Tag: Business

Ecommerce Mistakes That Most People Make In Their First Year

Two of the key focuses of my blog are Business and Entrepreneurship and Technology. With so much business being conducted online these days, its important to understand how to best to do business in our new digital world in terms of ecommerce. The following contributed post is thus entitled; Ecommerce Mistakes That Most People Make In Their First Year.

* * *

If you are launching your own ecommerce store then you will know how exciting this can be. At times you may feel as though the world is your oyster and you may even feel as though there is just so much for you to try and do in the day as well. If you want your ecommerce store to succeed however then you have to make sure that you are putting the work in to understand your industry and you also have to make sure that you are trying not to make any mistakes along the way as well. If you want to find out more then you can take a look below.

Not Doing Any Market Research

When you first launch your store, you will probably have a few products that you plan on selling. You will probably be very optimistic about this and you may even have so much fun creating them as well. The main mistake that people make is that they get so excited about creating their product that they fail to do any reliable market research. This can make it very hard for you to generate a profit and it can also make it hard for you to know who you are trying to market to as well. If you want to get around this, you need to spend a few weeks trying to research your competition, what you plan on selling and even how you plan on importing or shipping them.

Trying to Handle Absolutely Everything Yourself

The last thing that you want to do is try and handle everything yourself. You may save money by doing this but it is not good for business at all. When you start your own online store, you need to try and do everything you can to find experts who can help you along the way and you also need to get their help when reaching your goals. If you don’t then you will never end up achieving as much as you’d like.

https://www.pexels.com/photo/group-of-people-in-a-meeting-1080865/

Not Focusing on your Business Development

The best part of running a business is being able to turn any ideas that you have into a service or product. If you enjoy what you do then you may end up focusing on a single aspect of your business, such as getting new products in or even choosing colour variations. This is all very well, but if you are not careful then you may find that you spend so much time trying to market your products and your business without really taking the time to know if you are in a position to fulfil the orders when you receive them. You need to focus on developing your business as much as you do developing your products, and this is a very important factor for you to take into
consideration.

https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-shaking-hands-with-woman-1081228/

So there are many ways that you can avoid making these top eCommerce mistakes, and when
you do, you will experience way more success than ever before.

Keywords: 3 Essentials For Online Entrepreneurs

Two of the key focuses of my blog are Business and Entrepreneurship and Technology. With so much business being conducted online these days, an important consideration is how potential customers will you find your business and your products. The following contributed post is thus entitled; Keywords: 3 Essentials For Online Entrepreneurs.

* * *

Pixabay / CC0 Licence

It is impossible to say that there is a magic formula when it comes to business. Some businesses appear, on the surface, to break all the established rules of what constitutes a “good” business – but they seem to succeed anyway. Other companies seemingly do everything right and make all the smart decisions, but for some reason, the business never quite thrives.

However, there are some aspects of business that greatly lend themselves towards success, and enjoy a far higher level of importance than other areas. While these elements alone cannot guarantee success, it could certainly be said that the absence of these elements can make success incredibly difficult to achieve.

Keywords are a business element that fit this description to a T; while your business could succeed without understanding and utilizing keywords effectively, it’s going to be a very tough road without their assistance. In an effort to enhance your understanding of this element – and particularly how their usage has changed over recent years – we’ve put together three simple facts that all business owners should know about keywords.

#1 – Keyword stuffing is obsolete (and potentially harmful)

SEO is a young industry, but even in its short time as a factor for businesses, it has changed hugely. Perhaps the biggest change has happened to a technique known as “keyword stuffing”. Where keyword stuffing was once the way to get your business noticed online, it’s now more likely to earn a violation from Google – from an essential tactic to a substantial detriment, keyword stuffing is a technique that burned bright and fell fast.

Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs don’t quite seem to have gotten the memo, and keyword stuffing is still found across a variety of business websites. If you’re still using this technique, it’s time for a change.

