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Blockchain technology is often associated with Bitcoin only, however, it is much more than Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies in general.

Nowadays, there are tons of problems in administrative spheres, trade, finance world etc. that can be solved through the simple application of blockchain technology. Blockchain technology can help these industries to increase their effectiveness, efficiency and at the same time stay away from extra hassles, complications, and corruption.

For instance, nowadays, in the transportation sector companies have to wait more than a month in order to receive a payment (for an average invoice). The administration costs that are paid to various third parties keep increasing and eventually become a larger share of the overall costs that are incurred by the companies. There are various challenges that come up while coordinating the supply and the demand, which results in trucks driving billions of kilometers without any load or with a very light one. The most interesting thing about blockchain technology is the fact that it is capable to solve all the listed problems that exist in the transportation industry along with a number of other sectors which have nothing to do with transportation.

As of now, one may wonder what a magical thing is the blockchain technology that it is capable of solving so many problems that exist in industries that are so different from one another.

At first glance, it may seem a bit absurd that a single technology is capable of solving various issues in such diverse industries. However, blockchain technology plays one major role for different sectors, which is making operations within multiple services more efficient and with as few costs as possible (by mainly cutting out the costs in logistics).

Nowadays, blockchain technology is enabling platforms to make the coordination of various documents shared on distributed ledger smoother and easier. In the meantime, smart contracts make the customs clearance and approvals much faster as they require way less time for processing goods at checkpoints. The blockchain is capable of ensuring users with data that is trusted in the ecosystem of the given industry. To make this possible, the whole network appears to be a contributor to the data validation process. All of these improvements are done by cutting the needs of the physical paperwork.

If we take a look at the example of the transportation sector, a single shipment may need to be passed through more than thirty companies and may require communication with hundreds of different parties. In fact, a single error in this long communication chain may result in issues such as a loss or a hold. To avoid such errors, blockchain records all the steps in a permanent and in a very safe manner.
In the transportation and especially in the shipping industry, the practice shows that the demand for quick deliveries is increasing all the time. As a result, the traditional delivery systems are not as efficient anymore and neither capable to meet this rising demand. In this sector, blockchain technology can give instant and prompt solutions that can improve the tracking and the authentication processes that the orders go through.

Taking all these issues and their potential solutions with blockchain technology, we come to the conclusion that this technology is a necessity for the currently existing supply chains.

The only problem with the blockchain technology right now is the lack of awareness. A lot of people do not know about blockchain at all, many others have heard of it but do not understand how it works and what it is about. At the end of the day, blockchain can be a bit confusing and hard to understand. For that reason, this article will cast light on questions starting from “What is blockchain?” all the way to “How can blockchain technology revolutionize sectors such as transportation?”

What is blockchain?

The fundament of the blockchain technology is cryptography, which is a branch of mathematics. It works as a shared digital ledger (series of blocks that are encrypted and linked to one another in a public chain) and is completely decentralized. Blockchain works by fully relying on the consensus of the peer network from around the globe. This way, it is impossible to modify one block without the modification of the whole chain and without getting the consensus of the peer network as a whole. Thanks to these features, the chances of the potential not legit and fake data are very low and almost none at all.

For example, Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency (digital currency) that is authenticated and exchanged through the blockchain technology. The main benefits of this cryptocurrency are the result of the application of blockchain. Those benefits include things like a high transaction speed, very low costs (in some cases none), high security, and elimination of third parties at the time of a transaction.
The transactions within blockchain technology usually take place as follows:

1. One party sends money to the other party.
2. The online transaction appears as a block.
3. The block is similar to broadcast for all the parties within the network. The role of this network is to approve the validity of the transactions.
4. After the validation, the block gets recorded in the chain in a transparent and undeniable manner.
5. The transaction is finalized and the money goes from the first party to the second one.

Please note that there are more than 1,400 cryptocurrencies in the world and Bitcoin is just one of those. All these cryptocurrencies together have a market capitalization that exceeds half-a-trillion US dollars. It is important to mention that there are many cryptocurrencies, which are aiming to improve different aspects of businesses and are working hard to increase efficiency, instead of being just a plain type of money.

Some of the industries that have been actively adopting the blockchain technology are the trucking and commercial transportation. Bellow, you may find the list of the improvements that this technology is able to bring with it.

Top 10 changes that blockchain technology brings up

1. New and effective way to check a performance history.

For instance, in case a business or a company is wanting to buy a vehicle that is second hand, with the help of the blockchain technology the buyer has a chance to see the information related to the previous performances of the given vehicle along with the maintenance history it has.

