The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success. Often times, success in our lives is greatly dictated and influenced by our mindsets and personal beliefs. Likewise, a lack of success is caused by mental programming. The following contributed post discusses this and is entitled, Unlocking Confidence In Your Daily Life.
Everyone would say that they would like to be more confident, as it is clear that it leads to a more productive and fulfilling life. But it is one thing to want this, and quite another to actually know how to go about making it a reality, and that is a distinction which can really make all the difference in the world. Nonetheless, everyone is capable is learning to be more confident, and it begins by focusing on what it is that you tend to do with your mind. The secret to being confident is understanding how to think about it, as well as how to approach hurdles and problems in your daily life, in a manner which breeds more and more confidence within yourself. In this post, we’ll look at a few of the mindset qualities which can help you to feel and become genuinely much more confident in no time at all.
Anything Is Possible
First of all, you will want to try and develop a sense and feeling of anything being truly possible. Although at first it might seem as though this is not true, or that it must be hard to think this way, actually it is not quite as difficult as you might think, and the truth is that most things are much more possible than people tend to think. The problem is that by assuming that things are not possible, you make it truer, and the same is true of the opposite. You can start with very small things for this, everyday annoyances which you would usually feel have no real solution. For instance, it is always possible to get out of a parking ticket – check out GetDismissed, for instance – or to get away with being given your coffee for free. Try it out, and see what you can manage, and then you can start to build it up.
Growth Is What Matters
Of course, you are going to face setbacks, so it is the way in which you approach those problems that determines how confident you are likely to feel and come across, and therefore what kind of a life you are likely to live. And you will find it considerably easier to deal with whatever problems you might have if you can focus more on growth than anything else. If you can say that a problem at least caused you to grow, then you will find that this leads to a much more positive way of looking at things, which in turn allows you to feel much more confident in yourself in the future, for you won’t be fearing failure quite so much. This is powerful, and it’s well worth looking into as best as you can.
Help Others, Help Yourself
Finally, there is much to be said for the process of helping others in your life. Apart from just being a nice thing to do, when you go out of your way frequently to help others, it tends to have an effect of making you feel better about yourself, and this will lead to an increased confidence in no time. This is hugely important, and it can’t be overlooked.
The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success and a key area is Career Discussions. In some instances individuals can become unhappy in their careers and at work. Is the only option to quit? Not necessarily. The following contributed post is entitled, Unhappy at Work? Here’s What to Do.
Work takes up a significant amount of your time and if you are unhappy, you must make a change. There is no point in going through life feeling like things could be better and doing nothing about it!
Being unhappy at work can have a massive knock-on effect on the rest of your life. If you are anxious and stressed at work, you will almost certainly be anxious and stressed at home. If you are feeling bored and uninspired at work, you can guarantee that your home life will be boring too.
The good news is that there is a simple formula to find your way to happiness once again. In just 3 steps, you should be able to see a much brighter future ahead.
Isolate the Problem
There are all kinds of reasons that you might be unhappy at work. Perhaps you feel that you don’t have enough of a challenge or maybe you are feeling overworked. It may be that you don’t get on very well with your manager or colleagues or even that you are being overwhelmed by the social commitments expected of you. No matter what it is, you should try to isolate the specific problem before you do anything else.
Often, people who are unhappy at work begin to internalise their worries and feel that they are to blame. Employees who are stressed out and overworked often feel that they are bad at their jobs and don’t realise that they could do an excellent job elsewhere. Similarly, if you aren’t getting on with your colleagues, you may feel socially inept. By isolating the problems you are having at work, you will be able to see that the problem lies with the job and not you. When you come to go for a new job, you will be able to see the warning signs and make a better choice.
Isolating the problem or problems is the best way to start working on a plan to make things better. If you are just focusing on the feeling of being unhappy and not the cause, you aren’t going to make any progress. The best action plan is based on facts not feelings.
Decide on an Action Plan
Stress and anxiety quite often stand in the way of working out an action plan but this is no problem in the long run. You just need to shift your priorities. Instead of focusing on what you need to do to make your job better, you should start by thinking about what will make your mental health better. Happily, the two things often coincide.