#2 – Keywords are changing due to voice search

Long tail keywords are nothing new, but they are becoming far more important due to the advent of voice search. When people use voice search on mobile devices or smart speakers, they tend to phrase their search as a question, for example: “what are the best restaurants in New York?”. This is very different to how people search when typing – which would usually be more along the lines of “best restaurants New York” – and has opened up a new form of keyword usage that focuses more on natural speech patterns rather than the more abbreviated short tail keywords that have reigned supreme for the last 10 years.

#3 – The power of keywords extends far beyond SEO

Thus far, as is common, we’ve talked about keywords in relation to SEO, but keywords have an importance far beyond appearing in search terms. From using tools such as WordTree to ensure your products appear high in results on Amazon, to keyword research helping to shape social media posts, a modern business owner has to appreciate the importance of keywords across almost every area of their business’ online presence.

In conclusion

Keywords may have changed somewhat over the 20+ years the internet has been a force for businesses, but their importance cannot be overlooked. By using keywords correctly, and avoiding outdated techniques, you can be sure to benefit from their incredible power, and your business should hugely benefit as a result.

This Is How To Choose Business Software

Two key focuses of my blog are Business and Entrepreneurship, and Technology. A critical aspect to successfully running a business today is choosing the right software for your purposes. The following contributed post is thus entitled; This Is How To Choose Business Software.

* * *

Getting the right software for your business can change your operations completely. You could be more productive and efficient when you have the best tools for your business. Unfortunately, finding the apps that work for you isn’t as easy as you might like it to be. There are lots of things to consider, from the features that the software offers to how much you’ll be paying. You need to think about what you need new software for, and how it’s going to benefit your business. It can be a long process, but it’s best not to rush it if you want to make the best decision.

Identify Your Needs

Before you can find the right apps for your business, you need to identify your requirements. What do you want the software to help you with? You might have a specific need, like a tool to help with accounting. However, you could have a more open goal, such as improving productivity for your company. It’s best if you can be as specific as possible by identifying the problems that you want to solve. This will help you to search for the best software to meet your needs. You can compare software types and features against your requirements.

Source

Research Solutions

Once you know what your needs are, you can start researching a few different solutions. You won’t necessarily be looking at specific tools just yet. You just need to see what sort of apps are available to meet your needs. For example, if you need something to make invoices more manageable, you might be looking at accounting tools, document management software or perhaps productivity tools. You can find a few different options that could potentially help you with your issue. Start looking at prices too so that you can get an idea of how much you might need to spend.

Create a Software Budget

Once you’ve started looking at possible options and prices, you should create a budget for how much you want to spend. Many apps are now subscription-based, which can help you to save money compared to more traditional software options. You can find you’ll pay a monthly amount based on features and the number of users who will using the app. While you can find cheaper options, make sure you’re not trying too hard to save money. It’s worth investing a bit more in the apps you choose to make sure you get the features that you need.

Choose Software for Your Industry

It’s a good idea to see if there are any software options that are tailored to your industry. If there are, they’re likely to have plenty of features specific to your needs. Some industries in particular can benefit from this, like the hospitality industry. Using custom hotel software will allow you to manage bookings, maintenance and many other things involved in running a hotel. Ecommerce software can help you to manage your sales and orders, as well as your warehouse or inventory. These apps can help you meet a huge number of needs that your business might have, all in one package.

Find Apps You Can Customize

Even though you can find lots of tools that meet your needs, you can make them even better if you’re able to customize them. Plenty of software solutions can be customized, and it doesn’t have to be too expensive. You can work with someone who will help to develop an app just for you so that it meets all of your needs. It also helps you make sure that you’re not wasting money on features that you don’t need and won’t use.

Look for Apps You Can Integrate

If you already have some useful tools that you don’t want to stop using or you’re looking for some a selection of different tools, make sure you can integrate the new apps that you choose. Integration will allow you to connect all of your favorite apps so they can work together. For example, you might have an inventory management tool that works together with your accounting software. Many software providers have an API that make it easy to connect different tools so you can continue to use existing ones that work for you.

