Michael Levitt's Blog, page 92

How To Decorate A Chic Hotel Room

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If you own a hotel then you will know that the way in which you choose to decorate it plays a massive role in the success of your business. After all, the furniture and choice of décor generate the atmosphere. You want your hotel to be one that is welcoming and friendly. And then depending on what type of business you have, you may want it to be lavish, stylish, uplifting or cheerful. Because of this, you need to decide on the type of atmosphere you want to generate before you actually go ahead and buy your furniture. 

This blog post deals with hotel bedroom furniture in particular. Needless to say, the ambience you should want to generate is one of comfort and relaxation. At the end of the day, this is what a bedroom is all about. Therefore, read on to discover some top tips for decorating your hotel with the best hotel bedroom furniture…

Wood furniture – First and foremost, why not consider incorporating wooden furniture into your bedrooms? Wood always works well because it literally adds warmth to the room in which it is placed. Therefore, it is fantastic for those who wish to create a homely environment. It is also excellent when looking to emulate a rustic and traditional feel. However, if you go for light wood then you can also create a contemporary hotel room because it is an extremely versatile material and color. 

Comfort – It is all about finding furniture that looks comfortable and feels comfortable. A lot of people make the mistake of merely taking appearance into account. However, you need to remember the fact that your hotel room is going to become your guests’ living space for a period of time and therefore plushness and cosyness needs to stem from every furniture selection. 

Let there be light - Ensuring there is plenty of natural light in the hotel room is important, yet it is rare. You can use gloss surfaces to reflect light in the room. Leveraging the best window cleaning services is important too for this reason.

Light colors – It is always recommended to go for furniture that is in a light shade. Pastel colors and alike can work really well. Just because you have gone for a light shade does not mean it has to be boring, nor does it mean you are stuck to cream. Mint green, lavender, pale blue and rose are all fantastic shades. The reason why light colors are recommended is that they help people to relax. If you go for bright and bold colors then it can be very easy for people to end up with headaches and they will undoubtedly find it difficult to unwind too. 

Consistency – The hotel bedrooms should be consistent with the theme and overall image of the hotel as a whole. It can look confusing and simply messy if this is not the case. Imagine walking into a traditional log cabin style British hotel only to discover that the bedrooms are decorating with 21st-century ultra-modern furniture. It just doesn’t work. Keep your theme consistent throughout and your hotel will have a much bigger and more memorable impact. 

Quality – The importance of investing in quality hotel bedroom furniture cannot be undervalued either. There is nothing more embarrassing than having a customer appear at the reception because a slat on their bed has broken or because the chair leg is wonky. Furthermore, if you don’t buy quality furniture then you will only end up spending more money because you will have to replace them a lot quicker than you should be. 

Offer Your Staff These Perks To Make Them Happier!

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Have you ever considered offering more to the people who are working for you? When you hire other people, you are telling them that they can trust you with their livelihood, their day-to-day health, and well being, their career security. They come to work for you every single day, taking hours out to commute, to work, and to be a part of your organization in a way that will help you to grow and profit.

You want to make sure that your employees have everything that they need to remain happy, solvent, and productive individuals who are able to grow their own careers within your business. 

You would take the time to look after the people working for you, but you need to go above and beyond the way that other people do things. As an employer, you should want to provide your employees with everything that they need to be successful. You would speak to the experts at Outerspace design to ensure that your business looks great and functions well, but what about the people working within it? When you offer better perks, you will raise their perception of working for your business, and we've got some of the most unique perks around that will help you to really appeal to the people working for you.

Food & Drink

If you want to set yourself apart from most employers, you need to think about offering healthy meals and drinks. One of the best perks out there is either setting up a canteen or adding a food delivery service to the office for people to have a healthy meal every day. If you can't budget for every single day, maybe offer a free meal every Friday. You can give back to your employees and they will appreciate the effort you make. If you have employees on the road, provide food vouchers to them so that they don't have to take it from their own salary.

Duvet Days

Sometimes, you can wake up and just want to roll over and go to sleep. Your mind just isn't in the mood to be at work - well, your employees feel the same. Instead of berating them for that which makes them human, start giving back a little bit. You can offer your staff an additional 3-5 days of paid leave per year where they can choose to have a day for their mental health. This is a huge perk that employees will appreciate, and it helps them to remain loyal to you as well.

A Comfortable Workspace

We've talked about the design of the office being functional and helping people to be more productive, but you should consider the desks, chairs, the break room, having a gym on-site - it all matters to your staff, which means it should matter to you. A comfortable workspace is going to keep your employees happy and motivated, and this is the best way to ensure that you do that for them.

