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’s The Importance Of Performance Reviews?

Three focuses of my blog are Career Discussions, Organizational/Management Discussions and Workplace Discussions. In any sector, performance ratings are critical. In workplaces, it’s important for staff and management to understand the performance level of each other as they are intertwined. The following contributed post is entitled, What’s The Importance Of Performance Reviews?

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Every business owner knows that running a tight ship is the best possible way to ensure workplace results and an environment in which employees are better able to flourish. After all, the stronger your grip on those business reins, the better able you’ll be to identify problem areas, improve your policies, and generally make your company one worth working for.

Performance reviews that should be conducted every 3-6 months as a rule are especially crucial for ensuring full-company oversight and increased handling of issues that could otherwise slip too easily under your already busy radar. The question is, with company-wide performance reviews also taking up a great deal of your time, what exactly is the point of prioritizing this focus?

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A great opportunity for performance improvements

As well as getting employees onside by showing that you care, regular performance reviews that highlight problem areas and potential gaps in your training overall provide an invaluable opportunity to make improvements where, and when, they become necessary. An understanding of how things like long work hours and increased pressure directly impact performance can especially help you to adjust workplace standards and expectations to better ensure the results that you need, and the environment necessary to always keep everyone working at their best.

A chance to identify your strongest players

If various people contribute their own skills to each internal project, then it’s all too easy to overlook the precise efforts of star employees who can very quickly become disgruntled by feeling overlooked. By providing a clear opportunity to identify the more specific work contributions of every individual, performance reviews therefore play a crucial part in the identification, retention, and promotion of top players within your enterprise. As well as providing an increased incentive to work hard in the first place, the individual spotlight of regular performance reviews can therefore provide you with promotion opportunities at your fingertips, without once risking that you support the wrong person for promotion and leave the truly hard workers disgruntled/jumping ship as a result.

A form of self-protection

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As brutal as it sounds given that performance reviews are largely about your employees, these check-ins also provide you with a crucial savior when it comes to culpability. Effectively documented performance reviews especially enable the paperwork that you need to cover your back if an employee makes a false claim that you, say, didn’t check in when it came to things like training or workplace disagreements. Equally, the chance to identify issues like these during a review provides you with both the opportunity to address issues as they arise, and even to seek advice from outlets like Zarwin Baum lawsuit if you fear a raised issue could result in legal action. All of which will put you in far better standing for seamlessly moving past small setbacks that could otherwise damage company reputations for good.

Performance reviews might be time-consuming, but with these benefits and more to recommend them, they’re certainly an element of operations that no modern manager can afford to overlook, and you’re no exception!

Putting Your Finger On The Pulse Of Funding For Your Digital Heatlhcare Startup

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. If you’re creating a startup in the digital healthcare space, you want to have a thorough understanding of how the business works. The following contributed post is entitled, Putting Your Finger On The Pulse Of Funding For Your Digital Heatlhcare Startup.

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Famed for its ability to improve patient satisfaction using timely and concise services and outcomes, digital healthcare is the industry’s golden child of the moment, making it hardly surprising that last year alone saw a record $37.9 billion poured into this field. Unfortunately, with eye-watering high costs for everything from the software to the sensors and equipment necessary to make digital healthcare possible, this investment is more than necessary for most. And, if you’re considering making any ripples in this digital healthcare market that’s only set to keep on growing, you’re going to want to consider how you can also tap into those funding benefits.

After all, even high-value startups in this area will struggle to compete unless they, too, benefit from investment deals. That’s why we’ve put together a fast-fire guide to help you put your finger on the true pulse of funding for your digital healthcare startup.

Understand your options

The funding routes you choose can impact everything from your finances to the speed with which those are delivered, highlighting the need to understand your options. Specifically within the healthcare world right now, investment options include private investment, healthcare capital, and even special purpose acquisition companies. In each instance, you want to take the time to understand amounts, repayment expectations, and the level of control that you’ll ultimately be handing over. Depending on your in-house expertise and visions, the best option will typically be one like capital, which keeps you in control while ultimately providing access to the largest possible sums of money to bring your digital healthcare vision to life.

