Business

In order to run a successful business, you’ve got to know how to successfully run your business. While this might seem like common sense, there are a lot of businesses out there that don’t give their operations the time or attention that they need, especially if things are running as smoothly as they could be or should be.

If this is a problem that you’ve been needing to fix but just haven’t gotten around to it yet, here are three things you can do to improve your business operations.

Hire The Right Staff

With the right people as part of your team, many of the issues that you may have run into will work themselves out. According to Darrell Zahorsky, a contributor to The Balance Small Business, this is because employees who are talented and motivated to see your business succeed will automatically look for ways that they can improve upon what’s already been put in place.

Knowing this, if you have people as part of your organization that don’t really want to be there or are adding to your problems rather than trying to find ways to work through them, you may need to make some changes. While you could look to hire new people that will bring your business up to a new level, you could also consider retraining your current staff or finding new ways to motivate them toward a more successful future.

Streamline Your Processes

Another reason why you might be having issues with how your business is operating could be due to having bad processes that aren’t as effective or efficient as they could be.

In a situation like this, Steve Ronan, a contributor to BizJournals.com, recommends that you try putting new systems and processes in place that make things as predictable as possible and can easily be measured for productivity. Luckily, there’s a lot of technology and automation software that can make this whole area much easier for your business. So if you’re feeling like things are running as smoothly as you’d like them to be, this could be something to look into.

Don’t Let Small Issues Fester

Sometimes, it’s not huge problems in a business that cause operations to fail. Rather, it’s a lot of small things that all add up to larger issues and create building problems.

To keep this from happening, Mike Kappel, a contributor to Business2Community.com, advises that you seek to take care of small issues in your business as soon as they arise. By not allowing small issues to fester, you can have the bandwidth to deal with any bigger issues if and when they happen rather than having to give so much of your time and attention to all the smaller problems that you didn’t fix when you had the chance.

If you’re having issues with how your business is running and the operational side of your organization, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you with these problems.

 

The business market is full of risks that can affect any business. From a new venture going wrong to physical damage of property to competitors getting ahead with breakthrough innovations, there are many risks that a business can face at any time. If you are not prepared, risks can lead to losses in business. On the other hand, with proper implementation, risk management can be a successful tool to plan for the future and ensure success.

Risk management should be viewed as a useful means of planning for the future. Nobody knows what the future holds, but it is better to be prepared than sitting back and wait. With proper risk assessment and a good approach, a business can be successfully safeguarded from risks. If you want the business to succeed, then you need to consider risk management. Here are some strategic ways to achieve this in your business.

1. Identify and categorize your risks

The risks you may face are diverse, and the likelihood of happening differs. Identify the various risks you are likely to face and do something to stop or mitigate them. The risks, most likely to occur, are the ones you should prioritize. Also, look at the financial effect of the risk to your business and handle those likely to cause the most financial impact urgently. Identifying risks is the very first step in risk management.

2. Restructure the company’s ownership structure

In companies registered as sole proprietorships, the liability of everything lies on the owner. To avoid the risk of one person being held liable for issues arising from the company’s ownership, change it. This reduces the liability of each owner hence reducing the impact of any issues that may arise.

3. Get insured

Insurance takes the worry out of risks. It might not be possible to avoid all risks entirely but being ready is good. Get insured by companies such as Arthur J Gallagher brokers, and you can rest easy knowing that your business is not liable for anything. The risk is transferred to the insurer, so if anything happens, you will not be at a loss.

4. Create measures to reduce risk

If you are not able to stop a risk, the best thing you can do is to reduce it. Come up with measures to reduce risks and their impact. This is the best approach for risks that cannot be stopped, or their stoppage would lead to financial losses. For instance, if a client keeps paying late, you could introduce an incentive for early payments from this client.

5. Be careful with innovations

Innovation is very vital to any business, and it may be the solution that gets your business ahead of your competitors. However, innovative ideas that are implemented wrongly can have disastrous impacts. Reduce the risk associated with innovations by having measures in place throughout the process of planning for and implementing the new venture.

6. Get a risk management team together

You are good at your business, but how much do you know about risk management? Probably not much! What you must do is seek the services of a professional risk manager. This person will work with the leaders of the various departments in the company to assess your risks. After this, they will advise on the right mitigation steps to take.

