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Mold In The Workplace: How To Handle It!

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Mold in the workplace|Mold In The Workplace: How To Handle It!When you own a commercial property, you want to ensure that it’s as safe as possible for you, your staff and for any clients who come into the building. The best way to ensure safety is to invest in the right insurance policies. You will know that you have to have public liability insurance and other insurance ranges to take care of people, but have you considered your commercial property? Fire, flood, earthquake and all manner of natural disasters can really affect your business, but if you’re smart about your insurance purchases, you can ensure that you are covered much of the time. If there is one thing that can have a devastating impact on your business it’s flooding.

Whether flooding is because of a burst pipe or a natural storm, your business is going to be badly affected by the water rising in the property. Floods that start in the basement can have an impact on the structure of the building, causing damage that is expensive and interrupts your business hours. You will also find that a side effect of flooding is often mold. Mold can present some serious issues for your business. Not only does it have an impact on the health of your staff and any guests, it can lead to devastation for the structure of the building, too. Those who are dealing with allergies and asthma are particularly vulnerable to the effects of mold and if you have people getting sick as a result, they are not likely to be particularly productive for your day to day needs. Mold can also lead to business interruption as you will need to think about the time taken to clean your business from the mold on the walls and in the ceiling. If the mold is ingrained into the walls, you will have an even bigger job, as there may need to be replacement and replastering efforts made.

Did you know that if you can see mold, it’s not necessary for a company to come in and test for it? They can see the mold is there already, so there is no real need for them to take the time to test for something that they can already see. Mold can be a blessing in disguise if you haven’t considered your flood insurance or your commercial drainage options before. However, you don’t want to have mold in the business property if you can help it! If you suspect mold in your business premises but you haven’t seen any, we’ve got eight situations that warrant booking a mold test. Let’s take a look:

  1. You or your staff are sneezing and experiencing allergy symptoms. Whether it’s sneezing or other symptoms like stuffy heads, headaches, scratchy and itchy throat, runny nose and more, you need to get a mold test booked in. This is especially important if you’ve had some drainage issues and flooding lately.
  2. You think that you can see some mold in the building, but given your lack of expertise with mold, you’re not sure and you want confirmation. There’s nothing worse than mold being in the corners of the bathrooms or the basement. It’s unprofessional to see mold blackening the corners of the room, and if you are seeing mold, you have to assume that it’s in the walls, too.
  3. There is a weird, musty smell in your building but you can’t identify what is causing the smell. The cleaners are doing their usual excellent work, but you haven’t got rid of the smell and it’s getting worse. This can indicate mold in the home – even if you cannot see it.
  4. If you have recently had a flood or plumbing leak, you may not notice the beginnings of mold coming from the damp. Any leaks or drainage issues should be looked into ASAP, too, as this can lead to mold if it’s not caught early enough. If you have a professional come to check your drains, you need to ask them to check out the damp a wet spot has left behind, too.
  5. You can ask for mold testing to see whether a removal has been successful. This is a great way to check if any mold is left behind after you have paid for it to be removed. Air testing is going to be done by a professional and they can tell you if the levels of mold normalized.
  6. If you are buying your commercial property, a mold test is an essential and it’s a great reason to get your commercial place checked by a professional – just in case.
  7. Another good reason for getting a mold test is whether you need to prove that there is a problem. This is especially important if you are a tenant and your landlord is asking for evidence before they spend their money making changes.
  8. If you want to make sure that your staff are breathing in high-quality air, then a mold test is a must.

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Mold in the workplace|Mold In The Workplace: How To Handle It!There are several things that you can do to handle mold in the workplace, and we’ve got some of those things for you below:

