Category: Contributed Posts

How To Refresh Your Technology For 2021

A key focus of my blog is Technology. No matter what kind of operation you’re running, you’re going to want to make sure you’re on top of your technology in 2021. The following contributed post is entitled, How To Refresh Your Technology For 2021.

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Photo by Josh Sorenson from Pexels

Technology has done a lot to improve our lives. Its many benefits include better healthcare, improved access to information, and the ability to start a side hustle from home. Sometimes, however, you can end up in a state of “technology overload”. If this sounds familiar, then perhaps it’s time to give your technology a New Year’s refresh.

Streamline your storage

If you have files scattered across all kinds of storage media, then corral them together in two places. That’s one main offline storage location and one online storage location. These will be backups for each other. Then set up two other storage locations (one offline and one online) for your fresh files.

As you go through 2021, make a point of keeping your new storage organized. Whenever you can, go into your old storage and clean it out. Ideally, by the end of the year, you should have all the files you need and want organized over two storage locations. If you don’t get that far, that’s fine, as long as you keep making progress.

Purge your hardware

The fact that technology is getting smaller all the time makes it easier to store as well as easier to carry. That’s great for small homes and mobile lifestyles. Sadly, it also makes it easier to toss old technology in a drawer and forget about it. If your home is slowly turning into a private museum for old electronics, it’s time to do something about it.

Unearth all your hardware and everything which goes with it (e.g. cables). Then work out what equipment you really need and what you really want. Figure out what needs to stay with it to make it work (e.g. memory cards). Then get rid of everything else. Hopefully, you won’t have to bin it. Some of it may even have resale value, if not see if it can be recycled.

Update and protect the hardware you keep

In some cases, updating hardware can mean physically as well as in terms of the software. For example, you may be able to increase the memory and/or storage capacity in your main computer. Mostly, however, it tends to refer to making sure that you’re using the most recent version of your operating system and any apps you use.

If you’re on a PC with Windows 10 installed but not activated, you’ll see a prompt to activate it. Since Windows 10 is the most recent version of Windows, you may want at least to consider doing so. If, however, you’re not a Windows 10 fan, there are other ways to remove watermark.

Other operating systems and applications will tend to send occasional prompts to update. It’s generally a good idea to act on them as quickly as possible. These updates often enhance the security of your device. On that note, the end of a year is a good time to check you have the best, possible security software on each device.

Delete unused accounts and apps

In harsh terms, any account or app you use has the potential to compromise your personal data. This means that you should only keep accounts and apps where the reward justifies the risk. If you’re not using an account or an app then you’re not getting any benefit from it so close it and/or delete it.

If you’re not sure, then try deleting an account or app and see how you feel about the result. If it matters to you then you can always recreate it/reinstall it. If you have dormant or semi-dormant email addresses, try setting up a forward to an account you use regularly. Update senders with your new address as, when, and if necessary. Give it six months or so and then close the account.

As a bonus tip, be very careful about keeping valuable emails in your main email account. If you lose access to the account, then you also lose access to the email. Use the “print to PDF” function to create a couple of copies of them and store them with your other valuable files. Do this at least once a year, more often is better.

Update your passwords

Updating your passwords means more than just adding 2021 to the end of them (or updating 2020 to 2021). Cyberattacks are now a serious enough threat that you absolutely must take strong passwords seriously. In fact, you should implement two-factor authentication as much as possible.

TFA combines something you know (e.g. a password) with something you have (e.g. a one-time access-token sent to your cell). It meaningfully increases the difficulty of hacking an account. Even with TFA, however, you must still use strong passwords.

How To Make Business Resolutions For Success In 2021 That Stick

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. As 2020 draws to a close, it’s important to think about business goals for 2021. The following contributed post is entitled, How To Make Business Resolutions For Success In 2021 That Stick.

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As 2020 is drawing to a close, whatever you were able to make of it, now is the time to think of some resolutions to go into 2021 with and make your business a success. Resolutions are known to be hard to keep, and we will all have met someone who tried and failed to do something new as the calendar switched from December to January.

