Business

All successful businesses are powered by a vision that defines their goals, ambitions, and unique selling points. Companies that lack a vision only enjoy short-lived success before withering away. An overwhelming majority of startups fail because entrepreneurs neglect to strengthen their business plans with a ground vision.

A business without a clear understanding of what it aspires to be is like a ship that is destined to sink. In recent years, the corporate sector has embraced heightened competition, making it challenging to ensure business survival. However, in this fast-paced business world, creating a vision that inspires employees, business associates, employee monitoring software, and consumers and encourages connections is crucial. Once you identify your company’s vision, the next step is to ensure that your workforce is fully aligned and works well to turn vision into reality.

Many business owners fail to implement effective strategies due to a lack of formal training in business education. Higher education programs such as masters in business online or on-campus based serve as a vital bridge and a source of guidance for business enthusiasts for a successful entrepreneurial journey. These programs further equip students with dynamic leadership strategies and skills to design an impactful vision statement.

Keep reading to learn effective strategies to align employees with your company’s vision.

Reflect your vision through operational processes

Ideologies do not run businesses. Instead, corporate success comes with concrete planning, research, and accurate forecasting. So, how does one incorporate something as intangible as a vision for a successful business? Aligning your employees with your business vision is a goal that requires you to define your inspirations through work practices.

All businesses function through unique processes and operations that make their brand stand out among their competitors. It’s essential to cultivate a vision that is reflected through all operational processes. These processes include recruitment, training, production, sales and marketing, inventory management, etc. Similarly, the products or services you provide must reflect your vision comprehensively, adding a special touch to set your brand apart.

Effective employers remind their employees about their company’s vision through multiple mediums, such as emails, memos, and bulletin boards, to transform work processes positively. It further helps employees choose the right resources and platforms that may significantly support their organizational vision. Companies that fail to align their work processes with the intended goals face several financial and operational challenges. Solid planning, leadership, feedback, and business performance management can significantly help in this regard.

Inspire your Employees by Setting Shared Goals

Leaders lead by example, and the best way to inspire your employees is by acting passionately upon your vision. Your dedication and passion for your business vision act as a contagious force to inspire your workforce. Seeing you striving hard to live up to the essence of your vision will motivate them to achieve shared goals.

However, incorporating the company’s vision with realistic goals that creatively challenge your employees is crucial here. It allows entrepreneurs to frame their vision following an intricate pattern of goals. These goals and milestones lure employees to work for career advancement. Most importantly, setting clear goals will transform the vision into powerful inspiration entwined into the daily workload.

Notably, workplaces that nurture an ambitious workforce enjoy greater productivity and efficiency. Organizations that push employees to actively pursue their goals experience lower levels of absenteeism and employee turnover. You see, a happier and creatively inspired workforce is more likely to embrace your business vision than employees combatting restrictions.

Motivate Employees through Effective Leadership

One cannot stress enough the significance of aligning your business vision with your employees’ goals. Dynamic corporate leaders understand that their true strength lies within the creativity of their workforce. Leaders nurture, stimulate, inspire and encourage creativity to achieve their milestones by pushing employees to achieve their goals.

Motivation lies at the heart of corporate survival and growth. Organizations with demotivated employees experience an alarming rate of employee turnover and absenteeism. Toxic workplaces fail to develop productivity and efficiency, discouraging employees from embracing the organizational vision. Leaders believe in offering mentorship relations to nurture each employee’s strengths, allowing their talent to shine sans restraints.

Prioritize Open Communication

Communication is a powerful tool in aligning the company’s vision with the daily workload of the employees. Managers and executive leaders must promote clear and concise communication practices to ensure effective coordination.

Misinformation, ambiguities, and confusion are leading causes of halted productivity, inefficiencies, and lack of clarity related to the business vision. Miscommunication may result in employees misinterpreting the meaning and essence of your company’s vision. Hence, it is best to create a vision statement that is easy, simple, and understandable for all. If your employees cannot understand your future prospects, how will they deliver products and services to achieve your vision?

Creating an inclusive, encouraging, and feedback-focused environment under strong leadership will work wonders at sharing your vision with your employees. Employers who prioritize effective communication encourage one-on-one discussions, and team meeting sessions can make timely changes in their work processes.

Conclusion

Taking employees onboard with the company vision is of the utmost significance. Businesses that fail to align their workforce with their core ideals struggle to carve out uniqueness. Setting goals that are incomprehensible for your workforce may affect your work processes and can hurt your brand image. Be sure to work closely with team members to help them embrace your vision with clarity and enthusiasm.

Almost all websites should conform to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines for accessibility now, or risk getting sued for noncompliance. Thanks to accessiBe though, optimizing and maintaining web accessibility has become surprisingly easy. Let’s take a quick look at exactly how accessiBe can help your own site avoid costly lawsuits by ensuring its accessibility standards are up to date.

Manual Compliance Optimization Issues and How accessiBe Solves them

Prior to its release, webmasters had to go through every step manually, which was not only time consuming, but presented additional challenges as well. Even medium-sized websites incorporate new content at a rapid rate, but big sites do so almost constantly. This makes the entire process of manually optimizing screen-readers and navigation tools for accessibility every time quite a daunting task, which is also naturally prone to frequent human errors.