Remote Work

Most people are probably sick of working remotely given this past year, but that's not the point. The point is that your staff should have the choice. If you have people who prefer the working from home environment, then allow them the choice to do that. If you know that you have staff who prefer to be remote while they work, you will be able to offer that option to them. This also works well for staff who can't actually make it to work because of their kids or their family; they have options, too!

The Right Approach To Adopting New Business Technology

Startups these days are full of optimism and dedication. They take an idea of theirs, work themselves to the bone, and do everything in their power to get a business up and running so they can start pushing their products and showing the world what they’re capable of. Sadly, one of the biggest mistakes that startups make is actually with their technology.

There seems to be a general idea that startups should be utilizing as much technology as possible. This is because tech is designed to make things easier for us. It helps to optimize processes, it offers business automation and it helps us keep track of all of our records. There’s no denying that technology has enabled us to start a business from almost nothing.

Unfortunately, relying too heavily on technology can lead to troublesome consequences. This is especially true when it comes to adopting new technologies into your business. In this post, we’ll be taking a look at some tips to help you take the right approach when adding new technologies to your business.

Adopting powerful solutions is a bumpy process

One of the great things about using older solutions is that there’s usually a wealth of documentation that can help businesses understand and implement those technologies. If there’s any trouble, you can often call a managed IT service company to help you sort it out. In some cases, there may even be forums or documentation that will help you solve errors in a short amount of time.

However, when it comes to adopting much newer technologies such as AI sales automation, you’ll need to have a very active approach to adopting in order to make it work. This involves working closely with the service provider, it means having an open mind on how to implement the solution, and it means you’ll occasionally encounter hitches and bugs along the way.

But that’s not to say that these technologies are a bad idea to implement. In fact, it’s widely known that early technology adopters can usually forge a new path for the industry if they play their cards right. By adopting these new business technologies and dedicating your time and efforts to making them work, you could unlock entirely new work processes that will push you well ahead of your competition and give you the boost you need to get noticed.

Embracing the risk of new technology

It’s common knowledge that technology can help businesses grow, but the type of technology we use is often grounded in very safe and stable practices. However, playing it safe won’t get a business ahead of the curve and it’s going to stagnate your growth if you’re always in the shadow of your competitors.

Adopting new technology comes with inherent risks and it’s these uncertainties that will ultimately put you in the limelight. When every other company follows in your footsteps to adopt something new, you suddenly become the marketing leader and are in a fantastic position that you can capitalize on.

Four Tips To Better Your Supplier Relationships In Business

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Working with suppliers can help give your business the tools and knowledge to build on what you already have. Whether you’ve only just started your company or you’ve been operating for a while, suppliers play a very influential part of your company success. With that being said, here are four tips to better your supplier relationships in business.

Meet Suppliers In Person For The First Time

When it comes to meeting suppliers for the first time, it’s always a good idea to meet them in person. This is important because you’re likely going to need to establish the relationship at this point and who you perhaps might be dealing with on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Establishing this relationship is important because it provides you both with a level of respect and appreciation. That’s something that will go a long way as and when you need them to focus their attention on what you need in an emergency or in a situation that warrants urgency.

So try to set up this relationship in person, rather than over the phone or via email, otherwise there will be a level of disconnect between the working partnership.

Communication Is Key

Regardless of the type of supplier, communication is key. It could be a general contractor or another company that’s helping to provide a service to you but despite who you work with, it’s essential that communication is consistent for both parties. When it’s one-sided, it can often be a challenge and this can sometimes put pressure and strain on a supplier relationship. If it’s not efficient, then it’s certainly something that could threaten the end of your partnership with them.

Don’t Be Afraid To Push

Being pushy isn’t and shouldn’t be considered a bad thing in business. When you have expectations to meet, it’s important that those working with you as suppliers are able to keep up their agreement. If it seems like they’re not pulling their weight or things are taking too long, then it’s always good to give them a gentle nudge in the right way. It’s always important to be polite and courteous unless the situation warrants you to be sterner.

If you allow suppliers to take advantage, then it can be at the detriment of your business and that’s not something you want, right?

Be Mindful Of Differences In Work Cultures

It’s always worth considering differences in work cultures. You might think this would only be the case with your work culture and that of someone in another country. However, even in your own country, you’ll have native companies with different work cultures and foreign companies that operate in your country. Therefore, it’s important to take note of the differences and to be respectful of them. However, if they don’t align with your expectations, then it’s something that you’ll want to think about before agreeing to work with them.

