Michael Levitt's Blog, page 93
March 19, 2021
Hiring The Right People Into Your Transportation Business
Any kind of business needs the right people working within it in order to function properly and achieve its ultimate aims as successfully as possible. If you are running a transportation business, then this is certainly still the case, and it’s something that you are going to want to think about from day one. In this post, we are going to see what you might want to bear in mind in order to ensure that you are hiring the best people into your transportation business from the very start, and therefore building your company in the way you would hope.
Start Local
It’s always a good idea to begin by taking a close look at the people looking for work in the local area around your business. There are many reasons to approach it in this way: first of all, you will be able to ensure that your business is giving something back to the local community, but you will also find that you actually have access to a larger number of potential candidates too. When people are searching for truck driving job locations, they are much more likely to start local first, so this will benefit you greatly.
There are many kinds of people you might be able to hire, but most of all you want to have the kind of people who are really committed to their chosen career. For that reason, you will want to ideally try to find those who really want to be working in this industry, ideally in a specific job. If you can find those people, you will get a lot more out of them in general, and you are going to find that your business is much more successful on the whole. Seeking commitment from your workforce is always going to help you out in a big way.
Look Beyond The First FewIt can be tempting to land on one or two early candidates who appear to have all the necessary qualities that you are looking for. You might wonder why you would carry on if you happen to find the perfect person straight away. But the fact is that you are much more likely to find someone absolutely spot on if you persist a little, so this is something that you are going to want to think about in some way or another. If you look at more people, you have a better chance of hiring the very best people. It’s that simple.
There are many things which you might want to consider as essential for when you are hiring into your transportation company. For instance, you need to make sure that the individual in question has all the necessary paperwork - insurance, permit to drive, license, and so on. These things can’t be dealt with after the fact, so it is vital that you make a point of managing them as soon as possible during the recruitment process. This is much more likely to be easy for you.
March 18, 2021
What You Need To Know Before Expanding Your Business
Running a small business is tough, but eventually, there comes a time when you feel you’re ready to become something bigger. You don’t have to stay in one place forever, and if you’re success-driven, expansion is likely one of your goals! There are many reasons for a business to expand, but it takes a lot of time and effort to get to a point where it’s possible. The problem is, like most ventures in your business, expansion is expensive and risky, and not something you should do if you’re not ready for it.
Planning your expansion should take a long time, and for good reason too. You can’t just go with the flow, you need to know what you’re going to do, how it’s going to turn out for you, and how much you’re going to need to pay for it. Your business is growing, but that doesn’t necessarily turn into more income, and it could mean the end for you if you plan it poorly. You need to know what you need, what you’re going to need to have built, who you need to appeal to. Everything is different in a new market.
If you’re going to be moving to a new building or having a bigger building made for your business, how is that going to affect you and your employees? Do your employees have everything they need? Moving and expanding is a big investment, so you should be getting the most out of it.
With expansion comes the need for more employees. Running a small business with a small team is fine, but if you try to stretch that team when your business expands, you’ll find that you may be overworking your staff. Do you have the funds to cover more wages? You mustn’t bite off more than you can chew, and you may need to compensate from your own money when the expansion is happening.
Updating your employee benefits can be great for business. If you’re successful enough to grow, adding more benefits for employees to choose from can be great for your reputation. Getting a cafeteria plan document can be easy enough to do, and now’s the perfect time for you to start thinking about that.
With new employees comes extra stress from management. If you were managing your team before increasing the number of employees, the stress of management is going to be a lot more difficult to deal with, so finding new people to manage can be helpful. There’s only so much that one person can do, and trying to manage too many people by yourself can lead to a messy workplace, with messages getting lost in translation, and constantly having to chase people up during your own time. It’s just too much to handle for one person, and there’s no need when you can implement more managers!
The new cost of running it
Along with new employees needing to be hired, if you’re opening up another store, you need to be considering how much it’s going to cost to run it. You’ll be paying for double the products, double the supplies, and double the bills. Ideally, you have enough to cover that for a while, but you can never know how long you’ll need before the store can pay for itself.