  • Keep All Of Your Flood Insurance Documents Accessible
    You need to avoid mold after a flood and you should call a professional water damage company to help you out. You should consider that the longer you are delayed, the longer it will take for your insurance company to come out and reimburse you some costs.
  • Work On Any Leaks Right Away
    If you see any leaks in your business, then the best thing that you can do is clean them up straight away. Mold can present an issue everywhere there is moisture, and you need to prevent that moisture from collecting in the first place! Calling a plumber to deal with your pipes and drainage regularly will mean catching any leaks that you could be unaware of. You want to make sure that you stop any water from getting into the surfaces around the building. This will prevent further damage.
  • Work On Ventilation
    Bathrooms and kitchens are notorious for being full of steam and moisture in the air. With the proper ventilation, you can ensure that moisture is out as fast as possible and avoid any mold and damp patches forming. Installing fans throughout these spaces as well as vents and open windows will help, and standing fans will blow the humid air away!
  • Buy A Humidity Monitor
    You don’t know how truly moist your property is without a humidity monitor. These monitors will tell you how much moisture is in the air and they’re not particularly expensive, which means that you can get answers without breaking the bank. Not only will they check the current moisture levels, they’ll tell you if there is a spike in the amount of moisture in the air.
  • Stop Using Bleach
    If you want to clean off any mold that you have spotted, you need to stop using bleach. The bleach may be a quick fix, but it only takes off visible mold and the idea is to eradicate the problem entirely. To do this, you need the professional to come in. Store-bought solutions just won’t do the job on stubborn mold, but the professional cleaning companies have everything that you need to get rid of the problem properly.
  • Keep The Moldy Areas Empty
    If one office in your building is dealing with mold, you need to cordon it off and have the affected area away from the rest of the property. This prevents the spreading of spores on shoes, jackets and even in the hair of your employees. Don’t wait too long to get help from your local cleaning company, though, as it can be a widespread issue and this is the “ground zero” for it. Close the doors and shut the vents to avoid spreading the issues, too.
  • Get Rid Of Any Contaminated Property
    If your desks and cupboards have become “infected” by mold, you need to get them taken away and scrapped as soon as possible. Even the smallest patch of mold can cause health and long-term issues for your property, so you need to get rid of it as quickly as possible!
  • Listen To Your Employees
    Are your staff complaining of a musty smell or difficulty with breathing? Their complaints have to be taken seriously – as seriously as the mold problem you have. Your employees health matters, and if you’re not listening to them, there could be some serious legal issues coming back to bite you as a result.

Mold in the commercial property you work in is a big problem. If you’re not looking after your staff and yoru building, you’re not going to notice it creeping up on you. Handling the mold as quickly as you can will help to stop the problem from spreading, but are you ready to get rid of it? Start today! If you notice leaks or damp anywhere in the building, you need to get on top of it as soon as you can.

Blog Like A Pro

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article, Blog Like A Pro

In case you haven’t noticed, a business can make good use of a blog. Whether it’s on the business site itself or a different address linked to it, content marketing can do plenty for you. It can increase your visibility, give legitimacy to your brand, and build the kind of connection you want with your consumer. But blogging is a venture that takes skill all on its own. If you want to look like a pro, you have to blog like a pro.

Value must be your focus
If you want to improve the search engine optimization of your business and build its visibility, it’s easy to focus on quantity rather than quality. However, that’s not going to do you much good in most cases. Search engines use algorithms, such as visitor interest, to see just how valid content is. For that reason, as ever, value needs to be the core of what you need to know about your marketing strategy. Make it informative and newsworthy or helpful and instructional. It can even be focused solely on entertaining. The fact is it needs value for you to consider publishing it.

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Make it your own

That’s not to say the text is all that matters. The visual style of a blog has to have a certain uniqueness to it. If you can’t pay for your own design, then at least try to find ones that aren’t widely used while still being relevant to your theme. Even with images heading blogs, you should take care to personalise them. Instead of throwing up generic images, find or make ones that stand out and customise them further by turning them into banners. Otherwise, you run the risk of looking a generic content mill. That’s the kind of design that will ensure readers don’t even stick around long enough to read what you’ve written.

Reach out

Those readers are important. Not just because they can lend the blog credibility. Those are the kind of leads that the blog can build. As with your social media and all your other marketing efforts, you need to put the work into making a community out of them. Reply to their comments. Get them involved in giveaways and competitions. Ask if they have any topics they would like you to cover.

Don’t be afraid to have a personality

When marketing for a business, it’s easy to play things safe and stick to the branding message and tone alone. When it comes to a blog, however, showing your human side is important. Finding your voice gives you the chance to enliven the intros and outros to articles. It enables you to write comments without sounding like a corporate robot. It creates the human connection of the blogger that a lot of blogger-followers want to see. Blogging is a very social kind of marketing, so you need to get sociable.

Building your audience on the blog is only going to improve the business. That means you have to take time. Time for the audience, time for the visuals, and time, most importantly of all, for the content. Happy typing.

How to Develop Performance Measures?

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StrategyDriven Organizational Performance Measures Article |Performance Measures|How to Develop Performance Measures?Have you ever thought of improving the quality and productivity of your organization, achieving set goals, and recognizing hard-working employees?

Well, one sure way is by developing the right performance measure.

Organizations often measure employee performance to achieve set goals. Most times, determining how to develop the right Key Performance Measure (KPI) may lead to hassles and failure that might bring unwanted results. However, it is important to develop the KPIs using the right approach as it aids better decision-making, makes employees more responsible for achieving set goals, evaluates the growth of the business better, and manages the employees’ performance better.

