Become An Entrepreneur In The Next 3 Minutes

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Do you have dreams of being an entrepreneur? Good news. Within the next 3 minutes, you could be one. Seriously! You may not have a business right now, or even a business idea, but that doesn’t mean you’re not an entrepreneur. Let’s get started:

Change Your Mindset

The truth is, becoming an entrepreneur isn’t about having lots of money, a brilliant idea, and all of the other resources that people usually say they need to run a business. You need to change your mindset, pure and simple. Look at your limiting beliefs. Not sure what they are? Work them out. Perhaps you believe that only rich people start businesses. This is obviously not true. Write down the things you often find yourself thinking that don’t really have any evidence behind them. Then you can start overcoming your limiting beliefs and change your mindset accordingly. It can take time, but anybody can do it. You are often the only thing standing between you and your dreams.

Look At People You Want To Be Like

The truth is, although all entrepreneurs are pretty different, they also have many things in common. Think of people who have accomplished what you want to accomplish and study them in as much detail as you can. What do they do? What don’t they do? What do they read? What do they watch? Where do they spend time? Start copying them. You can look at the infographic below to see some of the habits of highly successful people and get some awesome suggestions:

take a look at Source: Habits of Highly Successful Entrepreneurs

Kick the 9-5 To The Curb: Become a Business Owner Instead!

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Fed up with earning lots of money for a big company? Maybe you don’t have much job satisfaction, or your colleagues are driving you crazy. Perhaps you’re bored or feel limited in your current role? If so, the idea to set up your own business has probably crossed your mind. Something you can pour your passion and creativity, a job that gives you purpose and makes you excited to work. You can fit a home business around your other commitments (so perfect if a regular nine to five job doesn’t work for you) and as you will be working from home, there’s no time or cost for commuting for factor in, and no cost for premises either. However, there are a few things that you do need to bear in mind.

Can You Afford It?

It probably won’t cost much to set up your home business, especially if you will be a sole trader. You won’t need money to recruit and pay workers, and you won’t need to spend money on business premises. However it can be slow to get going, and you might go many months before you’re turning a profit. It can take longer still until you’re earning enough to be able to live on. Before you turn in your letter of resignation at your day job, you need to think about this. Do you have savings that can act as a buffer? Do you have a partner who is prepared to support you both while things get off the ground? If not you may need to get your business established in your spare time while you’re still working, until you’re at a comfortable enough level to quit.

Coming Up With a Business Idea

The first thing to decide on when you’re looking to set up a business is work out exactly what you will be doing/ selling. Will you be crafting your own items and selling them on an online marketplace? Will you be an online tutor or tutoring people from your home? Will you be blogging? Blogging is a great business idea since it’s cheap to start up, you probably already have a laptop and internet connection! You will need to spend some money on hosting, the problem with cheap WordPress hosting is that you get what you pay for. It can be missing things like support which can be difficult to live without unless you’re an expert. If you’re selling physical items (as opposed to digital creations or services) you will need to make sure you have storage space. Do your market research, work out if there’s an audience for whatever you plan on selling. And come up with a unique selling point, work out what sets you aside from your competitors. Is it the price? Do you offer payment plans? Do you sell items people can’t easily get elsewhere?

Your Office/ Workspace

Another consideration when it comes to space is your office. When you’re running a business from home, it makes sense that you’d have your own office as opposed to working from your bed, the sofa or the dining room table! If you have a spare bedroom in your home, transform this into your office. It gives you a place to keep all of your things together and keep organized. Your home and work life are also kept separate which is a crucial thing to get right. When you work from home, it’s so easy for your working day to become any time that you’re not asleep. To make you feel more focused and allow you to be more productive when you are working, set your hours then close the door to your office at the end of the day. Treat it the same way you would any job, it’s difficult when your venture’s success is in your hands, but it’s still important to maintain a work/ life balance. Invest in a good quality, large desk to give you plenty of room to work from. A comfortable chair and the right equipment. You will need storage and good organization to allow you to keep on top of things. Think about decor too, this is a space you’re going to be spending a lot of time in so make it look nice. Light colored walls will make the most of the space, and plants will liven it up- psychologists have even shown they can boost productivity! There’s loads of inspiration online for home offices, so spend some time planning it out and getting it right. You will be happier spending time and working from there when it’s a space you enjoy being in.

Own Website or an Online Marketplace?