Breathe deeply and close your eyes. Let your mind drift for a moment but try to prevent them going into a spiral – follow the thoughts that interest you. Letting your thoughts wander is a great way to give your brain space to come up with more creative ideas and solutions. As problems at work pop up at the forefront of your mind, think about the possible solutions. You might even like to make a list you can look at later.
Some problems are easier to work through than others. For example, if you aren’t getting on with your colleagues, you might be able to talk to them about the problems you are having and clear the air. Similarly, if you want a greater challenge, you could ask to go on courses, move departments and take on more responsibilities as part of your role.
But other issues are more difficult to resolve and you may need to ask for professional help. If you are unhappy because you believe your company is acting illegally and you are planning to become a whistleblower, you will certainly need some help and should ask a lawyer for more information.
When you have a few solutions to try, you should put your plan into action. So, let’s say you are unhappy because you don’t get on with your colleagues and you don’t have enough to do. Start by asking your manager for more responsibility and suggest areas that you are particularly interested in developing. This is a good idea for several reasons but most important are that you can build up your CV and you will have less time to worry about your social issues.
Next, you should go through the process again, what is it specifically that is impeding your relationship with your colleagues? Would it help if you were to speak more clearly? Do you need to tread more carefully when you talk? Perhaps you are misunderstanding each other and there actually isn’t really a problem! Social issues at work take time to resolve but a candid chat is always a good starting point. Whatever you do – don’t gossip!
Make Positive Changes
Making just a few positive changes at work can have a real impact on how you feel. Positive changes can be as small as having a picture on your desk or as big as quitting and starting up your own business. The most important thing is that you are making the decision for the positive rather than simply escaping the negative. One of the most important rules in finding a new job that will make you happy is that you should always run to a job not away from a job.
Getting a new job is often the end goal for most people who are unhappy at work. Though it might feel like climbing a mountain every day, this is the main reason that you shouldn’t completely give up on the job you currently have. Continue to do your best and find ways to develop yourself so that when it comes to the interview, you will have plenty to talk about and impress the new company with.
As difficult as it is, try to keep looking at the positives. You might feel stuck in a rut but writing and sending off your CV will help to show you that you have plenty of skills and experience to work with. You won’t be trapped in this job forever.
Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Many people have gotten wealthy by investing in real estate. No matter which niche of real estate investing you get into, a crucial skill is identifying which properties are good investments and which ones are bad investments. The following contributed post is therefore entitled, How to Know if a Property is a Good Investment or Not.
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If you want to buy a property, then there are a lot of different things that you need to think about. You need to think about the location of the property, the condition of it and even the price. Only when you have been able to take all of this into consideration, can you then begin to really make sure that the property is the right one for you.
Know the Numbers
Unless something catastrophic happens between the time your offer is accepted, and when you close, there isn’t a single reason why your loan shouldn’t go through. Before you start searching online, you have to make sure that you speak with a mortgage lender. You also need to make sure that you know what you can qualify for, and even how much you are spending on a monthly basis. When you do this, you can then begin to make good decisions that won’t impact your finances too much.
Location
Sure, it’s great when you can buy a huge family home for a very affordable price. If the location isn’t right however then you shouldn’t even look into it as an option. Location is such a huge factor when you are choosing your property. Remember that you can change almost any aspect of the home, whether it involves adding an extra bedroom or even converting the loft to get extra space, but you can never pick up the home and move it somewhere else. If you can’t seem to find a great location then look into the properties that Drew Fasy has to offer.
When buyers are working hard to try and set up their budget, they remember to account for things such as insurance payments, tax and even their mortgage. You might not remember to account for things like gas, cable or even electric however and this can really impact your budget. You also need to take into account things like landscaping and property maintenance. You can minimise this cost by working hard to find a property that needs very little improvement, therefore saving you some money. That being said, some hidden costs just can’t be avoided. And while there can be aspects of a property that don’t require many changes, this gives you scope to put your stamp on it, either through exterior renovation or curb appeal alterations, or giving the outside of the property a minuscule makeover, you don’t necessarily have to invest much.
If finding the perfect property means going over budget, then you really do need to reconsider. This is especially the case if you can find a property that is near enough exactly what you want for a significantly lower price. Sometimes compromises need to be made because if you don’t then you may end up overspending on something that really isn’t worth that much money. By being smart with your money, you can be sure to really help yourself and you can also do your finances a favour too.
