Big Words start conversations and open doors to new places.
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.
Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. As with most sectors, increasing your connections is absolutely critical. Doing so will increase your network, and increase overall profits. The following contributed post is entitled, Why You Should Increase Your Business Connections.
Aside from making more money, there are plenty of other reasons why it’s a good idea to increase your business connections in life. While some people don’t enjoy networking and don’t see the point, there really is a number of benefits to it, and if you haven’t started to do it yet, you really should and here’s why:
You Could Make New Friendships
You never know who you’re going to meet and who doesn’t want a new life-long friend? When it comes to networking in business, it can be really easy to make friends because the reason you are there, at that event or meeting is that you already have something in common. You will meet a lot of like-minded people and could end up building some really valuable and strong friendships.
You Might Get Lots Of Referrals The best thing about networking to get referrals is that the referrals you get are mostly pre-qualified for you, and these will be more likely to turn into permanent clients. You basically will get much higher quality leads by networking than you would anywhere else.
Your Confidence Will Increase By networking regularly, you would be able to push yourself to talk to different people, and this would eventually increase your confidence, and it is an essential skill to pick up. Keep doing this, and you’ll be able to talk to anyone, anywhere, and the thought of it won’t phase you at all. It’s important to be able to do this in business anyway as it is a skill which will help in all aspects of running a business.
You Will Find More Opportunities Business owners who are highly motivated and confident and also in the right place meeting the right people will always come across new opportunities. It could be a new opportunity for a business asset or sale, it could be writing and speaking opportunities, partnership, client leads, or joint ventures. Just make sure that you only take advantage of the right opportunities and ignore those that would be harmful to you or your business. Don’t just take everything that comes your way. The opportunities that you take up should only strengthen your business goals. Focus on long-term solutions to help encourage growth within your business connections and productivity and check out blog.seebiz.com for more about improving business connections as this is one of the most effective solutions for increased demand and product knowledge. Think about nurturing relationships to create a long-lasting and quality impression as a business.
You Will Raise Your Profile Another great benefit of making more connections is getting noticed and being visible. Ensure that you keep going to events to meet people so that your face becomes well-known. You can build a reputation for yourself as a supportive, reliable, and knowledgeable person by offering tips and useful information to those who need it. Helping others is great for business, gets you noticed and you also might come across some fantastic talent to recruit while doing it.
The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success and A key focus of my blog is Career Discussions. I key to the success in any organization is hiring the right people. Doing so will give your organization the best chance to succeed. The following contributed post is entitled, How To Know If You’re Hiring The Right Person.
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If part of your job is hiring new people, you may be wondering where exactly you start. Almost anyone can present themselves well in an interview, so how do you figure out who the best candidates are? Here are some tips to help you work out who’s worth hiring…
Consider Their Potential When you’re interviewing someone, it’s important to focus on the potential that they have, rather than what they’ve done in the past. Relevant experience is always nice, but it’s important to make sure that you hire someone who is driven to learn and wants to do better instead of someone who could do the job in their sleep. A common interview technique is walking candidates through their resumes, but is that really such a good idea? If you called them in for an interview, chances are their resume is absolutely fine. Consider the future instead and the potential that the candidate has to learn.
Check Their References It’s important to make sure that the candidate is who they say they are. Even though you should focus on the future, you need to ensure that the information you have about their past is completely accurate. Make sure that you call up their references before you offer them the job to confirm that the information you have is accurate. If you’re uncertain, you could even conduct a background check that will tell you everything that you need to know.
Think About Your Current Team
It’s important to think about the team that you already have when you are hiring somebody new. Even if they remind you of someone you love who already works with you, that might not be a good thing. You want to make sure that you don’t hire clones of people who are already at the company. You need someone who has a different skillset and who brings something entirely new to the office.
What About Your Office Dynamic?