Follow in the right footsteps

Digital healthcare is a relatively new field, but that doesn’t mean you need to enter the investment arena blind. In fact, ensuring access to the widest possible pool of investment opportunities is often as simple as taking note of successful existing enterprises like BetterUp and Cerebral, both of which secured investment packages exceeding $4 billion last year. Specific areas where these high investments are most often commonplace especially include telehealth, mental health tech, and digital therapeutics, making these fantastic areas of focus for funding you can rely on.

Cut costs where possible

It’s also worth cutting costs wherever you can, ensuring that you’re seeking more realistic, low-level investments that are often far easier to find. While this should never be done at the expense of service quality, viable savings across digital healthcare solutions especially include the effective use of telehealth in general (which can also help to appeal to investors in the first place), the automation of administrative tasks for reduced payrolls, and more. Given that these examples are especially proof of digital healthcare done well, cost savings in this manner are guaranteed to bring investment opportunities within far easier reach for a wide range of reasons, not least the lower amounts that you’re requesting.

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Even the experts are dubbing digital healthcare as the future right now, but make sure that you bear in mind these crucial considerations when seeking funding for a startup in this ever-arising area.

5 Benefits Of Having A Hobby As A Professional

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“While the benefits of every hobby will differ depending on what you choose to devote your time to and how much passion you put into it, one thing is for sure, having a hobby has several benefits that will help you in the short and long term.”

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Three focuses of my blog are Health/Wellness, Career Discussions and General Education. For some people, being a professional may provide all the meaning needed in one’s life. In other instances, some people need other activities to provide balance and meaning in life. The following contributed post is entitled, 5 Benefits Of Having A Hobby As A Professional.

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Hobbies are regular activities usually done for enjoyment during your free time. Hobbies include playing sports, collecting themed items and objects, or engaging in creative and artistic activities like reading, among other things. The best way to pursue a new hobby is to try something you’ve never done before. The world is full of great activities to explore and adopt as our own. There are many reasons why we should all have at least one hobby, but here are the main benefits:

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5 Benefits Of Having A Hobby As A Professional

Taking Time For Yourself

Hobbies force you to take a break from everyday stress and spend time on yourself. Sometimes you have to take a break from stress long enough to disrupt your body’s stress response cycle before returning to action. If you need a short break, you can hike, ride a bike, watch a movie, or have a 5-minute meditation session. The more you focus on your hobbies, the more satisfaction and sense of achievement you will get.

Better Physical Health

Physical hobbies are a great way to stay in shape. Hobbies such as gardening, dancing, yoga, and sports can help us stay active without going to the gym. Getting started is not as difficult as one might think. For example, all you need to play soccer is a ball, some comfortable shoes, and custom gk gloves. And for yoga, you only really need a yoga mat.

Increased Social Interaction

Hobbies can improve your social life. Whether you’re in a club or playing in a league, hobbies are a great way to meet and approach people who have the same interests as you. The older you get, the harder it can get to make new friends who share your interests, but fortunately, the hobbies are something you can regularly enjoy with others.

Creativity

Creativity can allow you to view and solve problems more openly and with innovation. Some hobbies can inspire us to tap into our creative side. Engaging in a creative hobby will help you train your brain to think more creatively in other areas of your life. This can be helpful and extremely enjoyable for someone who doesn’t have a creative outlet at their work.

Hobbies Make You More Interesting

A hobby will give you something to talk about and something you can share about yourself with other people, other than what you do for a living. It will provide you with ‘layers’ because there are now more aspects to what you do every day. They also help strengthen your self-identity because you might see yourself as an artist, photographer, or an actor. Just think how much interest people would take in you if you did kung fu as a hobby, for example – you’ll definitely always have something to talk about, and talking about your hobbies is a great way to break the ice in conversations with new people as well.

There You Have It

While the benefits of every hobby will differ depending on what you choose to devote your time to and how much passion you put into it, one thing is for sure, having a hobby has several benefits that will help you in the short and long term. Finding something that makes you light up outside of work can seem like a massive task in itself, but it will be worth it to find something that makes you feel creatively and independently fulfilled!

