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8 Reasons Why Workplace Safety Training is So Important

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article | 8 Reasons Why Workplace Safety Training is So ImportantIf you’re new to running a business, or even new to a leadership position, you might be in charge of developing or delegating some kind of workplace safety training. Depending on your form of work, though, this might not seem super important.

Why does your staff need workplace safety training? Are they working in particularly dangerous environments? Do they work with hazardous materials?

Maybe not, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t benefit from instruction on how to be safe in a work environment. Employee safety training doesn’t just protect the employees; it can also protect your business, your equipment, and your customers.

If you’re interested in just a few reasons why workplace safety training is so essential for your business, keep reading.

1. Workplace Safety Training Makes Employees More Productive

A strong focus on workplace safety can actually increase the productivity of your employees.

Employees who know how to use their materials and equipment safely and properly are able to do so with more ease, making them more productive at work.

Proper safety training will go over how to avoid any simple mishaps that are easy to prevent. With this in the back of their mind, the employee can do things more efficiently and avoid any mistakes that will set back their workflow.

It also creates an environment where people want to be safe. Focusing on safety in the workplace fosters an idea that safety is an integral part of the job. Teaching them safety training topics ahead of time allows them to be productive both on and off the job site.

2. A Safe Environment Earns You Customers

While customers might not know for sure what’s going on behind the scenes at your business, they can likely sense a safe and comfortable environment when they’re in one.

When all employees are functioning like a well-oiled machine, it makes the business more trustworthy as a whole. A trustworthy business earns and maintains their clients, which helps your company.

Safety also reduces downtime in the business, making it more reliable to customers (and potential customers). If they have to worry about possible lapses in safety, causing them to be impacted, they may choose a different business to patronize.

3. Employee Protection

A good workplace safety training system ensures that your employees are safe from harm in the workplace, or at least safer.

Your employees are the backbone of your business, and keeping them safe and supported is crucial to your success.

Safe employees mean a lower turnover rate. It costs a lot to hire a new employee if one leaves due to an unsafe environment, and not all businesses can shoulder that cost.

4. Higher Standards for Work Areas

Employees that are properly trained in safety will know the reasons as to why keeping a clean workspace is so important, and they’ll feel more motivated to maintain their space.

A clean workspace helps to avoid any misplaced items that could cause an employee to trip and damage themselves or the item in question, which could be a valuable work object.

Employees who aren’t trained in the importance of work safety may not see the importance of a tidy workspace, seeing it more as extra “busy work” to be left to the bottom of their “to do” list.

5. Fewer Worker’s Compensation Claims

An employee who gets hurt on the job is going to file a worker’s compensation claim so that they’re able to receive care and treat their injury.

More claims over time can mean higher premiums and rates for your worker’s compensation insurance. This is bad for your business, as it will cost you a lot of money.

While worker’s comp is great for protecting employees, the hope is that you don’t really need to use it in a safe workplace. Proper safety training will help you work towards that goal. However, no matter what you do or how you prepare, sometimes accidents still happen, and it’s crucial that your team is aware of the help they can get when it comes to a work-related shoulder injury, for example. Some worker’s compensation claims are absolutely necessary and should not be avoided.

6. Happier Employees

Employees that know their safety is being considered are going to be happier overall. Happy employees are much more likely to stay with your company, further reducing your turnover rate and increasing productivity.

A happy employee is also good for customers, as they’ll be more attentive, more enthusiastic, and more pleasant to work with.

Happy employees create a more functional work environment for everyone.

7. Protect Your Workspace

Not only are the people in your workplace protected, but the workplace itself will be protected too.

You can avoid damage to equipment or the work buildings themselves by simply instructing on proper safety ahead of time.

Some equipment is expensive and difficult to replace. Hazards in the workplace can also threaten the business itself. A fire or flood, for example, caused by poor workplace safety, could completely ruin a business space.

8. Reduce the Cost of Doing Business

Not following safety protocol can end up being very costly for a business. Aside from dealing with worker’s compensation and the potential replacement of damaged equipment or employees who have left due to an unsafe environment, downtime has to be considered in your costs.

If poor safety habits cause your business to have too much downtime, you’re going to be actively losing money. Teaching safety ahead of time avoids this problem and keeps your business running smoothly.

Do You Have Workplace Safety Training in Place?

Workplace safety training might seem like a hassle, but it can seriously improve the quality of life for your employees and your customers, which will help your business overall.

Safe employees are happy employees, and happy employees want to do a good job for your company.

For more articles on achieving business success, check out the rest of the site.

How Much Does Geofencing Marketing Cost? A Helpful Guide

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StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article | How Much Does Geofencing Marketing Cost? A Helpful GuideAround 71% of consumers prefer more personalized ad experiences. Examining the cost of geofencing marketing will teach you a lot about the value you’re getting out of a campaign.