There are some businesses, which provide this service, however, the fact is that similar businesses are intermediaries. The presence of intermediaries may create problems such as time-consuming processes, extra costs, privacy, and safety issues and so on. The blockchain is capable of solving all of these issues and can allow having a high quality of experience without the involvement of any outside parties.

2. Trustworthy method for the validation of new records.

Like in the previous example, when a business or company can check the history of a second-hand vehicle, blockchain also makes it possible to record and validate the information about the new carrier. In other words, in case you decide to sell the vehicle to another person, the new buyer has a chance to see the history that has been incurred after your purchase. This is important in terms of gaining trust and for the successful trade in general.

3. Impossible to falsify the records.

The blockchain technology creates a decentralized network and holds all the records across the industry it is applied in. This information cannot be falsified and can be verified within a few seconds. In case of modifying a certain part of the data, the whole thing has to be modified too. In contrast to this, the current data recorders that exist can be falsified and changed. This often allows people to fake, manipulate or take other corrupt actions.

4. Improvements in tracking

As it has already been mentioned above, the demand for the instant and same day deliveries keeps increasing around the world, however, many companies are incapable of meeting the demand with the current resources and technologies. Blockchain technology can be a true innovation for such companies as it will authenticate the data safely and will improve the operations continuously. This is also a good alternative for avoiding heavy investments in tracking technology.

5. Data security

The security of data recorded on the blockchain technology is maximized. This is very crucial as only trustworthy authenticated data can allow improvements in operations. The lack of the data security can also create problems such as manipulation and a number of misunderstandings. In case of using blockchain technology for the data authentication, the network as a whole will be able to validate as well as contribute to the data. This way the data will not be a subject to manipulations. In fact, the reliability of information is very important for a high-quality business in any industry.

For instance, in case of temperature controlled transportation, this is very important because of the dependency it has on the timely delivery. Many companies, which already use this approach to confirm that it helps in terms of transparency, efficiency, and authenticity of supply chain around the world.

6. Better communication with IoT aka Internet of Things

IoT and blockchain combination is seen as a good solution for communication issues as well. For instance, some companies use these technologies for the vehicle to vehicle communications (also known as V2V). This allows several vehicles to stay in touch and check on each other by communicating about matters such as the safety, the fuel situation and so on. The communication that takes place in the V2V format is stored and also validates the newly created data on the blockchain. Many people believe that this can be helpful for the companies from around the globe to streamline own operations.

7. Increase in efficiency through AI aka Artificial Intelligence and IoT aka Internet of Things

The combination of blockchain technology and IoT innovations also appear to be very useful for monitoring purposes.For example, a shipping company can put IoT sensors in the trucks or other vehicles that it owns in order to get informed about how much space is available at the time of a certain shipment. This can be helpful for finding out the costs (or other details) and for transmitting this information to the second component of the combo – the blockchain technology. Some companies today use blockchain technology to enable the IoT sensors and as a result, they are able to monitor the location of each vehicle they own along with the temperature and the level of humidity for each one. This way such companies have an ability to control the deviation rate of the temperature. As a matter of fact, some of these companies also use blockchain for recording all kinds of documentation (related to financial departments, customer service, etc.).

Blockchain technology also allows companies to transport valuable products in a safe and immutable manner by recording all the documentation of the entire process of the product shipping. The shippers can get a big advantage from this opportunity taking into account the fact that the global shipments go through several checkpoints that are done by different companies.

8. Cutting costs with smart contracts by eliminating the middlemen

Smart Contracts are tasks coded through blockchain technology that execute themselves when a specific condition is met. For example, in case a company is interested in releasing a payment for the shipper as soon as the ordered item gets to its destination, through smart contacts, it can automate the process. In other words, the payment can be realized as soon as the item makes its way to the intended destination. Nowadays, the supply chains are based on a system that is full of papers and is very inefficient. It takes a while until it goes through some channels and gets the required approvals. This process is time-consuming process increases the chances of frauds and losses.

The blockchain and the smart contracts can fully eliminate the extra and the unnecessary hustles that are nowadays created due to the long supply chains. This will also have a positive impact on the costs and there will be zero chances of mistakes in the overall process.

It is important to mention, that by saying cutting the administrative costs, we talk about a big portion of the entire costs that are incurred and paid by the company. In the meantime, this money can be used in a more beneficial way for the business or for the people who are involved in the given business.

