Michael Levitt's Blog, page 27
April 26, 2022
How To Maintain Productivity in Your Machine Shop
A machine shop thrives on productivity. Keeping everything moving ensures a business gets the job done for its customers, does it well, and does it quickly. Like every other business, a machine shop strives to run like a well-oiled machine, but sometimes things get in the way of productivity. Use these tips on how to maintain productivity in your machine shop to ensure you are putting out the best product while also keeping a quick turnaround time.
Invest in Your EmployeesOne of the best ways to keep productivity in machine shops is to invest in your employees. This investment works for any industry, but it is crucial in the metalworking field, where technology and employees constantly change. Because the industry is so variable, you must put time and resources into your employees to keep your productivity consistent.
By giving them the space to learn new skills and making them feel like a valuable part of the team, you are helping them and your shop. An employee who is a permanent part of your business brings so much more than a revolving door of new employees.
Invest in New ToolsA machine shop needs a massive number of tools to function, but wear and tear make themselves known as time goes on. Tools start to rust, make strange noises, or fail to work the same. To maintain productivity in your shop, you need to constantly buy new tools or look for signs that your existing tools need servicing to ensure they are working their best.
Your shop is full of great employees, but the tools they work with can limit them. When your business gives your workers the tools they need to get the job done, your productivity rises, and your customers will also leave satisfied with their products.
Maintain Good OrganizationAnother excellent way to maintain a high level of productivity in your workshop is to keep it organized. If your employees have difficulty locating a specific tool, precious time is lost that they could have otherwise spent completing a project. By adhering to an organizational system on the floor, everyone knows where they can find what they need, leading to a greater culture of efficiency.
When staff carelessly leave items out or hide them in various drawers, the machine shop as a whole runs poorly. Alternatively, if everything has a designated place and there is an order and process, the shop will run along that same efficient order and process.
These were just a few tips on maintaining productivity in your machine shop. They will go a long way in keeping everything controlled and efficient, ensuring your business puts out the best product possible.
Supporting Your Employees In Every Way You Can
Source: @hannahbusing
When you run a business, you’ll eventually take on staff to help you with the workload. Sure, business owners tend to take on a lot of work themselves when they first start out in order to reduce spending and stick within budget. Then, they may move onto outsourcing, as this is low commitment but brings the expertise and equipment required to complete specific tasks that the owner can’t complete themselves. Eventually, the business will make sufficient sales for a business owner to justify bringing full time staff on board. There are perks to this. You gain a team who are dedicated to your brand and can complete ongoing projects on a daily basis, week in and week out. Of course, if you’re going to take employees on board, you’re going to have to make sure that you’re treating them well. At the end of the day, they are the backbone of your company and the individuals driving your profit. Here are a few ways that you can show them the support that they need.
Offering opportunities for development and training can not only help your staff to feel appreciated and as though they are progressing in their career, but it can also benefit your business, as they’ll be more competent in their role too. Make sure to offer development and training on an ongoing basis. Ask your staff where they’d like to grow and improve and then create a personal development plan for each individual, investing in courses and professional guidance that can help them to achieve their goals.
Teams need to work well together. Sure, individual brilliance is desirable. But at the end of the day, your business is like a clock and all of the different cogs have to turn together to make things work. Of course, not everyone will automatically bond or break the ice - especially of individuals aren’t in direct contact with one another often. You may need to take some intervention and implement some team building activities. There are countless ways to do this, from short coffee breaks and chats to full day activities.
Sometimes, employees may struggle with personal matters. It’s a good idea to provide compassionate leave during these times. Perhaps they are unwell. Perhaps a family member or dependent is unwell. Maybe they are experiencing burnout. They may have lost someone close to them. Providing time off to not worry about work is extremely important. If you want to go above and beyond, you could also offer support in the form of therapy, substance abuse training for employee, and more, relevant to their individual position.
Nobody wants to feel stagnant in their role. It’s important that you offer a genuine opportunity for progression and advancement in your workforce. This means genuine, regular salary reviews that increase pay for those who are hitting targets and performing well. It can include promotions into more senior positions with time and experience at the company or achieved qualifications.
These are just a few ways to support your employees. Take each on board and see if you can implement it!
Are you Holding Back your Start-up Business without Realizing It?
