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Business, Blogging & Money tips for creative small business owners. Reclaim your freedom. Create a passive income & read about running a passive business and blog so you can enjoy your life and travel more!
Investing in different areas of your business is important to help encourage growth and stability. There are likely areas within the company that are desperate for money in order to improve the way things are being done, and it’s not good to ignore this. Here are some areas to invest in your business. (more…)
A bad reputation? That’s not good for your business. It doesn’t matter whether the smear on your name is warranted or not, rumors have a lot to answer for, and your business can genuinely suffer because of bad news.
A big part of building your brand identity is in combating rumors and gossip, and for this, you need good PR. You can do so yourself, I talk all about it in The Ultimate Guide To PR & Free Publicity. But you may not be a high flying lawyer who requires the help of Elite Lawyer Management, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be valuable to you. You need to know that you have the best of the best because it’s the best that will help you to realign your brand identity and create a strategy that counts.
So, here are five signs that you need a new PR team working with you.
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Count yourself lucky to be alive during a period of human history, where immense changes are occurring in the business. Just a decade or so ago, no business owner would even entertain the idea of giving their employees more autonomy. ‘Why on earth would I want employees to just be able to do whatever they want!?’ would be the kind of tone you’d receive for asking why more autonomy was not allowed. That’s the fear, isn’t it? The potential fact that employees will go, rogue, do whatever they want, not keep the company’s best interests at heart. Now, however, there is a shift occurring whereby allowing more freedom to act on the initiative is taking hold in the world of business. (more…)
Everyone ponders at least once whether they’d be better off working for themselves, free from the inevitable 9 – 5 grind for a company that doesn’t really appreciate them. But how many people actually do it? Take the plunge and start your own business. It doesn’t have to be a dramatic exit from your current role, you can see if your side hustle takes off before you hand in your resignation. Follow some simple steps below to consider whether you should start your own company. (more…)
With the new year comes new goals, new expectations and new ideas. It is a good time to shake things up in the workplace with a view to improving your business. That is why today we want to share with you 3 quick ways to give your business a boost. All are simple to work on and put into place and your business is sure to benefit from them. (more…)
If you’re thinking about changing your career, or you’re in the process, then you shouldn’t settle for anything less than you deserve. Choosing a role or an employer that doesn’t match your standards is a pointless process. You would have been better staying put and going through the monotony of your previous job. At least you knew the industry and the people.
Instead, you have decided that it’s time for a change. Aside from the position itself and what it entails, this means picking a company that values your morals. Gone are the days when employees did as they were told and didn’t drive the corporate narrative. How you feel in the office is a significant part of the conversation for you and the business that puts you on their labor bill.
With that in mind, it’s essential to focus on your values when you’re looking for a new job. Then, you’ll be happier and have a better balance between work and life, rather than hating your role and doing it for the money. To help, you will find a selection of the features to consider below.
What this means is that they try and get away with things even though they know it’s not legal. This doesn’t have to be malicious because employers will conveniently “forget” to mention something, instead focusing on your lack of knowledge to get their way. Yes, every employee should understand their rights, yet you can’t keep tabs on every small detail.
The trick is to concentrate on their level of transparency. When you’re speaking to them or negotiating a contract, ask them questions that you already know the answers to and gauge their responses. If they are coy, there’s a decent chance this behavior will be on display when you’re a fully-fledged team member. However, if they’re open and honest, it’s an excellent sign that they’ll consider your interests as well as the company’s.
All you have to do is research a couple of topics and work them into the conversation.
How companies used to operate and operate today is worlds apart. In 2020 and beyond, there is much more legislation, as well as detailed regulations, that companies have to move forward. Plus, if they don’t, they’ll get left behind while the competition motors into the lead and eats up their market share. Thankfully, it’s easy to tell if a business is stuck in the past.
Their commitment to the environment is a surefire sign. Inflexible organizations won’t even have a recycling program, never mind invest in commercial LED lighting to lower the firm’s CO2 footprint. And, if your potential employer is rigid with something as basic as reducing energy costs, they won’t believe in flextime or job perks.
Regarding saving the planet, you can tell by looking at the website and studying their partners. The supply chain should reveal all. Alternatively, you can ask previous or current employees how the company has changed in the past decade.
