The Strains And Positives Of Owning A Commercial Building Business

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article | The Strains And Positives Of Owning A Commercial Building BusinessThe commercial building sector is on fire right now. Never before in the history of humanity, has the desire for office space has been greater. Now you have millions of entrepreneurs, micro and small business owners that are growing at an alarming rate, who all want office space. They almost always look toward the commercial high-rise building sector to fulfill their needs. So if you own a series of commercial office buildings, you’re probably making a killing these days; well almost. Energy efficiency is a hot topic these days because we’re in a transition period. The world is heading toward a fossil fuel free climate, whereby coal, crude, and gas are going to be slowly phased out in favor of electricity and green energy. It won’t happen overnight, but if you own skyscrapers, you will want to prepare your structures for a mass upgrading marathon.

The way in

Wherever there are ways into the building, you’ll see the most amount of heat loss. This will be the windows, roof steam vents, and HVAC units to name a few. These are the major problem areas for any high-rise building. The wind up at hundreds of feet is a lot more than it is down on the ground. Thus, HVAC units have to work harder to make sure cold air is not filtered into the offices. On top of this, every single pane of glass has to be sealed properly and also, trap heat as efficiently as possible. The buildings have to provide excellent views and also not allow the warmth to be stolen from the climate outside. So you should be seeking to fit energy-efficient glass in incremental stages as this process can take months to do properly. On top of that, you will want steam vents to be properly designed so no air is allowed back in through the major opening.

Modern material implementation

Modern energy-efficient building materials are a must for any commercial building. You don’t know what your clients are going to be doing in the offices all the time. They may be working all day and all night long. Thus, you should have a mindset of allowing your clients to work 24-hours a day non-stop. So, learning how you could implement modern materials by speaking with Energy Management Association about their certification process is in your interest. They seek to train you in energy management that will benefit you as a building owner. Utilizing the latest materials, you could slowly upgrade your buildings while retaining the existing structures. You’ll also learn how to implement and use new technologies that help you discover when things are faulty in your buildings such as pumps not working properly or pipes leaking.

Plenty of advancements

There’s no shortage of advancements in the energy efficiency realm for those that own commercial buildings. Since it’s a highly profitable industry, you’ll never be without good solid advice and professional channels for sound advice. Head to an energy efficiency conference for commercial high-rises to get educated on your existing and future challenges.

Owning commercial buildings is a great pathway into the future since there are so many people who want their own or shared office spaces. However, you must continue to upgrade your materials and re-evaluate your designs to save money on energy.

Environmental impact

Though the above steps are useful in moving towards an eco-friendly future, it’s important that you always consider the environmental impact of any work that you carry out. For example, if you were planning on constructing more commercial buildings – your focus should not only be on obtaining land but instead should focus on obtaining the right kind of land. For example, you may need to carry out ecological surveys ahead of time if the construction of your next commercial property could interfere with animals or wildlife. This is due to the fact that many animals, such as bats, are classified as a protected species – meaning certain steps must be taken ahead of time to maximize their safety.

Therefore, it is within your best interest to work with companies that provide bat surveys for professional ecologists,  as this means they can perform routine surveys to figure out whether any bats are living in the area in which you intend to build upon. Working with these companies means that you can continue with your construction without damaging animal life – thus clearly demonstrating your commitment to a greener planet.

Use Your Story to Sell Yourself

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article |Brand Marketing|Use Your Story to Sell YourselfBrand marketing is something every business should focus on if it wants to excel in its industry. If you are a business owner, you must apply this strategy to every campaign you launch to ensure that people don’t just use your service, but they keep coming back for more.

But how does a business decide on its brand? Everyone has a story. A tale of who you are and how you got to where you are, but some business owners prefer to forget the past and only focus on the future, where in fact it’s the past that can prove most fruitful for them.

Through this story, you can start building something that customers and clients come to recognize. They associate the story with your business, and if done right, this can make you more appealing.

Be Authentic, But Avoid Sob Stories

Authenticity in business is difficult to unlock. Regardless of your best intentions, a company that appears to be pandering to its customers can drive them away. A little sentimentality is okay here and there, but if it doesn’t match your brand, then it can have adverse effects on your business.

It’s also vital to avoid sob stories. It might work on reality TV, but business is not reality TV. A sob story can come across as fake, and it can distract from the service your company offers. No business wants customers that pity them, so while it’s okay to be honest, it’s perhaps best to ease off on going full superhero-origin-story.

Customers are smarter than a lot of people like to admit, and they are sure to catch on if something about your business seems a little off. In a time where information is accessible to anyone who knows how to Google, any half-truth or an outright lie can be easily fact-checked.