Another question to ask yourself when it comes to setting up your own business is whether you will be selling from your own website or an online marketplace. Online marketplaces will charge you fees for listing and every time you sell an item, but people trust them, and they are convenient. You won’t pay fees if you sell from your own site, but it will cost you money promoting it so that people are able to find it in the first place. There are pros and cons to each, so think carefully. Before spending all of your money on a website and everything that goes with it, you could sell through eBay, Etsy and/ or Amazon first. This will give you an idea if people are interested in what you’re selling and the kinds of prices similar products sell for. It could give you information needed to tweak what you’re selling. Once you’re more established you could go it alone on your own site.

Licences and Permits

One of the big benefits of working from home is you can generally avoid the need for licenses and permits which can be both complicated and expensive. However, depending on what you’re selling, there might be a couple of occasions where you could need to apply. For example, if your business involves food such as cooking, baking or preparing food based products like jams and chutneys, you will need a food hygiene safety certificate. You will also be required to b registered with environmental health, where your kitchen will be subject to random inspections. This is to ensure you’re keeping up to date with hygiene and keeping your customers safe. If you’re selling any kind of medicines, this is another reason you will need to get the right license. And selling things that are limited by age such as knives, chemicals or alcohol will also require you to have the right paperwork in place. Get this wrong, and you could be severely fined.

Tax and Legal Considerations

When you set up a business, this has to be registered correctly. Even if you’re very small and unlikely to be earning a profit for a while. You will need to register within three months of setting up or you risk getting fined. Different countries have different procedures when it comes to paying tax, but once you meet a certain threshold (welfare/ benefits and and wages as an employee will all count towards it), you will start paying tax on your earnings. Even if you plan on using an accountant, you should still keep good records. It will make it quicker and easier for them which will work out cheaper for you. Business accounting software is good for this, it avoids the need to go through time-consuming paper records. If you take on employees to work in your business, you will be responsible for finding out if they’re legally able to work for you. This means they must be old enough and must be allowed to work in the country, it’s your job to make sure this is the case, or you risk getting into serious trouble- you could even be sent to prison. Make sure you’re up to date with the law, speak to a lawyer if you’re unsure. But always follow the rules to avoid penalties, fines, lawsuits and even prison.

You don’t have to be stuck in a rut when it comes to your career. Setting up your own business allows you to escape the rat race and gives you something to put your effort and creativity into. Setting up a business from scratch is incredibly rewarding and a huge achievement too.

How To Better Look After Your Workforce

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As an employer, your main goal should be to make people happy. It’s a very simplistic goal but it works in every circumstance. Your goal with the average consumer is to make them happy so that they purchase goods and services from your company, and your goal with each of your employees is to make them happy so that they work as hard as humanly possible for your business.

The point is that you shouldn’t be thinking only about stats and profit margins. Your priority needs to be maintaining a certain level of happiness among the people involved with your business. This should start with your workforce because you can’t offer a passionate and captivating service to your customers if your employees are tired and bored of the work they’re doing. Here are some tips to help you better look after your workforce.

Listen to them.

Your workforce needs to feel as if they’re part of the business if you want them to feel invested in its success. People who just clock in at 9 and clock out at 5 without any real stake in the company are unlikely to put in any real effort. You need to invite people to regular meetings so that you can hear their opinions about how best to run the business. Listen to what they have to say.

Create a safer working environment.

It’s so important to put your employees in a safe and comfortable working environment. On a basic level, you need to think about people’s physical health; ergonomic chairs and keyboards will help to avoid back pain and wrist pain, respectively. On a larger scale, you need to think about avoiding hazards and accidents. You need to think about the areas of your workplace at which accidents are most likely but also the times of day at which accidents are most likely. You might want to look into installing convex and safety mirrors at corners in narrow corridors in your business’ office because areas with limited visibility are often the ones most prone to causing workplace accidents and injuries.

Rewards.

There’s nothing worse than going above and beyond in your work only for it to go unnoticed or unappreciated. Hard workers in your company might start to slack and become lazy if they realize that there’s no difference for them in terms of salary or recognition whether they work hard or do the bare minimum. That’s why it’s so crucial for you to reward exemplary employees if you want them to continue to do exemplary work. Of course, the reward should go beyond simple praise if you want to incentivize other workers to put in the same effort. You could give a bonus, a free lunch, an early finish, or all three to hardest worker every week. That’ll motivate people to try their hardest each week.

You could switch up the rewards or give them unexpectedly to people during the week so as to keep your employees on their toes. Remember, the key to a happy workforce is an employer who always switches things up in the workplace. Don’t let things become repetitive. It’s hard to stay motivated when you repeat the same routine every day.

Inevitable Startup Financial Difficulties

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In the world of business, it’s rarely plain sailing. But when you’re just starting up, things are even more challenging. You might have a fantastic idea and a bunch of willing customers who will gladly part with their money, but if your finances are out of whack, you can quickly find yourself in trouble.