Part of expansion can sometimes mean moving to a new area, or at least partially moving, means putting yourself in a new market. Even if you’re successful in your current spot, it doesn’t guarantee you to be successful where you’re planning on expanding, and you may even end up struggling to begin with. You need to be prepared to cover yourself financially because it might take a while for you to be making enough profit for two businesses. Try expanding your audience online, having a website or social media can be great ways to reach new customers.
Going into a new market means you’re going to be needing new customers, and sometimes that can mean adapting. It’s all well and good to be sailing smoothly in your current market, but you can’t always pull that off twice. Make sure you know what kind of competition you’ll be having, and prepare ways to have yourself stand out amongst them. No business can survive without adapting, and that’s part of an expansion in all scenarios.
While the whole idea of expansion is a risk, you should try to make sure that risk is as small as it can be, otherwise, you’ll be punching a hole in your profits for no reason. Sure, you can cut your losses if it doesn’t work out, but that’s a lot of money to let go of for a poorly planned venture. You need to go when the time is right for your business, and unless you’re sitting comfortably with your finances, you should at least hold off until you can sustain two businesses for a little while.
Growing your audience is always a good thing if the return on investment is positive, and there are many ways you can go about that. You’re going to need to expand your audience if you’re going to survive in a new market with new competitors, so it’s important that you know how to do so before expanding.
Social media is a tool that many businesses have been using to grow their brand’s reputation, and it can be very effective if you have the know-how. Your audience can skyrocket if you can properly exploit the benefits of social media, but you’ve got to do it right. For example, you would have likely seen brands like Wendys or Dennys on social media, stirring up a fuss with people online, and it’s gotten them quite a big social media following. It’s key that you know how to properly relate to the online audience.
Your best shot would be to hire someone who fits the demographic matching your target audience so that they can manage the social media pages for you. Of course, with supervision, but if you want your business's social media pages to take off - relating with your target audience is the right way to do it.
The Biggest Business Hurdles: Get Over Them With These Tips
All businesses face hurdles. Some more than others. There are certain industries that face specific problems, then there are the hurdles that all businesses face together. Coronavirus is a great example as it changed the way pretty much all businesses operated across the globe. Business owners get across hurdles in different ways too. It depends on the individual. On how they run their business, the budget they have available, and where their priorities lie. Here are some tricky issues which can occur.
Transport is huge in the world of business. Whether you’re a travel agency using coaches and planes, to a supplier delivering vast quantities of finished goods. Issues happen all the time. It might be you own a fleet of company cars and you suddenly find yourself needing an insurance dispute attorney or perhaps a coach has broken down and you need to find a new one. The key to getting over these transport hurdles is to have multiple options on the table. This means you have contacts in the industry that you can use to cover any potential issues. So if that coach does break down, you know another coach company who can quickly fill the gap. For new businesses, it can be hard forging these relationships but doing so is priceless as they allow you to quickly overcome bureaucracy and get those issues fixed.
If your sales platform is based purely online and you lose some of your rankings, your sales will take an immediate and destructive hit. Not to worry, you just need to gain ranking again, but how? It depends on where you’re selling. For example, there are specific methods to increase your keyword ranking on Amazon. Just like there are ways to get a better rank on Google or Bing. You need to focus on your website. What went wrong? Fix it. If nothing went wrong, then start to focus on content again. Do you have a blog and if so, is it a successful one? When did you last update it? If it was a long time ago it might be time to think about some posts your customers would find useful. Losing rank is definitely a hurdle to overcome but millions of businesses come up against this daily. You can get over it with the right strategy.
Maybe you just can’t recruit quickly enough, or perhaps you need to cover some important work while members of your team are on leave or off sick. It happens quite quickly and a lot of businesses make the mistake of employing new staff members only to realize they have too many staff too late. Instead, use temporary agencies to backfill staff on short-term contracts. You may pay a little more but you miss out on the stress of having to employ someone full time only to realize you don’t need them, you’ll also ensure that your business stays super productive. Another option is to be able to recruit on a freelance basis. It will cost you more on a per-hour basis but you’ll be able to stipulate exactly how long you need them for and be free of contracts and binding relationships.
Less Is More: The 5 Best Ways To Streamline Your Company
In business, we feel that we need to continuously prepare for the future, but this means that we're not able to keep track of where we are. The fact is that as we continue to evolve, we must realize that processes take priority, but one of the cardinal sins is that we end up constantly relying on the same ones without fine-tuning and finessing them. If you are figuring out the best ways to streamline your company, here are a handful of practices to consider.
