#how is “subject yourself to allowing capitalism to control your schedule every day for the rest of your life” good advice to anyone

[areyoudoingthis]

the thing about not fucking up my sleep schedule during the summer so that i don't end up having to suffer through a week of insomnia to fix it (aside from this being a new experience for me, usually i manage to unfuck up my sleep schedule in a day or two) is that staying up all night reading during the summer is literally the reason i stay alive. it may sound dramatic but i spend the whole work year subjecting myself to a hateful schedule of being up before the sun, and the reason i survive it is because i know come january I'll have night after night of reading for hours and hours and hours uninterrupted, peaceful quiet. I've been doing this since I was a child, it kept me going back then too, it's kept me going my whole life. i can't afford a lot of expensive pleasures like traveling, or buying that new gaming pc I've wanted for years, but i can stay up until 6am reading every day for a month. yes I'd love to avoid going through the hell week I've just endured ever again, but if you ask me to sacrifice my favorite summer passtime literally what's the point of being alive

[jimmysrinet]

17 TAX-SAVING TIPS FOR BUSINESS OWNERS

Business is not only keeping doing business but more than controlling and monitoring each and every factor which can affect the business profitability because the business ultimate goal is profit maximization.

As a business owner, you have income from almost every head except the head “income from salaries”.

You should be aware of tax-saving options otherwise you will pay only taxes to the government.

In this article, we will discuss tax-saving tips for your business which count much at the end of the financial year in terms of profitability.

17 ways to save on business taxes

1) File income tax return on time

Filing income tax returns on time will avail many benefits like carrying forwards the losses of business income but this facility only available when your file your income tax return on time or before the due date.

2) Life insurance premium

The life insurance policy provides security to your family but this policy has major benefits like return on your investments.

One major benefit of life insurance premiums the exemption of 8OC on your life insurance and also the spouse and children whether dependent or not but deduction subjects to the maximum cap of Rs 150,000/.

3) Investment in PPF

Investment in public provident fund schemes is one of the oldest and successful schemes running by the government of India.

PPF is offering a handsome rate of interest equal to the fixed deposit interest rate offering by the scheduled banks and offers claim deduction up to Rs 150000/ under 80C.

4) Medical insurance premium

Now medical insurance policy is offering by leading insurance companies, scheduled banks, and non-banking financial institutions.  

In this process, medical insurance premium paid of self, spouse, dependent children, and parents can be claimed under 80D maximum cap Rs 25000/.

5) Pay advance taxes

If you think that you simply are vulnerable to pay self-assessment tax even when claiming credit of TDS, then you must deposit advance taxes to the credit of the Central government in keeping with percentages as prescribed at regular intervals. Non-deposit of service tax can end in interest below sections 234A, 234B & 234C, and these interests area unit to be deposited obligatorily because the department doesn’t show any leniency in relation to these interests.

6) Mutual fund SIP

Mutual fund sale peoples will explain to you about the proper tax treatment of your mutual fund SIPs and will keep on saving that if units if sold after 12 months then capital gains shall be exempt.

Still, it is partially true and the fact is when you start a SIP each installment is considered a separate investment.

Once twelve months the primary installment you’ve got paid has solely exceeded an amount of twelve months and different eleven square measure still short in nature, and STT paid financial gain is exempt provided that it’s long.

7) Cash payments condition

You should neglect cash payment of more than 20000 in a day to a single person because income tax does not allow if paid more than 20000 in a single day to a single person.

8) Deduct tax at source

Tax deduct at source always do this when you do any kind of payment of commission @7.5 % as TDS from any payment to the agent and if you will not do so the end of the year tax burden will be high and do it through the bank transfer or cheque.

9) Depreciation

Income tax act provides multiple edges to producing enterprises, for instance, further depreciation, mere business beneath section 35AD, etc. within the case of a producing enterprise, if a chunk of latest machinery is put in throughout the year, then added to the conventional depreciation, such units are eligible to assert further depreciation up to twenty within the year once the machinery in the place to use.

10) Records of cash expenses

We know that few businesses in the country are labor-intensive and wages of unorganized labor are mostly paid in cash like marble and tile industry, sanitary, cement, etc.

Factory floor & other indirect wages account for at least 40% of your manufacturing expenses and improper recording of such payments results in higher profits as a consequence of under-recording of expenses, thus resulting in the higher amount of taxes burden on owners.

11) Payment of municipal tax by cheque

Municipal taxes paid during the year will be claimed as a deduction from income from house property and for that benefits, you must pay your municipal taxes through cheque and keep a receipt of that, in case you lost the receipt no problems you can recollect detail from your bank statement.

12) Interest on housing loan exemptions

You should take bank finance while purchasing a home and no need to ignore it because, From the tax POV, you will be eligible to claim associate in nursing interest as a deduction from house property and claim principal as a deduction beneath section 80C together with different deductions that area unit restricted to a most of Rs 150000/.

13) Long term and short term capital gain treatment

In the case of long-term capital gain, any capital gain control for over thirty-six months is categorized as a long-term capital gain and on the sale of such capital future financial gain arises.

something sold-out at intervals of thirty-six months is categorized as short capital gain and is taxed at a flat rate of V-J Day, however, totally different choices square measure on the market just in case of long-term capital gains.

however, within the case of equity shares or debentures of a listed company, units of UTI, Zero Coupon Bonds, and equity-oriented Mutual Funds, rather than thirty-six months holding amount is twelve months.

14) Treatment of cost of gifts and donation

Cost of gift and donation or charity come under the exemption but there are certain rules and guidelines about the eligibility.

15) Advice from a qualified tax advisor

Advice from a qualified tax advisor will be much beneficial in terms of saving from tax liability and educating about how to do any types of payment that are not related to the business process or not have a receipt.

16) Fund a retirement plan

Fund retirement plan comes under the tax exemption and any kind of payment in a government pension plan comes under the exemption.

17) Write off bad debts to reduce income

Write off bad debts that will directly impact your income and if you have such types of bad debts do it to that will reduce your income.

Wrapping Up

You should be proper attention to changing norms and government guidelines about income taxes.

You must take the support of experts and educate yourself to reduce the burden of taxes ends end of the financial year.

Keep a recording of your cash expenses and do some life insurance, health insurance, PPF, NSE(national saving certificates), purchase property on bank finance, and perform your best.

[idlemiscellany]

Ways to Make Your Smart Way Bets To create When

When you are arranging a serious vacation, contemplate opening a completely new credit card to finance it that offers rewards. Several vacation playing cards are even affiliated having a resort chain or airline, this means that you simply get more bonuses for utilizing all those providers. The rewards you rack up can include a lodge remain as well as a whole domestic flight.

Make your own home far more eco-friendly by switching every one of the light bulbs in the household to compact fluorescent lights.  They are going to prevent cash in your regular monthly ability or energy monthly bill and in addition last much longer than common bulbs, that means you will not really have to shell out as much dollars, or time replacing them.  

You can save on energy payments through the use of electrical power effective appliances. Change out those people outdated gentle bulbs and change them with Electrical power Star compliant ones. This may conserve on your electrical power monthly bill and give your lamps a longer lifespan. Using energy economical toasters, fridges and washing devices, could also allow you to save lots of money inside the lengthy haul. 

Check Out

Preserve a day by day checklist.  Reward by yourself when you've concluded every thing to the list with the 7 days.  From time to time it really is simpler to see that which you must do, than to count on your own memory.  Whether or not it is really scheduling your foods to the week, prepping your snacks or simply generating your mattress, put it on your record.

