Tuesday, 31 January 2012

The Eurozone Crisis versus the South African Economy


2011 is a year that was pock marked with financial volatility. As a Coronation genius indicated, markets had to face the repercussions of political nonsense in the Middle East and North Africa, an extremely devastating earthquake in Japan with the possibility of nuclear destruction and the on-going Eurozone crisis.

South Africans may be lulled into a false sense of security thinking that none of the above would have any effect on them. But it is a sad fact that the constant squabbling amongst policymakers to build a fix for the Euro crisis might drive the South African economy into hiding. 

Not to be an alarmist or anything but the solution so far has been for the EU and IMF to inject massive billion € bailouts into Greece and Ireland. Meaning other Eurozone countries are contributing to keep EU economies from plunging into the red, and through an arrangement with the IMF, Sweden and the United Kingdom, EU countries (like Ireland) can source funds from elsewhere. That means there is more debt to squash at the end of the day – at other EU countries’ expenses.  This is where the image of falling dominoes comes to mind.  



The countries contributing have a massive incentive to keep the crisis countries (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain) afloat. The EU settled on seamless movement across borders and a common currency – the demise of one of their members is, incidentally, carried by other successful members. One domino falls and takes the next one down with it…

Picture this: the bailout debt cannot be repaid due to deficits and Ireland or Greece’s (for example) economy falls flat on its knees. That includes falling businesses and climbing unemployment rates. Seamless movement across borders means that the ranks of the unemployed will simply, seamlessly, cross borders into other EU countries - putting additional pressure on their local economies. Failing EU countries are not attractive for investors – depreciating the Euro and making it much less attractive to the kinds who like to invest. That will have an impact on all EU states. Remember those dominoes?

Another scenario to picture: the bailout debt starts to be repaid by increased taxes. A problem for countries such as Ireland whose low company taxes are the attraction for international business in the first place.

The bailer-outers (the IMF and other EU members) cannot allow member states to collapse lest they wish to be dragged down with them. On the other side of this over-spent coin, they cannot continue to simply throw money at the countries that need bailing out – this imposes huge costs on their own spending and economic policies.  Either way, that last domino will hit the deck.

And how does this all affect South Africa? It really is as simple as this: the EU is one of SA’s major export markets (valued at well over €22 billion per year). Every South African, big or small, who has anything to gain from local business (directly or indirectly), should be cheering on the success of the EU. A collapse of the EU will cause a significant collapse of business within SA. Having a devastating effect on our economy.

Are you prepared to play dominoes when the state of the country is at risk?

Monday, 30 January 2012

New HP Line-up Unveiled

HP recently unleashed the beauty of its new line-up of products. And what a collection it is. Including HP’s first 27-inch All-in-One PC and the most powerful HP Pavilion PC to date, this is certainly a product line to behold.   



With superb design, performance and convenience on offer, you just can’t go wrong with HP:
  • HP Omni27 PC: a 27-inch all-in-one PC, and the first non-touch HP PC to feature exclusive HP Magic Canvas software for a truly engaging experience.
  • HP Pavilion HPE h9 Phoenix PC: the most powerful HP Pavilion PC to date, it is engineered to run power-hungry applications such as video editing and games with ease.
  • HP Compaq L2311c Notebook Docking Monitor: built to pair with a notebook PC via its USB port, creating an efficient, comfortable workspace for mobile professionals.
  • Affordable HP LV1911 and HP LV2011 LED Backlit LCD Monitors – delivering intelligent design and reliable business performance at a great value.
To find out even more detail, read the full article in the HP newsroom: HP Consumer News

Thursday, 26 January 2012

Breakfast… You Should Eat It!


Ok, so remember when your mom used to tell you that breakfast was the most important meal of the day? Well, she may have been right. In fact, she really was.

Breakfast is the fuel that keeps you going throughout the day. 


Never mind all the other benefits (such as metabolism boosting), partaking of breaking the fast from the night before improves your thinking ability and gives your memory a boost. A plate (or bowl depending on your preference) of delicious goodness first thing in the morning will put you at your top mental performance.

So if breakfast helps you think better (smarter), why not join us for breakfast – and we’ll give you something to think about. Something that will make a world of difference to your financial resource planning enterprise. 

We like to call this the Breakfast of Champions, and are inviting you to join us on 21 February 2012 at 07:30 to ingest Sage ERP for Financial Resource Planning knowledge and the fuel to start your day. 

 
For more information and to register for this event, e-mail elle@synergygroup.co.za

Tuesday, 24 January 2012

Get Rich… Quick

Actually, unless you win the lottery, rob a bank or inherit a substantial amount of money from a really rich uncle you didn’t know you had, getting rich quickly is not one of those things that happens every day. It’s a slow and gradual thing. Like a marathon.

This week’s focus is on the Financial Resource Planning industry, so we have decided to have a look at planning financial resources on a personal level. 