There you have it. These strategic approaches to safeguard your business from risks will help your business stay safe from future risks. Whether it is physical risks or business risks, you need to be prepared and make the right decision on how to handle each risk. Use these methods, and you will soon be making gains where you would have made losses due to unmeasured risks. Take a note on how CRM data and SFMC email studio can help you to build better email marketing campaigns.

There have been a lot of changes across the globe in recent months. The Covid-19 pandemic has forced the world to adapt to a new way of life.

While it might sound easy to retreat indoors and hunker down for a few months, that isn’t feasible for many businesses. In fact, the pandemic has caused many ventures to work harder than ever before to ensure they can stabilize themselves in a world of uncertainty.

As one of the leaders in the crowdfunding industry, Ideazon has thrived on their ability to stay on top of shifts in the world. While just a few years ago, crowdfunding was a rarely used trend, Ideazon was one of the companies at the forefront of utilizing the platform for their clients’ business needs.

It’s with this strength that Gregg Sheffield of Ideazon shares how the team of experts at Ideazon can help you smash your crowdfunding target.

What is the first step to beginning a crowdfunding campaign?

It’s important to have an idea of what you want out of your crowdfunding campaign first and foremost. What is your goal? Where are these funds going? Who are you looking to attract?

Having a clear definition of your goals will help to create a clear, targeted strategy for success.

Why should businesses consider starting a crowdfunding campaign?

While crowdfunding might have once been attributed to individual bases looking to raise money for school, medical expenses, or the like, it has taken a sharp turn into the professional industry for a very good reason. We have more small businesses now than ever before.

Crowdfunding allows these small businesses to work more similarly to a larger business. Where a larger business looks for big ticket investors that give funding due to the promise of a company, crowdfunding allows smaller businesses to do the same thing with “every day” investors that can give smaller amounts to business ventures they would like to support.

What kind of businesses should invest in crowdfunding?

Small businesses with a lot to offer are prime for crowdfunding. While crowdfunding is a time investment, it can reap major financial benefits. It’s important that you are genuine with your investors.

If you feel like you’re “selling” to your investors, this might not be the right venue for you. Crowdfunding is the platform for your venture to get the recognition it deserves and all it takes to do that is a genuine interest in what your business provides and where it’s going.

What kind of work goes into crowdfunding?

It’s important that you grow your individual donor base in whatever way you can. While it’s important to utilize every aspect of the platform, it’s also important that you network.

In today’s world where we’re working largely remote without conferences or other in-person opportunities, social media is one of your best resources. Make sure that you’re keeping investors (and potential investors) interested in your product through these platforms.

What is the future of crowdfunding?

I think that more companies will retreat to crowdfunding. It’s important to be able to break through the noise of the internet by having strong strategy and creativity on top of the incredible product your brand has to offer.

By jumping on the crowdfunding trend sooner rather than later, you are setting your company up for this success.

It’s hard to focus when noise is all over the place. In the office, staff become agitated and annoyed when there is noise around them while they work. Not everyone can tune out even the smallest sound of crunching a biscuit from the office worker nearby next to you or simply the continuous tapping on the keyboard. Hence, the majority of offices with huge spaces invest in reliable acoustic partitions.

Aside from the office, noise can also be around a restaurant. Although it is nearly impossible to maintain silence in this place, using acoustic movable walls will help lessen the sound. People slurping their soup, chatting with each other, or the next table enjoying their meal can be settled with putting up acoustic partitions. These walls won’t affect the ambience of the place, but it creates a feeling of exclusivity. Besides, hearing noises once in a while can act as a diversion. Individuals are capable of making one.

Using acoustic partitions is the most viable and practical solution to all these noise issues. Regardless if they are for the office or restaurant, these acoustic movable walls keep the area quiet, providing flexibility to modify the layout of the place anytime you need modification.

Benefits

Multipurpose partitions

Adding acoustic partitions offer versatility to the workspace. Installing them doesn’t require too much workforce, and even one person can put them up. It won’t take that long to pull or move them around to design spaces in the office. With a vast office space comes with a series of meetings in a day, so using these multipurpose partitions makes a seamless transition. Stack them away by the end of the day, and nobody needs to sweat it out for the after-care tasks.

