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Good mental health is fundamental to maintaining good physical health. And you want your employees to experience total worker health, correct?The fact that the mind and the body cannot be separated results in an inseparable relationship between physical and mental health. Despite the fact that the connections are striking, integration of the two fields in worksite wellness programming still has not occurred in any meaningful way. Worksite wellness practitioners need to better understand the connections between physical and mental health so they can intervene more effectively with employees to improve the outcomes in both areas.It is important to address the integration of physical and mental health for the following reasons:• The individual employee’s mental health status or the presence of a mental illness such as depression or anxiety can affect an individual’s ability to undertake health promoting behaviors that address their physical health status. It is therefore critical that individuals have a better understanding of the integral link between all aspects of their health.• Chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, or cancer can have a profound impact on an individual’s mental health.• An individual’s mental health status affects an individual’s ability to participate in their treatment and recovery from a chronic disease.• Family members and caregivers of people with chronic diseases are also affected psychologically thereby potentially resulting in their neglecting their own health.Integrating all aspects of health within a worksite wellness program requires partnerships and integration at multiple levels. Integration and partnerships allow the partners to leverage their strengths and resources and to work on common goals. Integration needs to occur at the program level, the policy level, between vendors and potentially between the employer and community based resources.The elements necessary to support integration include:• Making the business case through the collection, analysis, and dissemination of data on the interrelationships between all aspects of employee health. The data should also show how integration and partnerships can better advance the employer’s core mission and objectives.• Developing a champion at every level within the organization. While integration requires leadership and motivation from the top, it is best to have a champion at each level to initiate, implement, and sustain the integration.• Forming an integration management working team to sustain the integration effort. The integration effort cannot be sustained if it is only the work of just a couple of people.• Developing integrated interventions that are based on identified needs or gaps where positive outcomes and early wins can be achieved. Early on, look for interventions that are simple, targeted, and within the scope of the missions, resources, infrastructures, processes of the partners’ existing program initiatives.• Monitor, measure and evaluate integrated initiatives by establishing goals, measures and collecting the appropriate data. Evaluation could include process, output and outcome types of evaluation strategies. They could include assessing improvements in access to and satisfaction with care, services, or programming, determining the effect of policy changes on outcomes or services, and making the case for cost-benefit and/or cost-effectiveness.Programming is one of the key areas where integration can and should be implemented. The four levels we see for physical health programming can also be applied to other health areas as well. These are: awareness, education, lifestyle change and policy/environmental change.The traditional core physical health programming topics have included physical activity, nutrition, sleep and stress management. These four core programming areas also have implications for mental health as well. This makes the leap to integrated programming real easy. Prevention and self-care activities are also areas where integration can be applied.Good mental health is fundamental to maintaining good physical health. Ultimately, there is no health without mental health. A worksite wellness program is a necessary and ideal venue to support program integration.

Business cash flow financing for many firms in the SME sector involves the necessity to turn receivables into liquidity for the company, in effect we’re talking about ‘ invoice cash ‘, that is the sort of financing that clients here at 7 Park Avenue Financial are looking for – i.e. cash flow lending That term is synonymous with cash flow challenges that hit many firms all the time. How then does the use of an AR finance company assist in meeting that challenge?Sooner, rather than later is the need for business owners who want cash flow to support their company requirements. In many cases certain industries demand a lot more cash for companies that participate in the sector. That might mean more focus on capital assets or even research into new products and services.What happens though when you can’t get the credit financing you need from traditional banks / business-oriented credit unions, etc? That’s where an AR Finance company comes in.Your ability to quickly and efficiently set up a receivable discounting facility allows you to immediately remove the problem of waiting 30, 60 or even 90 days for receipt of client funds for your goods and services.To receive full funding for your receivables from a Canadian charted bank there is of course an extensive loan and business application, with a lot of emphasis spent on historical cash flow analysis, balance sheet analysis, income statement and operating ratios, etc! Invoice cash services eliminate 90-95% of that type of waiting and negotiation.So why then does ‘ factoring ‘, the more technical name for invoice cash work and in fact showing more popularity every day when it comes to ‘ cash lending ‘ solutions. The answer is simple, an immediate flow of funds based on your sales revenues. That becomes most of the solution to what the pros call your ‘ working capital cycle ‘. That cycle, simply speaking, is the amount of time it takes a dollar to journey through your company and makes it back onto the balance sheet as cash.When you finance through an invoice cashing – also called invoice discounting facility, you are not borrowing funds on a long term basis. Your balance sheet does not accumulate debt; you are simply liquidating current assets in a more efficient manner.Is there one type of facility in the area of ‘ invoice cash ‘ that works better than others? We’re glad you asked! We constantly recommend Confidential Receivable Financing, it’s the ‘non-notification’ part of this solution, allowing you to bill and collect your own accounts, bank your own funds, and choose how much financing you need on an ongoing basis. It’s classic ‘ pay for what you use ‘ financing when you’re working with the right partner.