How To Reduce Your Plumbing Repair Costs

Two focuses of my blog are Home/Living Discussions and Home/Property Discussions. One of the key costs to owning a home is your plumbing costs. If you manage them correctly, your plumbing costs can be controlled. The following contributed post is entitled, How To Reduce Your Plumbing Repair Costs.

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According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the average American family of four uses about 400 gallons of water every day. Indeed, water is crucial to domestic life, and you have your plumbing system to thank for delivering clean water to your home. This system is vital but is often hidden from view and doesn’t get much attention. Therefore, it is very frustrating to discover that you need plumbing repairs, particularly if it is an emergency. What’s more, these repairs can be quite expensive, so it is best to find numerous ways to reduce costs. Below are some effective things you can do to lower your plumbing repair costs.

1. Know how to shut off the water

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Water damage is one of the main reasons why many experts recommend never handling a plumbing issue yourself. This damage is hard to clean and expensive to restore, so you should avoid it at all costs. Therefore, know how to shut off your water to limit the damage caused by plumbing mishaps and save money. Sinks, toilets, and other individual plumbing components have shutoff valves. A toilet’s valve is located behind it, while a sink’s valve is under it. Consequently, simply turn these valves to the right to shut the water off and reduce the odds of water damage. Additionally, know where your home’s main water shutoff is, so you can turn it off during a major flood to cut water supply to your house and reduce repair costs.

2. Go trenchless

Trenchless sewer line repair is always worth considering to save money when your plumbing system develops a problem. This method of repairing sewer lines involves structurally restoring existing pipes internally using the failed or spoilt pipe as a host for a new one. As a result, there is no need for disruptive and expensive trench digging and regular pipe repair and restoration of floors, cabinetry, walls, foundations, and any impacted surfaces. Your sewer lines will be inspected and clean, and a flexible tube will be directly inserted into the existing drainage pipe. This tube contains epoxy that hardens to form a new structural line, creating a new pipe within an old one. Besides saving you money, this method is faster, less intrusive, and more environmentally friendly than traditional repair.

3. Prepare for repairs

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Home Guide’s 2022 plumber rates reveal that a plumber can charge you $500 to $800 for large repairs and $125 to $350 for little jobs like repairing sinks and toilets. However, it is essential to note that a plumber will charge you more if they have to spend a lot of time on your issue. Plumbers often have to handle other tasks in addition to their plumbing repair works, and they always charge homeowners more for the additional time spent. Therefore, keep your repair costs down by preparing the place for them so they only have to focus on the main plumbing issue. For instance, if your basement is flooded, clear the excess water out yourself before calling a plumber. Similarly, you can move your possessions out of the way and rip out your drywall to offer easy access to this area if necessary. This way, your plumber will spend less time on your issue and give you a cheaper bill.

Financial Tips for Young People Starting Out In The World

A key focus of my blog is Financial Literacy/Money. As a young person, you have your whole life ahead of you and opportunities more seasoned individuals done have. As such you want to start making smart decisions early. The following contributed post is entitled, Financial Tips for Young People Starting Out In The World.

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It’s a jungle out there. When you’re starting out in the world, everyone is telling you different things about how to manage your money. Do you save? Invest? Spend frivolously and enjoy your youth? It can be hard to know what to do when you’re just getting started. The following blog will provide some tips for young people to help them get their finances on track and make the most of their money!

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1) Start Saving Early

One of the best things you can do for your future self is to start saving money early on. It may seem like you don’t have much to put away, but every little bit helps. You can start small by setting up a savings account and contributing a fixed amount each month. As you get older and your income increases, you can increase the amount that you save.

Saving early on will help you in two ways. First, it will give you a cushion to fall back on in an emergency. Second, it will help you reach your financial goals sooner. For example, if you want to buy a house or retire at a certain age, starting to save early will make those goals more achievable.

So, if you’re just starting out, make sure to start putting some money away each month. Your future self will thank you!

