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.

What To Do When Medical Treatment Goes Wrong

A key focus of my blog is Health/Wellness. Unfortunately there are instances where medical procedures and treatments don’t go as planned and the patient becomes injured or even dies from the administered care. In these cases, it’s very important for the patient and their family to know what to do. The following contributed post is thus entitled, What To Do When Medical Treatment Goes Wrong.

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You’ve just undergone medical treatment, but it hasn’t been successful. Perhaps you’ve had a reaction to a drug or there were some complications during surgery that have led to other injuries. Perhaps you were promised that a certain pain would go away and it hasn’t. Whatever the case, it’s important that you don’t ignore the warning signs. Here are just a few steps to take if you suspect there’s been a medical fault.

Talk to the doctor that gave you the treatment

Your first step should be to get in contact with the medical professional that gave you the treatment. You may have been warned about certain side effects beforehand or told after treatment about complications, in which they will likely have given you instructions to get in contact again if things got worse. In most cases, your doctor will be willing to take a look at the problem and decide what further action to take.

Get a second opinion

You may wish to get a second opinion if you feel you can’t trust the doctor that gave you the treatment. When it comes to symptoms that aren’t visually clear such as unusual pains, nausea or dulling of certain senses, this second opinion could be useful in helping you to get a clear diagnosis.

Take things higher

In the case of a serious medical error, you may want to file a complaint to the head of the clinic. Medical clinics often have staff that deal solely with complaints – in the case of large hospitals, there may be lots of complaints to process, so don’t worry if you don’t get an immediate response. You could also consider taking things higher and complaining to the governing body in charge of the clinic – they will be able to launch an enquiry into the incident and may be useful if you feel that the clinic’s staff aren’t taking your side.

Consider a legal claim

When medical treatment goes wrong, it’s often possible to seek legal compensation. There are many lawyers out there that deal with medical malpractice. It could be worth looking for specialist attorneys to help you make the best case – whether you’re looking for a transvaginal mesh lawyer or a brain surgery lawyer, you’re certain to find someone that specialises in this area. Many lawyers won’t charge you unless your claim is successful.

Decide on your future treatment options

Corrective treatment may be needed to recover from the medical error. For example, in the case of a faulty hip replacement, you may need to seek hip revision surgery. A legal claim may be able to cover the costs of this. Whilst you may be apprehensive of trusting doctors again after such an incident, it’s important that you receive the corrective treatment that is recommended otherwise you could create further injuries for yourself.

How Walking Could Help Your One Man Business

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success, and three key areas are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship, and Health/Wellness. Running a business is no minor undertaking, and can be taxing on all levels. It’s thus important to know how keep a healthy mind, body and spirit, while maximizing growth and productivity. A simple way to do that is by walking regularly. The following contributed post is thus entitled, How Walking Could Help Your One Man Business.

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Photo by Yogendra Singh

It’s not uncommon for people to source pleasure after a massive project or work schedule by meandering through the same old crap on Facebook or catching up on their Netflix programme. This may be your go-to fix to become energized to begin work again, but what if there’s a better way? One that doesn’t cost any money and has multiple benefits, which could impact your business positively. The idea is for you to start walking to better you and in turn your business, here are a few reasons why.

Creative Thinking

If you’re setting up or have begun a business requiring a lot of creative energy from you, it can be overwhelming to try and continuously revitalize that inventive source without burning yourself out or worse getting a complete creative block. However next time you think that watching TV or playing games is a suitable option for a distraction, think about taking up walking instead.

Whether in your local park, to the shop, to your moms, or better yet go rogue and have no plan in mind, go on a mini adventure and get lost a little while. Why you ask? Because scientists declare walking helps improve creative thinking. Which if you’re an artist, writer, designer and so on, creativity is your muse, it needs to be nurtured through activating the imaginative senses in your brain.

Walking provides you with new stimuli to engage, indulge, and think about. We sometimes become disconnected from our imagination causing stagnant thoughts. Even if you decide to walk the same path a million times, you will always find something new that you hadn’t noticed before.