Even in massive school halls, acoustic partitions can quickly change them into smaller lecture rooms for multiple classes. Even if they are movable, the walls are safe since they use advanced materials and adhere to safety requirements as part of quality control.

Add privacy to the place

In every office, there are playful staffs that like to goof around at some point in the day. Putting up acoustic partitions creates a more private and self-controlled area to work without any disturbance from their colleagues conveniently. Through these partitions, it encourages independence while working on something.

Moreover, adding these acoustic movable walls in a restaurant allows them to enjoy their intimate time together. Not everyone is keen to be in a crowded and noisy dining place. Thus, when customers request a smaller and more enclosed area, acoustic movable walls can make everything work instantly.

More design options

There comes a time when a place, whether an office or restaurant, needs modification. However, not everyone can afford to make such modifications instantly and not spend a considerable sum of money. The acoustic barriers come in several colours and designs that will suit every person’s preferences. Besides, anyone can play around where they want to put the barriers. It doesn’t need any interior design degree to create or modify a corner of the office or a small area in the restaurant.

Safe and practical

Installing or putting up these partitions will not require anybody from the construction industry. It only takes reading through the manual and taking note of the safety reminders. There are dividers made of lightweight materials, and so anyone can quickly move them around without asking for additional help.

Author: Tristan Reed

The work from home setup has been a norm for the past few months due to the pandemic. Plenty of businesses are barely scraping by. Others even decided to close due to the lack of consistent profits. Companies focus only on the essentials and cancelled everything else. It includes business trips and other corporate events.

Once things get better, you might have to consider doing these fun activities. They may not help rake profit for the company but are useful for the employees. Given how tough the past months were, these employees need a break. Hosting a fairground hire might be an excellent idea. You couldn’t have one right now, but it’s something worth considering in the future.

Reaching milestones

Hosting a fairground hire helps make everyone get back on track. Working alone from home and not interacting with others was quite boring for many employees. Besides, surviving the challenges brought by the pandemic is already an achievement. If things get better, hosting a fairground hire should be on your to-do list. To stay safe while having fun, these are some tips to consider.

Observe social distancing

Sure, it’s not very easy to socially distance during this event, but you can set guidelines before opening it. Every employee and family members should remember the rules to avoid getting too close to others. You might also want to follow the recommendations given by health experts in regards to outdoor events or theme parks.

Confirm the attendance

Back then, it was easy hosting this event. You just set the date and inform everyone about it. Family members can also take part. However, since you have to control the number of attendees, you need to receive a confirmation from your employees. Hand out tickets to put a cap on the number of people inside the area at a given time and avoid overcrowding.

Wrap the foods

Food stalls are a staple at fairground hires. Make sure you request the vendors to wrap the food properly to avoid contamination. The people serving the dishes should also wear protective equipment to keep the food clean and safe for consumption.

Provide more options

The good thing about choosing the right partner for fairground hire is that you can determine the number of rides, food stalls, and other entertainment options. It depends on your budget and the available space. Providing more options is an excellent idea to divide the crowd. They won’t stay in one area. It’s easier to distance under this condition socially.

Provide enough tables and chairs

Another reason for attending this event is that families have the chance to bond. To be safe, every family should have a designated area with tables and chairs. There’s no need to share tables with other families and risk potentially transmitting the virus.

Remember these safety tips if you want to succeed in hosting this event. Don’t forget to seek the advice of your local government since they create the guidelines. Despite these rules, people can still have fun.

 

To some, organizational training refers to the process whereby one trains to support an organization’s strategic business objectives. The training is also meant to meet the tactical training needs that are common across project groups. To others, organizational development can be defined as the acquisition of knowledge and competencies as a result of learning that relates to specific useful competencies. There are numerous benefits an employee gains when he/she gets quality organizational development. Here are some of the said benefits.

Improves Diversity

Organizational training has been known to enable employees to deal with changing jobs and roles. In today’s dynamic business environment, an organization’s employees must have the ability to assume different roles. Through organizational development, employees get to learn how to assume different job positions with relative ease. Statistics from reputable research organizations show that firms with employees capable of assuming different roles tend to perform way better than those whose employees cannot.