If you want your business to be successful, then you have to make sure that you are doing what you can to analyze your process from time to time. You also need to forecast your growth so that you can make the right changes for the future. If you are not quite sure what is holding your business back, or if you want to make sure that you do not end up making the mistakes that most entrepreneurs make, then this is the guide for you.
There is nothing wrong with you having a lot of good ideas. That being said, you have to make sure that you are not trying to put them all into practice. If you do this, then you may find that you end up taking on too much and that it is hard for you to get anything done well. Studies have shown time and time again that it is far better for you to do one thing well than multiple things poorly. With this in mind, it is crucial that you learn how to say no so that you can focus on what truly matters.
Lack of DevelopmentYour company may start in one place, but it should not stay there for too long. The times are always changing and you have to make sure that your business moves along with them. Any company that stands still will almost certainly end up falling behind. You also need to make sure that you have all of the professional tools you need to grow your company too. If you don’t, then this could be a sign that something needs to change.
You’re Not OutsourcingIf you are not outsourcing, then this will work against you more than you realize. You may not be able to afford to hire new staff to take care of all your jobs for you and this is understandable, but outsourcing is a very good option in this instance. If you can, you need to look into things such as devops consulting so that you can get automation on your side. If you don’t, then you may find that you end up struggling in the long run and that your growth is stunted. This is the last thing that you want, so make sure that you make positive changes when you can.
You are Not Setting GoalsHow can you track how well your company is doing if you are not setting goals? Setting goals is imperative if you want to make sure that you are achieving the heights that you intend to. Setting goals that are S.M.A.R.T will really work in your favor, and it will also show you the areas of your business where you are lacking. Although these can be tough facts to face, you still do need to try and get to the root issue if there is anything lacking. If you bury your head in the sand, then the issue will only come back to bite you again in the future.
Step By Step: The Proper Pathway To Captivating Content
While fashions and trends come and go in the world of online marketing, the importance of content is something that hasn’t changed in decades. You can have impactful images on your site, spend huge amounts on graphic design, and it won’t be wasted money - but, without the right content to back it up, it will never catch as many new customers as it should.
Naturally, it will play on your mind that quality of content is important in turning potential customers into actual customers, and it can be hard to get the best quality. What does help, in this regard, is knowing how the process of commissioning good content should look - and below, we have a run-through of the essential steps.
To enjoy your content, people first need to find it. Obviously. And while there is no single step that will get you into the top pages on Google, you can get a lot done with the right SEO. There are lots of excellent tools designed to carry out keyword research, some of which are even free of charge. Once you have your keywords, you can come up with broader topics and titles around which to write your content.
As noted above, your keywords should be a guide to what type of content will work in your marketing. For instance, if your niche is the keto diet, putting the words “keto diet” into a keyword tool will show that a lot of people search for terms such as “keto snacks” and “ketosis”. So posts about quick snack recipes, and about the science behind ketosis, will work well.
Once you’ve got a range of articles to write, the next step is obviously to write them. Keep in mind that you’ll want to use the keywords you’ve found, at a density that gets your content noticed by search engines. You can use an AI writer to create a lot of this content - the better information you give the AI, the more convincing the content will be. Some topics may need to be handled the old-fashioned way, but a good AI can handle the bulk work.
A catch-all term that takes in both proofreading and editing, quality assurance will ensure that a second pair of eyes get to look over the content before it goes on the site. This task should be performed by a human, and one with a keen sense of what reads well. At this point, any errors can be corrected by the “QA” or sent back to the original writer to make good, before the document goes to the next stage.
In any good content management system, you’ll be able to integrate and upload the content in such a way that it displays on the page with maximal effect. This can include adding internal, external, and pretty links which are essential in monetizing and building your content strategy - it also gives you a chance to display the most important information “above the fold”, where even a casual visitor can see it without scrolling down. When the content is first integrated, it should then be privately published. You’ll see why.
The final step in your content creation journey will be to publish your posts. This should be done after someone has looked at how the information will look when it goes live. This step is important. When your page is live, it can be crawled by search engines. It can be read by visitors. It is therefore important that it is fit to publish: free of bugs, typos, and inaccurate information. Once you’re satisfied that you have content that is fit to read and monetize, you can publish it and give the world its first look.