Source

Speak to Your Team

When you introduce new tools to your business, you need to make sure that the people who will be using them are happy with your choice. You should talk to your employees to get their opinion and find out what their needs are. What are the problems that they most want to be solved? What frustrations do they come up against when using software? You should think about what training might be available too. Are there existing training programs or perhaps even trainers provided by the software service?

Start with a Shortlist

Now that you’re a bit more familiar with your options and what you need, you can start making a shortlist of potential tools to use. Make a note of some of the possibilities that you’re considering and how they could help you, as well as how much they cost. You should have a good idea of what sort of tools you’re looking for, and what problems they’ll be solving. Try to keep your shortlist to a maximum of five options so you don’t have to compare too many.

Evaluate Available Features

With your shortlist at hand, you can start comparing the available features to see which tools are going to meet your needs. In addition to looking at which functions you have, you might want to look at things such as customer service and support, as well as the price. If you choose a SaaS (software as a service) solution, you can get everything that you need in one package, including the help and support you require. Don’t forget to check testimonials and reviews too, so you can see what other people have thought of the tools and service.

There’s lots to consider to get the right software for your business. Choose carefully if you want to use your time and money wisely.

Exploring The Key Issues With “The Cloud”

Two key focuses of my blog is Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), and Business and Entrepreneurship. Many businesses and organizations are moving towards cloud-based storage systems for increased efficiency of operations, but what are the issues with this new technology? The following contributed post is thus entitled; Exploring The Key Issues With “The Cloud”.

* * *

Over the last few years, a lot of companies have been touting their cloud data services. Offering the chance to have all of your work, emails, and other important information stored on servers across the world, these businesses promise to be able to make it much easier to access and use these important parts of your work. Of course, though, like any new technology, the cloud isn’t all fun and games, and there are some serious issues with some of the services which can be found out there. To help you to see these problems, this post will be exploring some of the most prominent.

(Image Link)

Getting There: Data migrations are a notoriously challenging part of enterprise computing. Moving all of your on-premises information to servers isn’t an easy process, and most people will need the help of a cloud migration solutions company to help them. While this makes it much easier to get information where it needs to go, it will also cost some money, and this is rarely factored into the quotes which will be given out when you are approached by a cloud service.

Downtime: While a lot of work has been done to make sure that the servers hosting your data are able to run all the time, with plenty of redundant power and storage space, along with multiple networks in case one fails, a cloud company can’t control your internet connection. If you find yourself without this for a day or two, you could be left completely unable to do your work. These issues often come by surprise, making it impossible to save the data you’ll need as a precaution.

Security: Along with keeping servers running all the time, most cloud companies invest a small fortune into their cyber security. You will probably be accessing your data wirelessly at some stage, though, and this puts everything at risk. Of course, data breaches have become commonplace in the modern world, too. If this were your business’s information, you could be left to deal with some very unhappy clients or customers as a result.

Training: Finally, as the last area to consider, not a lot of people feel confident to use systems like this. When you have everything online, the process of accessing data can be a lot more complicated than what users are experienced with. This means having to train any employees you have to make sure that they can use the cloud securely and without wasting any time. There are loads of companies out there which can provide this to you, but it is something a lot of businesses would rather not have to pay for.

With all of this in mind, you should have the chance to think a little more deeply about the choice you have to make when it comes from moving from your own servers to the cloud. Of course, it isn’t all bad, the benefits it can provide can be huge, but it might not quite be the right time to make the switch if you’re worried about it.

Don’t Hire Your First Employee Until You’ve Considered The Following

Some of the key focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy and Money, and both Business and Entrepreneurship. A major key for any entrepreneur is properly hiring and managing new staff – two aspects that can cause any business to crash if not done correctly. This contributed post is thus entitled; Don’t Hire Your First Employee Until You’ve Considered The Following.

* * *

Pixabay

One of the biggest steps that most entrepreneurs need to take is hiring their first member of staff. It’s an exciting time when it is time to consider hiring an employee, as it means that the company is going in the right direction and growing steadily. However, it does come with a few implications as well, such as being a huge expense. If a company owner mistimes hiring an employee, then it could cost their business thousands at a time when it can’t really afford it.