However, if you’re serious about growing your business, now is the time to create a plan for next year. Call them resolutions if that is something that makes sense for you, or call these ideas the next steps to your business growing and thriving if that sounds better. Whatever you call them, it’s crucial to stick to them. Here’s how to do it.

Image from Pixabay

Make Smaller Resolutions

One of the reasons that resolutions, or plans, fail is that they’re just too big. Although the idea behind them might be excellent, if you start too big you’re going to have difficulty in getting anywhere. You’ll simply overwhelm yourself and set yourself up for failure.

The best way to handle this issue is to look at the overall plan, the plan you would once have thought of as one single resolution, and split it up into smaller parts. Each one of these parts can be a resolution of its own, and you can work through them one by one, getting one right before moving onto the next.

All added up, these resolutions will help you reach your ultimate goal, but you won’t get lost along the way and you won’t start to feel burned out because you’re trying to do too much.

Get More Specific

By making your resolutions smaller, you can also make them more detailed, which will help you to complete them. Vague resolutions and ideas might seem exciting at first, but once you try to follow them through and realize you don’t know where to start or what your end goal is going to be, that excitement can soon fade away.

The more specific you can be, the more likely it is you will achieve your goals and stick to your resolutions to ensure your business is more profitable next year than it is now. For example, you might know that you want an app for your business. Rather than simply having a resolution that you’ll get an app, work out how this is going to happen – will you find an expert to help with app development? What will the app do? When do you want the task completed? Do this for everything you’re planning, and although it might take time, it will be worth it when you realize how much less confusing your plans actually can be.

Write Your Resolutions Down

It might seem a little ‘old fashioned’ to suggest that you should write your resolutions down as you are creating them, but despite the ‘old school’ nature of the process, it’s one that will help you achieve what you want to achieve, so it’s worth doing.

When you write down your goals using a pen and a piece of paper (as opposed to typing them out and saving them on your hard drive where you can’t see them) helps people stay more accountable to their plans, and gives them a higher chance of getting them done. This is a well-known psychological phenomenon, and it is simple to carry out so there is no reason why you shouldn’t do it to help yourself achieve your goals.

The paper with your list of accomplishments to be achieved over the coming 12 months (or whatever timescale you have given yourself) should be left somewhere you can see it every day. The front of the fridge is a good option, or you could stick it next to the bathroom mirror. Perhaps they are even on your ceiling above your bed. Read them every day and you will do more about crossing them off that list.

Make Your Plans Public

Many business owners don’t want to make their plans, goals, resolutions, or whatever you want to call them public. They would rather keep things to themselves because of the fear of failure. Telling everyone you’re planning to do something and then finding that you couldn’t, wouldn’t, or simply didn’t do it at all is embarrassing, and most people won’t want to run that risk. It’s not just business owners either; this is something that can be said of all goals, no matter what they relate to.

Although it can be scary to let people know about your plans, there are several reasons why it’s a good idea. The most important is that you will be held accountable. Because you won’t want to embarrass yourself or let anyone down, and because people will be interested in how you are getting on with your ideas, you will be more likely to do something about your plans. They won’t just stay in your head, as there will need to be some tangible evidence for the results.

Secondly, you’ll be able to get help. If people know what you are trying to achieve, they may be able to offer advice, or perhaps even physical help. You might be able to achieve your goal much more easily because of this.

Have The Next Step Ready

We mentioned right at the start that breaking your major goal down into smaller parts was the best way to get started. It’s crucial, then, that you always know what to do next once you have achieved any particular stage. Finishing one part of your plan and ticking an entire goal off your to-do list (which you should be reading every day) is great, but if you don’t then know what to do next, you may not be able to reach your overall goal at all.

Always have the next thing ready to be started as you’re finishing your current task. You won’t then find yourself at a loss and lose momentum – if this happens it can be very hard to get it back again.

Launching A Construction Business: Key Factors To Take Into Account

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. A lucrative business to start is a construction business. It’s important to take all the factors into consideration though. The following contributed post is entitled, Launching A Construction Business: Key Factors To Take Into Account.

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If you have decided that the time has come to launch your own construction-based business, then you might be wondering about what steps you need to take to make sure that your new business does as well as possible. You’re keen to see your new venture be successful, but you might not be sure about how to ensure that is the case.