Many people new to the world of business fail to understand that financial difficulties are an inevitable part of starting up. In the beginning, there’s almost never enough money to do everything you want to do: expand, market to new audiences, take on new staff – and you have to compromise.

Here are some of the financial difficulties your startup will face and how to overcome them.

Unexpected Costs

One of the rookie mistakes often made by founders is failing to include unexpected costs in their calculation for how much money they will need. Unexpected costs aren’t just common in business, they’re guaranteed. Things will almost certainly go wrong and some point, and you’ll be forced to hand over money to somebody.

Many startups get into a situation in which they need money quickly, but they don’t have any money in their accounts. Fortunately, there are still options. Rather than going back to investors and admitting that you made a mistake in your original calculations for how much funding you need, try approaching a factoring service. These services take a look at your accounts receivable – the amount of money you’re currently owed by clients – and offer you money to buy those invoices from you. Although you’ll get less money from the factoring company than you would from the clients, you no longer have to follow up with non-paying customers, plus you get the added benefit of avoiding going further into debt.

Too Little Money To Take Advantage Of Opportunities

Another common problem for startups is not being able to grow quickly enough. Often, it is advantageous to dominate a market as fast as possible before a competitor moves in and steals market share, but poor finances can get in the way. Startups rarely have surplus capital on hand to buy their way out of the problem, and so they need an innovative solution.

The good news is that it is no longer necessary to buy everything you need up front. Many startups are choosing to rent to own equipment instead. Under this setup, entrepreneurs come to an agreement with a third party company to pay for the services of the equipment, month after month, rather than immediately owning the equipment outright. This means that if you do change your mind about whether you want a particular truck or machine, you can always sell it back to the company that leased it. If you do want to keep it, however, it’s yours, once all the payments are complete.

Bad Pricing

Finally, bad pricing can be a problem for many startups. Don’t go in too low – you’ll find that you’ll struggle to break even and your competitors will be more profitable.

A Business’s Guide To Preventing Electronic Down Time

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What is electronic down time? It’s the fancy name computer geeks give to the phenomenon when electronics break down. You may know it as a device which has decided to break. Whatever you call it, the electronic devices in the office play a big part in success. A laptop or desktop computer allows your employees to be productive and efficient. A phone is a great tool for communicating inside and outside of the business. TVs can advertise products or promote awareness of things such as workplace hazards. In short, you can’t allow down time. Here are the tricks which will stop it from being a problem in the future.

Create An IT Team

Information technology spans a variety of products, from a web server to a computer. Therefore, the people who deal with keeping the company online are the ones who can fix the problems. However, it isn’t possible to limit the damage if they don’t exist in the first place. Putting together a crack team of experts has to be your first move so that you have a backup plan should anything go wrong. Outsourcing is an option if you don’t want to add to the labor bill. The next step is to employ the IT technicians 24/7. Down time can happen at any time, which is why they need to be on call from dusk to dawn.

Fight Fire With Fire

The best way to prevent down time is to stop it in the first place. This might sound difficult, but it is quite simple if you have the right tools. Think about electromagnetic compatibility for a moment. You might not know, but interference from other devices is one of the main factors in reduced efficiency and effectiveness. By introducing an EMC directive with CE certification, you can limit the interference and keep everything online. It is a simple yet effective way method which companies need to explore more often.

Repair

Industrial items like electronics suffer from wear and tear. You have two options: you can continue to use them, or you can get them fixed. The latter option is by far the best. By taking care of the problem before it escalates, you can limit the damage and prolong its shelf life. Also, don’t forget that a lot of products come with a warranty which means the repairs are free. As long as it hasn’t expired, it is a cheap and hassle-free way to maintain efficiency.

Don’t Overuse

Because they suffer from wear and tear, electronic devices can break down through overuse. It is basic: if you use them too much, they will overheat or the internal parts will fracture. Although it is difficult, it is essential to keep their use to a minimum. For example, do you have a printer? If so, try and go green to prevent the office from relying on it as much. Not only will this allow the office to function, but it will help the finances as it cuts down on overheads.

If you value the effect electronics have for your firm, you need to consider the tips above.

Close Encounters: Common Issues Your Businesses Has To Address!

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It’s not an uncommon thing, having problems in business, but for every entrepreneur starting a company there is another one who is putting their business out to pasture. But every business leader has their fair share of trials and tribulations, and when it comes to running a business, there are things that even the greatest leader will encounter all too often.