Save Money

An incentive to start walking is that it can help save you money, which when you’re starting your own business, keeping money in your pocket is one of the best things you can do. You could get rid of your scooter or car and make use of your own inbuilt transport system in the form of your legs, which will help save you a ton of money each month on fuel, car tax, car insurance and of course repairs. Unless you live in the sticks, walking is an excellent alternative to driving to help cut costs and save more money to invest in your business.

Self Confidence

Healthy self-esteem and confidence in yourself will reflect on your business, walking can assist with this. If you start walking regularly, you will improve your physical appearance as walking helps to make people look trimmer and your skin to appear more youthful (exercising stimulates collagen). A healthier appearance helps to give people confidence.

Alongside enhancing your presentation, you will also improve confidence by practicing walking alone. Some people refuse to go anywhere alone. For those starting a one-man business, you need to feel confident and capable that you can do tasks on your own accord relying solely on yourself. Taking a stroll alone can help encourage the confidence of your capability and courage to do things by yourself.

Walking helps us to reconnect and engage our minds and bodies in comparison to watching mindless television programmes, you can help stimulate your brain to encourage new ideas and thinking and even help to improve your memory. It will also help you to distress when you’re feeling a little overloaded with work or you’re stuck for direction. Try to avoid negative connotations or anxieties about walking alone, and stop giving yourself excuses such as pedestrian accidents or that staying in front of your laptop is beneficial because you’re available and ready at all times for your next business call. Get up from your desk, away from your screen and start walking your way to better thinking, a better body and a better business.

The keys to learning college-level general chemistry revisited

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success, and a key focus is awareness of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. A key class for many STEM-hopefuls is ‘college- level’ General Chemistry, both in high school and college. Some students, particularly those attending very competitive high schools, take college-level Chemistry and struggle with it.

Several years ago when I tutored part-time, I worked with several students in Northern Virginia where taking ‘Honors’ and ‘International Baccalaureate’ (IB) General Chemistry as freshman and sophomores was a normal occurrence. For three to four years, I worked in the former Northern Virginia Tutoring service where I consistently coached lost and struggling students, and helped them confidently finish their classes strong. The service was run by my mentor and fellow blogger Dr. Ralph G. Perrino (Dr. Perrino’s blog).

I originally published this piece on the Examiner back in March of 2013. I’ve decided to republish this revised version as tutoring was a fun and rewarding experience for me, which also helped me earn some extra income. I myself didn’t fully grasp General Chemistry back at Hutch-Tech High School as a sophomore. It wasn’t until I was an undergraduate at Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU) that I understood and mastered this exciting quantitative science. I went on to use that knowledge in my graduate studies, in my federal science career, and eventually as a tutor.

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After starting my federal science career, tutoring not only allowed me to supplement my income, but it was a very educational experience for me as well. When applying to work as a tutor through the Northern Virginia Tutoring Service, I listed Biology, Chemistry, and Physics as my areas of expertise. I had some experience with all three disciplines in my undergraduate and graduate studies.

Chemistry by far was the course that generated the most demand for me, specifically ‘Honors’ and ‘International Baccalaureate’ (IB) Chemistry. IB courses are basically ‘college-level’ and can be quite a jump for some high school freshman and sophomores. Even some upperclassmen struggle in them. These classes are particularly problematic when the students fall behind in them early, lose confidence, and when the subject area falls outside of Mom and Dad’s areas of expertise – hence the need for a tutor.

The students who needed my help weren’t ‘slouches’ by any means. Most of them resided in Virginia’s Arlington and Fairfax Counties. Fairfax County is one of the wealthiest counties in the nation – a county with a very strong school system where 90% of its students matriculate to college. The parents’ vigilance and drive to assure that their children do well academically is also a hallmark of this county. This was manifested in their willingness to invest some of their hard-earned money into tutors – sometimes several at one time for multiple children. Those parents were very impressive.

