Business Plus Baby

Getting injuries is no fun. If you’re a business owner, you feel the extra pinch. Who has time to be out of work when you’re trying to ensure your business is running and you’re keeping your head above water? Some medical issues you can plan for or work around easily, such as pregnancy (to some degree) or having a common cold. But what about serious issues, such as going on vacation and having a dock accident on a cruise ship? Such an instance would leave you with an injured body part and court dates to attend.  Rest assured, even if you had an accident or injury that makes getting around difficult, you can still operate your business, whatever it may be. Here are a few ways to keep pulling along, regardless of your situation.

Have an Assistant for Physical Work

If any aspect of your business involves going places, traveling, or physically being in different locations to monitor or check things over, consider having an assistant take over this role for you. Pick someone you trust, and ask them to either make notes or call you with updates or problems regarding the situation. They can keep you in the loop, and you won’t feel as though your business is being neglected. Having an assistant help you with the physical and more unmanageable side of your job makes life easier, let’s others in your business know you are still active, and ensures that deadlines are being met.

Decide How Much Can be Accomplished at Home

Take inventory of your business, and decide how much you can run from home. Thankfully, internet and a cell phone make operating just about any type of home business possible. Make a point to write down and set up priorities for your business.  This enables you to plan out what is most important on your schedule first and go from there. Consider setting daily and weekly goals that you can accomplish at home, and what you need to have done by the end of each week. The more you can do at home without stepping out and handling problems, the more effective your time will be spent. Delegate as much as possible, especially trivial work that doesn’t have to personally be done by you.

Make Time to Relax

If you have injured yourself, you likely have appointments to go to. From the doctors’ office to physical therapy and perhaps even meetings with your lawyer depending on the situation, your time will be busy enough as is. Make time for yourself where you aren’t overburdened with work. Instead, focusing on relaxing, getting outside, and allowing yourself to feel renewed. This is healthier for you in the long run, and it will prevent you from getting frustrated with your company, your injury, and how you can’t work at your normal capacity. Accept the fact that everyone deals with things in a different manner, and you shouldn’t expect yourself to function at the same level as you did when you were working before your injury.

Look for New Solutions to Run Your Business

While you are waiting for your injury to recover, you’re likely considering other ways you can run your business. Now is the time to consider a different way of running it. For example, if you drive people for a living, consider moving yourself into management, and managing drivers who take over your old job. Your time is spent in an effective manner, and you can double and triple your profits because you are managing others instead of doing all the work yourself. Alternatively, look for a side business that complements the one you are currently doing. A taxi service could also do deliveries, for example. This creates more value for possible customers, and provides you with additional opportunities for revenue that were previously unexplored.

Don’t let your injury hold you back from running your business the way you want to. Consider this an opportunity to move into a different realm, including upper management, or find a way that something else can complement your current business. Make time for yourself to properly recover and relax. Consider having others help you in your work, and seek ways that you can accomplish the work at home, rather than operating in your former role. Whatever you do, make sure you are flexible with your business, and allow it to work for you. This will lead to more opportunities and less frustration.

Image: Stevepb

The Investment Decision

In the decision to invest, the following phases must be considered:

• Identification of investment alternatives (projects) that adapt to the strategy defined by the investor. Once the investor’s strategy has been established, the strategic planning will be developed, which will be carried out in several stages.
• Design and evaluation, organisation and modelling of the information regarding each investment opportunity in relation to the legal, accounting, tax, technical, social, commercial, economic, and financial aspects. The report on the viability of each investment opportunity allows the filtering and discarding of those projects that are not viable.
• Choice of the best investment opportunity among the different options can then be based on viable alternatives.

Importance of an Investment Project

The purpose of evaluating an investment project is to know its economic, financial and social profitability, in a way that resolves a human need in an efficient, safe and profitable way, allocating the economic resources that are available to the best alternative.

This technique can provide critical information to investors, and allow them to reject an unprofitable project and accept a profitable one.

The complete analysis of a project requires, at least, the performance of four complementary studies: market, technical, organisational, administrative and financial. While the first three fundamentally provide economic information on costs and benefits, the latter, in addition to generating information, allows building cash flows and evaluating the project.

Market study

It is very important to note that the market cannot be analysed exclusively on the basis of what already exists, but that projections should be made about the future.