Automation is the savior of modern business. If you have set up accounting software, you need to take the time to automate as much as you can. It's an extra process that can make a massive difference. If your accounting software is able to generate invoices, provide email reminders, and actually serve your business in a far better method than piles of paper, you won't have to worry as much. When you start to automate in this way, but also by using CRM systems, it immediately takes the worry out of the process.
One of the key assets you have is your cash. But many entrepreneurs have no understanding of how much they are paying to the banks in service charges every month. In order to understand your incomings and outgoings, request a bank analysis statement. This will help you see, in black and white, if you are making the most of all the services you're being charged for. If not, you can start to streamline and reduce costs associated with certain accounts. This means you've got more money to invest back into your business.
Schedules are crucial, and when we are learning to guide employees or build a business, it can be very time-consuming. But you can use certain software packages to scan and track employee hours and earnings. Scheduling software is integral because it provides your business with that all-important framework. It's a worthy investment that will save you a lot of time in the long run.
Address Your Supply Chain Efficacy
The supply chain is invaluable to our business. If you are not nurturing your relationship with the supply chain, you need to identify how you can streamline your strategies. You need to keep a strong relationship with your supply chain by working with as few service providers as you can. When you work with numerous supply chains, it's understandable that you are hedging your bets, but in order to actually streamline, you need to work with the people that are giving you what you need. But you also need to remember you have to give back to them as well.
Promoting is something that can take a lot of effort and money. If you spend a lot of time-saving your budget for TV or big billboards, you might be going down the wrong avenues. Instead, work to market your products directly to the customer. It has never been cheaper to make your own commercials, post them on your website, and make them shareable. This requires a significant amount of skills as far as production techniques are concerned, but it's a wonderful way to bypass the bigger marketing strategies.
In business, less is more. Learning to streamline your company, by using a couple of these processes, can make a massive difference.
March 17, 2021
Inspections You Should Definitely Think About Doing When Buying Property
Photo by cottonbro from Pexels
Buying a home is an exciting process - finally you can settle into a house of your liking and make beautiful memories in those four walls. When you've bought your house, there are many factors to think about afterward, like which room will be used for which purpose, what color you want the walls to be painted, whether you're going to do any renovations, etc. But, what many people don't think about is the owner who lived there before you and what they may have left behind. No, this is not about the few odd pieces of furniture they left behind or the pots they abandoned in the garden - what you should really be thinking about is the things that aren't visible to the naked eye but can cause a massive headache if not looked at properly. That said, here are a few inspections you should definitely consider doing on your new home just to be safe.
Pest Inspection
One of the most common issues found in a home is termite infestation. Termites tend to hide in tiny spaces that aren't easily accessible, meaning that it wouldn't look like there would be any damage from afar. There are three different termite colonies consisting of reproductives, soldiers, and workers. These termites are usually an off-white color and can easily be mistaken as grains of rice. A pest inspection would entail the specialists visiting the home and evaluating the property (they usually know precisely where to look). A comprehensive report will be emailed to you, as well as recommendations on how to handle the situation.
A lot of houses may have been used for the production of drugs which may leave traces behind that can be harmful to you and your children. A drug like Meth that is smoked or produced leaves harmful toxins behind that can be embedded into floors, ceilings, and walls. Due to the rising number of individuals creating labs in homes and using this drug, there has never been a more critical time to have your property tested for traces of iodine, lithium, and mercury, which are all found in Meth. Specialists like Stewarts Drug Testing Perth are trained and have the correct equipment to test your property for traces of drugs and keep you informed every step of the way.
A roof is one of your home's most vital features; therefore, it should always be in optimal condition. There are easy ways for you to check the roof's integrity by taking a walk around the house outside and trying to spot any damage; you can also check the attic's temperature. If the temperature of the attic differs from the weather outside, the roof needs fixing. You can also inquire about the roof's age - if it has surpassed the 25-year mark, odds are the entire roof needs replacing.
By doing these three easy inspections, you'll be sure of a house that is clean and safe to live in. After all, it's your brand new house - it should definitely feel as such!