Freebies to Reflect You

Everyone loves a freebie, so you should take advantage of spreading awareness for your brand by investing in promotional products complete with your name, logo, and even contact details that you can give away at events.

Anyone who has ever been to a business convention knows these places are ripe for grabbing as much as you can, and freebies are up there with networking and competitor research as one of the big reasons people attend.

So it’s about time you use this to your advantage. The promotional items you hand out there can give future customers an idea of why they need your service, even if they don’t they do just yet. If the products reflect you, it makes it easier for people to identify with you, which will drive them to choose you over competitors.

A Brand Personality

Once upon a time, brands were brands, and people were people, and they lived in (mostly) harmony. However, the rise of social media and the ability to interact with customers, this has blended into something a little too Frankenstein’s Monster for some people’s liking.

But this is a minority, and more and more brands are jumping on the social media marketing train to spread brand awareness. You likely saw the Wendy’s phenomenon from 2017, and many companies followed suit. They understand that the general audience is sick of the corporate nonsense that plagues LinkedIn. They don’t want to talk to a representative anymore with a clean-shaven face and slicked-back hair. They want to speak to someone real.

Creating and maintaining a brand personality helps customers differentiate from similar brands in your industry. If you do it right without causing offence or being several weeks behind internet trends, then you can reap the benefits, and even if people aren’t buying what you are selling, they are at least talking about you.

Fighting For A Cause

Every company should have a cause to fight for. However, there are so many charities and fundraising opportunities that it is difficult to decide which is right for you. However, here is where your story comes in.

We’ve already established that sob stories are not always ideal, but you can still use the inspiration from your past to help choose the right cause to fight for. If you have had family members with illnesses, then help improve donations for charities fighting such diseases. If you’ve always had a passion for nature, then environmental causes are the way to go. Only you know what motivated you to start your company, so choose something based on that drive.

Fighting for a cause help you appeal to a broader market and even people who may not be your target market. They will see you have principles and be drawn to discover what you do. As long as you stick to these principles and don’t sell out for a profit, your fight could inspire others.

A Human Touch

Despite all these options, there are few better ways to use your story to sell yourself than actually getting your face out there so that customers can put a face to the logo. It’s often too easy to forget that behind the branding and the products are people hoping to do their best, so you can help people remember this by being ever-present.

You can do this by taking the opportunity to engage with your community, especially when launching a store somewhere new. This helps ease any fears they may have, and also gives you the chance to field questions regarding your business.

It’s too easy for people to be cruel when hiding behind a keyboard, but seeing you in person may change their approach, and instead of spitting bile, you might be able to have a conversation that’s productive rather than destructive.

Don’t Sell Yourself Short

A business that has a story, especially one that others can relate to, is the perfect way to guarantee that your brand marketing is on point every single time. However, you cannot solely rely on this story, as once you get big enough, it may not be as relevant as it once was. Combine your story with ideas that set you apart from your competitors so you can add chapter after chapter to a story that is only just beginning.

3 Knowledge Gaps That Small Business Owners Need To Fill

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article |Business Owner|3 Knowledge Gaps That Small Business Owners Need To FillThere are a lot of misconceptions about running a business, and the biggest one is that some people are born to be business owners and some aren’t. But the idea that you either have it or you don’t isn’t really true. There are certain qualities that a good business owner needs and some people do have those natural talents. But if you are going to be a successful business owner, there are a lot of skills that you have to learn as well. A lot of new business owners don’t realize this and they think that they are guaranteed to succeed because they are a born business leader. Unfortunately, that means that a lot of new business owners have some serious knowledge gaps, and they run into problems. If you are about to embark on your business journey, it’s important that you fill these skills gaps.

Finances

The most important thing in any business is the finances. If you are an accountant that has experience working for a business, you should be fine. Otherwise, you won’t have a clue what you’re doing when it comes to business finances. Poor money management could sink your business, so it’s vital that you learn about business finances and where to turn for help when you need it. This small business bookkeeping guide will give you more information on how to manage your money and find the right bookkeeping service to help you stay on top of your finances. If you start a business without a good working knowledge of how to handle your money, your chances of success are slim.

The Law

There are a lot of exciting things about starting your own business, like watching your simple idea progress through the development stages until it finally becomes a working product. But it’s not all fun and games and there are some boring bits to deal with as well. One thing that people struggle with the most is the legal aspect. Business laws can get very confusing, and if you make mistakes, it could land you in a lot of trouble. These legal tips can help you out, but it’s important that you spend some time learning about business law and you hire a lawyer when you are out of your depth.