A hugely underrated thing to ask oneself during an interview is: Could I handle sitting across from this person for forty hours every week? It’s important to consider whether the candidate will fit in with your office dynamic. If you can tell they’re a quiet and shy person when your office is extremely sociable and loud, there’s a chance that they might not fit in – and that they might not be happy there. Your resume has given them all the information you need on their employment history so don’t forget that part of the interview process is to work out who’s a good fit for you and your team.
Ask About Hobbies And Interests Most jobs can be learned eventually, and people can be trained to hold certain workplace skills. But there are qualities like hard work, teamwork, and a positive attitude that can’t be taught. So it’s a good idea to ask the candidate about what they like to do in their spare time. If they play on a basketball team, they know how to work well with others. If they love to draw, they’re creative. If they like to hike, they’re persevering and adventurous. You can measure people’s qualities by the way that they spend their free time.
Trust your instincts when you’re hiring new staff and you’ll get it right.
Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. When you become a business owner, every decision you make will impact the future viability of your business. Some decisions are standard while others must be made in unique circumstances. The following contributed post is entitled, Smart Decisions Your Business Should Be Making.
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As a business owner, you’ll soon discover the things that work well and the things that don’t. Trying to find easier, faster and cheaper ways of doing things is always beneficial to your business, and can help free up more of your resources to think strategically about the future of your business.
While it’s possible that you’ll make some bad decisions from time to time, you can balance these out by making some better ones. Take a look at some of the smart decisions your business should be making to put you on the path to success.
If you run a small business, you’ll soon realize that you’re not capable of everything. Know the saying ‘Jack of all trades, but master of none’? It’s better to do fewer things well than to try and do everything. Outsourcing can be beneficial for your business, putting certain key tasks in the hands of experts instead of having you take care of it all. Understanding what to outsource and when can help you ease your workload and make sure the best people are on the job.
Adopt the cloud
Cloud computing is becoming the new normal for most businesses. It allows instant, seamless access to documents and software, and provides a secure storage system that doesn’t rely on various servers and fragile memory drives. Switching to the cloud can transform your business, making it possible to run it from anywhere. Using IT management solutions can help make sure you’ve got the best systems and software put in place to help you manage your business effectively. Not only that, but cloud computing is affordable to run, helping you free up your budget for bigger and better things. Just make sure you’re aware of all of the issues surrounding the cloud before you commit.
Care about your employees’ welfare
Your employees are the most important part of your business. Many business hours can be lost due to absences and sickness, and those hours are worth a lot of money to your business. Focusing on creating a safe and happy work environment is important, and gives your employees reasons to love where they work and work hard as a result. Consider adopting flexible working and other fantastic policies that can boost productivity and help you develop a stronger, better connected team.
Use social media to promote your business
Are you making the most of your marketing budget? Social media advertising is one of the simplest, but most effective ways of promoting your business. If you want to generate leads and get people’s attention, then putting your marketing budget into social media is the way forward. In social advertising, your money can go a long way, so learn how to optimize a small marketing budget to help get the best results.
Making smarter, better decisions is how you can drive your business forward. Consider the ways you can make positive changes to make a big impact and see the difference it can make to you and your business.
The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success, and a key focus is Career Discussions. As a boss as opposed to being an employee, you have a lot of responsibility. As such, you must become a master of using your time wisely. Doing so will give both you and your staff the best chances to succeed in your mission. The following contributed post is entitled, How To Use Your Time Wisely As A Boss.
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When you’re managing a company, there are many things that you have to do. In fact, it feels like there is a never ending stream of emails coming into your inbox, and that you’ve got people knocking on the door morning, noon and night, asking for your advice and assistance. This is before you even think about all of the other responsibilities that you have to take care of.
It’s no wonder, then, that you may be worried about the best ways for you to utilize your time. After all, you only have 24 hours in the day just like everybody else, right? Here’s how you can use your time wisely.
One of the best things that you can do as a boss is to work out what you’re actually good at. Sure, we all like to think that we’re really good at all elements of running a business, but when it comes down to it, there are some things that we’re slow at, or just not great at completing.