9. A genuine depiction of demand

Very often some companies face confusions due to the wrong data or due to duplication’s and disordered data. Blockchain technology allows businesses to record and verify their actions within the decentralized network. With the help of the blockchain technology, the data is clear, reliable and useful without the involvement of any brokers or other third parties of such kind.

If we go back to the example of the trucking companies, nowadays, without the blockchain technology one shipper has to be in touch with multiple brokers and those brokers often reach out to the same load board due to lack of communication. When they reach out to the same load board or when they miss out one, it leads to problems with understanding the actual demand which results in extra costs again. This process is full of chances of mistakes and at the same time, it gives the brokers a space for manipulations by making it possible to fake the demand and by allowing to duplicate it.

In case of the application of the blockchain technology the shipper who has access to the network is capable of reaching out to the load boards on his or her own without extra confusions and yet in a very fast manner. With the blockchain technology, the information connected to the load is stored and stamped with the time on the network. This lets different load boards have access to it and eliminates the unnecessary and problematic involvement of the third parties as a fully decentralized system.

10. More liquidity within the supply chain

The blockchain based technologies are capable of not only finding and facing but also solving the inefficiencies that exist in the supply chains around the world. Such technologies aim to reach their objectives, which include making supply chains more flexible, increasing the liquidity within the supply chain as well as improving the operations that take place inside the supply chain. These improvements can be relevant to all sorts of industries including the trucking transportation sector. This way the companies have an opportunity to increase their productivity through the settlement amongst parties that appear to be the individual elements of the entire supply chain.

In the transportation industry, this technology allows saving millions of dollars in payment disputes every day and decrease the long time that is necessary for receiving payments. The cut down of these days will not only save the patience of the company but will also increase the liquidity and the extra administrative work that is completely not necessary. As a result, the companies get a chance to decrease the costs of borrowing they have and in the meantime, the separate parties of the supply chain get to increase their profits.

The potential risks

The benefits of the blockchain technology in sectors such as the transportation industry are enormous, however, there may be a few drawbacks too, which are worth discussing.

Some people believe that the backfire of the blockchain technology, similar to the other data entry methods has some space for the mistakes that can be made by human beings. Other people claim that blockchain technology is an extra and a far from perfect technology which can create more problems related to the logistics. The distrust of these people, in fact, tends to come from the failures of other new technologies that they have witnessed. Finally, the different type of the technology within the supply chain may create some inconsistencies as well as confusions when it comes to the communications and the collaborations between different companies.

What is coming next?

Nowadays, many companies work hard with blockchain technology, which will possibly be a good and a true way of proving what can and what cannot be done with this new innovation. The fact is, that the administrative sectors as well as the transportation industry along with others, need this technology very much right now.
Morgan Stanly once mentioned that the blockchain technology can increase the revenues for the transportation companies with around 500 billion USD. He thinks that this opportunity of the large revenues will be able to pay out for necessary elements that the industry needs right now, for instance, software for supply chain management, the brokerage for global tracking, saving fuel and so on.
All in all, blockchain technology is not only interesting and promising but also a necessity, which will be even more needed in the near future with the constantly changing world.

Creating clear and accurate financial forecasts for your company during the start-up stage is crucial.

Most business owners complain that building accurate financial projects is time-consuming, and that time could be used generating sales rather planning. However, few investors will invest in your company if don’t have clear projections.

Correct financial projections will help you create staffing and operational plans that will take your company to the next level.

Here are ways to help you build financial projections for your business.

Start with Expenses

Is your company in the start-up stage? If so, then it’s easier to predict expenses rather revenues. Therefore, start with estimates for the common expenses such as rent, utility bills, phone bills, legal fees, advertising, cost of goods sold, materials, and cost of customer service.

Double your estimates for marketing and advertising because they tend to escalate beyond expectations. Triple legal and insurance fees because these are difficult to predict.

Check the Key Ratios to Ensure Your Projections are Accurate

Don’t forget about expenses, especially after doing aggressive revenue predictions. Most entrepreneurs focus on reaching revenue goals and assume they can adjust expenses if revenue doesn’t materialize. Positive thinking could help you improve your sales, but it’s not enough to pay the bills.

By using key ratios, you can reconcile your revenue and expense forecast. Here are a few ratios that can guide to make an accurate forecast:

Gross Margin

This is the ratio of total direct costs to the total revenue for a certain period. Note assumptions that could increase your gross margin from 10 to 40%. For instance, if your customer service and sales expenses are low now, they could be high in the future.

Operating Profit Margin

Operating profit margin measures the profit a business makes on a dollar sale, after paying the variable cost of production – like wages and raw materials, and before paying interest or tax. Expect to see a positive movement from this ratio.

