Author: anwaryusef

Anwar Y. Dunbar is a Regulatory Scientist. Being a naturally curious person, he is also a student of all things. He earned his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Michigan and his Bachelor’s Degree in General Biology from Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU). Prior to starting the Big Words Blog Site, Anwar published and contributed to numerous research articles in competitive scientific journals reporting on his research from graduate school and postdoctoral years. After falling in love with writing, he contributed to the now defunct Examiner.com, and the Edvocate where he regularly wrote about: Education-related stories/topics, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Financial Literacy; as well as conducted interviews with notable individuals such as actor and author Hill Harper. Having many influences, one of his most notable heroes is author, intellectual and speaker, Malcolm Gladwell, author of books including Outliers and David and Goliath. Anwar has his hands in many, many activities. In addition to writing, Anwar actively mentors youth, works to spread awareness of STEM careers, serves on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the David M. Brown Arlington Planetarium, serves as Treasurer for the JCSU Washington, DC Alumni Chapter, and is active in the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace Ministry at the Alfred Street Baptist Church. He also tutors in the subjects of biology, chemistry and physics. Along with his multi-talented older brother Amahl Dunbar (designer of the Big Words logos, inventor and a plethora of other things), Anwar is a “Fanboy” and really enjoys Science-Fiction and Superhero movies including but not restricted to Captain America Civil War, Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Prometheus. He is a proud native of Buffalo, NY.

Coronavirus and Your Business: Preventing Things From Going Bad

Three of the focuses of my blog are Current Events, Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. The Coronavirus has not only created a human health crisis, but also an economic crisis which business owner didn’t see coming. To be one of the businesses to survive this event and to continue generating profit, you’ll have to be very smart and vigilant. The following contributed post is entitled, Coronavirus and Your Business: Preventing Things From Going Bad.

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Image: https://www.pexels.com/photo/design-desk-display-eyewear-313690/

It doesn’t matter what your business sells, Covid-19 will have impacted upon it in some way or another. If you’re a smaller company especially it can be extremely difficult to navigate your way through what are essentially completely uncharted waters. Here are some things to bear in mind, and how you can prevent things from going bad.

Slowing profits
Most kinds of businesses will have highs and lows when it comes to their profits over the course of the year. This is normal and can depend on things like public holidays and celebrations. For example, retail businesses usually peak in profits around Christmas time and can often drop for a while in the new year once everyone is spent out. The current pandemic is of course affecting just about every business, if yours has slowed down then it’s a time to start being innovative and thinking outside of the box for ways to promote and boost your profits as much as you can over this time.

Negative press
Negative stories about you in the press can affect your business due to spoiled reputation, so be sure to think carefully before you respond. In more extreme cases, you might even want to seek legal help. Many companies have gained bad press over this time where they’ve inadvertently gone about things the wrong way with social distancing, letting staff members go, upping prices due to increased demand and a whole long list of other things. Once things have blown over you’ll need to rebuild your reputation and regain the approval of those who shop with you. Be sure to apologise, we’re living in unprecedented times and no one is going to get it right all the time. If you’ve slipped up or done the wrong thing, make it clear that you apologise for that and admit your mistake.

Poor service
Many businesses have now had to make the switch to selling online, and this can come with some problems. Due to social distancing restrictions, warehouses that dispatch items are working to less capacity meaning things are sent out slower. There’s more demand on the postal service and courier companies so your customer will receive their order later than they’d usually expect. You might also have less customer service staff available to deal with queries so overall, customers may feel as though they’re getting poor service. The best thing you can do is put a notice on your website explaining the situation, while at this point most people will be aware of these things it ensures that people are buying and knowing what to expect. If it’s going to take a number of weeks for them to get their order for example then they need to know this from the get go.

Illness
When someone is injured or becomes unwell as a result of your business it can spell disaster for your company. And right now, we’re dealing with a virus that no one knows too much about so bringing employees back to work too soon could lead to an outbreak that you’re then blamed for. Make sure you have all of the right insurances in place to protect your business, and seek legal advice on any matters that arise. Be sure to follow health and safety laws to the letter, for example social distancing guidelines state that people should remain two metres apart. You’ll need to make changes in your workplace to accommodate this.

