My Business Hubs

Two weeks ago, we had a HubMob topic in Hubpages about small businesses. Boy, was I excited. I mean, I'm no businessman (or woman), I certainly don't have my own. But if there's one profession that is so inter related with business, it's mine - accounting. We do the books, know the accounting, the taxes, etc. We're the go - to guy whenever the business owner needs an advice about the business and the balances. So yes, you might say we're the hired help, but we're the hired help who knows a business.

So, getting back to this HubMob topic, I was really kind of busy during that week but as the topic was right in my alley, I really have to put my two cents in. It turned out I managed to write two hubs and here's a brief rundown of them:

The first tells about the Advantages and Disadvantages of Franchising. Franchising is a hot (and I  mean HOT!) topic right now in my country. In fact, even with the current financial crisis, franchising is still a thriving business. A lot of companies managed to expand (despite the odds) through franchising. But, let's face it, franchising is not for everybody, much like starting a business is not really for everybody. In this hub, I wrote the various advantages and disadvantages of franchising. But don't take my word for it, bottomline is, if you have the stomach (and the guts) to take the risk and go into business (whether it is a franchise or not), go for it! And if you've decided to go into a franchise business (or any business for that matter), why not read my next hub?

My next hub is all about managing cash flows and why is it so important to do this. I've seen a lot of good business ideas take off only to slow down or even to go out of sight because of one thing - the business owner did not know, and was not able to, manage the cash flows well. You might get tired of hearing (or reading) this but I have to say it again - cash is the king in a business. Not profit (although I think this is the queen), not your assets, but cash. Having enough supply of cash spells the difference between a successful and failed business and a liquid and bankrupt company. And if you can't handle the cash of your business well, then you're better of closing it down and becoming an employee, where you'll receive a sure amount of money every month. And that's all I have to say.

'Tis the Season for Love, Happy Valentine's Day!

I know, I know, it's just after Christmas and New Year and we're still feeling the after-effects of that season. But we're nearing the month of February and we all know what that means - Valentine's Day a.k.a. the 'love' season is here.

So, to celebrate this season of love, I have written several 'love' hubs.

There's my hub about how we, Filipinos, celebrate Valentine's Day. It features, among others, our famous Dangwa Market, where one can buy various kinds of flowers at cheaper prices during Valentine's Day. It also includes our favorite Valentine's gift, the famous 'Harana' (serenade) and the candlelight dinner for two in, of all places, a fast food restaurant.

Another hub tell about how to spend Valentine's Day when you're single and unattached. A lot of single people complain that they don't have anybody to spend Valentine's Day with. Well, worry no more. Who says you can't have fun on Valentine's Day even if you don't have a special someone? You can definitely have fun and more. Just some of the ways you can have fun (as featured in this hub) - go to a party, go to a spa, buy something for yourself or for other people, go home and rest and, best of all, relax and love yourself this Valentine's Day.

Of course, being a day filled with gifts, one can't avoid writing hubs that are geared buying or receiving gifts on Valentine's Day. There's my hub on my wish list this Valentine's Day. Some of the things I would love to receive this Valentine's Day? Perfume, chocolates (of course), roses and jewelries.  If you can't find anything you like here, then head on over to my next hub - the bestselling romantic gifts from Amazon. I'm pretty sure you'll find something in there.

Have a happy Valentine's Day!

A Tribute to Filipino Bloggers and eCommerce Sites

eCommerce sites and the Internet, in general, have been around for like almost two decades (?) now and there are a lot of such sites in the online world. However, for us Filipinos, we are still playing catch up on the virtual world. I would think in terms of the number of blogs and eCommerce sites, we are still behind those of our Western counterparts.

But that doesn't mean that we aren't catching up fast. In fact, Filipino sites are sprouting up everywhere, from blogs about travel, food, life (in general), motherhood and fatherhood to eCommerce sites on Filipino products, delicacies, clothes, etc., we already have these and more. In fact, the Filipinos are starting to have a major presence in a certain networking site (where we can also find a lot of Filipino entrepreneurs), multiply.com. Filipino users of this site are so many and so active that when we had a holiday, multiply.com's management reported a major drop in the number of its users for the day! Talk about major!

To pay tribute to the Filipinos' ever growing presence in the online world, I have written two hubs. The first one is about the Top 10 Emerging Influential Filipino Blogs for 2009, which is based on a survey conducted last August 2009. The topics written by these bloggers are quite varied - from Filipino food to Filipino travel, to motherhood, fatherhood, to pictures and blogs about these pictures and to life in general.

The second hub features some Filipino eCommerce sites that are making waves in the online world. You have here a site about the Barong Tagalog (the formal attire for Filipino men), a site selling Filipino delicacies (the FilVeggie Online Store), a site modeled after the most famous shopping area in the country (Divisoria.com) and a site selling music, movies, books, personal care and beauty products that are proudly Pinoy (Kabayan Central.com).

So, if you are a Filipino reading this blog, why not go ahead and visit these hubs? If you're not a Filipino, you are also more than welcome to visit and read my hubs. Thank you very much and a Happy New Year to you.

Accounting in My HubPages

Being an Accountant is not an easy job, but after having this career for the last 12 years, I can honestly say that I like what I'm doing. So how else will I show this appreciation but by writing hubs about Accounting.

Let's start with the basics. Why do we need to learn basic accounting? I've seen a lot of people, even businessmen, who prefer to leave the accounting work to their Accountants and do not even bother understanding what is written in their financial statements. But, personally (and not because I am in the profession), I think this is a big mistake. Those who are in business, even if they are not accountants, should take time to learn and understand their numbers. And I mean learn and understand. It's not only merely reading the numbers but actual comprehension of what these numbers mean. If you're a businessman, is not an Accounting graduate, but can read your financial statements, then congratulations! You're definitely reaping the advantages of knowing the basics of accounting.