When working with the students, my initial goal was to approach them with a positive and optimistic attitude. Patience, understanding and a bit of humor were parts of my approach as well. These were particularly important for students who had lost hope. After this initial part, we dove into the actual science and turning their grades around. There were four key principles that I stressed to my students: time management, taking initiative, practice and attention to detail.

The kids I worked with were ‘high achievers’ and typically juggled multiple classes, and in some instances, multiple Honors/IB courses. They were also involved in a plethora of after school activities (sports and clubs of all kinds), which often caused a bit of an overload. In cases such as these, time management for each class, especially the demanding classes, was very, very important.

The next principles I instilled were taking initiative and the importance of practice. College-level courses require students to assume more responsibility for their studies with less coddling by teachers. This is especially important for quantitative sciences like Chemistry and Physics, which are calculation-intensive and require rigorous practice. I stressed to my students that this was the only way to feel confident at test time, when students were tasked with working their way through several pages of complex problems, usually within 45 minutes to an hour.

The argument that teachers aren’t ‘teaching effectively’ in these subjects may be partially true in some instances, but what’s also true is that the teachers can’t do everything. They can’t make the students practice what they’ve learned after hours and on weekends – arguably the most important part their learning. This is where the most meaningful part of students’ learning takes place as was the case for me as an undergraduate when the light-bulb turned on one Sunday afternoon in Charlotte, NC.

Finally, I impressed upon my students the importance of learning to pay attention to several key details. Chemistry tends to start off with ‘concept-based’ learning: the trends of the “Periodic Table of Elements“, the micro-particles that comprise atoms, and then chemical bonding. With the balancing of chemical equations, the class becomes more ‘critical thought-based’.

The ‘quantitative’ phase starts with the “Stoichiometry” chapter which permeates throughout the remaining chapters. This is the phase in which the calculator becomes one of the student’s ‘best friends’ as they must calculate decimals, express numbers using ‘scientific notation’, and sometimes calculate ‘log’ values. When calculating acids, bases and pH values, students also must be able to use the ‘^’ calculator function in some instances, which admittedly confused me as the tutor once. An important part of this phase is understanding and being able to convert ‘units of measure’ – converting grams to kilograms, and then grams to moles, Celsius and Fahrenheit to Kelvin, and so on.

The calculation of moles, percent compositions, percent yields and so on, leads the class to become highly quantitative and the students then must also keep track of various equations/formulas, and chemical/physical constants, while also integrating concepts from earlier chapters. This continues into the “Solutions”, the “Gas Laws”, “Kinetics” and “Thermochemistry” chapters. While specific calculations are used throughout the course such as the conversion of grams to moles, some chapters have their own unique equations, formulas and units of measure such as ‘millimeters of Mercury’ (mm Hg) in the Gas Law chapter which is a measure for atmospheric pressure.

Examples of chemical/physical constants include “Avagadro’s number”, and the “Universal Gas Constant”, which itself has many different values depending upon the units used. As we progressed through the chapters, one thing I constantly had to remind my students of was always keeping their Periodic Table of Elements handy. I consider this the student’s first best friend in the class, as it has pieces of information about every element necessary to answer questions in even the more advanced chapters.

This all sounds like a lot right? Again, it can be particularly problematic if the parents have no experience in the area. Once lost, students typically need extra help in the form of spending more time with the teacher or working with a tutor. When the above-mentioned keys are introduced and the student buys in, he or she can gain confidence, get back on track and find the class to be fun. Tutoring caused me to have to relearn some material I’d forgotten over the years, and to learn concepts we hadn’t covered when I was an undergraduate. In some instances I was learning along with the students I tutored. This was fun for me and created a sense of adventure.

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If you’re a STEM-professional, tutoring is a really good way to generate a second income depending upon the demand for your knowledge set in your area or elsewhere. With the technology available to us today, tutors can work with students remotely in some instances without having to physically be there. In either case, helping students to understand their subject matter, and ‘to get over the hump’, is a very rewarding feeling, and an accomplishment all in itself. It’s also gratifying when the parents thank you and stay on their children about when their next tutoring sessions will be.