2) Invest Your Money

Investing your money is another great way to secure your financial future. When you invest, you’re essentially putting your money into something that has the potential to grow over time. This can be done in several ways, such as buying stocks, cryptocurrencies, mutual funds, or real estate. So go now and start working towards financial freedom.

Investing has several benefits. First, it can help you reach your financial goals sooner. For example, if you’re looking to retire at a certain age, investing can help you get there quicker. Second, it can provide you with extra income in retirement. And third, it can act as a hedge against inflation.

So, if you’re looking to secure your financial future, investing is a great option. Just make sure to do your research and invest in something that you’re comfortable with.

3) Live Below Your Means

One of the best pieces of financial advice is to live below your means. What this means is spending less money than you earn. This can be a difficult task, especially when you’re young and just starting out. But it’s essential to resist the urge to spend everything that you make.

Living below your means has several benefits. First, it will help you save money more quickly. Second, it will allow you to weather economic downturns more easily. And third, it will reduce the amount of debt that you have.

So, if you want to get your finances on track, make sure to start living below your means. It may not be easy at first, but it will pay off in the long run.

In conclusion, these are just a few financial tips for young people that are starting out in the world. If you follow these tips, you’ll be on your way to a bright financial future! Just remember to start saving early, invest your money, and live below your means.

Why You Need a Website and Social Media Platforms for Your Business

Three focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. In our current digital age, more and more business is being conducted online. Even if you have a brick and mortar business, you’ll need a social media presence and a website in order to compete. The following guest post is entitled, Why You Need a Website and Social Media Platforms for Your Business.

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In this day and age, having a website and social media platforms for your business is essential. More and more people are using the internet to find businesses and products, so it’s important to make sure that your business is easily accessible online.

If you are thinking of building a website, you can pay for web design services. If you want to have social media platforms, you can create accounts for free on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Having a website and social media platforms is important because it allows customers to learn more about your business and what you have to offer. It also allows customers to connect with you directly, which can lead to more sales. Additionally, having a website and social media platforms can help improve your search engine ranking, which means that more people will be able to find your business online.

Why Are Websites Important?

Websites are important because they allow businesses to reach a larger audience. A website can be accessed by anyone with internet access, regardless of where they are located. This makes it a great way to promote your business and products to a global audience. Additionally, having a website gives customers a place to learn more about your company, which can lead to more sales.

Why Are Social Media Platforms Important?

Social media platforms are important because they allow businesses to connect with customers directly. Customers can learn about new products and promotions, and they can also provide feedback about their experience with your business. Additionally, social media platforms can help improve your search engine ranking, which means that more people will be able to find your business online.

What Makes A Good Website?

Below are the things that make a good website:

Accessibility

Your website should be easy to access, regardless of the device that is being used. This is because not everyone uses the same device to access the internet. Your website should be accessible on desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.

Design

Your website should have a professional design that is easy to navigate. The layout and graphics should be appealing to customers and reflect the image of your business.

Functionality

Your website should be easy to use. All of the links should work properly, and the pages should load quickly. If there are any errors on your website, they need to be fixed immediately.

SEO

Your website needs to be SEO friendly in order for it to rank high in search engine results pages (SERPs). This means that you will need to include keywords and phrases throughout your website content and metadata. You will also need to set up proper redirects and use canonical tags.

How To Use Social Media Platforms Effectively?

Below are the ways that you can use social media platforms effectively:

Create Interesting Content

Your social media posts should be interesting and engaging. They should also be relevant to your target audience. You can use images, videos, and text to create content that is appealing to customers.

Engage With Customers

You should engage with customers by responding to their comments and questions. This will help build a relationship with them and show that you care about their feedback.

Promote Your Products And Services

You should use social media to promote your products and services. You can post images, videos, and text about your products and services in order to generate interest from customers.

Monitor Your Results

You should monitor your results so that you can see how well your social media campaigns are performing. This will help you determine which strategies are working and which ones need to be changed.