In 2020, accessiBe became the first software provider in this field to introduce fully automated, AI-driven web accessibility solutions. Till date, it remains the only smart solution which automates all complicated optimization steps necessary for websites to stay in compliance with ADA Title III, Section 508, EAA/EN 301549 and WCAG 2.1 guidelines.

Optimizing Key Points of Interaction for Better Accessibility

There are two primary points of interaction which must be made more accessible for disabled users. These would be:

1. Content on Screen – A screen-reader tool is used to help visually impaired individuals access their on-screen content.
2. Website Navigation – Web navigation is made more accessible by optimizing input methods like the keyboard, so that impaired/disabled individuals can use the website.

Failure to optimize a website accordingly can lead to lawsuits on account of them being noncompliant. accessiBe not only caters to both those standards, but the software can also do it better than anything else available right now. Which brings us to the next point.

Avoiding Lawsuits with accessiBe’s Sophisticated Web Screen Readers

When you install accessiBe on your site, the highly sophisticated and specialized AI empowers the software’s inbuilt screen-reader to do more than simply read what is on display. The smart algorithm scans, deciphers and reads out on-screen text in the most appropriate and relevant manner (based on each particular session), so that a visually impaired/blind user can find those readings to be most effective in delivering knowledge which they can’t perceive visually.

Making interpretations based on Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA) standards, and by making behavioral adjustments as is contextual or necessary, the AI in accessiBe adds an unprecedented level of accessibility to any website.

accessiBe is the Most Comprehensive Protection Against Poor Accessibility Lawsuits

Most WCAG 2.1 accessibility compliance solutions available today only optimize websites to be more accessible for 2-3 types of disabilities. However, accessiBe can be used by webmasters to make their sites more useable for people who are:

• Diagnosed with cognitive impairment
• Suffering from partial/complete hearing loss
• Clinically blind
• Visually impaired
• Epileptic
• Motor impaired

accessiBe will protect your websites against lawsuits by automatically maintaining accessibility standards. However, that is not the only advantage here. It helps online businesses and other organizations to interact with disabled customer/interest groups as well.

 

As an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, this well-managed company provides affiliated health and specialty insurance plans for government and commercial clients. While the shares are down year-to-date because of coronavirus fears, we believe that the current share price provides an opportunity for investors looking for discounted opportunities in the health insurance industry. While Anthem may see a negative earnings impact from the pandemic later in 2020, we believe that its long-term prospects remain solid given its scale, rising enrollments, and strong balance sheet. We also expect the impact of the virus to be offset by the company’s new in-house pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), IngenioRx, which launched in 2Q19. As such, with the stock now trading at just 10-times our 2021 EPS estimate, we view ANTM as undervalued. Our revised target price of $300, lowered from $310, implies a multiple of 12-times our 2021 EPS estimate, still below the peer average, and a potential gain, including the dividend, of 16% from current levels.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Over the last three months, ANTM shares have underperformed the S&P 500, with a flat return compared to a 10% gain for the broad market. The shares have also underperformed over the past year, rising 9% compared to a 13% gain for the index. However, they have outperformed over the past five years, with a gain of 83% versus a 71% advance for the S=PSampHE=P 500. The beta on ANTM is 1.05, in line with the average for peers that include CI, HUM, and UNH. Anthem has taken steps to increase access to medical care for members during the pandemic; however, these steps may impact its 2020 financial results. Specifically, Anthem announced that it would waive copays, coinsurance, deductibles, and prior authorization for coronavirus tests. It also recommended that its members make use, when possible, of online services such as LiveHealth Online, which has made more physicians available to handle the potential influx of patients. It has also waived member cost sharing for telehealth visits, including for mental health services, waived cost sharing for COVID-19 treatment, and relaxed early prescription refill limits, when legally permissible, for members who wish to receive a 30-day supply of maintenance medications. The company has also created digital tools to provide information on the pandemic. These include C19 Explorer, which provides dashboards on infection rates and community risk scores to aid in reopening plans; C19 Navigator, which provides Anthem’s employer customers with clinical insights and predictions; and Biometric Passport, which allows employers to assess the safety of employees re-entering the workplace without compromising individuals’ health data privacy. It also includes tools for individuals such as Sydney Care, which provides real-time access to health information, telehealth services, and information on testing locations; ianacare, which allows users to co-ordinate practical help such as dropping off groceries and picking up medications; and PsychHub, which provides a range of mental health resources for people coping with pandemic-related stress. In addition, the portal includes access to Aunt Bertha, a social care network that helps connect individuals and families to more than 35,000 reduced-cost social service programs, such as food delivery, and help with paying bills. In addition, the Anthem Foundation has committed $50 million to aid COVID-19 response and recovery efforts in areas of greatest need. Management also announced that the foundation would match 200% of associate donations to certain charities that are helping to address the pandemic. Beyond its COVID-19 response, the foundation has also committed $50 million over the next five years to combat racial injustice, strengthen communities, and address health inequalities.

