Quite often borrowing can throw up any number of these little pieces of jargon and it can be helpful to know well in advance of making any applications for a small business loan, credit card, overdraft or any other facility what these all mean and how they may impact you.

One of the terms most frequently applied to such business banking options is APR – and while many may have seen those three letters appear neatly next to any number of advertisements and at the bottom of many a financial form they may not have a full understanding of what they relate to.

The phrase APR stands for Annual Percentage Rate and is a tool that is used to calculate interest levels for all sorts of lending. It is also useful to small business account holders as it allows them to compare the cost of different loans. If the APR is high, then in most cases this means your repayments will be high. However, there may be other charges and fees that apply to the loan or credit card that are not included in the APR – but that does not mean it should be treated any less importantly.

So, entrepreneurs may think to themselves ‘well, that’s easy, all I have to do is grab the package with the lowest APR and I’ll be sorted’. But unfortunately, administration costs, legal fees and early repayment penalties are all things that should be taken into consideration. In addition, particularly low figures for the rate may not be available to you and may depend on how your credit history shapes up in the check the bank makes.

Those looking to take advantage of the various options available to them through Lloyds TSB business banking may at this point be wondering ’so what are the options available?’ and the answer is – plenty. The bank has base-rate linked loans that fluctuate in line with the figures set by the Bank of England, but fixed-rate options are available for amounts ranging up to £100,000 – meaning the applicant is well aware of what they will have to pay back and by when. In terms of plastic, the Lloyds TSB business credit card offers a typical APR of 18.2% variable and has an interest-free period of up to 45 days on new purchases if the user pays the balance in full and on time each month.

Holiday makers and business people alike were stranded around the world waiting for the ash to clear the sky-ways of Northern Europe before they could embark on their journey home.

The television news programmes appeared to be revelling in the grief of stranded passengers as they turned up at various air and sea ports to report on the latest situation.

Many travellers were willing to pay extortionate amounts to get themselves closer to home, while others simply had no choice but to sit and wait for the skies to clear.

While insurance companies and the UK Government argued about who was to blame and where compensation should be paid, it was reassuring that the UK’s largest credit card provider responded by announcing that it would re-imburse card holders with any charges they had incurred when withdrawing emergency cash abroad during the disruption.

While these charges may be minimal in the scheme of things it is none the less commendable given how sceptical of the financial institutions we have become during the credit crisis.

The financial institutions really need to show that they are helping out their customers in these difficult times and while others are withdrawing their zero percent transfer offers on credit cards, MBNA still offer this service along with other low APR credit card offers.

Re-imbursing charges incurred while drawing cash to cope with the volcanic disruption may appear a token gesture, but it is also a good business move, helping restore a little faith in an industry that has dragged us all through the mire during the financial crisis. It may well be worth remembering next time you apply for the best credit card deals that MBNA at least did something for their customers while others chose to blame everyone else.

But depending where your business is based face-to-face meetings are not always possible, and with more and more business being conducted over the internet, it makes perfect sense to look further afield for discount printing and other services now readily available on the World Wide Web.

Of course, it isn’t cost always going to be cost-effective to use online services from abroad for small digital print runs such as business cards.  But for any large orders it may well surprise you how much money can be saved by comparing online services to your local, convenient, and in some cases overpriced printers.

Furthermore, more and more print companies are now offering other services.  CD and DVD jewel cases, direct mail services, and the very popular vinyl banners for exhibition stands, as well as the more obvious calendars, postcards, leaflets, posters and graphic design services.

So before you place your next order with a local business consider whether online services as far away as the United States or China could help you generate success by saving you time and money.

There are a host of reasons for choosing to outsource your printing needs rather than printing your mail shots, flyers, leaflets and posters yourself. The factors fall into the following fairly obvious categories: cost, quality and convenience.

Firstly, even if you have invested in a good quality colour printer, it is never going to work out cheaper than having your printing done professionally. It won’t take long to calculate that in paper and printer consumables your outgoings are likely to be prohibitive when it comes to printing in even fairly modest quantities of, for example, the leaflets you require.

A key finding of one reputable trade magazine, having carried out a recent test to ascertain in-house printing costs, makes sobering reading. They found that a single A6 sized photograph cost a full 43p to print on a desktop inkjet printer.

When multiplied by the modest print-run figure of 500, the resulting figure for a batch of A6 leaflets containing full ink coverage is a staggering £215. Online printing firms will supply the same item for less than a quarter of that price. And when a greater quantity is ordered, then of course the unit cost plummets even further. This is not something that can be said for the office printer on your desk.

As far as quality is concerned, the paper stock which commercial printing can accommodate is simply not able to be handled by the desktop printer. The weight and finish of the paper is what gives the end-user that essential impression of professionalism.

But if for no other reason than the fact that few office printers can print right up to the edge of a sheet of paper, it is necessary to turn to the commercial print suppliers. Even when it comes down to cutting the finished item down to size, the professionals win hands down.

