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The Influence of Start-ups on Healthcare

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There are startups in every industry that are changing the way we do things in all aspects of our lives. Healthcare is no exception. In recent years, the number of startups in the healthcare industry has skyrocketed, and their innovations have potentially changed the future of healthcare.

Our health and insurance requirements start to change after we turn 26, which makes innovations in this area incredibly important. Here are some of the many ways startups have influenced the healthcare industry.

Fertility, Pregnancy, and Newborn Health

Startups have caused huge strides forward in both fertility and newborn health. For fertility, various testing methods have been invented to allow couples facing fertility problems to complete assessments in the comfort of their own home. Rather than being relegated to interactions with various doctors and meeting medical professionals in public settings, they can test their fertility privately and make decisions based on the findings. This saves time and allows for privacy and discretion.

There are innumerable applications available that allow couples to track their pregnancy and guide them through this physically and emotionally taxing time. They are often rolled into fertility applications, to help couples conceive. It is expected that in the future, smartphone apps will be able to listen for a baby’s heartbeat and even perform an ultrasound.

In newborn health, innovations by Neolight have resulted in a product that helps treat and prevent jaundice in newborns. As the majority of newborns experience some level of jaundice, their energy-efficient, safe, and portable product will help treat newborns safely and effectively while reducing readmissions to hospital.

Patient Engagement Apps

App development companies have been continuously working toward health tracking protocols that can be delivered to medical professionals, saving wait times and presenting clear, analytical data. For example, sleep trackers, activity trackers, and symptom trackers are all readily available on smartphones and smartwatches.

These apps when consolidated, present a clearer picture to medical professionals when a problem arises, especially now since they’ve been regulated with the HIPAA compliance act. They may be able to pick up on inconsistencies that speak to a deeper issue, that users may not have picked up. On the other hand, using these apps helps people become more mindful of what’s going on in their body and flag any issues that seem unusual. This could lead to getting a medical consultation earlier than they would otherwise, improving their prognosis.

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Cancer Fighting Innovations

Scientists and startups are continuously working toward finding a cure for cancer. While there is no definitive cure yet, incredible advancements have been made in prevention and early detection. For example, skin cancer prevention products have been created to tell people when to reapply sunscreen. Other imaging techniques highlight tumors, making them easier to detect during scans and surgical removals.

On the other side of the battle against cancer, a startup known as Vivor has created a platform where cancer patients with financial troubles will be matched with different charities and financial assistance programs that can help them during treatment. Similarly, MyPeople Health is taking a patient-centric approach by focusing on creating apps that guide a patient through their journey, explaining everything simply yet thoroughly.

Startups offer a unique and fresh perspective to the healthcare industry, which is how advancements are made. Looking back at the changes over the last twenty years shows just how far we can go in a short amount of time.

Three Ways to Increase Business Profits

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Three Ways to Increase Business ProfitsEvery entrepreneur wants their business to grow and generate a profit. Fortunately, there are many ways to increase your chances of business success, save money on your cash flow budget, and grow a successful business.

With this in mind, here are three simple ways to increase business profits.

Invest in recruitment strategies

It’s important to keep in mind that employees are the backbone of every successful business. A productive workforce will have an obvious positive impact on your profits and overall business success. For that reason, it’s vital that you invest in recruitment and focus on strategies to attract and retain the best quality staff.

Some simple ways to attract top talent include offering job perks such as bonus schemes, generous holiday allowances, flexible working, and free gym memberships. In today’s candidate-driven market, many companies struggle in their hiring efforts. Unemployment is low and job seekers have increasingly high expectations which can make recruitment a challenge for any business.

One way to improve your hiring strategy is by outsourcing your recruitment to a HR consultancy. For instance, London HR consulting offer expert guidance on recruitment strategies and can help you attract top talent to your business. Investing in recruitment and hiring strategies is definitely worth it in the long run, considering the many benefits of having a highly skilled and productive workforce.

Focus on your marketing efforts

Marketing is one of the key ways to increase profits in your business. Effective marketing strategies will improve brand awareness, generate more leads and conversions, and ultimately increase sales and profits in your business. For that reason, it’s vital that you invest in advertising and marketing efforts and have this as a core focus in your business plan.

Companies use a huge range of different marketing strategies and it’s important to find what works best for your individual business. One of the most effective marketing tools in the modern business world is social media. These platforms allow you to interact with your customers on a more personal level, expand your target audience and advertise your products and services to a global audience. Business owners should not overlook the power that social media can have on business profits.

