Huge Mistakes To Avoid When Relocating Your Office

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Office Relocation|Huge Mistakes To Avoid When Relocating Your OfficeAs a successful business, you will experience many exciting times during your growth and expansion. Part of this is bound to include an office move or two. Relocating your office, while a fun experience, is also a logistical nightmare. Whether you’re moving halfway around the world or just down the road, the process is complicated, which can lead to mistakes being made. To save yourself any unnecessary stress or expense, here are five huge mistakes to avoid.

1. Skipping The Planning Phase

The relocation of your business is not an experience to be taken lightly. Due to its complex nature, you must have a precise plan in place well before moving day. Leaving all of the work until the very last minute will only cause unnecessary stress and could lead to further mistakes being made. It might also result in unexpected costs. For this reason, you should write a checklist of every task that needs completing for the move and use this to implement a moving timeline.

2. Forgetting About Your Technology

All businesses rely on technology in one way or another. When this technology isn’t running effectively, therefore, it can cause huge problems within your company. This is why it’s so important that you have managed IT services. With a team of experts by your side, you can ease the transition of your equipment from one location to the other, eliminating downtime and other problems. Those experts can also help you to plan a new office layout suitable for your IT.

3. Doing It All Yourself

With an undertaking as huge as an office move, it’s not just IT that you need help with. There’s also cleaning, decluttering, packing, and so much more. As a busy entrepreneur, you don’t have the time to handle all of these tasks alone. This is why you should begin delegating them to others. You can give some of the work to your team, but other tasks you should leave to the experts. You may want to hire a moving company, for example, and a project manager too.

4. Having No Budget Restrictions

Failing to budget a relocation is not a good idea. After all, moving isn’t cheap. There are many costs that you’ll need to cover, and this is sure to leave a dent in your finances. Without a concrete budget, you may get carried away and spend more than you can actually afford to. This will put your entire business at risk. To avoid that, you must plan for every expense that you might face. You should also add a cash cushion to your budget to cover any unexpected costs.

5. Attempting To Move Everything

Never use moving offices as an excuse to buy new stuff. This will make the process more expensive than it needs to be. If you did have to make a few upgrades, however, now would be the best time. Just make sure that you have any new technology or furniture delivered to the new location. This saves you the time and money it would take to move your current equipment. You should also take the time to declutter the office before you start packing up.

Relocating can definitely be stressful, but avoiding the mistakes above will make the process much easier.

Getting More People To Your Store

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StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article |Advertising|Getting More People To Your StoreNo matter whether you own a clothing shop or an estate agency, your customers are everything and you need to do all within your capability and your budget to attract them to your store. There are lots of different methods of advertising that you can utilise. However, when it comes to advertising directly from your store, there is nothing quite as effective as an LED window display. This is the type of advertising that is going to stop people in their tracks and make them want to come inside to see what you have got to offer. Taking that into account, continue reading to discover further information regarding the wonders LED window displays can do for your store, no matter what type of business you have.

You’re going to turn plenty of heads with LED signs

There is only one place to begin and this is with the fact that you have the most effective and eye-catching method of displaying any business promotions you currently have running. Do you have a sale going on in-store? Are you offering any special deals? By showcasing these offers in a stunning LED window display you are assured to attract way more customers to your store than you would have without it. After all, how else would you alert people that pass by your shop to the deal? This is particularly beneficial for businesses that are located in busy town centres and such like. Aside from this, don’t ignore the LED aspect. This type of display will create a much greater level of attention when contrasted with standard posters and such like. Because of this, you can be sure you are getting the most from your in-store marketing.

You’re advertising to people that are directly outside of your store

Boost your sales by attracting everyone that passes by your shop. Online marketing, newspaper adverts, leaflets and such like are great, but they require people to make the effort to get up and go to your store. When it comes to LED window displays, you are attracting those that are already outside of your shop. Perhaps they are doing their grocery shopping at a neighbouring supermarket or maybe they are picking up some items from the electrical store next door, whatever the reason may be – you can appeal to everyone that passes by. You can then turn someone into a customer who may have possibly never even visited your store if they hadn’t seen the display. There is no quicker form of advertising in terms of seeing the display and making a sale. The impact is instantly felt, which is why an LED window display is one of the most powerful forms of marketing.

Boost your brand image effectively

LED window displays also offer an excellent way of enhancing your corporate image. You can effectively communicate your brand message via the different beautiful window displays. Nothing makes an impact as stylish and striking as eye-catching artwork combined with the professional LED. Don’t ignore how pivotal this is. After all, brand identity is of imperative importance. This is what is going to make you stand out from your competition. It can be the difference between customers remembering your business and the other similar companies in the same location, which is of course exactly what you want.

Change up your window display as and when you need to

You should also consider the fact that you can easily change your window display as and when suits your requirements. One week you may have a sale running, the next week you may wish to inform people that you have got new items in stock. The same goes for estate agencies, which need to change the properties they display in their shop windows. It is extremely difficult to do this with other forms of advertising. You can’t change a newspaper advert or a brochure once it has been printed. You can’t alter a PPC advert online once it is placed out there. The only thing you can do is create a new online or print advert. Not only is this inconvenient, but it is costly as well, and thus an ineffective approach to take. You don’t need to worry about this with LED window displays, which is why you can reap the maximum rewards from your display.