Finding The Right Resources

It’s the never ending struggle between cost and efficiency. We can always argue that we are able to do more with less, which is correct to an extent, but we need to make sure that the fundamental resources we have in place are the top of the line ones. From our staff members to outsourced companies, we need to make sure that they are the cream of the crop. After all these things are in place, your business will be more successful, and therefore far easier for you to run. Looking at it from the technical perspective this is the necessary framework that needs to be in place from the offset. So if you don’t have the right IT solutions for businesses in place you are opening yourself up for a huge heap of trouble. You will be more susceptible to cyber attacks which is the digital equivalent of an open goal. Make sure that you have the right technical resources outsourced if you cannot supply them in-house. Your staff, especially in the structure of a small business, need to work together and individually, which is a very difficult thing to get right. Because your company needs to thrive on its relationships, you need to make sure that every piece of the jigsaw fits perfectly.

Managing Your Funds

It is something that a lot of small businesses tend to neglect, not having much focus on their cash flow but if receivable collections are draining your finances, it means you’re not going to be able to keep your business up and running. The main way to get ahead of this is to make sure that you are financially front loaded, or if that’s impossible, you need to pull together all of your cash reserves to meet the financial obligations as and when they arise. Startups and small businesses are usually the first ones to buckle under the pressure of poor cash flow management. And it’s in these circumstances where hiring professional help is not just a good idea, but it is essential. If you don’t have good knowledge of the lending climates, it leaves you at a severe disadvantage, so when it comes to cash “being king” it is never truer than in a difficult financial climate. You need to make sure you have the right people on side.

If you can tackle these two massive issues, that are two sides to the same coin, you will be able to get to the core of what your business needs to function properly. But don’t think it will happen overnight, these things take a lot of time and, yes, these issues will crop up once in a while. But once you have learned the best methods to tackle these issues for your business you will encounter them a lot less.

3 Things To Know Before You Start Trading Online

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Trading online can be awfully tricky. There are many stats online that support this fact if you’d like proof. Don’t let these things put you off though; you just need to make sure you know the right things before starting. Here are 3 things to know before you start trading online:

Choose The Right Company To Trade With

There are many online trading companies, so you need to make sure you choose the right one to trade with if you want the best results. You need to get the right facts and date to make strong investment decisions. Do some research on a company’s reputation to start with, then read reviews from other investors and traders. Knowing how popular the other company is with users will help you to decide.

Look Out For Hidden Costs

Make sure you always look at the fine print so you’re aware of any hidden costs that could throw you off. For instance, some people have to keep a specific amount in their account balance monthly or they are charged a fee. Some mistakes can be expensive, so you need to be aware of what to expect.

Look Out For Commissions

Trading online is much cheaper than paying for a broker. Paying for commissions for every transaction isn’t ideal. Do lots of research so you know what sort of commission a company will take.

Are you interested in the stats mentioned earlier? The infographic below can give you a pretty good idea of what to expect:


credit to BrokerNotes

The Alternatives To Startup Employees

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Most startups have very limited or no funding at all. It could be several years before you can consider your business a success, making enough money to keep everything afloat. During this time, it’s usually best to avoid spending as much money as possible. Things like large offices and expensive employees are out of the question, but you still have work to do, making it hard to live without these components. To help you out with this, this post will be going through some of the areas of your startup which can be handled by people on the outside. With the purpose of hiring as few employees as possible, you should be able to save loads, and it’s a lot less effort, as well.

Computing And Networking

Computers and networks site at the heart of most modern companies. These tools open the doors to a wide array of different possibilities for a business, from being able to store huge amounts of data securely to communicating with clients across the world. Of course, though, with all their benefits, computers can also come with a lot of issues. Handling these issues isn’t always easy for a startup, as this field is an expensive one. Below, you can find some of the areas which can be handled cheaply, without hiring any employees.

Computers

Getting your hands on all of the computers and other hardware your startup needs will be the first challenge you face. This sort of gear is pricey, and a lot of companies will want to use new equipment. Affording this will be a great challenge, and could be impossible to justify to any investor’s you have. Instead of buying this, it’s much better to borrow someone else’s, as a startup. Loads of manufacturers, like Dell, offer leasing services for their business range of products. This will keep your systems up to date, while also ensuring you only have new tech.

Support And Networking

Once you have a big collection of computers to work with, you can start to think about the support you get when using them. Along with this, you’ll also need someone to help with your networking, if you want it to be secure. There are loads of companies out there which offer IT support, computer repair, and networking services on an hourly basis. This ensures that you only pay for the computer help you need, while also making sure you always have access to it. Hiring a professional to handle this area for you would cost a small fortune.

