How to help your business grow in 2021

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article | How to help your business grow in 20212020 will go down in history as one of the hardest years for businesses. Some industries, like nightclubs or stadiums, haven’t been able to open their doors since the very start of the year. Even the businesses that are normally in constant high demand, like fast food restaurants and coffee shops, have faced their own challenges and seen big drops in revenue. The sad reality is that some businesses won’t survive long enough to reopen their doors after the Christmas holidays. Those that do survive will be desperate to increase their profits to make up for the damage caused by the coronavirus. If you’re one of those businesses looking to recover, here are some of the best ways you can help your business grow in 2021.

Employ the right people

One of the most important aspects of any business is the people you employ. Choose the right employees and they will be your most important asset. Choose the wrong people to work with and they can cause all manner of problems, including poor productivity, inaccuracies and they could even damage your brand’s reputation, all of which will impact your ability to turn a profit.

To make sure your business can reach its financial potential, it’s important to choose a talented group of people who can work well together to produce a good product or provide a good service. It’s important that you choose people with the right skills you need to compete those all-important tasks. One of the best ways to ensure you find people with the right skillset is to seek the help of a recruitment agency that truly understands your industry. Whether you work in the construction industry or the performing arts, find a local recruitment agency that can instantly recognise what makes a good potential employee for your business. That way you won’t be wasting your time meeting up and interviewing candidates that are clearly not the right fit for your team. If you suddenly have a gap in your workforce that needs filling, they can find you the right person to fill that position before your productivity is affected.

Introduce yourself to your customers once more

If you’re involved in an industry that has been forced to close temporarily or reduce the services you provide, it’s important to remind your customers of your existence once you are able to fully reopen. Even if you have been able to remain open, it may be that the restrictions have meant many people just haven’t required your products or services. A lot of businesses are in this very situation, for example those who sell travel insurance or even those who sell suits and dresses for big evenings out socialising.

One of the best ways to attract those customers back is to act like those customers are brand new to your business. Create a marketing campaign that explains the advantages of using your products or services. Remind them of how they can buy goods from you or access your services. Make sure this marketing is located in the places where your target audience spends most of their time. For young people, this could be on social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram. For the older generation, this could be in newspapers and on the radio, although an increasing number of people in this demographic are now using social media.

Revisit your pricing

Over the last few months, it’s probably not just your earnings that have taken a big hit. It’s likely that some of your customers also have a lot less money than they did this time last year, whether that’s because their hours have been reduced at work, they’ve been furloughed or they’ve lost their job completely. If this is the case, the main obstacle stopping them buying your product may be the price. Consider either reducing the price of your products or offering cheaper alternatives for those who have a smaller budget. For example, you could offer a product in smaller quantities or made from cheaper materials.

On the other end of the scale, there could be customers with lots of money saved up as they weren’t able to go on their annual holiday or they just spend less money on things like day trips and nights out. Consider offering luxury packages to encourage these customers to spend more money with you. You could group several of your products together and sell them as a bundle, offering customers a small discount for buying all of the products together.

6 Ways to Increase Your Team’s Productivity

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article | 6 Ways to Increase Your Team’s ProductivityLeading a team isn’t simple, no matter the size. Whether you’re in charge of a team of five or a team of 500, there are obstacles you must overcome. Your goal is efficient, hard-working staff that boost the business’ quality and increase profits. To do this, you must be a leader who promotes productivity, and here are six ways you can do that.

1. Communicate Effectively 

A crucial part of leadership is having excellent communication skills. Without them, you run the risk of miscommunication that will lead to errors, frustration, and loss of morale. Provide your staff with constructive feedback, a clearly defined task list, and have an open-door policy. This way, your team will know they can rely on you to be honest and give help where it is needed, which will boost productivity.

2. A Comfortable Environment

Assuming that you and your team work the standard 40-hour week, you are spending a third of your time in the workplace. By creating a bright, comfortable environment, you will cultivate a productive team that enjoys being at work. Add plants, install wide windows, and have an area where your team can hang out and discuss. You could even provide auto sliding doors that use sensors to open, providing your workplace with a brightened, automatic entrance.