Income management is essential to achievements. Earnings ought to be shielded and cash invested. Allocating earnings into capital to construct a larger basis for advancement is suitable, nevertheless, controlling people earnings properly makes it possible for you to see return out of your investments. Set a regular for what you maintain as income and what's reallocated into money.

If a single wants to give by themselves far better likelihood of shielding their investments they ought to make programs for the secure nation that's forex level stays powerful or is vulnerable to resist sudden drops. Researching and locating a state which has these necessary characteristics can provide an area to help keep ones belongings safe in not sure occasions.

Teach your youthful baby about funds by giving him an allowance that he can use for toys. This way, it's going to train him that if he spends dollars in his piggy lender on 1 toy, he'll have a lot less dollars to spend on something else. This will instruct him to be selective about what he would like to acquire.

To learn exactly where your cash is going record your entire paying out. For a minimum of per month, publish down each time you expend dollars, and that which you are spending the money on. Once you have completed this for the thirty day period, evaluation your paying behavior and make adjustments as needed. 

To be able to keep on top of your personal funds, make use of a person of your lots of web-site and applications in existence which let you file and observe your expending. This implies that you'll have the option to discover obviously and simply where the most important money drains are, and modify your shelling out patterns appropriately.

A higher training can be certain that you will get an even better place in individual finance. Census information demonstrates that people who may have a bachelor's diploma can get paid practically double the cash that someone with simply a diploma earns. Even though you'll find costs to head to college, within the conclude it will fork out for itself and even more.

Nurture your occupation, for maximum efficiency with personalized finance. Given that your get the job done is where you deliver your money, it should be your variety just one precedence to deal with. When your career is struggling, then every thing down the chain will go through likewise. So be sure that you will be preserving your vocation ranked previously mentioned all other investments.

Make the go to neighborhood banking institutions and credit score unions.  Your local lender and lending institutions can have extra command around how they lend money resulting in improved prices on bank cards and savings accounts, which could then be reinvested in your personal group. All this, with excellent old-fashioned personalized assistance!  

In case you are acquiring troubles paying off a credit card, you must stop charging it. Cut down your fees as much as you can and come across one more approach to payment so you tend not to max out your bank card. Pay off your every month harmony before you decide to start off utilizing your charge card yet again.

Hunt for professional guidance if you are about to put money into stocks for personal economic gains. Employing an expert advisor is a certain way to be sure that you'll get returns back. They've got the understanding and working experience in the subject to aid you succeed. Should you go at it by itself, you would need to devote times studying, and that can take in a great deal of the time.

Before you decide to head out to your grocery store to get food stuff for your dwelling, create a checklist of all of the factors you need.  This will raise your amount of corporation and allow you to stay with a program, as opposed to randomly getting foods which can add to pounds gain.

To raised maintain your funds, it's a fantastic strategy to have two different financial institution accounts. Use a person to your regular monthly bills like hire, expenditures and food, and also the other to save lots of for emergencies or key purchases. It is actually also reasonable to put income away within an account you by no means touch which means you can build up your price savings.

Thrift procuring and consignment purchasing have become a lot more popular while in the latest financial state.  Check out buying your outfits, home decor, and kitchen products 2nd hand.  It can save you a whole lot of cash to the factors you must invest in anyway which you can then set towards your cost savings or retirement accounts. 

When you've got fallen at the rear of in your home loan payments and possess no hope of becoming recent, see if you qualify for a quick sale right before allowing your home go into foreclosure.  Although a brief sale will nonetheless negatively impact your credit rating ranking and continue being in your credit rating report for 7 decades, a foreclosure provides a much more drastic impact on your credit worthiness and may even cause an employer to reject your career application.

[fnewstoday]

Debt Consolidation Loans

In recent years, it has become more and more difficult to find a person who has never taken out a loan. No matter what is it, consumer credit for the purchase of a refrigerator, or a mortgage for an apartment. In recent years more people and the world community as a whole are becoming life loan hostages. As a result, the “lion’s share” of all borrowers in a few years changes their status and turns into debtors. The better the credit system is established, the more customers use this type of banking services. As a result, not all of the borrowers can cope with the monthly loan payments, and the number of debtors is increasing. This why US financial institutions have come up with a temporary solution for ordinary people, who is in a state of personal crisis - debt consolidation. This term is a bit similar to the usual restructuring already known before. However, there is a significant difference between them. When restructuring, we are talking about a single loan, when consolidation implies the consolidation of all of a borrower debts into one new loan. When there is no other way out Debt consolidation is a kind of extreme measure for the debtor. This service should be resorted to only as a last resort. If there is simply no other way out, combining all debt obligations into one new loan is seen as the only adequate solution (albeit temporary) of the existing problem. After all, the debts consolidation and one large loan processing will help to slightly reduce the monthly payments and extend the time of their payments for a while. If you experienced temporary financial difficulties, this option may not only be a last resort, but also a very good solution. The rising needs for the debts consolidation You maybe want to think about your arrears consolidating in case you have some of the next issues: very high-interest rates on your loans or credit cards; big and multiple debt amounts with many creditors; every day calls about payment arrangements for your accounts; adding up charges and due fees for late payments; Growing stress pressure overall your sick financial health. If this is your case, then you definitely need to go for debts consolidation as soon as possible! How your debts consolidation can help to get relieved Consolidation has two goals: The first is to help you streamline with your payments, eliminate confusion in amounts and dates, and therefore avoid any delays and penalties. The second is saving. Combining your loans into one makes sense only if the rate on a new loan will be significantly lower than the average percentage on your current debts. And if your current lenders do not want to restructure the loans issued to you and lower their rates, consolidation will be an excellent way out for you.

needs-for-the-debts-consolidation Benefits of debt consolidation With all precautions, the process of debt consolidation may allow the borrower to reduce loan losses, because the registration of one long-term loan instead of several short-term loans will be more “cheaper”. In addition, it will reduce the burden on the family budget, since payments for such a loan will be lower. The borrower gets a clear idea of ​​when this “credit epic” will be completed since everything will be reduced to only one credit agreement. Another undoubted advantage is doing business with only one lender and only one monthly payment instead of a few to several banks. And, of course, this is a good opportunity to save your credit rating, as the borrower will no longer be behind the payment schedule. The positive aspects of debt consolidation include the following: Saving time on the monthly procedure for debt repayment. By consolidating all of its current loans, the debtor gets rid of the need to visit various financial institutions. In particular, for making the next loan payment. This, in turn, avoids the problems associated with overdue installments. Opportunity to save on the final overpayment. A new loan, in which all debts are connected, can be taken on more favorable terms at a lower rate. Thus, consolidation is a great way to reduce the cost of all completed loans at once. Adjust the monthly fee Combining existing debts makes possible to change the payment scheme. Namely - to adjust the amount of payment in the right direction, each month contributed to the debt return. The terms of a new unifying loan may allow changing a less profitable annuity scheme to a more optimal, differentiated one. More convenience to the debtor. The more outstanding loans, the more problems. And this is due not only to an increase in the financial burden but also to its distribution. The borrower can simply confuse how much and in which particular bank he should give in the next month. After the merger of all debts in one loan, the debtor continues to pay borrowed funds, but only to one bank. This entire can reduces the likelihood of debt formation as a result of the borrower forgetfulness or negligence. Features of debt consolidation A financial institution that consolidates all borrower's credit debts provides it with funds to pay off current loans. And the borrower remains the debtor, but only to one lender. Usually, financial institution, willing to pay all the client debts into one, can be either a commercial lending organization or an appropriate state institution. It is possible to merge without collateral loans, as well as loans received with property collateral. Debt consolidation with collateral is more difficult than consolidating loan debts without collateral. This, in turn, is related to the procedure for transferring not only the loan debt but also the subject of the mortgage, the property of the borrower. But financial organizations are going to unite and collateral money borrowing products. Because for banks, a merger of cash loans is an opportunity to get rid of a problem loan, and accordingly, from a debtor. Qualifying for debt consolidation solutions You can consolidate debt with high-interest rate including credit cards and personal loans. To be able to do so, you just need to meet some simple requirements: your age must be between 18 and 65 years; be a resident of the United States; you must have a bank account; ability to provide proof of income, which is can be supported by bank transactions; have bank card for repayment guarantee’ must have a cell phone and be able to receive text messages and voice calls. By meeting all these qualifications, you can have easy access to the new one debt consolidation loan. It will not be superfluous for each debt consolidation seeker to know that loans refinancing are not available to those people whose age already exceeds the maximum level of 65 years. Terms and rates for debt consolidation loan Compare us with traditional lenders,  you can expect competitive rates and very clear financial terms. We offer you the following solutions: interest rates, which is fixed to all term length; loans can be up to 18 months; installment payments payable on a monthly basis. If you decide to take our debt consolidation loan, you are free from any possible credit check scrutiny. How you can use debt consolidation capital That kind of solution gives you the opportunity to use a new loan for a different reason. Bellow, you can see the most popular ways to spend debt consolidation money: consolidation of student loan which been issued from a few lenders; buying a car (doesn’t matter if it a new one or used); credit card consolidation; personal loans consolidation; weekend holiday or travel to the exotic country; home Just remember, that there is no limit for these funds, and whole responsibility for the money spending lay down only on your shoulders. Take full control of your financials with our debt consolidation easy solution When things happen, you may not see clearly your financial future. All can be looks in a blur. Your eyes just blinded with large amounts of the debt, which can come from a personal loan or credit card high-interest rates. But here you can find the best possible solution, including extended terms, and fixed low-interest rates. By taking it, you will free yourself from all the mess, coming from your current financial situation and start to keep your debt under a full control. We give out new loans for debt consolidation very quickly, and try not to waste our and your time, but offer a truly profitable and fast solution! Read the full article