Benefits Of Having A Website And Social Media Platforms

There are many benefits of having a website and social media platforms for your business. Some of the benefits are listed below:

• A website allows businesses to reach a larger audience.

• A website can be accessed by anyone with internet access, regardless of where they are located.

• A website gives customers a place to learn more about your company, which can lead to more sales.

• Social media platforms allow businesses to connect with customers directly. Customers can learn about new products and promotions, and they can also provide feedback about their experience with your business.

• Social media platforms can help improve your search engine ranking, which means that more people will be able to find your business online.

• You can use social media platforms to promote your products and services

In this day and age, it is important for businesses to have a website and social media platforms. These platforms allow businesses to reach a larger audience, connect with customers directly, and promote their products and services. Having a website and social media platforms is essential for any business that wants to be successful in the modern world.

Effective Ways To Enhance Operational Resilience In Your Business

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. The business world is literally full of peaks and valleys, and ups and downs. How you bounce back from the downs will predict your success. The following contributed post is entitled, Effective Ways To Enhance Operational Resilience In Your Business.

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In an ever more competitive market, customers continue to demand the best from the business they work with. This means that even during a crisis they expect the products they have paid for to be delivered. The good news is that by boosting operational resilience in your business you can maximize the chance that this will happen. Read on to find out more.

Establish a company-wide operational resilience process

Most businesses now understand that to be successful over the long term they need to have contingency plans in place. Unfortunately, the main problem with such plans is that they aren’t unified and cohesive across the entirety of the business, something that means they are harder to implement and can be less effective too.

The good news is that by using Business Continuity software, something you can learn more about by clicking the link, you can ensure that your company stays ready for any surprises that come its way. Indeed, by using Business Continuity software you can better manage the planning, impact assessment, and even the crises themselves!

Know your dependencies

Often the delivery of a product or service to a customer will depend on specific things, like subject matter experts, a specific location, and particular supplies, and without these things, there will be significant disruption. That is why it is so important to identify any dependencies your deliverables may have and have a plan B in place for when they are in crisis.

Favor proactive prevention

When it comes to operational resilience prevention is always better than cure. This means that your company will need to take a proactive approach, not just having a process in place for when crises do occur but also actively taking steps to prevent them from coming to fruition in the first place.

There are many ways to do this, but among some of the most effective are making sure that any changes are managed effectively, so they do not end up triggering a disruption. Additionally, segmenting critical IT systems can be helpful, as it means that even if one is compromised, the rest of your infrastructure will continue to operate.

Practice dealing with disruptions

Having a process in place for when a crisis occurs can help a great deal with operational resilience. However, those putting the process in place need to be able to do so calmly and effectively. This means that they need to have practice with a range of disruptions and crises, and running simulations for this purpose is an excellent idea.

Just be sure that you run these simulations at the top as well as the middle level in your business. After all, while it’s the middle managers that will often be left to deal with disruptions, anything of a serious nature will require the input of your top-level management as well. Indeed, if your CEOs and MDs can deal with a crisis in a calm way, this will only serve to have a positive impact on all those working below them.

Take nothing for granted

It’s essential to make sure that you optimize all levels of your business, and you can do that by conducting internal audits and reviews to make sure everyone, absolutely everyone, is pulling their weight. For instance, the board review process can help you better understand key metrics at the executive level of your company and the decisions it makes.

When you take nothing for granted in this way, there’s no limit to the capabilities of your firm, and its possibility to adapt to the presence moment.

How A Quality Management System Can Help Your Business

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. As your business grows and evolves, it’s needs will change, especially if it expands and scales upwards. The following contributed post is entitled, How A Quality Management System Can Help Your Business.

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A Quality Management System (QMS) is a collection of workflows and documents that outline how you achieve quality in your business. The main goal of a QMS is to achieve high levels of customer satisfaction and continually achieve and improve upon quality standards throughout your business processes.

What constitutes ‘quality’ is determined by the needs of your customers. A QMS helps to document current customer requirements and outline how your business goals will help achieve those needs. It also helps you identify how customer needs evolve and continually adapt your business at the same time.