3. Give Praise 

Acknowledging a job well done will boost a worker’s productivity. If your team is constantly hearing about where they’ve made errors, they will begin doubting themselves and it will show up in their work. By providing positive feedback, they will feel valued and have pride in their work, and they will carry on doing a great job.

4. Use Incentives 

People work best when they have a goal and a reward. Provide that reward by bringing incentives into the workplace, and you will see a definite uptick in hard work. In study findings written by Harold Stolovich, they found that incentive programs engaged participants, attracted quality employees, and that the employees valued the incentive programs. Some rewards you could employ include lunches out, coupons, and bonuses.

5. Understand Their Strengths

Each team member is an individual with their own strengths and weaknesses. You cannot expect one employee to work in the exact same way as another, so get to know your team and their strengths so that you can take advantage of them. It will benefit both you and the employees, as you get their best work while they are able to enjoy hitting their goals easily.

6. Leave Them to Their Work

Micro-managing results in a quick descent into unhappy employees. You hired them for a reason, so you should trust that they have the business’ best interest at heart and will do a fantastic job each day. Have confidence in your team by showing them freedom in their work and they will show you their appreciation through productivity. Their sense of responsibility will let them shine while allowing you to focus on other areas of the business.

5 Myths about Senior Care Franchise Debunked

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article|Senior Care Franchise Myths|5 Myths about Senior Care Franchise DebunkedBefore taking that great leap into owning a business, you conduct research work on things that you’d like to know. Sadly, some of the stories out there are myths but because they’ve been passed around for far too long it begins to look like the truth. This article takes you through some myths about senior care franchise opportunity in Baton Rogue LA. Due to these common myths, many people shattered their dream of becoming a senior care franchise business owner.

Myth 1: Professional background in healthcare is a must

You do not need health care experience in order to take advantage of a senior care franchise opportunity in Baton Rouge LA. One thing you should know is that neither you nor your staff is saddled with the responsibility of providing medical care for residents. Your basic responsibility is providing assistance for seniors under your watch. These may include preparing meals, companionship, assistance with completing daily tasks such as bathing and dressing, providing transportation, and many more. For many, they feel being a caregiver is another requirement for owning a senior care franchise. In reality, it really doesn’t matter. Moreover, it is impossible to multi-task in this line of the business hence you will need to hire extra hands.

Myth 2: Age

Owning a business has nothing to do with age. Regardless of your age, you have the opportunity to start something new. It is not uncommon to see middle-aged or even people close to retirement looking for senior care franchise opportunity in Baton Rouge LA. One major factor that might push you into owning a franchise business is your passion. There is no such thing as too old to switch careers.

Myth 3: Alarming number of senior care franchise

Regardless of the number of senior care companies plying their trade in Los Angeles, there is always a ready market for you to pitch your tent, thanks to the increasing population of seniors. With a decline in the number of family caregivers, senior care is the near-perfect alternative where seniors can be properly cared for.

Myth 4: Helping patients file insurance claim

Senior care is not included in health insurance policy. This kind of service is largely private pay, so you don’t have to worry about assisting residents process health insurance claims. Good news is that there are programs including Veteran Aid & Attendance benefits that provide families with much-needed financial assistance.

Myth 5: I need at least a million dollars to own a senior care franchise

Senior care franchise opportunity in Baton Rouge LA isn’t a free venture. You need to invest a considerable amount of money. However, you don’t need to break a bank for this. You need at least $50,000 in cash and a minimum net worth of $350,000 to own a senior care franchise. Nowadays, many franchisors are willing to work along with your budget. So if you have a passion to own a senior care franchise, go for it.

Before you feel discouraged, be sure to get your facts right and give deaf ears to stories.