What also helped me out during my tutoring experience was that I could go back and ask one of my veteran undergraduate Chemistry professors questions when I got ‘stumped’. In some instances, I needed to be refreshed on some of the nuances of some of the problems I was doing with my students. I don’t think he’ll mind me mentioning him, and I’m very thankful that he was willing to provide guidance when I didn’t know what to do. This underscores the importance of not burning your bridges and maintaining relationships with your professors long after you’ve earned you degree.

My former professor also pointed me in the direction of the Chemistry Olympiad Exams for challenging and fun practice problems. You can download the yearly exams as pdfs for free. The answers are in the back, so you can go over them yourself or with your student, and even work your way backwards to figure out the right answer, if either of you answered the question incorrectly.

Thank you for taking the time out to read this blog post. If you enjoyed this one, you might also enjoy:

• The story of how I earned my STEM degree as a minority
• The transferrable skills from a STEM degree in the basic sciences
• Don’t Be A Mad Scientist: Avoid These Stupid Lab Mistakes
• A look at STEM: What is Pharmacology?
• A look at STEM: What is Toxicology?
• A look at STEM: What is Inhalation Toxicology?

If you’ve found value here and think it will benefit others, please share it and/or leave a comment. To receive all of the most up to date content from the Big Words Blog Site, subscribe using the subscription box in the right-hand column in this post and throughout the site, or add the link to my RSS feed to your feedreader. Lastly, follow me on the Big Words Blog Site Facebook page, on Twitter at @BWArePowerful, and on Instagram at @anwaryusef76. While my main areas of focus are Education, STEM and Financial Literacy, there are other blogs/sites I endorse which can be found on that particular page of my site.

Why You Should Think Carefully Before Accepting Overtime At Work

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success, and a key focus is Career Discussions. Not all careers and sectors are the same. Whether earing a salary or a wage, a key consideration to any career is working overtime. Some workplaces offer it, and some don’t, and there are often rules associated with it. The following contributed post is thus entitled, Why You Should Think Carefully Before Accepting Overtime At Work.

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Overtime at work is something of a double-edged sword. Sure, working extra means that you will benefit in more money in your pay packet at the end of the month. However, overtime isn’t always that simple, and there might be some jobs that don’t pay for their employees’ extra hours or won’t let them take any in the first place. So, if you are on the lookout for a job that will come with the option of plenty of overtime, you might need to take this into consideration. That’s not the only thing you will need to bear in mind when contemplating overtime – here are a few extra pointers to remember.

Not Every Job Will Come With Overtime

As I’ve already briefly mentioned, not every job will allow its employees to take overtime. More often than not, jobs that pay their workers in a salary often fall into this category. That’s because employees will receive the same payment each month. They are paid for the whole year, split into twelve payments. This is different to workers on a wage, as they will be paid according to the number of hours done. So, as you can see, it’s easier for an employer to work out overtime for staff who earn a wage, as they just need to add the extra hours to their paycheck.

Unauthorized Overtime Still Has To Be Paid

Most of the time, an employee will have to OK their overtime hours in advance with their manager or supervisor. However, in some cases, an employer can then turn around and try to argue that they never authorized the overtime hours in the first place, and could refuse to pay. This is an example of wage theft and is unacceptable. If this ever happens to you, you should speak to an employment lawyer for advice. In most cases, they will advise you to take your employer to an employment tribunal to sue them and claim these lost wages back along with compensation.

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On A Salary? You Can Still Take Overtime

I may have mentioned that it is unlikely for salaried employees to be offered any overtime, but there are some cases where it could happen. In fact, you need to look at your job responsibilities and current salary to see if you are entitled to extra overtime. Normally, it is offered to workers at the lower end of the payroll. Unfortunately, though, this still depends from company to company, and your employer might not be too keen to offer you extra hours if you are on a salary.

