Category: business coach

Technology In Balance: How To Keep Your Business Human-Centered

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It is common in business these days to decry the impact of technology. We’re told that it takes away the personal touch, and that it is off-putting to customers who face an ever-decreasing chance to speak to “a real person”. There are, it’s true, plenty of ways in which an increasingly digital age can leave the customer feeling alienated – but if we look deeper, it’s not technology that’s at fault there; it’s got more to do with the cost-saving drive to automation meaning that workforces can be smaller and work more impersonal.

So, what if you are a business that wants to make the best use of technology and retain both the worker-centered ethos of its past as well as a customer-friendly face? Can you have the best of both worlds, embracing progress while staying true to traditional values? You can; but you need to ensure a balance by keeping the following in mind…

Technology can be molded to your needs

Anyone who has looked into the opportunities offered by automation and technology will know perfectly well exactly how much can be done by “machines”. They can make calls, take calls, write letters, reply to live chat messages, keep a count of stock, and much more besides. At some point in the future, it will be possible for every single thing in a business to be done by robots – but it won’t have to be, and that’s the key point. Use technology to make things easier, by all means – but just because a computer program can do something, that doesn’t mean it has to.

The “Goldilocks” principle

If everything in a business had to be done by hand, it would take forever and customers would end up getting frustrated. If everything was instead done by automated machines, that could still be frustrating for any customer who had the kind of specific enquiry that required outside-the-box thinking. Many businesses find that technology is best applied to the “big” stuff like monitoring sites, and you can click here to see how that works in oil fields as an example. This division of labour allows more people to be assigned to key customer-assisting duties, where a human brain is essential and where empathy can be a huge boon. 

People can work without tech, not vice versa

A boss can easily be tempted to replace more jobs in their business with automatons; machines won’t query their orders, don’t need breaks and can’t turn up late. There is, however, a very clear failing that tech can’t escape. Let’s sum it up in this way: if a human worker is not performing, a machine can’t take a look at them and get them working better, like human IT staff can help with a failing machine. In other words, humans are essential to a business, so your working practices should always be designed with your human workers in mind. Remember, your customers are also human – your business should reflect that.

Tech will continue to be influential on business, and its hold is set to grow in times to come. That’s not a bad thing, as long as you recognize the importance of keeping the right balance between people and machines in your business.

How To Deal With Late Paying Customers

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It can be incredibly frustrating when clients don’t pay on time. If you’re not getting paid, it could affect your own ability to pay bills. This can then lead to a vicious cycle of constantly being owed money while constantly owing money to others.

To keep your cashflow healthy and earn the money you deserve, here are several tips for dealing with late payers.

Chase them up

Waiting and hoping that customers will eventually pay up doesn’t work. If a customer owes you money, you have to keep chasing them up. Some customers may have genuinely forgotten to pay you, while others may be deliberately holding out until you chase them up.

You may be able to start by emailing them. If you get no response or they continue to not pay up, don’t be afraid to phone them up. A warning letter delivered to their door could be the next step if you still cannot get hold of them and they continue to not pay up.

Don’t feel bad about chasing up clients – it’s your money and you deserve it! Some customers may make continuous excuses or try to make you feel sorry for their circumstances. You may be able to negotiate a payment plan, but you still deserve that money.

Keep your cool

It’s very easy to get angry at late paying clients. However, this could cause a lot of harm to your business. A customer may leave negative reviews or they may sue you for harassment/verbal abuse if they feel you’re not acting professionally or are being unreasonable. Be firm but be friendly.

Know when to take legal action

If a customer continuously refuses to pay or retaliates with verbal abuse, you may be able to take legal action against them. It’s worth seeking legal advice to understand what you can and can’t do – there may be laws in place to protect debtors that state that you have to give several warnings first.

For large debts, you may be able to hire a collection agency. When customers go AWOL and don’t respond to any of your warnings, this can often be a necessary step to take.

Take measures to prevent future late payments

Certain measures may help you to avoid having to deal with late paying customers in the first place.