As your revenue grows, overhead cost should be a small proportion of total cost, so your operating profit margin should increase. Most entrepreneurs make a mistake by predicting the break-even point too early and they assume they won’t require financing to get to this point.

Total Headcount per Client

Are you a one-person entrepreneur who plans to grow your business on your own? Then, pay a lot of attention to this ratio.

Divide the number of employees in your firm (just one if you do everything on your own) by the total number of customers you have. Then, ask yourself if you’ll want to be managing all those accounts in five years when the company has grown. If not, then you need to reassess your assumptions about the payroll or revenue or both.

copper baths are getting to be a standout amongst the most looked for after restroom patterns of 2018. Homeowners are beginning to evacuate their implicit baths and supplant them with the more exquisite style of copper baths and stroll in shower. With copper bathtubs, there is more than meets the eye when picking out the right one.. Not all copper baths are made a similar so recognising what to search for when acquiring a copper tub will enable you to keep away from the mistake of picking one that ages ineffectively or turns corroded and give you some reasons to add one in your bathroom.

1. Copper Bathtubs Are Easy To Care For

To begin with, how about we dispose of a legend about copper. A large portion of us recall when glossy copper bottomed pots and skillet must be scoured and cleaned continually. Along these lines, we trust that a copper bath will be high upkeep and require a considerable measure of care.

2. Copper Bathtubs Are Antibacterial

It has been discovered that copper surfaces dispense with over 99% of microscopic organisms known to be human pathogens inside only two hours. This implies microscopic organisms actually can’t live on the surface of your copper bath. Different materials can harbor microorganisms up to multi month if not legitimately cleaned and looked after.

You can hurl out those disinfectants and antibacterial items you have reserved under your sink since copper is a characteristic battle for microorganisms!

3. Copper Bathtubs Heal Themselves

Your copper bathtub won’t scratch any more or any not as much as some other material yet not at all like different materials, copper really recuperates itself. On the off chance that you happen to touch the most superficial layer, no compelling reason to freeze! As a result of copper’s living completion, this bath will mend itself. In the event that you essentially approach your ordinary schedule, inside a brief time frame you will begin to see that the scratch will start to obscure and mix again into the first patina of the tub.

4. Copper Bathtubs Become More Beautiful As They Age

Astounding copper has a one of a kind trademark known as a living completion. This separates copper from different materials and metals. At the point when left untreated, copper communicates with the earth will begin to extend in shading and tone after some time. At the point when copper starts, it is a pinkish tint that will bit by bit obscure the shading as it goes through tan and espresso tans until the point when it at long last stops at a profound, rich tone.

The rate that the copper will obscure and change is impacted by the sum and kind of utilisation that it perseveres. Copper ages nimbly and turn out to be much more wonderful consistently!

5. Fundamental Elements That Are Crucial For Copper Bathtubs

Not all copper baths are made equivalent, there are distinctive segments that go into delivering any copper item. These parts are basic to its quality, appearance, and life span of your tub. Some fundamental components to search for while picking the ideal copper bath are unadulterated copper versus reused copper and the weight and check.

• Recycled Copper Vs. Unadulterated Copper

Recycled copper is the blend of liquefied down disposes of a copper thing and different amalgams. The lion’s share of copper available is not any more unadulterated copper. Freestanding Copper Bathtubs are 98% unadulterated copper. This keeps any rusting, bargain of the common magnificence, unpalatable maturing and additional care in our unattached copper tubs that would happen in the event that we utilized reused copper.

• Weight/Gauge
Even however copper is exceedingly strong, it is still delicate and supple. Along these lines, it is vital that your copper tub is built of the best possible weight/gauge. Freestanding Copper Bathtubs are 48 ounces (likeness 16 measure) which is the base weight that copper tubs ought to be made of to guarantee their quality. Tubs that are not 16 check, won’t be sufficiently solid to meet the requests of ordinary utilize.

6. You Will Fall In Love with Your Freestanding Copper Bathtub

We has made an unmistakable accumulation of fine high quality detached copper baths. The baths are wonderful pieces to help make an intriguing, warm inclination to your washroom. These finely created tubs are both fragile in magnificence and strong in quality.

7. copper tub medical advantage

copper restoratively affects joint development and connective tissue by lessening irritation related with stiffness, joint inflammation, osteoporosis, tendonitis and games wounds. At the point when your skin contacts the surface of a copper tub, your body retains little measures of copper – and with no of the gastrointestinal symptoms so regular with mitigating drugs. On the off chance that your eating routine is lacking in follow minerals, for example, copper, a copper bath is a loosening up approach to renew your body with this basic component.