[listiqueblog]

Why Retail is Dying: The Self-Inflicted Wounds Theory (and What’s Next)

The commonly accepted view of why the traditional brick and mortar retail business is imploding is that Amazon is out-executing and simply eating everyone’s lunch.

While it is true that Amazon has built an incredible business around a number of significant competitive advantages and the consumer product discovery process has profoundly changed due to consumers’ adoption of mobile and social media — that doesn’t tell us the entire story.

My view is retailers are suffering most from self-inflicted wounds in response to changes in market equilibrium between retailer, consumer and brand.

Catching a Falling Knife

Retailers overbuilt. Period.

They didn’t overbuild because they were stupid and felt like wasting money.

They overbuilt because they missed early signs of rapid ecommerce adoption and the impact that mobile devices would have on steepening that adoption curve.

That fundamental miscalculation combined with industry standard long-term leases for big box retailers, then further exacerbated with public earnings expectations driving aggressive store roll-out schedules formed the perfect storm for traditional brick-and-mortar retail.

The outcome? Too much capacity, not enough demand.

But the subsequent response to all that excess capacity is mostly self-inflicted.

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The Retailer-Supplier Arms Race

In most, if not all industries, long-term profits are compressed over time where only those with the lowest cost advantage and lowest cost of capital can survive.

Retail is no different. The overbuilding of retail outlets only helped to accelerate this process.

To ease the pain of excess capacity, retailers do what companies do in such circumstances; they disrupt long-standing equilibrium and kick off an arms race by squeezing their suppliers without mercy.

Here’s what happened:

Retailers demanded higher margins, return allowances, marketing contributions, markdown dollars and hundreds of other “programs” that all favor the retailer and stack the deck against the consumer product company.

To add insult to injury, retailers also resorted to private labelling and knocking off their suppliers’ best selling products to capture more of the margin dollars on fast moving products.

And to top it off, in order to attract traffic in an increasingly homogenized world, retailers have taken to a strategy of endless discounting which weakens the brands they carry and erodes much needed contribution margin. All of which has created a feedback loop which puts pressure on retail execs to squeeze their suppliers even more.

Not a pretty picture.

The Next Big Hit

If you have ever spent more than 15 minutes working with large retailers, you know they are perpetually craving new products.

They are forever addicted to the next hit product because hit products bring the thing they need the most: foot traffic.

So, instead of cultivating and developing relationships with emerging brands by offering incentives to innovate in concert with the retailer (they will tell you they do this but ask any new brand how their roll-out at “mega store x” went and you will hear a different story), they deploy draconian contractual provisions which are exactly the opposite of what fragile, new companies need to succeed and continue innovating.

The key takeaway is that the retailers themselves have created a serious threat to their flow of product. As I mentioned above, Amazon is without a doubt a major competitive threat, but what most people don’t realize is that the retailers have been busy strangling themselves.

All of which leads us to the current “death of retail” moment.

Stop over-building. Open SaaS is here.

Adapt your business to changing consumer buying habits and an ever-more competitive industry.

Open SaaS gives you the flexibility you need to stand out, the data orchestration you need for operational efficiency and the low total cost of ownership that lets’ you reallocate dollars to marketing spend, not technology debt.

The first step to a platform migration is an RFP. Our free template includes more than 100 questions to send to all platforms you are considering, including:

Hosting & Security

Design & Development

Marketing and Expanding to Omnichannel

Get the template. Save yourself time. And begin future-proofing your technology stack. 

Get your free RFP template now.

The Microbrands Strike Back

Whether you are an emerging brand or an industry giant, in the last few years, there has been a proliferation of SaaS tools that enable a company to control every aspect of the consumer product value chain.

Whether it is developing and sourcing new products or targeting and converting new customers, tools like BigCommerce, Mailchimp, OptinMonster, ShipStation and many, many more have greatly reduced the barriers to entry for conceiving of, producing, marketing and fulfilling a consumer product.

As is typical when you dramatically lower the barriers to entry for a given industry, a wave of new start-ups enter the market shortly thereafter.

New brands are quite literally popping up every day.

While many of these brands will fail, the truly innovative ones will succeed. And now, instead of having to hope they get picked up by large retailers, they can start selling in a matter of minutes using BigCommerce.

There is no need for rent. No need for long-term contracts. Just sign up for a free trial of your favorite ecommerce platform, connect your free Mailchimp account and you are on your way.

Large consumer product companies have adapted too.

In response to retailers attempts at gaining leverage on their suppliers, large consumer product companies have launched their own counter-measures such as building out direct-to-consumer channels while smaller players have been forced out of business or have had to dramatically alter their channel strategy.

Now, instead of relying on the foot traffic of retailers, they can target new customers with microscopic precision.

These same brands can fulfill their orders directly through their own distribution network or the many capable 3PL players in the market.

Getting direct access to the end consumer has never been easier on one hand and it has never been more competitive on the other.

These changes have delivered the last thing traditional brick-and-mortar retailers needed; more competition.

Attack of the Microbrands

A deep-dive analysis of the rise of the microbrand using hyper-targeted marketing and just-in-time manufacturing by Scott Belsky, CPO at Adobe.

Read it on Medium here.

“Retail is Dying,” or The Three Front War

Yes, sure Amazon is eating their lunch, but now in addition to trying to defend against a strong adversary with a significant scale advantage, retailers have opened up wars on two more fronts:

Rapidly emerging brands that are skipping retailers entirely like SA Company

Large consumer product companies that have had enough of the draconian terms forced upon them by the largest players in retail.

So, now retailers find themselves fighting a three front war all the while the underlying economics of the retail business worsen.

This is a recipe for disaster.