ANTM reported 2Q results on July 29 that topped analyst expectations for earnings but missed out on revenue. This was the company’s second consecutive quarter of better-than-expected earnings. The company posted second-quarter adjusted net income of $9.20 per share, up from $4.64 per share recorded in 2Q19. EPS topped the consensus by $0.62. On a GAAP basis, net income rose 104% to $8.91 per share. Total operating revenue rose 16% to $29.2 billion, but missed the consensus by $196 million. The increase was driven by pharmacy product revenue related to the launch of IngenioRX, higher premium revenue due to growth in Medicare and Medicaid, and the return of the health insurance tax in 2020, partially offset by a decrease in experience-rated premiums in the company’s Federal Health Products & Services business. Medical enrollment totaled 42.5 million members, up 4% year-over-year, while the benefit expense ratio fell 880 basis points to 77.9%, driven by the deferral of healthcare utilization due to the pandemic. Nonetheless, the companywide operating margin rose 580 basis points to 11.5%. Along with its 2Q results, management reiterated its guidance for adjusted 2020 EPS of more than $22.30. It also expects GAAP EPS of more than $20.91, down from its earlier estimate of more than $21.00. However, given pandemic-related uncertainties, Anthem did not provide other financial guidance for 2020.

EARNINGS & GROWTH ANALYSIS

Anthem provides health insurance for both government and commercial clients in the following customer groups: National Accounts, Local Groups, Individuals, Medicare Programs, Medicaid, Federal Employee Programs, BlueCard, and Specialty Products. The company has a track record of consistent growth. In 2Q, total revenue rose 15% to $29.3 billion, stemming primarily from operating revenue, with the remainder coming mainly from investment income. Premiums, which accounted for roughly 86% of operating revenue, rose 7% to $25.1 billion; product revenue, which consists of revenues from the newly created IngenioRx segment, accounted for 9%, or $2.5 billion; and administrative fees and other revenue, which accounted for the remaining 5%, rose 70 basis points to $1.5 billion. By segment, operating revenue grew 11% to $17.2 billion in the Government Business (59% of total operating revenue), but fell 7% to $8.8 billion in the Commercial & Specialty Business (30% of operating revenue). The operating margin rose 520 basis points in the Commercial & Specialty business to 15.6%, and 630 basis points in the Government segment to 9.4%. The operating margin for IngenioRx was 5.8%. We are raising our 2020 adjusted EPS estimate to $22.80 from $22.32, representing full-year earnings growth of 17%, based on the company’s ability to increase margins and our expectations for further strong contributions from IngenioRx (despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic). We are also raising our 2021 EPS estimate to $25.50 from $25.48, implying 12% growth next year.

FINANCIAL STRENGTH & DIVIDEND

Our financial strength rating on ANTM was raised from Medium Medium-High, the second-highest rank on our five-point scale. The company received above-average marks on our three main financial strength criteria: fixed-cost coverage, debt levels, and profitability. As of June 30, 2020, Anthem had cash and equivalents of $6.03 billion, up from $4.94 billion at the end of 2019. Total debt was $22.48 billion, up from $20.09 billion at the end of 2019, but accounted for 39% of total capital, down from 40% and below the peer average of 41%. We view average levels as 50%-55%. Operating income of $3.36 billion was up 135% and covered interest expense by a factor of 17, up from 8 in 2Q19; our view of an average interest coverage ratio is 10-12. The second-quarter adjusted profit margin was 8.1%, up from 4.8% in the prior-year period. Second-quarter operating cash flow of $5.51 billion was up 283%. Moody’s rates the company’s debt as Baa2/stable and S&P rates it as A/stable. Anthem has a share buyback program. It resumed buybacks in late June after suspending them in March due to the pandemic. During the second quarter, it repurchased $55 million worth of its stock. As of June 30, 2020, it had $3.2 billion remaining on its buyback authorization. The company pays a quarterly dividend. It raised the payout by 19% in late January 2020 to $0.95 per share, or $3.80 annually, for a yield of about 1.5%. Its last quarterly payment was on September 25 to holders on record as at September 9. Our dividend estimates are $3.80 for 2020 and $4.00 for 2021.

MANAGEMENT & RISKS

Gail K. Boudreaux has been the president and CEO of Anthem since November 2017. She previously served as the CEO of United Healthcare, a division of UnitedHealth Group, where she increased membership by more than 8 million members in six years. Elizabeth E. Tallett is Anthem’s Chair, and has been a member of the board since 2013. John E. Gallina is executive VP and CFO. He joined the company in 1994 and became CFO in June 2016. Investors in ANTM shares face risks. The company must accurately predict healthcare costs in order to set appropriate premiums. Its business could also be impacted by changes in funding for Medicare and Medicaid programs, and by other factors that could reduce enrollment. In addition, Anthem faces a range of regulatory, compliance, and legal risks, including ongoing lawsuits. As highlighted above, the company also faces risks related to the spread of COVID-19.

COMPANY DESCRIPTION

Based in Indianapolis, Anthem is one of the largest health insurance companies in the U.S. As an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, the company serves members in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as specialty plan members in other states. ANTM shares are included in the S&P 500 Index.