About 3 out of 4 consumers complete an action after receiving a message thanks to location-based marketing. With geofencing, you can target exact audiences in precise areas and drive sales your way.

Even if you don’t get sales, geofencing still increases brand awareness, so it’s a win/win strategy. Nonetheless, how can you be sure you’re getting your money’s worth?

Here’s what you should know about the price breakdown of geofence marketing:

Geofencing Marketing 101

A geofence is a virtual boundary that defines a specific geographic area with GPS (global positioning system) or RFID (radio frequency identification). When someone enters this defined area, your business’s advertisement will appear on their device/smartphone. They could also see a message, update, or other notification about your promotion.

Strategically placing geofences around certain hot spots will encourage customers to check out your business. This includes competitors’ businesses.

CPM

Many geofence companies charge based on CPMs. What is the meaning of CPM? CPM stands for Cost Per 1,000 Impressions. Dividing the number 1,000 by the rate will tell you how many impressions to expect.

For instance, a $14 CPM rate equates to 71.428 impressions. This means your ad or notification will appear 71.428 times on people’s devices as they pass through your geofenced area.

Geofencing campaigns usually charge rates between $15 to $17 CPM. Higher-end geofencing services could cost up to $25. However, costs could also depend on the following:

Number and Size of Geofences

Other marketing companies charge based on the amount and size of the geofences they build for you. Some charge $5 per geofence while others prefer a monthly fee of $20 or more.

The cost is largely determined by the size of the geographic area you’re geofencing. A larger geofence typically costs more than a small geofence. For this reason, you could easily get 10 to 20 geofences out of a $1,000 Google geofencing budget.

This is a good option for business owners that have a limited marketing budget.

Take the Professional Route

Using your own marketing software will give you the biggest inside scoop. Square Marketing pricing starts at $15 per month. Researching different kinds of geofencing software also gives you a better idea of pricing rates.

Warning: Learning about geofencing and marketing takes a lot of time and effort. Mistakes could cost you big time.

It’s safer to hire trusted professionals to execute a geofencing campaign for you. Their skills and expertise are worth the money! Feel free to find out more about the top geofencing companies through the aforementioned link.

Let Geofencing Benefit Your Business

BIA Advisory Services predicted that location-based marketing spending in the U. S. will increase to $38.7 billion in 2022. Still, the cost of geofencing marketing also depends on how many other features are included in it. For instance, social media notifications and advertisements cost more in the geofencing world.

Companies offer different levels of transparency. More information translates it into higher costs. It also might cost more to convert an existing marketing campaign into a geofencing one, but you’re better off late than never!

Boost your business – learn more about the services we offer. We’ll take your brand to the next level.

7 Ways a Senior Concierge Business Can Help Senior Citizens

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StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article | 7 Ways a Senior Concierge Business Can Help Senior CitizensSenior Concierge businesses help senior citizens with some of their day to day tasks that are becoming difficult for them to accomplish alone. They aren’t home health aides or any other type of medical caregivers. Rather, they allow those who need in-home senior care to get many of the things on their to-do list checked off. Think of them as errand services or personal assistants.

There are many tasks a Senior Concierge can assist with. These seven are some of the most popular reasons to use a Senior Concierge.

A Senior Concierge Can Grocery Shop for an Older Person

Grocery shopping can be difficult for a senior citizen. Getting to and from the store as well as maneuvering grocery carts and reaching many items is more than some elderly people can manage.

A Senior Concierge can accompany an older person to the store, assisting them as they do their shopping. Or, the concierge can go to the store for their client, making sure to get all the items the senior has asked them to buy. A concierge can also help to put the groceries away.

A Senior Concierge Can Accompany the Elderly to Medical Appointments

While concierges aren’t medical professionals, they can take senior citizens to and from medical appointments when a family member or friend is unable to. Not only does this ensure the client gets to and from needed appointments, it gives the senior an extra set of ears to listen to the doctor’s instructions.

An important thing a Senior Concierge can do at these appointments is to write down everything the doctor says, making sure nothing gets overlooked. That written information is valuable to both the senior and to any family member or friend who would like to know what happened at the medical appointment.

Medication Pick Up and Organization Gets Done On Time with a Senior Concierge

Getting medications on time is important for senior citizens, and a Senior Concierge can ensure that prescriptions and over-the-counter medications are picked up from the pharmacy in a timely manner.

Another medication service a concierge offers is to organize medications. They can put medications in daily pill boxes to make sure the senior is taking the right medications at the correct times.

A Senior Concierge Can Make Sure Seniors Don’t Miss Face Time with Family

Many seniors delight in the chance to video chat with their children, grandchildren, and other family members, but sometimes technology can be confusing for them.