According to experts at Business2Community – “Social media marketing is perhaps the most powerful brand-building tool of all – but only if it’s managed correctly.” If you’re struggling to maintain an active presence on social media, then you should consider hiring a social media expert to manage your accounts for you.

Maximize your cash flow

Cash flow is the money that goes in and out of your business. Finding ways to maximize your cash flow is a simple way to increase profits within your business. Fortunately, there are many ways to achieve this, including:

  • Focusing on increasing sales within your business and encouraging customers to pay upfront or pay deposits/repayments.
  • Establish good credit management practices which includes sending invoices out promptly, repaying any credit on time and in full, and chasing any outstanding accounts.
  • Buying stock in bulk in order to negotiate better prices and take advantage of cheap deals.

Improving Your Company Starts with You

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article | Improving Your Company Starts with YouMany leaders wrongly attempt to improve their companies with a bottom-up approach, focusing on the smallest issues and hoping to work their way up. And while this can work in a relatively stable organization without any significant leadership issues, it’s the wrong approach if you’ve never put any thought into your own leadership capabilities, as well as those of other people in important positions. There are many ways to make yourself a better leader, and if you’re struggling to improve the performance of your company, it may be because you’re lacking in that area yourself.

Advanced Leadership Methodologies

Leading a company is not just about giving orders and delegating tasks. You have to know how to optimize the performance of every unit of the organization, seek out opportunities for sustainable growth, and perhaps most important of all, know how to talk to your employees in a way that allows you to understand their concerns. Many of these things – and more – are described in detail in methodologies like lean and Six Sigma. If you’ve never heard of them, it might be a good idea to familiarize yourself with what they have to offer. There’s a reason why experienced specialists in these fields tend to be very highly compensated.

Do You Understand Finances?

Another aspect that many leaders can often stand to improve about themselves is their ability to handle finances. Many wrongly believe that they are doing fine in this regard, when they are actually making mistake after mistake that anyone with more experience would immediately spot. Some people even go as far as to learn accounting just to be able to lead their companies better. And while it might sound like overkill, it can actually be relatively straightforward to prepare for CPA exam on the side, and obtain many useful skills that you can immediately apply to your organization in its current state.

Leading a Growing Organization

Last but not least, the other common problem that many leaders tend to face sooner or later is their inability to handle rapid growth. Even if you’re fine controlling the different branches of your company now, this will sooner or later become all but impossible if you start growing fast. And pretty much any company’s goal is to grow constantly. You should familiarize yourself with the common challenges faced by companies and their leaders in these situations, and be prepared to put a lot of work into preventing the development of major issues. Uncontrolled growth has killed many companies in the past, and yours is going to be no exception if you don’t pay attention.

If it seems like a lot of work, that’s because it is. Leading a company to success is not a straightforward task, and requires a lot of personal sacrifice. But in the end, that’s why the position of the leader is so important in any organization – because few are willing to step up to the task and do what has to be done. And if you want to comfortably retire with a nice savings account some decades from today, you need to start paving that road now.

The 4 Keys To Retail Success

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Retail Success|The 4 Keys To Retail SuccessRetail is one of the best kinds of business you can possibly be involved in. After all, people are generally always going to want to buy products from retail stores, and if you can set it upright and manage it properly you will find that it is not too challenging to be able to get people interested in your store. This is especially simple and straightforward if you happen to run a food retail store, or a fashion store, or anything which sells items which people always need and will always need. If you are keen to make it even easier for yourself, however, then there are plenty of things that you can do towards that end. You can, for instance, take a look at some of the following ideas on how to ensure retail success. You might be surprised at how powerful some of these can be once you put them into practice in your store.

Focus On The Experience

Something that makes a huge difference if when you change your perspective from what the business needs or wants to what is right for the customer. In general, you should always make decisions based on what the customer would think. As you walk around your retail store – or explore its online web pages – you should imagine that you are the customer. What would you want to see, what should change or disappear entirely, and how can you be sure that it is going to be the best experience possible for each of your customers? This is something which you need to ask yourself at all times. Introducing incentives like convenience store loyalty programs is a way to gain returning customers to use their rewards. The more that you do this, the more likely it is that you will be able to ensure your customers have the best experience possible, which is probably the most important thing to be sure of after all.

