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

Creating a Relaxing Work Environment That Can Make Your Team More Productive

May 5, 2022 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Have you ever wanted to create a more productive team? Are you looking to improve the overall working conditions of your company so that your staff feels more motivated to work harder? If this is something you’re looking to achieve, then you may want to take a look at the environment itself. If you want your staff to be more productive then you need to create a workplace that is comfortable and doesn’t cause any unnecessary stress.

This can be more difficult to pull off than it sounds, so here are a couple of suggestions to help you make a relaxing work environment that leads to a more productive team.

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Peace and quiet or background noise; what’s better for your workplace?

First, it’s important to decide if your staff works better when there’s peace and quiet or if there’s some background noise. This is going to depend on the amount of focus they need and it’s usually a matter of personal preference. Some people work better when there are sounds around them because it helps to get them in a working mood, but others need focus which requires a peaceful environment.

If possible, you should aim to cater to both types of staff by first eliminating any unnecessary noises that are loud and distracting. Some background noise is perfectly fine, but you should attempt to create peaceful areas that are soundproofed and can give your staff the quiet time they need to focus.

Are you working at the right temperature?

It’s important to maintain a comfortable temperature for your staff to work at. If it’s too hot, then your air conditioning should automatically kick in. If it’s too cold, then your heater should adjust the temperature throughout the office. You may want to consider hiring a service like DUCTZ to help you maintain your heating and cooling systems, but it’s also worth mentioning that every member of staff will prefer a different working temperature. But as long as your staff has a working HVAC system to regulate the climate, they’re going to be much more comfortable working in your office.

Let your team personalize their space

It’s a good idea to let your staff personalize the space they work in, especially if they spend a lot of hours sitting at their desk. This can be something simple like adding a picture of their loved ones, or it could be something more involved like letting them paint the desk in a color of their choice. Personalization is great for motivating staff and helping them feel more attached to your workplace, resulting in a more productive team.

Keep your workplace clean and healthy

Lately, make sure you’re focusing on ways to keep your workplace clean and healthy. This means remembering to ventilate your office so that fresh air can be circulated, it means giving it a deep clean to remove any potential bacteria, and also means encouraging your staff to take cleaning into their own hands now and then. It’ll also help to hire a service to help to clean your workplace thoroughly now and then.

Choosing The Right Suppliers For Your Company

May 3, 2022 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

No business is an island. To survive and indeed thrive on the market, you need to make sure that you are creating the right type of connections that you can rely on. There are lots of connections to consider here. For instance, you should think about options like influencers. These can help you gain the right attention from your target audience. You might also want to consider finding the right suppliers. The best supplier will mean that you can rely on them to keep your company firing on all cylinders. Here are some of the top considerations you should explore when looking at different suppliers.

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Cost

First, you do need to think about crucial factors like cost when you are choosing the right supplier for your business. Heavy costs are always going to hurt your company in the long term. It will mean that your entire business model is far less efficient and this is the last thing you want. It can give your competitors an easy upper hand on the market.

This is why you should always ask for different quotes when you are exploring various business suppliers on the market. At the same time, it’s important to understand that cost is not the full story. There are lots of other factors that you need to think about here which we’re going to explore in this article.

Reviews

You might find that a business is able to sell you supplies at a low cost – great news – but their reviews aren’t great. In particular, business owners like you have found that their company services are lacking to say the least. This is a cause for concern that you need to take seriously. Of course, a couple negative reviews don’t always mean that the business should be avoided. Clients can be disappointed for a variety of different reasons. Why you need to watch out for are trends throughout the reviews or patterns which suggest a poor level of service. In cases like this, it’s best to steer clear of the company instead of giving them the benefit of the doubt.

Another point to think about is whether or not a business has many reviews. If a company is untrusted, this can be just as dangerous as a business that has a high level of negative buzz. The saying that it’s better the devil you know than the one you don’t holds true here. If reviews are mixed, then at least you know the problems you should expect if you choose to use the company as your supplier.