Steps to develop performance measures

1.Familiarize with the concept of performance measure/What is KPI?

It is needless to say that the misconception of KPI is a common organizational problem. Organizations need to comprehend what KPI is all about so they can apply it correctly. KPI is not a data collection strategy, nor is it an employee productivity tool.

It is the value of the numeric work input and evidence of the reoccurring performance result. Simply put, KPI refers to the reliable data generated from the efficiency of programs. After a proper understanding of the subject matter, other processes would yield better results.

2. Evaluate the KPI’s Criteria

If your company has existing KPIs, it is advisable to conduct another review on it and select the one that would yield better results based on the performance measurement. However, if you don’t, you should create strategies according to your company’s achievable goals.

The goals must also align with the measures and must be proven to work efficiently, i.e., someone else must have used this plan. The measure must also be understandable, inspirational, and capable of being regularly tracked. Remember to keep the measurements lesser in numbers and detailed.

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3. Set Measurable Goals

Your company’s goals should be specific, clear, realistic, and understandable. All this aids an excellent performance measure with meaningful results. Try to make the objectives less action-oriented, vague, and multi-barrelled. Instead, write about intended results with precision, and list your goals separately. Setting up small goals is better for a start.

4. Be Deliberate

While developing your performance measurements, employ the deliberate technique rather than a brainstorming one. Visualize the end, evaluate the potential measures that expose the capability of achieving positive results, and look at the bigger picture. This would allow you to decipher what is being measured and take your stance regardless of the unforeseen circumstances. It should be visible, countable, and measurable.

5. Let your supporters buy-in

Without those who support and understand your performance measure, your KPIs would not get the required attention. To make your KPI meaningful, you have to put them into use. They would fulfill the purpose by building buy-in with those you have been working alongside.

Building buy-in is by creating a measure team and ensuring that they comprehend the problems and how the KPIs work. Also, build an open environment where others can critique and give feedback on the KPIs.

Required characteristics for performance development

Before developing the KPI’s, there are some characteristics an organization should possess; they are:

  • Target An organization aiming for success should have some achievable targets within a specific period. The period may be within six months or annually
  • Measure The measure and the target work together. Measure here may refer to the number of acquired customers for the various products and services. Set a means to achieve the target.
  • Frequency The review of the KPI’s progress should be done regularly. It could be on a monthly or weekly interval depending on the nature of the target
  • Data Discover where your data would come from, as this would boost your progress level. Discovering this would prevent a waste of time.

Conclusion

Developing performance measures is an essential business tool to achieve your organizational goals. It also goes a long way to fulfill other organizational needs like setting realistic goals, recognizing employees’ hard work, timing employees through task timer online, and building a supportive team that understands your business challenges. You can try out our opinion on the steps in developing a performance measure, leave questions on where you need clarification, and tell us about your views.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Lori WadeLori Wade is a journalist from Louisville. She is a content writer who has experience in small editions, Lori is now engaged in news and conceptual articles on the topic of business. Time management is critical to career success. That is why she uses the task timer online to stay in the lead at all times. If you need more tips on time management, entrepreneurship, or leadership, you can find her on LinkedIn.

How to Start Your Online Business?

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StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article | How to Start Your Online Business?

  1. Have you ever given a thought to these questions?
  2. Why do the majority of people prefer their business?
  3. Can I too have a better standard of living by becoming a businessman?
  4. Does my poverty stand in the way?
  5. Can I become a respectable business owner without any capital?
  6. How is this possible?

These are just some of the questions that come to mind for anyone who wants to start their own business. Is more profitable than a job? But in the end, what are the reasons why you should start your own business? In this article, we have tried to explain not only all the reasons why a person should start their own business but also try to dispel the misconception that a huge amount of capital is required to set up your business. An investment can start your own business but also a successful businessman.

Perks of Owning your Own Business?

  • By becoming a businessman, you can better serve the society. You can help people in many ways and create employment opportunities for them.
  • In your business you can choose the people you want to work with according to your will and choice, while in the job you do not have this option.
  • Many people are more intelligent and intelligent than others and have the ability to lead people in the right direction. And they are well aware of their abilities. So they work under someone. They do not want to waste their skills, so they prefer their business.
  • You can set the pace of work according to your will and convenience. You do not have to wait for anyone’s orders.
  • Your business offers you new opportunities and new challenges. And if you are a person who accepts challenges, then your business is the best for you.

