Business Plus Baby

January 27, 2016January 27, 2016

Why are in-house training schemes so important?

The unbound book conference on reading and publishing in the digital age. http://www.e-boekenstad.nl/unbound Photo: Sebastiaan ter Burg

Knowledge is power: one of the best things you can do for your business this year is put consistent, thorough effort into training your workforce. Why? It’s simple: an educated workforce will do their jobs better, and might surprise you with their innovation and productivity. Ultimately, in-house training schemes bring more business to your business.

What can in-house training give employees?

In-house training can bring big benefits to employees. First of all, it ensures that (having gone to the trouble of hiring the right people) you’ll be investing in targeted, tailored programmes to develop your staff further. Whilst it’s great to keep hiring, it makes sense to maximise your existing resources too – especially when it costs so much to lose an employee.

Secondly, in-house training means your employees can improve or develop meaningful skills that they previously lacked by learning how to use software from providers like CIPHR, for example. The inevitable consequence of training is that your workers will become more efficient – they’re properly trained to perform the tasks and responsibilities you ask of them.

In addition, providing in-house training ensures that you’re more likely to hold on to your employees as there’s no need for them to go elsewhere to develop their skillset. Moreover, trained employees are going to feel more valued and respected than their non-trained counterparts, which ultimately makes them happier… it’s no secret that happy employees tend to be the most productive and profitable employees for a business!

What can in-house training give a business?

Done well, in-house training can help a business make more money. Why? One reason is that under-trained employees might cost a business lost time and money due to mistakes and inefficiencies. It makes sense, therefore, to invest in well-trained employees who are able to get the job done properly the first time round.

Another reason in-house training is so important is that employees value being formally trained. Titles, positions of responsibility and salary all contribute towards a feeling of satisfaction in the workplace, but workers also feel that formal development, training, mentoring and coaching is something they value very highly too. So, by developing an in-house training scheme, you’re more likely to retain your employees and ensure they’re productive and profitable for your business.

Finally, high quality in-house training will ensure you have the best people working for you, giving you a competitive advantage to help ensure you’re ready for change and growth.

Why is in-house training so valuable (versus external training)?

In-house training is occasionally better than external training. One reason it’s so valuable is that you can tailor it to your business’s goals, objectives and wider strategy. Furthermore, it might give you better control of the quality and consistency of the training being delivered to your workforce than external training can always achieve.

Finally, in-house training allows plenty of room for customisation, ensuring that otherwise generic topics are suitable, specific and relevant to your workplace. Above all else, in-house training will give you an opportunity to assess your business’s skill shortages. You’ll see the gaps that need filling!

Photo credit: The unbound book conference on reading and publishing in the digital age. http://www.e-boekenstad.nl/unbound Photo: Sebastiaan ter Burg

January 26, 2016January 26, 2016

Short on time & Cash? Want to start a business? Read this!

Many people enjoy their careers and the knowledge and experience they gain from them. Of course, some people feel destined for better things. For many, quitting their jobs and working for themselves helps them realise their goals.

But, what happens if you don’t have the means (i.e. the time or the money) to do so? Are you sailing close to the window from a financial perspective? Do you seldom have any spare time after work to do anything else? If so, setting up a new enterprise may be nothing but a pipe dream to you.

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I’d like to tell you that nothing is impossible – even if you’re low on time and money! Don’t worry. This isn’t one of those annoying self-motivation blog posts you often find online. What I’m doing today is giving you some practical advice on how to achieve what you may think is the impossible!

Set up a company

There are plenty of reasons why it makes sense to become incorporated. For a start, you pay less tax than you would if you were a sole trader. Second, you’re more likely to get work from large corporate clients. And, third, if things don’t work out, you won’t lose your house or prized possessions!

The good news is that it’s cheap and simple to organise company formation. You don’t need to pay an accountant to do it for you. Many providers even offer you deals on business banking to help you save even more money.

Create a business plan

Before you do anything, spend a day or so drawing up a detailed business plan. Doing so means you can make sure your new business is on track with its future goals. It can also help you borrow money if you need to raise capital to invest in your company.

Outsource everything

You can save a lot of time and money by not hiring employees! Don’t worry; I’m not suggesting you do everything yourself. Instead, be a smarter entrepreneur and outsource your work:

Bookkeepers can handle your company’s financial affairs and submit tax returns on your behalf;
Freelance marketing agencies can manage your online marketing and online sales;
Logistics companies can deal with storing, shipping and physical goods on your behalf.

In fact, you can outsource just about anything these days! By delegating common tasks to third parties, you can better manage your day.

Work from home

Because you are outsourcing, you won’t need to lease an expensive office. Nor will you need to commute anywhere. This gives you more flexibility with your day – perfect if you’re a parent with children in tow!

Worried about not looking professional? You don’t need to use your home address for your business. Instead, an inexpensive “virtual” business address offers the ideal solution. What’s more, many providers offer meeting room rental for when you need to meet with clients.

Use your own devices

You don’t need to spend money on IT equipment or smartphones when you can use what you’ve already got. Plus, you could even lower your tax bill by using a “homeworking” allowance against it!

Now you know how to start a business on a low budget, it’s time to get started!

January 26, 2016

How you can add a personal touch to your office

home-office Your office is where you’re going to be spending 40 hours of your week, slogging away at your desk to get all your work done. But it need not be a dreary set up; it’s so easy to add a personal touch to your office which can help with productivity, morale and general happiness. Here’s how to add a personal touch to your corner of the office and ensure you hit those deadlines in style:

A photo frame or two

Displaying your memories is the easiest way of adding a personal touch to your office. Whether it’s your wedding photo, a picture of your kids or a group shot with friends, having a personal image in an attractive frame on your desk will definitely add a personal touch.