Are You As Excited About Statistics As You Should Be
When it comes to your business or career, you may not be aware of statistics. Sometimes, it’s easy to see them as just numbers that numbers people need to know about and deal with. But that’s really not the case.
In fact, statistics can be so essential to your industry. Let’s take a look.
No matter what you do in business, you’ll want to base your decisions on tangible evidence. Sometimes, that isn’t available. But most of the time, there will be statistics that you can turn to.
Not only that, but you should have your own statistics that you can turn to within your own business or industry. Whether this is computer science or something more creative, you should definitely be looking at data analysis.
But how do you make this work out for you? You’ll want to work with your IT team or analytics programs and have them set up. Not only that, but you might want to work with specialist teams to see how you can do this on another level.
For more information on this and the role that statistics play in computer science in particular, take a look at the infographic below.
Infographic Design By Michigan Tech Online
March 16, 2021
Increasing Morale When It Comes To Your Employees
Image source - pixabay - cco license
Running a business isn’t easy. A lot of the time a business is started from home. You have your idea, you take that plunge, and with little overheads, you work on it yourself for every spare minute you have. But as a business grows, you move forward with your ideas. You may end up with some sort of business premises, a shop, or hiring people to also work from home. Having employees means that you can delegate certain aspects of your business while you continue to grow the company in the best way you know best.
Have regular meetings and communications regarding performance
It is also very important for you to have regular meetings and updates regarding performance and where you see their future. People love to know how well they are doing, and also understand the areas that may need improving. This is especially important if these people are on a commission-based wage. This helps them to keep on tabs what they are earning or could potentially earn in the future.
At some point, you have to consider the futures of your employees, which means taking into account their career aspirations and what they want to do for the future. It is always a good idea to take into account your employees’ thoughts and feelings, showing that you care about their career aspirations could help them to stay with you as a business. People like Adrian Jones HP see real value in making their time happy for productivity and showing an interest in career development and how they are feeling can really help with that.
If they want to develop their career then they may want to think about some of the ways they can do that, one being enhancing their skills and increasing their knowledge. There is so much that could benefit you as a business by investing in the people that work for you. You can build upon the knowledge and skills, promote and give added responsibility. Also, if you do invest in your employees they can start to feel more valued.
The next thing you may want to think about when it comes to your employees is to create incentives for them. This is a huge motivator and it can often be a great way to boost those sales when it comes to the end of the month or incentivize people to work on those weekends or evenings. It could be as simple as a meal voucher or cinema tickets, a bottle of wine, or cash incentives. Whatever works for you and the team, it might be a great way to keep the sales coming. However, you may need to consider the additional costs for this, so ensure you factor that into monthly budgets.
Let’s hope these tips help you to improve your employees’ morale in the workplace.
March 12, 2021
The Attributes That Lead To a Future-Proof Business
Photo by Alex Knight from Pexels
Here’s something that everyone that runs a business probably knows, either intuitively or not: the business world is always changing. The conditions of today will not be the conditions of tomorrow (well, the conditions of a few years down the line). The rate of change is becoming faster all the time, so it’s not an exaggeration to say that the business landscape might look radically different in the not too distant future, especially once you’ve factored in the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. While you can’t prevent the world from changing, you can affect your company’s suitability for navigating the changes. If you put the right pieces in the right places, then you could have a future-proof business that ensures you can continue to thrive no matter what happens.
Core ValuesIt’s a mistake to put too much of your company’s hope for the future in a single product or service. Indeed, you can argue that it’s a mistake to put too much faith in your entire business operations; Blockbuster were in the business of renting DVDs, but if they hadn’t been so committed to that, then they might still be around. Rather than simply thinking of your company as a business that provides X or Y, look at it through the lens of your core values. The values and ethics that guide your business can be timeless; they’re not affected by the market. When it comes to making changes, you won’t be overly tied to whatever it is your business does -- you’ll be tied to the values that underpin your operations. And that can be a very freeing sensation.