What the company offers you for being part of the team says a lot about their morals. For lots of businesses, job perks are cosmetic and offer very little in terms of helping employees’ lifestyles. With others, they are tailored to the people in the workplace so that everyone gets the full benefit of increased efficiency and productivity. Yes, more breaks affect both.
It’s vital to look past the appearance the business is trying to show and delve deeper. For example, a company car sounds incredible, but it’s often a disappointment. The reason is that part of the costs come out of your wage. Okay, it might be cheaper than buying a new vehicle, but it can also be less accessible. If it’s tracked, you won’t be able to drive it out of business hours, meaning you’ll need a separate car anyway.
A benefit that almost always helps employees regardless is free health insurance. Knowing that your employer covers you not only reduces your costs; it also means you get peace of mind that the wellbeing of you and your family are protected.
Sometimes, life passes by without being able to stock. As a result, you might think you have specific personality traits, yet they could be more complicated than you know. Self-awareness is a pivotal part of the process because it will enable you to hone in on the features that are essential and swerve the rest.
Are you scientific? Do you prefer things rather than people? If the answer is yes, a career in engineering or the military could be on the cards. On the flip side, you’ll probably be better off trying nursing or joining an outreach program if you’re people-centric. Also, it’s important not to forget about the environment. Socialites will be happier in an office where they can bounce off people, whereas those who don’t like being told what to do will prefer self-employment.
Knowing your future boss isn’t enough – you’ve got to understand your future self, too.
You’ve found the perfect role and want to join the team as quickly as possible. That’s great, but don’t rush in just yet. Not to kill your vibe, but there’s something you might have missed: career progression. Accepting a job offer before you’ve decided whether there’s room to grow is dangerous as you might end up in the same position in five years.
Quitting and starting a new career every twelve months is going to be exhausting. Yes, you don’t want to commit forever – never say never – yet you also shouldn’t think so narrowly. Take a look at the hierarchy and the business’ plan and see if there is room for expansion. A small company could be better than a big one in this regard as they have expectations to grow, opening up accessible job opportunities.
There will be points where you want to give-in and accept any job that comes your way, but you shouldn’t. If you’ve taken the risk to quit and start afresh, you must have the courage to see it through to the end.
You might be all about resolutions for the new year, or perhaps you eschew extra pressures like this and jump straight back into work. Either way, we are certain that you will be looking at setting some business goals and developing strategies to grow and strengthen your business this year. With this in mind, today we are sharing with you 3 tips to boost your business this year. (more…)
Any business that employs people has a responsibility to those members of staff. There are certain rights that should be afforded to all employees and it’s up to the business to make sure that they are. In most cases, business owners are honest and reliable and they will ensure that everything is above board and your rights in the workplace are not violated. Unfortunately, there will always be employers that want to cut corners and save money by breaking the law and violating employee rights in the workplace.
This often goes unnoticed and the employer is allowed to get away with it because the employees don’t know that they are being treated unfairly in the first place. If you don’t understand exactly what your rights are as an employee, it is impossible for you to know when an employer is taking advantage of you and breaking the law. If you are still unsure, take a look at this list of the main employee rights that you should expect in the workplace. (more…)
When an app is in the late design phase, a whole slew of things have to come together. The only trouble is, they have to come together at the same time, in the same place. This is when things get a little tough and troubling because all parts of your business have to coordinate their efforts in the same direction. During app development, departments are basically told to go off and work on their own until every aspect is ready to move onto the next stage. Then departments will be brought together to finalize on a phase and then move forward. During the final stage of app development, you’re going to be meeting together like never before. Almost every person in every department will be working overtime to get the app finished. As the business owner, you need to have a clear plan for what you’re going to do in the final few weeks before launch day.
Tunnel vision is something you need to be careful of. It can happen to anyone and lead to some serious implications. You don’t want to be a company that was so focussed on achieving the core goals of an app, that they don’t plan for the future needs of customers. Adaptive and responsive design is therefore of the utmost priority. No more do we see this than in the smartphone arena. Smartphones are able to utilize the latest software through updates for at least 5 years. This keeps customers happy as they don’t expect their apps and products to stop working after a couple of years. Inevitably, this has pushed up customer expectations and thus, your app must be adaptive to future changes.
