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How to Improve Employee Wellbeing in the Workplace

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article ||How to Improve Employee Wellbeing in the WorkplaceEvery successful business depends on employees who work hard and perform their roles to the best of their ability. But, as every employer knows, finding team members that are hardworking and reliable can be challenging. So, when you find the best stuff for your business, you need to be sure that you keep hold of them. Improving staff retention rates is something that many companies struggle with, so focusing on ways to increase retention is essential. One effective way to make your employees love working for your company is to look at ways to improve staff wellbeing at work. The workplace itself has a heavy influence on your team’s productivity levels and feelings about their job, so it is worth focusing attention on improvements. Here are some ideas to help increase employee wellbeing in the workplace and boost your team’s morale and productivity levels:

Introduce More Natural Light

Introducing more natural light into your office can provide many benefits. Allowing more sunlight into your building rather than relying on artificial light can be an effective way to boost mood, reduce eyestrain, and decrease headaches among staff. So, if it is possible to increase natural light in the workplace, this is definitely something worth considering to gain wellbeing benefits.

Get an Office Pet

Introducing an office pet is an excellent way to improve staff morale and reduce your team’s stress levels. Having an office pet can bring a calming influence into the office and bring many benefits for your employees. Allowing your team to bring their own pets to work is one option, and is seen as a significant benefit by many employees. If you do decide to allow pets in your office, it could be an excellent idea to offer your employee’s First Aid Certification for Dogs and Cats alongside regular first aid training.

Increase Comfort

Making your work setup more comfortable can help to drive up productivity and may even reduce the number of sick days employees take. Introducing ergonomically designed office furniture and equipment will help your team work comfortably and make it easier for them to work to their full potential. Having ergonomic office equipment can reduce the chances of your team experiencing back and neck pain and could even help to lower the likelihood of repetitive strain injuries. Back pain can be a significant cause of long-term staff sickness, so providing equipment that reduces your employee’s chances of experiencing back pain is really beneficial.

Improve Air Quality

Keeping up with general maintenance in your building is crucial to providing your employees with an environment that improves their wellbeing rather than harms them. Maintenance tasks such as air conditioning system and air duct inspections are vital to ensure your building’s indoor air quality remains at a healthy level. A reduction in the quality of air in your office can lead to employees feeling unwell while at work. So, taking care of your air quality is an essential task to keep your team healthy and improve their wellbeing.

Finding Success as a Massage Therapist on Your Own Terms

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article |Success as a Massage Therapist|Finding Success as a Massage Therapist on Your Own TermsOver recent years, massage therapy has rapidly grown in popularity. Now, people of all ages – from young college students to retired elderly people – are visiting their local massage therapists to receive relaxation and pain relief. After all, when it comes to muscle aches and strains, massage therapy is one of – if not the – best solutions.

If you are a massage therapist and think you could offer much more to the world with your skills or just starting in this industry, you should keep reading to discover how you can find success on your own.

Learn how to start a massage business properly

Being a massage therapist is one thing, but owning a massage therapy business, while it is an exciting adventure, requires a bit more knowledge. Fortunately, you can learn online how to start a massage business. Guides like this will take you through everything you need to know, be doing, and what qualifications you will be expected to have. You can’t afford to take a slack approach with this, given the high competition. So thoroughly read the above guide and more to ensure you are provided the best start in your business endeavors.

Provide virtual consultations

Over the past couple of years, healthcare has undergone some rapid changes. For example, a lot of doctors are now providing digital appointments rather than face-to-face. This is because it saves time and allows faster service to be provided.

So, you should join the digital party by offering virtual consultations to potential customers. For example, if a customer wants to know the specifics of how you will treat their problem (e.g., lower back pain), you can schedule a quick and efficient virtual consultation with them where you describe your treatment plan. This way, they can be more assured and educated, and you showcase your knowledge. Plus, if no other therapist offers this, it gives you a competitive edge.

Offer discounts on first-time massages

The massage therapy industry is all about incentives. Getting customers on board can be difficult, which is why you need to throw incentives out there to catch their eyes.

A classic (and proven) way to do this is by offering discounts on first-time massages. Customers can get a taste of what you offer and will then feel more inclined to return for full-price massages in the future.

Advertise yourself

You can’t just open a business and expect people to come flooding to it. You need to make sure to advertise it across multiple channels and provide an about About Us page on your website that details more about who you are. Provide a short bio as well as your specialties. This will help to personalize your business and create a relationship between you and your customers.

Provide an online bookings system

Customers don’t always like to book appointments over the phone or in person. Instead, they might like to book them online either through your website or social media pages: so, make sure to provide them with this option!

Send out customer surveys

Customer surveys, which you can send via SMS or email, are a great way to make improvements to your service and ultimately make customers happier. Make sure to regularly send these out, and if you notice that customers want you to make improvements, act on these.