Think of your business like a house that lies close to the sea. The rising tides might consume that house. However, if the house can be moved, then when those high tides come, the house can simply be picked up and put in a safe, dry place. The location of the home was adaptable, and while the view changed, things more or less stayed the same -- it remained useful and beneficial. You should try to make your business equally adaptable. The economic and business conditions will always change, but if your organization is too rigid and stuck in its ways, then it won’t have the flexibility that’s needed to adapt to the changes as and when they arise. An agile approach to your business is key -- it’s what all the big companies have because it allows them to change direction when the winds change. Similarly, it’s wrong to put all your eggs in one basket -- looking for new products and services will serve you better.
Ideally, you’d hire a member of staff once, and that’d be it -- you can forget about it for the foreseeable future. Bringing new employees on board can be time-consuming and expensive, after all. However, it’s not enough to simply hire the best employee. You could have the most talented employee in the world and still run into trouble, if you’re not providing them with ongoing training and support. No matter what industry you’re in, there’ll always be things that change and develop -- the skills required today will not be the same skills required tomorrow. If you make a commitment to training your staff, then you’ll always have access to the best, well-trained team of employees. Plus, this can help retain employees -- the best ones usually leave if it feels like they’re not space for development.
One problem that all companies, even large companies, have is the leadership turnover issue. While you might have an awesome team of management right now, they won’t be around forever -- they could move up to more senior roles, retire, or move to another company. When that happens, an organization can find that it’s in serious trouble. It takes a long time to get the experience and company know-how required to work in leadership roles. If you’re looking to ensure that your company has a bright future, then you need to think ahead about how you’ll handle the leadership question when your current crop of leaders leaves. This is where succession planning comes in. This is the process of identifying potential leaders and then preparing them to step into a leadership role over the course of several years. Of course, you’ll need to talk to the employee about whether that’s what they want.
The world changes in many ways. Sometimes, it’s a technology that drives things forward. At others, it’s changing attitudes and needs. The point remains the same, however -- in order to have a successful business, then you’ll need to serve your customers. While we often think that the market is some unknowable force, that’s rarely the case. Surprises do crop up, but most developments are not a surprise; they’ve been coming for a while. There are various ways you can figure out what the future of your industry might look like. You can attend trade events and read trade magazines, for example. Also, looking at where the leading companies in your industry are investing their capital will give you a strong idea.
You’ll have had a solid product or service when you first began your company. Yet, while that’ll see you through a few years, there’ll come a point when the product or service that you provide begins to feel a little outdated and behind the times. You see it happen with companies all the time. The problem is that when you realize you’re behind the times, it’s a difficult process to try and catch up. The best companies make innovation a core part of their operations; there’s never a time when they’re not innovating. Take The Beachbody Company as an example. They’ve been in the fitness industry for over twenty years, but they’ve never rested on their laurels. Rather, they continue to innovate. This ensures that they’ll always be at the forefront of their industry, no matter what the future holds.
All companies have weaknesses, even the very best. The presence of weaknesses is not by itself an issue; it’s when a company isn’t aware of those weaknesses that problems arise. As part of your company operations, it’s important that you’re identifying risks on a continual basis. You’ll find that many of them can be remedied or at least controlled with a little bit of planning. Think of your company’s future in the same way that Jamie Foxx sees his future happiness; he asks himself, ‘what’s going to be a problem?’ Simply thinking of what might be an issue some years down the line allows you to handle the threat today.
Listening to Customers
Your customers are going to be one of your best resources for creating a future where your company can thrive. After all, if you always have customers on your side, then you have a viable business. Getting feedback from your client base is something you should be doing on a regular basis anyway, but it’s especially important when you’re planning for your future. You might just find that they can tell you all the answers you need to shape the future of your business.
You’re always in competition with other businesses, but who your competition is will change. You might have a list of competitors right now, but in the future, it’s likely that a new company will pop up, and they might be a greater challenge to your success to what you currently experience. As a general rule, it’s a good idea to continually monitor developments in your industry, and also, to never discount an ambitious company. People thought that a concept like Airbnb would never take off, but we all know how that turned out.
On an individual level, you, as a business owner, should continue to develop and learn. If you take a look at the attributes that the leading entrepreneurs possess, you’ll find that they all share a common trait no matter what industry they’re in: they all make it their mission to continue learning. If you think that you know all the answers, then you’ll be in trouble. Why? Because the answers that lead to business success today will not be the same answers that guide success in the future. You can learn from many different sources -- just keep your eyes and ears open and you’ll absorb the lessons you need.
