Business Strategy | Mike McRitchie | Resume and LinkedIn Profile Writer | Telecom Marketing Content Writer

Making the Break from Brick and Mortar to E Commerce

March 21, 2019 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

In the past, when you decided to set up a “business”, commercial property was bound to be involved. You’d have to establish some sort of store or office space in order to provide customers with a space in which they could engage with your brand, purchase your products, or book your services. While this type of business model does still exist today (after all, the majority of us do still carry out a portion of our shopping on the high street), increasing numbers of small business owners are making the move from brick and mortar to E Commerce stores. Either that, or they are maintaining their brick and mortar business and operating online at the same time.

The reasons for switching to E Commerce are varied. It tends to be cheaper to run an online business. You can operate around the clock. You can also easily reach out to a national or even international audience. But if you are considering making the break from brick and mortar to online retail, you’re going to have to do your research. People tend to shop in a different manner when they shop online. You need to familiarise yourself with these trends in order to maximise your sales and profits!

The good news is that you don’t necessarily have to fork out a fortune on market research in order to achieve this. There’s existing, published research out there that will help you to better get to grips with consumer habits in various areas of the market. Just take a look at the infographic by Trade Vitality below!

Infographic Design By Trade Vitality

Do You Have A Referral-Generating Recruiting Process?

March 4, 2019 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

Think back to a bad hire that you’ve made (because let’s face it—we’ve all made bad hires, even if we’re a great judge of a person).

It might be that the individual simply didn’t understand what it took to fill the job. They may not have been a great fit for office culture, or they might have had a life event that made it so they couldn’t keep the job. That’s simply the way things happen.

But as a business person, you understand that losing people or spending time on people who aren’t going to work out is a loss for you on the day-to-day life of your office, and it also makes a negative impact on the bottom line.

That’s why figuring out a better process can save you headache and dollars. And we’ve got a secret: Your employees may be the best source of referrals yet. How so? This graphic explains it.

The Network Effect: Why Referral Networks Are Helping Today’s Businesses Thrive

Infographic by AkkenCloud

The Best Ways To Keep Your Business Secure

January 31, 2019 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

If you own or manage a business the last thing you want is a death or injury in the workplace. This can lead to lawsuits, fines and even being closed down, so keeping your business a safe place to work in is really important. Here are a few tips to help you keep your workplace a safe environment for employees.

Protective equipment

No matter what business you are in there is always protective equipment needed. If you work in a kitchen it’s oven gloves, a building site requires a hard hat and gloves and if it’s a lab then safety goggles. No matter where you are there is always a requirement to have safety equipment on hand for anything that may happen. As said above protective eyewear is needed for anything that will have the chance to go in your eyes, like dust, liquids, and sparks. If you work in an environment that has the potential dangers of things falling then hard hats are required and so on, so any possible danger needs to have the equipment to protect from this.

As well as having the equipment to wear you also need equipment to help once a disaster has struck, so this would be fire extinguishers, fire blankets, shovels for snow and salt to de-ice any parking spaces and roads that lead to your business. All these things help to protect and prevent accident even after the incident may have already happened.

Protection Systems

Protection systems mean anything you can put in place that will help decrease or prevent an incident from occurring. So if you work on tall buildings as a builder having harnesses and fall protection systems for roofs in place can stop any danger of someone falling from the roof of the buildings you work on. Having fire alarms and any other warning devices in place would also be a great protection system, basically, anything that premediates danger occurring and has prevention in place to help stop any accidents happening.

Safety procedures

Having safety procedures in place is a great way to make sure all staff is accounted for and safe in the case of an emergency. Making sure the staff knows exactly where to go and stay if an alarm sounds or something happens means there is less panic and it is all kept more organized. It is also crucial to make sure you have appointed safety marshals who will take control of the situation, like doing a head count and name check and calling any emergency services that may be needed. Having a copy of the safety procedure and everything on the wall and labeled correctly is key to make sure there is no confusion during an emergency and everyone goes where they need to go.