Theft
There are a number of ways people can steal from your business. The first is criminals actively taking assets from you, such as shoplifters stealing items, or burglars breaking into offices or warehouses. You could also come up against cyber theft, or even fraud or theft from your own employees. Another thing to be aware of is competitors stealing your ideas, if you’re worried about this being a possibility then look into stealth mode startups. This enables you a chance to get set up and running and protect your assets so that your ideas aren’t taken by others. You’ll need to protect your business both online as well as in person, as well as keep certain ideas under wraps until you’ve got things like copyrighting or patents in place.

Becoming Obsolete
We live in an incredibly fast paced world, even when things are normal before the virus, here technology ever evolving meant that once thriving businesses are left in the dark ages within a couple of years. Now that things have changed dramatically (and will likely stay this way for the foreseeable future) you have to be careful that you’re not rendered obsolete. There are certain businesses that people can’t use in the normal way at the moment, if you fall into this category it’s important to think outside of the box. Could you teach what you do via online lectures and presentations? Could you switch things up to offer customers what they need right now?

Bankruptcy
Things can and do go wrong in business which can lead to your venture failing, and in the current economic climate with the pandemic this is happening to many businesses (particularly smaller and newer ventures). Consider loans and government grants to keep you going, but be aware this won’t always be possible. While it’s hard to deal with now, you will have learned a lot through your failures. That way, later down the line when you’re ready to get involved in business again, you can build upon this knowledge and experience.

How To Enjoy Your Job All The More

A key focus of my blog is Career Discussions. It isn’t a forgone conclusion that one will enjoy their job. As a matter of fact, a number of things go into job enjoyment/satisfaction. The following contributed post is entitled, How To Enjoy Your Job All The More.

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If you find there are times when you enjoy your job less, then you are not alone. This is what most people find with their work, no matter what the line of work is and how long they have actually been engaged in it. Even if it is what you really want to be doing with your life, there are still likely to be off days. If you are wondering how you might be able to enjoy your job all the more, then there are many ways to do so, and a lot of things that you might want to consider. In this article, we are going to take a look at some of the major things to bear in mind to ensure that you can enjoy your job all the more in no time.

Pic Credit – CCO Licence

Bring A Good Attitude To Work

For many people, work is a kind of catalyst which helps them to get to the bottom of what they are in need of doing to improve themselves. If you are allowing yourself to get too moody and stressed at work, consider this a challenge to try and bring a better attitude to the workplace in future. When you do this, you are going to find that you have a much better chance of keeping the enjoyment of it alive, and that you will find yourself really loving what you do. Even if you find it challenging, just try to bring a better attitude to work and see what a difference it makes – to yourself and those around you.

Keep Safe & Healthy

You should never let your job damage your health or put you in great danger. If you find that this is happening a lot, then you need to think about what you can change. Of course, some jobs are inherently dangerous, such as being a paramedic. But for most jobs, you shouldn’t be put in a position where you are going to struggle to keep yourself basically safe and healthy. If you are hurt at work, that can cause a lot of problems in many ways, so do whatever you can to be safe. Follow all the guidelines for health and safety, and make sure that you are not doing anything considerably dangerous. That will help you to enjoy your work so much more in the process.

Pic Credit – CCO Licence

Work Hard

If you are really not enjoying your job, it might be that you are simply not bringing to the table everything that you can or should be bringing to it. If you are not working as hard as possible, you might find that there is just not as much of an enjoyment to be had there. You should aim to work hard, even if you are not enjoying it, as that way you are much more likely to go through the other side and find what it is about the work that you like. Doing this is one of the most powerful ways to have a better approach to your job.

Considerations When Getting A Mortgage

A key focus of my blog is Financial Literacy/Money. The biggest and most significant purchase many people will make is their home. Most people have to secure a mortgage in order to purchase their home. While the upside is getting the property that you want, the transaction can also harm your financial health going forward. The following contributed post is entitled, Considerations When Getting A Mortgage.