Retailers are being clubbed by the almighty Amazon while being subjected to the death of a thousand cuts from new brands that are chipping away at every conceivable niche and micro-niche.

Not surprisingly, the number of retail bankruptcy filings has increased significantly and is unlikely to subside any time soon. At the time of writing in 2018, there have already been 6 retail bankruptcies.

The dynamics outlined above are not short-term disruptions to an otherwise healthy market. They are significant and long-lasting changes that will require wholesale changes in operating tactics, channel strategies and financial levers.

Historically, change of this scale works out poorly for the incumbents.

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[cartzypage]

Building a Better Inventory Management Structure

By guest author Albert Ong

Imagine a business with perfect inventory management: inventory that flows in and out of a warehouse like a stream, sending out orders quickly and efficiently without any delays. Stock would be replenished just at the right time, without the need to carry excess or slow-moving inventory. Alas, that’s not the case for most sellers.

According to a recent survey, 43 percent of small businesses do not have adequate inventory control:

8 percent do not track inventory

14 percent use pen and paper

21 percent still use spreadsheets.

By not tracking inventory, you could easily run out of stock, losing potential customers. Worse, you might end up overselling, which leads to a mountain of backorders, cancellations or frustrated customers itching to drop negative reviews.

In the same vein, overstocking is almost as bad as understocking. Stale, excess and slow-moving inventory ties up capital and warehouse space. Each day these items are not sold, they get in the way of faster-moving items, requiring management and are subject to damage, depreciation and obsolescence.

Today’s customers are harder to please and easier to lose, and fulfillment delays due to stockouts will leave a bad customer experience. The best treatment for overstocking and understocking is a preventative one. Though it’s easier said than done, it all starts with properly tracking inventory, eliminating excess, and forecasting stock requirements.

The Most Effective Way to Count Inventory

Before you can track inventory properly, it’s very important to get accurate inventory counts for each warehouse you manage. Cycle counting is a popular inventory auditing technique. Not only is it less disruptive than traditional physical counting, it also takes significantly less time and labor.

Instead of freezing your facility’s operations to perform a full audit, with cycle counting, you’ll only need to audit a few items in a specific location on specified dates. Cycle counting should be scheduled as often as possible and done at the start of the day before it gets too busy in the warehouse.

If done correctly, cycle counting can replace annual physical audits and improve inventory visibility. If paired with automation tools, such as barcode scanners and a dedicated inventory tracking system, you will be able to project stock requirements effectively and reduce the risks of overstocking and understocking.

Smart Ways to Convert Slow and Excess Inventory

What defines slow-moving inventory can vary by industry, depending on product demand. Generally, if you haven’t sold an item of a particular SKU within 90-120 days, then that SKU should be reordered less frequently than your faster-moving items.

Afraid of stockouts, retailers might end up buying too much inventory, without proper data to inform their purchasing decisions. Sluggish inventory should be dealt with to free up space and allow for more options.

There are many creative ways to sell excess inventory without immediately marking prices down. In fact, liquidators should be your last resort.

Before declaring your items “dead” inventory, first ask yourself the following questions:

What is your threshold for slow vs. dead merchandise?

Why are these specific items not selling?

What can I do to entice buyers to purchase them?

Are there ways I can promote these products alongside popular ones?

Perhaps your images and listing content need updating. Maybe you need to help customers find or understand these products better, either by simplifying the purchasing path on your site or by using email marketing.

Another way to create deals is to pair your slow sellers with best sellers through product bundling. Shoppers love a great bargain, so instead of slashing prices, consider bundling them with popular SKUs. Bundling expands your product assortment and allows you to try different combinations. Do some testing to see what works and what doesn’t.

Some buyers might enjoy multi-pack bundles, while mystery or gift bundles can appeal to certain customers. If that doesn’t work, you should consider flash sales and clearance sales. It’s better to sell at a loss than keep dead inventory obstructing your cash flow.

Still, the best solution is to prevent overstocking in the first place.

The ultimate goal is to adopt a leaner approach to inventory and warehousing: keeping only what you need. This minimalist approach not only reduces time spent counting and searching for inventory, but it also cuts down material handling time, such as picking, putaway, palletizing, and other manual labor.

Of course, the prerequisite to this is having the confidence of inventory control and forecasting before you can start eliminating safety stocks.

The Best Way to Forecast and Optimize Inventory

Having more accurate data is the first step for optimizing inventory levels. Sales performance, seasonality and shipping frequency can all help you forecast your stock requirements, giving you vital information in determining what sells, how often, and how much to keep.

But let’s face it: tracking inventory, counting stock, and making projections are all extremely tedious and inefficient when done manually, especially if your goal is to grow and expand on to multiple marketplaces.

It takes a lot of time, patience, and attention to detail when using spreadsheets to calculate reorder points and reorder quantities for every single SKU, while accounting for each vendor’s lead time, just to know the precise moment to purchase inventory.

The more complex the spreadsheet, the higher the chance for error. And when you carry thousands of products and handle orders from multiple channels, the last thing you want is for human error to break the system, directly affecting your reputation on those marketplaces.

This is why 50 percent of high-volume retailers are choosing to invest in more dedicated warehouse automation software, according to Zebra Technologies. When you manage orders from different stores and marketplaces, or when you start multiplying your warehouses, spreadsheets and manual processes will not give you adequate stock visibility or projections.

You’ll need a robust inventory automation software to streamline and optimize your stock levels across all platforms.

If you decide to shop for an inventory management system, make sure it can track your best and worst performing SKUs and determine the best time to reorder. It should be able to manage vendors and purchase orders, while also taking into account your other needs, such as FBA, drop shipping or 3PL integrations.

Only then will you be able to process orders and inventory like a steady stream.

About the author:

Albert Ong is the product marketing specialist at Jazva, a cloud-based multi-channel ecommerce solution that helps merchants fast track their online business. Jazva delivers a suite of enterprise functionalities that high volume B2B and B2C retailers need to compete and succeed in the market.

The post Building a Better Inventory Management Structure appeared first on Online Shipping Blog | Endicia.

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How Much Does it Cost to Create a Video for My Business?

