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How to Choose an Employment Law Solicitor

If you need an employment law solicitor, then you may already have a firm of solicitors in mind, or you may have never needed legal help before. How can you be sure that the employment law solicitor that you choose is the right one for you?5 tips when choosing an employment law solicitor1. What employment law experience has the firm of solicitors had?Choosing a solicitor isn’t easy. There are many to choose from, and a lot of them will offer similar services. Some solicitors will specialise in particular areas of law, such as family law, conveyancing, or commercial law. A firm of solicitors that has considerable experience in employment law, will be able to put you at ease, and reassure you, whether you want help with advertising for new employees, or for a discrimination case.2. How can your employment law solicitor help you?The sort of help and advice that you are looking for will determine what sort of employment law solicitor you need. If you want advice to see whether your former employers have an unfair dismissal case to answer to, you will want a solicitor experienced in this area. A solicitor experienced in writing staff handbooks, or helping companies with redundancy advice, may not be best for you, and vice versa.3. Are there any other options?If you are an employee wanting legal advice, instructing an employment law solicitor to take on your case, is a decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly. You should have already talked to a manager, or the personnel or hr department. If you don’t get the support and assistance that you need from within your company, then it might be time to seek legal advice.4. Do you like the people you are dealing with?If you feel that you are being rushed, or that your solicitor has got better things to deal with, you may understandably be unsure as to whether they are the best person to take on your case. It may just be that they are having a bad day, but it could be particularly important in the case of an action against an employer.5. Not just for employeesif you are an employer, then you might not be fully aware of all the help and advice that is available. Law solicitors can advise employers on a wide range of issues relating to everyday working life. From grievance and disciplinary matters, redundancy and flexible working rights, to breach of contract, contracts of employment, and staff and company handbooks, any issue that could have legal consequences can be advised on by an law solicitor.Choosing an employment law solicitor can be a daunting prospect one, but if you know you what sort of service and experience you need, you can be certain that you’ll choose the right one.

Keys to a Healthy Lifestyle – Detox Your Lifestyle to Make Space For a Healthier You

What do you need to let go of to make space for a healthier lifestyle?Old habits die hard and can therefore be difficult to change. They slow you down and get in the way of what and who you want to become.What lifestyle habits are standing in the way of a healthier way of life for you?In what ways can you learn to let go of activities that give you pleasure now but cost you dearly later on?Allow yourself to think about the idea of letting go of something that’s standing in the way of you achieving a healthy lifestyle. You can choose to let go of something for now and pick it up again later if you want to, that’s your choice. However, take into account that letting go of just one thing will mean you have space to pick up something else that might bring you even more pleasure. We invite you to do that now.Sometimes when you feel overwhelmed by things in your life, the situation is not as real as you think it is. Sometimes the problem is in what you think about the situation rather than the circumstances themselves. Often the negative thought patterns associated with overwhelm come from a belief system that you learned as you journeyed through life.The burden of negative thought patterns can create toxicity in your mind and body, weighing you down and making you feel heavy and demoralized. The lifestyle detox activity below will help you clear away the obstacles and let go of thought patterns that have been keeping you from living a healthy lifestyle.Lifestyle Detox ActivityOnce you know where your life needs detoxifying you can begin to make space for a healthier way of living. Focus on identifying one thing that is creating toxicity in your life. Or choose more than one – you choose how many you want to consider.Notice thought patterns that are creating toxicity. Once you know the areas you need to detoxify you can begin to find ways to cleanse you life. Focus on something that you have the power to change, rather than things you have no control over. Stop and take time to consider these questions.What have you learned from this exercise?
What will you choose to let go?
What will you replace it with?Now create a compelling outcome for yourself that will enable you to detoxify your life and create a healthier lifestyle right now. Make sure your lifestyle outcome is clear to you. Write it down, draw a picture, meditate on it – whatever works for you is just fine.State your lifestyle goal in positive terms. Choose to focus on what you want rather than what you don’t want and plan when you will use these keys to detox your life and create a healthy lifestyle.