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For most people, buying a home necessitates that they are going to get a mortgage, as most people simply can’t afford to buy a home outright. If you are looking into getting a mortgage, you are obviously going to want to be careful. It is probably the biggest loan that you will ever take out, and it’s important to remember that, and not start thinking of it as somehow less than a huge loan. However, as long as you are sensible about it you should find that you can keep up with the repayments. In this article, we’ll look at some of the top considerations to think about when you are getting a mortgage, to ensure that you do it as well as possible and get the most out of it.

Don’t Land On The First One

Essentially, we are saying that you should shop around and not merely go for the first mortgage that you come across. If you do make the mistake of doing that, you might find that you don’t end up with the best option possible. That could mean that you are going to be paying in extortionate interest rates, or that it is going to last forever, or many other possibilities besides. Make sure that you look around and compare mortgages as if it was the most serious and important decision of your life – for it may well be just that. That way, you can at least avoid being in any particular trouble with the mortgage that you have chosen.

Have A Plan For Repayment

Be sure that you are fully aware of how you are going to get the money together to repay the mortgage every month. The bank will certainly be asking for evidence of this as well anyway, but it is also important to think about it for yourself. After all, you need to make sure that you are going to safely pay it off and not land yourself in any kind of serious trouble. If you are not careful, and you fail to pay back your mortgage, you might find yourself having to look into how to stop foreclosure, and that is not a position you want to be in if you can help it. So think about your real, practical plan for repayment, and make sure that you are going to follow it as closely as possible.

Consider Different Types Of Interest Rate

There are a couple of main types of interest rate that you need to be aware of. It is a good idea to know about the pros and cons of each and to weigh them up against each other, so that you can ensure you are going to be in the best possible position in terms of knowing where you stand with it. You might have a fixed rate, which is usually higher but cannot change over time, or a variable rate, which can change, but will probably start off much lower. It’s up to you what you would rather do.

5 Jobs For Tough People

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“To do some jobs well, you have to be tough.”

Buffer

Two key focuses of my blog are Career Discussions and General Education. Some careers and jobs are more well suited for certain types of individuals. There some jobs that are well suited only for ‘tough’ individuals. The following contributed post is entitled, 5 Jobs For Tough People.

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To do some jobs well, you have to be tough. Whether you’re working in the public eye or handling difficult and emotionally-sensitive conversations, there are some roles you can only do if you’ve got thick skin and aren’t afraid to disagree with people. Here are five jobs for tough people you might want to consider if you’re feeling brave and looking for a career path to suit your personality.

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1. Process Server

A process server gives people sensitive legal documentation, like eviction notices, summons, subpoenas, and divorce decrees. They can also perform skip tracing to locate individuals that have ‘skipped town’ and undertake financial investigations. You have to be tough to succeed in this industry as let’s face it, people don’t enjoy receiving court summons or being tracked down. If you think you can do it, though, it’s a generally well-compensated way to enter the legal profession.

2. Mortician

Being a mortician was ranked in the top three of the most challenging jobs in 2017. You have to work face to face with death every day while supporting the deceased’s family. The hours are long, and you’re in a dark room, but on the positive side, at least you get to give the person a proper send-off by cleaning, embalming and dressing them ahead of their funeral. You’ll also be making their family happy and providing dignity to the person who has died.

3. Roofer

A roofer has to brave heights, scaffolding, and long periods of the year without work. If you’re a roofer by trade, you might find that you have to diversify over the winter months where work is scarce and could be canceled last minute. You also have to be prepared to walk over precarious surfaces and have to invest in many construction training courses to ensure you are safe and secure when working. It’s the perfect career for people that love working outdoors and aren’t afraid of heights.

4. Corrections (Correctional) Officer

At a potentially over-crowded, understaffed prison, you’ll need to keep calm in a tension-fuelled environment while maintaining control of a prison population. Corrections officers consider the job challenging but rewarding, as they can help individuals improve their lives as part of their rehabilitation. The career path and daily tasks of Corrections (or Correctional) Officers depend on the type of prison you go into. As a career, it’s excellent for training and development as you gain firsthand experience of everything from conflict resolution to self-defense.