Something homemade

If you have children, encourage them to get crafty and make you something to decorate your desk with. This could be something as simple as salt dough handprints, painted with their names on or something trickier, such as a ceramic pot to hold your pens in. Pick up some craft supplies and encourage them to use their imagination and create you something you can cherish forever.

Get motivated

Do you have a saying you live by that motivates you to get out of bed and start working in the morning? Then look into having a print created featuring this motivational phrase. Sites such as etsy feature lots of sellers who can create attractive custom made prints for you, that you can then frame and hang in your office.

Bring in some colour

Colour will instantly brighten and rejuvenate an office space and can be introduced via cushions, stationery, coasters and wall prints. Choose items in your favourite colour to really add a personal touch.

Add some plants

Whether you have a green or brown thumb, the right plant can add a real personal touch to your office. Choose succulents or air plants if you don’t fancy taking much time out to care for them or something simple like a peace lily that does require some watering every now and then but can be kept in dim environments. Here are some great plant options for your office space.

Light it up

If you don’t benefit from large windows in your office, then it might be time to add a personal touch (and some light) to your space, with either a lamp or some cute battery operated fairy lights that can be draped over shelves or around your monitor. Choose something that will reflect your personality; pom pom fairy lights or a lamp with an animal shaped base are perfect when it comes to adding some light and personality to your space.

Use a fancy calendar

Put the yoga cats calendar down and back away slowly. There are so many attractive and useful planners and calendars you can pick up now to add some personality to your office. Head to Paperchase or back to etsy again to pick up something fun and well laid out, which you can fill with all your planned events and birthdays that are taking place over the coming year.

January 25, 2016

Awesome online business ideas for young entrepreneurs

It’s hard to come up with a new business idea when you have a young family. However, thousands of savvy entrepreneurs manage to achieve that goal every year. To be honest, success lies in your motivation levels rather than your concepts. As you will learn, there are many sure-fire ways you can make a profit. It’s just that some people fail to apply themselves to get the best results. Today, I’m going to make a couple of suggestions that could help you to get started. No matter how much cash you have to invest, you could make a killing if you decided to take my advice.

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Digital recruitment agency

Starting a digital recruitment agency is perfect because you don’t need any experience. Your job would involve attracting unemployed people, and building relationships with employers. In most instances, that is an employment service you can run from home. Conduct your interviews using video messaging tools, and you don’t need to focus on particular locations. You could find both workers and clients from all over the country. Best of all? Recruitment agencies make a tidy profit from the hard work of other people. So, you should never have to lift a finger.

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As more business owners realise the benefits of online promotion, there is going to be a lot of work available for social media managers. Business owners will pay you to make sure their Facebook and Twitter accounts are updated every day. They will also pay for research into the optimum times to release posts for the best results. You just need an online portal to attract your clients. Making a website is much easier than it once was, and there are plenty of free suit builders you could use. When all’s said and done, you don’t need anything too fancy. Just publish a single page that explains your services and lists contact details.

Those with a good command of English grammar could earn a fortune from content editing. The publishing industry has been changing for a long time, and it’s easier than ever for amateur authors to sell their work. The only issue is most of them can’t afford to pay professional editors to improve their books. You could hire a team of freelancers with the right skills to complete the job without charging the earth. Hopefully, that would help to attract writers from all manner of different industries.

As you can see from those suggestions, the world is your oyster. There are many more ideas you might like to consider before making your selection. Just do yourself a favour and weigh the pros and cons of each before spending money. There is enough room in the online marketplace for almost any concept you might conceive. So, you just need to put the right processes in place and focus on your goals. Remember, the winners in this world are just the people who refused to give up. You could become a winner and improve your family’s financial situation in less than one year if you’re smart.

January 19, 2016February 27, 2018

Benefits of going for a business loan

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When you run a business, you’re going to need to think about the future of that business. And that means you’ve got to make decisions that will ensure a secure future for the company. And this is often a case of trying to get financial security to help you. A lot of the time you’re going to find that you will need an extra injection of cash to help the company run.

The best way to get this help you need is to apply for a business loan. You can do this at any point but people often like to do it at the start. Make sure you come up with a detailed business plan because this is going to help you secure a loan. Check out these great reasons why you should get a business loan.

Replenish Stock

One of the major reasons why you might wish to take out a business loan is to replenish stock. That means you need to take a look at the stock situation in your business and work on improving it. You have to keep yourself stocked up, or you risk losing sales and business as a consequence. So, you might wish to look at loans for wholesale businesses that will help you replenish the stock you need. This is a very important aspect of running a business, and it’s one you need to make sure you get right.

Helps You Launch

The reason a lot of people like to get business loans right at the start is that it helps with launching. You see, when you run a business everything costs money, and you need to cover these costs. And startup costs can often be expensive as well. So you have to do what you can to come up with ways of covering these costs. And the fact is that a business loan goes a long way towards helping with this

Financial Security

Financial security can be very difficult to achieve when you’re just starting out. But, for a company to thrive and know success they need to be financially sound. And that’s why it’s a good idea to bring in a business loan. This gives you an important injection of cash into the company and helps give you a little breathing space. Of course, you will need to pay it back, but it will prove so useful at the time. So it’s important to make sure you apply for a business loan as much as you can.

Growth

You should always be looking for ways you can thrive and grow as a business. And it’s difficult to achieve any sort of growth unless you have financial support. If you have ambitious plans for the business, you’re going to need money to carry out these plans. So, make sure you get yourself a business loan that will allow you to do that.

There are a lot of things you can do to try to help your business financially. But you can’t get much better than getting a business loan. There are so many reasons why a business loan is the right approach to take. You can see from this post what the benefits are of getting a business loan. So make sure you apply for one as soon as you can.