Six Options For Financing Acquisitions

When it is time to arrange the financing for an acquisition, it is important to be creative. When seeking money to buy a company, you will notice that a number of community banks, typically big funders of certain acquisitions, are encountering difficulty due to their degraded residential (builders) loan portfolio. Creativity can make the difference between accessing capital or canceling the acquisition, especially now when credit markets are tighter.Here are some options for financing acquisitions:1. Owner financing / seller financing – Go to the seller first. Who is better prepared to finance the business than the person or company who owned it? They know the business better than anyone and are most familiar with its risks. In the current environment, you should be able to get 40-70% of the business financing via owner financing. You must convince the seller you are a good risk, just as you would have to convince a bank.2. Supplier or vendor financing – The target company’s suppliers and vendors are a good source of financing. Their business is likely to increase under your new ownership. (i.e., If you do not intend to grow the business, why would you buy it?) Leverage that growth in their business to negotiate for financing from them. If the target company has been a good customer, the supplier is knowledgeable about the business and will understand the inherent risks better than a typical bank. Note that if you are an existing business acquiring another business, you can pursue financing from your suppliers and vendors. The same reasons apply.3. Mezzanine financing or private equity funding – Mezzanine and private equity funds that serve the small and medium markets raised large sums of money before the market meltdown. They therefore have money to spend and are looking for great opportunities. With fewer people and companies making acquisitions right now even though multiples are very low, now is a great time to obtain mezzanine financing. The target company typically will need revenue of $10 – $20 million and higher and EBITDA of $2 – 3 million and more to be interesting to a mezzanine or private equity fund. Why? These funds have to spend large amounts in a relatively short period of time (5-7 years) so they need larger deals.4. Bank debt – If the target company has a lot of medium to long-term assets in addition to good cash flow and a strong profit margin, you should have relatively few problems finding bank financing. However, if you want to buy a service company which has a lot of receivables and other short term assets, you may encounter difficulty. Find a bank that has a history of financing the type of company you are buying. Also, talk to the seller’s banker. If the seller has a strong banking relationship, the banker will know the business well, increasing the likelihood that that bank will provide financing in order to retain the relationship and the itinerant deposit accounts.5. Receivables financing – If you find it difficult to obtain bank financing, pursue account receivables financing firms. They can provide term loans and lines of credits against the receivables. Although the interest rate will be higher, these firms are more familiar with receivables financing and thus often more comfortable with lending against receivables.6. Pre-paid sales – Approach the target’s customers and ask them to make a bulk purchase or pre-pay for several months’ or a year’s worth of products or services in exchange for a strong discount.These are some acquisition funding options to stimulate your own creative thinking and approach. There are other alternatives, some of which may be unique to your particular business.

Photography – Defining a Few Different Types of Photographic Styles

Traditional Photography. Custom photography. Lifestyle Photography. Photojournalism. These are all terms used to describe different photographic shooting styles, and they are all fairly well-known terms nowadays too. I have found though, that despite the number of people who have heard of these terms, very few actually know what the difference between them is. In the rest of this article, you will find explanations for what each term means and why you might choose to use one photographic style over another.Traditional photography is the type of photography most people have experienced. This would be your standard studios and department store studios. These photographers typically create their photographs in their own studio using their own props and equipment. They are often artificially lit using studio lighting. This style of photography is actually very well known for it’s very posed and perfected look. Everything and everyone is in their place and positioned just so. This type of photography is often used for portraiture, especially for families.If that doesn’t sound like the right fit for you, you may be interested in custom photography. Custom photography is actually a name used to describe several different sub-categories of style. Basically custom photography is about going a step up from the typical carbon-copied photos of the traditional photographer and selecting a photographer who will not only create images that directly reflect your family, but also provide you with an experience and service that just can’t be compared to traditional photography studios. Custom photography might be the style for you if you are interested in taking an active part in finding and working with a photographer to create truly unique pieces of artwork that reflect you.One subcategory of custom photography is lifestyle photography. Lifestyle photography is exactly what it sounds like – it’s photographs depicting someone’s lifestyle. Oftentimes you will find these pictures capture a family cooking in the kitchen, a couple watching a movie, or friends enjoying their time at the park. This style of photography is designed to take the everyday activities that we all take part in and make them seem grander and more opulent than we typically find them to be. This style of photography has actually become very popular among commercial photographers who take photographs for companies to market their products. Lifestyle photography is also great for creating more spontaneous and natural photographs of couples, weddings, kids, and families.Photojournalism is another subcategory of custom photography. Photojournalists originally were solely employed by papers and magazines to document events and tell the story through their picture. However, recently many photojournalists have brought their unique abilities into wedding photography. The goal of a true photojournalist is to stay in the background and be as invisible as possible and simply document the events of the day. If you are wanting formal posed photos, these photographers may not be your best choice but they certainly do know how to capture an event in a unique way.There are many other subcategories for custom photography and of course not everyone fits into a specific mold when it comes to their photographic style. There are so many different ways of shooting and so many different looks to photographers’ imagery. This wide range of options provides you with the perfect opportunity to find a photographer who truly fits your personality and style. And if you take the time to do this, you will be guaranteed to get pictures that best reflect you, your family, and/or your event.