Objectives of the market study

For the purposes of evaluating an investment opportunity the study is mainly aimed at the collection of economic information that has an impact on the investment project.

In relation to income this study acquires its greatest importance. Here, the consumer’s study must determine the existence of a real demand for the product in terms of its price, volume and periodicity, in a specific place and time.

Technical study of the project

From a financial perspective, this study aims to provide information to quantify the amount of investments and operating costs pertaining to this area.

From this can be obtained information on the needs of capital, labour and material resources, both for the start-up and for the subsequent operation of the project.

Study of the organisation of the project

This is associated with investment expenses and operating costs, usually managed by investment specialists such as Maritime Capital, that can determine the profitability or not of the investment opportunity.

Legal study

The economic effects of the legal aspects that are most frequently considered in the viability of an investment project are those related to the tax issues, such as, for example, taxes on income and assets, and expenses.

Financial study

The final stage in the analysis of the financial viability of an investment project is the financial study. The objectives of this stage are to organise and systematise the monetary information provided by the previous stages, to prepare the analytical tables and additional background for the evaluation of the project, and to determine its profitability.

Image: Thedigitalway

Running a business means making smart decisions, and while you will make mistakes during the lifetime of your company, it’s important you don’t make those that are completely detrimental to the success of your company. For instance, doing things that will run your business into the ground will take you from a great company to one that no longer exists. Avoiding employee engagement, trying to do too much at once, and hitting the wrong markets are just a few of the ways your company can fail. If you want to be successful, ensure your company avoids the following five mistakes.

Mistake #1: Avoiding employee engagement.

Your employees should be advocates for your company, and if you lack employee engagement or treat them poorly, you’ll find it harmful for your business. For instance, when your employees are happy, they are more willing to come to work and do a good job while they are there. This can help you increase production in your company. In addition, when employees are happy, they will be willing to talk about how great your company is to others. This can also help you boost sales or reach people you may have otherwise not reached. Be sure your company is paying your employees an attractive salary while also providing them with additional perks to keep them willing to work and advocate for your brand.

Mistake #2: Doing too much at once.

Some businesses get themselves into trouble by trying to do too much at one time. Instead of trying to tackle the world or solve everyone’s problems, it’s important for you to focus on the things that you do well. When you do this, it allows you to build a trusted brand and have people look to you as experts. However, when you try to do too much, you could find yourself putting out less than quality products or services will make people no longer want to do business with your brand, and this can make you spiral out of control. Be sure to have a solid business plan in place and use that to make your company successful.

Mistake #3: Hitting the wrong markets.

When you launch a product or service, you need to ensure you’re doing so to the right people in the right market. For instance, trying to sell snow boots and snow apparel in sunny Los Angeles is not the right move to make. When you’re looking to drive your business, you need to make sure you’re hitting the right markets. This means finding the right people who want your product or service and delivering it to them. If you need to hire local movers to move your company to a new location in order to do this, then this is the move you need to make to keep your company from failing.

Mistake #4: Being a bad leader.

Being a smart businessperson means being willing to get your hands dirty and do what it takes to make your company a success. This means getting out of your office and getting onto the production line to help out when it’s needed. If you are too worried about getting a big paycheck or sitting on top of an ivory throne, then your company is going to fail. Instead, be a leader your employees can look up to and admire, and prove to them that you’re willing to make a difference for the future of your company.

Mistake #5: Spending too much.

They say you need to spend money to make money, and that’s true. However, there can come a time where you’re spending more than you’re making, and this is not good for your business. When it comes to spending money on the company, you need to make sure you’re doing it in the right way. This means putting money into the things that make sense, such as streamlining production or reaching the right markets. If you spend too much money on things that aren’t necessary, then you’ll find yourself close to bankruptcy before your company has a chance to get off the ground.

Running a business takes a lot of time and effort, and you cannot find yourself successful if you make the mistakes that will run it into the ground. By avoiding these popular mistakes, you can help your company find its way to a successful future.

Image: Geralt

The food industry is one of the most attractive on the market due to the fact there will always be a market for great tasting foods. If you’re skilled in the kitchen or can manage a team of people who are, you may assume that achieving success will be easy. However, there are a host of other factors that need to be considered.