A Senior Concierge can come to the home to facilitate video calls between seniors and their loved ones so they don’t miss valuable face time chatting with them. They can make sure the chat gets started correctly and help if it becomes disconnected.

Pets Are Easier for Seniors to Manage when a Senior Concierge Helps

Pets offer senior citizens many benefits. They’re great companions and can decrease loneliness and depression in the elderly. It sometimes becomes difficult for an older person to take care of their pets.

A Senior Concierge can help manage pets. They can take dogs for walks or empty cat litter boxes. They can also take pets for their veterinary check-ups.

Seniors Can Continue to Send Gifts the Way They Love to with the Help of a Senior Concierge

When it comes to buying gifts for birthdays and holidays, many seniors would love to be able to shop the way they once could, but physically they are unable to get to the stores. Purchasing gifts from the Internet can be an intimidating task.

A Senior Concierge can help purchase gifts, either by going to the store to buy them or assisting an elderly person to shop online. They can also wrap gifts or address greeting cards. If gifts need to be mailed, they can take care of that, also.

The Elderly Laundry Gets Done Right by a Senior Concierge

Not all seniors have their laundry room on the same floor as their living area. Managing steps makes it difficult to do their own laundry.

Going up and down the stairs is something that a Senior Concierge can do for their clients. They can wash, dry and fold laundry, carrying the laundry baskets that might be difficult and dangerous for an elderly person.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Kelsey SimpsonKelsey Simpson enjoys writing about things that can help others. She lives in South Jersey and is the proud companion to two German Shepherds and spends her free time volunteering in dog shelters.

The Right Way To Disrupt Markets (Hint: You Might Be Doing it Wrong)

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article | The Right Way To Disrupt Markets (Hint: You Might Be Doing it Wrong)For the past five years, I’ve established a highly successful manufacturing company that actually supports the little guy. Lots of people said it couldn’t (or even shouldn’t) be done – that manufacturing simply didn’t work that way. I’m happy to say we are growing at an incredible rate, and helping other business owners see amazing growth in the process. But it didn’t happen overnight, and there are many ways that this new style of manufacturing could have gone wrong, instead of becoming the market disrupter that it is today.

Market disruption has become something of a buzzword over the last decade or so. It’s the ultimate goal of most entrepreneurs: find a new, better way of doing things that will become the new normal. Because there’s a rush to find the unique, disruptive, unheard of technology before somebody else does, some innovators dive headfirst into an idea, planning to take on the large corporations in their marketplace without a clear path to success. The right way to disrupt the market is a more calculated, step-by-step planning process.

It goes something like this:

  1. Know the market, inside and out. Before launching our own brand, my business partner and I worked for years inside the industry. We understood the nuances of profit margins, process, and market saturation. We also knew from this experience that there was room for something more. We saw too many smaller brands shut out of a process that could have been much more accessible, and we knew there was an opportunity to change the marketplace.
  2. Secure financing. You simply can’t launch a large-scale, market disrupting company without some capital. If you are independently wealthy, great – but odds are you’ll need to go looking for investors. Investors want to know exactly how you’re different from anyone who has come before you, and they want to see that you have a thought-through plan to get there. Most of all, they want to see your passion for your disruptive business and a dedication to making it happen. Be ready with your insider knowledge and a solid plan, and you’ll get there.
  3. Have a laser focus on your customer. One of the reasons market disruption becomes possible, even in well-established industries such as manufacturing, is because huge corporations lose focus on who made them successful in the first place: their customers. Constantly put yourself in the shoes of the type of person or company you are hoping will come to you. Revaluate their needs on an ongoing basis. For example, our company not only fulfills an initial manufacturing need – we help on the back end with marketing and brand development. If your customer is successful, they’ll have the means to invest. If you’re the reason they’re successful, they’ll have the incentive to invest in your brand. In short, when your customers succeed, so do you.
  4. Always be ready for the future. As your brand truly is able to disrupt your marketplace, you’ll grow with your customer base. But always remember: there are other disruptors right behind you. Always be planning for the next big thing for your consumers. We are continuously looking for ways to bring prices down, so we can reach an even wider base of clients looking for a small-scale manufacturing solution. We always follow market trends, so we know that our facility has to keep up with the demand for cleaner, sustainable formulas for our products. Our commitment to progress and to find innovative solutions will never rest.

Market disruption comes down to the right idea, with the right team, at the right time. Make sure you’ve put in the preparation – and then you’ll be ready to take advantage of your moment.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Jordan ErskineJordan Erskine has used his motivation and entrepreneurial skills to advance the personal care products industry for more than 17 years. He currently serves as the President of Dynamic Blending Specialists, a global cosmetics manufacturing company committed to delivering innovative solutions to businesses of all sizes. Jordan has contributed to the technical formulations of a variety of products, including those of Fortune 500 companies, and has facilitated the launch of several successful businesses. Jordan holds an MBA in International Business from Northeastern University.