Having a responsive design is going to allow you to build upon the app well after release. Instead of caging yourself into the concept of the app itself, design the app like a container, able to accept unforeseen things in the future. Although responsive design is not as flexible as adaptive design, it still allows you to accept contemporary designs albeit in a less desirable manner. The core is, keeping the app in a somewhat stringent form, allowing outside and new factors to be utilized, but not changing the app drastically. It’s more likely you will be using responsive design for customers using your app on an iOS device as it’s not as customizable as Android.
Above all else, the user experience is the area that needs to be the most refined. Your color theme and artistic design, won’t be accepted by everyone. Aesthetics are incredibly subjective and thus you shouldn’t try to please any side too much in this area. However, user experience can be deemed universal. A customer using your app in Singapore might have the same navigation issues as a customer in Finland. In the final phase of app development, user insights are going to act profoundly on your decisions. Interacting with consumers to get their feedback and insight is crucial. However, the challenge of insights is that they’re not observations. Insights can show you things you didn’t know existed. Seeing the app from a totally different perspective from you, consumers can show you flaws that were not even evident to your programming team.
With so many complex tests, insights and issues that need troubleshooting, how do you keep track of everything? A user research software will present to you a toolbox of solutions, helping you to garner as many insights as possible. Quality user insights can then be filtered, allowing you to make user-centric decisions. The digital experience of your app is massively improved by such tactile design choices. The software also gives you access to all valuable research methods, participant sourcing capabilities as well as qualitative and quantitative data. Scaling and automating the research process, you create a smooth cycle of efficient insight gathering and effective design altering.
The simple fact of the matter is, the average smartphone user has a plethora of apps, and you’re just one of them. In a sea of apps, how can you stand out the most? Apps like LinkedIn and Facebook have chosen to go the route of, ‘everything is a notification’. Every little thing, from a post about a topic you’ve previously clicked for, a friend updating their status, to a news source posting a new article, is shown in your notification bar. This is a form of FOMO. The ‘fear of missing out’ is an extremely powerful sales tools. But it’s a prickly bush, not without its consequences for the app designer. Video games use this technique the most, as giving the user only a short amount of time to click on something such as a reward, clue or discount, traps them into a loop of FOMO and instant gratification.
The reason why many companies use FOMO is that, it’s very common for a customer to download your app and after a few days, simply forget it even exists on their device. But FOMO can lead to distrust and a feeling of exploitation. Users that aren’t affected by FOMO, will be even more likely to uninstall your app when they see countdown clocks under items they’re going to miss out on if they don’t keep tapping away. You must find other ways to make your app relevant for everyday use. Integrating your app with other systems such as for Google Suite, Gmail, YouTube and task management software for professionals is highly recommended.
When consumers download your app, you must have a pop-up page whereby your your security is explained. If someone else is trying to access one’s account via the app, the consumer should be notified via ways of a trusted contact. This can be through email, phone number, text or perhaps through the app itself in the form of a notification.
The final phase of app design is perhaps the most exciting. By utilizing research software that collates the best insights, you make highly effective user-oriented decisions. Utilize adaptive and responsive design for different platforms such as iOS and Android.
You don’t need me to tell you the consequences of breaking the law.
It will be of little surprise to you to know that you could face financial penalties, prison time, and a hasty downturn in your reputation. You will also have that criminal conviction hanging over you for many years to come. While this is obviously bad news for your personal life, it’s bad news for your life in business too. While you could always hire a PR firm to spread positive news about you, and while you could escape long-term trouble with the aid of expert law firms akin to Takajian & Sitkoff, that initial bad word about you could stick. For a time, your business could struggle as a consequence.
For these reasons, we’re sure you are already doing your best to walk on the path that is straight and narrow. However, where your business is concerned, you could be at risk of breaking the law without even knowing it. In fact, you may have broken the law already! (more…)
Everyone knows how to waste money, but there are plenty of ways to save it, too. Whether you think about lowering your spending on utility costs or you want to save money on your commute to work, you should consider the tips we’ve got for you below. It’s a brand New Year – let’s look at the ways that you can save money this year! (more…)
It’s the start of a new year. That’s pretty momentous! And what better time to start making the little changes now that will add up to big changes for the rest of your life. You’ve likely already made some promises to yourself this year. Perhaps you’ve decided to make more of an effort to improve your health and fitness. Maybe you’ve joined the masses trying veganuary this year or at the very least vowed to eat more plants and less of everything else. Maybe you’ve vowed to be kinder or do more for charity. Or perhaps this is the year when you ditch the job and take your first steps down the path of entrepreneurship. (more…)