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Retail Success|The 4 Keys To Retail SuccessGet Pricing Right

If there is one sure-fire quick way to get rid of your customers, it is by pricing your products wrong. People don’t want to pay too much for anything, and if you are consistently getting the price too high then it will mean that people just start to go elsewhere. At the same time, you need to make enough of a profit for it to be worthwhile, so you have to try and find a balance there somehow. That is easier said than done, but there is one tool which you might want to have in your arsenal here to make it easier: research.

There are a few kinds of research which can really help you with pricing. One is pricing analysis, where you look at what other competitors are offering for the same product, or a similar product. That will ensure that you are being competitive, which is the main thing when it comes to pricing. Then you have a tool from the likes of Trade Vitality which allows you to see what the minimum advertised price is that you are allowed to use for something. That can be particularly helpful when you are drawing people in with low prices, or when you have a sale on, for instance. As long as you can get the pricing right in all this, you will find that your retail store is going to have much more success on the whole.

Cleanliness

How clean you keep the store is hugely important too, and hugely relevant, as if it is not clean you will find that the customer is not going to be anywhere near as happy with the experience. The simple way to keep it clean is to hire someone to clean it every day, and then a deep clean every week. That will ensure that it remains clean, but you also need to make a point among your staff of having a policy whereby you clean up as you go along. That will be necessary for health and safety, and will keep the store looking its absolute best.

Marketing

Remember too that you can’t really get much done in businesses of any kind without a strong marketing tactic. The better you know how to approach your marketing, the more likely it is that you will be able to get more customers in, so that is absolutely something that you need to focus on. It’s best to employ a combination of both local advertising and digital marketing, so that you can get a wide, but targeted, reach. Get that right, and there is no reason why your retail business won’t see great success in the future.

Why A Redesign Could Be The Next Option For Your Business Website

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article, Why A Redesign Could Be The Next Option For Your Business Website
 
Maintaining a website can be challenging, but could it be time for a complete refresh? Whether you are noticing a slow loading speed or outdated content, this can all harm your Google ranking and negatively affect any marketing efforts that you may already have in place. In this article, we will be looking into whether or not your website needs a redesign.

Lack Of Mobile Optimisation

One of the main reasons that your website may need a redesign is through the lack of Mobile optimisation. Due to Google’s implementation of Mobile-First Indexing it is crucial to the SEO efforts that you have a website that is optimised for mobile. Whether this is on a separate URL or under the same URL, this needs to be seamless as this can dramatically affect your ranking on Google.

Without a website that is mobile optimised, you are less likely to rank on page one of Google or even outrank your competitors, therefore, it is crucial that your business has one. If you are using a web development agency to help you rebuild a website, it may be worth developing a mobile version of your website during the design process.

In Need Of Updated User Experience

Another reason for a website redesign could be the need for updated user experience. If your website looks outdated or is running slowly, it may be time for a well-needed refresh. Whether this is a complete rebrand or just altering the content on your landing page, this can all help to introduce an updated user experience. This is beneficial from an SEO perspective as this will help to reduce the bounce rate and give users the information that they need within just a few seconds.

A number of recent studies have shown that users will click off of your website if it takes longer than 5 seconds to load, therefore it is important to address this issue as a top priority to improve the bounce rate.

Not Generating The Leads You Need

A redesign is also the perfect way to ensure that you are generating the leads that you need as a business. Whether this is due to bounce rate or lack of user experience, this can all contribute to the loss of potential leads as you will not be ranking on page one of Google. By redesigning your site, you can then begin to work on optimising content and coding to rank higher in Google. Keyword mapping, content gap and site audits can all then be conducted to further optimise the site and increase overall ranking.

Though it will take time to index the new site and crawl up the search results, a new site will lay the perfect foundation for the increase in traffic that you may well be receiving. Additionally, implementing chatbots and contact us forms can help to generate the leads needed to achieve smart goals. This is key to the success of a business as you can then begin to implement an effective inbound marketing strategy to close sales.

Outdated Design

The final reason your site could be due to a redesign is because of the overall look of the landing page. If the colour theme and font clash or the overall design have not aged well, this can lead many to click off. This could be a problem when looking at customer acquisition rates as this could jeopardise the chances of successful conversions.

By updating the design and even the layout, you can then create a customer experience that encourages them to spend a longer amount of time on your site. This is great for SEO as Google will then see these levels of engagement and rank you higher.

Whether you are looking to completely redesign your site in the near future, or you are considering a refresh of the content on your site, this can all help to boost ranking and benefit you in the long term.