So, there are plenty of ways for you to really make the most out of your investment, and by putting in the work you can be sure to find a property that suits your needs. The internet is a fantastic place for you to start when you doing your property research, so don’t be afraid to compare neighbourhoods online.
The first principal of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success and a key focus is Health/Wellness. No matter which kind of organization you’re running, a key component will be the wellness of your employees and staff. Helping them stay in top shape will all but assure that you will get maximum productivity out of them. The following contributed post is thus entitled, Encourage Healthy Employees With These Wellness Strategies.
Did you know that healthy employees are one of the best assets that any business can have? It makes a lot of sense when you think about it – healthier employees won’t get as sick quite as often and so won’t have to take as many days off to recover from illnesses. That means that you won’t waste any money paying for employees to take days off. But that isn’t the only reason why you need to encourage good health amongst your employees. You will find that fit and healthy workers are a lot more productive, as they have plenty of energy and drive.
There are lots of employers who already know just how beneficial healthy staff are, and so have stepped up measures to encourage healthy choices both in the office and at home. Here are a few popular wellness strategies that work well with employees. Perhaps you will want to try some out with your own staff.
I’m sure that a lot of your employees will drive to the office. This may be the most time-efficient option for people, but it won’t be doing their health any good. It’s worth trying to motivate the employees who live close enough to the office to walk or cycle to work. There are a few ways you can incentivize these choices. For instance, you might want to install some bike racks outside your office so that cyclists have somewhere to keep their bikes safe and secure while they are working. To try to get their workers walking to work, some companies offer their employees wearable devices, like Fitbits to track their daily steps. Running weekly or monthly step competitions within your office will certainly encourage your workers to walk more!
No matter how fit we may be, it can still be possible to end up in accidents and injured. If an employee does end up injured, they may be forced to take a considerable length of time off work. There are ways you can help them speed up their recovery, thankfully. One thing some companies do is build a relationship with a personal injury attorney who they can then get to represent their employee in court. You can contact Sachs Waldman for more information about these kinds of attorneys. Getting a good lawyer on board will greatly improve their chances of winning compensation which they can then use to invest in their rehabilitation and healthcare. Before you know it, the employee will have returned to a full bill of health and will be back in the office.
Encourage Healthy Snack Choices In The Office
Healthy eating goes a long way to helping us maintain good physical and mental health, so you should try to encourage your employees to opt for healthy snacks whenever they feel a pang of hunger. The best way to make sure that everyone reaches for a piece of fruit instead of a chocolate bar is to offer some free healthy snacks and drinks in the office kitchen. A large bowl of fresh fruit will go down really well, especially with those workers who want to satisfy their sweet tooth. It’s also a good idea to offer some cereal bars and other healthy snacks that aren’t too calorific, sugary, or fatty. As well as offering the usual teas and coffee, make sure there is some bottled water and fruit juice for your employees as well.
Lots of research has suggested that employees who make friends with their colleagues and coworkers often enjoy being at work than those who don’t. It makes working together a lot easier, and employees who are friends will often support and help their friends a lot as well. So, it will be really beneficial for you if you promote the creation of social connections between your workforce. There are many ways you can do this, but one of the easiest is organizing office drinks on a Friday evening every so often. Most companies host these drinks every two weeks or on a monthly basis.
Offer Support To Staff With Mental Health Troubles
These days, we all know how difficult it can be to maintain good mental health. Some studies have shown that employees who are emotionally supported in the workplace often find it a lot easier to maintain better mental health than those that aren’t. So, it’s really worth rolling out some top support strategies to all of your employees, especially those who really struggle with serious issues like depression. For instance, some companies like to welcome a councillor into their office once a month, and offer their employees the chance to book a session with them. You should also prevent the development of any workplace bullying and make sure that no one is ever overstretched with their workload.
Offer Gym Memberships As A Perk Of The Job
You will already be offering your employees plenty of perks of the job, but do you already offer them a free monthly gym membership? More and more businesses are now offering this to employees, as most gym memberships are too expensive for individuals to buy on their own. Once you do offer a membership, you will find that your workers are a lot more likely to go to the gym on a regular basis. As a result, they will quickly get fitter and their overall health should also improve.