Look for unique ways to get people to your business with LED signs

You should use your LED displays to combine with other elements of your business. For example, have you thought about hiring an ATM for your business? You will attract more people to your company, as they will come to withdraw money and they could then end up making a purchase. ATM rentals have had great success at companies all over the world, so it is definitely something worth looking into. You can then use the LED sign to advertise that you have cash withdrawals at your establishment.

All things considered, when you digest everything that has been discussed in this blog post, it is not difficult to see why it is advisable to invest in LED window displays. This form of advertising can do wonders for your business by attracting a greater level of customers and essentially enhancing your profit levels by a significant degree. It does not matter what type of store you run, these are the sorts of benefits that can be felt by all.

Networking Events With Pizzazz

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Your brand deserves to launch in style.

Your band deserves to have networking events in style.

Your brand deserves your car and attention.

And, let’s face it most networking events are dull as dirt, with the same format over and over again. Why? Well, the idea is people just meet and swap contracts. But you don’t have to do it that way.

You can break the mold.

Ditch the community halls, skip the business meeting centers. Head outdoors. Of course, you are not going to be looking at a spring or summer event. Which is great, because no matter when you read this – you can start planning.

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article | Networking Events With Pizzazz

It’s All About You-ish

So, you really want your brand to be on everything. From the napkins to the banners. Displaying your brand should be a big focus here. But, remember that you are the host. The comfort and experience of the attendees should come first.

So make a list of the materials that you want. Pens, pencils, notebooks, banners, but how about… cupcakes? Reusable cups? Get creative.

Outdoorsy

A reason to use the outdoors is that freelancers, business owners, and in fact almost everyone works inside. All the time. Getting outdoors for an event is actually a lot of fun. The fresh air, it’s more relaxing, the food choices are much more wide open too. You can have a BBQ and food trucks. So long as the space you intend to use has the correct permissions. If it rains, then don’t worry because one of the first things that you will source is a gazebo that is waterproof – and the correct flooring. This works whether it is super sunny, or adverse weather conditions – meaning you won’t need to cancel unless it is snowing.

Logistics

Not everyone drives, so if you have booked a space that can be tricky to get to, and perhaps you are offering alcoholic drinks – you might want to think about arranging a coach. Look for where the highest concentration of people will be able to get to – make that the drop-off and pick up point.

Food & Drinks

Although it was briefly mentioned above, food and drinks can be tricky. As it is a networking event, people will be shaking hands a lot, so chicken wings might not be the best option as this inhibits personal contact. On the flip side, it is pretty funny when two people are having a conversation but covered in hot sauce. This is really going to depend on your audience. You should look to cater to vegans, vegetarian, meat eaters, and people with allergies – which isn’t a small task. While you are free to make the food yourself if you really want to, it’s better to hire the professionals. They will be able to cater to all of your needs.

Remember that not everyone will want a beer or wine. Networking events do typically offer a drink on arrival – included in the ticket price, but you can be smarter here. When people book a ticket, give them an option to choose a soft drink and have them all labeled up for when people arrive. And, invite a BYOB policy. So that people who have particular tastes can bring their own red wine. Typically people attending networking events are there to make contacts, so you won’t need to worry about someone bringing a case of more significant.

Contact Information

Swapping contact information is the end goal (kind of). You are going to be displaying your brand and so should have business cards in easy reach of every table or seated area. A good idea here is to set up specific tables. One for people looking for graphic designers. Another for architects. You get the idea. So people who fit the bill and leave their card or linger around so they can speak to people directly.

Takeaways

When you are selling tickets, you can have the option to be in the ‘goody bags.’ This is the bag that everyone will take away at the end. It will be filled with branded merchandise. Both yours and that of others. Produce a small magazine for attendees, and in the side have a range of advertisements from those who attended too. Of course, the motive here is networking first and money making the second. So make sure that the offer is out there at the point of ticket sales.

Networking should be an enjoyable experience, people are more likely to be open and chat about what they want – when they are relaxed. So curate the whole, and you are guaranteed success.

Your Bad Leaders Are Driving Away Good Employees

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article | Employee Retention | Management and LeadershipThese days, it’s hard to keep a good employee in your ranks. Messages across the web tell young workers that the only way to get ahead is to hop positions frequently, even as much as once per year. In the modern job market, frequent relocations seems to be how employees get the titles, responsibilities and perks they crave.

So, employees are already poised to leave — and they will flee your offices even faster if your leadership isn’t up to snuff. Here are a few ways bad leaders negatively impact your employee retention and what you can do to stop it.

Poor Communication

Good communication is the number-one requirement for a leader. After all, it’s impossible to lead if you don’t know how to use words to direct your workforce. Still, many poor communicators make it to leadership positions, and from there, they wreak all sorts of havoc. Poor communication can take many forms:

  • Over-inflated — using too much jargon, too many big words or overly convoluted sentence structure
  • Non-specific — failing to provide clear instructions or guidelines for a project or situation
  • Abrasive — communicating with aggressive language and/or with anger
  • Selfish — communicating only to seek personal benefits, ignoring others’ needs or desires
  • Wrong method — employing an inappropriate means of communication

Fortunately, communication is a skill like any other, which means it is possible to retrain these leaders to improve their performance. It might be wise to encourage leaders to develop their communication through advanced education, like an MBA program, or else through mentorship or coaching.