So, as you can see, it is essential that you do your homework and make sure your business is in the right position to bring on a new member. To help you out, here are a few things that you need to consider before you do start looking for your first employee.

Pixabay

Think About The Cost

Firstly, it’s necessary to think about the cost that will come with hiring a new member of staff. Once you do hire someone, you will need to start paying them a wage which will obviously be one of your company’s biggest expenses. It’s worth reviewing your budget to make sure that your company is making as much as you think and that you will definitely be able to cover this expense.

Think About How You Word Your Job Description

Before you start reviewing applicants for your newly open position, you will need to draft up a job description. After all, if you don’t advertise the fact that you are hiring, how will anyone know that they can apply to work for you? When you are writing the job description and ideal candidate specification, it is important to take care that you mention all the tasks and responsibilities that will come with the job. The more detail there is, then the more chance that only those with the right qualifications and experience will apply. If the job description is too vague, then you might get some unsuitable applicants, and sifting through these will only waste your time.

Pixabay

Employee Or Contractor?

Before you do set out on employing a full-time employee, it’s worth asking yourself if it makes more sense to find a contractor instead. Even though contractors and freelancers are often more expensive to pay than full-time employees, you will benefit from the fact that you don’t have to provide them with any financial benefits. For instance, you will need to give any full-time employees paid vacation and sick days as well as help them with pension contributions. This isn’t the case with contractors as they aren’t entitled to these kinds of benefits. So, even though they may charge you slightly more than average, you will actually end up saving a lot of money thanks to their lack of entitlements.

Pixabay

Reassess Your Workplace

It’s always a good idea to reassess your company’s base as well. It needs to be safe for people to work in or else you might end up needing to hire the likes of Richard Vadnal to represent you in the event that you are taken to court by an employee who injured themselves in the workplace. Even though you might think that an office is a safe environment in which to work, there are still some hazards and risks that you might need to be aware of. For instance, you need to carry out a regular fire drill with any employees you hire so that everyone is aware of how to act in the event of a fire. Make sure the office space is also kept clean and tidy so that there are no trip hazards on the floor. Furniture should be ergonomic so that employees aren’t at risk from developing repetitive strain injury (RSI).

Pixabay

Look For Good Insurance

Once you have some employed staff on your team, you will need to get all the relevant insurance. This is so that you are covered in the events of any accidents and injuries that occur in the workplace. The insurance should pay out to cover any compensation claims so that it doesn’t have to come out of your business’s pockets. Not only that, though, but the insurance will also cover any claims from clients if they are unhappy with the quality of work carried out by your employees.

Set Up Payroll

In order to pay your full-time employees, you should set up a payroll system. This makes it much easier to sort out your workers’ tax payments as well as figuring out their insurance contributions. It can be quite tricky to set up this kind of system, especially if you have no experience in doing so. Some entrepreneurs like to outsource this to a HR professional to get them up and running, while others prefer to hire a HR team member as one of their first new recruits so that they can set up payments ready for all incoming new team members.

Pixabay

Draft Up A Contract

Before you do welcome someone new onto your team, you need to make sure that there is a contract between the two of you. This is essential as it will set out exactly what is expected from all parties. For instance, it should include the agreed wage as well as employee’s scope of work. The contract should also explain how the contract can be legally terminated by each party, by having this outlined this can stop employees being wrongfully fired and ending up getting a workers compensation attorney due to breach of contract..

Keep Records Of Everyone

Once your first employee starts working for you, it is important that you keep records of everything. These can then be used as evidence in the event of any disputes or arguments between the two of you. It’s also necessary to keep complete documents of employees’ hours, sick days and anything at all that is relevant to their position. Keep these documents safe as you never know when you might need to use them in the future.

Hopefully, considering all the points above will make it easier for you to figure out whether now is really the right time to hire your first ever employee. Good luck with growing your company!

What’s Stopping You From Seeing The Big Picture?