The first is to establish a credit policy when customers first sign up to your service – this should outline steps that you are legally allowed to take if a customer does not pay up such as adding late payment charges and possibly withholding your service. Such repercussions could prevent customers from continuously late paying.

You should also consider setting payment deadlines and sending automated reminders. This can prevent customers from genuinely forgetting to pay you (or at the very least pretending they’ve forgotten). Make sure to send out payment details with each invoice and reminders so that customers can’t use the excuse that they’ve lost your payment details.  

You may also be able to prevent late payments by offering early payment discounts. This could urge customers to pay up early so that they save money.

Keeping Your Staff Safe At Work: Top Tips

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There are many roles out there that place workers at risk. If they have to perform dangerous acts, work in unsafe conditions, or spend time with people they don’t know; it’s all too easy for people to put themselves at risk when they’re at work. As an employer, you have a duty to take care of the members of your team. While you can’t keep everybody safe all the time, you always need to work hard to make sure that no one takes any unnecessary risks. .There’s a lot of work going on in this field, and it’s important that you’ve covered every possibility.

Where they work

The setting in which the team works is one of the most important aspects of their safety. There may be plenty of hazards in the office or warehouse, and those that can be avoided should be kept away.  There is a myriad of possible things that you need to think about as you enter your workspace, including:

Trip Hazards:  Far too many workers end up out of work because of wet floors or cables that knock them off their feet, and this is something that should never be a problem in modern workplaces. Your whole team should be conditioned to search for and be aware of potential hazards, ensuring that they are eliminated when they are first detected. Some businesses would also select workers to be in charge of this kind of job.

Building Security: People have long been one of the biggest dangers facing companies. You may trust your workers, but unfortunately, it is not just employees who can enter the premises.  This means that you need to work to keep your building as safe as possible, use a combination of employee training, efficient locks and CCTV to achieve this objective. Members of the public can put the employees at risk, and individual businesses can also recruit security guards to make sure this isn’t a matter of concern.

What they wear

Safety wear has come a long way over the last few years. Many businesses have no choice and need resources like this to keep their workers secure. Many jurisdictions may have specific regulations in place that require appropriate safety gear or uniforms to be worn by everyone to do their job, so you can use that as a starting point when you fit everyone out. Uniforms, whether retail workers uniforms or landscaping uniforms, mark out your staff, which makes security less of an issue, too.

What they use

Although more and more people are using computers to carry out their jobs, many other machines are being used in industrial spaces that can be much more hazardous. When the team uses tools like this, it’s essential that you take the time to make sure they ‘re doing things right, or else people will end up getting seriously hurt. 

Combating the risks posed by the machine can typically be achieved by simply training the members of the team. All should know the dangers of equipment they are working with or alongside, even if they don’t have to use them directly. This will ensure that the team will watch each other’s back while avoiding mistakes that may be made in ignorance.

Can You Turn Your Smallholding Into A Money Making Startup?

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Many of us love the idea of getting back to nature, being a little more self-sufficient and learning the skills to help us grow our own vegetables. A select few will take their organic dreams to the next level and will seek to make money from their newfound nature adventure. Turning your passion for growing vegetables into a business is easier said than done. A smallholding is just that; it’s small and is designed to provide vegetables for you and your family. Scaling up is a tougher endeavor. Read on to discover how you could take your foray into self-sufficiency and turn it into a new and thriving startup.

What Makes Money?

Potatoes and carrots may be easy to grow, but they won’t be a very profitable unit to sell. Instead, consider the most cost effective things to grow or produce which you can then sell on for a hefty profit. Consider purchasing a flock of egg laying hens and selling their highly coveted deposits a half dozen at a time. If you are interested in poultry, look into the more unique breeds that produce more interesting flavors of eggs. The Golden Comet hen is a great all rounder that produces fine yields for sale. Forget the tomatoes and cucumbers, and utilize your greenhouse for more exotic courgette flowers, eggplants and chili peppers. The more unique produce will command a higher price at a farmers market.

