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Exterior Renovations That Can Upgrade Your Business Property

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When you think of renovating the office or the workplace, it’s natural that your first thoughts might go to what you can for the interior. After all, that’s where all of the thinking, working, relaxing, and team-building happens. However, the exterior plays an important part, both in branding and welcoming others, but also in keeping your employees safe. For that reason, here are some renovation that may be worth the investment.

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Exterior Renovations That Can Upgrade Your Business Property

Giving it a new face

One of the most drastic, but effective, changes you can make is to change the entirety of how it looks from the outside. Giving your building a new facade is not solely an aesthetic change. It can make a difference in, for instance, the insulation and its security against bad weather. However, it also makes for an eye-catching change that can make your building much more noticeable and professional looking.

Laying some groundwork

If the surfaces that your employees, co-workers, clients, customers, and guests walk on are a little worse for wear, then it’s worth taking the time to replace them. Worn down and uneven surfaces, or surfaces that are prone to getting slippery, can be a safety hazard and a concrete flatwork contractor can help you restore some security. Clean concrete surfaces can look a lot neater than some of the rougher alternatives, as well, and can be easier to maintain.

Shaping the greenery

If you have any greenery around your property, such as grass, trees, or bushes, then it’s important to maintain them. All you might need is to hire some simple ground maintenance services. However, if you want to make the most out of the greenery, a commercial landscaper can help you create a much more aesthetically pleasing area that can make your property look much more professional and impressive.

Branding your building

If you want to give the exterior of the building a more professional finish but you don’t want to go quite as far as a new facade, or you already have that facade but want to add some specific identity, then 3d signage is a great way to do it. Having your logo come out of the building, an actual object in physical space feels much more prestigious than just a graphic.

Create a welcoming area

You might have a reception inside the business but, if the weather permits people to sit outside often, you might want to create a more welcoming area around it as well. This can be as simple as installing some benches, or a seating area around a table. Aside from giving visitors a place to sit when they’re not directly inside, this can also provide a great break space for your employees, allowing them to get some sunlight and to get a break away from their desks.

There’s a lot that your business property’s exterior can do for you if you simply put in the work and investment. Hopefully, the tips above give you some ideas on how to make better use of it.

Why Your Business Needs to Conduct Research

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When you are trying to run a successful business, you need to think about all avenues of the company. And this means you have to consider the key techniques that will help you when it comes to success as a company. There are a lot of ideas that play a role in helping you to improve your company, and this is something that you need to focus on.

There are a lot of things every new business needs to succeed, and there are a lot of ideas and elements that you have to think about when it helps you achieve this. You need to try to think about some of the best ways of helping your business conduct the right research to help it grow, and these are some of the reasons why that matters so much.

You Need a Grasp of Data

Data is one of the key aspects of running a modern company, and this is something you should be looking to make the best of. There is so much data and information that modern businesses are needing to deal with these days, and you need to come up with some of the key ideas that will help you improve upon this. You have to make sure you understand the data your company is dealing with, as this can have a huge impact on the way your company can be more successful.

It’s Important to Know Your Market

Knowing your market is one of the best ways of being able to take things that further and be successful as a company. You have to conduct market research in order to get a better idea of your audience and the people you should be trying to focus on. Now, there are a lot of factors that play a role in helping you to know your market and understand your business more effectively. And research is one of the most pertinent ways of being able to achieve this moving forward.

Have a Plan for the Future

You need your company to have a plan for the future, and carrying out statistical analysis of data, as well as things like meta-analysis can help you when it comes to improving the business and making plans for the future. You need to know about the best ways of being able to achieve success and have a plan for the future, which is something that research and analysis can help with, as it gives you the information and data you need to plan for the future.

You have so many ideas that you can use when it comes to improving your business and planning for the future. There are a lot of ideas that you can use to help you when it comes to making the most of this, and there are a lot of elements that play a role in this. Trying to focus on conducting research and understanding data is really important when it comes to taking things to the next level.

Microsoft’s Productivity and Collaboration Tools for the Modern Business

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article | Microsoft's Productivity and Collaboration Tools for the Modern Business

Whether you are a small business or a global enterprise, Microsoft offers a ‘productivity and collaboration’ toolkit for your organization at every stage. Starting at just $5.00 per user/month, Office 365 lets you tap into new opportunities to work better together, inspire new ideas, raise productivity, and empower greater insight throughout your journey to the top.