Increases Efficiency

Another significant benefit that organizational training accords an institution is that it increases the efficiency of its employees. For long, acclaimed business scholars have pushed for organizations to train their employees. The reasoning behind this is that when well-trained, employees get to understand their roles in an organization better. With a better understanding of their positions, employees tend to perform better.

Leads to Increased Productivity

Each organization aims to be productive. In the past, many businesses have failed simply because of inadequate organizational training. Organizational development has been known to improve the productivity of employees. It’s a well-known fact that well-trained individuals are incredibly productive. If running an organization, it’s always in your best interest to ensure that your employees are productive.

Allows Individuals to Upgrade Their Capacity

In today’s business world, an individual’s capacity to adopt new technologies and methods is essential. All around the world, several organizations are phasing out jobs by introducing machines. Through organizational training, an individual can get to learn how to improve his/her capacity. The more capacity one has, the better it is for the organization.

Progresses One’s Attitude Towards Work

For any business to succeed, the morale of its employees ought to be relatively high. Organizational training is known to increase job satisfaction and morale among employees. When an individual’s confidence is boosted, he/she tends to have a better attitude towards work. Better attitudes towards work translate to better performance. As such, if you’re an organization’s leader looking to improve the performance of your employees, organizational development is highly recommended.

Boosts Innovation

Organizational training programs are known to increase the creativity of employees. Organizations with creative and innovative employees more often than not outperform competing firms. This is because creative employees tend to come up with effective business strategies and products that adequately serve the target market.

The primary aim of each organization is not only to serve its clients with quality services but also to make money while doing so. If you are in charge of an organization, taking your employees through organizational training would be pretty wise.

Small companies and start-ups in Orlando often think they can handle the bookkeeping of their small business by just using specific accounting software.  Soon the software turns out reports and numbers and the owner of the company is unsure what to do with those numbers.

Often the Orlando small or medium business will then hire an accountant.  Again, the accountant can turn out more numbers and financial reports but is often unable to explain to the owner what those numbers mean to the day-to-day operating of the company.  Do they mean the budgeting needs to change?  Or do they mean they need to cut costs?

At this point, a company needs to turn to outsourced CFO services Orlando. A CFO is a totally different kind of accountant who can give owner advice.  A Chief Financial Officer oversees the financial activities of the entire business, not just one part of the company.

A Chief Financial Officer gathers the numbers and analyzes the company’s weaknesses and strengths.  The CFO can also suggest strategies for improvement.

The great thing about using outsourced CFO services in Orlando is that you don’t have to hire this accounting professional full time.  He can take care of your company’s financial health on a part-time basis and save the company money. Sometimes companies use an outsourced CFO on a project basis which is yet another cost-saving measure.

Also, an outsourced CFO can concentrate on cash flow.  Or they can come up with new financial policies and procedures that work better for the particular company. Basically, an outsourced CFO helps an owner feel better about the organizations’ financial stability—something small and medium companies worry about constantly.

Once your account turns out those financial reports, your CFO will completely understand those reports and then interpret those reports to the owner.  Financial reports can be very difficult to interpret.  Once the CFO understands where you want your company to go, he will tell you what the financial reports are saying.

Analyzing cash flow is an integral part of the CFO’s job.  He gathers the cash data and figures out where the cash is going out and where it’s coming in.  He suggests strategies to keep more cash on hand when necessary and to release more cash when needed.

Strategies are another benefit of using an outsourced CFO.  Owners often run their companies by the seat of their pants, making decisions on the fly.  A qualified outsourced CFO can look at the picture from a higher point of view. They can look at the long-term view of what is best for the company.

Lastly, a CFO is experienced with forecasting and budgeting.  Having experience with other companies teaches him how to make accurate forecasts.  It helps him know whether a proposed budget is unrealistic or one that will work going forward.  He can tell the company when and where they need to cut costs.  The CFO can even suggest good ways to cost costs without hampering sales needs.

A load board (which is sometimes referred to as a freight board) is an online marketplace where truck owners/operators, shippers, and freight brokers can post and search for loads to keep freight moving.

How does it work?

Usually hosted online, the users of the specific load board pay a subscription to log into the load board to post loads or post empty trucks in order to either cover their freight or get their truck loaded. The load board facilitates communication between shipper, broker and owner-operator or small carrier.

