee camps, all deserve the best that you have to give, and most especially if you’re taking your knowledge to countries that may not have the same high level of education you took for granted.  You have a moral and ethical obligation as a teacher to ensure that your students leave your classroom confident in their abilities to utilize the knowledge and skills you have imparted.

And considering the conditions you could face in other countries, you must be truly committed to the task at hand.  Aside from a language barrier, you may have to deal with substandard health and sanitation services (depending on where you go), laws and customs that you must follow even if you find them unfair or offensive, and even discrimination and exclusion due to your status as a foreigner.  But if you harbor a deep-seated urge to pass on the knowledge you have gained to foreign students that might otherwise go uneducated, then embracing the notion of travel teaching could give you a dramatically richer experience than you stand to gain by staying home.

Shirley Simpson is a contributor for Funderstanding, an organization that inspires and connects people who care about learning.

As a business owner, you might not think that giving discounts to clients and customers is in your best interest.  After all, you’re in business to make money, not give it away!  And yet, if you don’t at least consider the many benefits that can come with offering discounts, you’re doing yourself a real disservice.  Certainly there are drawbacks, as well.  For one thing you’ll earn less money, and most business owners can reasonably view that as a detriment.  But discounting has the potential to earn you more in the long run providing you go about it in the right way.  So here are just a few reasons why you might want to work it into your business plan.

First of all, you must consider the tax implications.  In case you didn’t know, any loss of value in business can be written off.  Of course, you have to do it right.  Many business owners simply decline to deal with this aspect of discounting because they fear an audit of some sort, and this is a perfectly reasonable fear.  In truth, it’s not exactly a write off since you don’t list it under deductions as you would other business expenses.  Rather, you would cite it as a loss of income by booking the total income and then including a contra-income (negative balance, or loss) as a deduction.  While it is a bit complex, it can be done.  And thankfully, accounting software such as Quicken or QuickBooks (amongst others) will allow you to easily track these reductions to your earnings for tax purposes.  So you really have nothing to fear.

Plus, discounts can actually help to bring in more business in the long run.  And there are a couple of ways to go about it.  You could start by offering discounts to new clients or customers as a way to entice them into trying your goods or services.  This is a pretty common practice for many companies seeking to expand.  It’s a great way to get new people in the door and although you may take a loss on what you sell, you can virtually get it back come tax time.  And with more customers you’ll hopefully see more long-term or repeat business.

But you don’t want to hang your loyal patrons out to dry while you reward the newbies.  So you should consider offering special rates to long-term customers as a way to keep their business steady.  Or simply run occasional promotions that all of your clients can take advantage of.  Invoice discounting is an excellent way to show your clients that their business is important to you and that you are willing to reward their loyalty to your brand.

While you certainly don’t want to give the impression that you are offering bargain basement goods or services by presenting discounts constantly, a few will-timed promotions throughout the year can definitely deliver on increased business prospects and potentially even long-term patronage.  And the drawback of lowered profitability is a moot point since you can virtually write off the loss and you’re likely to seen a bump in sales as a result.  So if you’re worried about the possible negative implications of discounting, you can stop worrying.  You only stand to gain by offering discounts to clients.

Eco-friendly cars are slowly making inroads (no pun intended) into the hearts of modern drivers thanks to advances in technology, government incentives, and the widespread popularity of breathable air.  But there are still an awful lot of cars on the road that rely solely on petroleum products for locomotion, which means every year our atmosphere becomes more polluted with the tons of carbon emissions that these vehicles produce.  And while individuals are slowly changing their minds about the type of cars that appeal to them and the future they want to create for their kids, the process is bound to be slow going unless larger organizations jump on board.  Luckily, broader efforts seem to be underway in cities around the world, with trials involving biodiesel buses and green alternatives for trucking popping up here and there.  And car rental companies that are adding eco-friendly vehicles to their fleets are another good step.

Most rental organizations, including big names like Hertz and Avis, now offer green rental options for customers looking for alternatives to the gas-guzzling polluters of yesteryear.  However, you’ll be hard pressed to find any of the big boys offering an electric car.  Of course, the problem here is that customers unfamiliar with the area they are visiting (probably the majority of people renting cars) may have a tough time finding charging stations.  So it’s not surprising that hybrids (both compacts and SUVs) are the best you can get from the big-name rental companies.  It’s rather surprising that they’ve offered even that much, but apparently there is enough demand to motivate them to expand their lines, which is rather heartening in and of itself.

