The business environment of the last five years has been challenging to say the least. The Great Recession has sent many people and businesses into bankruptcy. Consumer confidence is down, spending is down, and many industries are in transition, the victims of changing technology and a softening market place. And yet there are some silver linings: the stock market is at an all-time high; many innovative companies are challenging established paradigms and attaining record profitability; the housing market and consumer spending are slowing bouncing back.…
With the advent of the internet, it’s easier than ever for small businesses to start up their shop. Given that there’s now no need to buy or rent a physical, brick and mortar shop to start a business, ecommerce had allowed many companies to start up in the world of the internet by offering their products to a wider audience without the costs usually associated with starting up.
The state of things
Given the state of the economy, it’s no surprise that most small businesses are nervous to branch out or prepare for growth.…
Businesses that invest in employee health programs save money by increasing productivity and decreasing absenteeism and health claims among their workers. By putting in place employee health and wellness programs and incentives, employers can reduce the number of annual preventable injuries and illnesses. These health initiatives may be used as entirely preventative measures or as an incentive and reward system for set time periods of accident and negligent–free productivity. Whether preventative or incentive, these tested health programs tend to advance the employer’s rate of production by directly improving worker morale.…
For any business to be successful, good management is vital. Some managers have seen small businesses become giant enterprises in the respective industries while others have terribly failed. Good managers possess some unique qualities, which makes them successful in handling organization resources. Effective workforce management calls for a leader who has the capacity to marshal their efforts toward the organizational goal. Depending on the leaders’ strategy to meet the organization’s goal effectively, there are good and bad bosses. This article analyses some qualities of a good boss.…
It’s one of the best cities on the planet to do business, but, even with a sophisticated public transport system, getting to and from any workplace in London is a challenge. During weekday mornings, arriving at work on time is a pipe dream for some. This is why a growing number of firms based in the capital are looking at letting some employees work from home instead.
The end of office culture?
Remote working – or working from home – is a concept which many businesses large and small are warming to.…
Small businesses often have outdated mechanical systems. And, this is something that can put small businesses at risk of losses due to problems that are associated with electrical systems. To be able to reduce losses due to electrical problems, it is important to evaluate the most important electrical investments for small business. These can be things as simple as breaker switches that help to protect electrical equipment from the damage that a power surge can cause.
If you are a small business owner, there are other electrical systems that you can invest in to help you save money and reduce losses.…
Businesses around the world are beginning to clearly recognize the fact that in order to survive in the future; it is important to make use of emerging green technologies. There are many reasons the preceding reason is true. Some reasons are relative to global climate change, other reasons involve health of the community at the local level and the prosperity of future generations. Modern business can no longer ignore the fact that green technology is necessary in order to function, successfully, in today’s global market.…
Applied psychology is something that any business owner should be familiar with. It has to do with analyzing the way that people think and feel and how that impacts their choices and actions. This sounds complicated, but it is usually fairly simple to pin down. Still, it takes time and work to analyze the potential market and then make decisions based on your findings.
You need to learn more about the people who you want to sell your products or services to, you need to consider what that means about those consumers in a practical sense, and then you need to change your products and marketing to match what those people already want.…
It looks like the UK pension is about to get a real shake-up.
There are plans for a new, flat-rate pension to make an appearance by April 2017 that could be beneficial to anybody retiring after that date.
What’s changing?
At present, the full state pension comes in at £107.45 a week, but with pension credit it can be increase to £142.70.
Under the new flat-rate pension proposal, the pension payment will be £144. There will also be inflation rises applied on top of that sum.…
The development and the progress of your employees isn’t something that happens by chance – more often than not it’s the result of careful analysis and planning on their manager’s part. Promoting your best team members will not only retain excellence and loyalty within your company, but it can also create further opportunities for promotion lower down the scale, and open the door for new talent through external recruitment.
Analyse Performance
“Many executives and managers have trouble explaining why someone didn’t get promoted because they haven’t been doing performance evaluations,” says Charlie Gilkey of Productive Flourishing.…