Don’t Overdo Overtime

The prospect of more work to earn more money might be too good to pass up on. However, you need to be careful that you don’t overdo it with the overtime. You need to make sure that you get plenty of rest between shifts or else you could end up exhausted and stressed. And that could have a very detrimental effect on your work!

So, are you ready for overtime?

10 Ways To Make Your Business 10x Better

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, and Business/Entrepreneurship. Once you’ve started your business , it’s important to know what things you do to make it thrive, survive and go to that next level. What aspects should you pay attention to? The following contributed post is entitled, 10 Ways To Make Your Business 10x Better.

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Looking at your business and finding ways to improve consistently is the only real way you can make sure your business is growing at a steady rate. You can’t stay the same, especially not when everything moves so fast these days – you’ll quickly stagnate, and you could easily lose everything you’ve worked for so far.

Below we have 10 ways you can make your business 10x better – take a look and see what you can do:

1. Provide Consistent Training To Staff
Providing your staff with consistent training gives them everything they need to offer the best service imaginable to your customers. They will stay on top of current trends, keep their skills fresh, and be a stronger team for it. Investing in your team is always a good idea.

2. Aim To Offer The Best Customer Service Imaginable
Customer service is key – people talk, and if your service isn’t up to scratch, it will affect your reputation. Consistent customer service should be considered one of the priorities in your business. Make sure everybody is on the same page when it comes to customer service; the customer should always feel like they have had a victory after dealing with your business.

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3. Automate And Outsource As Much As You Can
Automate and outsource to save as much time and money in your business as you possibly can. You could look into managed IT services, project management software, or something else that you think will be beneficial for your business.

4. Set Both Short And Long Term Goals
Having both short and long term goals in business can help you to stay focused. Make sure everybody in your business is on the same page!

5. Create A Business Plan
A business plan is not compulsory, but it will certainly help you to stay focused and on track when it comes to where you want your business to end up. Take the time to make one – use a template if you have to.

6. Invest In Yourself
Investing in yourself could help you to make your business better. How are your leadership skills? What are your strengths and weaknesses?

7. Treat Your Team Well
Your team are just as important as your customers. When you don’t treat your team well, you’ll end up with a high employee turnover, a low quality of work, and a bad reputation. Treating them right can make all the difference to your success.

8. Create A Great Company Culture
Learn from some of the biggest businesses out there and create a great company culture. Keep things relaxed. Offer unlimited paid vacation. Let people take naps. Make your business an awesome place to work!

9. Create Consumer Profiles
Creating consumer profiles means you’ll be able to create content that is perfectly targeted to your audience. It will resonate with them and get you far better results.

10. Build A Strong Online Presence
A strong online presence makes you appear to be a more trustworthy business – these days, the majority of people search for information on businesses online!

The Three Biggest Barriers To Scaling Your Business

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, and Business/Entrepreneurship. Once you’ve started your business and have gained some traction, it’s important to know when and how to scale up your operations. What are some of the important considerations and barriers to overcome? The following contributed post is entitled, The Three Biggest Barriers To Scaling Your Business.

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There comes a point that you’re ready to take your business to the next level. Or so you might think. You have the demand, you have the market share, and you have the momentum, so why shouldn’t you scale yet? You need a little more time to address the barriers ahead of you. Here, we’re going to take a look at three of the most common roadblocks that turn an immature scaling attempt into a true disaster.

Photo Source: Kaboompics

The money
Besides when you first start your business, the scaling attempt is the second most common reason a business will borrow from banks and investors. Simply put, you’re not likely to have all the money you need from your revenue alone. It’s very likely you will have to apply for funding once more. Take the time to put together a new business plan which outlines why you’re scaling and how you’re going to accomplish it and clearly define how much money you need to pay for the property, equipment, assets, and staffing that you need. You don’t have to necessarily go down the traditional funding route, but a business plan makes your request a lot easier to approve.