Since it’s never fun to think about “financial resources” unless you have a vast collection, we have some advice for getting rich in the long run, courtesy of a real financial adviser who knows some stuff about numbers, and it boils down to: reduce debt and save. Four simple little words; if only it was that easy… 

So, where to start? Let’s start with how to reduce your debt, and then we can focus on the saving bit. Maybe it’s obvious but you have to pay your bills before you can save what’s left over:
  • Reduce your highest interest-bearing debt first.
  • If possible, combine your debts into one account.
  • Try pay extra on bonds and cars to reduce the terms and interest. 
 
If you have anything left over, DO NOT GO SHOPPING FOR BOATS. Step away from the Admiral Yacht sale and save for your retirement. Just do it; you’ll thank us in the end. 

    That’s not to say you can’t occasionally reward yourself for a job well done, but make sure it fits in your budget. 

    “Budget” really does not need to be a dirty word… Follow this link to find out more: How to Create a Budget.

    Monday, 23 January 2012

    "All You Need is Love"... For HP


    Earlier this month HP made an announcement that can only fill you with the warm and fuzzies, especially if you’re a Paul McCartney/ Beatles fan. If, for some insane reason, you’re not, just the possibilities of what could come from this creation should be enough to get you excited. All you need is love. 

    HP has (very lovingly) given fans unprecedented access to Paul McCartney’s private cloud-based digital library. Just think about what this means for a second… this is not just a collection of photographs like a blog. 




    This new portal destination (www.paulmccartney.com) host’s the legendary musician’s personal collection of memorabilia that spans half a century. That’s over five decades worth of music, photographs, collections, lyrics, blogs, merchandise and a whole lot more all available in one place.

    Together with McCartney’s company, MPL Communications Ltd, HP designed, deployed and now maintains the more-than-a-million-item strong archive that was, until very recently, only available for internal use. 

    This portal to McCartney’s world was built on an HP Converged Infrastructure and gives fans access to an intuitive and user-friendly experience that enables them to search and view exactly what they want, plus all the associated additional material (videos, lyrics, extra information etc.). Another major pull is The Jukebox, a playlist-building, song-listening tool.        

    McCartney has stated that “the idea is to intrigue people and bring them into our world with new facts, new photographs, news of what’s happening, accounts of what happened, backstage moments and all the stuff we can give that nobody else can. The website really brings the digital library to life by constantly pulling new content from my personal collection so there’s always a new experience for visitors.” 

    For the complete low down, check out this website:  www.hp.com/go/mccartney.


     




     

    Thursday, 19 January 2012

    You are NOT Alone

    You could take the title of this blog post and interpret it a number of ways; let it be known right off the bat that this is not a discussion about what else lingers in the great beyond or terrestrial activity. 

    Actually, this post is about business solutions. No matter the industry, there will always be the right solution – you just have to know where to look and what to look for and, because we’re helpful, we like to help you weigh up the options and bring you what will only ever be the ideal. Consider this blog your ERP and IT solutions “go-to guy”.


    Today the focus is on the plastics industry. We have done our research and understand that any business solution for this industry MUST deliver flexibility, as well as meet expectations of function and delivery and demanding regulatory requirements. 

    It doesn’t seem like much when you look at it like that, does it? But it is! The business solution is the core and the wrong choice will not be pretty. Unless a pretty mess is what you’re after.

    Consider the absolute imperatives that the right solution MUST not be without:
    • Compliance with regulations such as ISO9000, EN46001 and QS9000
    • Support for multiple production processes (moulding, plastic injection moulding, as well as stretch-blow moulding).
    • Fully-integrated quality control processes.
    • Bar Coding and Lot Traceability for ISO, EN and QS Certified manufacturers.
    • Technical Estimating and Costing.
    • Import Tracking.
    • Support and end-to-end supply chain management.
    Oh yes! There really is a solution that does all that. Plus a whole bunch of other cool stuff: Sage ERP for Plastics Manufacturers and Distributors.

    Tuesday, 17 January 2012

    Welcome to 2012

    Since this is meant to be our last year on earth, how about we make it a goodie and go out with a bang!?


    The best way to do that, we reckon, is simply by being happy. That ever-elusive happiness that is made up of contentment and fulfillment...

    Who knew you could Google the steps to take? Google really does have an answer for everything it seems... 

    Well, we did the research for you and uncovered some fairly amusing advice, but we also came across some stuff that actually makes sense if you think about it. All you have to do is figure out how to apply it before 21 December 2012 (no pressure). 

    The most obvious tips include:
    1. Be optimistic.
    2. Follow your gut.
    3. Stay close to friends and family.
    4. SMILE (duh).
    5. Forgive.
    To unpack these tips a bit further, and for more advice, read the full "How To..." guide here: How To Be Happy