Some of the key focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy and Money, and both Business and Entrepreneurship. Depending on what kind of business you’re starting, a major key is eventually working on the business as opposed to working in it as described in “The E-Myth” by Michael E. Gerber. This contributed post is thus entitled; What’s Stopping You From Seeing The Big Picture?

* * *

The devil is in the details when it comes to your work but getting stuck in those details while trying to run a business can make you oblivious to the big picture. Without a little distance and perspective, it can be much harder to notice the biggest obstacles, the best potential strategies, and the solutions your team needs. How do you get the perspective you need when you’re constantly in the trenches with the rest of the team?

Pic Credit: JESHOOTS.com

No time at all
You have to make the time to work on your business, not just in it. Everyone has multiple responsibilities and a need to be able to juggle them. Being able to prioritize both your workload and your time can be crucial. Learn how to structure your workday, breaking it down into blocks of time that you can assign to multiple tasks. This way, you can find the time every day to take on the most crucial and urgent managerial or admin tasks while still leaving time free to strategize.

All the admin
If you’re taking care of all that administrative work yourself, you might never be able to find that time in the first place, however. There are a few steps to cut back on how much you have to deal with yourself. You can automate, using accounting, payroll, and HR software to take out the man hours necessary to keep all your systems up to date. For elements that need a human touch, like answering the phone, you might want to consider a virtual assistant, too.

Tech troubles
More and more businesses are relying more heavily on tech. They can help us unlock magnitudes more productivity, but the more we rely on them, the more our success becomes tied to them. If you’re spending a significant part of your working day solving tech issues, then managed IT services might be what you need. Not only can you use them to identify and solve problems much more quickly, but they could improve or build a network that makes you tech even more versatile and valuable.

Unempowered employees
If your team isn’t empowered to make their own decisions or work proactively, then a lot of your time is going to be spent babysitting them. This isn’t always necessarily their fault, but a result of a company culture that doesn’t encourage employees to be more engaged. You can change that by getting them more informed and involved in the overall objectives.

Not enough insight
Taking a bird’s eye view of the business can help you identify workflow issues and potential improvements to communication and cooperation. If you want to implement any strategy, however, you need to know how it looks on the ground, as well as the challenges your team faces. For that reason, you need to put an effective employee feedback loop in place.

Getting that perspective is crucial for a business owner but you should never forget what it’s like to work with the rest of the team, too. Their perspective can be just as helpful as yours.

Managing Money Matters

Some of the key focuses of my blog are: Financial Literacy, Money, Business and Entrepreneurship. A key aspect of any successful business is the effective money management. The following contributed post is thus entitled; Managing Money Matters.

* * *

Money makes the world go round, does it not? We all rely on money so heavily, that the slightest change in our circumstances leads us to panic to say the least. But that’s just referring to our personal lives. When business comes into it, the need for money is greater. Without money, progression needed to survive in the business world can’t be achieved, and the chance of the business failing altogether becomes all too real. So, we want to show you the money matters that needed to be managed the most, and how they can ensure that your company will thrive for years to come. Have a read on to find out more!

Image Source

Your Employees Money

Start messing with your employees money, and it isn’t going to end well for you. To help you understand what we mean, let’s paint a picture. Your employees rely on the fact that you’re going to pay them exactly what they’re owed, when they’re owed it. So many companies fail on this, or pay the wrong amount. It’s not understood by management how much this can impact an employee’s life! So, before you start making error after error, think about how you can manage it more effectively. Paystub is just one of the websites that you can use to generate paychecks, allowing you to cross reference the amount that should be paid, as well as your employees. If you feel as though the burden of running payroll is too high, and that’s why you’re possibly making mistakes, then think about hiring an in house accountant. You’re so much more likely to be able to manage money effectively rather than letting it all weigh on your shoulders.

Your Investment Money

When you start getting to the point where you’re earning enough money, you need to think about having investment money. Managing investment money isn’t the easiest game to play, because you’ve got just as much chance of losing money as you do making money. So, in terms of your investment money, think about getting a broker to do the dirty work for you. You need someone who is going to be able to make expertly informed decisions for your company and the money that it is using. If you do do your investments the right way, the money that you could potentially earn from it will be more than you could image! Good investment ideas are ones such as stocks, virtual currency, and property, but it is all about finding which one works for your company.

