Blogs

How to Reduce Expenses without Sacrificing Quality

How to Reduce Expenses without Sacrificing Quality Operational margins are narrowing; leaving business owners constantly looking for ways to reduce business running costs and increase profits.

Here are simple things you should do to reduce your business expenses and increase revenue without affecting productivity or quality.

Review Standard Operating Procedures

If a business has been in operation for several years, it is possible that some standard operating procedures have become obsolete or less efficient. It is important to re-evaluate operational processes from the bottom to the top, and make changes like trimming unnecessary steps that were needed before but are not anymore, or making new changes to labour functions.

Taking risks – is it essential to success?

Taking risks - is it essential to success More small business owners today are feeling optimistic about the economy. Nevertheless, the majority say the number of risks they are taking has remained the same over the past six months.

If you’ve been playing it safe with your business, the time may be ripe to take a chance again on risk. Calculated risks taken within your tolerance level can help you make decisions wisely while keeping your business energised and moving forward.

Some of the best quotes

Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. –Napoleon Hill
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. –Steve Jobs
Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value. –Albert Einstein
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. –Robert Frost
The common question that gets asked in business is, ‘why?’ That’s a good question, but an equally valid question is, ‘why not?’ –Jeffrey Bezos

How to capture consumers’ attention at your event

Whether you call it event marketing, experiential marketing, live marketing, participatory advertising, or any other moniker, this is a brave new world of blowing things up, building in a technological overlay to real-world places, and convincing otherwise sane passers-by to dance or change clothes in the street—all with the motive of engaging consumers.

We talked with some of the smartest minds in experiential marketing to find out how they pull off memorable events—and make sure there’s significant consumer engagement long after the event is over.

Here’s what they told us:

Create an event within an event

Try to create an event within an event where you can touch a consumer one-on-one, where you can engage directly, and teach them about your product, and do so by interacting in a quality way. Have a truth-or-dare themed campaign, ask people to dance in the middle of the street, etc.

How to make a successful career change

Making a career change can be a challenging endeavour in the best of times, so this economy certainly doesn’t help. Sadly, a lot of people allow that to keep them frustrated and stuck–not just for the present moment, but for the long haul. They think about making a change, decide they can’t do it, and stick their dissatisfied noses right back down to the same disheartening grindstone. They will repeat the process the next year, and the year after that.

If that sounds familiar, what are your options? Suck it up and chalk it up to the fact that work is a four-letter word? You could, but there’s a better option.

How to prevent employee vacation scheduling nightmares

How to prevent employee vacation scheduling nightmares Jason just announced that he got a great deal on tickets for his vacation. And Emily dropped a vacation request on your desk this morning. And now, Melanie is talking about her planned summer cruise. You’re happy your employees are looking forward to summer vacations – until you look at the dates and realise that they’re all for the same week in August. Now what?

Conflicts will happen, it’s inevitable. At some point two or more employees are going to request the same vacation days. And only one will be able to go.

How far will technology go?

Singularity is near. The natural progression of human evolution with a just little twist— technology. In other words, super intelligence will soon become a part of our daily lives and man will be merged with machine. Sure it sounds wild, but just think about what we have been able to achieve over the past 50 years alone.

Just look how addictive consumer behavior is for a new Apple product. Sure you can cop the latest iPhone or Mac, but the newer and improved version will always be released in the next couple of months. Similarly, all technology will keep replacing itself at a faster and faster rate until it all becomes a blur. Everything is becoming more efficient and compact and we can expect to see this trend continue until it isn’t even tangible.

Is working from home for you?

As more and more professionals seek a better work-life balance and more companies adopt flexible policies to accommodate shifting workplace priorities and realities, we look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of the working from home option.

Advantages

Finance

By working at home you save on many hidden costs associated with going to work. These include costs of commuting, car wear and tear, fuel, road taxes, parking as well as indirect costs such as expensive professional wardrobes and the dry-cleaning of those.

How to kick-start your work week

We all know that success in life depends on a combination of hard work and talent. There’s also no denying the “luck” factor – being in the right place at the right time and meeting the right people. That said, there isn’t a “secret” to that kind of luck. It’s about doing things that put you in a position for that luck to happen.

We found ten things that successful people do at the start of their work weeks. Try them out, and you might find yourself having better luck as well.

James Reinhart, ThredUp.com – Use weekends effectively

You can’t have a great Monday morning if you had a lousy weekend. Work is obviously important if you want to be successful, but there’s always something that can wait until Monday. Weekends are a time for yourself, to unwind, to relax and to think. In fact, many people do their best thinking during leisure time, because you’re free from other work distractions and can think abstractly.

Mental strength is key to success

For all the time executives spend concerned about physical strength and health, when it comes down to it, mental strength can mean even more. Particularly for entrepreneurs, numerous articles talk about critical characteristics of mental strength—tenacity, “grit,” optimism, and an unfailing ability.

However, we can also define mental strength by identifying the things mentally strong individuals don’t do.

How To Become A Successful Entrepreneur

Is there a guaranteed formula to follow (as the headline suggests?)

Of course not. A quick look at the people who have become successful entrepreneurs shows the paths they took are as unique as they are.

But—and it’s a HUGE but—while their behaviour was idiosyncratic, their thinking was not.

A study shows that serial entrepreneurs—people who have successfully started two or more companies—all followed the same approach. And if it has worked for them, it may very well work for you.