When you work out what these tasks are, you can get to work on giving them to other people, rather than doing them yourself. Using your strengths as a way to center your time is a good idea if you feel like it’s getting away from you!
See what you can outsource
There are very few businesses out there now that don’t use outsourcing in some way. Whether it’s having a virtual reception desk, managed IT services, or a part time CFO dealing with your finances, there are plenty of jobs that you can get done by people who don’t even need to be in the office.
This gets rid of all of the little tasks that you have, that may be consuming your time. If you feel like you’re always on the phone and you don’t necessarily need to be, then this is something that somebody else can do, and you don’t need to fork out a full-time wage.
Have regular breaks
OK, this one may seem like it doesn’t actually save you any time, but there is certainly something to be said for having regular breaks as a boss. Not only does it allow you to take a step back and think about your next course of action, but it also allows you to come back into the office ready to deal with the task at hand.
Throwing yourself into your work non-stop will only be detrimental for your time management, so don’t underestimate the simple effectiveness of a 10 minute walk, just to get you out of the office and to clear your head a little.
So…
If you want to use your time wisely as a boss, then try out some of these things. Ultimately, it’s not about working harder; it’s about working smarter, and making sure that you’re utilizing all of the hours that you have in the office day. Once you work out how to do it, your productivity will be through the roof!
Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. When running a small business as with all businesses, the control of cashflow is critical. Doing so will ensure that your business continues to thrive. The following contributed post is entitled, How to Save Money when Running your Small Business.
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Running a small business can be both difficult and time-consuming. If you’re not careful then you may find that expenses slowly creep up on you, and this can cause you major problems in the future. If you want to avoid all of this, here are a few things that you can do to stay on top.
Lower the Cost of your Office Space
In some instances, it may be possible for you to take advantage of a decreased rental rate in your area. If this is not possible or if you don’t qualify for this type of benefit, then you may be able to renegotiate with your current landlord so you can get some better lease terms. If you don’t need to run your business from a commercial premises, then you may want to think about operating it from home. This will significantly lower the cost of your rent and it will also help you to lower the cost of your gas and energy usage too. In addition to saving on bills, you’ll also save on your business tax and even your utilities. This can go a long way and it can also make it way easier for you to keep an eye on the outgoings that you have.
If your business has slow periods, it may be worth trying to reduce your staffing costs. Nowadays older employees are more than happy to take some unpaid time off so they can go on vacation or even see their family. If you want to get the best result out of your team chats then see if anyone would like to volunteer. You may be pleasantly surprised at the outcome and in some instances, you may be able to save a small fortune too. Another thing that you can do is to try and hire family members wherever possible. They will be much more flexible when it comes to payment and they may even be willing to give you some additional support when it comes to the finer details of your company too.
Always Barter
Bartering has been around for thousands of years, and it is a great way for you to get the edge on your competition . If you want to help yourself here, you need to try and talk with your vendors to see if they can give you a lower rate on any products you need. They may be willing to set up a contract, or even bulk discounts. If your current vendor is not willing to do this, there are other options available. For example, you can easily go to someone else and then revisit the original vendor with a counter-offer. Sometimes this is more than enough for them to loosen their pricing structure, and you may even end up getting a way better deal as a result.
Vehicle Expenses
If you are running a service or even a contract business that requires the use of a vehicle then you probably know how expensive it can be. Fuel and servicing costs for bigger vehicles or even crew can be astronomical. One way for you to reduce the costs of operating a fleet would be for you to buy used vehicles. It doesn’t even matter if the vehicles require a good level of repair either because it’s still way cheaper than you buying a new truck brand-new. If you still feel as though the expenses you’re paying are far too much, then it may be worth trying to reduce your fuel consumption. Diesel and hybrid vehicles can be more expensive for you to purchase but they can really pay off and they may even save you a small fortune in terms of maintenance too.