Having the responsibility of keeping people safe isn’t easy but in business it is crucial to look after your staff and keep them safe. Just make sure you have these things implemented and you will decrease your chances of an accident and increase your chances of dealing with one efficiently if it may arise.

Why Are Your Employees Quitting and How Can You Retain Them?

January 28, 2019 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

Employee turnover is a major global epidemic that is plaguing companies. The workspace is not what it used to be and has changed for good.

In the olden days, there were fewer options compared to the ocean of opportunities today.

Employees often flit from one job to another as soon as they get a better opportunity. Many feel that Millennials, as a generation, are less stable and not as hardworking as previous generations. But that isn’t true, as the stress levels today are a lot higher than they used to be. There are many more challenges and complications in today’s technologically advanced world than ever before.

An ideal team of employees and management is hard to find these days. Companies are only made of humans and by default, each company has its own unique dysfunction, which the employees learn about sooner or later…often being the trigger that causes them to quit their job.

Dysfunctions can be anything from having inflexible work hours, to a manager who isn’t empathetic, lack of career advancement or promotional opportunity, unchallenging work, lack of opportunity to use their skills and abilities, company politics, overall corporate culture, unhappiness with salary and benefits, etc.

The best way to retain employees is to understand what they’re considering, and what they’re thinking.

Surveys and feedback are one figure it out.

Are they happy with their work? Are their requirements being met? Do they have the correspondence, critical thinking, input, and acknowledgment that they require from their supervisor?

Staying in touch with your employees can help you solve the issues of employee turnover faster than you think.

To know more about it you can go through the detailed infographic below on employee retention, which gives a list of reasons for employee turnover and some great solutions.

Business Assets: Buy Or Lease

January 22, 2019 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Business assets are essential. Not only do you need heavy duty equipment to create products and services, but they come in handy as collateral too. No entrepreneur wants to get into debt; however, if they do, the value might be enough to keep your head above water.

Still, there are issues, the price being one of them. Some SMEs and medium-sized businesses don’t have the budget to splash out thousands of dollars. That’s why there are two options: to buy or to lease.

The majority of people will prefer the former yet you should judge based on the situation. To help, here are the times when buying and leasing are helpful.

Low Upfront Cost

When you rent equipment, you know that it will cost you more in the long-term. That’s a tick in the column of buying, right? Not necessarily because the price might be so high that it’s impossible to afford the asset at its retail value. An alternative is to lease it for a monthly fee which is within your budget. That way, the company gets the resource it desperately needs and doesn’t end up plunging into the red. Sure, the overall cost will be high yet machine might make you money so it’s a win-win.

Tax Incentives

On the flip side, the price of the asset won’t only have a negative impact. Even if you can’t strictly afford it, there’s a chance it will lower your expenses. How? It’s through tax incentives. For one thing, the item might class as an asset that is deductible from your yearly return. Therefore, even though it’s a lot of money, it will save you cash in other areas. Plus, the business doesn’t have to worry about contracts and annual fees as you and nobody else owns the product. See section 179 of the IR code for more.

Flexible Terms

You don’t have the money and need it fast, so you turn to a bank. A personal loan or a business one will provide with a quick cash injection. The problem is that the terms of a loan aren’t as welcoming as that of a lease. Boss Lasers are approved without extensive financial statements, don’t show up on the balance sheet, and don’t need a deposit. Usually, this means you can’t make a purchase quickly or efficiently either. Buying when you have the money is a great idea, but it isn’t when you have to borrow to boost the coffers.

Resale Value

Buyers don’t get a new asset every couple of years; however, there is a resale option. Once you are done with the asset, you can sell it on again and try to make a profit. How much money it demands depends on a variety of factors, such as reliability, age, and aesthetics. Customers won’t bother if it doesn’t look good. But, if it comes with detailed service history and breakdown report, it might command a high price.

What’s better? The method you choose should depend on net cost once tax, the fee, and resale value have been included.