Your supplier relationships should be at the forefront of your mind when it comes to a business so use these tips to better them.

2 Easy Ways Of Improving Your Business Efficiency

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 When operations in your business run at a low level, it shows the efficiency is wanting. If you don't act quickly, you could soon make losses or, worse yet, close down indefinitely.

Increasing your business output requires maximum utilization of the available inputs to realize a better return. While this may look easy on paper, it isn't easy to run your business effectively without the right resources.

Use these tips to improve your business efficiency and increase your sales in the market.

Automate

Automation has never been more essential than today. Think about how machines help deliver e-ticketing for large scale projects and superfund sites within a short duration.

If your business lacks such modern tools, it is impossible to compete favorably in the current market. Unfortunately, the reality of automation is often challenging, and to get the best results, you must:

Set Goals

Your need for automating has to be clear. If you intend to free your workers from repetitive and cumbersome tasks, this goal will help you track the results of automation progressively.

Choose the Essential Tasks

If you want to make your business hard to ignore, automating the essential tasks will help you attain this feat. When the crucial internal processes are running smoothly, your business grows faster such that it attracts interest from many quarters.

Have the Appropriate Tools

Without the right tools, you cannot automate functions effectively. Sure, you will enjoy some success in the short term, but this decision may prove costly during the long run. Instead, set clear objectives and ensure a particular tool has the features to meet changing market demands.

Promote Friendly Working Conditions

When there’s a hostile working atmosphere, it impacts your employees’ morale negatively. For example, poor air conditioning and the breaking down of essential equipment such as the printer can reduce your employees' productivity.

Brawls and misunderstandings in the workplace are not unusual. When staff members have conflicts, they have a hard time working together for the betterment of your company.

A positive and productive working environment is possible only if:

You Listen to Workers

As the boss, it is easy to see your employees as machines that don’t deserve extra attention and care. When an employer is distant from the workers, it is hard to work together towards a common goal.

If you want to grow your business quickly, learn to listen and tackle employee issues in the workplace.

There are More Fun Outdoor Moments

A break from work is sometimes what it takes to bring everyone closer together. Staying in the same working environments for too long can negatively impact your mood and attitude.

When you want to resolve minor problems among co-workers, organize team-building activities like hiking or camping. It would help if you also encouraged your employees to have a stable and work and life balance.

Final Thoughts

Any aspiring business owner knows the importance of improving the internal functions of a business. When operations are smooth and uniform in your company, it is possible to elevate your business easily. 

If you struggle with improving your business's efficiency, the above tips will be of significant help.

How To Overcome Self-Doubt As A Business Leader

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Self-doubt can affect anybody, regardless of their position in life. But business leaders are especially prone to this negative way of thinking. This is partly because of the many demands that are placed upon them and partly because there is a constant fear of business failure.

Common questions will arise:

Am I the right person to be running a business?

Am I making the right decisions?

Are my talents good enough?

And so on and so on. 

It might be that you're relating to what we're saying if you're currently running your own business. Don't worry if so as you're not alone. However, there are steps you can take to conquer your self-doubt and banish those negative thoughts that run through your mind. So, to protect the future of your business, consider the following. 

#1: Remind yourself of your successes

You may have made mistakes on your business journey, but don't let these overwhelm you. You're not perfect, so you can be forgiven for a few missteps. Instead, focus on all of the things you have done well. Getting your business off the ground is bound to be one achievement you can congratulate yourself for. And there should be other accomplishments, both in and out of business, that can remind you of your abilities. Take time each day to reflect on them as you should develop a more positive mindset if you do. 

#2: Look to others for inspiration

You don't have to be the 'same' as other business leaders, but you can draw upon the successes they have experienced. If they can do it, so can you! Consider Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos for example, whose businesses began from their homes. Or Paul Ognibene who went from running a non-profit, college-style spirit shop to becoming CEO of a successful real estate development company. 

It would be wrong of you to compare yourself unfavorably to such business luminaries as they are as human as you are. Mistakes will have been made on their journeys, but through hard work and passion for what they were doing, they found success. Be inspired as you could achieve the same. 

#3: Keep learning

In business, you won't be the master of everything. There will be areas that you are weak in but you shouldn't let these dictate your self-worth as a business leader. To overcome any weaknesses in your business, you could outsource to others. You could also hire people onto your team who are experts in what they do. These are both sensible steps, but there is something else you can do: Educate yourself. 