5. CEO

As a CEO, you might be responsible for the morale and productivity of thousands of employees, as well as the company’s future as a whole. An unsuccessful CEO is often quickly identified and replaced, so the pressure is on to drive the company to success. Although you’re financially rewarded, the most stressful CEO positions are often considered as the heads of Finance, Tech, or FinTech giants – and if that’s something that interests you, it’s worth looking further into Evolve Bank fintech for more details because it’s a fascinating topic. You also have to make unpopular decisions about company restructuring, as the only people above you are the board.

If you’re tough, one of these career paths may be for you. You might want to enter the legal profession or want a career that allows you to work outside, but choosing one of the above jobs might be the challenge that you need in your life.

5 Essential Pieces of Equipment for Your Warehouse

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. If you’re running a business that involves the use of a warehouse, there are some pieces of equipment that you’re going to need. The following contributed post is entitled, 5 Essential Pieces of Equipment for Your Warehouse.

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If you want to run an efficient warehouse, you will need the right equipment that can handle materials efficiently. You may have a 50,000 square foot warehouse, but without the right, equipment to store or move your products, then most of the space will go to waste. Time is a key factor when running a warehouse, and the more equipment you have to handle specific operations, the better.

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Important Equipment When Running a Warehouse

Dock equipment

Dock equipment are an essential part of any warehouse. They are used for receiving and shipping purposes. However, choosing the wrong docking equipment can put your staff in harm’s way. Therefore, its safety should be your top priority. To optimize workflow in the dock area, you need loading equipment to load and unload goods from trucks.

Packaging equipment

You need packaging equipment to efficiently package products before shipping. Shrink-wrapping equipment has a variety of uses, all of which make it essential in any warehouse. You can use this equipment to package goods or combine multiple products together with wrapping film for easier transportation.

Storage equipment

The right storage equipment can help you to efficiently utilize the space in your warehouse, and help you to achieve your goals. It will help your staff to easily and efficiently find inventory and also protect your valuable inventory. What’s more, there are a variety of storage equipment, which means you can choose one that matches the needs of your warehouse.

Conveyors

Apart from increasing efficiency, conveyors are important for quality control. This is because they safely transport products to their final destination. Compared to moving materials manually, a chain conveyor can move the materials quickly, and it can be easy to automate the process. Because conveyors involve minimal human intervention, there is a reduced risk for injuries. Additionally, they can improve picking, packing and dispatching.

Lift equipment

You will definitely need equipment to help your workers lift heavy items to store or move them safely. However, the lift equipment you choose will depend on some factors, for instance, will you be moving pallets or small goods, and how high your shelves are. It’s a good idea to research What you need to know about 2-way pallets and how these can be lifted and utilized in your warehouse too. Perhaps the most common warehouse lift equipment is the forklift. Forklifts can move goods with little risk of damaging products or injuries. You will also need service carts, which make the manual picking process easier. Your employees can use the service carts to move products to the shipment area easily.

While a forklift can help lift and move goods, they can only go so far. Therefore, you will need a pallet truck that can quickly transport goods easily from one location to another. This equipment will come in handy when moving goods in tight spaces where a forklift cannot make its way into. Investing in truck and equipment decals also helps with this and improves overall safety.

Bottom Line

While every warehouse has its unique needs, the above warehouse equipment will get you headed in the right direction, especially if it’s the first time upgrading to a warehouse. Additionally, choosing the right equipment will increase the productivity of your warehouse and also result in higher customer satisfaction.

Mother’s Day 2020: What Mom Taught Me That Helped Me Through The Coronavirus Pandemic

A Quick Plug

Hello. Thank you for clicking on this link and I hope you enjoy this essay. Writing a book was the genesis of me blogging and becoming a video content creator. I am close to publishing part one of my book project entitled, The Engineers: A Western New York Basketball Story. Please consider visiting the page to learn more about the project and see promotional content I’ve created surrounding the project. And now on to our feature presentation.