Once everything is live and any potential bugs have been ironed out, it is worth keeping an eye out for any changes that occur and result in your content falling out of date. Amending those details and republishing can even give your site a shot in the arm when it comes to SEO performance. Also, it is worth investing in software to keep track of broken links on your site. Even if those links were working fine when the content was published, it doesn’t mean they’ll stay that way.
Keeping your content as effective and impactful as it should be isn’t so difficult - you just need to keep to the sequence above and know how to fix things when they go wrong. The more you work with content, the easier it gets.
Brand Activation Strategies For A Successful Marketing Campaign
Brand activations are marketing strategies designed to help consumers form connections with products or services. The main goal of brand activation is to encourage new and old consumers to ultimately make a purchase. And it works! About 91% of consumers are more likely to purchase a brand’s product after participating in a brand activation experience. If you’ve done the research and have been toying with the idea of brand activation, you must know and understand the strategies for creating a successful brand activation project. Here are some popular types worth knowing.
Social media engagement has become a crucial part of any good marketing strategy. Without any engagement, social media is just what it is, media. However, people are not using social media for one-way conversations. They are seeking to interact with other people and brands.
Social media tends to play a role in much larger brand activations. It can create awareness and generate buzz through written and visual content. But you can also use it as a strategy on its own, especially if a large chunk of your target audience is online. You can organize social media contests, quizzes, and polls with your brand to engage your audience while building a sustainable relationship.
Experiential marketing is probably the best way to launch or activate a brand, as it gives people the opportunity to experience it for themselves. It is used to help consumers interact with a product or service and build a relationship with the brand. One of the best advantages of an experiential marketing campaign is that it can drive word-of-mouth advertising, the oldest and most effective form of traditional marketing. When consumers are more loyal to your brand, they will recommend it to family and friends. You must create a memorable brand activation that is immersive and exciting enough to create an organic buzz through networks.
For better results, it might be best to work with an experiential marketing agency with the right skills and resources to help you execute this method of brand activation.
Another type of brand activation is through in-store events or advertising campaigns. This is a common type of brand activation strategy, as your brand engages with consumers right at the point of sale. It also has a higher chance of increasing your purchases because most customers who enter your store will have money and access to your products.
This type of brand activation is best undertaken during sale periods, holidays, and weekends where foot traffic around your store would be more than usual. It gives consumers the chance to try out products and receive direct information about the product before purchasing. Ensure that you get creative with advertising if you plan on organizing an in-store brand activation.
Building and developing a successful brand is a gradual process. Brand activations and other initiatives play a huge role in building your brand. It will help improve your customer relationships and change how your customers perceive your product or service. There are several other types of brand activations that you should also check out to help you engage better with your customers.
Areas of Your Business to Focus On From the Get-Go
When you start your own business, there’s a whole world of things to learn and things to do. You’re going to find yourself on a steep learning curve, getting to know the basics of endless aspects of business operations. This can quickly become overwhelming and many people begin to try to cut corners where possible. But it is important that you focus on every element of your business’ functioning and success as required. There are some things you need to take seriously and invest time and effort in from the get-go, so it’s good to take care of them early on. Here are some that you should consider!
Before you even start making sales and profit, you need to get a good accountant on board. Most small businesses use a freelancer, an agency or QuickBooks bookkeeping services. These are all cost-effective methods that will put you in touch with a good accountant without having to commit to bringing someone in-house with a permanent salary. Having an accountant on board will ensure that all of your finances are tracked and managed and that you will pay the right amount of tax at the end of the fiscal year - no more and no less than you genuinely should.
You need to create a product that works and will genuinely sell before doing anything else. So many businesses dive in the deep end without spending enough time on the product development process. People want to get started and make sales, but it’s important that you have confidence in your product and that it has potential before this. Sometimes, good things can take time and, as the old saying goes, patience is a virtue. It’s much better to put something through rounds of tweaks and amendments than to launch a subpar product that doesn’t meet everyone’s needs or won’t perform well, resulting in poor reviews and a negative company reputation and image.