Accounting

Next, one of the biggest things on the mind of any business is the money they make. Unfortunately, though, to be able to handle finances like this, most people will study for several years. Hiring a professional accountant is off the table, thanks to the price, and most business owners won’t want to go out and learn this skill for themselves. Instead, you need a way to have this work handled easily while also avoiding high costs. Accounting software offers this, enabling you to handle your finances by yourself. This sort of tool can calculate all of the metrics a normal accountant would show you, including the taxes you have to pay for your work. Along with this, some can even be extended to help with payroll and other essential jobs.

Some startups will want a little more financial protection than this, as it’s hard to be confident when all of the pressure is on your shoulders. Like your IT support, though, this doesn’t have to be handled by a new employee. Instead, you can have this part of your business handled by another company. Accounting services exist everywhere, with loads of different options available. This makes it nice and easy to choose a service which works for you both financially and in day to day use.

Human Resources

Of course, you can’t eliminate your employees altogether, as most companies have to handle too much work for one person to deal with. Dealing with recruitment is never an easy task, though, as the process comes with a whole load of legal and regulatory paperwork. Large companies will often have entire departments dedicated to this kind of work. But, as a startup, you won’t have this resource available to you. Below, you can find two tools which will make this easier for you.

Recruitment Companies

When you’re trying to find a new employee, making job adverts and going through applications is a large part of the job. If you dedicate yourself to this, you won’t be able to spend time working on other parts of the business, potentially losing money. Instead of taking this approach, using a recruitment agency could solve the issue before it starts. Lots of companies like this offer flat rates to find a new employee for you. So, it won’t cost a small fortune, even if it takes a long time to find someone.

HR Tools

Once you have some people working for you, the job of the recruitment agency will be done, and you will have to start managing things yourself. To help you with this, there are loads of software applications out there which are designed to handle HR. Like your accounting software, this sort of option will be easy to use and learn. But, it will have the power to carry out tasks even a professional would struggle with.

Web Design

Along with most modern companies using computers and networking in their work, a lot will also have a website. This sort of resource gives you a portal to the consumer world, enabling you to reach out to your customers without having to pay for expensive physical advertising. But, to make sure your website is effective, you first have to make sure that it’s been designed well. A lot of companies use DIY website building tools, nowadays. These tools are often very lacking, though, and won’t produce something worthy of showing to your customers and clients. Of course, you probably won’t want to hire a web developer to work for you, either, as this would be very expensive. So, a middle ground has to be found.

The perfect option to help you here is a self-employed web developer. In most cities and towns, this sort of work is very popular amongst small businesses, and you can find examples almost anywhere. Depending on their experience, you will get different levels of pricing from designer to designer. Looking at their past work, you will be able to get a good idea of the skills they have and the level of quality found in their work. Along with this, though, you could also think about reading some testimonials or reviews from other customers.

Freelance Workers

A lot of the work your business does will probably require specialists to handle. From the products and services you provide to the maintenance of your hardware and software, professionals will be found in most businesses. Of course, though, in the modern world, recruitment is nearly never your only option. Below, you will find two examples of methods which can be used to hire freelance employees. This sort of recruitment is always much cheaper and easier than hiring permanent workers, as you won’t have to deal with the legal side of recruitment.

Contracted

It’s likely that some of the work you have to get done will be very regular, requiring employees to work several days a week to get it done. In this case, hiring freelancers to work from home could be your best option. With a basic contract which doesn’t tie you down, you’ll only ever have to worry about paying your freelancers. Finding employees like this can be done through recruitment drives you handle yourself, on free websites.

Found Online

Some of the work you need to have handled won’t be so regular, though. For example, you may have a large order which you won’t be able to complete in time and need someone to handle the digital side of the project for you. In this case, using a website like Freelancer, you’d be able to find a professional to do the work for you, without having to pay for legal fees or a recruitment agent. This method of employment has become incredibly popular in recent years, with loads of people starting to work this way. This gives businesses access to a wealth of professional resources.

Over the next few years, your business will grow and change a lot. During this time, the way that you handle jobs like these can have a huge impact on your future. Instead of pushing things back or leaving them for another day, it’s always best to take this sort of work head on. This way, you’ll never be left without the power to grow, and will have the chance to take on every opportunity which comes your way. Hopefully, this post will inspire you to do just that, avoiding little issues later on. Most small businesses will only get one chance to grow. So, if you’re still working on these areas when that chance comes, you could easily miss it. This is a very easy way to land yourself in business limbo.

4 Costly Manufacturing Mistakes You’ll Want To Avoid

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When your business is involved in manufacturing a product, you will be aware of the laws in place to ensure that your product meets quality control. The initial days of starting a manufacturing business are mainly spent on research, and quality control is a big part of that research to help you to avoid mistakes that can easily be made in the manufacturing process. You’ll already be aware that setting up a manufacturing business is a big commitment financially and the challenges you could face may feel insurmountable.