As broadband speeds increase and websites become increasingly sophisticated, video marketing is really taking off. Venture capital firm KPCB estimate that almost three quarters of internet traffic distributed during 2017 will be video content, though this does include streaming media services. Nevertheless, the concept of watching videos online has become the norm rather than the exception, with those stuttering 1990s’ AVIs giving way to buffer-free HD streams. There’s huge traction for videos on social media, with 500 million people watching Facebook videos every day, and four-fifths of Twitter users doing likewise. Adding the word ‘video’ to an email subject line boosts open rates and slashes unsubscribe levels, while embedding a video in the email can treble click-through rates. It’s even been reported that viewers retain 95 per cent of a video’s messages, compared to just 10 per cent of text-based content. Such statistics have naturally attracted the attention of marketing managers and entrepreneurs, desperate to engage with audiences and find new ways to spread their messages. As a result, corporate videos have become big business. With modern smartphones able to record in HD or even 4K, and free editing software available to meld clips into a seamless montage, we are undoubtedly living in an age of video marketing. A video represents a great way to make a point, tell a story or sell something. It should inform and excite an audience, explaining how your products or services can benefit them. A behind-the-scenes documentary-style video may bring humanity and warmth to an otherwise impersonal or anonymous brand, particularly if it contains talking-head testimonials. These are way more influential among potential consumers than a thousand corporate soundbites. In this special feature, we look at video production costs, from hiring professional crews through to taking the DIY route. We consider various hosting options, and discuss ways to maximize engagement once a file has been uploaded. We’ve also included ten golden rules every successful business videos adheres to; after all, maintaining an audience’s attention during a video is rather different to retaining their attention with advertising or a blog… What does a video typically cost to make? Like many aspects of running a business, the answer to this question varies hugely. It is theoretically possible to bring video production costs down to zero if you have suitable recording and editing equipment. You’ll also need storyboarding and scriptwriting abilities, plus access to people who can present or appear in the film, unless it’s a product video for a sales platform or ecommerce site. Alternatively, you could subcontract the job… (i)             Employing professionals Video production pricing can escalate rapidly, and there used to be a common rule of thumb within the industry that one minute of professional-standard video cost roughly $1,000. In the last couple of years, video production pricing has decreased thanks to a combination of growing competition and greater hardware affordability. Even a 4K video camera only weighs a couple of kilograms and costs a couple of thousand dollars, enabling production companies to slash their costs. With plenty of review portals and customer testimonials floating around, it’s easy to find a decent video production company in your local area. Even so, $750 for one minute of footage represents a considerable outlay, and video production costs remain a key barrier for smaller businesses. According to Buffer, almost half of marketing professionals would create more video content if they had more time and a larger budget. Then again, web analyst Dr James McQuivey claims that one minute’s worth of video is worth as much as 1.8 million words when it comes to promoting a brand. In that context, every cent invested in video can be considered worthwhile. These are some of the ways to reduce video production pricing: *     Have a clear idea before you call the professionals. Don’t ask the production team to produce storyboards, edit scripts or undertake casting. If you’ve done all this yourself at the outset, the camera crew will know exactly what they’re doing for each shot. That reduces retakes, which saves time and money. It also allows the movie’s editors to quickly compile a video meeting the brief, without the need for revisions or additions. *     Use editing tricks to disguise cost-cutting. When you watch an interview, there are usually cutaways to the interviewer before their subject answers. Most broadcasters record these questions before or after the actual interview, so they only need a single camera on-set. There are loads of other ways to reduce filming or editing costs, such as using copyright-free music and sound effects. We discuss this in more detail below. *     Avoid animations. An animated video can cost between three and ten times as much as a conventional live-action movie. Animators are skilled craftspeople in great demand, and animated clips pose unique challenges like dubbing on voiceovers. A huge number of cartoons or drawings are needed to fill the 25 frames in each second of video footage, while meme-style graphics videos look tacky and unprofessional. *     Employ rookie firms, or graduates. An established company’s video production pricing will  be many times higher than those of a new graduate, who’ll still have a decent portfolio and a working knowledge of Apple Final Cut or Adobe Premiere. Bear in mind consumers are only expecting steady camera shots, audible sound and slick captions. They won’t know or care who produced or edited a short movie. Ask prospective companies for quotes rather than estimates, and find out what will happen if the filming schedule overruns, which it usually does. Who will pick up the bill if an actor fails to arrive on set, or if ambient weather conditions prevent an outdoor shoot from going ahead? Will you be able to request revisions to the first-draft edit, and is a soundtrack included in the proposed costings? Videos without some sort of ambient music can seem surprisingly dull. (ii)           Doing it yourself This is a risky strategy, but potentially a highly affordable one. Even a decade ago, it would have been easy to spot a self-made video. However, technology’s relentless progression means each of the key areas involved in creating a corporate video can now be covered to a relatively professional standard by an enthusiastic amateur.   How to avoid video production costs by doing it yourself: *     Video footage. It isn’t necessary to record video footage in the highest definition possible. HD content will be fine, since nobody is expecting eye-popping quality from a corporate video. Framing the shots well is far more important. Ensure vertical lines are straight rather than crooked by using tripods or a Gorillapod to hold the camera steady, and consider what’s out of frame as much as what’s in shot. *     Sound quality. This is one area where video production costs can quickly escalate. Integrated microphones in tablets and smartphones are generally weak, but it’s possible to buy external mics to dovetail with everything from 4K cameras to iPhones. There’s an important distinction between unidirectional mics (which face in one specific direction) and omnidirectional (used to capture sound from all around). *     Editing software. Sophisticated programs like CyberLink’s PowerDirector or Adobe’s Premiere Elements can be purchased for less than $100. The latter is a cut-down version of Adobe’s market-leading Pro CC package, with features like haze removal and automatic soundtrack adjustment to match clip length. While learning how to use these packages can take time, it is possible to generate dynamic footage very cheaply. *     Music. The Free Music Archive is perhaps the best-known provider of copyright-free audio downloads. Each file will have some restrictions on its use, but these are far less draconian than recordings whose copyright is owned by record labels. Websites like Freesound offer specific noises and sound effects for general reuse, though a small donation should be made whenever you raid a creative commons-style portal. How do I host the video? Once you’ve made or acquired an edited video clip, the next decision is where and how to host it. These are the main hosting options: *     Self-hosting. From WordPress templates to bespoke site designs, it’s easy to upload video clips stored on your server alongside other web content. HTML5 has made embedding videos far easier, though it does have issues with codec standards. Avoid full-screen playback, and bear in mind HTML5 doesn’t support DRM or adaptive streaming, which adjusts according to the bandwidth capacity of output devices. *     Upload it to YouTube. As one of the world’s most popular websites, it’s almost unheard of for YouTube’s servers to be offline. Parent company Google has made its vast infrastructure available, so movies can be hosted remotely yet played on your site as if your own server was supplying the content. Since YouTube retains overall control of the file, it might be preceded by ads or followed with unrelated content. YouTube videos can also be embedded in your web pages, which leads us onto our next point … *     Embed your file from a third-party platform. It’s possible to use video hosting platforms like Vimeo and Dailymotion to host content that is then played through a window within a page of your website. The host servers handle buffering and bit rates, while your server supplies other page content like text and formatting. This is the preferred method of video hosting, though each platform has unique drawbacks. These options are all technically free, yet each involves compromises. Option 1 may necessitate upgrading your servers to ensure there’s sufficient bandwidth for multiple audiences to view a file simultaneously. Midphase will gladly discuss the optimal hosting package to ensure your clients can enjoy lag-free video provision. Options 2 and 3 capitalize on some of the world’s most powerful servers, but they do involve relinquishing a degree of control over your own content. That may be painful if you’ve invested heavily in creating a slick promo video, only to discover your chosen hosting platform is prefacing it with a tacky advert for an unrelated product or service. How can I get people to watch the video? If you’ve gone to the expense of commissioning and producing a video, you will want it to pay for itself. And the statistics suggest it will – providing people see it. An entire subset of the marketing industry has developed around optimizing view rates for video content, attracting maximum eyeballs and allowing those carefully crafted sales messages to reach the widest possible audience. There are plenty of ways to ensure a worthwhile return on creating a video: *     Repost it on social media. Platforms like Snapchat and Facebook are great for sharing and reposting content. The more outlets your video is displayed on, the better. People tend to have one preferred social media platform, so you’ll be reaching new audiences every time you post on a new site. Don’t forget that with over a billion users, YouTube is the world’s second largest search engine behind parent company Google. *     Create blogs and news stories linking to the video. Blogs are great traffic drivers, but they need a destination to send their audiences to. There’s a lot to be said for finishing your latest blog or news post with a call to arms, encouraging people to watch a video for more information. If you end up creating more than one video, it’s easy to set up a dedicated channel on a platform like YouTube and organically build a following. *     Email marketing. Despite ongoing issues regarding spam filters, email marketing remains an effective tool for disseminating a message. That’s especially true for video content. Research indicates marketing emails with a video can double or treble click-through rates, making consumers 64 percent more likely to buy a product online. Emails are also easy to share and forward, spreading the message far and wide. *     Choose a dynamic thumbnail. If the opening frames of your video are a black screen fading into a product montage, you don’t want the first frame as your thumbnail. Think about how programmes on streaming services are often presented with a dynamic image from each series or episode. Pick something eye-catching to stand out from the millions of other online videos, making people want to click Play. *     Employ SEO. Videos can be tagged with search engine-friendly terms that will come up in results pages separately to the hosting pages themselves. Use a platform like Kissmetrics to identify terms people use to search for your industry or product/service, and ensure the file is appropriately tagged. Its title is also crucial; it should incorporate keywords, while being as clear and as concise as possible. *     Inbound links. Internal links on your site are good, but links from third-party platforms will boost your site’s SEO by inferring it contains valuable content. Of course, the video needs to be relevant to these external firms or people, so consider who might be willing to promote it. Linking to it ought to be as easy as copying and pasting a URL, but avoid spammy link farms that may damage your SEO ranking. *     Don’t forget about it! A well-made video should be durable, promoting your business for months or years to come. It might receive new views at any time, so it’s crucial to maintain promotional efforts. If the platform hosting it accepts comments, set up interaction notifications, and reply to every post. Periodically promote the video afresh – some of your audience will already know about, it but many others won’t. What do I need to know before making a corporate video? Below  are ten golden rules you should follow when scripting and editing a corporate video, to ensure it maintains audience attention and justifies its expenditure… *     Keep it short. There’s a reason TV ads tend to be less than a minute long. Attention spans are short and a sub-two-minute video clip will receive more engagement. Don’t let a camera shot last for longer than necessary, avoid fade in/out effects, and don’t leave subtitles on-screen longer than an average person needs to read them. Quick cuts between camera shots help to build a sense of dynamism. *     Be professional. Just because you’ve got an iPhone with 4K video capabilities doesn’t mean you’ll end up with a slick business video. Better to employ a video marketing agency than produce an amateurish attempt yourself. If you are going to create a DIY movie, invest in a tripod so the camera remains steady. Avoid wacky or silly content that will suggest unprofessionalism and potentially damage your brand’s credibility. *     Front-load the core message. Although two thirds of people watch the vast majority of a video, some will abandon ship at the first opportunity. On platforms like YouTube, that’s often within five seconds. Place a core message at the start of the video for people to take away – the AV equivalent of an email’s Subject line. The first half-dozen words might just stick in their minds, boosting brand recall at a later date. *     Add color. Can you present a to-camera piece in a dynamic location? Are your company’s products available in bright colors that can all be displayed at once? The human eye can see up to ten million colors, so don’t have someone in a black suit talking to-camera against a black backdrop. More visually stimulating videos retain an audience’s attention for longer. Colorful graphics and captions stand out more, too. *     Avoid long pieces to-camera or monologue voiceovers. Hearing the same voice speaking for a while can become dull, as does a fixed ‘talking head’ shot. If you have to deliver a monologue, break it up with reverse camera angles, or mix to-camera dictation with action shots or behind-the-scenes footage. It’s helpful to include two voices on the soundtrack, with a soft, upbeat musical score filling any silences. *     Add a splash of humor. In point one, we counseled against silliness. However, self-deprecating humor is fine, as are jokes aimed at major rivals or industry standards. For instance, if you’re a gourmet burger supplier, it’d be fine to show a squashed hamburger with the caption “product from leading competitor”. Test your suggestions on family and friends to gauge whether they elicit a suitably enthusiastic reaction. *     Build associations. Video is a two-sense platform, with no touch, smell or taste. That’s why washing powder companies often use footage of meadows, for example, inferring what the ads can’t otherwise convey. These associations can be projected through cutaway shots, backdrops or words used in the voiceover or captions. Use terms like ‘trust’ or ‘quality’, and try to show a product or service being used to deliver its core benefits. *     Leave contact details on-screen. People might abandon your video at any point, so leave web addresses and key social media details on-screen or periodically flash them up. Nobody will mind this in a business video – you’re not creating a Hollywood movie. Monitor click-through rates from embedded links or canonical URLs, and measure each video’s response rates for lessons you can learn with future output. *     Don’t rely on sound. Mobile audiences often consume video content with their devices set to mute, to avoid loud adverts or autoplaying content erupting into quiet public spaces. An estimated 85 per cent of Facebook videos are watched without sound, so captions and graphics need to relay the core messages of your video. Treat voiceovers and musical scores as a bonus, but ensure audio tracks are crisp and clear.   Include a call to arms. Videos are created for one of several purposes including lead generation, driving traffic to a website or raising brand awareness. Conclude with a graphic/voiceover encouraging people to perform your preferred action. Most videos finish with contact details on-screen anyway, but inject a degree of urgency with a time-limited offer, or encouraging people to act before competitors do likewise http://dlvr.it/PS7tWr www.regulardomainname.com