If you have the space in your office, you should think about installing some showers. This should encourage more employees to run or cycle to work. Lots of people are put off from getting to work in these ways because they will have to spend the day sweaty at their desk. But once showers have been installed, they will be able to take a quick wash so they are fresh for the day ahead.
Once you use these wellness strategies, you should notice a difference in your staff!
Three of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. In today’s digital world, businesses of all kinds are operated online which involve the mass generation of data and transfer of that data. As such, there’s a need to protect your data. The following contributed post thus entitled, Man or Machine: Which Protects Your Data?
There has been a heavy emphasis on data security across mainstream media platforms for many years. With huge amounts of data being stolen from companies, personal information being more important than ever before, and criminals becoming more sophisticated, it makes sense that people want to keep themselves safe. Of course, though, as a business, it can be hard to know who or what you can rely on to make this happen. To help you out, this post will be exploring the roles of both people and machines in relation to your data security, giving you an idea of where you trust should lie.
Machines
Most people would assume that you can trust computers with anything. They don’t tend to operate without instructions, instead performing the tasks which you’ve told them to. Of course, though, it isn’t impossible for people on the outside to take control. To solve this issue, tools like encryption and firewalls are used, blocking access to data which should only be seen by those within your business. These tools don’t always do their job, opening the doors to data being leaked into the world. Of course, though, this isn’t something which you have to worry about if you have the right people looking after you systems.
People
Data leaks and information dumps are often the result of human error, with people clicking the wrong buttons or ignoring prompts which they should be taking action to solve. Updates, for example, are often handled automatically by operating systems like Windows, but will require a restart before they are in place. If a security update rolls out, but your teams don’t reset their machines, they will be vulnerable to attacks. This sort of issue has plagued some businesses, leaving them to rely on increasingly automated systems to handle their data protection, but this doesn’t always solve the issue.
What To Trust?
In reality, you should never trust either of these areas unless you’ve done the work to secure them. Your computers should be managed and maintained by a professional company, ensuring that you are compliant with local laws, while also keep everything updated to deal with new threats. Along with this, using special data storage recruitment companies to find your employees can be a great idea. By following this route, you will be able to fill your business with people who have already proven their ability to look after data. It’s never worth putting your trust in something which isn’t proven, especially when it comes to protecting data.
With all of this in mind, you should be feeling ready to take on the challenge of protecting the data within your business. Most companies struggle with this area, eventually feeling the impact which can come when you lose other people’s data. Of course, though, as time goes on, you will only have to put more effort into it. Criminals haven’t stopped developing their systems, and this means that companies have to remain on their toes, with new threats popping up all the time.
Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. While it’s great to envisions all of the positives associated with owning a business, it’s important to consider the costs as well as they can come back to bite you. What are some of the unexpected costs of owning a business? The following contributed post is entitled, The Unexpected Costs Of Owning A Business.
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Choosing to start a business is not a simple decision. Although it may seem like it is at the time, there is a lot that you need to consider before you get the ball rolling, from the support of your family to the extra workload. You’ll also need to work out the cost. No matter what others may say, owning a business is very rarely cheap, and there are often many more expenses than you initially realize. With that in mind, here are five unexpected ones that you’ll need to plan for.
1. Research Expenses Before you can launch your new venture, you need to work out exactly what it is. While some people do decide to start a business knowing what they’re going to sell and who they’re going to sell it to, many others have absolutely no idea. If you’re with the latter crowd, you’ll need to conduct market research to give yourself some inspiration. This is something you can do yourself or delegate to a research agency, but, either way, it can end up costing you hundreds.
2. Employee Turnover We all know that recruitment can cost you big, but what few realize is just how expensive losing the employees you recruit can be. As well as having to repeat the costs of hiring someone new, you may also need to pay extra to cover the additional workload in the meantime. For this reason, high employee turnover can wreak havoc on any company. Thankfully, if you offer a welcoming work environment and competitive benefits, new hires shouldn’t want to move on.
3. Product Shipping Businesses who ship products to their customers rarely consider how much this can cost. In addition to packaging and postage, you may also need to invest in your own vehicle to transport goods and cover the costs that this will bring. Being on the road also runs the risk of an accident. That being said, a truck accident lawyer can help you get the compensation you deserve in this event. To cut shipping costs further, you can shop around for the best deals.