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is the company’s flawlessly executed attempt at unifying its various communication and collaboration tools. If your company is struggling with microsoft implementation be sure to find a microsoft integration consultant and partner. And apparently, it is working.

The app is so popular and well-integrated within Microsoft’s ecosystem that competitors are finding it difficult to keep up with it. A cloud-based collaboration tool, Teams allows users to create teams and workflows, assign tasks, chat with other team members, share documents, and host video conferences, among more.

Teams is available as a standalone app and integrated with Office 365. So, even if you don’t purchase the suite, you can use the app free of cost forever. And with the new Praise update, which allows employees to celebrate each other’s work, it is certain that Microsoft Teams is the only collaboration tool you need.

Microsoft To Do

To Do is the easiest task management app that you will ever use. Of course, there are more advanced apps, such as Asana and Trello, but you need to spend some time understanding their functions to unlock their true potential.

Microsoft To Do, on the other hand, can be downloaded and incorporated into your workflow from the first minute. You don’t need any practice or manual to use it because you already know how.

The app allows users to add tasks, set reminders, and manage daily tasks by groups. It also lets you prioritize important tasks and share your lists so that anyone can see and edit them – making micro-collaboration extremely easy.

Since the app is cloud-synced, you can access your to-do lists on all your devices. Simply sign in to improve your productivity.

Skype

Skype is a powerful business tool. It is easy-to-use and has a better interface than its competitors. The best part is that the messages you exchange during the video or audio calls get stored and you can access them any time. And it is free, so there is no reason not to use Skype.

Here are some ways to use Skype for your small business –

  • Save time and money with online conference calls. It is easy to set up a meeting using Skype, and with one click, you can have up to 100 people on the line. You don’t need any codes or complicated passwords.
  • Keep your team on the same page with Microsoft Teams. Microsoft Teams is Microsoft’s answer to Slack, and it is integrated with Skype for Business – making it easy to share files, work on projects and keep in touch with your team. It integrates with Microsoft Office 365, so all your communications are built on the same platform.
  • Collaborate with freelancers or independent contractors. Skype integrates with Word and Teams. You don’t have to spend money to add independent collaborators to your database to share files, edit documents, and collaborate on projects. Once your project with them is over, you can simply remove them from the group and add new people.

SharePoint

SharePoint is Microsoft’s enterprise-level, cloud-based collaboration. Instead of sending emails back and forth and passing around files, SharePoint has two main components: a content management component and a collaboration component.

The content management component is designed to simplify document and information management. It makes finding, editing, sharing, and assigning documents simple. Whereas, the collaboration component includes features like document libraries, discussion boards, and team sites.

PowerPoint

Anybody who has used a computer ever knows that PowerPoint is the industry standard for presentations. Businesses around the world use it because making professional-looking slideshows is a cakewalk in this app.

You can collaborate on a presentation by inviting people to co-author a presentation with you. And while they are working on it, they will see a notification on their desktop that will tell them when someone’s updating or making changes.

PowerPoint also allows you to control people’s actions on the presentation. You can allow certain members to only see the presentation and some to actually make changes. This can be a perfect arrangement for remote teams.

Even Apple’s Keynote fails to deliver the level of performance that PowerPoint does.

Reducing Your Small Business Costs in 3 Steps

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article | Reducing Your Small Business Costs in 3 Steps | Reduce Costs | Entrepreneurship | Managing Your BusinessTo take your small business to the lofty heights of being a market leader in the foreseeable future, you’re going to have to start turning over a major profit sooner rather than later. To do this, you have to treat solidifying the money that you do make just as seriously as actually making it. It’s quite simple – if you continue to waste your profit, you won’t be able to invest it into further growth going forward.

One way you can solidify the revenue that you earn is to cut down on your overall expenditure. To find out how you can reduce your small business costs in only three steps, be sure to read on.