A real-life load board example

Shipping is the foundation of most countries.  Almost every sector of the economy depends on the movement of the goods from Point A to Point B.  A load board is an essential tool for business owners who are working together to move freight across the country. Here is an example of how people using load board in their daily operations to increase revenue.

Bob owns a truck and he is a business owner/entrepreneur, and family man. His goal is to keep his truck full during the week so that he can optimize his time on the road and maximize his truck’s profits. Bob lives in Albuquerque and today he wants to drive to Illinois. What is the reason? Because Bob knows that this route pays well, and that he can quickly find a returning load to travel home to his family. He needs to earn a fair wage for hauling the load and wants to work with trusted third parties to find freight for his truck.

Bob posts his truck’s information such as can haul refrigerated loads, maximum weight allowance, etc. and the desired destination on the load board, an online marketplace where subscribers of that board can search for empty trucks and available loads.

How does Bob, the Owner/Operator use the load board to fill his truck?

Emily, a transportation broker who is also a business owner, uses a load board. Her clients are shippers like Walmart or Amazon who work with third parties or brokers like Emily to get their items from Point A to Point B.  Emily usually works with refrigerated loads and she has a list of loads every morning that she needs to move for her customers.

Emily has to find a truck with a reliable driver so that she meets her customer’s needs. She needs a driver with an empty, refrigerated truck who is currently near Albuquerque who wants to drive to Illinois to carry frozen products.  Emily needs to find a driver for the load, so she posts her load on a load board, where she will begin to receive calls from interested drivers. She also calls on available trucks in the Albuquerque area and finds Bob. After negotiating a fair rate and checking credentials, Bob and Emily agree to work together.

How does a load board help a business?

For Bob and Emily, less downtime means more money. If Bob’s  truck remains empty, money is lost and he may need to work on weekends to make up the difference.  Late shipments for Emily means money is lost and potentially losing a customer. Customers are her lifeline so it is essential that she keeps her customers happy.

Thousands of hours of efficiency were gained by facilitating the real-time connections such as the one between Bob and Emily when load boards were introduced.

What other things can a load board help with?

Load Boards are usually more than just a freight marketplace. Shiply load board, for example, offers users with an accurate data within the load board to better their experience when freight matching and comparing quotes. Accurate data means more money. Now, just what does it means?

For Emily and Bob, accurate data means more money because when Bob sees the paid rates on his account, while he is talking to Emily, he knows exactly the average rate paid for the Albuquerque to Illinois.  If he is offered a lower rate, he can use the data to easily negotiate a fair rate. The same goes for Emily.  If Bob wants a rate that is too high, she can easily point to the paid rates to negotiate.

Thousands of hours of efficiency were gained by facilitating the real-time connections such as the one between Bob and Emily when load boards were introduced.

Load boards acts as a data-informed matchmaker for the three main freight parties such as the broker, shipper and carrier.

1. Owner-operators will inform the brokers where they are and where they want to go.
2. Brokers would post the loads they have available from shippers and find owner-operators.
3. It helps the shippers to save time and earn more money when their goods are transported efficiently.

It is definitely a win-win-win situation for everyone involved.

How does a business benefit from a load board?

Using an online load board can be a good idea in many occasions. Whether you are just starting your business or you are expanding and in need for new clients, using a load board can help organize your business, make it more efficient and bring an extra revenue.

 

If your staff members have their own offices that are sectioned away from other employees, the decor of that space can usually be left up to them. But for common areas or areas of your office that are meant for any client- or customer-facing work, management should ensure that these spaces are decorated in such a way as to reflect the personality and professionalism of the brand.

However, this task is easier said than done. So to help you accomplish this objective, here are three tips for decorating office common spaces.

Focus On Your Entryway

The very first area that you should give your attention when decorating your office is the entryway. Every staff member, customer, and client will go through that space when doing business with you. Because of this, you should take extra care as you design and set up this space.

According to Annie Pilon, a contributor to Small Business Trends, you should aim for the entryway to be welcoming to anyone who steps foot in your office. This can be done through having comfortable furniture, a friendly receptionist, and some kind of branded material that showcases your company and what you stand for. Especially if you’ll be having customers or clients in your office space on a regular basis, it’s vital that the first impression they get from your company be a positive one, and having a great entryway can help with this.