4. Inventory Shrinkage Any business handling physical products has to face inventory shrinkage at some point. This occurs when your goods are damaged, stolen, or otherwise lost before they can be sold and delivered to customers. Unfortunately, there is no way to eliminate this worry completely, but there are several things that you can do to reduce it. These measures include improving product management and investing in better security, such as security cameras and guards.
5. Equipment Maintenance We all understand we’ll need to invest in certain types of equipment to keep our businesses up and running. Computers, tablets, and other office technology is generally a must, but some enterprises require specialized and expensive tools too. While you’ll know to budget for these investments, you may not have planned for the cost of maintaining them. This helps to keep your equipment running smoothly, and is cheaper than replacing it, but still costly nonetheless.
In the world of business, money is everything, so make sure that you take care of yours by planning for the unexpected expenses listed above.
Three of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Not all businesses are the same and thus not all rules apply across the board. If you’re running a special type of business, you have considerations that other entrepreneurs don’t. The following contributed post is thus entitled, Helming A Business Involved In Sensitive Specialisms.
There are some types of business advice that could be considered universal, from top to bottom. This is usually the type of advice focused on those that sell products and services of some kind. For example, the fundamental tenets of opening a restaurant are likely considered similar, no matter what cuisine is on sale. Of course, sometimes there will be outliers, such as how to organize a successful line of food trucks, or considering just how wacky a three michelin star restaurant can afford to be.
But there are some businesses that might not be that open to the fundamental business advice required. For example, research and development initiatives, innovative incubators and a range of other investment-led propositions. Helming a business involved in sensitive specialisms can be truly difficult, and no matter your level of technical expertise could be considered overwhelming. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. While keen business sense is a universal principle, sometimes excellence is required as a fundamental standard.
This is fine, because if you’re hoping to begin or maintain an operation like this, you are likely excellent already.
Consider:
Recruitment
When stocking any form of business with good staff, you need to understand your requirements to the T. Odds are that if you’re running your own business, you have a technical level of proficiency in this area already. However, that isn’t always guaranteed, and in fact can sometimes lead a once-innovative business to ruin if not handled well. This means that if you do not have the level of specialist expertise, you must craft a board of individuals that include some who are. These will act as your technical advisors, helping you make the best decisions from the offset, especially where matters of working policy come in. They might advise you the delivery times expected as you manufacture new products, help you optimize and make your manufacturing line more efficient, among a range of other positive helpers that can truly make all the difference.
Recruitment hardly stops here. You also need to stock your company with high-intelligence, accredited professionals. But you must also reach out to those places that could potentially help you continue to bring in the intelligence your company needs for success. A brain drain can cripple a company involved in high-spec ambitions. Recruit at science universities or even begin a sponsorship program to allow high-achieving students with their scholarships. Develop youth training links as far as you can to potentially help build brand loyalty in your employees of tomorrow. This is how you can ensure the average skillset of your staff stays high, but you can also benefit from new, fresh ideas, develop comfortable and confident understandings surrounding
Your Vision
Your vision is important to get right. If you fail to do this, you’ll unfortunately fall behind. A business that is aimless is one that tries everything, but never the right thing. A business without targeted goals and deadlines for those goals has no measure of success. Simply ‘breaking even’ might be all you need to survive, but is that success? Unless you’re running a non-profit, most business leaders wouldn’t. To innovate you need to reinvest, to stay on the cutting edge, and have the versatility to experiment with new ideas. Without this added flexibility, it can be very easy to fall to the wayside.
Refining a vision is important. Changing it over time is possible of course, so don’t feel you’re limited to one direction. But you need to know why you’re here, and why your specialist product matters. How can you help explain it in an accessible manner to those who might not understand? What countries do you hope to sell in? Is this a specialist item for the use of knowledged professionals or is it going to be part of the consumer market?
What pedigree do you want to set for yourself? Will you have the longest-lasting item, the item with the most versatility, or perhaps the most refined and complex of all the products in that industry? What problems with your current industry and the products within it do you wish to solve and overcome given the time?
Feedback & Creativity
It’s important to blossom creativity as much as you can within your business. Part of doing so will help you continually understand what current expectations are, and how you might improve upon them. Never use customer expectations and understandings as a means to base your current method of innovation from. Always look to improve upon it, because you are the ones who should be presenting the new standard.