Mother’s Day Blog Posts

Those of you who have read my content know that I’ve written blog posts for Mother’s Day since starting the Big Words Blog Site. As per usual, the links to my previous Mother’s Day pieces will be shared at the end of this piece. I thought of this piece, while driving back from New York State’s Capital Region as I was recently checking on my father. My Mom is quite cautious and wanted me to shelter in place as much as possible, but following her example, it was important for me to check on my old man during this Coronavirus/Covid-19 Crisis/Pandemic.

Before I get into the messages in this piece which I hope to keep short (by my standards), I want to tell any readers that while our country is looking to reopen shortly, and while infections by the Coronavirus are expected to fall off during the warm weather months, beware of a second wave. It’s predicted that when the cold winter months return, infections will as well. This blog post in some ways may in fact serve as a survival guide for some people who were unprepared for this first tsunami, and it may be helpful should there be future lockdowns and quarantines.

Important Health and Life Habits for the Pandemic

So in terms of Mother’s Day, as I drove back to Washington, DC recently, it occurred to me that my mother imparted some valuable nuggets in my life that helped me survive over the last two months since our country went into this lockdown. Among them are:

• The Ability to Cook: In previous Mother’s Day blog posts, I discussed the home that my mother created for us. A part of that was the meals she prepared for us, ALL of which were prepared with her hands from scratch. Her ability to cook along with my natural curiosity resulted in my ability to cook. I often jokingly tell people that at an early age, I was in the kitchen trying to figure out how she made those scrambled eggs. In addition to picking up recipes of all kinds over the years, from other people and from cookbooks like those from Emeril Lagasse, there are quite a few of Mom’s recipes that I took with me when I left the house. There are secrets that I’m still collecting today, such as most recently how to steam the green beans and onions with enough flavor and succulence at the time of consumption. I’m saying all of this to say that when the lockdown started, I already knew how to cook, so I didn’t severely feel the bite of not being able to eat out. The ability to prepare your own food is a critical skill and if there is in fact a lull in the infections, I would encourage people to learn how to prepare as much of your own food possible. Also learn to prepare healthy foods that you can eat for days at a time and even store for later. That said, I’ve learned that not everyone can eat leftovers, but we learned to do so. Finally, cooking at home also saves you money and stretches your dollars out time-wise.

• Personal Health: In addition to cooking, Mom was big on vitamins and even natural herbs and remedies. Likewise, as I was leaving Buffalo as our country was going deeper into the lockdown, she strongly encouraged me to start regularly taking Vitamin D which has therapeutic benefits for our immune systems. As I’ve been quarantining, I have in fact made Vitamin D a regular part of my daily diet and now Vitamin C as well. I shot videos on my science and technology YouTube channel about the benefits of both vitamins. Please check out those videos and my channel.

• Education, Writing and Building: I give my mother a lot of credit for the blogging platform you’re reading this post on right now. Both parents stressed education at an early age, but it was my mother who insisted that me and my brother learn how word process with proper form at an early age. We also had a computer in the house when we were young, so she saw the wave of the future coming in the early- to mid-1980s. Social distancing and quarantining isn’t natural for human beings and hasn’t always been pleasant at times, but I’ve been fortunate to be able to be keep myself busy and my mind occupied, writing and publishing content. Just as my mother was able to turn her writing abilities into a business, I have as well, which I’ll describe shortly via written content here on the Big Words Blog Site and on my Big Discussions76 YouTube channel.

• The Importance of Faith and Spirituality: Faith and spirituality can be a polarizing topic these days, but no matter how much you have or what you believe, it’s important to have it. Mom was always big on faith. When I go home to Buffalo, I try my best to get myself out of bed on Sunday mornings to attend her church’s services. Just before the lockdown set in, I was at home in Buffalo for two and a half weeks and I attended the last church service at the Mount Olive Baptist Church in Buffalo where the members, like most churches, were able to gather for the last time in a while. Before releasing the congregation, the Pastor read Psalm 91 to us, which was very, very powerful for what was taking place at the time. That scripture is now forever etched into my memory.

Closing Thoughts

So, as I have lots and lots to do, I’m going to stop this here. In the Black community we sometimes dwell on what we didn’t have when we were growing up . We can inevitably get caught looking at what our peers had within our community and in other ethnic groups/cultures. It’s natural in a way, but it’s also important to acknowledge what you were given from your parent or guardian. What did your mother teach that helped you through this challenging time? What might you use if this crisis or another one comes back around?