Cut down on Supply Costs
When it comes to supply costs, you have to make sure that you budget. As a business owner, you need to ensure that you constantly monitor supplies and that you also check for occasional discounts too. Don’t be afraid to look around and make yourself popular with suppliers. This can be done by paying your bills promptly and also displaying loyalty.
Cut Down on Advertisement Costs
A lot of businesses often spend 5% of the revenue that they get on advertising. This figure may be higher for service businesses, or those who are just starting out. With more and more customers shopping online when compared to ever before, it’s safe to say that you need to at least have a website or even a Facebook page. Having SEO and even television advertising is great and it can help your exposure, but they can also be expensive and they can put a real hole in your budget. One way for you to get around this would be for you to try and advertise organically through Facebook and Twitter. It doesn’t cost you anything to do this, and when you combine it with a weekly newsletter you will soon find that it’s easier than ever for you to gain a lot of traction with your customers.
Cut down on Insurance
Your annual insurance bill will probably cost you a small fortune every year. If you don’t have enough insurance however then this could be enough to bring your business to its knees, and this is something that you do need to make yourself aware of. If you want to help yourself, you need to annually review the insurance that you have. If you don’t feel as though you need one part of your policy anymore, get rid of it as this will save you a huge amount of money. If you have a larger business with a ton of insured assets, then it may be worth doing an asset review too. This will help you to make sure that you are not insuring assets that you no longer have.
Make the Most out of Your Time
If you are a business owner then you’ll know how important time management can be. Business owners should always be prioritising and they should also be using their time accordingly. If you don’t, this could have a huge impact on your bottom line and you may even find that your company suffers as a result. If business is slow then now is the time for you to invest more money into advertising. If your business is taking off and really getting sales then it may be a good idea for you to invest more in things like software or even additional ways for you to manage your workload. Either way, the way that you manage your time will make a huge difference to your business income and it will also help you to save on expenses too.
Watch your Energy Bills
If you have a ton of energy bills coming out, then something needs to be done. You need to make sure that you always turn off lights when they are not in use, and it also helps to keep an eye on standby technology. This will be eating away at your energy usage and it will also stop your business from being efficient too. If you want to do something about this, consider installing a motion sensor light in your offices or have a power strip that shuts everything off when you leave the premises. This will stop you from forgetting about those little things and it will also help you to be more green in general. Another thing that you can do if you work in the industrial sector is invest in slimline water tanks. When you do, you will be able to collect rainwater rather than using it from the business supply.
Minimising your tax bill is one of the best ways for you to save a lot of money over the year. You need to get in the habit of writing down exactly how much your business spends on things and you also need to make sure that you detail them properly too. Saving receipts and recording mileage is also essential, as this can all be claimed back at a later date. If you have family members who work in the same business as you then treat them as employees, and file for any expenses that they incur too. There’s nothing wrong with this, but it will help you to pay the right amount of tax when the end of the year comes along.
Utilise the Cloud
For a lot of businesses, cloud computing is a fantastic way for you to reduce the expense of your business. It can also help you to operate more efficiently too. When you invest in cloud computing, you don’t need to worry about maintaining your servers on-site and you also don’t have to worry about ongoing software upgrades either. You will have access to all of the applications you need with the flexibility of the cloud. If you want to get some additional support here, then consider chatting with the cloud providers in your area to see if they can talk you through the solutions they have.
A key focus of my blog is Health/Wellness. In some instances alcohol abuse is a simple and convenient way to deal with life’s pains and hardships. If the user isn’t careful though, there can be unintended consequences and they become abusers of that alcohol. The following contributed post is entitled, Fixing Our Skewed View: Stopping Self-Medicating With Substances.
In life, we can tend to self-medicate. Whether we are going through physical pain, emotional pain, or psychological pain, there are little vices in life can seem to be an ideal solution for a short period of time. But with something like substances or alcohol, we know, deep down, that’s not an ideal solution. But what can we do before it gets to the point that we lose all sense of comprehension, and have a genuine reliance on it?