Criticism

There is a fine line between healthy feedback and destructive criticism — and many leaders stray to the wrong side too often. Leaders are meant to coach, helping employees improve their skills and thus develop their careers. Bad leaders will nit-pick, taking every chance to degrade employees and make them feel ineffective and worthless.

Many employees become so downtrodden by the constant criticism that they do not report the bad behavior to HR or higher bosses, which means it is often difficult to identify overly critical leaders. If you receive any reports of an unsympathetic, judgmental leader, you should take them seriously and take steps to effect change.

Unfortunately, it’s difficult to retrain leaders who develop this habit. Often, it is a clear and simple sign that someone is poorly suited to leadership and should be removed to a different role. However, you might also need to undo the damage of these leaders by being overly appreciative of employee contributions, perhaps even handing out employee awards to raise general self-esteem.

StrategyDriven Talent Management Article | Employee Retention | Your Bad Leaders Are Driving Away Good Employees | Office Politics | Business PoliticsOffice Politics

Office politics is an unavoidable power and social networking system that develops in any organization, big or small. The manipulation of office politics by some employees is inevitable — but that doesn’t mean it’s okay for leaders to take advantage of the political atmosphere of an office. An overly political office often breeds fear amongst the workforce; fear causes employees to resent their employer, which drives up staff turnover.

Leaders might try to leverage office politics to encourage employees to work harder — but there is a delicate balance between positive and negative outcomes from political maneuvering. Plus, office politics always comes with ethical concerns, which certainly won’t boost your brand perception. It’s much safer to discourage leaders from inciting a political atmosphere in your workplace.

Dirty Laundry

Work only amounts to so much of a person’s life, and while it’s fine (even encouraged!) to share a bit of your home life with your coworkers, no one should be divulging unseemly personal drama in the workplace. Dirty laundry, much like office politics, breeds discomfort amongst your workforce; a proliferation of dirty laundry encourages people to spread rumors, with can reduce interpersonal trust and send employees looking for less threatening work.

Leaders need to find a balance between humanizing themselves with personal details and airing dirty laundry. Human resources can help train leaders who struggle to set boundaries. It’s also wise to build a workplace culture that allows for personal bonds between workers, so information about anyone’s personal life doesn’t seem quite so salacious.

Fear, discomfort, distrust — these are things that bad leaders can breed amongst your workforce, virtually guaranteeing that no good employee stays for longer than a few months. Your business can’t grow unless your workforce is stable and capable, which means you might need to take steps to change your leadership, stat.

Crumbling Under The Pressure: Is There Ever A Time To Devolve Your Business?

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article | Crumbling Under The Pressure: Is There Ever A Time To Devolve Your Business? | Devolve BusinessIt’s not something we should take lightly. After all, starting our business and getting it going is one of the biggest challenges we can undergo in life. But when you feel you’re at a dead end, and that once great team you had his now in tatters, you may very well give proper consideration to packing up, and giving your business away. But when you are going through something as traumatizing as this, are there any telltale signs that you need to start devolving your company?

The Financial Component

In an obvious sense, if you are struggling to make any profits, you could think that it’s not worth it, but is it as cut and dry as this? If your business is making no profit, do you need to give up? The question is all about if you’ve put enough preventions in place to ensure that your business is doing everything in its power to remain financially afloat. And it’s not just about a dire cash flow situation, it’s about ensuring that you’ve actually been to every creditor, resource, and institution in your midst to see if there are any ways to get out of this issue. It may very well be about getting rid of a certain aspect of the business to ensure that it can stay afloat. Resources, such as Professional Transition, are able to help businesses provide a suitable transition process, which may be a better option than giving up completely. The financial component is such a wide-ranging one that if you are considering giving up because profit is a problem, then you’ve got to give consideration to the next point…

Is Your Heart In It?

Your business is your baby. Or, if it was at one point, but now you are at the end of your tether, is it about evaluating your own attitudes towards the business? Giving up on something shouldn’t be taken lightly. But the question is if you are able to maintain this enthusiasm and zeal for the company in the long run. Because it’s not just about our own responsibilities within the business, it’s about seeing if it’s having an adverse effect on our lives. Not in the basic sense of one too many late nights, but if you’ve bent over backwards, you receive knockback after knockback, and after overcoming all of these obstacles, you still don’t have any sort of results, financially, professionally, or personally. At this point, if you start to lose heart, and you realize that the business isn’t good for you anymore, it’s time to see if you can spend time without the business in your life. Delegating to someone will help at this juncture, because it’s essential that you have time away. Having time and space away from it will give you the chance to see if it helps you renew your enthusiasm for the business.

Of course, we can’t answer the question for you. But when the thought crosses your mind that you should pack it all in, and it is a dire situation, professionally and personally, it could very well be time to make some major changes.