Oh by the way, fortunately I was able to craft this Mother’s Day blog post pretty quickly and concisely. Right on schedule, Father’s Day is coming up next month and I’ve thought of another really good money-related story involving my father and me which involves a very, very important lesson, so look for it. And in closing, Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mothers out there.

The Big Words LLC Newsletter

For the next phase of my writing journey, I’m starting a monthly newsletter for my writing and video content creation company, the Big Words LLC. In it, I plan to share inspirational words, pieces from this blog and my first blog, and select videos from my four YouTube channels. Finally, I will share updates for my book project The Engineers: A Western New York Basketball Story. Your personal information and privacy will be protected. Click this link and register using the sign-up button at the bottom of the announcement. If there is some issue signing up using the link provided, you can also email me at bwllcnl@gmail.com . Best Regards.

The Importance Of Making Expansion Plans For Your Business

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Once you start your business, if it’s successful, you will eventually have to think about expansion. The following contributed post is entitled, The Importance Of Making Expansion Plans For Your Business.

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If you are a regular reader around here then you may have noticed that the three main topics of my blog are money, business/entrepreneurship and health/wellness.

In this day and age there are many aspects to consider when starting up your own business. You can run a successful start-up company from the comfort of your home which may then lead to needing to expand.

A lot of people start their own businesses through sheer desperation at being that unhappy in their current 9-5 job, that they make a leap of faith in starting their own venture. For some people it may have been something they had considered for a very long time before building up the courage and confidence to take the decision to quit their average job and take control of their future as an entrepreneur.

Not only is starting your own business a little daunting to say the least, but quitting your current job can be a very stressful thing, especially if you have dependents and commitments whether it be a mortgage, loan or your rent.

However, before making the decision to jump straight in, it’s important to understand that timing is everything. You need to make sure that you have all of your affairs in place for your new venture before deciding to take out the safety net that is your regular guaranteed income.

The absolute first thing to make sure of is to be confident that you know your business will work. You need to know where your business will fit into the market and you need to have made a plan to progress once you get there.

A business plan is a must, without one your business will probably fail before you have even properly started. A well thought out business plan will help you to maintain a company direction, to spot potential pitfalls before they arise and to set realistic business targets.

Depending on the type of business you go into, part of your business plan may involve future proofing your business with the possibility to expand out of your home office or shared business space.

Shared business spaces are really popular and they are invaluable with start ups where there may be limited funding. They aren’t a long term solution though and this needs to be considered – which leads back to your business plan.

Expansion of your business should be a very important part of your business plan, these could include:

1. Adding to your existing line of goods and services

2. Targeting your existing customer base to sell more products

3. Look for a new customer base to add to your existing one

4. Discover new sales channels

5. Merge with another business or acquire them

Well established high street businesses are turning to opening online stores to help strengthen their core business and this is where start ups hold the advantage. There will become a point where you will master the online store or online services and will need to look into expansion in the form of bricks and mortar, an office and/or warehouse to help future your business growth.

The type of space you will need will depend solely on the type of business you run. For an online services only business, a business space without the need for storage is relatively easy to come by. As a start up, running an office from a residential premise is widely accepted providing you follow the guidelines set out by your local government.

There are some major advantages to having a residential space as your office. However, the disadvantages quickly start to add up as and when your business starts to grow. Client meetings at your home ‘office’ may put potential new clients off as it is not the most professional look to hold a meeting in your house. As with most residential places, parking is also as adequate as you would find in a commercial space.

However if you are a start up with ‘movement of goods’, then this will then turn your residential premise into a commercial premise. This means you will then require approvals and licences from your local government and authorities. If your business is deemed as being commercial this could also impose additional property tax on your residential address, even water and electricity bills could incur additional fees based on being a commercial space.

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This is why part of your business plan should include the possibility of expansion of your business through the need for a commercial office space.

When thinking about the type of commercial space needed to run your business, it is also a good idea to think about the maintenance and upkeep costs associated with having a commercial space and who this falls to to maintain.