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How To Stay On Top Of All Your Personal Finances

Personal finance is a stressful subject. Educating yourself about the best way to handle your money can ease the stress. This article will give you some great tips on how to better manage your money.

Don’t waste your time and money on get-rich-quick schemes. This is one thing that happens to many marketers. Take the time and money to improve your knowledge, but spend even more of your time working to improve your business.

Being able to successfully manage your money is key to your success. Protect profits and invest capital. When you put some of your profits into capital, this builds a foundation to grow upon. However, when you utilize those profits wisely, you can watch your money grow as return on investment. Fixing a firm ratio between profit and reinvestment will help you keep a handle on your money.

If you are not ready to sell, don’t. If a stock is earning good money, just let it stay as is. If you have stocks in your portfolio that are not performing well, you may wish to change them up a bit.

Have a set amount of funds automatically transferred from your checking to your savings account every month. This is an excellent strategy which helps you to manage your money much better each month. It is a great technique for anyone saving for significant life events, like weddings or family trips.

If you travel by air frequently, it might pay for you to sign up for one of the frequent flier programs. Many credit card companies offer rewards made on purchases that can be redeemed for free or discounted air fare. Your reward miles may also be used at some hotels for room discounts or freebies.

Some individuals spend more than $20 each week hoping to win money in the lottery. It would be beneficial for them to save the money instead. This is a better option because it will grow over time versus being wasted on a gamble.

Sell your old laptop. If it’s working or it can be fixed then it can go for a little more money than broken ones do. Though, a broken laptop can net you enough to fill up the tank!

To guarantee that you are not late on any payments have them withdrawn from your checking account automatically. Regardless of whether or not you can pay off your credit cards in full, paying them in a timely manner will help you build a good payment history. If you schedule an automatic bill payment, then you never need to think about your bills or worry about being charged a late fee. Additional payments can still be made with that tax return or Christmas bonus.

When trading Forex, know when to allow your profits to run. This tactic should be used in moderation without greed getting in the way. Once you’ve made profit, you need to know when it’s best to remove the money.

By controlling your finance, you will be able to do proper maintenance on any property that you own. Track the value of your home, and look at your home as a long term investment. It’s a great idea to have a well-developed budget for your property to use as a reference.

Save a few dollars every day. Instead of overpaying for groceries every single week, use coupons, shop around and find the best deals. Look for sales on food items to use as a substitute.

Not all types of debt are bad. There are many debts that are good, such as real estate loans. Additionally, the considerable value of your home shows that you have solid collateral. The interest you pay on the loan for the property can be a tax deductible. College can also cause a lot of debt. Student loans have relatively low interest rates, and they do not need to be paid off until after the student graduates.

Credit Card Companies

Be vigilant for mail from credit card companies that inform you about changes to your account. There are laws in place that require credit card companies to notify their customers of changes 45 days prior to when the changes are implemented. Examine the changes and decide whether the account will be worth keeping. If you decide that the new terms are unacceptable, pay off the remaining balance on the account, so you can close it.