There are also some rental companies that have made efforts to be even greener.  Bio-Beetle Eco Rental Cars in Maui, HI, for example, has made it their mission to be the greenest rental car company in the world.  They aim to help travelers make better choices for themselves and the planet with every car they offer, and to that end, all of their cars get 35-50 miles per gallon thanks to alternative fuel (biodiesel) and hybrid engines.  And they even go so far as to offer zero-emission electric cars, with the addition of the Nissan Leaf to their fleet (proving that it can be done)!  Granted, they operate their business on an island, so even if there are only limited public charging stations available it is unlikely that the renter who plans ahead will run out of charge.  But with more and more automakers competing in this arena, it won’t be long before charging stations become more widely available and electric vehicles can go greater distances (the Leaf, for example, now has a range of about 100 miles on a full charge).

The point is that there are rental car companies out there doing their part for a cleaner environment; and as more people support them, chances increase that the message will spread and larger companies will take the hint.  Rental cars are only a small part of a much bigger problem plaguing our planet, but considering that the eco-friendly movement is beginning to take root in automobile adjacent industries, it may not be long before others (like the pollution-heavy shipping industry) follow suit.

For many companies, hiring consultants is a standard part of operations.  In most cases, corporations (or even small businesses) can benefit from bringing in industry professionals that specialize in certain areas for short-term contract work.  It saves them on the cost of hiring a highly-paid expert to a staff position, allows time to determine whether or not a full-time position within the company is warranted, and helps the business to meet targeted needs within a set period of time (often in the way of a business plan that the company can move forward on after the contract is complete) without the overhead of an additional ongoing salary to pay.  So there are plenty of reasons why a business might want to hire a consultant here and there.  Unfortunately, there can be hidden costs associated with bringing in outsiders to consult.

The most obvious costs are monetary.  Contracting with consultants often comes with a wide array of expenses.  First there is base salary, and self-employed contractors in the corporate world often charge 2-3 times what you might expect to pay a regular employee.  The reason for this is simple; they have to cover a lot of their own expenses (at the very least, they are responsible for taxes, a portion of which is generally paid by the employer, and they have to pay the entire cost of health insurance rather than profiting from a plan that would normally be offered for a lot less through a corporate benefits package).  So higher costs for services help to offset these disparities.  However, they may also make certain extra demands.

Most require that any additional expenses incurred as a result of taking a contract be covered, and this could include travel arrangements (flights, lodgings, transportation, and even meals).  So the bill could quickly become astronomical.  And while a company can dispel the impact of these expenses on their books through various means (say by posting payments for a 6-month contract over a 2-year period), most of these practices are pretty shady.  And if a corporation gets caught committing any type of fraud it could result in serious penalties (charges, fines, and even jail time).

However, there is an even bigger cost to consider, and that is the damage caused to employee morale.  In these trying economic times, many companies are conducting massive layoffs and then hiring contractors to pick up the slack, simply because there are ways to make it look like the company is spending less (or earning more) so that their stockholders remain happy.  But it certainly does a number on employees working their butts off to keep their jobs.  All they see is that they are replaceable and that they could lose their jobs at any moment, only to be replaced by someone who works a lot less and earns a lot more.  The situation doesn’t inspire much confidence.  And if companies continue to renew contracts rather than hiring on for full-time staff positions (which they obviously need), then it’s pretty clear to employees (and everyone else) that they’re probably engaging in unethical activities (at the very least).

There are certainly times when hiring a consultant is a wise move for a business and it can come with some definite benefits.  But when a company begins to favor contractor services or consultants over dedicated workforce it can quickly lead to loss of money and even employees over time.  And the cost of losing skilled, long-term personnel is incalculable (but definitely detrimental).  So companies that wish to hire consultants need to think long and hard about the impact it could have on their bottom line, now and in the future.

It is the duty of health care providers to first do no harm, and there are many ways that this can be viewed.  For starters, you need to do everything possible to protect the confidentiality of your patients.  In this day and age it is all too easy for skilled hackers to break into files that are inadequately protected.  And while you might not think that the information you keep in your records could be as harmful as, say, medical records, think again.  In most cases cyber-criminals are after identities (name, address, credit card number, etc.), not medical histories.  And if there is a break-in and subsequent theft of such information you could be facing some very unhappy customers (and a class-action lawsuit).  So make sure that your online storage is secure.

Another major concern is informed consent.  Part of your job is to make sure that patients understand all of their options when it comes to dental care, including the right to refuse treatment or seek a second opinion if they don’t like your assessment and recommendations.  Of course, they also need to know the ramifications of failing to treat serious conditions.  On the whole, most dentists strive to nurture a trusting relationship with patients so that these extreme measures are never necessary, but the truth is that nearly all patients are going to get news they don’t want to hear at some point (root canal, tooth extraction, etc.) and the onus is on you to be sure they understand all possible options before they make a decision.