Depending on the size of your space, this could have huge financial implications with your yearly costs. Most residential properties use asphalt shingles, whereas commercial properties will vary greatly in the materials used.

Without being a trades worker, you will struggle to identify all of the hidden costs associated with your space so it is best to choose skilled companies who can take on the hard work for you which will help to bring down on your maintenance costs.

For example, choosing the right commercial roof repair can impact how much you spend or save per year. Pick the right company and they can help you to reduce your yearly costs through using the best energy saving materials.

The key to success in any expansion is to recognize what your limitations are. This is specific to you and your business. Long before you make any firm decision, plan a worst-case scenario of how much the expansion will cost and how many resources it will take to get to that point.
If a business tries to grow too quickly, it can lead to failure. Which makes it so important to plan carefully for the day you’ll expand and only make the move once you’re sure you have the resources to handle it.

Little-Known Techniques You Can Use To Better Market Your Business

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Marketing is a critical piece to your business. While many business owners have good ideas and services, marketing doesn’t necessarily come easy. The following contributed post is entitled, Little-Known Techniques You Can Use To Better Market Your Business.

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Marketing your business can seem like a massive challenge sometimes. Getting the word out about what you do is tricky in a world where millions of other people are doing the same thing.

There are, however, a bunch of little-known marketing tricks that you can use to swing things in your favor. Mostly your competitors don’t know about these, so it often pays to use them whenever you can. But what are they? And how can you deploy them successfully to improve your business?

Referral Programs

If you want to build your audience fast, you’ll want to launch a referral program.

The idea here is to get your customers to market your business for you.

This strategy has two main advantages: it costs very little compared to traditional advertising, and it helps get around any branding issues. Prospective customers are much more likely to trust the opinions of their peers than they are any official marketing messages from you.

All you need to do is get a hardcore of customers who are entirely loyal to you and your brand. Startups, in particular, often generate a loyal base of people who are willing to stick with them through thick and thin. It is these people you want to target. Provide them with a kickback for every customer that they sign up and then wait for the revenue to start flowing.

QR Code Embeds

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Digital marketing is a great tool, but it is not the only way to get the word out about your business. You have many other options.

Modern companies, for instance, still like to use direct mail. It tends to have higher open rates and more impact than traditional email marketing, making it highly worthwhile, even in today’s business environment.

Providing links to your business website through flyers you send out in the post sounds impossible, but it is not. All you need to do is use QR codes.

QR codes are essentially two-dimensional barcodes that can contain a vast amount of information. What’s more, most modern smartphones can read these codes. Thus, you can send out correspondence in the post with printed codes, have your customers scan them with their mobile devices, and then forward them to the relevant product, service, video, or article online.

Finding the best QR code generator can be a challenge, but there are plenty of options out there.

Make Your Beta Exclusive

If you’re a company that develops software, you might want to offer an exclusive beta. This marketing method allows you to attract the type of people who are most likely to want to sign up for your full service in the future. Plus, they can provide you with valuable feedback on the current state of your technology.

Give Away Stickers

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Giving away stickers might seem like a ridiculous way to market your business, but it is highly effective. People naturally love stickers because it reminds them of their childhood. Plus, both you and they can put them in places where they will give your brand a lot of exposure.

3 Useful Household Gadgets That Can Improve Your Life

A key focus of my blog is Technology. As the years go on, there will be more and more new and novel technologies that will have the potential to improve our lives. Some will be created for used in your homes. The following contributed post is entitled, 3 Useful Household Gadgets That Can Improve Your Life.

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There’s a lot to love about technology. In so many ways, technology has made our lives better. For me, one of the key ideas behind this is that we have so much accessible technology these days. What I mean is that we can bring gadgets and tech into our homes with ease. A lot of the tech that we use has actually been around for ages. The government, top scientists, military – all the people in charge – had access to it before us. It’s just that the technology was too advanced to make it to the consumer market.