As we’ve seen time and time again, there are no guarantees that just because a company is successful today, then they’ll be successful tomorrow. There’s a long list of companies that were once at the top of their game that are now simply a part of the history books! If you have plans to be in business for a long time, then it’s important that you’re analyzing how ready you are for the future. In doing so, you might just find that you’re able to create a bright future, all just by doing a little bit of planning today.
Everything You Need to Know About the DMAIC Process
DMAIC stands for define, measure, analyse, improve and finally, control. It’s very data-driven and it’s a strategy that is often used to improve a specific process. The letters in the acronym essentially represent the five different phases that make up the strategy. It’s an integral part of the initiative known as the Six Sigma. That being said, it can easily be used as a solo improvement procedure.
When should You Use DMAIC?
DMAIC is used to improve a process. It’s a brilliant choice if you have a complex problem where the root cause is not clear. DMAIC brings a certain degree of discipline to the process and it also discourages teams from skipping over some of the most important steps. On top of this, it also increases the chance of you experiencing success. In short, DMAIC should be used for any important process.
What Tools do you Need for DMAIC?
A lot of improvement tools can be very helpful if you have a DMAIC project. You have A3s, value stream maps and also fishbone diagrams too. This will help you to structure your efforts, improve your communication and to also calculate results. It also helps you to preserve the next record of the project.
This may sound strange, but DMAIC is essentially a way for you to improve upon your improvement. DMAIC is an excellent approach for complex projects and it gives you the chance to build upon the work that you have done in a highly efficient way.
Infographic Designed By Six Sigma DMAIC Method
A Basic Guide To Staying Fit And Healthy On A Business Trip
Photo by Gustavo Fring from Pexels
Business trips aren’t things of the past. When the world reopens, entrepreneurs will need to visit clients to thrash out deals and negotiate contracts. Video-calling software and apps help, yet they aren’t ideal because you lose the power of human interaction.
It’s been so long for so many businessmen and women that you might not know what to do when the time arrives! Your health could go out of the window, which is a big mistake because remaining fit aids everything from your mood to your powers of concentration.
How can you incorporate your gym routine into a life of business travel? Here are four ideas.
Remember It’s Not A HolidayVacations are ideal for taking time off and unwinding from the rigors of life, such as the office. Of course, a business trip doesn’t fall into this category since the main aim is to further the company. So, you shouldn’t treat it as a holiday. Otherwise, you’ll eat and drink what you want, making it harder to resume your program when you return home. Even if you can’t work out as much, you should watch what you consume to keep your calorie intake down.
Search For DealsDeals and your wellbeing are closely related, although you might not be able to see it currently. Just think about the times when you’ve paid for a good hotel with a gym. How often would you exercise then? The answer is, more than usual! The likes of Elamant can help as Elamant reviews highlight the benefits of their wholesale travel perks. With a little help, you can afford better digs where the facilities encourage a healthy lifestyle. Don’t forget about the plane, either. A comfy seat, good grub, and space to stretch will prevent the sedentary side-effects that are associated with a long trip.
Be FlexibleYour routine at home is often set in stone. You know where you need to be throughout the day, and when you have time to exercise and de-stress. You also understand what periods are the most productive for your schedule. Life on the road is different because your timetable will fluctuate wildly. Therefore, you’ve got to be flexible regarding working out and breaking a sweat. If you usually do it in the morning, don’t be annoyed that you can’t if you’re away on business. Instead, take the opportunity to hit the hotel gym in the afternoon when a meeting is over. The Muse has more if you need inspiration.
Stick To Baseline Healthy HabitsWe’ve already spoken about one baseline you can control - your calorie intake. The good news is, there are other foundations you can include regardless of your location. Healthy habits will keep you in tune with your mind and body, just like they do when balancing debt or taking care of your finances, even if you can’t work out like you want to. For instance, stretching in the morning will loosen the joints and muscles to eliminate tightness. Also, it will promote blood flow to the brain to ensure you’re alert and ready to be productive. And, it only takes ten to fifteen minutes.
It’s your business trip and your body, so how will you hit your fitness goals when you’re away?