Of course, you also have the right to refuse service to patients for a variety of reasons, and often there will be ethical issues on this front as well.  For one thing, you are medical professional.  This can make it very difficult to refuse treatment to anyone in need.  But you are also running a business, so you can’t really afford to treat patients that won’t or can’t pay (no insurance or a spotty history of payments, for example).  And if you suspect that a patient abuses drugs, has mental health issues, or even has communicable diseases, you may wish to abort treatment for your own safety as well as that of the staff, your business, and of course, the patient.  But still, it can be a very difficult decision to make.

Health care providers of all types face these and other ethical issues constantly and they can easily derail the dentist that is unprepared.  So it behooves you to continue your education, including discourses on ethics in your industry.  And always do your best to consider what you might want if you were sitting in that chair.  This will help to ensure that you land on the right side of any ethical consideration.

Shirley Simpson is a contributing writer for 1Dental where you can compare and save on top dental insurance plans like Aetna dental insurance and many others.

In fact, communication is essential to conducting business.  Without the ability to talk to and understand consumers, employees, suppliers, business partners, and authorities, companies can quickly find themselves hampered in their ability to operate effectively.  They will almost certainly lose money due to such a massive oversight.  But there are many ways that multinational businesses can implement strategies for success on the language front, and the results will almost certainly be positive, resulting in happier employees and a boost in sales.

For starters, companies that wish to operate on an international level need to think about all of the many ways that communications affect their day-to-day management and their long-term goals so that they can lay out a comprehensive plan for improved communications.  And it really starts with employees.  Many companies make the wise choice of integrating employment, which is to say they send already-trained professionals from their home office to “start up” their international offices, but they also hire from the local work force.  There are many benefits to this strategy, such as gaining insight into the buying habits, cultural mores, and overall psychology of the local populace, diversifying the workforce for increased creativity and skillsets, and garnering goodwill with the communities in which the business operates.  But the tactic does little good if basic communication issues are not addressed.

For this reason, it pays to hire locals that speak both their own language and are fluent in the language of a company’s nation of origin.  Further, employees being sent to the new office should be encouraged to learn the language of the country they will be living in.  Having multiple forms of communication available only increases the likelihood that important information will not end up lost in translation.  If all else fails, skilled translators should be hired to ensure productive communication is taking place.  While it can be difficult to hire qualified professionals that have the added benefit of speaking multiple languages (and the right languages, at that), it is not an impossible task, and there are other options that can help to improve the way your business is run, regardless of where the office resides.

And really, there’s no downside.  Although companies that choose to operate in a multinational arena will certainly face language barriers (and potentially additional costs associated with hiring multi-lingual employees or translation staff), the benefits of expansion stand to far outweigh any upfront costs.  But a failure to adequately compensate for communications issues that arise will almost certainly result in setbacks to employee morale, local relations, and ultimately revenue.

Shirley Simpson is a contributing writer for a German English translation service. Whether you are traveling to Berlin or Hamburg, brush up on your language skills before you go and find out about their Übersetzungsbüro (translation agency).

First and foremost, they help people to get home mortgage loans.  Although they are not a lending institution, they do provide government-backed mortgage insurance for home buyers that have income or credit issues that would otherwise bar them from buying a house (or qualifying for private mortgage insurance).  Although applicants will still have to meet eligibility requirements in order to get approval for this type of mortgage insurance, the guidelines are there to protect both the banks and the homebuyers in order to ensure that no family is saddled with a mortgage payment they can’t afford and no bank is left holding a property in default.

And the requirements are fairly straightforward.  The monthly costs associated with home ownership (mortgage, interest, insurance, etc.) cannot exceed 31% of the buyers gross income, and the buyer must have steady employment (minimum two years) with the same employer at the same (or higher) salary.  The buyer must also have a clean credit history for at least two years following bankruptcy or three years following foreclosure.  And the property must be inspected and approved by an FHA representative before a sale can go through.  There are more rules particular to specific cases, but the basic idea behind all of them is protection for homeowners and banks against the type of irresponsible lending (and borrowing) that crashed the housing market and sent the global economy into a downward spiral in recent years.

Of course, the FHA doesn’t just hand over the cash and then leave people to their own devices; instead they provide for further protections with programs that help homeowners to avoid defaulting on their loan and facing foreclosure even if they get into financial hot water.  For example, they offer the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) that helps homeowners to reduce monthly payments by deferring debt (to be paid at a later date) in order to reduce monthly payments to a sum that the owners can currently afford.  They also have a program called HOPE for Homeowners (H4H) that will help struggling homeowners to refinance with an FHA-insured loan (likely lowering their payments by a significant margin).