This article will look at how a QMS can help your business.

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QMS Certifications Add Credibility To Your Business

Quality is the process of consistently achieving high standards, and a QMS certification acts as proof you can achieve quality. The international standard for a QMS is defined through ISO 9001 guidelines. These guidelines outline a high quality QMS as one which has a strong customer focus, process documentation, continuous improvement, and the ability to involve and engage high ranking management.

The ISO 9001 is set out by the International Standards for Organization (ISO), but is awarded by certified national bodies. As an example, the AS/NZS ISO 9001:2016 is a form of the ISO 9001 awarded by the Australian Standards agency. Each government or agency may have their own ISO 9001 accreditation, but the agency must be certified themselves by the ISO.

Of course, not all businesses rely on QMS certification. But you can use similar services such as leadership training, teacher coaching, or professional onboarding tactics to enhance the overall employee and management strategy and processes at your private business.

A QMS Allows You To Replicate Quality Time And Time Again

A series of documents outlining your processes will allow you to achieve quality time and time again. Documenting a successful workflow will help you consistently achieve high customer satisfaction again and again. Once you’ve documented your processes, it’s also easier to note where workflows can be improved upon in future. A QMS will help you streamline your workflows and make quality a standard part of your business. Your company will be more streamlined over time as efficiency improves.

A QMS Can Help You Save Money

A QMS can help you identify redundancy in the workflows, ultimately saving you money. Are there parts of the process that can be better automated with new systems? Does a certain task simply not add value to the customer? Studies as early as 2008 show that simply following ISO 9001 advice resulted in increases to employee wages and an overall decrease in errors and injuries. A QMS can help to avoid costly mistakes and ultimately even benefit the employees that work for the company.

A QMS Can Increase Employee Engagement

As well as a QMS increasing efficiency and potentially even wages, a QMS can also increase employee engagement. An employee that understands their role in achieving quality will be more engaged and ultimately more productive at work. If an employee has a detailed understanding of how they are involved in company success, they will ultimately be more motivated to help achieve company goals.

Be More Likely To Win Clients With A QMS

Some customers may require you to have a QMS before you’re even invited to bid on a project. For other clients, it might give you an edge over other businesses, especially if you’re competing against other SMEs. In some sectors, like healthcare, a QMS might be a mandatory requirement for your business to grow. In others it will help your business stand out from the crowd as a USP.

A QMS Makes Your Business More Scalable

During times when a business is rapidly expanding, a QMS can help you achieve improvement through having your existing processes documented. If you have a rapidly growing or changing business, without a QMS there are no documented workflows or ways to achieve scalability. A QMS means that all your processes are accessible to new and existing employees. This will also help achieve cohesion between teams, as each individual will be aware of their part in the workflow and overall company structure. As your teams grow, a QMS will act as a foundation for capturing your process and allowing for continuous improvements over time.

Conclusion

A QMS is a great way to document your processes for achieving high standards. It allows you to make your business more efficient in terms of time and financial savings. It also acts as a badge of credibility for new and existing clients, to help your client-base grow. Employees may benefit from increased understanding of their role and even higher salaries, which will boost their morale and productivity. Ultimately a QMS is a vital step in growing and maintaining success during times of business expansion and change.

What Do Shareholders Do?

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. A key aspect to the money world is investing. If you’re investing in paper assets, you must have a fundamental understanding of what shareholders are when it comes to companies and stocks. The following contributed post is entitled, What Do Shareholders Do?

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As a start-up company, you might not be too worried about shareholders, but the longer you are in business, and as you expand, it might be something that you start to consider. But what is it that shareholders do?

In short:

Shareholders own at least one share in a company (but the shareholder can be a company, organization, or a single person). They share in the company’s success as it grows, and their shares can give them some rights within the company too.

They can often play a vital role in the company’s future and how their financials look.

There are two common types that you should know about when it comes to shareholders.

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

Preference shareholders

One of the biggest benefits for preference shareholders is that they get priority over equity shareholders. However, while they do better in the profit distribution, they don’t have voting rights.