However, with this kind of interfacing with professionals in your field, with the customers you hope to sell to and perhaps with consultants from many different highly-refined specialisms, you will be able to better gauge the patterns of the industry. But it is always important to keep that window open. This is because even in innovation, you need to understand the purpose of why you’re innovating. Any competent firm with the ability to can get lost in its own hubris, developing and refining products that might not have much practical use in the industry. That is what your sideline experimental products are for, but there must always be a balance between feedback and creativity, from top to bottom.
Directed Aims
As we explained before, directed aims are important. But how do they manifest in your product or service development? Well, of course the aims are to provide a product or service that is capable and competitive with others on the market. But what format might this process take? Do you hope to have the most energy efficient production capacity compared to anyone in the industry? Do you pride yourself on your vetted supplies, on the in-house ingredients generated for each development? How about helping initiatives flourish such as those trying to mitigate the damage your industry is known for?
There’s always something positive to try and achieve, and while this is always worthwhile for its own sake, it doesn’t hurt your PR to engage in this either.
Equipment & Expectations
It’s important to ensure that you measure your equipment correctly. Your staff need to have cutting edge gear, especially in your R&D lab. A temperature and climate-controlled area with excellent sanitizing procedures before and after, extremely worthwhile health and safety equipment, important alarms to sounds if an issue occurs, protective and regularly maintained apparel, stocking yourself with an excellent chip kit collection, and ensuring your storage capacities are all extremely well-maintained is essential to helping your lab staff simply start with the fundamentals. Equipment changes depending on the type of research and experimentation is being conducted is essential. Finding the space necessary for this, sometimes in warehouse units, sometimes in office buildings or even underground could be incredibly important. This leads us onto our next point:
Security
When you’re involved in a highly innovative and specialized field, competition is stiff. Half a document of findings could be the smoking gun that allows another firm to try and innovate on your products before your patent is accepted, and could prevent you from taking the competitive edge you would have done. Security needs to be tight, because corporate espionage can be a real, definitive problem in these industries. Vet employees through and through before giving them any sort of clearance, and be sure to tailor your security access in layers, allowing only the most trusted and proven to reach the higher echelons.
Gate document access, secure and encrypt your internet traffic, and ensure devices are restricted from certain areas. Have your staff sign non-disclosure agreements and be sure to keep a competent legal team by your side to execute any lawsuits you have correctly. Lock your building well, and ensure that full security systems are installed. When a single piece of research could potentially gain you or lose you millions of dollars, you need to construct your business correctly from the beginning, to avoid any and all suspicious behavior from reaching its end-point.
Constant Market Research
While it’s essential to conduct your own research and to try to shape the trends of the industry, you must also research the industry through and through. This can be well achieved if you know what you’re doing. Not only must you research customer opinion as we have explained prior in this article, but you must try to understand every move your competition makes. For example, if a rival phone manufacturer releases a model that seems innovative, purchase some in bulk and deconstruct them. Try to get to the heart of the OS, or the design philosophy, or how it was marketed despite the apparent flaws. Learn from those around you, because they’ll almost certainly be learning from you. It’s in this way that you can stay on top of any and every element of the industry that might have otherwise evaded your understanding.
With these tidbits of advice, helming a business involved in sensitive specialisms is sure to be worthwhile.
Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. A lot of people work in the area of ‘contracting’, particularly with government agencies. When working in this sector, it’s important to know how to get repeat business. The following contributed post is thus entitled, 3 Ways For Contractors To Get More Repeat Customers.
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If you’re a contractor, it’s the loyal customers that will sustain your business. If all of your customers are only using you once, you’re not going to have enough regular work to keep you going. But finding repeat customers is often easier said than done. If you find that you’re getting a lot of new customers but you can’t turn any of them into repeat customers, you’re getting something wrong somewhere along the line. These are some of the best ways to get more repeat customers for your contractor business.