Always pay attention to your credit report. It is easy to find sites that will let you examine your report without having to pay a fee. You should check to make sure there aren’t any discrepancies or signs of identity theft on your credit report.

Find ways to pay off your debts and vow not to accrue any new debt. It sounds relatively simple, however, most of us have difficulty with it. Debt is something that you will need to gradually reduce over time. If you are consistent, you will reach your financial goals and balance much easier.

As stated initially in this article, managing your finances can sometimes be stressful. Knowing ways to deal with your finances can aid you in lowering your stress. With the information in the above article, you will be able to better control your personal finances and reduce your stress levels.

Thanks for reading this, learn more about What we do.

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CRIME / SCI-FI - You’ve Got Time

Today was set to be the longest day of Comrad Daley’s life. A hundred years long, to be precise.

7 : 4 6 P M

“Catch it Dad!” the younger Daley shouted, pelting the ball far above Comrad’s head into the far distance.

‘That’s my boy’ the proud father thought, the kid’s kick was improving, though he’d have to teach him aim and self-restraint next if he didn’t plan on going to fetch the ball every time his son touched the thing. He stared expectantly back at his Dad, smiling eagerly. As usual, Coach Comrad sighed comically and walked off the red shrubbery to fetch it back. He was a good kid, he had to remind himself that sometimes- he had his Father’s distinctive, animated eyes, shining bright blue but definitely had the patience of his Mother. Comrad pulled back his thinning grey hair and sighed, this time for real. A deep, heavy sigh he daren’t question or think about too hard. He lit a cigarette and tried to recall the last time he’d gotten a good night’s sleep. God, I need to stop bringing the office back home with me, he thought- trying to clear his head. Spending his precious four hours in-between labour shifts fetching footballs like a dog was hardly what he had envisioned for himself and his family when he started his life over on, the Beckham Base Colony (the ‘Garden of Mars’ my arse’ he had said before.)

Ah, man.’ He said under his breath as he pulled it out of the red lake, a sickly light red, like watered-down blood or faded paint. Comrad was so compliant to the demands of paternal life he almost assumed it was something for him to repaint. He half-laughed at himself, joylessly.

‘You can’t fix everything, Dad.’ He said dryly to himself, he looked through groggy eyes at his reflection in the crimson water. A tired, near-unrecognisable face. His stubble turned white over the years, his eyes significantly greener than he remembered and his smile, Jesus-his smile.

Comrad Daley tried with all his might to smile, as if the muscles simply wouldn’t obey- the smile was too heavy to hold. The image of his son shot into his head, that young soul beaming brightly...as if his own flesh and blood had drained him and stolen the smile from his soul, wearing it as his own. Before this thought could last, a sudden sting surged through Daley’s head. As if violating every atom of his nervous system, the shock lasted only a second- but was enough. Comrad Daley fell into the pool of red before him.

7 : 4 9 P M  

“-cking repeated conquests of your ripest slut!” shouted a furious Yank, a crazed animal dressed in a blue trench-coat and chains. Daley fortunately only woke up in time to catch the rear-end of the furious curse. The blonde-haired beast kept shouting, thrashing around in his chains in the cell at the end of the cell-block. Chains. Comrad snapped awake in shock, finding his own hands in a lock of their own, an impossibly heavy Cuff-lock Seal. His hands were magnetically sealed, which resulted in the reaction one would expect:

“Help me! Lord, help me, fuck!”

The scream fell into a murky sea of wailing cries, swears and moans. The exclamation was as desperate as it was futile as Comrad Daley found himself just one of many men locked away, big lumbering barbarians to smaller, sneakier types, shaking ominously, nutters- the lot of them. What in high heavens was he doing here among them? Had the last few days of his life been wiped?! On whose authority? This was one hell of an admin fuck-up, and one he would sue into the ground. Except…no, it hadn’t been days, more like minutes. He caught view of a giant marble clock mounted to the wall of the cell, an Imperial-white, spotless clock standing out amongst the black, dirty concrete of the room displaying the time and date digitally.

He shook at his bars, reinforced metal that didn’t buckle or bend an inch as he caught sight of the Space Pirate Yank at the far end of the room facing him, realising his chains were his own- decorative and now slightly ironic. Jesus wept, Space Pirates were still a thing? In this day and age? Seeing this gargantuan man spit and swear restlessly allowed it to sink in for him just how out of his depth he truly was. Trapped, far from home, fucked.

Through his tearful eyes, Comrad realised his shouts were in vain and made a conscious decision to stop shouting, realising keeping quiet made him louder than any other man in the room. Disorientated and confused, the boisterous and hopeless cellblock song went on.

8 : 0 0 P M

As the clock struck eight, a door unlocked- perfectly on the beat. The entire room fell silent in an instant as a terrifying titan of a man opened the vault door and walked down the steps into the cell. Comrad looked up desperately for answers and broke the silence with a small gasp, he recognized this giant…Diamondback Fletcher, infamous leader of an Australian crime syndicate. His name reached even Mars during his role in events of the Great Capital Purge of ’81. He had hated this man since he heard of him, signed petitions and ranted at his TV at his very mention. And now face to face with him he was…despondent, impossibly tall and…unconscious.

“Thank you Fletcher, now. GUILTY-340, there’s a good boy.” Spoke up a mysterious voice.

“GUILTY-340?” He called in a shrill voice, browsing the cells casually. “Ah, no. Dahly rather, Mr Dahly.” Snapping his calculated gaze to Comrad as if he knew his location the whole time. “Now, we have an appointment.” Comrad edged to the bars, uncertain of the man but relieved for a bit of normality. This OAP seemed even more out of place than him among these criminals, clearly intelligent- a science division by the uniform.

“It’s uh, Mr Daley actually, but I rather think there’s been some kin-“

“Mistake? No mistake here.

“No really, it’s Daley.”

“Comrad Dahley. Your unusual surname is of Irish descent, inherited from Gengo and Joyce Dahley. 45, Blood type O, Father of two, Capricorn. Enthusiast of gardening, football and lesbian porn.” He said flatly, somehow speaking without emphasis, inflection or irony. “Apologies, I like to be precise. Seems you’ve been mispronouncing your own surname, is all.”

Comrad Daley stood in shocked silence, identified and violated. They didn’t keep that detail of information on the public record. Who was this old man? As if reading his mind, the Doctor stuck out his hand.

“Dr. Randall Roache, pleasure.” His voice was small and scratchy, but he spoke with the precision of a sniper rifle. His extended arm fake-paused, as if expecting to be shook. A cruel joke for the cuff-deadlocked Daley and yet the Doctor showed no sign of a smile or pride. Comrad could think of nothing better to do than shakily laugh along at his joke, wondering if he could flatter his way out of this mess. Fletcher silently held paper cups, almost to a comical effect.

“You can’t charm your way out of chains, Dahley.” He said coldly. “Ugh, the state of you. A drink?”

Suddenly, Comrad’s brain informed him just how parched he truly was and noticing the reaction this gesture got from the convicts around them, he took it politely, thanking him sincerely before guzzling it desperately[U1] . Almost instantly, the lights of the room seemed to flicker. Some prisoners watched on frantically curious, those who knew averted their eyes. Randall Roache’s genius had begun to unravel.

“What have…you done to me?” He said, struggling to form or make sense of sentences. He fell backwards, but the experience felt different somehow. Had something happened to the gravity?

“Apologies again.” He said, unapologetically. “I’ve spiked your drink. Volatile subjects don’t exactly respond well to being offered pills. I think you’re ready for a time-out.”