How To Start A Coffee Shop Business

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StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article |Start a Coffee Shop|How To Start A Coffee Shop BusinessMany people try and fail to make a new cafe work. It takes time and patience and above all quality and location. It is a shame that so many fail. There are many reasons for this: a lack of technical and business knowledge, the jungle of authorities disregarded, the café does not generate enough profit quickly enough, and much more. So let’s take a deeper look into how you can potentially make this work as a business idea.

Tip 1: Have Support From Your Family and Partner

A successful start-up is not possible without family and friends. That doesn’t mean that everyone has to stand in the shop or bake cakes on Sundays. But moral support and protection are very important.

  • What is your partner saying? Is he/she behind your plan or not?
  • Does your family understand and support you?
  • Are your friends enthusiastic about your idea too?

It is important that your immediate environment supports your decision. Because in the first three years you will have little time for your loved ones. They have to endure a lot! Your worries, your stress and even your failure. However they also will revel in your success.

Tip 2: Get a Grip on the Jungle of Authorities

A specialty in the food sector is the care with which – despite all the passion – you absolutely have to proceed. There are many requirements, permits and regulations that you have to comply with. The time required for all of these prerequisites should not be underestimated.

Certain hygiene and catering training can last upto three years. It is possible to shorten it under certain conditions. However, it can be a high investment of time and money but will certainly serve you well. Do things by the book and get legal proceedings in order.

Tip 3: Start Researching and Planning in Good Time

Create a timeline – what are the first steps? Who does what with whom? Opening a café or restaurant is complex – a real monster project. There is a lot to consider, especially if you are not alone in the shop later. So structure your thoughts early on with the timeline. The period includes the four to six months before the opening, the opening day and, depending on the concept, several months after the opening.

  • Writing down the countdown: what will be important when?
  • Planning is good. Verification is better. Now it is important to compare the plan with reality in order to minimize errors.
  • Best practices: Talk to 3-5 restaurateurs who have already had an opening behind them. Here you will get a lot of valuable tips for improvement.
  • What will you serve? What will you offer?
  • Will you sell other items. Coffee granules in packets, cakes to take home?

Tip 4: Create a Workable Concept With a Business Plan

The business plan depicts your concept in text and numbers, including innovative offerings like a single origin coffee subscription to attract discerning customers, alongside inquiries about “best practices” from founders with a similar gastro concept.

You can ask, for example:

  • What was the decisive factor for your success?
  • If you founded a company again today, what would you do differently today?
  • What are your three tips for founders in this area?
  • And then you build your learnings into your business.

Your business plan must include a little bit of everything. Including your hopes and dreams for the business. Will you branch out and sell other things, as previously mentioned? Coffee shops are forever evolving and so is the market. You should look at coffee packaging trends for example.

Tip 5: Be Brave, Confident and Stick With It

Have a lot of courage! Believe in yourself and your idea, because you need that. Many will say without being asked: The concept does not work anyway, your idea is not sustainable etc. Everyone has these doubts, and you are not alone. Business is a scary concept, yet achievable if marketed right and believed in. Treat it with passion and TLC.
Here are a few encouraging tips:

  • Look for supporters in your private environment who think you and your idea are great. They carry you through difficult times too.
  • Internalize your business idea. This is how you shine and ignite your passion in others too
  • Find a mentor
  • Hold on to your business dream

Stay tuned and dare to go through with it instead of listening too much to all the people who know everything better and better and say: It will never work. People don’t always know best and many may be trying to put you down. Eliminate those people from your business journey, because negativity is never good. In business, you have to be smart, positive and realistic, but also passionate.

Tip 6: Have Enough Cash When You Start

Your financing is in place. You order your coffee machine and the kitchen equipment. The electricians are coming in to fit all the wiring and lighting. And then your account is empty. The loan approved by the bank has not yet been paid out. If you do not have equity as cash you will be in trouble, you will not be able to keep to the schedule, etc. That will be really expensive and you must have the cash to be able to keep the business flowing over day to day. If the final financing has already been secured, short-term bridging finance can be the solution. This can be in the following ways:

  • Borrow in a private environment – family, friends & fools
  • Taking out personal loans via online platforms
  • Borrow via your bank or a business loan

A choice of location crucial for your success

An ideal location is an easily accessible place, which is in the roaming area of ??customers, especially in the morning. Before committing to signing a lease, spend time on site and look at who passes by and when. This will help you determine whether there are enough potential customers. And also whether the establishment is visible and how the competition is performing.

Use of Facebook and other social networks to market

Facebook is the dominant social network in the world. Opening a “fans” page for your business (or the site itself), can be a great move to attract potential Facebook surfers, and make them follow any content posted on this fan channel – unique promotions for page fans, announcements about new products, service added or discontinued and the like.