Or how about a hub of the most busy time of the year for us Accountants? The busy a.k.a. tax season. This is the time when we Accountants work overtime, work during the week-ends and even, sometimes, work overnight.
Sleepless nights, pressure from work, restless energy, quick tempers - these are just some of the things you might see when an Accountant is neck deep in doing the taxes of his or her clients. You will find the descriptions of these things and more when you read the above hub.

As an Accountant, there are really some things that I can't do without. This may be my trusted 5-year old calculator, or my computer or my Excel spreadsheet, or my pencil and ball pen. These are the things that I often use in my profession and the things I can't do without.

Lastly, let's get a little bit serious here. Accounting is a good career, don't get me wrong about this. But then again, there are really things that tend to bring down my profession. I'm talking about scandals, those that rocked the accounting world. In my hub, I outline 10 such scandals (major ones at that) and what the issues really were. These scandals are more than enough to put one on alert and definitely will make one think twice on whether or not this is a good career to be. I'd still say, it is, we (the Accountants) just have to be careful
to ensure that we use our profession in the proper manner. Thanks for reading!

My Christmas Wish List and New Year's Resolutions

Well, it's Christmas time again. This is my favorite holiday of all. For one, Christmas here in my country lasts not only for one month but for more than 3 months. The festive mood actually starts as early as September, which we call the 'ber' months. This makes us one of the few countries (if not the only country) in the world with the longest ever celebration of Christmas. First, we start out with the Christmas songs being played on the radio stations. Then by October, Christmas decors start popping up in a few places. By November, Christmas decorations are all over the place plus people are already starting to do their Christmas shopping. December, well, of course, this is the busiest month of them all with all the parties, food, gifts, etc.

For my Christmas hubs, I wanted these to be something personal (other than those I wrote for 'commercial' purposes). So I made my Personal Christmas Wish List. And when I say personal, they are really personal like getting to attend my family's reunion in another place, setting up my own blog, a new office with new clients, new laptop, new printer, new wheels and a new business. Then there's the 12 things that I love about Christmas which basically lists those things that I really cherish during this season - from my wedding anniversary, to one of my niece's birthday, to the parties, the food, the gifts, and just about everything else.

Of course, when you think about Christmas, you can't avoid but think about New Year celebrations too. So in keeping with the traditions, I also wrote about My New Year's Resolutions. But these are not just resolutions, they're my resolutions related to my online writing. So you will find there all my resolutions about HubPages, academic writing, blogging and online earnings.

Hope you enjoy reading the above hubs as much as I loved writing them. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone!

A 2-Part Hub on 10 Things I Hate While Driving

Don't you just hate it when you drive anywhere and you get to encounter drivers with bad attitudes or pedestrians that do not really know how to cross the streets or people who are just uncaring that they are on the side of a busy street and still carry on like they own the whole sidewalk? Well I do. In fact, whenever my husband and I go out for a drive (short or long-distances), we end up ranting against bad drivers, bad traffic situations and bad pedestrians. In fact, some of those situations that we rant about can actually cause serious injuries (or even death) to us and the other people.

To get matters off my chest, I wrote a hub on the 10 Things I Hate while Driving. The top thing in the list? Text - or call - addicts who drive while texting or calling using their cellular phones! When I see a driver texting or calling while driving at the same time, I immediately tell my husband (who's driving by the way, not me) to avoid that vehicle as the driver is not 100% focused on his / her driving. When I published this hub, the comments just kept pouring in. Turned out that a lot of people actually have a lot of peeves when they are driving. Other things that I hate include - pedestrians who cross the streets and act like they're walking on the moon, people who treat the sidewalks as extensions of their living rooms, drivers who overtake even when they are turning a blind curve (we have a really scary experience on this one), slowpokes, intersection maniacs, those who do not want to be overtaken (at all cost) and not-so-early warning devices.

Needless to say, after receiving all those comments, I decided to compile a few more in the list then published the second part of the hub (entitled 10 Things I Hate While Driving...Part II). This hub basically adds to the top 10 things I wrote in my first hub plus inputs from the various commenters from my first hub. The next 10 top things I hate while driving include the following: drivers who stop in the middle of the road, drivers who shop for open lanes, 'race car' drivers, cutting through drivers, butt and side stickers and a personal account of a 'moonwalker'.

If you want to read more, just click on the links to my hubs. Happy reading and hope you leave your comment on what p@sses you off when you are out driving. Cheers!

My Hub on What “The New Way to Work” Means to Me

I have just recently joined a competition sponsored by Elance.Inc. (where I am one of the providers). The contest is called "The New Way to Work" and it basically challenges us to write what the new way to work is for us. In order to join this contest, I have written a hub on what "The New Way to Work" means to me.

Writing this hub put into words what basically I could not really verbalize. Up until now, few people know that I am writing online and for those who do, they can't quite believe what I'm doing. I can hear words like "but you're busy, how can you still do it?" Or "does it really work? will you earn any money from it?". Well, news flash. It does work. I've been writing online for almost one year now and I can honestly say I've enjoyed every minute of it (deadlines, cramming, procrastinating, writing proposals, managing time and all).

The money? Oh let's see. Right now, it's secondary. I mean, don't get me wrong. I do earn money here, not enough to make this a full-time job but enough to say that it is significant, in the sense that I have more financial freedom plus I also have the means to give to other people.

So what does the new way to work means to me? Visit my hub and find out. Oh and don't forget to leave a message while you're at it. Cheers!