VALUATION

At current prices near $260, ANTM shares are trading above the midpoint of their 52-week range of $171-$310. From a technical standpoint, the stock has advanced roughly 53% from its 52-week low of $171.03 in March 2020 and is currently up about 9% for the year. While ANTM has followed a long-term trend of gradually lower highs dating back to its all-time-high of $317.99 in February 2019, we believe that it currently offers significant upside. The stock faces resistance near $300 per share, roughly marking an extension of the line connecting its February 2019, July 2019, January 2020, and June 2020 highs. On the flipside, discounting the sharp declines in both the market and the stock in March 2020, the shares found support earlier this month at their 200-week moving average. Furthermore, with both the 14-day and 14-week relative strength index below 50, we believe that ANTM has more potential upside than downside in the near term. To value the stock on a fundamental basis, we use peer and historical multiple comparisons, as well as a discounted cash flow model. The shares are trading at 10-times our 2021 EPS estimate, below the five-year historical average of 14 and the industry average of 17. They are also trading at 0.6-times sales, compared to an industry average of 1.1. Despite concerns about the impact of the coronavirus, we believe that the company’s strong growth through the first half of the year, rising enrollments, new in-house PBM, and regular dividend hikes warrant a premium valuation. Our revised target price of $300, lowered from $310, implies a multiple of 12-times our 2021 EPS estimate, and a potential gain, including the dividend, of 16% from current levels.

Pricing is one of the most difficult strategies in SaaS application that needs to be developed. There are things that could impact revenue and the future of the company. Many SaaS startups don’t usually think of this important factor as they face the overwhelming task of making and running SaaS business, says Josh Melick.

Many SaaS groups tend to do bronze, silver, or gold plans where each tier comes with more features. Melick mentioned that they may also use it separately or just a part of it and see per seat licensing and or other “usage” pricing qualifications. Like “This many users” or “send this many messages or “use this much storage space”.

2 Dimensional Plans :

Those mentioned above are what Melick sighted as dimensional plans. One is the tier, the other dimension is usage. Most of the new businesses tend to think simply and just use one dimension. Use just one plan, or usually don’t charge users anymore. It might be good for some cases such as selling to SMB’s with few employees, or specialty apps like accounting or legal department which is of but a few users. For this particular dimension, it might include enough messages or storage for most users, or protect it against extreme usage, said Melick.

Melick advised that “Grandfathering” customers is a common strategy that startup businesses use into all inclusive packages with no upsells. Problem is, they might be creating a legacy of no price increase and in result, the business will not be charged for increased features that the business may create in the future. Other companies are hesitant in adding a “pricing gate” as it will discourage current customers into using new features – that is where the problem lies as the company needs the customers to give them feedback so that the company can perfect the platform and make best experiences. And that is the actual concern.

All of this may cost the business some money and the business has left out other pricing dimensions that are as essential.

There’s a Third Dimension and it matters.Time is the third dimension. The prices in your business as well as those that are around it will rise over time. You can’t just depend on changes, upgrades or even inflation to grow your share in time. Increasing prices in line with the inflation might cost you money in the long run. Prices may increase over time to stay competitive in the business and adjust with the inflation.Growth is needed. Growth-minded SaaS businesses are well aware that over time, every area in the business needs to grow. Grow on features, customers. Expanding accounts and lands. This is how businesses achieve the most sought after “Net Negative Churn”.

More startup businesses are hoping that prices will eventually rise over time and it’ll come naturally in one of the dimensions Melick mentioned like the usage of the customer will increase in the long run or customers liking the business’ new feature. These strategies are optimistic but don’t guarantee a revenue in the future. Rather than waiting for the price rise to happen, be straightforward and make it happen. Right then, the revenue will follow, says Melick.

How do you do that? Melick said that it won’t be easy but it is possible to take consideration of time to the account and adjust the pricing accordingly leading to higher revenues. Here are some pointers from Melick:

First, the hardest but most obvious to do is changing the price. Each year, increase the business prices to 5-10% without grandfathering. Definitely there will be feedback by doing this – it could be good, bad and ugly. There will be certain loyal customers of your business that will stay. It will be good as well if you can run some models on how much you can afford to lose and can still come up ahead with regards to the prices. Raising prices works because if not, it wouldn’t be in the standard private equity takeover playbook.

Second, include in each renewal cycle that the price will increase by percentage (5-7%) in the annual agreements clause. It works well in businesses that tend to negotiate. Naturally customers will try to negotiate. This will challenge your sales team, you might come into agreement with the customer for a flat increase once they are not satisfied by the end of the term. This strategy is with an added bonus as it gives customers a good reason to discuss the account by the end of the term. If you have confidence with your product, customers will continue on using it. Evergreen renewals without communications don’t get the business feedback.

Lastly, once automatic price increase is in place, business can already negotiate with the customers – but update customers instead. With more features or users, business may offer to waive the 7% for an upgrade to the next tier.

Pricing is a constant issue for SaaS founders. For the business revenue and profit number to be able to meet the goals, it is important to get the pricing element right. No one ever said that setting pricing is easy, don’t hesitate and check with experts if you need assistance. Don’t ignore it, hoping that it’ll solve problems by itself finishes Melick.