Think Big

Scaling up your operation can seem like a challenge. However, by pacing yourself and walking before you run, you can manage a sensible and profitable increase in your produce, demand and custom. If you have the space, think about zoning out some of your acreage. By creating distinct zones, you could grow crops, produce eggs, have some milking cows, rear pigs and look into the growing market of edible flowers or herbs. You don’t have to do all of these things, but having the option means you always have space to diversify and expand. Look into the sorts of domestic and industrial farm sheds that you could build on your smallholding to house your equipment, tools and seeds. Scaling up means that you will have to create a secure and protected space to shield your stock from the elements.

Advertise

There is no point developing a farm or smallholding that generates such wonderful produce if there is no one willing to buy from you. You must get your business out there to begin generating the custom you need to make a success of your venture. Check out local farmers markets and get yourself a pitch. Get your new venture onto Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and show off your produce and wares. By displaying your eggs, marjoram and celeriac, you can join a network of local growers. There is strength in numbers when it comes to small businesses and you will find a supportive web of contacts to help you on your journey.

If you adore your smallholding and want to take it to the next level, start small and scale up gradually. Before long, you could have a solid customer base eagerly awaiting your next batch of organic eggs!

Wildlife Photography For Beginners- What To Do

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Taking pictures of wildlife can be quite challenging as opposed to shooting non-living objects. They keep moving, and you need to capture them in their best form to make the images look amazing. Your position, the right lens, camera focus, angle, and numerous other factors go into creating an exceptional collection of wildlife images. If you want to do it just right and create an exclusive wildlife photography album for personal collection or to exhibit, you should follow the suggestions mentioned below. 

Know your camera ins and outs

Although it sounds cliché, this is the foremost thing you should do to ensure your images come beautiful and nearly of the same quality as that of magazines and large-scale exhibitions. You surely won’t want to miss an exceptional moment, which may last for 5-10 seconds only. 

Being aware of all the intrinsic features of your camera like shutter speed, focus points, focus modes, and altering ISO settings of your camera is integral to taking high-quality pictures. If you’re yet to buy your camera, make sure you go for a weather-sealed one to reduce the risks of harsh outdoor conditions. The additional layer of protection will be expensive, no doubt, but it’s going to be a worthy investment. 

Choose the right lens

For taking pictures of wildlife, you should get a lens that allows you to shoot from a distance. These lenses are also known as telephotos and are exceptionally beneficial for wildlife photography. The birds and animals you want to shoot may get scared or agitated on noticing humans too close, then long-distance shots are the best way to capture them naturally. 

The telephotos have optical stabilization (OS) that helps minimize blurring or shaking because of extreme magnification. In the learning phase, you can use a more affordable plastic lens to get acquainted with the same. Although they don’t have the required OS, you can use high shutter speed while fixing them on the tripod to reduce the chances of blurring. 

However, if you want to take pictures of small organisms like insects, you should use a macro lens (100 mm lens) with a maximum aperture of f/2.8 to capture them up close. You can also use a telephoto zoom to zoom into your subject from a long distance for near-Macro effects. 

Opt for photography workshops

Do you want to be an expert in wildlife and nature photography for professional reasons? You can take photography classes that professionals offer to learn new concepts and practice your skills. You can start your search with Google. Use search terms like photography classes Boise, for example, to find a professional teacher in the Boise region. Getting into professional photography can be a dream career option for you.

You will also get the chance to go on photography excursions and capture the native and exotic wildlife of North America. These excursions will also provide you with the opportunity to try your hands in landscapes, buildings, and architecture, Macro photography and a lot more to expand your skills. 

Know the basic rules of wildlife photography

In your photography lessons and excursions, you will learn a whole set of rules for taking pictures of wildlife, and you should know them hard before thinking of improvising them or breaking them altogether. Yes, you’re going to do that eventually with experience, but firstly, you need to abide by these rules to realize where you can do better by breaking them. 

Developing eye contact with the subject, knowing the right exposure, use of histogram and a lot of other rules will be taught to you in your photography classes. You will also learn about making the light work in your favor while taking pictures in the open. Once you get a grip on things, you can create your own rules to excel in wildlife photography. 