While you cannot guarantee that a business will be successful, what you can do is take steps to give your business a better chance of success. The question is, of course, what steps should you be taking to give your business the very best chance of success? When you’re just starting out, it’s not easy to know how you can ensure that your business is as successful as you hoped it would be. However, by taking note of the right advice, you can give yourself a higher chance of building a profitable and prosperous company.

Photo source: Pixabay

For everything that you need to know about giving your new venture the very best chance of long-term success, have a read of the tips and ideas below!

Ensure you have adequate insurance in place

When it comes to how you run your business, it’s important that you make sure that you have adequate insurance cover in place. One of the most crucial steps that you can take is making sure that you have properly protected yourself, your business, and your customers, and in order to be able to do that, it’s vital that you make sure that you have a secure insurance policy in place. While the added cost of insurance may not be an expense that you want to have to pay, if it means that you are protected should something unfortunate happen, such as a team member getting hurt while doing work for you, then it’s worthwhile having.

Think about suppliers

Another important aspect of running a business is making sure that you have a secure and reliable network of suppliers in place. What you want to do is take the time to source a range of suppliers to work with, and rely on for key pieces of kit that you require to complete different projects. For instance, you might want to source brick suppliers and pipe plug suppliers, so that whenever you need to place an order you know where you are ordering from and don’t need to waste time sourcing new suppliers.

Invest in the right tools

A key aspect of launching your own business is making sure to invest in the right tools and pieces of equipment for your business to be successful. If you are going to build a successful construction business, you need to invest in your company to get it off to the right start. You can’t run a construction business without having all of the key pieces of kit in place, so it is essential that you take the time to think carefully about what pieces of equipment you need to make your business a success.

Launching a construction business comes with a lot of hard work, time and effort, which is why it’s not an undertaking that should be taken lightly. Of course, that being said, with the right approach you can make launching a construction business far simpler and easier, and increase your chances of success at the same time.

How To Make Music More Than A Hobby

Three focuses of my blog are Art, Career Discussions and General Education. If you’re passionate about music, there is the potential to transform your hobby into a career. Many people have dreamt of making the jump but didn’t know how. The following contributed post is entitled, How To Make Music More Than A Hobby.

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If you’re someone who has always been passionate about music and loves to play a range of instruments and sing, then you might be wondering how you can make your love of music into more than just a hobby and build a career out of it. The important thing is not to just sit around and wait for your music career to happen if you are serious about making a success out of your passion for music, then you need to make sure that you are actively taking steps to build your career in music.

Wondering what steps you can take to do that and to move your music career forward? Below are a few tips and suggestions to have a read of and take note of!

Photo credit: Pixabay

Hone your skills

If you’re going to ensure that you give yourself the very best chance of building a successful music career, then it’s a good idea to take the time to hone your skills and improve in any areas that you are struggling with. Wondering how you can do that? Simple steps like taking a few more lessons, for instance, can help to make the process of honing your skills a little easier. You could also opt to learn more complex music by looking at music such as river flows in you sheet music, for instance. The more complex the music, the more you can hone your skills.

Start a YouTube channel

When it comes to getting noticed, it’s a good idea to consider starting a YouTube channel to help raise awareness of your music and sound. If you want to give yourself the very best chance of making an impact, it’s important that you think about how you can get yourself, and your music noticed. Starting a YouTube channel and building a following around that channel is a good step to take, and one that it’s worth considering. Setting up a YouTube channel is far easier than you might think, it’s just a case of knowing what steps to take, that’s all. Once you’ve got to grips with the process, it becomes far simpler and easier.

If YouTube isn’t your thing, then try TikTok or Instagram; even Facebook can be beneficial. Just ask Joey Armstrong, whose band released their first set of songs on MySpace!

Take every opportunity

To give your music career the very best chance of success, it’s important that you take hold of every opportunity that comes your way. This means that it’s important that you don’t turn down any opportunities that come your way, whether that’s playing at a friend’s wedding or taking part in a local concert, make sure to grab every opportunity with both hands. After all, when it comes to seeing success, building awareness is crucial and taking advantage of these kinds of opportunities can help you to do that. That’s why it’s important to take as many opportunities as you are offered.