Salon pedicure chairs are some of the most important parts of a beauty Salon. Selecting them can be a very tricky task. You always want a fancy and good-looking chair at your salon to attract more customers. These days salons are all about fashion, and hence pedicure chairs are an important aspect for salon owners to take care of. There can be many parts of such a chair. The main body, the base, and the head support are some of the main parts to take care of. A salon owner can have some serious thinking to do while choosing the color, the stretch, and even the quality of these chairs.

What is Pedicure, and how do these chairs help in this process?

Pedicure is basically a treatment related to toes and feet. It is about maintaining and making your feet look better. There are many processes in which Pedicure is done. One of the famous among these is the maintenance of nails and shaping them in the correct way.

On the other hand, a pedicure needs a good chair. There are special rests for feet in chairs specially designed for Salon pedicure. If you don’t opt for such a chair, then your consumers can feel problems related to pain in hamstrings and more of such muscle problems during the procedure.

Tips for selecting Salon pedicure chairs

We will give some of the best tips out here to select salon chairs, especially for Pedicure–

• Acetone resistance- This is a point to look out for. If you are worried about your chair and want it to last longer than normal, then your chair bae should be kept away from acetone. Acetone is a chemical that is generally present in all nail polish removers. And you never want this chemical to come in contact with your chair and ruin it. The best option you can go for is to search for a Pedicure chair that is resistant to acetone.
• Selection of the chair– Usually, if we talk of Salon pedicure chairs, there are two different kinds available in the market. The first is called the no-plumbing type, and the second is called the pipeless chair. Both of these chairs have their own merits and demerits. The no plumbing one comes with a detachable tub for the footbath, while the pipless chair uses whirlpools from spays inside the pipe, ensuring bacteria does not get settled. One should try avoiding low-end pedicure chairs as they can cause serious health issues for the customer.
• Look for customer comfort- this is a big point which a salon owner should be worried about. If you are a salon owner, you always want your customer to be pleased with your service. Try getting the best for them. Features such as padded cushions, entertainment controls, headrest, soaking tube, recycling option must be preferred while choosing a Salon pedicure chair.
• Lastly, we will suggest you research according to your locality. Get to know your customer choices, standards, and most importantly, the competition you are facing from your competitors.

Conclusion

A Salon needs proper equipment to run successfully. Hence it is always suggested to research well and then go for selections regarding Salon pedicure chairs and more.

Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/crop-colleagues-shaking-hands-in-office-5673488/

Business management covers a whole range of skills that are useful in a business setting. If you’ve considered moving into an office or business-related positions, you’ve probably thought about doing a business administration course. This is one of the best ways to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to make your way into a range of roles.

Obtaining a Certificate IV in Business Administration opens a lot of doors for your career. But more than that, it gives you confidence that you can succeed in business administration roles. It’s important to remember, however, that being trained in business administration doesn’t just confine you to basic admin roles. You’ll learn skills that can take you anywhere in the business world.

Which industries need business management skills?

In short, every industry imaginable needs people skilled in business administration. From a local café start-up needing someone to handle accounts, marketing and general administration through to the biggest companies in the world who need experienced business executives. It doesn’t matter whether your passion lies in retail, construction, recruiting, government, automotive or any other industry you can think of. All of them need people skilled in business.

Whether you study through traditional methods or obtain a business administration certificate online, you’ll learn skills across all levels of business, from basic administration, through to marketing and even accounts. This gives you a foot in the door for careers you may never have thought of before.

So, here are some of the most in-demand careers for those with business management skills.

Administrative assistant

An administrative assistant role involves all aspect of clerical office work. Tasks range from answering reception phone calls, greeting guests, scheduling meetings and appointments and supporting staff with general daily tasks. Admin assistants also get involved in specific projects, helping to ensure project coordinators are supported to get everything running smoothly.

When working as an administrative assistant, you have the opportunity to gain exposure to a wide range of other business roles, whether it be through attending meetings and taking minutes or supporting certain departments with priority work. The role varies from company to company, but you certainly learn a lot about office life.

Personal assistant

A personal assistant is quite different to an administrative assistant, although the roles are often confused. Where an admin assistant supports a whole department, team or business, a personal assistant role is more focused on supporting one person. For example, your direct supervisor might be the head of a department, the managing director, or any other member of the executive staff.

Many of the tasks are similar to that of an administrative assistant, such as scheduling appointments, booking travel, maintaining a calendar, answering phones or typing reports. However, you may also be tasked with other duties such as running errands, managing finances and generally helping your supervisor with daily activities.

Human resources and recruiting

There are several roles under the human resources banner that you could move into with a business administration certificate. There are general HR roles, which may include preparing policies, managing employee records, payroll and coordinating training. You could even be involved in onboarding new staff members.

You could also work more specifically in recruitment, whether as part of a larger human resources team or for a recruiting company themselves. Tasks might include sorting resumes, screening applicants, conducting interviews or liaising with employers to determine their needs.

Office manager

The role of an office manager is very broad and can vary depending on who you work for. In some ways, it can be seen as the next step up from an administrative assistant. While the office manager still has some admin responsibilities such as answering phones, filing, scheduling appointments and more, there is an extra level of responsibility.