Protect your gear from natural elements

While shooting in the open, you should take maximum protection for your photography gear. From the direct rays of the sun to rains, splashes of water, snow, frost, or hail, you should protect your camera and lens from these natural elements. Investing in some simple protective equipment, like waterproof camera backpack, rain cover, hat and raincoat for you, can go a long way to serve the purpose. 

Observe your subject carefully

To capture exceptional photos of your subject, you need to first observe them and try to get an idea about their general behavior. Every species differs from each other, and most of them are quite unpredictable, hence the need for observing them. Once you get a rough idea about their attitudes in the open, you can click mind-blowing pictures of them. 

When you’re taking pictures of birds, you should know when they are about to flap their wings and fly off, or when they are ready to swoop down and catch their prey. This knowledge will help you choose the perfect moments to take those perfect shots that you see on the pages of the wildlife magazines. You should follow the same pattern in the case of animals. 

Wrapping it up

Wildlife photography is an interesting hobby and a dream ambition to pursue. If you can invest in the right gear, proper lens, opt for photography classes, and know the basic rules of photography, few things can prevent you from making a career of nature and wildlife photography. If you seek thrill and adventure in your life, this is something that will help you love your work more than anything else.

Keep Your Friends Close, But Your Leads Closer With This Tech

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There are few people as important to the future growth and health of your business than your current leads. These are the people who can become your highest value customers if you can cinch that conversion. But how do you do that? Here are a few tech tools that can make sure you’re always striving to get better value out of your leads.

Get them qualified

First of all, if you end up with a bunch of leads, you need to know whether or not they are worth pursuing. This is known as qualifying a lead, making sure that they are likely to convert and bring a high lifetime value before you start spending a lot of time on them. Establishing their interest is point number one, but there is a range of lead qualification questions you can take examples of to help you close in on the people you should be focusing on, too.

Know who you’re dealing with

With both future and existing customers, you’re going to impress them the more that you can customize your approach to their distinct personalities and needs. There’s software that can do this automatically, to some degree. However, it’s important that your salespeople and support team can keep that information on hand, too. Software like Contact Boss can ensure that. You can save and easily retrieve relevant records on any lead or customer, making sure that you can pick up the conversation at whatever point it was left at last. Feeling like they are remembered can help your contacts feel like the business has their interests at heart.

Keep nudging them forward

If you’re following up on your lead conversion process as you should be, then you should have hopefully opened the door and caught their interest. However, you don’t need to reach out directly to influence them in the direction of conversion, either. Facebook Ads can be used to specifically target those who have been on your website before, which is known as retargeting. As such, you can make sure that people who have shown an interest in your brand are confronted with it again, ever subtly pushing them towards the point of conversion.

Reach out when you need to

When you want to reach out to your leads and customers more directly, advertising through Facebook isn’t going to cut it. However, you also want to make sure that your approach doesn’t feel too cookie-cutter, while also making it as time-efficient as possible. Sometimes, a phone call or personally worded email is necessary. When it isn’t, however, then email automation software like MailChimp can help you send messages that are professionally crafted, but personalized to the individual. As such, you can make it a lot easier to get a message out to your entire lead list while making sure they don’t all get the exact same message.

Of course, technology isn’t the only thing that converts and keeps your leads. Satisfying service and support are essential if you want to retain what you’ve converted. Don’t make the common mistake of dropping the ball simply because you closed the sale.

4 Ways Technology Is Constantly Taking Business To The Next Level

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As time moves on, business owners and leaders are continually looking for ways to outdo their competitors. They’re always looking to outshine and find a way of evolving. Many different techniques and strategies have been invented and will continue to be brought into the world. Nothing has come close, and nothing will probably ever come close to that of our technological advances, though. Since automated, electrical pieces of machinery and software have entered humanity, businesses have been able to behave, process, and grow like never before – and this kind of thing will continue to advance as the years go by. 