To be able to get off the ground as a small manufacturing business, you need to be able to move smoothly in your chosen area and avoid making mistakes. Unfortunately, mistakes are easily made in any industry, but in manufacturing they are particularly dangerous. Ideally you have a large support network in place for your business, but if not, it may be a good idea to get that in place as soon as possible. We’ve listed for you some of the most common mistakes made during the manufacturing process!

  1. Employees using the wrong materials or using the wrong processes with the materials is a common and detrimental mistake to make in manufacturing. The consequences aside from the fact materials would be wasted, is the cost! You would need to bring in a company like Quality One to help with identifying the failure. It can also lead to a loss in the confidence of your customers, as you wouldn’t be releasing products in a timely manner.
  2. Staff that fail to track the status in quality control of the materials can mean your company ends up using materials that aren’t up to the standard you would usually use. The product failures and recalls this can lead to can be costly in terms of replacing materials and have legal consequences that your company doesn’t need to deal with if possible.
  3. Accurately recording information should be a given for any business, but failing to record materials as soon as they arrive can lead to inventory errors and the unnecessary ordering of further materials. This costs time and money that you should not be spending and even though employees aren’t necessarily ones who make this mistake, any delays could arise when failing to record the information and receipts. The way around this is to ensure tight controls of records for materials and deliveries; this way, there are no issues in delays.
  4. Even the smallest mistake of picking the wrong materials can make a difference and lead to inventory errors. Shipping replacement materials costs money and time, neither of which you can afford to lose.

The mistakes that are made in the manufacturing process can make a huge difference to efficiency of your company and you can end up wasting a lot of time and money. Look here at how you can employ LEAN processes to your business so that you can tighten up your manufacturing procedures. It’s not an easy industry to be involved in, but it is one you need to run carefully!

4 Valuable Tools to Boost Workplace Connectivity

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Right now, we are more connected to each other than at any point in history. Take your smartphone for example. To reach a family member or friend miles away, all you have to do is type out a few words and tap a button for a message to be delivered in nearly an instant. While we may be connected in our personal lives, sometimes it seems as if the business world’s connection is lagging. In today’s tech-driven atmosphere things move fast. Here are four valuable tools that can boost the connectivity of your team. 

Project Management 

Asana, a mobile application designed to help teams of all sizes track their work, is an easy-to-navigate project management tool that can help your team get organized, all while fostering connectivity. Created by former engineer Justin Rosenstein and Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, this project management tool not only tracks your team’s projects from start to finish, but earns results, too. Enabling teams to work forward with projects, tasks, conversations and dashboards, this tool makes ideas happen, turning conversations into tasks and eliminating a flooded email inbox. Companies like Airbnb, NASA, Red Bull, Allstate and The New York Times all use Asana. 

Mobile Hotspot 

Have you ever been in a pinch where Wi-Fi or internet access was just not available? Whether you need to send an important email or finish a final draft on a project for a client a mobile hotspot can ensure that you’re connected, no matter where you are. While more and more places today have Wi-Fi available, it is not wise to always depend on it. Connections can time out and some require passcodes or fees. Never miss a beat. With a mobile hotspot you can take your Wi-Fi wherever you go, whether it’s on your daily commute, on a weekend vacation to the country or any place outside of the workplace, because not all deals are closed at the office. 

Invoicing 

Is your team made up of remote employees? For those who work on the road or who work from home, invoicing can at times be challenging. It hasn’t always been easy to keep invoices sorted — until Hiveage was invented. This online invoice software is trusted by 50,000 freelancers and small businesses from 140 different countries for its simple-to-use features, detailed reports and more. Hiveage gives entrepreneurs the ability to manage teams by granting differing levels of access to specific staff members as well as time tracking, mileage calculation and expense tracking. Plus, users can invoice from any device, boosting connectivity and making sending an invoice easier than ever before. 

Web Conferencing 

Join.me, a collaboration tool designed exclusively to cut through pointless procedures, protocols and politics with the click of a mouse or tap of track pad, can connect your team by making collaboration not only simple but instant and continuous. Companies like Time, Fortune and Techcrunch have all used Join.me’s services. Team members can meet face-to-face, whether they are using a PC or an iPad. Great for entrepreneurs on the go, Join.me allows collaboration via its shared screen feature that gives users the ability to share anything from web pages, documents and apps. Each conference can be recorded so that your team can revisit the digital meeting at any time. The app can be purchased via the Apple Store and GooglePlay.

A Step Ahead – 7 Tips For Pushing Your Business Forward in a Competitive Market

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Competition in today’s business landscape can be intense, as more and more businesses enter the market and technology allows for expanded market reach.