The office manager is usually responsible for overseeing the work of other administrative staff. This could involve delegating work, reviewing performance and training staff. In addition, they’re responsible for the smooth operation of the office, so there may be tasks associated with managing budgets, ordering and maintaining supply levels and running meeting/conference rooms.

Accounts positions

While it’s difficult to get into an actual accounting role without some form of accounting training, there are several supporting roles you can obtain with a certificate in business administration. Larger companies may have one actual accountant, but many people working underneath to manage daily, weekly and monthly accounting tasks. For example, you could be an accounts payable or receivable officer. This would mean managing incoming invoices, making payment, and also issuing invoices to clients and monitoring for payment.

Payroll also sometimes falls into the realm of the accounts department, so this may also be an area of interest.

Sales representative

Many people think of the sales representative role as a retail position, but that’s not really the case. Certainly, retail businesses have sales representatives, customer service staff and so on, but in a lot of businesses, the sales rep role is quite different.

Rather than serving incoming customers, many sales jobs involve finding new clients or customers. Some of the tasks overlap between the retail and business environments, such as helping customers with product questions and making sales. But a sales rep may have added responsibilities such as negotiating contracts and converting potential leads into sales.

Client services/account manager

The role of a client services officer is also known as an account manager, depending on the company you work for. Essentially, these are the people who look after significant clients to make sure they’re happy. The role may also involve dealing with new clients, but a lot of their time is spent working with existing clients.

Tasks may include being the point of contact for client queries, problem-solving issues for clients, and even negotiating contract issues. The account manager might have additional duties such as overseeing the sales team, implementing sales strategy and staff training.

Data analyst

Data analysts exist in almost every industry, and the role can be quite diverse. Essentially, the job is to analyse data and form it into easy-to-understand information for decision-makers. The data could be anything, from sales figures to customer satisfaction. Ideally, a data analysts’ role should be to find efficiencies, such as identifying parts of the business where expenses are high but returns are limited.

Business consultant

Business consultancy is a booming business in the modern world. Basically, a business consultant analyses performance, processes and procedures, looking for ways a company can streamline their operations. Some organisations employ permanent business consultants, while others might hire from a consultancy firm.

There are plenty of jobs available in business consultancy, and it’s even something you can go out on your own with. The assessments you’re required to deal with anything from employee engagement to service delivery.

Management positions

Finally, there are of course management positions across all industries. These have different names, depending on where you work, such as team leaders, managers, supervisors and even executives. Managers need to have a good understanding of leadership, business practices and ideally, the intricacies of the company they work for.

The beauty of pursuing management roles is the diversity that’s out there. If you’ve got a background in sales, why not look for sales management roles? If you’re a qualified mechanic looking to get off the tools, you can manage an automotive workshop or retail business. Really, there are no limits when it comes to management, and completing a Certificate IV in Business Administration is a great way to start gaining the skills necessary for such roles.

So, if you think your future is in the business world, now is a great time to consider the training you need to reach your goals. From administrative assistants through to executives, it all starts with building your skills and knowledge. And there’s no better way to do that than with training.

META: How far can a Certificate IV in Business Administration take you? We take a look at the most in-demand roles for people skills in business management.

 

Undoubtedly running a business, whether small or large, is a challenging endeavor. Therefore, it is imperative to keep an eye on every aspect of your business to avoid risks or threats. Even the slightest mistake on your part in this highly competitive business world can cause you a severe setback. Whether you are looking for new projects for further development or seek business sustainability, financial stability plays a crucial role.

Put it this way, the more stable your financial position, the better chances of grasping the newest opportunities. Organizations that experience problems with their finances often have to abandon potential opportunities, causing them to fall behind their competitors. Are you also struggling to maintain financial stability for your business? Read the steps below to manage your finances smartly:

Keep An Eye On Your Expenses

What’s the point of managing the finance of your business if you are not monitoring your expenses? Your expenses play a crucial part in financial stability. You won’t even realize when you start running out of cash if you are spending your business funds without proper monitoring. Try to keep your expenses as minimum as possible. One best practice is to spend below your defined budget. Make it your habit to prevent yourself from overspending; in turn, it will help you in reserving cash. Stick to your initial budget plan and monitor each department’s expenditures weekly or monthly. Minor changes in your financial plan are acceptable, but make sure you are not overspending.

Don’t Overlook Legal Regulations

Most businesses often ignore tax payments or have little to no knowledge regarding legal policies. Regardless of the size or industry, every company must pay taxes once they start generating profits. If not, you might get penalized. Are you unsure which taxes you need to pay or have confusion about the whole taxation process? In that case, people with tax careers can help you understand the basics of laws and taxation. Therefore, hire tax experts in your finance department, and they will efficiently help you adhere to taxation policies.

Pay Off Debts

Have you taken a loan to start your business venture? Taking loans is quite a common practice in the business industry. However, you can’t be financially stable if you are not paying off your debts. Sure, business expenses can get overwhelming with time, but continuously delaying debt payments can increase interest rates. Thus the sooner you pay off all your debts, the better the chances of minimizing interest rate and gaining financial stability. Are you finding it hard how to pay off your existing debts?