Business Ideas for Entrepreneurs

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article | Business Ideas for EntrepreneursStarting up a business requires a lot of dedication and consistency and should be kind in mind that there many chances that your business would fail. Even people with have an idea what business they want to open they come across many hurdles of how to implement or execute it. There are many factors which are the prerequisite to start something on your own, one needs to be practical when coming up with an idea and should able to withstand the situation if the business would go down.

Furthermore, some ideas are authentic and fantastic, but the execution of it would be a long and challenging task. Some of the areas which people can adopt to do part-time jobs are online businesses. This method helps to earn more money along with doing their existing jobs. It is very beneficial for the people who cannot leave home due to their responsibilities, and different circumstance can easily make money and their time productive. The business which can be executed from anywhere is online trade. As in today’s time, the world of global shipping is very diverse and quick. This article will assist the new people who have a business idea, or they are planning to do something of their own. Besides, this article will categorize a different kind of business into four broad categories to help people to get an idea about what type of business they want to pursue or what is appropriate or adjustable for them to carry it along with their other tasks in routine.

List of Business Ideas

  • Home-based business ideas
  • Small business ideas
  • Self-employment ideas
  • Fresh ideas for business.

Home-based Business Ideas

Writing Blogs

Blogs are one of the first business entity which comes with the invention of the online data. Blogs are the sources through people learn or take advice. It has been seen around 4.4million blogs posted on the internet every day, which is increasing as the entire publishing area is shifting towards the online world model. Though there is no doubt that the competition is excellent, still there are places for the new people in this industry. The first thing one needs to figure out before getting into this business is to decide which genre they want to write on. For instance, lifestyle, business, beauty, finance and many others. It is important to note that people who are planning to come in the online business need to know the usage of search engine and complete knowledge of other social media platform. Secondly, buy a domain name and develop a website which must be mobile-friendly and responsive. The last task is very crucial for any business to succeed. The content of your website is considered very important, mostly when approaching the business of your product or service. One should give the maximum time for creating the content. While writing the content of your website include only those things which is relatable to your products and selling strategies. Additionally, the keywords play a role to come in the top priority of the search engine. Which implies that your website would get more visiting and ultimately in result a profitable and sustainable business.

Video Logger

Once people get to a certain amount of subscriber on their channels, earn an enormous amount of money through different companies and organization to promote their cause or product. To start it by deciding what kind of videos you would like to display to the audience. After figuring out the video content, it is necessary to see whether the idea is relatable which the market or the viewer wants. It is essential to be truthful and responsible for the content you are putting up online, as this is available to the mass and can hurt people if it is not appropriate. Though this business requires a lot of patients and consistency. As not all people get famous overnight as we have seen in our last decade in the online arena.

Freelance

The importance of freelancer can be understood from every third person in the UK working on a contractual basis. This work does not compel people to restrict them from doing their other business. People can carry out the task according to their timings in a given deadline and return, get the money for their expertise. The essential requirement to do any freelance work is one should be professional in what he is aiming to work in. The professions which offer high fees are web designing, content writing, development of software etc. There many online freelance companies available online to get into. Where one needs to develop a decent profile and upload the information related to the work you offering and experience. It is imperative to acquire position reviews to get more job in the form of gigs.

Dropshipping

This kind of ecommerce is very appropriate for people with less investment and capital as in this online selling, one does not buy the product upfront but instead upload the supplier on their website and buy it from the supplier if someone order it forms your website. It reflects that you do not require a warehouse or money is not bound with stock you have bought. So, people who want to step up the business with less money can utilize this method to earn money online. Also, it is vital to keep in mind to put up only those product which is in demand and has the least depreciation cost. Dropshiping is all about the right timing and proper selection. It is critical to consider only those supplier who is reliable and quick because it would give a negative impact on your business if the buyers cancel their order before the arrival of the product. Besides this, the advertisement for your service or product is an essential factor to make your product seen to the mass audience. In these days, Facebook, Instagram, twitter comes in rescue for the problems related to the promotion and awareness of your business to the potential buyers.

Conclusion

To conclude, starting up a business is only for those people who have the patience and consistency. Because there are big chances of failure or business going down. Though, once one has completed or fulfill the prerequisite of starting up a new business and remain committed to his work, unprecedented success could be achieved. Plenty of options are available to pick your idea for your business that you can do passionately. At least, there is no comparison of satisfaction one gets from something you have created of your and get the chance of becoming a boss of your own.