The infrastructure
When you scale, your responsibilities are going to grow in magnitudes. You’re not simply increasing the scale but the scope of the business, as well. As a business grows, it becomes harder to keep centralized and to deal with the same responsibilities you used to. Creating a new team infrastructure is its own question. Even with things as simple as your tech, your need for technology management and IT solutions are likely to grow as you hire more people and buy more digital equipment. Similarly, partners you used to outsource to might not be as effective as they once were. Instead of working with a delivery company, you might need a full fulfilment service to take care of your new needs. You need to address most processes to see how to restructure them to deal with the increased size and complexity of the business.

The staff
Your team is also very likely to grow. This doesn’t mean a simple uniform increase in people across all sections of the business. You are likely going to need to look at hiring more management level staff, too, as your ability to personally manage the whole team is likely to go out the window. What’s more, you should look at creating a formalized recruitment process and even potentially partnering with recruitment agencies to meet the need for the increase in staff numbers in the short amount of time you have to do it. Just make sure you don’t rush it. You might identify some areas of the business where you don’t need any additional staff at all and hiring then could be a waste. Plan it in advance.

The reason that most startups that make it to the two-year point go on to fail is a failure to scale properly. You need to make sure you have the plans in place and the resources in place that you can make it safely to the other side. Scaling is always a risk, but you can at least make it a calculated one.

Staying Relevant in the Workplace: The Tips To Help

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success, and two of its focuses are Career Discussions and General Education. Even after completing school and entering the workforce, it’s important to think about where your career and your field are going. This involves several steps and points to consider. The following contributed post is thus entitled, Staying Relevant in the Workplace: The Tips To Help.

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In a job market that is as competitive as ever, employers are likely to have higher standards than ever for their employees. So in order to stay competitive and stay marketable, you need to make sure that you are relevant and up to date. By checking that you are doing things to improve yourself and your career, as well as seeing how you are doing with things, it can help you to ensure that you are not coming up short. If you’re not too sure about how you can stay relevant in the workforce, then here are some steps to help you get there. Keep going on and on, and you’ll be able to stay relevant in your career. Then you can keep your career going and achieving the things that you want to.

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Check Your Training

No doubt you will have the main qualifications to be doing the job that you do. But there are can be plenty of new technology to learn and understand, as well as software or certain operating systems. But if you don’t get up to speed, then you are going to struggle in your everyday job, as well as struggle to stay relevant. If it is kind of implied that you should know how to do something, then now is the time to learn what you need to learn, so that you can execute your work well and show your employer that you know what you are doing.

Trade Shows

It will depend on what industry you are in. But if your industry is related to an industry that works with (or in) trade shows, then it is a good idea to get yourself there. It can be something to suggest to your employer if you are not already doing it, as well as going and arranging to go of your own accord. It gives you a good chance to network, as well as a good chance to see the latest in your industry, or how other industries could be impacting the one that you work in.

If you work in quite a niche industry, or plan to in the future, then it can be a good idea to attend trade shows to get ideas, as well as seeing what is happening in similar industries.

Get Social

Social media is a great way to get in touch with others in the industry, or it can be used as a great way to read up on latest news or blog posts about what is going on in your world of work. Being online on social channels in a professional way can be a good idea to help you to stay on top of all that is going on. Not to mention that there are plenty of HR influencers online, especially social sites like Twitter. They can be sharing useful updates and relevant content, to help you to stay up to date and stay relevant in your career.

Perfect Your Skills or Specialize

If you look at people in the medical profession, for example, the ones that are earning the most are the ones that are a doctor with a specialism, rather than just a general practice doctor. Being a ‘jack of all trades’ isn’t always the best thing for your career. It can be a really good thing to specialize and to choose one route to go down. You will be staying relevant as you will be much more marketable to that specific career area than if you just kept things quite general. So if you can, look for ways to train in something more specific, but still relevant and in-demand.