Now, we’re at a stage where loads of incredible tech is available to us. As an example of what I mean, let’s look at some highly useful household gadgets that can improve your life:

Biometric security locks

Biometric technology is something we used to see in the movies. People would walk through top-security buildings and need to scan their fingerprint or retina to open a door. Nowadays, you can adopt this approach at home!

That’s right, a biometric lock for your door can easily be installed. It adds a new layer of security to your home, making it harder for anyone to break in. Some people use this on front doors, but you can use it to secure your home office or garage.

Weather stations

Who’d have thought that you can literally run your own weather station at home? There are gadgets out there that tell you all you need to know about the weather. You can place them outside, pair them with weather station cameras for added security, and get all the info sent to an app. The precise temperature is detailed, as is the barometric pressure, humidity, wind speed, and so on.

How does this improve your life? Well, it allows for more accurate planning around the weather. If you’re doing activities that are weather-affected – like fishing or gardening – then this tells you some vital info. Likewise, some people who suffer from hayfever can use weather stations to get a view of the pollen count.

Robot cleaner

We’ve not quite reached the stage where C3PO-esque robots are doing tasks around our home. However, we do have little robot cleaners that cleverly hoover up dirt and dust. They use motion sensor technology combine with artificial intelligence to know where to clean. Plus, they’re small and affordable, which is always good to see in a household gadget.

It’s clear how this gadget improves your life! Spend less time cleaning your home and let this little robot do it for you. Thus, you maintain a clean and tidy home without exerting lots of effort.

There are three examples here of household gadgets that improve aspects of your life. All three of these have been around for a while now. So, who knows what the next stage of household gadgets will bring. AI is a massive thing at the moment, which is why things like Alexa are so popular. If I were to make a prediction, I’d say that households can expect advancements in AI gadgets over the coming decade.

The Most Important Tests You Should Give Potential Employees

Two of the focuses of my blog are Organizational and Management Discussions and Career Discussions. One of the most important decisions you can make as an employer, running or managing an organization/business is choosing the right employees. How do you properly vet potential employees? The following guest post is entitled, The Most Important Tests You Should Give Potential Employees.

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Finding the right employee to hire is essential for building a company that can perform effectively and have a trusted network within that can gear it toward progress and innovation. Often, the downfall of businesses that would otherwise be successful comes at the hands of poor management and bad hires who take away from the company in one way or another. While you can find ways to root out these offenders, the best course of action is to avoid hiring them in the first place.

A vital tool in finding the best individuals who can contribute to the workforce is by conducting a test (or a number of them) before employment. With platforms like Aptitude that create comprehensive online assessments for potential hires, it all comes down to what specific sectors you want to filter.

• Integrity

This factor is an essential one when figuring out the character of the individuals you will be bringing into your workspace. Employee theft and fraud have been on the rise in recent years, with the statistics showing alarming numbers. In general, companies lose 5% of their revenue to fraud annually, over 50% of employees have stolen company equipment or supplies at least once, and around a fourth of workers falsify their work hours.

Sifting out these potential threats from even getting into your business is the first step that should be taken. It necessitates a complete test of responsibility, trustworthiness, compliance, and transparency.

• Skill

Part of your screening, of course, needs to accurately show how reliable a person may be with designated tasks and performing well in their role. A survey of job interviewees revealed that the majority of candidates lie or manipulate parts of the truth to make them seem like the most viable choice for the position. Within this, 60% of those lie about their skills, saying they have proficiency in programs and services that they don’t have that level of mastery with.

To accurately assess their actual abilities, you can’t merely base it off of references and job history. You should provide a monitored test that can be timed and directly hits skills that should be appropriate for getting the desired spot.

• Personality

Although this factor is more important for titles that place the worker in charge of a team or department, it’s generally essential to figure out their work ethics and how well they can adapt to the environment in your business. A study of employees and their work habits revealed that, on average, more than eight hours a week are spent slacking off and doing other non-work related tasks on company hours.

Allowing this type of mindset in your workforce can affect productivity levels significantly and end up costing you crucial time and money. Testing this early on can also give you insights on how to best engage your employees and get them working efficiently.

Once you’ve covered all these markers, you can be more assured that you are getting the best fit for your business and that you can focus on operations.