Category: Tips and Tools

There is a lot you need to do as a parent and a business owner. You need to stay on top of the things happening with your business while keeping the family taken care of at all times. You also need to face challenges from the market and competitors, as well as problems that your loved ones are facing.

On top of that, you need to have a balanced life and continue to grow in order to reach your full potential. All of these things sound like too much to handle, don’t they? Well, a lot of successful business owners have done it before, and we are going to take a look at how you can balance your own life in this article.

Be Strict with Your Time

The moment you start bringing work home, you’ll never stop. Before you can move on to the next steps, you need to make sure you can organize your time meticulously. Allocate a portion of your day for your family, and another for your business. You can then set aside some time for your own personal needs, as well as for learning; both of these elements are important if you want to achieve balance.

It is also important to remind yourself that you can’t expect to be 100% strict with schedules; what you need to focus on is setting boundaries. There will be time when your children need your attention during work hours. There will also be days when you have to get some more work done before you can go home. Keep the boundaries in place and you’re on the right track.

Take Advantage of Online Education

Online education has really transformed our education landscape. More business owners and professionals are realizing their dreams and pursuing higher degrees in various fields thanks to today’s best online courses and distance learning programs.

There are plenty of courses and universities to choose from, too. The University of South Dakota, for instance, has a wide range of business and finance degrees to choose from. Its nursing department is one of the reasons more people are returning to school, and these extra students are helping to solve the South Dakota nursing shortage.

Online degrees are very flexible. As long as you can allocate an hour every day for studying, you can choose to study at any time and from anywhere. This will be the second step towards a more balanced life.

Get Help and Learn to Delegate

You have help! As a parent and a business owner, there are a lot of people that can help you complete important tasks. In fact, thinking that you can do everything yourself is a big mistake; one that many business owners still make.

Invest time and energy on finding the right people and keeping them close. The more you can delegate, the less you have to worry about smaller things. You can direct your energy towards bigger challenges instead. You can even start thinking creatively and find new ways to grow your business. At this point, you will have a balanced life.

Running a small business is no easy feat, which is why as a business owner, you need as many beneficial factors on your side as possible. When it comes to growing your business, your efforts should run the gamut: from rebranding your website to to creating a loyalty program, opportunities to improve are boundless.

One way to improve and increase your long-term sales is to convert from a cash register to a solid point of sale system. Many times, it’s difficult for small business owners to make this transition because they’re accustomed to dealing with cash registers and afraid of dealing with the learning curve of POS. However, the slight challenges of adjusting to POS far outweigh the cash register in value. This year, make it a goal to get rid of the clunky calculating machine of the past and upgrade to a technologically savvy platform.

Understanding the Difference Between A Cash Register & POS

Both cash registers and POS systems are able to achieve the most basic use: processing cash orders. Cash registers employ a more manual change-giving system. Employees punch in the price cost, the dollar amount given, and provide the difference that appears on the screen. POS systems streamline this process using a scanner and eliminating the need for unnecessary manual inputs. Administering change is the only viable use of the cash register, but with retail now being primarily credit-based, this is largely unnecessary. Additionally, the most advanced credit card terminals aren’t compatible with traditional cash registers. To truly leverage the technology of today, having an all-around up-to-date system is important.

The Benefits of POS

Cash registers do not come equipped with the many tools POS systems do. One of the most beneficial aspects of POS is inventory management. Moving away from the paper-based record system helps business owners focus more on the marketing and managing side of the business as opposed to just keeping up with the day-to-day business operations. POS inventory management helps you understand what’s being moved, what’s available, and what you need more of. Because POS utilizes the SKU scan, you’ll be alerted when any particular item is running low, and these alerts are completely customizable.

Furthermore, POS systems offer a quicker checkout process. If there’s one thing a customer hates, it’s waiting. A survey conducted by Great Clips found that a third of customers will abandon the checkout line with no plans of returning if they are waiting in line for more than five minutes. Watching a customer walk out may not seem like a big deal, but keep in mind that these “isolated” incidents add up. Consider the amount of customers who walk out of a long line annually, and think about the purchase total of all those people combined. Then consider the long-term value of those customers who might have come back again had they had a better experience.

Choosing A POS System

Once you’ve made the decision to go the POS route, there are additional decisions you have to make, like deciding what type of POS system would work best for you and your employees. For example, if you’re interested in touchscreen POS systems, you should determine the pros and cons before making a commitment.

When choosing your system, begin by identifying your needs and making a list of goals. For instance, perhaps you want to begin an integrated loyalty program. In this case, you’d make sure your POS system supports this (many systems do). You’d also want to take note of the required hardware and how many units you’d need. This will help you determine overall costs.

Once you’ve compiled a short list of POS systems, compare them based on factors like costs, installation, and features. Speak to representatives for an idea of what their customer service teams are like, as you’ll likely have questions during the setup process.

As you are probably well aware, entrepreneurs are the backbone of the American economy. They are responsible for all kinds of amazing and successful businesses across the country. Business administration for entrepreneurs degree programs inspire many people go on to start their own business. While much of the focus may be on marketing the new company and the finances, it’s also important to focus on your employees.

Your relationship with your employees must continue past the hiring stage. It’s not enough to just be the “boss” of the company. You also want to be sure you’re doing all you can to get the most out of your employees. Effective employees will make the business better and help it to succeed.

Here is a list of ideas and tips you can use that will help you get the most out of your employees.

Help to Make the Employee Feel Empowered

It’s truly amazing what an empowered employee is able to accomplish. When you empower an employee you are showing you have trust in them and believe in them. You give them the tools and information they need to really excel in their job. This means the employee is able to achieve their goals and feel as though they are bringing something to the table.

This is something you need to work on when you hire staff. Rather than just send them off in their own direction, give them direction, provide them with the tools they need, and allow them to realize their potential.