Follow Competitors

Whatever walk of life we are in, there will always be competitors. Have a look at them to see what they are doing and what they do so well. If they are having more success, then follow them to see what it is that they are doing differently to you. If people in the same niche are having more success than you, then it shows that there is market for what you are doing. You just need to be the one that people want to come to. So mimicking a strategy or style can help to boost your success, and it adds value to what you are doing, and keeps your role relevant.

As you can see, these are all pretty straightforward things to be doing. But it just takes some time to plan so that you can really focus on your career goals and staying competitive and relevant within that.

The Partners Every SME Needs

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. As a ‘Small and Midsize Enterprise’ (SME), it’s critical to understand how to secure all of the services and components your business/company needs without overspending and surrendering significant equity to others. Today there are several technologies available to provide the necessary services in a cost-effective way to entrepreneurs. The following contributed post is thus entitled The Partners Every SME Needs.

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Nope, a partner is not for me. I want to keep my equity. And so you should because the business is your baby and there is no need to give it away without cause. You’ll be glad to hear that the partners that this post talks about are the traditional types you’ll find in the industry. Angels they may not be technically, but they are guardians because they neither ask for a slice of the equity pie nor stick their nose in your affairs. The following trust your judgment and leave to manage the company, for a small fee, of course.

These are the partners every SME needs.

Amazon Seller

In the beginning of life as an entrepreneur, it’s vital that the company creates as many sales and conversions as possible. Without the right amount of finance, the business will cripple under the weight of its debts and outgoings. Amazon Seller might appear to be retro and outdated yet it’s a trusted partner for lots of startups according to brockjrohnson.com. For one thing, over 50% of the giant’s sales come from third-parties such as you say tradegecko.com. By the way, Amazon is the first trillion dollar company. Oh and there’s the fact the click-through traffic is enormous and you get a slice of the pie.

Google Ads

New companies need a digital presence to succeed. With organic, free marketing techniques, it doesn’t seem to pay to fork out for ads. However, SEO is a tricky art to master because of the saturation in the industry as well as the constantly changing rules. PPC is a simpler option as the standards don’t change and you’re guaranteed a top spot on Google’s ranking page. Considering billions of people use this search engine on a daily basis, it makes sense to pay adwords.google.com to generate leads and clicks.

Bitly Analytics

Tracking your marketing strategy is a modern tactic which is essential to success. When there isn’t any data on how the base reacts, there isn’t a way to tweak the plan into a winning policy. Bitly lets users see how many people clicked on your links and when it happened. Plus, it compiles reports on the platforms too. If this wasn’t enough, it shortens links to make them look organic within the content and your website. In conjunction with Open Web Analytics, there isn’t a piece of information you won’t receive. Check out bitly.com for more.

Xero Accounting

Figuring out who to pay and how much to give them is tricky business. Plus there is the tax thing to factor in, which is complicated and dangerous in equal measure. Paying for a qualified accountant is costly, which is why an online version helps. Xero isn’t free, yet it is affordable and does offer summaries of important info. Also, you can access it from any computer so you can do the accounts on the go without missing a payment.

Without partners, it’s tough to get by in this industry. Thanks to new technology, you can find them without paying.

Is Your Company Ready To Take On Employees?

Some of the key focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Organizational and Management Discussions. A major key to running a company is knowing when additional help is needed in your workforce. If you need help, what’s the best way to approach finding it? This contributed post is thus entitled, Is Your Company Ready To Take On Employees?

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Thinking of hiring employees to work for your company? Preparation is essential when taking on staff members. Here are a few questions to ask yourself before you take steps to hire employees that will tell you whether you are ready or not.

Can you afford to take on employees?

First of all, you need to be certain that your company can earn enough to pay your employees wages. On top of this, you need to be able to afford recruitment costs, insurance, equipment and work incentives. It’s worth getting a financial advisor to help draw up a budget so that you can decide whether you’re ready – you can always take out a loan at first to pay for recruitment costs and initial equipment.