In order to stay a step ahead of the competition, you need to have strategies, tools and tactics ready to make the most of your business. Whether is a new app or an employee with a great idea, there are a variety of ways you can gain an advantage in your market.

Keeping up with the competition

The first step to staying ahead of the competition is knowing what the competition is doing. Competitive intelligence allows you to see how you compare to other in your market in order to make better decisions for furthering your own business goals.

One way to gather this type of information is by using a web scraper to collect data from websites across the internet. If you want to know the best price to set for your product to maximise your profits, you might want to use a web scraping service to collect prices from competitors before setting your own.

Leverage new tech tools

There are a variety of digital tools available to cater to all businesses no matter your size or needs. Use Google Analytics to monitor your web traffic, HubSpot to keep track of your customers and marketing efforts, Slack to help your teams work together better and Skype to easily meet with clients, suppliers or other offices around the globe.

Communicate with employees

Employees are an often untapped resource for innovation in most business. Your employees work with your products or services every day, they know how they work and often how they could work better. Some of the most innovative companies make sure to regularly use employee insights and suggestions to advance their offerings and propel their business forwards.

…and with customers

If you don’t listen to your customers than you will surely fall behind the competition. The customer experience should be at the center of everything you do. Happy customers means better business! If you don’t currently communicate with your customers, you need to start now. Provide feedback forms or a dedicated email address, or run focus groups with customers to identify how to improve what you’re offering them.

Define your brand

A strong brand can be just important as a strong product. Customers and employees alike identify with strong, well-defined brands. If you know who you are as a company, and communicate that clearly, then customers will more easily be able to interpret and identify with your messaging.

Strengthen your culture

Your company culture often drives the way that employees approach their work. If you want employees to be innovative, creative and hardworking, you need a culture that supports that. Additionally, culture isn’t something you can just write down and expect it to come to life. Culture needs to be reinforced through action. Things such as office design, team set up and work day schedule all help to reinforce culture. Culture is unique to each organisation and can’t easily be replicated by a competitor, making it a good way to get ahead.

Always push forward

Competitive edge is never permanent, so you need to be constantly pushing forward to stay ahead. Once you get where you want to be, keep moving. Don’t let yourself get comfortable, because a plateau can quickly turn into getting stuck at the bottom of the pack.

Important Questions You Need to Answer Before Choosing an HR System

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Are you a business owner who believes you need to invest in a new HR system for your organisation? The latest HR systems are extremely powerful and they have the potential to greatly increase the effectiveness of any HR department in a company, no matter how big or small it is. However, before you make a final decision about what HR solution to choose, you should answer the following questions.

Why Do Want the System?

‘Why’ is the most important question every business decision maker should ask when they are making changes in their business. This is particularly true when it comes to using a new HR system, such as the system offered by XCDHR.

The main reasons to purchase a new HR system usually include making an HR department more efficient and saving money on HR activities. Once you have a clear idea about why you need this type of business system, you can buy it with more confidence and justify your purchase to the people who will be using it in the future.

Is the Company Providing the System Professional and Reliable?

HR has become an integral part of a modern business and you want to ensure that the system you choose is capable of carrying out its duties properly. To ensure that this happens, you need to find out more about the company that is providing the software product you are interested in purchasing.

Thankfully, this is much easier to do nowadays because of the internet. Most HR system providers have online reviews from previous and existing clients that will tell you just how good a company is, including the support it provides, its reputation, and how secure and reliable its HR system is.

What Features Are Included?

When it comes to an HR system, different organisations have different requirements. These requirements can change over time, so you need to be aware of the capabilities of an HR system. Typical features you should look for in a modern HR system include a user-friendly interface, a large database to store your data, and advanced reporting and analysis capabilities.

 How Much Will the System Cost?

The costs associated with this type of investment in your business need to be fully understood from the outset. If you decide to install an HR application in your business, you usually need to buy the licencing rights to that product, you need to have the proper equipment to run the system, and you need to hire people to maintain the system. This means setting up and running an HR system yourself can be expensive.

However, in recent years a wide range of cloud-based HR systems have emerged. These systems are much more flexible, someone else looks after the system for you, and you pay an affordable subscription fee. For many businesses, this is a more sensible solution, especially if you are working on a tight budget.

There are many good reasons why you should introduce a new HR system into your organization. However, make sure you answer each of the questions above before you make your final decision about which system to use.