Your Pension Money

When you have so much money coming in, the last thing that you might be thinking of is your pension. But like the people that you employ, you should seriously start investing into your pension. You can also hire companies to help get the job done for you so that you’re saving in the right pay, and securing your future for you and your family. Even if your retirement is years away, it’s best to put aside now, as you never truly know what is going to happen to your company!

Business Leaders – Are You Wasting Time?

Some of the key focuses of my blog are: Financial Literacy, Money, Business and Entrepreneurship. A key aspect of any successful business is the efficient use of time. The following contributed post is thus titled; Business Leaders – Are You Wasting Time?

* * *

Pexels

Wasting time is the number one ‘no-no’ when it comes to anything to do with business life. We hear that ‘time is money,’ and that’s no accident. Any business leader, at least those successful the world over, will have mastered the art of effectively using their time. Honing your own personal schedule is all very well and good, but when looking at the larger picture, your business may be telling you something else entirely. If your business is wasting time, even in small ways, its inefficiency can build and build in its aggregate form.

It might take time to inspect and fully make effective, but a business concerned with improving its growth and optimizing it’s process will need to cut out the fat sooner or later. Here are the places you might look first:

Payroll

Your payroll department is often the last thing you’ll establish when you’re starting to grow your firm. This is because a certain amount of employees may not warrant a dedicated specialist to come in and handle these hours, it might be that the manager or the owner takes care of this. This task is unlikely going to be the only one undertaken by the person responsible in this case. While you must always dedicated the correct amount of time to this task lest you make mistakes that can cost the satisfaction of the employee you have impeded, you can always implement time-saving options to help you deliver your duties well.

For example, using a service to create a paystub can help you organize dedicated formatting efforts for your payroll, both calculating and providing proof of income and charges to your employees routinely and with predictable formatting. This can be very helpful if dealing with a team of variant roles and variant hours worked, as templates can be saved and you can adjust via hours, salary or any other payment criteria your business has setup. Payroll can often be the most intense and important consideration to get right, so taking out any human error and providing a uniform formatting option of proof can help the person responsible take care of this task appropriately each time.

Dead Weight

None of us enjoy having dead weight on our time. This is perhaps one of the easiest ways to reduce total staff motivation, waste money on salaries and have to conduct time and money into the cleanup that a faulty staff member will need to cover them. This means that inspecting your staff routinely to ensure they’re working hard as per reasonable standards, that they are paying attention to your policies and security/safety protocols, as well as ensuring they care about the end result of their work can help you identify anyone who isn’t pulling their weight, or who is willfully neglecting it. In certain industries such as hospitality and retail, this can be quite a common occurrence. With a skilled, reasonable and rational eye, you can decide to conduct training efforts, motivate that person further, or let that person go.

With these two simple tips, you can cut plenty of wasted time from your schedule, and the larger flow of your business.

Wonderful Changes That are Going to Improve Your Business Today

Some of the key focuses of my blog are: Financial Literacy, Money, Business and Entrepreneurship. Starting a business can be very challenging. Business owners constantly need to think about how grow and evolve their businesses in order to survive in constantly changing market conditions. The following contributed post is thus entitled; Wonderful Changes That are Going to Improve Your Business Today.

* * *

It is really important to make sure you understand what is involved in the process of improving your business long-term. There are a lot of things that can play a role in taking the business to the next level, and you need to look at what you can do to improve. These days the business world is so competitive, and there are a lot of issues that can play a role in holding your business back, and you must think carefully about this.

Running a modern brand requires a lot of work and nurture these days, so you need to be careful and think hard about things. What can you do as a business owner to try to elevate your company above the competition and achieve success? Entrepreneurs so often focus on what they ARE doing and not what they SHOULD be doing. These are some of the excellent ways of improving your brand today.