Have you got the time?

You need to be able to dedicate time to the recruitment process such as reading resumes, conducting interviews and providing training. Make sure that you’ve made this time for yourself, otherwise you could end up rushing the process and hiring the wrong employees. You also need to be there for your employees when they’re actually working for you – nobody likes a distant boss.

Have you got the tools and equipment?

Hiring employees could mean having to hire extra equipment. Some of this could be required for admin purposes such as payroll software. Other equipment could be for your individual employees needs such as uniforms, extra tools and safety equipment. You may want to stock up on some of this beforehand, whilst uniforms may be something you want to order when you know your individual employees sizes (although you may still want to come up with a design prior to this).

Do you understand the legal requirements?

There are a lot of legal requirements to consider when hiring staff. You’ll need to first take out employer liability insurance to protect you from injury claims – this is compulsory in many countries. You’ll also want to do a risk assessment of your workplace to ensure that aspects such as fire safety and basic health and safety are met. On top of this, you’ll need a clear understanding of all the benefits you should be providing such as a pension and holiday pay. PEO companies can help when it comes to putting benefits in place. Make sure to keep up to date with your local employment laws. If you are looking for a German PEO visit globalization pedia.

Do you have the personal skills to become an employer?

You may also want to consider taking a couple courses in leadership and management. These could help you to get a firm grip of the admin required whilst also helping to develop leadership skills such as delegation, communication and motivation. You can also try reading books on leadership or simply taking advice from blogs and vlogs. You don’t need experience or qualifications to be a good leader, however educating yourself could go a long way.

How Do You Recover From Disaster? Plan For It

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, and Business/Entrepreneurship. Disasters of all kinds can hit at any time. When running in business, it’s important to be prepared in case one does occur. How do you do this? The following contributed post is entitled; How Do You Recover From Disaster? Plan For It.

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That might sound like a riddle, but actually, it’s rather straightforward. If you want your business to survive a disaster, you must be prepared. A disaster in your business could be anything from a data crash to a fire that takes out half of your offices. While it might not seem like it, you can plan for virtually every single disaster that could hit your company. How do you do this?

It all comes down to your disaster recovery protocol or DRP.

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What IS A DRP?

A DRP ensures you can handle disasters the right way and essentially break through them to the other side. You know, the side where your business is still a profitable venture? DRP plans should be drawn up and put in place as soon as your business enters the market. By doing this, you can make sure you are ready for disaster whenever it might be occur. Remember, a disaster could hit you in year one or ten years from now.

What Are The Most Common Disasters?

You probably have your own ideas about what disasters are most common for business owners. But, you might be surprised. For instance, fires may seem like the worst case scenario but they are rather rare. It will of course depend on your industry, but the typical office won’t have to dwell on the worry of fires too much at all. You check out stats on business fires on www.totalrestorationgc.com.

Well any issue involving data could certainly be a problem for your company. A data disaster could ultimately lead customers exposed to issues such as hacks. If this occurs, you will find that your business brand is impacted and sales could take a dive. This could even lead to a financial loss for your business.that won’t be easy to rectify.

A disaster could also mean a lawsuit against your business. These days, if you are facing a lawsuit, it will likely be due to the actions or issues with an employee. They can sue you for substantial amounts and put the future of your business in serious jeopardy.

What Will A DRP Include?

A DRP could include anything such as a software or set up design that guarantees the tech problem is corrected as quickly as possible. It might even allow for disaster recovery services offered by the top companies such as www.xbase.com. Using their services you can make sure that disaster recovery is completed in minutes rather than taking days or even months. It’s a great way to guarantee your business will immediately be back in order.

Of course, a DRP can also include written instructions showing how to deal with an issue. An example of this would be a number for a law firm to call who will represent you in a personal injury case and guarantee that your case is handled on a professional level.

We hope you see now why planning for disaster is so important and how it can help keep your business on track, even in the wake of a dangerous situation.