Quality

Another factor that you should keep in mind is quality standards. Some suppliers are always going to be able to offer higher levels of quality in terms of the products that they sell and that’s important to keep in mind. Don’t forget, quality is one of the leading reasons why a lot of businesses fail to get the reviews that they are looking for from customers. Choosing the right supplier is one of the easiest ways to ensure that you don’t fall short here.

For instance, you might be creating wooden products for your clients and customers. If that’s the case then you should think about choosing a supplier that can provide items such as unfinished wood rounds. When choosing a company like this, make sure that you do look for evidence of high quality. For instance, they might be able to provide photos of what type of products you could create using their materials as a base point. You also shouldn’t be afraid to ask questions about the level of quality available from a company like this.

Contact Points

The hope is always going to be that once you find a supplier that you want to buy from it’s smooth saving. However, there’s no guarantee that this is going to be the case. Indeed, it’s possible that you’re going to have a lot of questions and queries about the service that the business provides. That’s why it’s important to make sure that you can always get the answers that you need. One of the ways to do this would be by making sure that you choose a supplier that is providing strong contact points.

You should take note of details like this at the first point of contact. For instance, think about how long it takes for the business to respond as well as how they respond. Most, if not all businesses, will respond in the first 24 hours. They will then follow up with a more detailed response within the first week.

When exploring whether to form a partnership with a company, make sure that you check how you will be able to contact them. Some of the possibilities will include text, email, phone and live chat. The more options available, the easier it will be to guarantee that you are never left waiting for an answer you need from a business.

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Turn Around

Next, you need to make sure that you think about the turnaround that a business can offer. Ideally, you should aim to find a business that can deliver a rapid turnaround in terms of the supplies that they offer. A slow turnaround will lead to problems for your business down the road. It could even mean that you end up with a lull in the supplies that you need. That could ultimately result in downtime for your business which can end up costing your company thousands each day you lose work.

A good turnaround time will depend on the specific business industry that you are a part of. However, you do need to make sure that it fits with your specific business model. You should also make sure that a fast turnaround is guaranteed. The best way to do this is to form the right legal contract with the company in question. In other words, you should think about ensuring that the agreement between you and a potential supplier is iron clad with absolutely no wiggle room for them to miss a delivery.

Outsourcing

Finally, you should think about whether or not the company in question is outsourcing to other businesses. There’s nothing wrong with outsourcing as a general rule but it does call into question whether you are being provided with the service or supplies that you’re paying for. If a company is outsourcing their production or manufacturing, then it calls into question who you’re actually in business with.

It’s likely that you vetted a supplier that seemed to fit the mold for what you needed. You might have searched their social media buzz and explored other clients that they work with. If they are outsourcing, then this means there’s a whole other business working behind the scenes that you know nothing about. Don’t forget, this business is completely clean when it comes to problems with quality. You can’t blame them for issues here and neither can the original company that you formed a partnership with. It makes things a little tricky for you when you are running your company. So, how should you handle this?

Well, you can ask the company whether they use outsourcing services directly. Do note that there’s no guarantee they’ll answer this question honestly, so it’s worth completing a little independent research if this possibility does concern you.

We hope this helps you understand some of the key points that you should consider when you are choosing the right supplier for your business. By exploring these options, you can make sure that you are not left with a company that falls short of your expectations and that will ultimately cause long term problems for your company on the market.

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5 Effective Tips to Make a Job from Your Hobby’

April 28, 2022 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Kids having fun with laptop – Image Courtesy of Pixabay

It’s not easy to make a job from your hobby, given the vast competition online and in the world. But you can get ahead of most with these easy and effective tips to get started.

Indulge Your Passion

To begin with, you should discover what you enjoy doing and what you wish to do for the rest of your life. It’s not always easy to figure this out. Your interests may be diverse. There is nothing wrong with having interests, but you need something you are passionate about as well. An effective niche is something you are happy to do without being paid. Unless you are engaged in your niche, you will get bored very quickly. For example, as an artist or musician you could pass the days as you build a guitar or write new tunes. You can monetize this online with a blog.

