Choosing A Car For Your Business In Three Easy Steps

/in /by

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Car for your business|Choosing A Car For Your Business In Three Easy StepsWhen you own a business, one of the things that you might need to look at is choosing a car or a fleet of cars. You have got to make sure that they are a practical choice for your business needs, and that the car can provide you with all of the necessary features. In this article, we’re going to be taking a look at some of the easy steps that you can take in order to get the right car, so keep reading down below if you would like to find out more.

Look At Fuel Consumption

The first thing that you are going to need to do is look at fuel consumption. The reason for this is that whoever is driving the company car(s) is likely going to be racking up the miles. While your business may not be based around driving, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t going to be a lot of it involved. As such, you don’t want a vehicle that has awful fuel consumption. This is only going to push the costs of your business higher which is the last thing that you need.

Make sure that the fuel consumption is at least reasonable. You will have to do some research to check out the average, and use the figures that you find to make a decision one way or another.

Read Reviews

Another thing that you can do is look at reviews from a person or company who knows what they are talking about. For example, you might want to look at a site like edmunds, a fantastic car resource website which will give you a whole load of information that will be beneficial when purchasing a vehicle. There are, of course, plenty of other options around that will also provide you with the answers that you need, but you are always better off choosing the best.

If you do decide to purchase without reading reviews, this is where you are going to encounter problems. Reviews and discussions on things exist for a reason and that is to help other buyers know what and how.

Buy New Or Nearly New

The final thing that we are going to mention is that you should be purchasing new, or at the very least, nearly new when it comes to a vehicle for your business. While there is nothing wrong with second hand cars, you are always going to be better off not taking the chance that something could go wrong when it comes to your business. The newer the car, the less likely it is that there is some kind of fault.

We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now see some of the things that you need to do in order to buy a new car for your business. It’s essential that you are thinking through your decision extremely carefully, otherwise you could end up facing problems later down the line with the car. We wish you the very best of luck, and hope that you make the right choice.

Is Outsourcing The Solution You Need It To Be?

/in /by

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Outsourcing|Is Outsourcing The Solution You Need It To Be?Is outsourcing the solution that you need it to be? You have likely heard a lot about outsourcing in your time on the market, but is it actually what you think it is? Are the benefits as good as you have heard? This is all information that you are going to need before you decide whether or not outsourcing is what you are looking for. In this article, we’re going to be looking at some of the information that you need about outsourcing to help you make the right decision. Keep reading down below if you would like to find out more.

Cheaper

The first thing about outsourcing that you need to know is that it is the cheaper option. There are a lot of ways to lower costs in your business, but this is one of the best because of the other benefits that come with it. When we say it’s cheaper to outsource, we mean that hiring another company to complete certain tasks for you, or to take over the tasks of a department is cheaper than hiring a full-time team to manage this in-house.

For example, if you are looking for IT support, it can be expensive to hire an entire team to provide the solutions that you need. The reason for this is that you have to pay a salary to each employee that works for you. When you outsource and hire a business, this isn’t the case. You only pay for the work that is completed, or you pay a set, flat fee that has been agreed upon by both parties prior to the commencement of services.

Professional Help

Another thing about outsourcing is that it guarantees you get professional help. You should always look through reviews before you decide to hire anyone for your business, so you will be able to find out what the company is like before you even hire them to work for you. It might take a little time to go through all the companies and all of their reviews, but you will find the right company for you sooner rather than later.

Getting professional help means that your business is only going to go from strength to strength in this area. You won’t have to worry about people lying about their ability or getting silly things wrong, you can have complete confidence in what is coming out of your business. Of course, you get everything run by you before things go any further so you can have final approval.

Time Effective

It’s also more time effective to outsource as opposed to hiring an entire in-house team. You don’t have to go through the hiring process multiple times to hire the team, and the same if someone leaves and they need replacing. You hire the business to provide a service for you, and it’s their job to make sure this happens. All you have to do is find this one business, and the rest will be taken care of by the business. Therefore, you have more time to focus on the other parts of your business that need your attention, knowing the others are taken care of.