This is very important. If you repair something for somebody and it breaks again 6 months down the line, they’re not going to call you again to fix it. In fact, they won’t call you for any other work they need doing either. That’s why it’s important that you do a good job that’s actually going to last. A big part of that is the materials that you use for the job. For example, if you’re doing some plumbing work and you buy cheap pipe and fittings, they’re likely to corrode and leak pretty soon. But if you buy decent quality black iron pipe fittings and copper pipe, the job will last for years to come. As well as good materials, you need to make sure that the workmanship is perfect. Don’t rush jobs to get the next one in and earn more money, it won’t work in the long run. Take your time and make sure that everything is perfect. You also need to be realistic about your own abilities and don’t take on jobs that you’re not really equipped to do. The work will be bad and you’ll lose the customer for good.
Build A Relationship
The work is obviously an important part of it, but you’ve got to remember that the customer is going to have you in their house, so they need to feel comfortable around you. If you don’t have a good relationship with your customers, they’re not likely to ask you back. Always make sure that you’re polite to customers, the way that you represent your company is very important. If you can offer a personalized service to each customer, you’ll build better relationships and they’ll be more likely to call you next time they need work doing.
Follow Up With Customers
If you finish the job and then don’t have any other contact with your customer, you’re missing an important part of the process. The aftercare is just as important as the work itself. You should always call up your customers a week or so after you’ve finished the job to make sure that everything is ok. If there are any small tweaks that need to be made, you should do it for free. By offering good aftercare to your customers, you can show that you’re invested in the work and you care about them. This is what people are looking for in a contractor so it’ll really help you to get repeat customers.
If you use these simple tips to get more repeat customers, your contractor business will thrive.
The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success and two key focuses are Financial Literacy/Money. Whether you’re running a business or another class of organization, taking care of your employees is critical. Creating an environment where they feel as though their best interests are being considered will assure their loyalty to management. The following contribute post is therefore entitled, Your Most Valuable Resource: People & How To Take Care Of Them.
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The idea that you can have a successful company with happy customers and not treat your employees well is ridiculous. In fact, the whole systems works on a trickle-down effect, with happy employees supplying the best productivity and service, and so pleasing customers. Something that then leads to better profits. Happily, even if you haven’t thought of your business in these terms before you can significantly improve how you treat your employees with the advice elbow. Read on to find out more.
Leadership
Great leadership can make all the difference in how your employees feel about their work. Such leadership may not always be what you think it is either. In fact, it’s not about striding around the place barking orders or even having the ability to do all the tasks from top to bottom yourself. Instead, it’s about having a strong vision for your company both inside and out.
What this means so that you need to have an accurate idea of how you want your company to run internally and balance this with the successes and profit you make. You need to draw a line in the sand and decide that you will treat your employee with respect no matter what their role, and insist that they treat each other this way as well.
In fact, bullying, intimidation, and unpleasantness is often something that can degrade an employee’s work experience and job satisfaction. To that end, you need to have up to date policies that deal fairly with any instances of this as well. If you want our employees to feel happy and safe at work that is.
Safety
Of course, your employee’s safety is also crucial in terms of the task you are asking them to do. In fact, businesses have a responsibility to those that work for them. What that means is it’s crucial to be aware of any laws and guidelines concerning the type of tasks you need them to do.
In fact, even in an office environment, there is plenty to be aware of such as desk height and ergonomics as well as manual handling training. Where employees are shows how to move boxes correctly, so they don’t end up injuring themselves.
However, in more specific environments there are even more safety issues to be aware of. For example, when working with machinery the risk of employee harm is much higher, but it can be reduced by using items like cable housing and protective carriers. Something that you can visit Dynatect Manufacturing for more information on. A place where you can also find help with others ways that you can improve your machine process to increase its safe use and productivity.
The same is true when your workers are using construction equipment and heavy machinery too because these things have a partially high risk of causing harm or damage if they are not operated properly.
To that end, proper induction training courses for each piece of specialized equipment are needed, as well as regular refreshers at appropriate intervals as well. Clear signage to remind those that are working around such machines of the danger they pose, as well as the safety gear they need to wear are also vital aspects of looking after your employee’s safety in such environments.
Another way that you can show your employees that you care about their well being is by encouraging them to be as healthy and fit at work as possible. In fact, this is something of a new idea that is taking off, with many business offering exercise classes within work time. Some companies are even choosing to offer meditation or power nap breaks that allow people to rest and recuperate, as well, something that is also good for reducing stress levels.