 First and foremost, you need to know that there is a market for your type of foods. If launching a restaurant, researching the area to see what is already available could prevent an unnecessary battle. Likewise, manufacturers of health snacks or other foodstuffs can benefit from understanding the field.

 It’s not just a case of finding a suitable gap in the market. You must also consider the potential sale prices to decipher whether it’s a viable business venture. If you cannot surpass operational costs by serving a realistic audience size, it’s better to start looking elsewhere. Essentially, business is a game all about numbers, and you cannot forget this for a second.

When putting your business plan into action, the importance of a great staff cannot be emphasised enough. Spending time on the recruitment process ensures that standards are maintained on a consistent basis. When it comes to food products, this element is essential. If customers become unsure of what they are going to receive, they’ll inevitably take their custom elsewhere.

Before judging the business on its products, most clients will form an opinion based on the branding elements. First impressions count for a lot, which is why logos and packaging choices should reflect the products in a great manner. Likewise, a well-designed website supported by strong social media and SEO strategies will have a positive impact. Experts like WME Group can assist you with the latter. Another top trick for many brands is to have those products distributed by well-known outlets.

 Food product sales can often be influenced by word of mouth. Whether it’s trying a new take out or a supermarket ready meal isn’t important. Most people will take the advice of friends and relatives.In addition to referral schemes, you may wish to offer free trials. The latter can encourage the consumer to switch to your brand or service, and will also increase the hopes of organic recommendations.

Knowing that your products are great as they leave the kitchen or factory is one thing. However, getting them to the customer’s door is even more vital. Whether it’s localised sales or national ones thanks to online matters, transit is a key moment. Services like Rob Sinclair equipment finance are great for startups. They allow access to refrigerated vans and commercial vehicles without the financial burden. This is one of the final things to master.

However, it’s not the last. People buying people is one of the oldest concepts in business, but customer care truly is important here. It could mean providing a dining experience or ensuring customers get the right foods for their tastes. Either way, going the extra mile will put the finishing touches on this recipe for business success. Do not ignore it.

Image: Pxhere

Anyone who has ever been a parent to young children will know what a relief it is to go to an event which is family friendly. You can relax knowing that there will be the facilities you need, as well as not needing to worry about your children disturbing other people (well, up to a point!)

Making your event more family could be good for your business, too. This will make your event accessible and attractive to more people, which could boost your visitor numbers. Parents like to recommend family friendly events to their friends, so if your parents have a good experience at one of your events it could lead to word-of-mouth marketing for your next event. Also, parents are always on the look out for things to do with their families so you may have an audience ready and waiting for you.

Here are some things you might like to include to make your event more family friendly.

Event timings

If your event includes performances and workshops, hold these in the morning or afternoon so that the children aren’t too tired to enjoy them. In fact, parents of young children are also pretty tired, so they’ll appreciate an early finish, too! Older children from around age 7 can usually handle early evening events as long as it’s not a school night.

Safety

It goes without saying that parents will want their children to be safe. The Health and Safety Executive has a wealth of information on running a safe event here. You’ll also need a trained first aider and if your staff are working directly with the children, say in a creche, you’ll need them to be properly qualified and police checked.

Facilities

Think about the facilities young families may need such as a quiet space for feeding, nappy changing facilities and if possible, a chill-out space for tired toddlers. A microwave is also good for heating baby food. If your budget will stretch to it you could provide a creche or a kids’ club.

Provide treats for children

You can help make children feel part of the event by giving out goody bags. These can contain sweet treats, but it’s also helpful to include things to keep children occupied such as colouring sheets and a small pack of pencils. Even better, hire someone in a mascot costume to welcome the children and hand out the bags. Your mascot could even pose for photos!

Keeping the kids occupied

Let’s face it, it won’t be too long before the children are tired and a little bored. By providing a table with some activities you can give the children a chance to sit down and stay occupied, which gives mum and dad a break, too. Try to make the activities suitable for a range of ages so small children can join in but big kids aren’t bored, either. Depending on the event you may be able to include more physical activities, perhaps a football or frisbee if you have lots of space, or if you have less space games involving throwing small beanbags or hopscotch can work well.

Good luck with your family-friendly event!

Image: Rudyanderson