Process Management

Process management really catches people out because it’s not something that you will have to deal with when you first start the business. With a small team of 2 or 3 people and a relatively low number of sales, it’s easy to manage the workflow. But when your sales and marketing team start to grow and your sales volume increases, things get a lot tougher. Productivity will take a big hit if you don’t put processes in place to manage things, but a lot of new business owners don’t know how to run a business on that scale. You can use automation software to help a lot here, but you need to spend some time learning how larger businesses use process management to handle a large workload efficiently.

If you can’t fill these knowledge gaps before you start your new business, you will soon be out of your depth.

Have You Found The Right Idea For Your Business?

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article |Business Idea|Have You Found The Right Idea For Your Business?Finding the right idea for a business is still a hard thing to do for a lot of entrepreneurs out there. You have to do your research. You have to reach out and talk to people. And when you’ve done all of the necessary leg work, there’s no saying your work stops there.

And coming up with the perfect idea – viable enough to put down on a business plan for an investor to look over, and clear enough to follow through when you’ve established yourself – doesn’t just happen overnight. There’s some things you’ve got to do first, before anything else.

So, without further ado, here are those exact things. If you’re sitting there with a business concept in mind, make sure you get these out of the way before you try anything else.

Target the Market

The market you want to sell to needs to be the first thing you come up with and get your eye on. If you’ve got a product idea, it’ll mean nothing until you find out whether or not people will want to buy it – and no, there’s not a gap for every single half baked idea an entrepreneur has ever come up with!

You’ll need to look into the people who might want to buy what you’re selling; their age, their schedules, their price ranges, and even their generational shopping habits. A lot of previous research has gone into these, so you won’t have to start from scratch either.

Mingle with the Professionals

You’ll want to get a bit of one on one time with the people who know what they’re talking about. Before you fully set out in your business venture, talking to the people who have been and gone before you is a great way to get to know the scene, and just how long it might take for you to reach the same level of success.

For example, if you’re planning to start an online only business, you’re going to be relying solely on the income driven through your website. That means you’ll want to talk to an ecommerce business consultant; someone who knows what it’s like to sell online, and how fast rates, prices, and demand can change.

Are You OK on Your Own?

You might be of the mind to run your business entirely on your own; it’s a micro venture, or it might just be a small home run operation. But when you think about it, no business is set up entirely on its own – no one is really a self made person.

A lot of us have to rely on the experience and labor of other people, especially in the early stages of a small business. And if you’ve already got quite a tight schedule, some serious rearranging might need to be done.

Finding the right idea for your business takes time, so don’t try to rush this stage of the process. A lot of work lies ahead, and it’ll require full attention.

Tips for Strengthening Your Wi-Fi Signal

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article | Tips for Strengthening Your Wi-Fi SignalWhether you need it for streaming TV shows or getting work done, your Wi-Fi is a necessity in your home. However, you may not be getting the most out of your wireless internet router. Slow speeds and poor performance may cause you to wonder what you can do differently to improve your Wi-Fi. To increase the speed and signal range of your home Wi-Fi, follow these guidelines.

Adjust the Antennas

This simple step can make a big difference in the strength of your Wi-Fi signal. While not all internet routers have antennas, the ones that do can be adjusted to improve the overall signal range and strength of your Wi-Fi. To do this, simply angle one antenna so that it is completely vertical while angling the other antenna until it’s completely horizontal. This strategy allows your Wi-Fi signal to travel efficiently through the walls and ceilings of your home, resulting in a faster and stronger internet connection.

Move the Router

In some cases, the problem is simply that your wireless router isn’t placed in the optimal spot in your home. The placement of your router has a direct impact on the effectiveness of your Wi-Fi signal, so be sure to carefully consider where you’re placing the router in your home. The best spot for your router is often in an elevated area that is free of any obstructions. Routers that are located in lower, crowded areas may have trouble sending a strong signal throughout your entire living space.

Update Your Router

If you seem to be experiencing persistent problems with your router, it may be due to having an older device. In this situation, it’s best to look into new wireless network services that can do their job more efficiently. Many routers even come with special security features and improved compatibility to allow for a more convenient internet experience. No matter what kinds of issues you’re experiencing with your current router, purchasing a new one can help to solve many of them.

Add a Wireless Range Extender

If all other strategies fail, your home may be too large for your router to transmit a signal throughout the entire area. Luckily, you can solve this problem by incorporating a wireless range extender into your home. This device simply detects the signal from your router and retransmits it across your living space, which allows the signal to become stronger and faster.

Slow Wi-Fi is frustrating. However, these tips can help you boost the signal in your home easily and effectively.