There you have it, everything that you need to know about making music more than just a hobby. Hopefully, the guide above will help you to grow your love of music into more than just a fun pastime, and make it into a career.

Extra Security Measures Your Business Should Put in Place

The focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. An important part of your business is its security. Assuring that all of your security measures are in place will increase the likelihood of your business performing and operating for a long period of time. The following contributed post is entitled, Extra Security Measures Your Business Should Put in Place.

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If your business is facing risks of various kinds, it’s important to combat them effectively with the right security measures. If you’re currently in the process of looking for better and stronger extra security measures, we’ve got some ideas to discuss with you which should help you to get to where you want to be. Each of the tips below will make your business better prepared to deal with the security threats you face.

Carry Out Regular Risk Assessments

First of all, you should try to carry out risk assessments on a regular basis. When you do this, you’ll find that you spot problems with your approach to business and see where risks are being taken unnecessarily. From there, you can start to cut out those problems and address risks better. You don’t want to wait for something to go wrong or someone to get hurt before taking action.

Train Staff on Security Threats and How to Combat Them

Everyone working for your business should be aware of the security threats the business faces. When they have that understanding, they’re able to deal with situations better and combat security threats more effectively. All of that comes from the training you offer though. If you’re not going the extra mile to offer strong training to your staff members, they won’t be able to deal with these situations.

Secure Sensitive and High-Value Items

If you have anything in your workplace that’s of a high value or that contains sensitive information, you should do more to ensure these things are properly secured and protected. A safe that you can keep in the office and lock away your items in is a good option if you want to protect your possessions while the office is closed.

Image Source – CC0 License

Dash Cams for Company Vehicles

If you want to make sure that your fleet of vehicles is being used in a safe and secure way when out on the road, you need to find ways of monitoring and tracking their use. That can be done in a variety of ways, such as with a dash cam fleet system. You can also use GPS tracking systems to see where your vehicles are traveling. These things will improve safety and costs, so make the most of them.

Install a Modern Alarm System

Having a modern alarm system setup inside your business’s premises is a good idea. That way, you can be alerted to any suspicious activity, no matter where you are. With these modern systems, you can get alerts sent directly to your mobile device or whatever device you want. It’ll also help deter potential burglars thinking of breaking in.

Your business has a responsibility to do more to ensure it’s fully secure and safe. As we’ve discussed, the threats out there are developing and changing rapidly. And it’s the businesses that are not up to date and not aware of those threats that are most likely to be seen as easy targets. Don’t let that be you.

5 Ideas To Attract New Clients

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. An important aspect of your business is attracting new clients to assure that your pipeline is continually filled. There several important keys to your marketing strategy. The following contributed post is entitled, 5 Ideas To Attract New Clients.

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When you’re running a business, you’ve got to balance your time between retaining your current customers and working to attract new ones. To help you attract new clients today, these five tips may come in handy.

1 . Offer incentives

To attract new clients to your business, it can be useful to offer incentives. Provide discounts for your new customers; simple actions like this can work wonders. With a discount or two you can lure in those customers who wouldn’t have otherwise made a purchase. Once these customers have made a purchase with you, ensure that you make a note of the offers which drew them in. By tracking customer purchases, you can improve your marketing efforts to retain their ongoing loyalty.

2. More networking

When you’re looking to boost your brand awareness, networking is a crucial step. You should start by joining networking organizations and your trade association. You can also network online using sites like LinkedIn or apps like Shapr and One Million Cups. As an entrepreneur, it can be useful to join up to organizations such as ‘The Association For Entrepreneurship’. Here you’ll find networking opportunities, education, peer mentoring, and community involvement.

3. Improve your content marketing

To attract new clients, one of the most critical areas to focus on is your content marketing. Focus on best responding to search intent and on ensuring that your content is educational and engaging. Video marketing is one of the best ways to engage new audiences, boost your credibility, and increase conversions. To present your business as authentic, it’s helpful to focus on user-generated content. When customers can see that their peers are enjoying your products, they’ll be far more likely to convert.

