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Having a good relationship with your bank will make a big difference to the success of your business, whether that means extra support when you’re setting up or negotiating an overdraft to smooth your cash flow. Bank business managers can provide a useful source of advice and support – it’s likely they have a good knowledge of the market as well as insight into businesses similar to yours. Based on your individual needs, they should be able to suggest ways to make your business banking more efficient, as well as offer practical solutions to make the most of your account.

I vowed to never sign up with my credit card, but I recently had to become a premium member because a very very good property/business deal literally fell in my lap. Now that I am a business owner, and I have a partner that is supposed to receive 10% of all profits, I need to find the best way to manage my Linden Dollars. I can manually keep track of business expenses on paper, but Business income and Profits seem to be a little tricky considering everything is dumped into my personal piggy bank in the top right of the screen. So, am I totally missing an easy way to seperate funds? Can anybody give me any tips or point me to some reading material that will explain how to make this easy?Thanks in advance. :)

Are you a small business owner? If so, how is your business doing? Despite businesses that are a success, there are many business owners who want more. If you are one of those individuals, it is likely that you would do just about anything in your power to improve your business, especially if you sell a particular product or service. When working to improve their businesses, many business owners spend thousands, if not millions, of dollars on advertising. How would you feel if you learned that there was a free way that you could promote your business?

When business grows crossing the boundaries defined by limited internal resources, including your own and your executives’, it pays to engage the services of external business management consultants

http://secondlife.reuters.com/stories/2007/01/12/hope-capital-launches-r... Capital launches rival to Metaverse Stock ExchangeFri Jan 12, 2007 10:01am PST By Adam ReutersSECOND LIFE, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Australian entrepreneur Luke Connell — LukeConnell Vandeverre in Second Life — is set to open on Friday the World Stock Exchange, an automated trading floor that allows companies to sell shares to the public, taking on the established Metaverse Stock Exchange.The WSE is part of Hope Capital Ltd, Connell’s Second Life financial services firm (SLurl), which also includes a foreign exchange market and a retail bank that will begin offering home, business and consumer loans on Feb. 1. The WSE allows companies to automatically submit an application to offer shares and to set a price for their offering, charging a 3 percent commission.The new stock exchange is launching despite the mixed track record of the Metaverse Stock Exchange, which only has one listed company a year and a half after the initial public offering of Cyberland in July, 2005. Cyberland, now known as Second Life Solutions, is run by Chief Executive Shaun Altman and its holdings include the exchange itself.With the growth of the economy in Second Life and other virtual worlds, there is increasing interest in virtual world finance. SLNN reported this week that a Canadian firm is looking to launch a business that links Second Life finance with real-world banking, and the makers of the MMO Entropia Universe are auctioning five licenses to “integrate real world banking systems into the virtual world.”Connell is a 23-year old Melbourne resident whose website states his goal of running an investment portfolio of $1 billion by age 35. He has sold shares in Hope Capital to several dozen investors (a share register is listed online here), and prepared a lengthy financial prospectus for the company.He has only been in Second Life since Nov. 29, purchasing the World Currency Exchange from founder Adam Constantineau in December.One obvious roadblock for financial services in Second Life is the lack of contract law and regulation, meaning that all investments – be they shares, deposits with banks, or other ventures – carry some degree of risk that a company will walk away with its investors’ money.“There is no protection for shareholders if the founder of a company whom everyone thought was a good investment decided to vanish,” Connell said. In an attempt to prevent financial skulduggery, the WSE will regulate listed companies by monitoring adherence with listing rules.“Companies are required to meet the listing rules and adhere to the constitution of the WSE. The WSE can disapprove of a listing if it suspects foul play … their listing can be removed immediately or frozen,” he said. “We wouldn’t allow a company to list on the exchange if we felt they were questionable.”“There might be an opportunity to work closely with Linden Lab with regards to fraud,” he added, “as fraud is a breach of the Terms of Service.”Hope Capital’s bank, OurBank, will offer interest rates that are relatively modest compared to rivals like Ginko, Midas and SL Bank, offering 6.5 percent per year for the standard savings account, calculated daily and paid fortnightly.“I was under pressure by citizens of SL to offer higher interest rates but it’s risky and therefore I’m sticking to the fundamental rules of banking,” Connell said.From Feb. 1, OurBank will offer automated consumer loans of up to L$1,000 to verified residents with at least 5 profile points and two months in Second Life, charging 20 percent interest per year with a minimum monthly payment of 10 percent.Business and home loans will require collateral in the form of land, with the bank taking possession until the loan is repaid.