Highlight Your Niche

To build a following, you should find a niche. Focus on something you know a lot about. Focusing on a broad subject is not a good idea when finding a niche. Instead, try to narrow it down. For example, you cannot just write about dogs in an animal blog. Considering how popular certain breeds are these days, you could instead create a blog about them. A great example is King Charles Cavalier Spaniels. These are a great and fun breed. That’s why they are recommended for children. So your blog could be about the best animals when raising kids.

Make a Job from Your Hobby by Improving Your Skills

Learning what skills you need to do what you love is critical to making your hobby a job. For example, let’s say you love model railways and could spend all day making tracks. But you might not have the skills for the electronic components. Success requires a wide range of skills. For example, perhaps you want to open a model railway store, but you can’t grasp logic gates and circuits. This is a skill you need if you’re going to appeal to the best possible audience in your niche. Additionally, it’s a complex subject, so mastering it means better opportunities.

Make Yourself Known Online

People need to know about you in your niche. You can accomplish this in various ways, but it all comes down to developing a credible presence in your niche. Ads, word-of-mouth, and social media play an essential role in sustaining a steady audience. Yet a digital company can benefit from a niche such as making model railways. You can display your tiny creations and unique electronics on YouTube or on your blog. This will make it easy for people to find your stunning expertise and offer money or other incentives for your services.

Further Expose Your Skills

You have to pick a niche if you are going into a profession with lots of competition. For this reason, you may want to choose a subject related to your expertise. By being more specific, you will be less likely to face competition. Like everyone else, railway model makers have the option of showing their work online. So, suppose a TV production company needs a detailed rail environment with working lights for a kids’ show. In that case, they can easily find your work, and you might get offers to work full time or offer your services freelance on a contractual basis.

Summary

Your hobby can quickly become a source of income. Start with a hobby you enjoy. After that, develop your skills. And finally, establish yourself online and market your business.

Why Your Business Needs Great Bathrooms

April 27, 2022 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

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When you’re looking for advice on how to make your business better, you probably don’t come across the issue of bathrooms very often, but maybe more people should be writing about the importance of good commercial bathrooms because they are actually very important for a number of reasons, as you will see below.

They help to keep staff healthy

When your business bathrooms are regularly cleaned and sanitized, they will help to maintain high levels of hygiene within the workplace, which means that your employees will be less likely to get sick, and thus need to take time off work, which can send your productivity plummeting and cost you a lot of money.

That is why it is so important that you invest in good cleaners and ensure that they regularly deep clean the bathrooms and keep them in good shape.

They can impress customers and clients

If your customers or clients might have reason to use your bathrooms, then it is really important that they are clean, presentable, and as luxurious as you can make them. Don’t scrimp on toilet paper, and be sure to call in a good commercial plumbing service to deal with any leaks, as well as ensure that you have a crack team of cleaners to make the room sparkle.

So many washrooms on business premises are dirty and smelly and kind of unloved and it really does not reflect well on the business that owns them because it shows a lack of care for employees, visitors, and the most basic standards that it really could put people off doing business with that company.

Safety

When bathrooms are well-designed and maintained, they help to keep people safe., For example, bathrooms that are free from spills and leaks are less likely to cause someone to slip and fall over, and bathrooms that have single lockable cubicles make everyone feel safer when they are doing their business, which can be a vulnerable time for a lot of people.

Bathrooms that have not had much time or thought put into them are always going to result in more incidents where people feel unsafe or get injured, and that could end up with your company getting a lawsuit, so it is far better to invest well in your bathrooms.

Improve employee happiness levels

No one wants to work in an office where the bathrooms are disgusting. People will try to hold it in for a slogan as they can or they will start going to bathrooms outside of the building and it will affect morale more than you might think.