Promote Collaboration

In most offices, there will be common spaces where employees can gather in order to work on tasks or projects together. However, just having a large room with a table and chairs won’t really help your staff find their creativity together or necessarily promote the collaboration that may be needed.

To help you in this goal, Kevin Fidler, a contributor to WorkDesign.com, advises that you try to make these types of common areas feel more informal in their design. By doing this, you’ll allow your staff to think more freely and truly embrace the idea of collaborating with their coworkers in order to come up with ideas that will prove to be beneficial to your business.

Mix In The Natural World

Although some common spaces are going to be used for getting work done, you don’t want these spaces to feel like they’re sucking the life out of your employees. But if you make these areas feel too stark or corporate, that’s exactly how these spaces will feel.

To fight against this, Naveed of DecorAid.com recommends that you mix in as much of the natural world as you can with the functionality of your common spaces. This could include having more plants, getting more natural light, or using outdoor scents to bring freshness to these spaces.

If you’re unsure what you should do with the common spaces in your office, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you know how to decorate and design them to fit your needs.

Becoming a real estate investor is a big dream for many people, and it makes sense why. Having successful real estate investments can mean you’ll be profiting for years to come and be set for life with your finances.

A very common avenue for real estate investors is rental properties. When operated correctly, rental properties can essentially act as passive investment income.

But when you choose to invest in rental properties, you’re actually also making another big choice: to become a landlord. Having a property manager means someone could handle a bulk of the work, but when it comes down to it, a real estate property investor is still a landlord at the end of the day. And to be honest, becoming a landlord is no small undertaking.

Winston Deloney, an expert real estate investor, knows this all too well. We sat down with Deloney, to dive into the basics of owning rental properties, and four things all landlords should know.

Winston, what attracted you to real estate investing?

I see real estate investing as a huge opportunity. It’s an exciting world to be part of, and it can have huge payouts. That being said, it’s definitely not always easy.

For example, there was a time when I was still learning a lot, and there were ups and downs. But I chose to preserve, and now, I’m so glad I stuck with real estate investing and didn’t quit.

What brought you to rental properties?

The idea of having rent coming in every month as income was extremely attractive to me. I also love the idea of actually having control over the property and even being a landlord. There’s a ton of opportunity when you’re the one at the helm.

I really enjoy the process of making over units, and being involved with renters, even though that can definitely be challenging at times. But when you have happy renters, and you have a steady income, it’s really smooth sailing.

What are some of the basics of being a landlord?

I think it’s extremely important to make rent your number one priority. It can be easy to let emotions get in the way, because you’re dealing with real people who have real issues.

But if you let emotions drive your decisions, you’re not actually going to be a good landlord, and that’s going to permeate through your property. It won’t just affect you, but your other tenants as well.

I recently shared some useful tips on how to handle your first tenant, you can check out the article here: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/real-estate-investor-winston-deloney-110000108.html

What else should landlords know about rental properties?

So, rent being the priority is definitely my first tip. Next, I think screening your renters thoroughly is really critical. Because once someone moves in, actually evicting them is an exhausting process, and no one wants to go through that.

It might happen inevitably, but if you screen your renters carefully, you can definitely avoid it. You want to make sure they can pay on time, that they have consistent income, and that they’re people with good intentions.

For example, if they have a history of evictions and property damage, that’s a huge red flag, and you want to make sure you catch it.

Anything else?

I love thinking about rental properties in terms of the opportunity to upsell, which I don’t think enough people take advantage of. For example, if you have one tenant move out of a unit, you can spruce it up, put it new appliances, and maybe even some advanced smart home technologies.

All of a sudden, that unit is worth way more than it was before. So definitely look for opportunities to maximize your income. And I think lastly, this may sound basic, but a lot of people really overlook it. Make sure you’re an expert in your local renter and tenant laws.

For example, in some cases, if you mishandle a security deposit, you could be liable to give it back. That’s a silly mistake that means a big loss for you. So, you want to be up-to-speed on your laws not only to protect yourself from silly mistakes, but also potentially devastating ones.