Consider the following two methods:

• Debt Stacking – It helps you prioritize which debt to pay off first based on the interest rates
• Debt Snowball – It allows you to pay off the smaller debts first, followed by the larger ones

Build Loyal Customer Base

Let’s admit it; your customers are a great source of finance for your business. Satisfying your customers must be your top priority if you want to retain them. One best way to build strong relations with your customers is to be transparent with them. That way, you can earn the trust and loyalty of your customer base. Establish a strong marketing strategy that helps you retain your customers; however, your work doesn’t end here. Keep track of the most profitable customers and calculate the customer lifetime value. Building a loyal customer base will stabilize your business finance in the long run.

Keep Separate Accounts

A vital way to stabilize your finances is to separate your personal and business accounts. Having the same accounts for both personal and company is highly discouraged. You could end up spending business funds for personal use or vice versa. It is common for business owners to use cash here and there for small transactions such as paying for coffee while meeting with potential investors. Keeping separate accounts can help you have a firm grip on your expenses. It can help you get a clear picture of your spending.

Create An Emergency Fund

Have you ever thought about contingency planning for uncertain situations? Setting up an emergency fund can save you from a significant setback. The cash reserved for emergencies can help you survive at least the early days of a crisis. One best way is to dedicate a small amount every month to this emergency account and avoid using it until necessary.

Automate Your Business Operations And Transactions

The modern business world demands almost every company to automate its operations. Undeniably, manual work requires a lot of effort, time and is expensive. So, with the technological advancements, automating everyday business tasks is the need of time. There are several systems and software that allow companies to cut costs and increase business efficiency. Automation can also help in securing data and maintaining a backup. Automatic payments for you and your customers can help you avoid the hassle of late payments. Also, you can monitor all the accounts frequently. Automating maximum business operations can lower down the operational costs and hence maintain your financial stability.

Conclusion

Stabilizing your finances can help you grow your business without worrying about uncertain situations. It will also reduce your mental stress and help you focus on your future business goals. If you want your business to survive and thrive, make financial stability the foremost priority. It can take your business to a higher level of success, and you can enjoy the benefits in the long run.

There is no shortage of challenges facing retailers today. With the increase of online shopping, retail stores are still struggling to keep their customers engaged. One way to do that is to create a safe store environment for both shoppers and employees. In this post, we’re going to cover five ways you can make your store safer.

Implement health & safety practices

Over the past few years, retailers have been required to take on greater levels of health and safety responsibility. This means that their responsibilities have shifted from being reactive (i.e., responding to an incident) to proactive (i.e., identifying issues long before they escalate into incidents).

The reason for this comes from a growing body of evidence and research that shows that businesses who use a proactive approach to health and safety issues are less likely to suffer the negative effects (i.e., damage to reputation, fines, lost productivity) associated with reactive approaches.

Conduct a safety audit

Safeguarding your retail store is key to preventing crimes like robbery and theft. If you own a retail establishment, having a safety audit conducted on your store should be an important part of your business strategy.

Often, this can be as simple as jotting down the job functions, and tasks employees perform, followed by a quick check to see whether each task is carried out safely or not. It could be a useful exercise for everyone to do, thinking about where particular dangers might lurk.

Have the right insurance cover

It’s important for retailers to secure their business and protect themselves using the right insurance. Public liability insurance is necessary to run a retail store. You can protect yourself against theft, severe weather, large purchases, accidents that happen in your shop and many other situations. Most importantly, this will protect your retail store from financial loss should a customer get injured in your store.

Train staff regularly

Retail staff need to develop the skills and adopt behaviours that will help them in future roles. They should be trained in all aspects of service. Retail staff should be regularly trained in retail trends and security trends. This will improve their ability to give better, more relevant customer service, thereby giving buyers a more positive experience, as well as helping to keep the store as safe as possible.

Put proper COVID-19 protocols in place

Finally, you should not run a retail store in these uncertain times of Covid-19 unless you have the proper protocols in place to protect your staff and customers.

 

COVID-19 protocol can vary from having to wear personal protective equipment such as facial masks and gloves to social-distancing requirements, restricting the number of workers in the shop at any given time depending on the store’s size, as well as how many people can gather in groups in some locations and how many customers can be served at any given time. COVID-19 procedures must be followed correctly in order for your retail store to be safe.

The most common goal of a digital campaign is brand growth, though for such a common goal it’s amazing how few truly understand how to achieve it. The key is at the intersection of digital advertising and brand strategy, so here are some tips for getting the best out of your digital advertising campaigns and build your brand.

A Holistic Approach

At the heart of any digital campaign must be a goal, with the campaign built holistically around it. There’s no room for half measures when it comes to your campaign goal – structuring every aspect of your campaign around the brand growth strategy is vital.

It’s important not to rush this process either. Far too often brands are undercooked and shoved out the door into the market, without the required time taken to be thoroughly fleshed out. So engage the expertise of a digital marketing agency to take the time not only to develop your brands’ theory but to research your target market.