4. Appeal to international markets

To attract new clients, you should aim to appeal to international markets. One of the easiest ways to do this is to cater to international client needs. Here are a few areas of focus:

● Currency Exchange: First off, make it easy for international clients to pay using their own currency.
● Worldwide Shipping: Offer worldwide shipping options so that your clients are not restricted to only one geographical location.
● Languages: Ensure that your website, your chatbots, and marketing materials cater to different languages, depending on the markets that you are targeting.
● Software Localization: Investing in a software localization service is a great way to target new markets. It refers to the procedure used to adapt your software to cater to new languages and cultural requirements.

5. Review sites

Last up, putting your business on review sites is a great way to get some glowing testimonials. When customers are looking for products, one of the first things they do is to look at reviews and testimonials. Make it easy for them to find you on review sites, and ask your existing customers to provide testimonials.

To widen your reach and keep on growing it’s important to be attracting new clients all of the time.

How To Make Christmas Fun For Kids This Year

Two focuses of my blog are Health/Wellness and Home/Living Discussions. With Covid-19, this has been an unusual year where everything has been impacted even our holidays. The following contributed post is entitled, How To Make Christmas Fun For Kids This Year.

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Christmas will always be a fun time for children, but sometimes the magic can be forgotten a little as adults try to make sure everything is ‘just so’ before the big day. Although this is necessary, it can be hard to get everything done and make sure the kids are entertained not just on Christmas Day but in the days (and maybe weeks) leading up to it.

This year especially is potentially tricky; you may not be able to see friends and family, and children may start to become frustrated because the things they would typically do each Christmas aren’t available.

Children are only little for a short time, and it’s important to make sure every Christmas is the best it can be, including this one. This doesn’t have to be expensive, and it doesn’t have to cause you stress or put you under pressure. There are many activities and fun traditions that kids can join in with that will give you time together or apart (depending on what you need to be doing) and ensure they have a Christmas holiday they’ll always remember. Read on for some great ideas to keep the magic alive for the kids this Christmastime.

Image from Pixabay

Make Ornaments

You can never have too many Christmas ornaments, and if you want to give the kids something to do that will keep them – and you if you want to join in – occupied for a while, and give you something lovely to hang on your tree year after year, making ornaments is a great choice.

You can even mix this idea up with a scavenger hunt so that the children have to search around the house for the items they need to make the decorations with. They can use natural items such as pinecones and twigs or any leftover materials such as cardboard, ribbons, wrapping paper, Christmas cards, and more. This should be a cheap but fun activity for everyone.

Enjoy A Party

Restrictions might mean that parties can’t take place in the way they usually would, but that doesn’t mean there are no parties to be had, and the Christmas season can be a jolly one when you think a little more laterally.

Using video calling technology such as Zoom means your children can ‘meet’ with their school friends to have a great online party. You can organize this yourself and plan out games and other activities for everyone to enjoy, or you can hire someone to do it for you. You can even pick a theme such as a Zoom magic show that will keep everyone happy for a while and give them a lovely boost of Christmas spirit as they can see their friends and interact with them even if they can’t meet up in real life. This idea can even be used for adult parties too, and your office party will really be livened up with a magician on Zoom.

Try Baking

You don’t have to be an amazingly skilled baker to have fun in the kitchen. You don’t have to have any skills at all, as this particular way to make the kids happy is all about enjoying yourself and laughing together, rather than creating a masterpiece of baking prowess.

Make sure you set aside plenty of time for this task, as baking can often take longer than you think it will, plus you’ll need to plan so you can get the ingredients you need to create each baked item.

Ask each family member to choose one thing they would like to bake, and then you can plan ahead. On the day itself, don’t be too strict about things, though; it’s good to let loose and experiment a little, and if the cakes and sweet treats don’t look exactly like the recipe says they should, it really doesn’t matter as long as they taste good (and even if they don’t, if you all had fun it was worth every second)!

Christmas Movie Day

One thing that will never change when it comes to Christmas is all the great movies you can find around the theme. Whether it’s Elf, The Polar Express, Home Alone, Miracle On 34th Street, Santa Clause the Movie, or any of the thousands of other examples, taking a whole day off work to be with your kids and enjoy the magic and fun that a good Christmas movie can offer is something they will never forget.