Businesses that are just starting up benefit from the use of technology, and so too do businesses that have been at the top of the tree for decades – there’s no exclusivity or special places reserved for anyone in particular. The new tech obviously helps out due to its speed and consistency – the lack of human error being present is also a massive bonus. But how does it help out specifically? Well, here are four points for you to digest right now:

Performance Analysis 

With all the different software and various add-ons we have at our disposal, we can perfectly identify what plays out well and what performs horrendously, in order to figure out how to proceed. This can be used for selling products and for analyzing social media marketing strategies. 

Analyzing how everything goes has always been a major part of growing a business, but these kinds of programs make everything so much quicker, more detailed, and easier to do. 

It Can Predict And Project Future Happenings 

Artificial intelligence has become such that it’s able to take past and present records, and learn how certain patterns develop. It’s also able to project how the future may pan out statistically based on past behaviors. Also, if data is needed in order to complete certain AI projects, a synthetic data generator can be used to fabricate simulated pieces of information. This can help out in areas such as the financial world by allowing data scientists to continue their work when they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to.

Remote Work 

Fewer people are working on their business premises these days. A lot is done from home – and not just because of the current virus epidemic we’re facing. Technology is now allowing us to work from remote locations, which can make work more convenient and suitable for everyone involved. The likes of virtual assistants and outsourced work can be sorted out quickly, too.  

Constant Communication

When you’re looking to get in touch with someone, and it seems like you’ll never be able to get a hold of them, it can be very frustrating. Whether you’re looking for a new employee, a service technician, or a new, exciting business contact, you’re going to want to speak with them ASAP. Modern technology has made it so that it’s nigh-on impossible to go off the radar. Conference calls are fantastic alternatives to meetings when people are working away from the office.

Using Facebook to Promote Your Business: Insider Tips

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Facebook, like other social media platforms, is an excellent marketing tool. It has both free ways to promote your business and a paid advertising platform for you to use. As with any other marketing tool, it’s important to know how to use it and get the most out of it if you want to be successful with it. You can use Facebook to find new customers and visitors to your site, but it’s also useful for helping you to retain existing customers. You can use a range of techniques to use Facebook in a way that will help you to draw attention to your brand and keep customers engaged.

Plan and Schedule

When you use Facebook or other social media in your personal life, you probably just post whatever you’re thinking, whenever you feel like it. However, taking this approach to promoting your business is not the best idea. When you post, you should be doing so with intent and with a clear goal in mind. In addition to defining why you are using Facebook and how you want to use it, you should have a content calendar that you use to outline when you post what. This helps you to take an organized approach to Facebook marketing.

Use 3rd-party Tools

Facebook has some useful tools that make it easier to manage your business page and paid adverts. However, it’s also a good idea to look beyond the tools that Facebook provides. There are also various third-party tools that are designed to expand the capabilities of Facebook. Audience Eye helps you to find the right audiences on Facebook, making it easier to target your ads. Other tools might help you find and create content for your page or analyze your ad metrics. Look for tools that other businesses and marketers use so that you know they are worth the investment.

Focus on the Right Metrics

When you’re looking at the performance of your Facebook pages and groups, as well as your paid ads, you need to focus on the right metrics. When you only have a small marketing budget, it’s important to know why metrics really matter. While it might be great to see your page getting a lot of likes, does it really make a difference in the number of sales you make? Some of the more important metrics to measure include click-through rate, video views, and the number of messages received.

Provide Customer Service

Social media isn’t just for promoting your business and finding new customers. A lot of people use it to get answers and service from different brands. It’s important to allow people to ask questions and get in touch through Facebook and not to ignore the comments, reviews, posts, and messages that you receive. Make sure that you provide good customer service on Facebook and refer people to other customer service channels if it’s necessary.

Become an expert Facebook marketer by taking note of the most important ways to use the platform. There are many techniques that you can use to successfully promote your brand.

Three Ways You’re Setting New Employees Up For Failure

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The first day at a new job is nerve-wracking. Even if you’ve hired the most competent, experienced applicant you could find, they’ll experience at least some butterflies. Luckily, these nerves typically fade as they arrive and get settled. At least, that’s what should happen if you, as boss, approach those first day feelings with the right attitude. 

Sadly, many managers are either too busy or too unaware to take the necessary steps to create the best ‘first-day’ experience. As simple as that, they miss the window to close those nerves and could see new employees more stressed than necessary, or even questioning whether that role is right for them.