Building the Brand Growth Strategy

Step one of developing a strong brand growth strategy is questioning your brand. Who are your customers? What do you do? This is especially important if you play in a niche industry as it’ll help you identify where your brand sits in the market.

The next step is establishing clear guidelines to convey your brand’s character and goals. A strong typeface, logo, colour palette and verbal identity will allow you to operate in the market, allowing your customers to organically develop their relationship with the brand before you begin your campaign.

Time to Execute

When growing your brand in the digital space, the backbone of your campaign will be social media. It’s an astoundingly powerful tool for developing a customer base and brand recall and is often overlooked for achieving this goal. Your target market research will have given you the knowledge of which social media channels to focus your time on, so the next challenge is to build momentum.

Like a steam train taking off from the station, social media is a slow burn and a big challenge to get off the ground, but once you’re up and running you’ll see amazing growth potential. The key to building this initial momentum is an investment in high production value to create content that engages the audience in your brand story. Well established content pillars that reflect your brands’ ambitions should dictate your content itself. At the core of these pillars, the content should encourage your customers to organically share their experiences and stories with your brand, both digitally and face-to-face.

Achieving Meaningful Engagement

Micro-influencers are a great tool to reach further into your target market or even break into a new one. A tactic best employed by smaller and niche brands, a promoted post or collaboration with a micro-influencer brings with it a sustained, captivated and trusting audience.

Micro-influencers have fewer followers than their big siblings, though carry with them a much more engaged and loyal audience. They may open a smaller market than large influencers, however, micro-influencers bring an unparalleled level of trust across social media. They’re also a more affordable tactic, a strong network of micro-influencers can net huge brand growth within a niche with just a small investment.

Getting the Most Out Of Video

It’s no secret that video content is much more effective at cutting through to a target market than still images, though it’s amazing how few brands effectively employ video as part of their digital advertising toolbox.

The key to video content that cuts through is tailoring it to the platform, and use – be it an in-feed post or a specific ad type to be displayed elsewhere. Beyond simply formatting, there’s little to gain in just re-cutting your traditional video media advertising (like TVC’s) for social, the content and structure itself must be built for the platform to engage, and drive outcomes through its call to action.

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Author Bio:

Jack Shepherdson:

With a love of advertising and branding, Jack Shepherdson is uberbrand’s Digital Coordinator. Experienced across the digital landscape, Jack specialises in producing digital campaigns and projects.

It happens to the best people. No one is immune to forgetting things since it is human nature to falter from time to time. Even keys and the TV remote can magically disappear. There are many instances where human memory fails and things get misplaced. Unfortunately, this extends to the items that are used on a regular basis. You may have the impression that those everyday items will be more effortless to remember. A critical item that often gets forgotten is employee ID badges. It may be a cause of alarm, especially if safety and security are critical to your company or business. Providing an employee with ID badge reels helps mitigate the problem. You might be wondering what interventions you can do if your employee has entirely forgotten their ID prior to going to work.

Should you be tolerant, lenient, or totally strict if your employee forgets their ID at home?

As a business owner, you must have a plan in place when it comes to anything related to security. A business or company will have plans for fires, emergencies, evacuations, as well as intruders. So why shouldn’t you have a plan in place for badges that get forgotten?

You may think that an ID badge that gets forgotten is not nearly as much of an emergency, such as a fire or intruder. It is a plan that may not need to be rehearsed regularly and likely won’t require going through numerous details.

However, at the fundamental level, forgetting badges are a cause of concern. When someone shows up at your workplace without valid credentials, it increases the possibility of allowing unauthorized persons in your premises.

Your response to a forgotten ID badge is contingent on how secure you want your company or business to be.

If your business or company is fairly small where every employee knows each other and sensitive information isn’t being handled, forgotten ID badges aren’t much of a deal.

But if your facility is a high-security site with a massive and complex workforce by the thousands, it is essential to positively identify every employee.

Depending on how seriously you want to take your ID security, it will go a long way in shaping how you must address forgotten ID credentials.

How Badge reels can help

You will find that providing badge reels to employees and contractors is beneficial. Employees are less likely to forget their ID cards at home. It is also possible for the cards to last much longer since they are not placed in a wallet or bag where they have the potential to rub against other items. Employees will also appreciate your efforts in making their life a little easier. If you give out customized badge reels with your brand, it is also an ideal way to keep your logo visible to the public. Security is also enhanced because cards are not likely to get lost and used by unauthorized people because the badge reel safeguards the ID to your company’s employees.

Additionally, badge reels are the best access tool for carrying around and swiping ID cards. ID badge reels are designed to keep cards within easy reach and yet out of the way, so they do not restrict work. Employees will always know where their badges are, so they don’t have to search through pockets or their bags for it. A badge reel allows you to show your company’s credentials safely every time. It is especially critical if employees work in environments where lanyards or chains can get tangled and wedged in machinery since badge reels, by comparison, are very compact.

Conclusion

It is human nature to forget things such as identification badges. Although it isn’t a cause of emergency or urgency, a person accessing your premises without proper identification can be a security risk. You must have a good system in place if employees forget their badges. Fortunately, providing badge reels help mitigate the problem.