Make it even better by adding snacks like popcorn or getting pizza delivered. Create a blanket fort to watch the movies in. Draw titles from a hat so you never know what’s coming next, or all take a turn watching. Wear your pajamas all day.

The point is, your kids will appreciate the time spent with you when you’re not distracted by work or trying to do other things. This is what makes Christmas special, this year and every year.

How To level Up Your Virtual Event

Three focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. In the post Covid-19 world, virtual events have taken on an increased significance. As such, you want to host the best events possible. The following contributed post is entitled, How To level Up Your Virtual Event.

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Photo by Gabriel Benois on Unsplash

The events and tradeshow sector has taken a huge hit this year due to travel restrictions and policies around COVID-19. However, the industry is starting to find its footing again in the form of virtual events. 79% of event planners are now providing virtual events.

Rather than simply holding a glorified online PowerPoint presentation, you need to up your game and find ways to make your virtual events a must-attend event with our top tips.

Send out promotional items to key registrations

Who hasn’t been to an event and walked away with a bag full of pens, notebooks, USB keys, socks, and candy? It’s one of the perks. Well, just because the event is virtual doesn’t mean you have to dispense with the corporate swag altogether.

Identify key people that you want to sign up for the event. Once they do, send them out a package full of promotional items ahead of time. Or you can use it as an incentive for early registration. Think of items your audience will want and get in touch with water bottle companies and promotional item suppliers.

Use gamification to keep attendees interested

Stop attendees drifting in and out of the event by adding a layer of gamification to your virtual event. Attendees can build points for attending sessions or asking questions. These points can be converted to prizes or discounts with some of the companies running the show.

Up your keynote speaker game

A great keynote speaker is one of the key factors that draw people to sign up for events. As you’ll likely be saving the budget on venue rental and the cost of travel and accommodation for the speaker, you can funnel this budget into a fantastic keynote.

Facilitate 1:1 meetings

For sponsors and attendees, one of the main reasons to attend a trade show is to meet with potential sales prospects. Create a facility where people can book 1:1 short virtual sessions with each other.

Create different streams

At a standard trade show, people from various disciplines attend the sessions relevant to them. Resist the urge to have one track-linear timetable for your virtual event. CEO’s don’t want to sit through content aimed at finance managers and marketers don’t want to watch content for IT directors. It’s a sure way to lose attendees quickly.

Promote the different stress to the right people so that they can enjoy the entire event without waiting for their relevant sections.

Make breaks interesting

You don’t want to risk people drifting off during breaks and not returning to the event. Resist the urge to fill it full of boring promo and arrange something a bit different. It could be something like an interactive quiz (for prizes) or a live demonstration of cooking or even a comedian.

Provide high-quality content downloads

Once the event is over, keep a website live so that attendees can access videos of the sessions, marketing downloads, and get in contact with sponsors and corporate partners.

Effective Ways To Boost Employees Productivity Levels In 2020

Two key focuses of my blog are Current Events and Organizational/Management Discussions. The Coronavirus/Covid-19 pandemic has significantly affected the landscape of most workplaces. A continual consideration for managers is how to maximize employee productivity. The following contributed post is entitled, Effective Ways To Boost Employees Productivity Levels In 2020.

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2020 has been a strange and scary year for everyone thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic. Out of what seemed like nowhere, the entire world was hit hard by the virus, causing many countries to go into complete lockdown and forcing businesses to adapt around these rules. Whether your team worked from home, or you were able to stay open due to being key workers, if your business has made it this far then congratulations! It’s likely that your team has worked hard during these strange months, and you may be beginning to notice a little lackluster in their efforts – and that’s totally understandable given the year we’ve had! However, to ensure your business continues to thrive, it’s your job to keep productivity levels high, and here are some effective ways to boost your employees productivity in 2020.

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Give them incentives

As a boss, you expect your staff to work hard but sometimes, motivation can drop and a great way to boost their productivity is by giving incentives to your staff. Your employees may already have the advantages of using your Health Reimbursement Account, so you may want to look for more creative incentives! You could offer a day off completely paid if targets are met, or vouchers for money off their favourite brands. Having something exciting to work towards is an extremely effective way of boosting productivity levels, and it’s a great way of saying thank you to your staff for working so hard!