What Is A Cash Flow Loan? What Are My Firm’s Options Financing Cash Flow?A/R Finance is not always the ‘ only ‘ way to fund cash flow needs. Other strategies might include:Working capital short term loansSale-leaseback strategiesInventory financeTax credit finance ( sr&ed refunds are financeable)Mezzanine Financing – (Unsecured cash flow loans)Longer term solutions of course involve scenarios such as new equity.To receive full funding for your receivables from a Canadian charted bank there is of course an extensive loan and business application, with a lot of emphasis spent on historical cash flow analysis, balance sheet analysis, income statement and operating ratios, etc! Invoice cash services eliminate 90-95% of that type of waiting and negotiation.Long term financing activities of course might involve scenarios such as new equity by owners.So let’s recap: Your business requires additional cash flow. You either have facilities in place and they aren’t working, or you are self-financing and need cash flow to pay suppliers, employees, etc. Seek out and speak to a trusted, credible and experienced Canadian business financing expert who can deliver on invoice cash for your firms need.

Over the last 10 years, the travel business scenario has changed significantly. Today selling travel products is all about ‘best’ rates. To sustain in the battle to offer the ‘best deal’ and ‘best fare’ to the consumers, travel business owners have been forced to reduce almost all of their possible profit margins.I still remember when a service fee of $6 was a norm across online sales of air tickets. Commissions and contracts were available to travel agents. Cancellation fee on hotels were healthy.The emergence of large online travel agencies changed the rules of the business across the globe. Fuel prices and global economic conditions added to the challenges of earning healthy margins. Travel became the most competitive business. Commissions dried up. Segment fees reduced and “no fee” became the new best seller.On the Travel Technology side, along with successful implementations, I have heard stories of many failures where travel businesses were not able to derive what they wanted from technology. Most of the time the key reasons for failure has been:Over ambitious technology goal on a constrained budget Lack of ‘competitive’ Travel Technology expertise Poor IT team and management, suffering from ‘over promise’ and ‘under deliver’ In this ecosystem, how could a travel business set about defining an effective Technology Strategy for itself?As a travel technologist, I have many motivations to say “buy my software”, but in my experience that’s not a good pitch. After carefully analyzing various successes and failures in the industry, here is what I feel I have learned:Step 1: Identify what Travel Technology you needWell, it is easier said than done. Most of the time not articulating the technology needs well is the biggest hurdle in Technology Strategy. As a travel business, here is what you could do to clearly articulate the need for technology.Pen down the technology needs of the organization as envisioned by the business owner / key management personnel Consult with people external to the organization such as technology consultants, Travel Technology companies, GDS account managers, CRS / Suppliers and Travel Technology bloggers Let a technology company interview you and recommend a solution. This is generally free most of the times. Pursuing one or more of these three exercises diligently will build enough knowledge base about what your internal Technology Strategy should be. Identify and validate these thoughts with inputs from internal operations and marketing teams.Step 2: Build vs. Buy?This is considered the most complex question. The answer lies in dividing Travel Technology needs in three buckets.ProprietaryCustomizedOut of the BoxWhat is proprietary?It is important to identify your differentiator as a travel business. Most of the time, proprietary defines a piece of technology which reduces OPEX corresponding to your business operations or is the biggest revenue generator corresponding to your business model.What is a customized need?Is there any part of your technology needs that could be sourced through an existing technology solution, customized per your need?What can be out of the box?This might be the most effort intensive part of your technology needs and may require a tremendous investment to build. Getting an out of the box solution that meets the majority of your requirements and configuring it as per your needs, is the ideal way. How to evaluate an out of the box solution is in itself a comprehensive process.Now we come to the next complex part of this exercise.Step 3: Identify the right budget and vendorIdentifying the right budget and the vendor is the most common shopping problem in every business sector. It takes a lot of time and energy to reach to a decision.Let’s compare technology acquisition to the decision of buying a laptop. There are many vendors to choose from. There are laptops priced from $300 to $3000. Your decision to buy would be shaped by the life of the laptop, and the continuity of business (your work) it will guarantee.Similarly, the continuity of your travel business would significantly depend on the Travel Technology you choose. That is why identifying the right budget, and the vendor is a complex decision.I would attempt to breakdown the process of identifying a vendor into simpler steps since just asking a vendor for a quote would not necessarily help find the right one.Expertise – Does the vendor has expertise in the travel business?Support & Servicing – Travel is a service business. Irrespective of whether the product is ‘off the shelf’ or is being built for you, longevity and promptness of support is critically important to maintain a personalized quality of service to your customers.Customization needed vs. Customizability -What is the future customizability of the software? (Applicable to both out of the box or custom built software) Whether customization done today decrease future cost of changing the technology? This is an important question to ask and seek answers to.Value Add – Another important evaluation parameter for selecting a vendor is to check what part /component of the software is available free of cost and would remain so in the future.Stability – Your guarantee of service to your customers depends on the stability of your vendor. It is important to seek answers to questions such as is the vendor going to be in business for long? How are you safeguarded if a vendor goes out of business?References – Who are the customers of the vendor? Can the vendor provide references?Maturity – Is the vendor’s organization a product oriented and innovation driven institution or do they survive by making money from one gig to another?Empathy – Does the vendor considers your business as their own? How willing is the vendor to empathize with your business challenges?Budgeting for technology is also a little challenging. It may be worthwhile to look beyond the onetime fee and understand all cost factors, including the cost of extended support the vendor may provide during your business life-cycle.Cost should also include additional overheads of implementing technology, especially when you are dealing with GDS or CRS / Consolidators. Budgeting done in partnership with a selected vendor often yields the best results.I have attempted to lay out a model that would help travel businesses shape their Technology Strategy.As always, I would happy to hear your experiences and views.