It’s much easier to start out with a good brand than to establish yourself and try to rebrand later down the line. Consistency is what builds brand loyalty and lets people know what to expect from you and your products. The key to successful branding is plenty of market research, so here is a good place to start out. Talk to your target demographic and determine if they are the individuals who would actually buy your product. You’d be surprised how many businesses start out with an idea they think will appeal to one demographic, only to find that a completely different group takes interest and starts making purchases. Market research can direct branding in the right direction from the moment you start out, making sure that you sell yourself in a way that is profitable and appealing to those who will actually shop with you. Of course, in the early days, most small businesses will outsource branding to a branding agency, as this prevents the need for hiring a whole team of staff, including graphic designers, copywriters, and more.
These are just three areas of focus to get the ball rolling, but hopefully, each will feature on your list of priorities!
Must-Have Equipment for Your Warehouse Space
When running a warehouse, there’s a lot of equipment that you need to help things run more smoothly. Whether you’re new to the industry or have been in it a while, there’s always room for improvement in terms of the gear that you use. This list of must-have equipment for your warehouse space is a good starting point to ensure that you’re on the right track.
Pallet Jacks, Forklifts, and CranesIt would be highly unlikely for you not to have at least a set of pallet jacks or forklifts in your warehouse. It would be impossible to move anything around without them, but do you have both? Some warehouse owners only choose to use forklifts. While this is doable, it’s more expensive, and you’ll have fewer pieces of equipment to use for moving pallets around. Don’t underestimate the humble pallet jack. They are great for moving lighter pallets from place to place with ease.
However, if you want to forego forklifts completely, you could potentially use overhead cranes instead. These can easily lift heavy crates and pallets up and down like a forklift. You’ll need to make sure you have sturdy pallet jacks to move them around once they’re on the ground. Still, the best solution would be to use a mix of all three options.
Pallet Weighing ScalesEven though your crew already knows how heavy all your crates and pallets are, it’s still a good idea to know the exact weights. This will help keep your workforce safe and keep you from overloading trucks.
Platform scales are a go-to choice, but if you want to save some time and money, you can buy equipment that has scales built into them. Pallet jacks and crane hooks are both common items that can double as a scale. If you buy a hook-based one, make sure you know the difference between hanging and crane scales before making the purchase.
Energy-Efficient Lighting and HVACsThe last items on this list are energy-efficient lighting and HVAC systems. It’s no secret that warehouses are huge, so it’s not easy to ensure that you have them lit and cooled properly.
Covering every square inch of your facility with these two things will cost a lot of money, so you want to make sure the systems you use aren’t using energy excessively. The money you save on electricity can then go toward more important aspects of your business, like some of the other must-have equipment for your warehouse space mentioned in this article.
April 21, 2022
Team Building Tips For Success
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Team building helps to embed company values and workplace culture and builds trust, confidence, and loyalty. Building a strong team will improve morale and motivation, and help your business to succeed. Here’s how you can build and manage a successful team.
Hiring the right talent is the starting point for building your team. Review and refine your selection process to make sure that the people you hire fit into your working culture and have the right skills and attitude to help you to achieve your business goals. Whether you have an internal hiring resource in place or you use a recruitment consultant, investing in your recruitment process is worth it. It can save you time and money by reducing rehiring and training costs and you can avoid the negative impact which employee turnover can have on team morale and performance.
Involving your team in the selection process can help with integration and engagement on both sides. Get the team involved at the second interview stage. They can help to decide if the candidate will be a good fit for the team, and can answer the interviewee’s questions about the day-to-day elements of the role.
It’s important to define success, for you and the business. If you know what success looks like, you will be better able to lead and develop your team towards that goal. Understanding what you are trying to achieve at each level will shape your priorities. Is the business being impacted by poor internal communication or office politics? Do employees lack motivation or feel their opinions aren’t valued? Having strategic objectives in mind when you build your team can solve these challenges and boost employee engagement.
For a team to succeed, they need a shared goal and purpose. Clearly communicate the goal of the team and make sure everyone understands their individual role in working towards that goal. Make sure that the team goals are aligned with the overall objectives of your company. Set goals that are realistic and measurable. Set milestones and deadlines to keep everyone on track. Update your team on progress and celebrate achievements together. Team building activities can help with team morale too, such as outdoor team building activities for work.