Rent equipment for short-term projects… don’t buy it

If you have a short-term project on the horizon, don’t squander the potential profit that you stand to make from it by buying tools specifically for it. It may be tempting to invest in a shiny piece of brand new equipment, but buying something that you aren’t realistically going to use going forward isn’t good business practice whatsoever – it’ll just be a waste of money. Instead, what you should do is rent the equipment that is essential to your work for the duration of the project only. Doing so will see you spend far less in the long run without having to sacrifice the tools that you need to do a good job.

There are plenty of ways for you to rent the equipment that you need to optimize your next project, not just complete it. If you’re in need of I.T. tools, for instance, you could turn to Smart. As stated at Smart.uk.com, this leasing company can offer your business everything, from short-term laptop rental to website hosting to a complete I.T. infrastructure that can be loaned for 12 months plus. Whatever tech you need to complete your next job, this rental service will be able to provide you with it.

Ditch your traditional landline

The days of the landline being the be-all-and-end-all of business communication are well and truly over. Today, using this kind of communicative tool will do nothing but see you pay out unnecessarily expensive annual costs. If you do anything to cut your business expenses, then, let it be to ditch your office’s traditional landline.

There are plenty of alternative ways to keep communication alive within your business, some of which include:

Switching to the VoIP phone service is a wise move. Its functionality will help you to reduce the phone bills and to improve your interaction with customers. You just need to find your VoIP provider match in terms of a plan and options and Nextiva reviews will be helpful in while making your choice.

Go paperless

The amount of money that you spend on paper, ink, toner, and all of your other printer accessories may seem minimal at the time, but it will soon add up. Before you know it, you’re spending way more than you should be spending on printing… and way more than you need to be spending, as well. There is something that you can do to cut this kind of cost right down, and that is to go paperless. Whether you decide to get rid of your printer completely, or whether you resolve to only print when necessary, transitioning to, say, a digital invoice service will no doubt see you save a lot of money going forward.

4 Ideas to Renovate Your Restaurant on a Budget

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | 4 Ideas to Renovate Your Restaurant on a BudgetSo it’s time to renovate your restaurant and your creative juices are flowing steadily. Where to start? From bar stools to wall art, there are ways to change the entire look of your dining room and entrance without breaking the bank. Use these four ideas to renovate your restaurant on a budget.

Murals and Wall Art

Murals and wall art may be among the least expensive ways to renovate your restaurant. You may want to invest in updating your interior walls with interior paint beforehand. Or, you may just want to invest in wall art and murals as your new paint job.

There are several ways that you can do this. A mural as your new interior paint could be so striking that it catches the attention of the entire city. Put out an inexpensive ad when it is done and showcase the artist that did it.

Put the mural in a place that captures attention as soon as people walk in the door. They will be impressed before they even see the menu.

Black is the New Black

If you eat out a lot at places other than your restaurant, you may find that some of the finest places have a lot of black motifs and coloring. Black is the new black. It can be done elegantly. Black walls with dark woods and trims can bring a mood to the place that give your dining room a level of seriousness.

You don’t need to paint a morbid picture here. Black bar stools against a chrome bar with a few plants will give your restaurant a sleek and elegant look.

Speaking of Plants…

If you don’t have a large budget for renovating, bringing some landscaping inside the restaurant is a wonderful way to spruce it up. You can incorporate fresh plants on every table, or in key corners of the restaurant.

A way to do this on a budget is to incorporate large sections of planters that will have one landscape idea. One example of this is by having a long planter with modern grass that could serve as a stress reliever for your diners. A living wall of plants is not only a way to update our space, but also a fascinating conversation piece for your diners. In addition to being beautiful pieces of décor, living walls and planters will also help the air quality of your restaurant.

Layered Lighting

A unique way to manage your lighting in a manner that is en pointe with today’s trends is layered lighting. So you may want to start with ceiling lighting that is track lighting or recessed in the ceiling. Add a layer in the space by hanging wall sconces that are a few inches below that.

You can do the same with a small lamp at each table, accompanied by a candle or two that is a few inches shorter than the lamps. The concept of layered lighting is to provide adequate lighting that creates mood, but also enough lighting for your guests to see what they need to see.

Get Creative

When you are renovating or updating your restaurant, you don’t have to spend a lot of money. A wall mural or new landscaping can change the entire face of your dining room in a very affordable way. New bar stools may be the only thing you need to change the entire look. Get creative, and you will see the expense doesn’t have to be extravagant.