Naturally enough, when it comes to business cards, there is absolutely no alternative to using a good company with its dedicated equipment.

Finally, outsourcing to one of the many online print services, some offering a next-day service along with free shipping, frees up office space and staff time for more vital tasks. The savings made on efficiency and convenience scarcely need mentioning.

What is Cloud Technology?

In a nutshell, the advantage of hitching one’s business to ‘the cloud’ (in other words, to the Internet and existing servers) is that it eliminates the need as a business owner to install and run applications on your own or on a customer’s computer. Equally, the costly burden of maintenance and support is scrapped.

The cloud is a hugely attractive option because of its on-demand nature and the fact that it functions in real time.

Many of us are already using public clouds already, even just by having our archive of instant messages logged on Skype, Google Talk or on MSN. When you access them, you are using the cloud.

In business terms, getting access to the cloud tends to take the form either of pay-per-use or of subscription.

Secondly, many opt for a private cloud, but where savings are a significant factor in the decision, a Community Cloud is possibly a better choice. This way, the workload is shared among various customers. Costs are cut because the infrastructure is owned by the provider. There is no need, therefore, for it to be purchased for on-demand computing tasks initiated by the firm’s users.

A related benefit is that with the cloud comes easy adaptation to fluctuating user demands, the upside being that you do not need to install additional hardware or software. There are time-saving advantages too, simply because cloud technology kicks in faster than its traditional counterpart. A positive spin-off is fast recovery. Best of all, your team of employees have access to work-related data from any location.

The answer, therefore, to the question ‘Can the cloud save my business?’ is as follows: If clunky outmoded technology is holding you back and incurring unnecessary expenses are a burden on your business, then, yes, embracing cloud technology could save your business both money and time.

On April 6th, Royal Mail’s rate change will mean that users of franking machine technology can save up to 7p on every mailed item (5p on first-class items) compared with using stamps. For small businesses, there has never been a bigger incentive to reassess mailing practices.

When it comes to communicating, many small businesses still adopt time-consuming methods that occupy staff time inefficiently. Consider, for example, the time spent buying stamps, folding documents, even licking and sealing envelopes. In smaller businesses, such tasks are often carried out by senior management whose time could undoubtedly be better focused elsewhere.

Technology is available to automate every step of the mailing cycle – from folding and inserting the document, to automatically adding postage through to accurately printing addresses. Aside from freeing-up staff to focus on their jobs, automating these mailing processes can deliver savings of at least 12% on postage costs – a compelling figure for any business.

Today’s businesses face a very real challenge to capture the attention of the recipient. Franking technology enables users to create their own advertising slogans and to print these onto the envelope exterior. This on-envelope advertising means that brand values and key messages can be conveyed before the communication is even opened.

Recent surveys suggest that mail is an optimal medium for driving visitors to websites. This means that the timing of mail communications is critical if businesses want to use mail to drive recipients to the web. Automating the process makes it far easier for businesses to guarantee that mail-outs will be ready to despatch at the required moment.

Royal Mail’s April rate change should serve as a major incentive for businesses not already automating the mail function to do so. The cost-savings alone are compelling – 5p for every first-class mailpiece, 7p if sent second-class. But the benefits of mailing automation extend far beyond.

Businesses can begin to produce customer communications that look sharp and professional, that carry the brand or core message on the envelope, and which are produced accurately and effortlessly to encourage greater response and to work in harmony with email and web messaging.

The Royal Mail is including daily news on service information for customers.

The Royal Mail has lost business to other companies delivering parcels and also due to the increased use of emails over letters. As part of a cost-cutting process I always recommend a business review how it can save money in postage by simply using email to send such things as invoices and make electronic payments instead of sending cheques.

Once you have paid your internet service provider (ISP) and broadband services, emails are free to use, more environmentally-friendly and for the period of postal workers industrial action, will be, more than ever before, a better way to do business.

So, it goes without saying, during the forthcoming postal strike you will be able to generate success and manage your business more effectively if you can avoid relying on the Royal Mail to send and deliver your letters or parcels.

Here is a list of things to consider while the Royal Mail postal service suffers disruption:

• Use email or telephone rather than sending letters

• Use other companies to deliver parcels

• Where possible, pay bills online or at banks, building societies and Post Offices as late payment due to mail being undelivered may result in charges

• Where possible do not rely on receiving post & let your customers know how the industrial action may affect your service or payment.

• Keep communication channels open with all your customers & let them know of any possible delays

To help generate business success, use this latest disruption in the postal service to consider ways in which you can cut costs and be less affected by further industrial action and postal disputes in the future.

Now MoneySupermarket.com want to know where people are spending the money they have saved and have launched a free to enter competition challenging customers to make a short video showing how they spent the savings they have made by using the website.

As an example this is how one customer used the money that she had saved to buy her dog Benson a Batman outfit!

You can see more video entries and register to take part at ‘Let’s Have The Savings‘ here. The funniest and most viewed video will win the cash prize of £500.

So if you think you can come up with an amusing video check out the site now for full details and register your chance to win the cash!