Ground rules can be simple directives or general guidelines that enable a team to collaborate more effectively. They can include pointers and expectations of behaviors, such as being punctual, sticking to deadlines, and listening to and respecting colleagues’ points of view. Encourage everyone in the team to commit to these rules. As a team leader, it is also important to set the tone and lead by example. An ideal time to set expectations is during the onboarding and induction process, but they should also be reiterated on an ongoing basis in team catch-ups and one-to-ones and reintroduced to employees who have been with the company for a while and may need to be reminded.
Easy Ways for Warehouses To Reduce Spending
When operating any kind of business, it’s important to keep finances in mind. This is true of all industries, including warehouses. Storage facilities have many opportunities to cut costs and put money back into their pockets. If you manage one of these sites and are looking to make a change, here are some easy ways for warehouses to reduce spending.
Protect Your InventoryWarehouses waste millions of dollars annually dealing with damaged inventory. Improving your storage practices will decrease risks and keep your products safe from harm. Train employees adequately so that they can use proper techniques when handling goods. It’s also helpful to perform equipment and system maintenance. This way, none of your heavy machines and tools will harm your inventory.
Balance Labor and AutomationApart from inventory loss, labor accounts for most storage facilities’ annual costs. Keeping a large number of people on the payroll to complete menial tasks costs a fortune and isn’t very efficient. Instead, find a balance between human labor and technology. Investing in automation will free up your staff to perform more complex duties and complete repetitive tasks in record time.
Optimize Your SpaceIf your warehouse stores a significant amount of product, renting enough space can get expensive quickly. Instead of spending an excessive amount of money on square footage, optimize your facility so that you can do more with less. Some space optimization methods include:
Creating narrow isles to fit more racks
Installing a mezzanine
Investing in vertical storage
Focus on SustainabilityThe easiest way for warehouses to reduce spending is to focus on sustainability. Reduce your monthly utility bills by switching to LED lights and using smart HVAC technology to control temperatures. Implement recycling initiatives to reuse packing and shipping supplies instead of purchasing new materials. You can also participate in pallet buy-back programs to acquire gently-used pallets instead of spending money on newer models.
Those in leadership positions have a responsibility to improve their workplace conditions. Saving money on warehouse expenses will allow you to reinvest in your business. By using these tips, you’ll be on your way to making some impactful changes to your facility and daily operations.
April 20, 2022
5 Ways to Run Your Medical Practice More Efficiently
As a medical professional, you know that running a successful practice is no easy task. There are many things to consider, from patient care to staffing and office management. This blog post will discuss five ways you can run your medical practice more efficiently and effectively. By following these tips, you can streamline your operations and improve the quality of care you provide to your patients!
Practice management software can help you keep track of patients, appointments, billing, and more. In addition, having a sound system in place will help you run your practice more smoothly and efficiently.
Investing in quality practice management software is a great way to improve the efficiency of your medical practice. There are many different options available on the market, so be sure to do your research to find the best fit for your needs. By having a good system in place, you can streamline many different aspects of your operation, from patient care to billing and more!
If you don’t have the time or resources to handle your own medical billing, consider hiring a professional company to do it for you. This can free up a lot of your time to focus on other aspects of running your practice.
Outsourcing your medical billing to a professional company is a great way to improve the efficiency of your practice. Having someone else handle this vital task can free up valuable time and resources that can be better spent elsewhere. Many reputable companies out there offer this service, so be sure to do your research to find the right one for you!
In today’s digital age, it’s essential to have a solid online presence. You can reach more patients and promote your practice more effectively by improving your digital marketing strategies. There are many different ways to improve your digital marketing, from creating a solid website to using social media effectively.
If you want to reach more patients and promote your medical practice more effectively, you need to do some research online or talk with an expert. Jerome Clavel is an industry leader in medical technology marketing, so be sure to follow his expertise.
A patient portal is a great way to improve communication and collaboration between you and your patients. By giving patients access to their medical records, test results, and appointment schedules, you can make it easier for them to stay on top of their health. This can lead to better overall care for your patients, and fewer missed appointments.
It’s essential to have well-trained staff to run a successful medical practice. By providing regular training, you can ensure that your employees are up-to-date on the latest procedures and protocols. This will help them provide better care for your patients and make your practice run more smoothly.
By following these tips, you can improve the efficiency of your medical practice and provide better care for your patients!