Promote Business Growth

The final thing that you need to know about outsourcing is that it promotes business growth. The quality of work coming from the business you hire is going to be helpful, as well as the time that it frees up for you to work on other things. You will have more time to dedicate to growing the business, and the increased level of customer service should aid this.

If you want to take your business to new heights but you don’t want to hire more employees, outsourcing is a fantastic solution. It gets you the help you need without the extensive hiring process, but still keeps all of the employees that are already working hard for your business.

We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now see some of the things that you should think about when trying to decide if outsourcing is the solution that you need it to be. If you are going to be outsourcing, then you need to make sure that it is right for your business. To do this, you need to know all of the benefits so if you don’t fully understand yet, give this article another read just to be sure. We wish you the very best of luck, and hope that you make the best decision for your business.

Cleaning Habits for a Greener Office

/in /by

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Green Office|Cleaning Habits For A Greener OfficeA green office needs to utilize eco-friendly practices that have less of a negative impact on the environment. Green offices are designed to use less energy, use fewer chemicals, and create a more sustainable environment than more traditional office environments. The way you clean can play a big part in this.

Encourage Recycling

Put plenty of recycling containers around the office. These containers should be easy to reach to make it as easy as possible for your employees to recycle things like plastic, aluminum cans, and glass. Aim to have as many recycling containers as regular rubbish bins. You could also offer incentives for taking part in recycling initiatives. Employees might not go out of their way to recycle, but if you make it as easy as possible or offer rewards, they will be more likely to take an interest.

Choose Greener Hand Cleansers

When employees wash their hands with soap and water, it can slow the spread of illness throughout the office. However, if you really want a greener office, you need to choose the right products for this. If you have hand sanitizer available for your employees, make sure that it:

  • Does not contain quats or triclosan
  • Is free of dyes and fragrances, which are usually artificial components
  • Uses Ethanol or Ethyl alcohol, which are usually derived from corn
  • Lists water as one of the two main ingredients

Don’t offer hand cleansers that contain fragrances or artificial dyes. Choose an eco-friendly alternative, whether put bottles on the counters or use dispensers.

Choose Eco-friendly Cleansers for Your Office

You also need to think about the products that you use in your normal office cleaning. If you use a commercial cleaning company in your office, make sure you talk to them about the cleaning products that they use. Make sure they will use green products. To further enhance your green office practices, consider incorporating commercial floor cleaning machines into your cleaning routine. These machines are designed to efficiently and effectively clean various types of flooring while minimizing environmental impact. If you do your cleaning yourself, look for cleaning products that are:

  • Free of any potentially harmful or hazardous chemicals.
  • Free of any dyes or fragrances.
  • Made with renewable resources, where possible.
  • Biodegradable.
  • Low in toxicity.

Whenever you can, use natural cleaning products for your office. Don’t be fooled by the promises of ‘eco-friendly’ or ‘green’ products on the labels. Instead, take the time to read the labels properly and learn what is really good and what is marketing fluff.

Pay Attention to Indoor Air Quality

From the chemicals, you use to how often you change or clean the air filters, a lot of different things throughout your office can have a big impact on your indoor air quality. Air quality can have a big impact on your office staff. If you can use fragrance-free cleaners and products that are free of toxic chemicals, you are already improving indoor air quality. Check your HVAC system on a regular basis. Put plenty of live plants in your office. Invest in an air purifier, if you need one, especially if your office often gets humid. You can also open the windows and let in fresh air from outside.

Amazon FBA vs E-commerce Store: What Is Your Better Option?

/in /by

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |E-commerce|Amazon FBA vs E-commerce Store: What Is Your Better Option?Selling online is a fantastic business opportunity. All you really need is an idea and an internet connection and you can start a business. The problem is that there are multiple ways to make this work. With so many choices and options, many people get confused and end up doing nothing.