It Overrides Our Sense Of Safety When we feel that we can have a few drinks and drive home without any worry, this is when the law catches up and we face the consequences. Being detained under what is called a physical control arrest, where you are in control of a motor vehicle under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drug, is enough to make many straighten up and fly right. But for a lot of people who are functioning under a certain level of intoxication, especially when they have life duties, there is a self-centeredness that overrides any sense of safety. Unfortunately, there are many examples of parents who drink and take their children to school under the influence.
Getting To The Root Of The Problem Self-medicating is the refuge of someone who’s not able to cope. It’s an easy way to cloud our memories of a situation. But this doesn’t help us get to the root of the problem. If you are someone reading this who knows that you’ve got to function, but still will struggle to face facts, how can you get to the root of the problem? By getting to the core of it, it requires a lot of soul-searching, and a lot of pain. Naturally, we don’t want to face up to this sort of thing. But, counseling, helplines, or even some sense of clarity can be a great way to understand why alcohol is not the way forward. Medicating in this respect is a short-term solution.
The Symptoms Get Worse Self-medicating with alcohol means that, after a while, your tolerance increases. As such, we’ve got to find ways to get back to that original hazy way of thinking. It seems to be the perfect way to wade through life, at least in the short term. The big problem is that alcoholism, or addiction in any form, is a selfish approach. After a while, it becomes a fact that we have a reliance on a substance that overrides any sense of duty, except to that of the substance. We live a subservient existence, and only then is it when an intervention occurs, or we do something to snap ourselves out of it, that we realize the extent of our troubles.
In many ways, it’s preaching to the choir, but we all fall victim to a bad time in life. And, we can self-medicate with alcohol to an extent, and it makes everything feel okay for a bit. But this is not a tried and tested solution to overcoming the problem. Whatever issue you have in life, drinking becomes the perfect mask, but after a while, the mask begins to slip, regardless of the effort you make to avoid this happening.
Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. If you’re in an industry that uses it, maintaining your industrial machinery is critical. Maintaining it will allow your business to continue thriving. Neglecting it, will give the opposite result. The following contributed post is entitled, Keeping Your Industrial Machinery In Tip-Top Condition.
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If you’re in a business that uses a lot of heavy industrial machinery, then you’ll already know that it’s in your best interests to keep them in the best condition possible. For starters, they’re expensive, and second, how well they’re working directly impacts the success of your company. So there are advantages to making sure that everything is in order. However, it’s one thing to want to do this, and another to actually do it. So how do you make sure that your machines stay in the best condition? We take a look at a few tried and tested methods below.
It’s not always true that you need to spend money to make money, but sometimes it is. And it is true when we’re talking about heavy industrial machinery. While there’ll be plenty of options available for you to buy (or rent), it’s generally sound advice to avoid the cheapest options out there. They might look better from a bank-balance perspective, but there will be a reason why they’re cheaper than other options. You might find that you’re continually running into problems that could have been avoided had you invested in a reliable machine.
The Right Systems
Since you’ll have invested a lot of capital into your machines, you’ll likely be getting heavy use out of your machines. But the more you push them, the greater the chance that something will go wrong. As such, it’s important that you have the right systems in place for your machines. For example, you’ll need to have a process cooling system. This will help to keep your machines operating at the maximum potential for longer. It’ll make your machines more reliable, too. If you don’t have these systems in place, then you’ll run the risk of unnecessary downtime.
Regular Maintenance
Industrial machines are complicated, and even if you’re investing in the best and using them wisely, then there’s always a chance that something will go wrong. While this is sometimes unavoidable, you can help to reduce the chances of it happening by scheduling regular maintenance for your machines. Having it looked over by a professional will mean that small issues are handled before they have a chance to become big problems. Make sure you have a timetable of maintenance for each of your machines — it’ll give you a little bit of downtime, but it’s better than having to replace it completely.