Another way that many businesses can show concern for the physical well being of their employees is to install office furniture that encourages movement while working. This may include a standing desk, treadmills, and even balance ball chairs which are known to be excellent for posture and core strength.
Of course, all of these items do cost money, but what most smart employers realize is that if their workforce is physically more healthy, they are likely to be more productive as well. In fact, integrating such programs in a work environment can significantly reduce sick days and so boost company productivity, and save on cover over the long term as well.
Salary and Wages
People don’t tend to work for free, not unless they are lottery winners or secret millionaires that is, and that is why to show your care about your employees you need to offer them a decent salary and benefits package.
What that means is that the salary you pay needs to be comparable, if not better to your closest competitors in the market. Although, if you can’t match them in terms of cold hard cash, you may wish to consider introducing an excellent employee benefits scheme that includes discounted or free gym membership and other perks. Something that you will be able to purchase as a compare documented price and so will work economically for your business as well as for boosting morale.
Social
Lastly, if you want your employees to enjoy work and feel valued and so stay with you for as long as possible, creating a community atmosphere in the workplace is essential.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that you ignore sensible guidelines about appropriate behavior at work, but instead it’s about introducing opportunities for workmates to spend quality time together outside of the office.
Some firms do this with regular social evenings, while others prefer team building activities like adventure weekends away. The idea being that not only does this strengthen bonds between individual employees and help them to communicate and get on better at work, but also allows people to feel more integrated and valued as well.
Something that can contribute to a feeling of belonging, and so help to boost your employees’ overall job satisfaction. It can even reduce your worker attrition rate, and so work out better for your budget as well.
After all, if people are your most essential resource, it’s crucial that you look after them in the best way that you can.
A key focus of my blog is Financial Literacy/Money. A prominent financial talk show host and writer once said that money is 20% head knowledge and then 80% behavior. This suggests that it’s actually pretty easy to win with money as long as you continue to repeat the right steps. How can you improve your money mindset? The following contributed post is entitled, Your Money Mindset And How To Improve It.
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Do you know what a money mindset is – better yet, do you know what shape yours is in? Being aware of your own money mindset is absolutely key if you want to get your finances in order. With a strong money mindset you’ll be able to earn more money, manage your money better, and feel more comfortable and free around money. It is honestly the best thing you can do to improve. Too many people look outside of themselves for solutions rather than looking inwards to fix what is going on. If you aren’t good with money, what makes you think you’ll be better when you’re earning a lot more? The troubles will remain!
Below, we’ll go into more detail on your money mindset and how you can improve it. Enjoy!
Identify Your Limiting Beliefs The first step to changing your money mindset is identifying your limiting beliefs. We all have limiting beliefs to some degree, some more than others. These beliefs are usually the beliefs that we picked up off our parents and the people around us when we were young. By identifying what your beliefs are, you can eradicate them and write a new story. It takes time. You must be mindful of your thoughts, and you can think about using techniques like tapping to help you overcome the beliefs that are holding you back.
Spend More Time With People Who Are Good With Money If you’re always spending time with people who squander their money, don’t appreciate it, and talk about it in a negative way, you will do the same. We become like the people we spend the most time with. If you spend time with people you’d like to be like, you’ll be investing and learning all about accounting for cryptocurrency before you know it. You can try to spend more time with people who are good with money by finding mentors, asking for advice from people you admire, and even following them on their social channels. You don’t have to cut out people who are bad with money, but you must make sure you’re not soaking up their limiting beliefs and getting involved in their narrative.
Read More Books On Money
There are so many books on money that can help, including ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ and ‘Think and Grow Rich’. Look them up and gain a new perspective!
Know What Your Spending Triggers Are
Certain things may trigger you to spend, for example, feeling sad, or feeling bored. You’ll need to make sure you stay extra mindful during these times so that you don’t cave in and spend money on things you don’t need.
Practice Gratitude Every Day Practice the feeling of abundance by being grateful for all you have every day. Be grateful for every dollar, every cent. Be grateful you are able to pay bills. Be grateful for everything!
Open Your Mind To The Myriad Of Possibilities
There are a ton of possibilities for you, but you must be open to them. Changing your story will allow you to imagine new possibilities for yourself. Amazing things can happen, you just have to believe it!