Reevaluate your office layout

Sometimes motivation and productivity levels can drop because of your surroundings. Rooms with little to no natural light, boring and dull decor, and even an office layout can affect this, so shake things up! Provided you’re complying with COVID-19 office regulations, you could experiment with different seating plans, the direction desks are facing, or even treat your staff to brand new office chairs to maximise their comfort while working. A great way of achieving this is by speaking directly to your staff so they can voice their opinions and ideas. Creating an environment where everyone works well will help your business thrive.

Switch up roles

Job roles can become mundane when you do them day in and day out for months or years on end, so why not switch up your employees job roles a little? If possible, allow your team to switch roles for a day or two each week to keep things interesting. Not only that, more ideas and opinions for each job role could lead to bigger things for your business. Obviously, this might not be applicable for specialist job roles, but generic roles such as answering the phone or data entry could be switched up to keep things interesting for your staff.

Millions of businesses have been forced to close thanks to the pandemic, and if yours is still going but your staff are struggling with motivation or productivity, then use this guide to help bring those levels back to where they should be. Remember that showing gratitude for all of your employees hard work will make the world of difference.

Things You Should Do to Make Your Recycling Business Successful

Two focuses of my blog Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. An industry that affects all of us and which will likely always be around is the recycling business. Once you get into this sector, there are things you’ll need to do to be competitive. The following contributed post is entitled, Things You Should Do to Make Your Recycling Business Successful.

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Image Credit

Whether you are starting or running a recycling business, you can make it successful. However, you need to put some factors in the right place, for instance, hiring a committed senior manager, assessing the program’s progress, and evaluating material wastage exchange. Read on to get a good understanding of what you should put in place.

The Senior Manager

The level of the senior manager’s commitment is crucial for your business success. Although your business’s overall success requires cooperation from all the team members, the senior manager can greatly influence it. You need a senior manager who has leadership qualities and excellent personal relations skills. You also need to allow the whole team to be part of developing the mission statement so that they can own it and work towards it.

Select the Right Equipment

Do not invest in machines that will leave a lot of waste in the process of recycling. You need to save every material you have already collected to get maximum profit, save on energy, and still produce quality. If you are recycling metallic waste, you can get the alligator shears. There is proof it saves on the materials.

Assess Material Wastage Exchanges

Typically, waste materials from one company are utilized in other companies. While markets for recyclables keep growing fast, some factors can affect the recyclables’ value. They include market demand, the recyclable condition, proximity to the markets, bale sizes, and availability. These factors will help you make appropriate decisions on what you should recycle, at what time, and whether you should diversify.

Do the Math

It is an amazing thing to be part of the team that keeps the environment clean. However, you are doing business, and you need to pay your employees. You need enough revenue to cater for all the costs and leave you with a balance. Calculate all the costs (transportation, storage, maintenance, among others), then cross-check with the revenue. Expanding the business also requires capital. If your profit is good, you can save part of it to grow your business.

Have a Routine of Re-evaluating the Program

Every business requires constant monitoring to assess its progress and to put in place strategies to move forward. You need to know whether the program is efficient and effective, the production range, employees’ motivation/morale, and the environmental impact. Some of the feedback sources include

● Custodial staff can tell you of the handling practices and material quality.
● Your employees
● Your clients
● The waste hauler can tell you of the type and the recycled amount of waste.

Place and Label Recycling Bins Properly

When recycling bins are far from people, most of them will throw waste elsewhere and won’t use them. However, when they are near them, they will use them effortlessly. It is a simple way of encouraging people. You also need to ensure that all the recycling bins are well labeled so that people place each waste in the right bin. It will make it easier for your employees.

Conclusion

A recycling business not only cleans the environment but also creates employment opportunities. Nevertheless, for your recycling business to be successful, you have to keep a few factors in check. Hire a committed senior manager who can lead and relate with your employees exceptionally, use equipment that saves on materials, and get feedback to assess the program’s progress.