Ideas on How to Start a Business

Try Affiliate Marketing

This business started without any capital is gaining popularity all over the world including Pakistan nowadays. It is the best online source of making profit and this business can be easily run from the comfort of your own home or even in your own room. In this method you promote another company’s product or service through internet or any other similar medium and by selling it you get your fixed commission.

Go Blogging

A blog is a website or web page on which new information and comments are written every day. It is planned by an individual or a group of people together. Blog writing has become an important need of social media. In Pakistan It is in demand in both Urdu and English languages. You could start your own home-based business tomorrow with very little start-up cost.

Earn Being a Consultant

If you have a lot of knowledge, skills and ideas in the field of business and you are thinking of helping new entrants in the field of business in this regard, then you can become a very good business counselor and not just a new business entrepreneur. Can train people but also make a good profit.

Sell Academic Papers             

Another trending way of earning, which is going very popular these days, is through writing academic research papers. If you are good at researching and writing formals. You can earn through it. Or you can hire expert assignment writers for your agency and start the business like fiver or UpWork.

Earn Through Event Management

If you have a degree in event management or if you have excellent skills in planning, designing and arranging things, you can start your own business as a good event organizer. Religious organizations, wedding ceremonies and political parties can make a lot of money through event management.

Sell Writing Services

All companies and organizations need a noticeable written material for promotion which can get the attention of the maximum number of customers. If you have the ability to create such attractive content in English language then you Start a very successful content writing business and provide content to various companies and organizations.

Start Writing E-Book and Sell it

If you are a good writer and know the techniques of e-books, you can make a great profit through eBook writing. It can be a great business especially for women who have this ability.

To sum it up, you can avail your own skills to start a business or utilize others’ skills by managing the entire business plan. Remember that success in any field or business does not depend on your degrees but on your intelligence and hard work.

How Do I Start an Online Business?

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StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article | How Do I Start an Online Business? | Initial Business PlanningStarting an online business in the present era is no big deal. However, you must not consider it as an effortless job. It would be best if you strategize things perfectly, especially about your resources while planning to open a business online.

Here are the steps you must follow to open a business and handle it on the virtual platform. Sheer dedication and smart efforts can help your business to get online sales easily.

Initial Business Planning

In this step, you must think and sort out the commodities or services you want to sell. Always check the customers’ necessity level in regards to whatever you sell.

You can organize both online and offline surveys and consult a business expert before finally executing it. Make sure you are aware of your competitors and dedicated to serving people better.

Make engaging online content

Right after planning, you must concentrate on making engaging content that spreads information among the masses about your new business. Social media sites could be the best place where you can publish posts regularly.

Your posts should primarily engage people, inform them about your product, and convince them to buy it. You can invest in professional writers to make sure your content converts more and more buyers.

Design a websiteDesign a website

A website acts as your basic tool to manage your business online. Initially, you must design your e-commerce website with simple elements. Make sure it is responsive and user-friendly.

You can link your social media posts with the website to enhance the amount of site traffic. The more you get the traffic, more you can make sales.

The commodities that you deal with should be present in an organized way on your site. End-users must be able to access all the necessary information and the price of every commodity.

Invest in search engine optimization

Once your website is ready, you must invest in SEO. Many professionals can dedicatedly execute both On-Page and Off-Page SEO, which improves the rank of your website on the results page.

search engine optimizationThe best way to get the right SEO company is by searching for quotes online. You must know about the package of services they offer and how you have to cooperate with them.

Communicate with customers to develop a reputation

Excellent communication with your customers can make you a reputed business owner. You should not only respond to the customers via your website but also through your social media handles.

Regularly observe your business profile on social sites to get a glimpse of everything the customers are thinking about you.

Your response to the customers can improve your credibility and you can make a brand-loyal customer base easily. Some brand loyal customers and even take your brand authority and reach out to more potential customers.

Provide Conveniences

Most people opt for online shopping to get extra conveniences that are harder to get in case of traditional shopping. Once your e-commerce website starts to fetch you a profit, try giving amenities like discounts to the customers.

You can also give away electronic gift cards and festive season offers to enhance the rate of sales from your website.

In case you want to clear old stocks, try giving it on flat discounts along with new purchases. These strategies can often help you to stay on a decent lead than your competitors.

Final Words

If you are not sure about opening an online business, consider this to the right period to set up one. In the post-Covid era, online shopping would drastically increase as more people would not visit markets for shopping. You should always try to keep up quality service to enjoy getting satisfactory profits.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Bhavik SoniBhavik Soni is a Creative Writer at Auto Monkey. We provide an original analysis of the latest happenings in the social media industry. Connect with Latest Social Media Trends and News plus tips on Twitter, Facebook and other social tools on the web.