Although FHA loan limits definitely exist, the truth is that the organization provides an option for responsible adults to get into affordable housing, despite past problems with credit history or a current income that is low.  This in turn has the potential to stimulate economic growth, help low-income families to pull themselves out of devastating conditions, and ultimately, create a brighter future for the people of one nation and the world as a whole.

But what does this really mean for the average business owner?  The truth is, if you’re not engaging in blatantly unethical practices, you probably have nothing to worry about.  This is especially true for small or local businesses.  Larger corporations (those that have to juggle a host of suppliers) are the ones that may be in trouble, especially if some of their supply chain operates in foreign countries.  While many nations have laws in place to regulate labor so that human rights issues like child labor and forced labor don’t occur, some do not have strict enough laws and some simply do not enforce them.  So even in our modern world, exploitation of labor still occurs.  And companies that support it are sure to come under fire for ethical violations.

So it behooves you to know your supply chain inside and out, which means to you need to visit international operations before you sign a contract to work with them.  You don’t want to discover down the road that there are children in a field picking cocoa beans to make your chocolate, that workers are being forced to operate in sweatshop conditions day and night to create your cell-phone casings (to the point where they’re committing suicide), or that desperate laborers are sand-blasting your jeans without proper ventilation and masks (leading to fatal silicosis).  You might be horrified by these scenarios, and you should be.  All of them are real-world occurrences that have made headlines in the last few years and each instance was linked to a major international brand name (Nestlé, Apple, and Levi’s, respectively).

But besides the obvious (preserving the integrity of your company and taking a stand against worker exploitation), why should you clean up your act when it comes to the supply chain?  After all, it could cost a lot more to purchase goods and services that are guaranteed fair trade.  In truth, there may not be a quantifiable way to gauge the success of such a venture.  Bad press is bound to find you if you’re engaging in ethical violations, but who’s going to talk you up when you’re on the straight and narrow?  Companies that pull out their money clips can certainly advertise their ethical operations in a bid to get more business, but it is the patronage of concerned citizens that will help you the most.  Even if you’re paying a bit more for ethical suppliers, you can earn it back in good press and increased consumer dollars.  So whether you’re in it for the ethical goodwill, the bump in revenue, or both, you will find that only good things come from ensuring an ethical supply chain.

Shirley Simpson is a contributing writer for the Executive Gift Shoppe where you can find a bevy of great gifts for the professional in your life.

The best way to pay these days is electronic.  While many non-profit organizations still accept “real” money (cash, checks, money orders, etc.), this old-school method of taking payment is substandard for a number of reasons.  For one thing, it gives people the time to changes their minds.  The point-and-click method of payment means that patrons of the cause can make impulsive donations rather than pledging and then taking the time to think about all the other things they could be doing with their money (eventually opting not to donate).  And any organization that is stuck in the mentality of a one-time payment is not living up to their earning potential.

These days it’s all about monthly recurring charges (MRCs).  Even tech-savvy teens are familiar with the concept as most have been lectured about overages on their cell-phone usage (leading to costly bills for parents).  It is for this reason that most carriers offer service plans that include unlimited packages for talk, text, pix, and data download.  These are MRCs.  And many apps and games operate under the same principle, offering either a one-time payment for limited service or lower monthly payments for ongoing, expanded services.

The only problem with these payment options is that people rarely read the fine print and then they fail to look through their monthly cell phone bill to see what their MRCs are (even though they are generally clearly listed).  So when they find out they’ve been paying monthly for charges they didn’t really know about, they are understandably angry.  Unfortunately, this has given MRCs something of a bad rap.

However, that doesn’t mean that non-profits can’t use these modern payment methods to their advantage; they simply have to present them in a clear and straightforward manner.  And luckily, many non-profit merchant account services can provide for such payment options via websites and click-through from social media outlets.  So if patrons would like to pay $10 a month (billed to a credit card, for example) rather than their annual donation of $100 a year, a non-profit organization stands to gain money while offering contributors more desirable options.  And if you look at it from a purely psychological standpoint, nearly everyone feels that they can afford to give ten bucks (even monthly), while a larger one-time donation can seem overwhelming.  Even though non-profits will certainly want to avoid the stigma of dishonesty that often surrounds MRCs, the potential profitability of offering patrons more payment options (that will concurrently benefit the organization) is too great to deny.