This means that they don’t have an impact when it comes to executive decisions. Another bonus for preference shareholders is that they get a fixed dividend rate, regardless of the company’s current profitability.

Equity shareholders

An equity shareholder has a stake in the company’s equity. They do have voting rights, but they can also take legal action if there are matters that arise they believe to be detrimental to the company.

Each of these shareholder types will have shareholder agreements that will outline everything they can and cannot do.

Why are shareholders important to a company?

Shareholders don’t just earn profit from their stocks in the company; they can also help the company grow. Shareholders will have a vested interest in financing, operations, control, and governance.

Financing

It is becoming more common for start-up companies to offer shares to raise cash for their growth, marketing, and more. Shareholders will buy shares, and the company will use that money for what they need to do.

Governing

There will be transparency between shareholders and board members (of public companies) pertaining to operations and how the business is. There will be many meetings between shareholders and the c-suite or other managers to the governing of the company.

Operations

Shareholders with voting rights (and even without) will have large sway over operations. This is because shareholders are investors, and investors want to keep the company on track so that they see a return on their investment.

Control

When shareholders don’t agree with certain personnel, acquisitions, or shuffling of the staff, they can use their say over what happened—effectively deciding who and who doesn’t have control of the company – and at what percentage they control.

Shareholders are a vital part of the company as it grows, and they do have many rights. They can take legal action where applicable, sign off or stop the signing of directors, and attend general body meetings.

They can also access copies of the financial statement, see accounts and call meetings. Even with all of this responsibility, shareholders have very few liabilities.

If you don’t have a business but are interested in buying shares in one, here are some more interesting ways that you can invest your money: Investment Tips Anyone Can Profit From.

Adding A Vintage Element To Your Interior Décor

Two focuses of my blog are Home/Living Discussions and Home/Property Discussions. If you’re into home decorating and décor, you may be familiar with vintage elements. The following contributed post is entitled, Adding A Vintage Element To Your Interior Décor.

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Improving the way your home looks is a lifelong ordeal – it’s going to take a while before you find a style you truly love and enjoy! And even when you do, there’s no telling when you’ll need a fresh coat of paint on the wall to satisfy how you feel in 5 or 10 years time. But that’s no bad thing; a good style is one that’s ever evolving and always feels like you.

Which is why vintage elements are still so popular in the modern era. We love to see hints of times gone by in the rooms around us, and some people dedicate their taste to recreating the aesthetic of the 50s and 60s. So why not add a few touches of those eras to your own interior decor?

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Pick an Era

When you’re aiming for a more vintage look, it’s a good idea to avoid period mixing and simply go for one over any others. If you’re a 50s fan, for example, it can be easy to dip into the 40s or 60s, but this can lead to a totally confused look. You might even come across as a bit amateur in your interior decorating prowess!

Think about what era’s aesthetic is your favorite. If you’re a geometric design fan, it’s going to be the 20s. If you love that midcentury style, then it will be the 50s. If you’re more of a bright, brash and loud person, the 70s is where it’s at.

Have a Focal Point

Focal points are cornerstones of room design, and if you want to add a new element to your current decor, you’re going to need a new focal point to focus on. So take one or two rooms in your home, like the living room and the kitchen, and take your love of vintage to the max. After all, you don’t want your new highlights to be overbearing, but you still need to capture some ground with them.

For example, maybe you can use something like this Marilyn Monroe Ballerina print to tie a feature wall together? If you’re someone who loves the golden age of Hollywood, this is definitely a decor idea to consider! All in all, you need something to act as a statement piece, and then you can simply dress the room around it.

Dress Your Room Inside Out

Speaking of dressing the room, make sure it’s done from the inside out. You want your focus to be in the center, and for that impact to get less and less the further out of this area you go. For example, if you’re hanging 80s prints on the wall, you don’t also want to have an 80s style wallpaper underneath them. If you’ve got a vintage coffee table and bookshelf, make sure it’s layered against other contemporary furnishings.

Vintage decor uplifts any room you walk into. If you want your own style to have more personality, this is a great way to manage it.