By adopting a learning mentality, you will be able to strengthen your position as a business leader and gain new abilities. So, look for online and offline college courses. Attend self-help seminars and workshops. Listen to podcasts and Ted Talks delivered by established business leaders. And add these books to your reading list. By advancing your knowledge and skill set, you should be able to banish those feelings of self-doubt. 

Finally

There will be days when things don't go well for you but don't take any bad experiences to heart. Learn from them by all means but remember that you are bigger than the problems you might sometimes face. Stay focused on your business and the many good things about your life, and follow our suggestions to overcome any moments of personal self-doubt. You can do this!

How To Be A Successful Entrepreneur

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Wanting to work for yourself and run a business is a great goal to have. However, it’s not as easy to get started and up and running as it may seem initially.

There’s a lot to think about and do as you prepare to open and manage a business of your own. The following advice will help you figure out how you can be a better and more successful entrepreneur and ensure that your company takes off in the right direction. Let these ideas inspire you to want to work hard and put forth your best effort to create and build a business that will be around for years to come.

Make it Official

One way to be a successful entrepreneur is to make it official by getting organized and getting all you need to launch in order. For example, write and document a business plan and research websites that offer LLC information for getting your business up and running so you can show others you’re serious about being a business owner. Come up with your company’s name and logo and figure out where you’ll rent or buy space so you can have clients in and out of your office.

Focus on Attracting Customers & Client Service

You can also thrive as a business owner and entrepreneur by focusing your time and energy on attracting customers and keeping them. Figure out ways to improve client service and how you’ll measure your performance. Build up a book of business so you not only increase profits and gain confidence in yourself but so you can grow your business over time. Once you have customers who are interested in what you’re selling then do what’s in your power to ensure they’re satisfied and will be loyal to you in the future.

Build & Nurture Business Relationships

It’s also important that you get out and network as a business owner. Dedicate time and energy to building and nurturing business relationships with your clients, other entrepreneurs, and those in your community. You won’t get much done in this area by sitting behind your desk and hoping that people find out and know about your business. You must put yourself out there by attending networking events, building relationships online, and meeting with individuals face-to-face to discuss business topics and opportunities to work together.

Practice Work-Life Balance

You’re going to be a very busy person when you’re first getting your business off the ground and up and running. You must remember to take good care of yourself in the process and make your health and wellness a priority even though you’re involved in creating a business. Practice work-life balance by sticking to a schedule each day and setting boundaries with others. Dedicate time and energy to your job and make sure you’re performing well without sacrificing your mental and physical health. It may be wise to hire help and employees that you can delegate tasks to and free up more of your time to run the business and focus on higher-level initiatives.

How to Increase Productivity in the Workplace

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How to Increase Productivity in the Workplace

A happy workforce is a recipe for productivity which is crucial for business growth. Whether you’re a start-up or a growing business, it’s not easy finding the right ways to consistently engage employees and keep them motivated to deliver on business targets. According to a recent study, 71% of business leaders believe that employee engagement is crucial for business success. As essential as this is, you don’t require huge changes and implementation to yield high results. Are you looking for ways to get quality work done without spending too much time? Follow these tips.

Equip your staff with the right tools

If you want your employees to deliver, you need to make the appropriate tools and equipment available to them. Nothing is more counterproductive than having to deal with makeshift tools to deliver jobs on time. This doesn’t simply affect employee morale but creates a dent in your business brand. Modern, high-quality tools are the difference between fast-growing businesses and those barely treading water in the current technological climate. 

While some tools and equipment may be outside your budget, you can consult an electronics manufacturer company like Vexos, which offers business engineering solutions to help your staff focus on other jobs, reduce costs and earn a competitive business advantage. You can spend on multi-purpose gadgets for small businesses, for example, a printer with a scanner, fax, and copier functions.

Be efficient

To ensure high productivity in the workplace, begin by considering how your business operates and explore other potential ways to get work done. While at it, always remember to categorize jobs into short and long-term tasks, particularly for small businesses. Find innovative ways to structure jobs to ensure staff can deliver on daily objectives. To do this, provide each employee with a plan and urge them to create their own list while ensuring they complete priority jobs on schedule. This is vital to motivating employees to complete jobs, which will reflect in the overall workplace productivity.

Minimize distractions

Minimizing the level of distraction in your workplace is key to guaranteeing high productivity. Distractions like social media can significantly kill business productivity. Although implementing a no-phone policy has worked in some workplace settings, it’s essential to offer some room for flexibility yet keep employees engaged and focused on delivering. Implement policies to ensure that staff will keep away from their phones while offering them scheduled breaks to catch up on their socials freely. This will promote more productivity at the desk since employees know they’ll get time for their personal stuff.