 

Measuring The ROI Of Business Technology

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Conventional wisdom says that technology is a sure-fire way to success. Abid Afzal Butt, on LinkedIn, believes that technology has an impact on everything from decision making to expansion. If you don’t think this is true, the numbers are pretty revealing. In 2017, 77% of companies rely on technology for success. However, there is one problem: quantifying the impact of tech isn’t easy. Therefore, it is not easy to figure out the actual effects, positive or negative. Businesses need to know whether their plans are working, which is why measuring the ROI is essential. To uncover the truth, here’s what you need to do.

Use A Basic Formula

The good news is that there is a simple formula which will help you figure out whether the investment is good or bad. Even better, you don’t need a degree in mathematics. The trick is to keep it basic, which is why you only need concern yourself with three things: ROI; cost, and net gain. The equation comes to ROI = net gain/cost. All you need to work out this equation are the relevant values and costs, which shouldn’t be difficult.

Hire An Accountant

There will be people whose math skills stop short at equations. Mathematics is one of those subjects you get or don’t, and it might not be your forte. If this is the case, don’t continue without professional help. Although it is fulfilling to tackle the problem alone, you could do more harm than good. Quite simply, the numbers which come from the equation will be the ones you use to decide on the investment. If the figures are wrong, you could pull the plug on a piece of tech which was helpful. With an accountant, you can be certain the numbers are correct.

Invest In Analytic Software

Clever entrepreneurs will realize that they can’t work out the return on their investment until they have the facts and figures. This sounds obvious, yet it is something lots of companies don’t have, even in this era. With an embedded BI program, there is no limit on the amount of data you can collect. The software acts like an analytics program, relaying the info you need in real time. As long as you set it up properly, it is possible to control the data you collect from various sources. If business intelligence doesn’t sound like your thing, Google Analytics is still popular.

Think About Added Value

Sometimes, a business has to focus on things other than money. For example, a piece of technology might not have an immediate financial impact, but it could in the future. Everyone knows tech smoothes out business processes, making them more efficient. The same goes for employees, too. When a company increases its output and efficiency, it will create less waste and create more. Simply put, the profit margins will skyrocket. Apart from efficiency, think about communication and teamwork, too.

Measuring the return on a piece of tech is not simple, but it is possible. By following these tips, you can now figure out which investments are worth your while.

Staying Afloat: Innovation Comes In More Ways Than One

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Some of the biggest companies in the world have been made who they are today, with the superior help of international talent. Freelancers from around the world, have given their skills and time to making mundane products into some of the best in the world. Innovation is crucial for any small business because it’s a way to keep in line modern trends, not just for product development but financially to stay within budget. Many entrepreneurs, make it their task to make sure their business is being run by the latest protocols and making sure that innovation in technology, tools, marketing, and services is at the heart of what they offer to customers. However, very rarely does the importance of being modern and contemporary get mentioned when it comes to staff, and this is the challenge startups face today. Getting the best talent from around the world is sometimes overblown to look like a difficult task to accomplish, but with a few short guidelines, you too can innovate your business in more ways than one.

Work technology

Every business let alone a startup should be utilizing the most modern technology on the market to make sure their business is keeping up-to-date with customer demands. If you haven’t already, your central computer systems should all be interlinked with a dashboard or work interface. The staff you employ can be set tasks daily, without the need for meetings every morning to decide what targets need to be achieved. There are layers of authority in such technology as managers and lower staff have different abilities which you can assign. Thus the hierarchy at work is transferred digitally into the workstation.

Utilize international talent

Freelancers from all over the world should become a part of your normal search for new talent. There’s just no getting around it so accept the fact that different countries are brewing differing kinds of millennial workers. The tech industry is incredibly innovative in the United Kingdom, while the art and graphics skills are mainly coming from mainland European countries such as Italy, France, and Germany. As an employer, you can get these freelancers to come work for you after contacting someone like Dallas H-1B employment visa attorneys. Foreign workers with the best talent, the willingness to relocate countries and live frugally to be a part of the next best thing in entrepreneurship, should be treated as a priority. Business immigration into the U.S. is given a more biased preference because productivity is always in the minds of politicians.

Be a part of the discussion

At no other point in time has it been easier to communicate with the shared voice of business, and it’s never been more important either. The global crash of 2008 has shown the world of business that keeping in contact with each other, can not only protect you from hidden trends dangerous to your company but allow you to innovate in ways to avoid a crash hurting as much. Go to industry exhibitions which have transformed from a geeky little gathering of now, thousands of people attending them, from all over the globe. Innovation first starts with a conversation, and being a part of the discussion on the world stage is where great ideas are formed.

Stay ahead of the curve and learn to appreciate that innovation comes in more forms than just the practical sense. Utilize and harness the talent of young professionals from all over the world, and don’t stick to domestic talent pools. Listen and communicate with the wider community in your industry to stay on top of good and bad trends.