“Please, Sir. Doctor, there’s no….neeeed.” He said, his words slurring and his sentence structuring slowing down. His brain was going full speed but it’s as if his lips were struggling to keep up.

“For an inhuman mass murderer, there’s every need.” He spat with new-found venom. “Now pay attention, we have little time before you serve your sentence.”

“You have the wrong guy.” He repeated, insistent but his eyes alive with terror, but Roache’s glasses reflected nothing back as he pressed on with his schedule. “Let’s not play dumb, you’re familiar with The Foresight, because everybody with half a brain cell knows about Crime Forecasting. Our prediction technology caught you before you could commit Class-A precipitated Murder.”

8 : 0 6 P M

“Murder? Who…?!” He said, familiar with the law technology but barely processing his words.

“Your boy, Mr Dahley. You killed your boy with your bare hands. You’re going to deny this, say ‘that’s not me! I’m not capable of murder!’ but really with the Foresight we know your nature better than you do yourself.”

“How…fucking…dare you.” He said, his voice trailing at a snail’s pace. “My kids…they’re at home, safe. I demand…a trial. My lawyer…” before finally trailing off.

“Unnecessary. No lawyer, court, nor you can disprove the future. Wielding the future as an instrument we have developed absolute law prevention, control over time itself.” Daley’s mind processed the terror in real time but his body lamely flailed in slow-motion at this revelation. “Your family are safe Dahley, thanks to our intervention- saved from you.”

“My…records clean and there’s zero reason…I’d do that. I’m being…I’m being set up.”

“We have all kinds here, the war criminals, the kiddy fiddlers and tax fraudsters but nothing cracks like the office-bound family man. Beat down by colleagues, family pressures, a parent- it’s a thankless job, I know.” Roache caught himself indulging in his monologue and realised the subject was almost out of time- he cut to the point. “But all it takes to snap your kind, is one bad day.”

“If this is a Foresight facility, then what was in my drink, Doctor?” Daley spat, piecing clues together. Roache knelt down and smiled, glad he was finally asking the right questions. He pulled something small out of his coat pocket and showed it to the grovelling convict. “I’m required by law to tell you what is about to happen to you. This is time, in a pill. See, as a young man I dared wonder- what could biotechnology bring to the field of law enforcement?”

“Dying to know.”

“Well, what if, instead of the life sentence you’ve been given. The very long, flawed, expensive for the taxpayer sentence, we could trick a prisoner’s perception of time? Turn just five minutes into ten, fifty, say hundred years.”

“Imposs…ible.”

“Very possible. I made it possible. Please, relax. Should you not fight it, you walk out here a free man by 8:15.

8 : 1 0 P M

The world spun around, he wanted to see his family. Did little Jamie even know he was missing? Did he get his ball back? The clock oppressively stood above him, taunting him as much as the decrepit man of science in front of it.

“Hundred…years…” Daley moaned in disbelief.

“Yes. A lot of time for some well-needed personal reflection, don’t you think?”

Daley was completely slowed, but managed one final sentence before he fell to the process. “Is that what you told your pet?” Nodding to the brain-washed Fletcher, a stab that turned the Doctor’s face dark, he removed his glasses.

“You didn’t just stop with the boy, you know. You went one neck to another, you cut their mouths open before dumping them in the lake. Child to child to your wife, to your town- you couldn’t be stopped. The blood…that sound.” He whispered, taunting him by relishing in every graphic detail. “You think over that image for the next hudnred years. I hope you like the walls of this cell, because you better get used to them.” He said coldly, rattled by having his ethics challenged- he sneered and turned away to go on his coffee break.

“See you in five.”

8 : 1 1 P M

Tick.

Tock.

The smaller hand of the clock becomes the only marker of time. The seconds changing every couple of years. The sound of my wife’s neck crumpling in my hands used to feel so foreign and obscene but now the slightest doubt had begun to creep into the corner of my mind, sitting there like a demon. I know every follicle of this cell, every little bit of dust and have favourite parts of the concrete. The clock serves as my only distraction from the terrors on my mind. Today I forgot my own name. The only things I know, this blasted clock and that looming old face. The wrinkles of that worn skin seem like nothing to the centuries I’ve endured. Was there anything else outside this room? Voices in my head go in circles, clock-wise. My body needs no sleep or nourishment in the mere space of five minutes but my brain convinces me I should be starving nonetheless, out of habit I bet. Some days I debate whether I truly am capable of such crimes, some days I embrace that part of me and some days I curse it to hell. There are only so many thoughts to be had, I am losing my mind. I am losing myself. My hands in a lake of red. I have eternity to plan my thoughts and actions, to decide my own verdict. Guilty?

8 : 1 5 P M

The clock stopped and the Doctor was late.

Just a half-beat short of turn of the minute, the door opened once more. From behind it stepped the familiar Doctor, with his assistant and two new colleagues. They idly chatted down the stairs as Conrad sat up slowly, exiting his own mind and back to reality. He tried to make syllables with his mouth.

“Daley…” The scientists heads perked up. “Daley. Daley. Daley!” He echoed, each utterance getting more powerful and clearer than the last. He rattled his name and shouted it in protest.

“Now, now sleeping beauty. Don’t overexert yourself.” Said one of the unfamiliar men at the back. The other started scanning the prisoners. “Vitals good condition, no lasting brain damage, tremors might be permanent.” But Roache batted them out of the way. “His mind, I want to know about his mind.” Daley continued repeating in the background, tired eyes fixed on Roache. “Tell me, are you a reformed man, corrected?”

“…It’s Daley.” He said through gritted teeth. Suddenly he headbutted the bars, pointless but enough to make the man flinch. The stage was his.

8 : 1 6 P M

“Doctor Randall Roache, you are a genius. A real, goddamned genius, above us all aren’t you?” Randall’s smile dropped into an annoying grimace, subjects rarely maintained their independence. “You have the ability to make a man, any man live countless lifetimes. An eternity of thought…and you’ve wasted it.”

The clock in Conrad’s head started ticking, adrenaline once again shooting through his veins. The Doctor pulled the keys out of his pocket and unlocked his cell to let him leave. Conrad held his ground as the cell door swung open.

“You have another pill in your coat pocket, don’t you think you should try it next?” His fist tightened.

“Yes? Now why would I do that?” Roache bemused, hoping it was brain damage.

“Oh come on Randall. IQ like yours, five hundred years of just you and your thoughts? Apply yourself. You know as well as I do, what progress an academic mind like yours could make in five hundred years. Imagine we had Einstein for a hundred more years, a thousand- the progress that could be made, the lives that could be saved.” He exacted his speech meticulously, words that fell on the right ears.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, you’re a free man. Leave, or would you like another fifty?” he said behind his glasses, losing his cool.

“What would my ‘crime’ be this time?” Conrad replied, exerting his height over the man. A sweat-drop ran down his head as his two colleagues watched the exchange in anticipation, they seemed sold on the notion. Fletcher stepped forward and poured a pill from the plastic cup into his big, offering palm, Conrad nodded to the shell and showed the good Doctor his invention, a look that said ‘take the pill’. The Doctor stood frozen, shook to his core by a use for it he had never considered. He took the drug from him and held it in his old, shaking hand. The longest silence passed.

8 : 20 P M

A tiny pill-sized thud hit the floor, the atmosphere was palpable and the implications clear.

“Then how dare you try hold the moral high ground, Sir. I don’t know…if I’m capable of murder, but you are capable of so much more.” He was met with nothing but silence, the other prisoners went to cheer but dare not break the tension. Comrad Daley dusted himself off and pulled his hands from the Deadlock Seal, he was confused how to feel as he walked out, to where he didn’t know.

“I’m a free man, are you?”