This is actually an online “customer club” , which allows you to keep in touch with the customer at any time. In the news items that appear on the Facebook page, it is possible and desirable to include links to your website. When surfers click on a status, they will be taken to the site to continue reading it. In this way you will also gain visits to the site itself, and at the same time the surfers will also be more accessible to purchase what you offer. Beyond that, Facebook – like Google – also allows you to advertise for a fee in a variety of forms: regular sponsored ads, sponsored stories (influenced by what happens on Facebook pages for businesses) and more. The pay per click is lower than in Google AdWords, making Facebook the second largest advertising platform after Google. Inanimate moves can also be made through Google’s social network (Google Plus) and even via Twitter, as organic marketing channels. Get to know all the subtleties that result from the abundance of channels available for use, and combine it all into one big marketing framework that takes into account your needs and those of the business.

4 Proven Growth Strategies for Small Business Owners

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StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article |Growth Strategies|4 Proven Growth Strategies for Small Business OwnersGrowing a successful business is often about grit, positioning and strategy, partnerships, and a smidge of luck. Unfortunately, most people assume that successful business owners just got lucky.

And while some do agree that luck played a role in their success, they’ll also admit that they often worked extra-hard –in some instances pulling 18-hours days- just to make their business work.

The good news is if you’re willing to outwork, outthink and out-strategize, you can and will gain significant edge over your competition and go on to enjoy incredible business growth. That, plus the tips in this article will guarantee your success.

Determine Your Market Penetration Strategy

A smart man once said, “do not reinvent the wheel”. This means you don’t need to start from scratch to grow a business or have an original idea. You just need to take what works, improve upon it, and find a way to position it so it sells to the same audience.

This is where your market strategy becomes important. How do you intend to penetrate the market? Is your product different from the others in the market? If so, how?

For example, it may be that your product works better and faster than others in the market. That, right there, is how you position your product and penetrate that market. So, find your market penetration angle and run with it.

Increase Your Product Line

Is it possible to create various versions or models of your products with more or fewer features for various market segments? If you can, then you can take advantage of the often untapped market share that many small business owners miss out on.

Many smart small business owners often find unique product angles and increase their market offerings. For example, they can sell the premium version of their regular products to other buyers.

These luxury or enterprise versions often come with extra features that the buyers like and desire. If you do the same too, you’ll be essentially increasing your revenue streams without needing to build any new product from the ground up.

Target New Audiences

If you’re facing stiff competition in your target area or audience, how about expanding to other markets and finding new audiences? For instance, if the competition for your business is tough in your city, you can seek out business partnerships in other cities, states, or countries with less competition and offer the same services or products.

You can have distributorship agreements to this effect and take advantage of their established customer base and the relationship those brands have built with their customers. What you’re doing is essentially piggybacking on their success. Businesses in all fields everywhere do this, and with great success too.

Acquire Other Businesses

While this is similar to the tip above, the difference is you’ll be purchasing these businesses –as against establishing a partnership. These already come with a customer base, assets, and even infrastructure that you can just plug into and take advantage of.

For instance, if you’re a drilling contractor in one city, and are looking to expand to other cities, you can look for other flourishing or floundering drilling businesses and buy them. Then, implement the same systems that you used to make your other businesses successful.

How Outsourced Accounting Can Help your Business

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article | How Outsourced Accounting Can Help your BusinessWhen you are looking to grow a business of any kind, having good accounting practices in place is very important. Having good accounting records can help your business make better financial decisions and can help improve the credibility of your organization. As your business grows, your accounting needs will grow as well. For many businesses, taking advantage of local CPA & accounting services can be a great option. These services, such as Gelinas & Pratte CPA Tax And Quickbook Accounting, can offer a variety of benefits to any organization.

Support with All Accounting Functions

One of the benefits of hiring an outsourced service for accounting is that you can receive support with all the accounting functions and responsibilities. Anyone that is running a business will need to be able to provide financial reports, bank statements, and tax returns. The accounting service can help you with the preparation of all of these reports. This will ensure you remain in compliance with any reporting obligations while also having a good sense of your company’s financial performance.

Receive Professional Advice

While you must have your books and financial records in order, another advantage of hiring an outsourced accounting firm is that you can receive professional advice. An accounting firm has likely provided services to many clients in different industries. They can offer you a variety of tips and insights that can help you run your business. They can also offer support for how to prepare for taxes to reduce your obligations in the future.

Focus on Other Areas of your Business

The accounting and finance part of a business is very important, but it is not the only one. Today, business owners will have many areas of the business to manage on any given day. When you outsource this function, it will be one less task that you need to worry about. This can help you free up time and personnel to focus on other areas of the company and operations. Further, as you will not need to hire any staff to help with accounting, the use of an outside service can help you reduce your total operating costs as well.

Any business owner today would benefit by outsourcing their accounting needs to a professional service. Several benefits, in particular, could benefit a business when they choose to outsource their accounting support.