That’s not good, especially considering the time, effort, and budget you’ve spent bringing them onboard a strong workforce in the first place. And, it’s an issue you can avoid by simply making sure to avoid the following mistakes. 

Delayed paperwork

Proper paperwork is fundamental when onboarding new employees, and it’s something you should always arrange to have ready when new employees arrive. By this, we mean both the legal stuff, and additions such as employee handbooks, etc. This way, you not only give new employees a chance to orient themselves as they read through, but you also ensure they have documents for assistance if there’s no one around. That can be invaluable, and, in the case of things like fair work information statements, it can also keep you on the right side of the law. 

A failure to assign a buddy

If you don’t pair new employees with a buddy, you’re as good as setting them up for failure. After all, even individuals who already have experience in the field are sure to appreciate this opportunity to let them know how you do things in your office, as well as automatically helping them to create relationships. That’s guaranteed to go down better than a first day where they sit at their desks without talking to anyone, especially if you select a buddy you’re sure they’ll get along with. 

High expectations

It’s also a mistake to expect too much from an employee on their first day, even if they do already know how to use your systems. The simple fact is that nerves, distraction, and the need to take time getting to know your clients are all going to prevent newbies from creating anything outstanding. In fact, if you pile on a high-pressure task straight away, you’re setting them up for failure. Instead, keep the actual work to a minimum as much as you can, and think of this as a ‘getting to know you’ day. Then, let the real work begin once things have settled down a little. 

First days are tough, and not only for those new employees. As a manager, you also need to walk a thin line. Remember, after all, that new employees assess your workplace as much as you watch them. Make a bad initial impression, and there’s no way you’ll find a working relationship that lasts.

How Safe Are Your Business Premises?

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As a business owner, the last thing you want is a lawsuit on your hand. If somebody has an accident on your business premises, or if they fall ill because of them, you could be held legally responsible, and as well as suffering the expense of compensation claims, you could also suffer the loss of your good reputation.

If you’re working from home, the same applies. A client coming to your house for a meeting could also file a claim against you if injured in or around your house. 

So, ask yourself: How safe are my business premises?

Here are a few of the things you should watch out for.

A poorly-lit outside area

If your employees are expected to leave work late of an evening, they could injure themselves if they cannot see very well as they exit your business premises. It’s in your best interest to incorporate lighting, perhaps on a timer switch so as to reduce your energy bills, as visibility will then be increased.

Loose handrails

When navigating the inside of your building, some employees and customers may be reliant on handrails for mobility purposes. But if these handrails have become worn over time, an accident could take place if there are structural issues. It is in your best interest to replace these and any other loose fixtures, perhaps by using the services of a company such as Eckstrom who have what it takes to manufacture something of use for you.

Areas with little ventilation

Ventilation is a must, especially in areas of your business where toxic chemicals and other hazardous substances may be used. However, all areas of your business should be ventilated well, as clean air is a necessity for all of the people who use your premises. For those rooms that have windows, you should open them partway, and for those that don’t, you should look into getting a decent ventilation system to protect your business users.

A cluttered office space

If your office space is small, clutter might be a problem. From boxes placed on the floor to trailing wires and cables, your office area could be a hazard waiting to happen, as trips and falls are likely if there are obstacles in your employees’ way. To protect your staff, you should invest in more storage for your office and tiebacks for your cables. It might be that you also remove surplus items from your office space, as the less there is, the reduced chances of somebody having an accident. 

Faulty equipment

If the electrical appliances your business uses haven’t been PAT tested, there is the risk of an electrical shock or a fire breaking out. And if the machinery you use is faulty in any way, then the chances of your employees having a nasty accident are high. Despite the investment, you need to make sure your equipment is tested regularly, and you should replace any item if they are no longer fit for use. 

How safe are your business premises? 

We haven’t covered every danger here, but we hope you get the point. You need to check your business premises for any problem areas. Commit to a risk-assessment then, and protect the people who use your premises while also protecting the name and finances of your business.