It may also lower productivity levels because, when people are feeling uncomfortable or leaving the building just to pee, they aren’t exactly going to be working at optimum concentration levels are they?

As you can see, bathrooms really are more important to your business than you might have thought possible, which is why you should make it your mission to ensure your company always has great bathrooms in place. It really will pay off.

Business Ideas That Are Going To Be Huge In 2022

April 27, 2022 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

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Have you ever thought about starting your own business? If you’re reading this, it’s most likely because you want to know about the opportunities available for starting a business. Whether your interests lie in a specific industry or you’re simply curious about the process, you can read through this article to learn more about the benefits of starting your own business. And, if you’re interested in starting your own business, read on to learn about ideas you can implement right away to generate revenue.

3-D Printing Business

This business is an excellent example of a product that appeals to a niche audience. By filing a patent, this company has secured its position as the dominant player in the industry. The printing of food, for instance, is currently very in demand. It’s easy to see why. It offers the ability to create a wide variety of foods that include ingredients found in traditional cooking.

Food printing is very popular with customers who wish to eat a plant-based diet. Finally, customers can enjoy food free from preservatives and artificial ingredients through this practice. Therefore, you can have a very lucrative printing business with proper marketing.

Trendy Eatery

Cultural food is a huge trend nowadays. And several entrepreneurs have taken note of this trend and founded restaurants that cater to this niche audience. When you live in a place that only has restaurants that serve traditional or local food to your city, there is a lack of diversity in eating out options. You can fill this hole in the market by bringing in food from various cultures and introducing your city to them. You might want to consider operating a fusion restaurant that blends the food of your hometown with something foreign or opening an eatery that is specific to one type of food, such as drinks or desserts. To succeed with a food-based business, you’ll want to ensure that you are not opening a venue with a lot of competition!

Virtual Reality Company

Virtual reality has experienced massive growth in recent years. It’s an excellent technology for training and simulation while also being a great marketing tool for businesses. The business could help companies to train their employees through simulations. It could also guide clients through customizable simulations that are specifically tailored to the needs of various companies. The business could also help to promote products and services through simulations. Virtual reality could be very profitable as long as clients are interested in using it. It’s also worth noting that the business might help clients secure sponsorships.

Decentralized Exchanges

There’s a massive shift in the way people store and access their digital assets. A growing number of people are moving away from centralized platforms. The decentralized exchanges are expected to become even more popular in the coming years. The businesses offer a decentralized platform that allows users to exchange assets with no third party involved in the process.

Cloud Storage Company

With the rise in popularity of cloud-based services, many people are now opting for online storage. The business could help clients to store files online through virtualization. In addition, it would provide file-sharing services, allow clients to secure files through encryption, and assist clients in tracking their files through various programs. When starting a cloud-based company, be sure to look into how you can best provide security and protection to your clients’ information. Additionally, you’ll want to look up the laws pertaining to data privacy.

Medicinal and Recreational Dispensary

With marijuana becoming legalized in many places, the dispensing of oral drugs and dietary supplements is a growing trend. So you might want to get in on the ground floor and open up your first weed dispensary. But owning such a business isn’t just about selling marijuana and its concentrated resin forms along with a scope of desirable food alternatives that do not need to be inhaled.

You might be going into opening a dispensary because you consider yourself to be somewhat of a food scientist and think that imbuing snacks, drinks, kinds of honey, types of butter, and cooking oils with cannabis is fascinating. Still, there are many things you have to consider before you can open up for business.

The laws concerning the commercialization of marijuana are often very complex, so you’ll want to do your research beforehand to avoid legal trouble down the road. Additionally, you might consider drawing up a cannabis business plan to keep track of everything.

Conclusion

The future of business is bright, and plenty of ideas are sure to be successful in 2022. These ideas have real potential from 3-D printing businesses to medicinal dispensaries and could be a staple in your industry. The key is to implement these ideas now so that when the time comes for you to expand them, you will already have experience under your belt and can do so quickly and efficiently.