Be a Strong, Confident, and Fair Boss

Deciding what kind of boss you are will help to determine just how effective your employees are. A boss that is too firm is one that creates fear in their employees. This won’t get you the results you want from them. At the same time, you don’t want to come off as soft and unsure of yourself, because then employees won’t have trust in you and your decisions.

What you want to be is a boss who is strong, confident, and above all fair. Employees need to know that you will treat everyone fairly and equally, and that you value them.

Provide Incentives to Them

Incentives are another method you can use that will help to push employees to their full potential. Employers typically assume that incentives mean a raise or a bonus. While this can help, it’s not the only incentive out there. Offering perks such as free childcare, shortened hours in the summer, flexible hours, additional vacation time, facilities such as a games room and lunch room can be more effective than a raise.

Create a Culture All Can Be Proud Of

In the end you are working towards creating a culture in the workplace that everyone can be proud of, and that everyone wants to be a part of. This takes time and plenty of hard work, but your employees will be grateful for it and show that appreciation through their dedication and hard work.

Photo: ndemello

All workplaces have, by law, to be as safe as possible. There are certain standards that each business has to achieve and rules that have to be abided by in order to maintain a safe, pleasant working environment, both for the workers and any visitors.

Of course it’s not just down to the management; everyone has to do their bit, from noticing a water spill and cleaning it up to making sure the guards along the conveyor chain are still there, protecting fingers.

How do you make your workplace safer?

Every workplace is different and each industry – and even different buildings within the same industry – has its unique risk profile. Even the more sedentary offices have their own risks, so the best place to start if you’re looking to make your premises safer is by doing the maths. Well, the research, anyway.

Talking to staff and finding out what stresses they face every day, as well as any recurring snags, injuries or worries they have is a good start. So is exploring government advice and regulations to see if there’s anything you could change.

Focus on these five main areas:

Reduce stress in the workplace

It’s been shown that job stress is a major contributor to heart problems, as well as mental and emotional difficulties. It can also lead to poor life choices, like excessive drinking, and also increased absenteeism. If you can do anything to boost morale, do it!

Encourage breaks

The human body isn’t meant to be in one position all day, every day, or to repeat the same movements for hours on end for five days a week. Encourage staff to take a break every couple of hours – go for a quick coffee, take a lunch break, do some stretches. Just this slight adjustment can help to overcome the potential problems of sitting still or hunching over an assembly line all day.

Get ergonomic

These days, we know all about the negative effects of badly-designed furniture and also about the hassles of poor office or shopfloor layout. There’s lots of help and advice available, as well as ergonomic furniture and equipment that work with the human body. It’s been designed for a reason, so use it!

Use safe lifting methods

A major cause of back problems is poor lifting technique. There’s lots of information available online, in videos and step-by-step guides. You can also bring in someone to demonstrate safe lifting – you keep your head up, hold the load close into your body, bend your knees slightly and don’t twist your back. Using the wrong lifting technique can have a very sudden effect, or it may be a slow-burner, but it will catch up with you sooner or later!

Make sure everyone has – and wears – the right personal protective equipment (PPE)

No hat, no job! This is the sign outside many a building site and for good reason. Wearing the right PPE – ear defenders, hard hat, goggles, respirators, steel toed boots and so on – reduces the number of accidents in a workplace. If an accident does happen, this equipment can lessen the severity of any injuries or even prevent them altogether.

Lastly, make sure everyone feels they can speak up and alert colleagues and managers to potential hazards. You work together, so look out for each other.

 

When you have a passion for arts and crafts there is every chance that your hobby could turn into something more meaningful than just a pastime, and you might find that you earn a nice profit from your skills.

Here is a look at ways to get started including finding something unique to sell and where to advertise your crafts online. There are also some ideas for networking and tips on which sites might be good to work with and one big name to avoid.

Find your niche

If you are particularly talented with a paintbrush in your hand or have a knack for creating attractive bespoke jewelry items you have already found your niche, and that will be good news when it comes to finding buyers online.

There is no doubt that unique gifts tend to be far easier to sell that more generic items that are available across a range of different websites.

You might argue that there are already thousands of sellers on sites like Etsy offering their own handmade jewelry items, but plenty of them are successful and there is no reason why you can’t find a niche market and stand out from the crowd.

It is also worth bearing in mind that if you are producing niche items that are attracting interest online, there is a chance that your creations might end up being featured on other sites, earning you even more exposure and the chance to grow your reputation.

Get networking

If you have a talent and want to monetize your hobby to generate a regular income you will need to be prepared to do some serious networking.

If you are an artist, sites like www.follio.com are worth contacting, as their site is dedicated to helping emerging artists find a wider audience.

It is also well worth networking with other crafters and hobbyists as they are often interested in browsing and buying other artist’s work. Sites like Etsy have forums where you can comment on a fellow crafters item and even tell others about something you like.

The more networking you do the greater the chance of getting featured on the homepage of prominent sites, and this can see interest in your work reach much higher levels.

Finding the right online platform

You might think that a high-profile site like Ebay would be on the list of suitable sites to sell your items on, but if you look deeper at what sells on the site, it is clear that collector’s items and mainstream retail items sell the best.

Ebay buyers are not really the audience for your original creations and you could be wasting listing fees that are better spent elsewhere.

Etsy is a big player when it comes to arts and crafts but also take a look at sites like Zibbet, Uncommongoods, Aftcra, and Handmade Artists all of which are worthy of mention and could be a good outlet for finding buyers.

You know you have a talent for arts and crafts and friends and family love your work, so it is time to take it the next level and turn your talent into money.

Aimee Stewart started selling her paintings online several years ago. She shares the tips she has picked up along the way with other like-minded people looking to start selling their work, or improve their creative business.