Employee Training
It’s unlikely that your machines are running all by themselves. They’ll have human hands doing a lot of the work. And there will be a big difference in the longevity of a machine that has been handled by a well-trained, responsible member of the team, and one that hasn’t. If you train an employee on how to use a machine, they’ll be able to identify any issues with it at the first sign. They’ll also be more likely to treat it with a level of care and understanding that’ll help to keep problems at bay, too.
Three of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. So much of today’s business is done online today. There are individuals and entities out there who are looking to wreck havoc on even the smoothest running operations. The following contributed post is entitled, Think About Protecting Your Business Online Today.
A lady called Paige Thompson gained access to 100 million credit card applications and accounts at Credit One in recent months. From social security numbers, names, addresses, credit scores, limits and balances, millions of customer records were violated. What does this mean for Capital One and it’s CEO Richard Fairbank? With Capital One and a string of other companies who have been hacked, it provokes uncertainty amongst the public and business owners about their data. Such as how the data breach occurred and what can be done to stop it. If you want to seek solutions and create a strong defence against criminals invading your business intelligence online, there are a few things you can do.
Anti-Virus Software
If you’re currently risking the safety of your business intel with no anti-virus software insight, you’re gambling with the likelihood of your data being deleted or tampered with by a virus, or stolen by cybercriminals. The type of software you will need depends on the scale of your current business. Only you can decide whether or not purchasing well-known software such as Akismet, McAfee or Norton 360 will suffice. Or alternatively, whether you need to hire an expert IT service company to defend your company information for you.
Back-Up Solutions
Whether you’re just starting out with a new business venture or running a long-standing successful company. Either way, you need to find a way to back up your business data immediately. Depending on the scale and type of information, your existing PC(s) hold will affect what source of back-up is right for your company. Your options span from purchasing an external hard drive to regularly back up your data and keep in a separate place away from your business. Alternatively, it could mean hiring a cloud service company to frequently back-up and store your data on your behalf. Or, it might mean purchasing large servers to continuously keep track of the mass of data your company consumes daily. Find the source of back-up that is right for you, and then revisit your processes regularly to assess whether you need to upgrade your back-up solutions.
Business VPN
A VPN for businesses provides end to end encryption for your company devices internet connections. This secures the network for your employees and makes it much safer to share company details while protecting your data from unauthorised access. Securing your internet connection this way prevents the issue of hackers, competitors, advertisers and the government from infiltrating your confidential digital files. Anti-virus software and firewalls are not sufficient enough to ward off threats alone, and so finding the best VPN for torrenting and securing your business data is a smart way to defend and protect your business activities online.
Now you’ve thought about protecting your business intel, it’s time to do something about it. Research the options that are appropriate for the scale of your company, incorporate anti-virus software on your systems and keep these updated. Find a route to back-up your files to keep them safe from intruders and of course, delve into using a VPN for your business to safely share your business information with end to end encryption.
The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success and two key focuses are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. One of the only constants in life is change. When running a business, one must keep their finger on the pulse of where things are going in order to survive. The following contributed post is entitled, The Importance of Business Resilience In a Changing Climate.
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The changing pattern of our climate is a hot topic of conversation these days, isn’t it? And the focus of much debate – understandably. But, if you’re in business, is its impact something you’ve given proper consideration to? It should be…
Businesses across the world need to build their resilience to extreme weather incidents – and prepare for climate change.
Virtually all sectors are affected by the impact of these factors on their supply chains, for example. As well as costs associated with any damage to properties, declining productivity, illness and accidents. And, if you’re involved in hospitality, food production, or construction – being resilient is especially crucial.
How you can respond
So how can you make sure your company is responsive to change – and able to deal with these issues effectively? The solutions are sometimes industry specific, but there are many key areas that everyone should look at.
The importance of planning
Firstly, you need to create a clear business continuity plan, which sets out your response to weather related challenges.
Look at where you are now and analyse realistically how the weather affects you and your company. And draw up a business impact analysis too – taking into account all possible scenarios.