To make sure that you make the right decision you just have to understand how certain things work. Your two main choices when starting out are to sell your product on Amazon through their Fulfilled By Amazon program or to open your own e-commerce store. In this article, we will go over both scenarios so you can decide for yourself the best route to take.

Your own e-commerce store

In theory, the best way to do business online is to have as much control as possible. If you have your own e-commerce store, you have far more control over the process, and even profits, than if you were to start with FBA.

The reason is that you are using your own website to sell your products. Amazon changes the rules, fees, and even algorithms so often that it makes things difficult for the sellers who have no control. You own your site and can do what you want with it.

In this scenario, you are responsible for fulfillment, but you are able to choose from many fulfillment companies and pick the one that works best for you. If you are early in the process, then you can also just pack and ship everything yourself from your garage until it becomes too much work.

The fees will range quite a bit to do this from the software needed to host your store, to the fulfillment fees. However, there are fees either way and you can keep more of the profits when you have your own store. You also have more responsibilities such as dealing with customer service and returns. You also have to be the one to drive enough traffic to your site to make enough revenue.

Doing FBA

Many people start their online business by selling on Amazon. One of the biggest advantages is that there are millions of people already shopping there every day. This means that you don’t have to drive traffic to your product page. As long as you use the best practices with regards to how you craft your listing then you will get plenty of free traffic to your page.

The other major factor is how hands-off it is. You don’t have to do any shipping, returns, or customer service. Amazon handles all of that. The biggest problem with doing FBA is that you pay a lot of fees. It is not unheard of to pay up to 50% of your revenue in fees to Amazon depending on the product. With how competitive the pricing is there, you have very slim profit margins. Then, there is the fact that Amazon changes their algorithm all the time meaning your product could become invisible in the rankings and sales will plummet.

How To Test Your Latest Business Project

/in /by

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Business Project|How To Test Your Latest Business ProjectComing up with new project ideas in business is what will drive growth and keep you ahead of the competition, but launching a project or idea without knowing that it will be successful (or at least having a good idea about it) is a dangerous thing to do; it could leave you out of pocket, and your reputation could be damaged at the very least.

Therefore, it is essential that you test your business project carefully before taking it any further. Here are some ways you can do it.

Outsource

Using a third-party company to test your project is a great way to see if your latest business project is viable. You will be able to receive a true assessment of the idea and some pertinent, accurate feedback about whether or not the product or service you want to implement is going to be successful for you. Not only will you gain these important insights, but you will also be able to fix any problems and flaws before you launch the product to the market. This means you will have a much better product overall, even if it takes you longer to start selling it.

Outsourcing is something that all businesses need to think very carefully about, not just for project or product testing, but for employment outsourcing, marketing, and much more. It could save you money and will certainly save you time.

Speak To Your Customers

Something else that can work hand in hand with outsourcing your product testing is to speak to your existing customers. By involving them, they will be more interested in what you are doing in the first place, but they will also be able to let you know exactly what it is they want to see in a product, what they need it to do, and even how much they are willing to pay.

Taking all of this information together means that you can come up with something that you know your customers will want to buy from you. You can even have a budget to work to if you know how much they would want to pay for it.

Speak To Other Business Owners

Depending on what your business is and what the project is you’re working on, it might be worth speaking to other business owners (not those in direct competition with you, of course) about whether or not they feel the idea is a good one. You might have a specific mentor who can help you here, but otherwise, speaking in general terms on a forum or at a conference could give you important insights.

Have A Marketing Plan

When you have a product or project that you are happy with, it is time to come up with a marketing plan. When you launch your plan, you will be able to instantly see whether or not the product is gaining enough attention. Although this is a potentially costly exercise, it is also extremely useful to see just what kind of interest your new project is getting.

There are ways to implement your marketing plan without paying out a lot of money, of course. Social media is a prime example and one that is often very cost-effective in terms of the reach it can give you.