8. Copper tubs warm speedier and hold the warmth longer.
One of the masters of utilising a copper tub is that its metallic properties lead warm quicker and hold warm longer than conventional baths. At the point when boiling water contacts the surface of a copper bath, the dividers rapidly warm up and hold temperature longer than different kinds of baths. An extra advantage is that many copper showers are profound, enabling you to completely drench yourself in the water for a definitive in a hot, loosening up shower.

9. Suited for pretty much any washroom.
Among the advantages of utilising a copper tub is that it suits any restroom, paying little respect to whether you’re making a lavish, majestic air or a more rough, modern feel. Tubs can have diverse completes the process of relying upon the environment you’re making, from a polished, enamel plated tub to a brushed copper wrap up. These completions enable you to have an agreeable, rich focal point for your restroom that will be dependable and upkeep free.

10. Useful for the earth.
Copper is recyclable material, so utilising a copper bath is a naturally inviting activity. Furthermore, since copper holds warm superior to different materials, you don’t have to continue including high temp water in the event that you choose to take a long splash. That will diminish your water use and in addition your water and vitality costs.

Ideally, photography and videography, advertising, copywriting and marketing should all combine in obtaining visibility online and social media marketing companies work with all of them. Further, websites, branding and design pooltogether to communicate powerful messages combined with the company philosophy to promote awareness and loyalty. The present scenario with several media websites indicate that print and television advertising will not be sufficient. Getting online, social media channels provide ample exposure and mighty possibilities arise of creating favorable company images and attracting potential revenue through bigger traffic. The battle has to be fought with understanding, experience and expertise with a clearly defined purpose and motivation. It takes a lot to really succeed!

Is social media marketing really important for businesses?

Many people fail to understand that the online business scenario is constantly changing, much like the weather. Mega businesses like Google and Facebook keep changing their formats and algorithms and marketing needs to be technologically savvy too. Unlike a decade ago, social media is spreading rapidly and there is much to gain in terms of visibility and connecting with customers via major channels. Though not everybody participates in social media, it is a goldmine for running advertising campaigns. Almost everybody gathers in social media, somewhat like the water source in the forest that brings together all the living creatures.

Developing the social media marketing strategy

It is certain that every business at whatever stage is going a few notches higher through social media marketing. The quality of the campaign is what matters. It should be positive and focused with substance rather than style alone. Every aspect of the campaign like the images, audio and visual materials need to be powerfully and artistically presented. Not everybody is clear about the voice of the company. Why does it exist and how will it help the people and the society? Is the website attractive enough? Does it strike a chord with the visitor?

Meaningfully engaging with the visitors in a pleasant manner and going straight to the point in ways that would be liked should be the heart of the campaign. The best social media marketing companies achieve a phenomenal rapport with the audience. Everything needs to be business like,but with a human touch. Empathy and feelings need to be expressed too, along with the rich rewards waiting for the individual and the family perhaps across generations while using the product or service.

Some companies that have become household names for a generation developed when such online social media was not born! Yet, such organizations have successfully adapted with the changed circumstances and taken to social media just like the startups out to make a fortune. Perhaps a few older companies still exist that have not launched social media campaigns because they already control an established market. Whatever the present situation, a flowering of opportunities and extensions of contacts and live audiences would become the stunning impact.

Things take time and patience is necessary as everybody knows, but it will not be too long before positive effects are noticed. The marketing company is there to stay for long and takes the entire responsibility to develop the materials, upload them, supervise the impact and make changes and updates as may be needed. It is all based on copious research in the age of Big Data that is studied to understand the competitors and the competition. Getting the better of the opponents was never easy and exactly that is crucial in the race to stay ahead. Nothing underhand would be involved, but a campaign that has a heart and soul, and is technically advanced, keeping up with the latest trends.

A multimedia approach works best

Social media alone cannot achieve all the visibility! The body does not run on a single organ but several of them. With bigger companies, the print and broadcasting media would also contribute their might. Look around and see the same company names splashed across a variety of media. The more the spending, the higher the visibility is seems. Yet, it is not so simple if the campaign is not well planned and structured and fails to hit the mark. Surfers can judge for themselves that some advertising strikes big with dramatic effects of words and pictures, sound and character, plot and idea while others fizzle out. Contact the social media marketing companies that stand out in the online wilderness and the dream will succeed.