Questions to Ask When Choosing Senior Care Franchise Opportunities Markham

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article|Senior Care Franchise|Questions to Ask When Choosing Senior Care Franchise Opportunities MarkhamWhen choosing from the many senior care franchise opportunities in Markham, you need to be sure if you are doing the right thing. One way to do this is by getting answers to several key questions. While there are many questions worth asking, there are a few that are considered the deal-breaker questions. The response you get to these questions will determine to a large extent if the franchise system is worth investing your hard-earned money. Also, it gives you insight into whether or not the franchise system has a proven track record.

Is having prior experience a prerequisite to owning a senior care franchise?

Each franchise has its own basic requirements that must be fulfilled, but in the case of senior care franchise opportunities Markham, franchisees need not have prior experience in this field before becoming a part of the network. However, some skills can’t be overlooked including customer relationship skills, people, and management skills as well as organizational skills. The most important thing about senior care franchise is your passion to serve. Also, you must be willing and ready to follow the franchisor’s models with a proven track record of successes.

You don’t have to start building the business from scratch, unlike an entrepreneur. Senior care franchise opportunities Markham offers you a great chance to become a successful business owner within the shortest time possible.

What is the performance level of your chosen franchisors?

The reputation of your franchise owners is paramount to your success, especially in the first couple of years. It is important to check how many hours per week are allocated to franchisees within your network. The number of work hours generated weekly determines how long it will take to break even. The answer to these questions will tell you the operational expenses required to keep the business in tip-top shape and how well the business can scale over time. Choose a franchisor with a proven record of providing a more customized approach to scaling your business.

What’s the strength of the support provided by franchisors?

As you’d know, all franchise systems claim to have the best support and training for their franchisees but in reality, most in the industry are false claims. So how do you know which franchisor offers just the right support and training you seek? One way is to get feedback from franchisees in the network. Are they satisfied with the business model and what is their success rate? If a franchisor states that they survey owners, check to see if they conduct the survey on their own and not outsource to a third-party agent. There might be a good number of franchisors that conduct thorough surveys but only a few provide the much-needed support and training needed to pull through in the business world.

Choosing the right senior care franchise company is a vital step to success.

What you need to know when starting your business

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StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article |Starting Your Business|What you need to know when starting your businessMany people have viewed entrepreneurship life as being flashy. You get to run your own business and make your own rules. The biggest advantage of it all is the profits all go to you. If you are tired of your 9-5, then this kind of lifestyle can be alluring. The desire to have such a life is what has led to so many people quitting their regular income jobs and setting up businesses. The one thing many people did not put in mind is the work that goes into setting up the business. Running it is another hassle altogether, if you have never run a business before then chances are, you will get overwhelmed. With a few tips from companies with branches in different countries, however, you will be on your way to start and run a successful business.

Have the business registered

While this is a step many people skip when starting, it will come in handy in the long run. As a registered business, you can apply for grants from the government and get considered for them. Many people might feel like it is a lot of work and too many procedures to be taken when registering your company, but the hassle is necessary. Ensure you find out what you need to do in accordance with the law and should you need help then consult professionals over the same. Companies like Merritt USA have years of experience in registering businesses and can offer you sound advice on the same.

Have a business plan

Many people will keep mentioning this, and it might sound a bit cliché, but it is crucial. Your business plan will act as a forecaster over what you into to achieve and help you see the obstacles that you might encounter. It also goes a long way to help your secure business loans or grants before you get started on the business journey. Starting a business without a plan often means you are planning to fail.

Have a budget set for your business

Many people get into business thinking that it will bring them profits very fast. The opposite of this, however, is true. If you are not careful, you will end up spending money meant for your personal use in the business and vice versa. Many at times, businesses fail because people do not have business money set aside. One way to ensure that this happens is having a separate bank account for your business and ensuring that the business money does not mix with your own money.

Ensure you are tax compliant

One of the things that cause a lot of trouble for business is when they are not tax compliant. A business needs to ensure that it keeps up with the law, including paying its taxes. Please find out how you are supposed to do it and ensure you file your returns each year. In doing so, you avoid getting on the wrong side of the law which can get ugly.