Set out the threats and potential benefits of any unexpected change in the weather – in the present. A warmer winter could result in increased disruption to supply chains due to flooding, for example, but fewer snow related ones. Or it could impact on your building’s fabric and structure – but make it easier and cheaper to heat. How do you respond ?
We’re not suggesting for a moment that changes themselves are positive – but that we have to be ready. Even more predictable fluctuations in climate, or weather incidents, need to be considered, in business.
Maintaining the right staffing levels
One important area to consider is your staffing level – and how to balance that alongside business demand.. If a heatwave or storm arrives, for example, you need to be ready – how will it affect you? Even more moderate switches in temperature or conditions will have an impact.
Staffing has been, and will be, a challenge in these kinds of situations so it’s crucial to have a well considered, robust plan in place. Imagine you own a small manufacturing company, for instance, and shut down operations because of storm warnings.
It would be unfair to deny your employees a day’s pay if that forecast was inaccurate. And your profits would suffer. But, if you keep the doors open, that has to align with your legal obligation and duty to keep people safe. And maintain a functioning working environment. If you fail to meet the correct standards in all of these areas, your staff could rightly apply for workers’ compensation. This illustrates one of many practical applications of having accurate, timely information.
In conclusion, it’s crucial not to underestimate the effect of unpredictable weather conditions on your business. But, if you stay fully informed on their impacts and forward plan effectively, you can get ahead of potential challenges.
Then you will be best placed to respond successfully to a changing climate. And remain resilient.
The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success and two of its key focuses are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Teamwork is critical in any organization and having the right staff working to together as a seamless unit, can make all the difference in the world in terms of achieving your mission. The following contributed post is entitled, Why Teamwork Is Essential In Your Business.
Teamwork is essential in business, if you have a team, then they won’t work well without teamwork, and your business will not succeed. Everyone must work together towards the same goals and achieve the targets. In your business, if it doesn’t already exist, then it is essential to instill a culture of working together and getting your team to bond. It is important for them as individuals as well as for your business, and here’s why:
Teamwork Brings New Ideas
Businesses can only succeed with new, fresh ideas as it’s such as competitive world out there. Your business has to bring something different and have a unique perspective, and businesses thrive when they have a team of diverse people who can contribute to individual ideas.
Teamwork Helps To Solve Problems Two heads are better than one; four heads are better than two and so on. People working together can help solve difficult problems. Brainstorming is a great opportunity for your team to exchange ideas and come up with creative ways of doing things. By working together, teams can find solutions that work best.
Teamwork Gets The Best Result
Teamwork ensures that deadlines are met and that there’s high-quality work. If one team member falls behind, there are other people there to help, support, and to pick up the pieces. When work is divvied up among members of a team, it gets done faster, making the overall business operate more efficiently. Your team will develop a sense of comradery as you work toward a common goal.
Teamwork Builds Morale You’ll feel that your work is valued when you contribute to something that produces results. If you offer an idea that helps improve productivity, such as a new filing system, confidence and trust are built within the team. Each different person has something special to bring to the table, and by working together, team members feel a strong sense of belonging and commitment to each other and the common goal they are working towards.
Teamwork Enhances Learning What someone learns from their individual experiences is entirely different from someone else’s so as teamwork maximizes shared knowledge in the workplace and it helps people to learn new skills which they can use for the rest of their career. If you want to encourage more collaboration among your staff and enable them to learn more, then you can encourage this by improving the technology that your company uses, such as cloud computing.
Teamwork Builds Trusts When you have to rely on other people, you have to learn to trust them. Teamwork helps to build strong relationships with coworkers, and while there will always be the occasional disagreement, an effective team enjoys working together and shares a strong bond. Trusting teammates also gives a feeling of safety and allows employees to open up and encourage each other. Working in a team means that people learn that winning and losing affects everyone on the team.
A team is one thing to have a team, but teamwork is something entirely different and very special.