Reinvent Yourself

Reinventing your business is absolutely essential in this day and age. It is something that needs to happen in order to help keep the company fresh, exciting, and ahead of the times. This is absolutely essential if you are looking at ways of bringing yourself more success. The company should be fresh, fun, and exciting, and this is an excellent way of achieving that. It’s also clear that business extension starts with reinvention, and this is something you have to make sure you put into practice.

Pixabay

Get Closer to Your Customers

It is also so important in 2018 to try to get closer to your customers as much as you possibly can. They are the lifeblood of any company, and you can’t afford to be losing them to your rivals by not prioritizing them. So, the best thing to do here is to make sure you improve the way you approach your customers. As a business, you need to use things like UserIQ in order to try to get closer to your customers as well as getting a better handle on your management too.

Always be Financially Stable

A business can only achieve success if it has financial stability, and this is something that you need to focus on achieving as a company. That means you need to be sensible with what you are spending and how you are spending, and it also means you need to look at how you can become more financially stable as a business. This sometimes means recruiting investors or getting crowdfunding to help you take the business forward as well. Always having financial security will go a long way toward helping you remain a successful and stable business.

If you can follow some of the ideas in this post, you will be armed with some of the tools needed to make sure you are improving your business where you can. This is something you need to make sure you look at moving forward. Make changes that are going to improve and enhance your brand long-term, and understand what makes this so important.

Can You Keep One Eye On The Business Ball Without Taking Work Home With You This Evening?

Two of the focuses on of my blog are Career Discussions, and Health and Wellness. When stepping up into management positions, balancing one’s health with the new demands can be a challenge. The title of this contributed post is thus entitled; Can You Keep One Eye On The Business Ball Without Taking Work Home With You This Evening?

* * *

Managers are always told that they shouldn’t take work home with them. We all need a break now and again, after all. By taking care of admin into the early hours, you’ll soon start to suffer. Keep this going for too long, and you could experience the notorious ‘manager burnout’. If that happens, your work will suffer. You may even have to take time out. Whatever happens, it won’t be good.

Instead, managers across the world work hard to switch their business phones off and leave their laptops in the office. And, the chances are this is an effort you also attempt to get behind. Good for you. Prioritizing your own time is part of what makes you such an excellent manager.

The trouble is, leaving the office at five and switching off altogether could leave you stalling in the morning. Rather than getting straight to work, you’ll have to take a little time to get back into things. Often, that’ll leave you behind before the day has even started.

Hence why we’re going to suggest something revolutionary. While you still want to leave work at the office, it is possible to keep your mind on the ball regardless. All you need to do is make use of the following outlets during your down hours.

Podcasts

Image Source

We all love a podcast, don’t we? Whether we’re listening to Serial or The Daily, this is now the way many of us choose to unwind. Lucky for you, there are plenty of business-based podcasts which can help you relax while teaching you a thing or two. Shows like Fire Nation can teach you about every aspect of entrepreneurial life. In episodes like this one where JLD chats with Joe Kashurba, you can even learn how to grow your business. Options like the Social Pros Podcast can even teach you about content marketing and everything social media. While fun and interesting, these options also fuel the embers of your business fire, rather than putting it out overnight.

YouTube videos

Who doesn’t spend at least some of their evening browsing YouTube? If you get stuck in loops of cat videos, opt instead for inspirational business-based channels. The official TED channel includes talks for individuals from every industry, including business. You may also want to subscribe to entrepreneur-specific YouTubers such as GaryVee. His business advice has gained him well over 1.5 million subscribers. Watching these guys, you’ll feel like you’re relaxing with a past time you love. But, you can bet you’ll learn a few useful tidbits.

Listen to industry news

While we can’t help with any specific suggestions, it’s also crucial you listen to industry news. By finding field-specific radio stations, you can get your fix of what’s going on in the rest of your industry. That can help with everything from finding your target audience, to keeping them interested. Rather than listening to 80s pop music on your way to and from work, then, consider sticking this on and learning something you wouldn’t otherwise.