Many firms benefit significantly from either setting up on their own or partnering with a third part to set up a customer financing program for their products. Key benefits are increased sales, cash flow, customer loyalty, etc.But are there also some risks for the company to be aware of also – Of course there are and let’s look at some of those risks.We would also point out that these risks are in fact the same ones taken on by independent leasing firms also.Foremost from a risk perspective is that fact the customer financing program will be viewed by the customers as the one and same as your company. Therefore customer service and financing ability are in fact now part of your firm’s reputation.Companies may also find that the borrowing costs to set up a program are in fact higher than their normal business operating costs. Naturally the method in which the finance division is set up also affects the debt levels of your company. No business wants to fail because it took on higher debt in an effort to in fact help their customers!On a long term basis company lenders might view your firms foray into customer financing as an additional risk factor, which they might try to compensate on by imposing restrictions such as additional covenants, requests for more equity into the firm, etc. The bottom line is simply that setting up a customer financing scenario may in fact affect your own firm’s ability to borrow.If your firm is larger then analysts and firms looking at your firm might in fact be raising issues and perceptions around which business you are actually in, i.e. your products, or the financing of those products. Business owners and financial managers will always want to ensure that ultimately they are sticking to their core business model and philosophies. If your firm becomes too enamored by financing you possibly run the risk of total business failure. There are numerous cases in financial history where firms collapsed because of the shenanigans of the finance division.We have heard the term in business ‘sticking to our knitting’, which of course simply means that management needs unique skills to run a business, and those skills are different in financing. Owners and managers related to the customer financing division must have strong skills in financial sales, structuring, and credit… Naturally we are also inferring that additional skilled personnel ultimately must be hired.No company every wants to look back in hindsight and say that if failed or stumbled because efforts and funds went into financing, as opposed to r&d, marketing, staff, and product growth. Do not let a customer finance program become an obstacle to your ultimate business successBusiness owners should ensure that there is good communications between the main operating company and the customer financing division – clear goals and philosophies should be set out re the function of such a customer finance program.In summary the benefits of offering financing to your customer are very obvious, and proven true by some of the largest and most successful companies in the world – but all you have to do is to do it right! Ensure your firm is aware of the risks and challenges and monitor your customer financing program on an ongoing basis to ensure you are not straying from your core business model.

Whenever we travel, we always carry enough cases for all our items, be it for shoes, clothes or other materials. This is probably why there are cases for every possible tool, game, and sports articles. So, when a person who is interested in sports, especially golf, they look forward to protecting their golf clubs. Since the clubs are quite expensive and require a lot of attention and care, it is only fitting that they have golf cases. Thus evolved golf travel cases, to enable people carry their clubs along with them while on tour or vacation. If you were going to a resort, which had a lovely golf range, you would be interested in playing some golf. And this means, you have to carry your clubs, and to put them in a case that would keep the clubs safe and in good condition during the journey is very important.

There are golf travel cases made of leather, wood and even hard plastic. Golfers and other enthusiasts have the choice of picking out the one best suited for their needs. If they barely travel out of town, and just need a case to help transport the clubs a few hundred kilometers, they might choose the leather bag. Whereas, someone who go across the country frequently, on work or otherwise, might opt for the much more sturdy cases. There are people with motorbikes, some with small sized cars, and with luxurious cars. They all have different needs, and will require a case that lets them load it on the vehicle and move around.

Some of the golf travel cases are smaller in size, meaning they can store less number of clubs. This allows the player to choose the clubs he uses more frequently or ones he is comfortable with and carry them along. A variety in cases are the ones with wheels, and club glove burst proof, which are extra safe, and can be used in any condition. The wheels need to be hard rubber based, else they will not move around on different kinds of floor surfaces. This can also bear heavy weights, and not wobble when dragging it along. They should also be good to go on any floor condition, especially on grass. If it is raining, you will have to carry a case that is water proof, else clubs could get spoilt and rendered useless. Make sure to check if the case comes with Tee holder, and pockets for the balls, else you will have to look for other pouches to hold these.

If they are all in one place, it becomes easier to lug them around, and not worry about missing out on any of the required items. It would be perfect to have a case that can store your golf bag. This way, every time you need to travel, you wont have to unload and reload all the clubs and accessories into that case. You can load your current golf bag into the case and get going.

Chances are if your reading this you are struggling to generate any real results with your local marketing and advertising am I right? You might have done a couple Yellow Page ads, maybe a TV commercial or two. Maybe you even went as far as buying a really expensive “local internet marketing and advertising package” from the account executive that keeps stopping by every morning. Did it work?

Were you happy with the ROI it produced? Chances are probably not. You see, with any type of local marketing and advertising you have to have whats called a Unique Selling Proposition.

A Unique Selling Proposition is the term used to describe the major advantage of your product or service over the competitors. Its a clear and concise reason on why someone should pick your product over your competitors.

If there is no major benefit for the customer to choose you, they won’t. Here are the three things a USP must have according to Rosser Reeves, from the book Reality in Advertising:

1. Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer. Each must say, “Buy this product, and you will get this specific benefit…”

Basically a large benefit to the person,right upfront, seeing your advertisement or marketing pieces:

2. The proposition must be one that the competition either cannot, or does not, offer…

The “unique” part comes into play right here.

In your marketing its not enough to just offer a benefit but you must also be able to differentiate “why your product” from the others being offered to them.

3. The proposition must be so strong that it can move the mass millions, i.e., pull over new customers to your product.

Whatever you end up proposing to be different from your competitors it can’t be trivial or boring! It must be something that is very important to the reader. So now, especially in this economy, its more important then ever to develop a USP that will bring customers over your way and finally get you a profitable ROI on your advertising.