If you’re starting your own business and you’re about to enter the market, start taking notes on what obstacles you can expect in your financing department, and the best ways to tackle them before they wreak havoc on your business.

When it comes to our privacy, trust, and security in this modern age, we have come to have more of an inherent focus on how we can obtain more access, easier and more securely. When we want to learn about online privacy systems like VPN technology, we opt to find out more online , to educate ourselves. The way that we handle our insurance is no different. In fact, insurance is the latest industry to find itself infiltrated by the modern prowess that is blockchain technology. Decentralised in nature, blockchain is the pioneering force in the drive to a future that is more sectioned, more secure, and safer than ever before. Insurance is one of the last pieces of the puzzle in the pursuit of this ideal.

The best way to master the tools reviewed here is to practice using them on the next spreadsheet you create. Sometimes it pays to take a step back and ask, "How can this basic spreadsheet be enhanced?" When these tools (along with a myriad of others that Excel has to offer) are applied properly, it's amazing what a spreadsheet can do.

Once these tools are mastered, it will be difficult to go back to that old pocketknife. When preparing your next spreadsheet, keep in mind the Excel tools discussed here, and use them often. Just as your trusty pocketknife comes in handy in many different situations, so will these tips for Excel spreadsheets.

Over the years, I've gathered something of a reputation as being someone who can find just about anything on the Internet. Like the time I helped someone find out the inscription written by Stevie Ray Vaughn on Kenny Wayne Shepard's guitar. There's no secret to finding information on the Internet — all it takes is some basic knowledge, creativity, and a little elbow grease. This article by Bill Wilson will examine some techniques that you can use to search the Internet more effectively.

This article is adapted from the new publication The Survival Guide for the Evolving Insurance Crisis and the video Are You Ready for Insurance Dot Com?, both written and produced by Edward Curry. The article appeared in Missouri Agent magazine and is reproduced by permission.

SAMPLE AGENCY BUSINESS PLAN

It's a world in which insurance is converging with financial services, virtual companies are challenging traditional suppliers for market space, and agencies and brokerages are feeling the competition from new distribution channels.

When you experience those fearful moments of awkwardness or self-doubt, what’s your response? Bill Cates describes how your response to the everyday fears in life (business and otherwise) will make a huge difference in how successful you become.

Information overload has serious implications. Failure to respond to a client or carrier request can be harmful from both an E&O and a client service perspective. Laura Nettles tells you how to manage your work intelligently when everyone is expecting an immediate response.

This article should challenge your thinking and management style and create new opportunities for you to build more Personal Lines sales. To improve your sales, your staff must change how they see themselves, develop their own reasons for doing what you want them to do, establish strategies to use the skills they already have, and adopt new ways of communicating.