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Schedule regular reviews

Regularly reviewing work means that you can monitor employee performance, commend and reward when appropriate. A workplace with a performance review system keeps employees on their toes, pushing them toward achieving targeted business objectives. Create attainable goals and inspire your team to achieve them. Additionally, offer rewards and criticize constructively when appropriate. However, when reviewing employee performance, offer room for staff feedback to determine what’s working and what’s not. This way, they can feel part of the decision-making processes, which is key to keeping them motivated to deliver.  

Introducing More Fun Into The Classroom To Help Different Learning Styles

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All children learn differently and absorb knowledge in different ways, not everyone is the same. We all retain knowledge in different ways which is why when we go to higher education courses we are more in charge of how we can take notes of what we learn so it works for our individual needs. If you experience bad behavior which may just simply be frustration from the children struggling to follow the lessons. It is important to improve the way you work and help the way they work. There are lots of different learning styles from visual learners who can take things in better when being shown and observing things. As well as physical learners who learn much better by being hands-on and learning through the sense of touch. 

Get Outside More

When teaching about things like bugs, insects, and whether it is a good idea to get the students out and about and get them stuck into things. You can do things like a scavenger hunt where they need to find certain things or bugs then when everyone has finished you can all sit down and talk through what was found, some facts about them, and make it fun and engaging. Getting outside in nature is also a great way to help reduce anxiety and stress so can help in that sense for the children as well. 

Do Group Activities For Learning Styles

A great thing to help children learn is by doing group and team-building activities so it also helps them develop their confidence and social skills too. Some students are great at this as it is one of the benefits from attending infant daycare as they are used to being around other children and working and playing together in different ways. Just like they may be better with social skills if they have older siblings. 

By offering different group activities for different subjects it can help by putting the children in groups of their learning styles so they can easily bounce ideas off each other and be able to work together well to achieve the task set. You can also look to mix things up by mixing the learning styles and see how the children adapt to taking things on in different ways while still being there to support them and help them progress and widen how they take in information. It is something you can adapt to your teaching style and see what works best for you and your students. 

Get All The Arts And Crafts Ready

Arts and crafts are something all children love doing and really help them show who they are through expression. Arts and crafts can easily be incorporated into different subjects which helps children look at things differently. You can easily incorporate a math lesson into art by doing a mosaic type activity which can teach them all about shapes and angles where they can then recognize them easily through this method first whilst also enjoying it a lot more too. 

Driving Foot Traffic To Your Retail Store In A Post-Covid World

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The business world has changed so much due to the coronavirus pandemic but it is retail businesses that have been hit the hardest. Although many have moved online, it is important that you think about how you are going to proceed when things start getting back to normal and you are able to open your store again.

Driving foot traffic to a retail store is hard enough as it is, but in the wake of a pandemic, things will be even more difficult. The danger won’t disappear overnight and many people have adjusted to the new way of doing things, so they will be less inclined to shop in person. However, there are techniques you can use to encourage people to visit your store. These are some of the best ways to drive foot traffic to your retail business in a post-COVID world. 

Make Sure It’s Safe

Safety should be your key concern when opening your store again. You have a responsibility to keep your employees and your customers safe at all times and if you don’t put the right measures in place, people will not feel comfortable stepping foot inside your store. Make sure that you are following all of the latest guidelines about safety and, where possible, you go above and beyond to reduce the risk of everybody in the store. When people see that you are prioritizing their safety, they will feel more comfortable about shopping inside. 

Give The Store A New Look

People have been unable to go out and do things for a long time and when things start opening again, they’ll be desperate for something new and exciting. If you present people with the same old store that they visited last time, you won’t generate that much excitement, so you should give it a new look. It’s likely that you will need to rearrange the layout to keep it safe anyway, so why not lean into it and give the complete store an overhaul? Call in some commercial painters to freshen the place up and change up your window displays to keep things interesting. You don’t necessarily need to rebrand the business, but you should do something different if you want to draw people in. 

Create Offers And Discounts

Offers and discounts are often the best way to make your business stand out and encourage people to choose you over your competitors. Every retail business on the high street will be desperate to get people through the door and you’re more likely to catch people’s attention if you are offering a big discount. You should start by creating an email marketing campaign and contacting existing customers with discount codes to use in store. That way, you can create a bit of a buzz on opening day and you should hopefully have a queue outside the door. 

The last year has been tough on retail businesses but things are starting to look more positive. When you do open your doors again, make sure to try these techniques to drive more traffic to your store.