Michael Levitt's Blog, page 94
March 11, 2021
Things to Remember to Keep You Properly Balanced In Your Professional Life
When people think about having a successful and thriving professional life, they will typically get caught up in imagining vast wealth and certain logistical dimensions of the business all “falling into place.”
Just as importantly, though, you will need to maintain a good sense of balance to keep yourself from burning out, and for your professional life to truly enhance your overall ability to thrive in general.
Here are a handful of realizations to keep in mind, in order to ensure that you are able to remain properly balanced in your professional life.
For one thing, it’s very important to realize that your own personal well-being, health, and sense of vitality and positivity will influence your workplace performance significantly.
Of course, all of these things are vitally important for their own sake, but even in terms of ensuring that you are able to turn up to a job each day and bring your best performance time and again, safeguarding your own health and well-being will be a major net benefit.
If you are worn down, exhausted, ill, and disheartened, you can be sure that these negative conditions will be mirrored in your workplace performance, and probably also in the decisions you make, and the dynamic that you embody in your business.
Maintaining proper balance, and taking care of yourself, has repercussions across the board – as does failing to do so.
There are essentially an unlimited number of things you could potentially do at any given time in your professional life. Many people – especially new entrepreneurs – can become extremely caught up in trying to identify the best and most sophisticated strategy at any given time.
If you are totally confused about where to turn next, it’s worth keeping in mind that a bit of pragmatism can often illuminate the way forward and help you to regain momentum, quickly.
If you need a water cart for your business, contacting a water cart hire company and taking it from there is a logical step that will move you out of the realm of abstract theory and back into the world of action, in a hurry.
If in doubt, figure out what you can do that will move things forward as quickly and effectively as possible.
It’s impossible to maintain balance in your life – never mind balance between your personal and professional lives – if you’re spending all your time doing things that you feel no enthusiasm towards at all.
Ultimately, you need to listen to your intuition and pursue things in your professional life that you are enthusiastic about, and that you find meaningful in general. Things that you can believe in, in other words.
Not only will this likely make you much more engaged, professionally speaking, but it will make your life better as well.
3 Ways To Make Money While You’re Stuck At Home
Being stuck at home has been difficult for everyone, but that can become much more difficult when you have to share that struggle with young children. Being a mom is one of the hardest jobs in the world, and that can become even more difficult when you’re trying to pay the bills at the same time, but with the lockdown in place that’s started to seem impossible. There need to be ways to make money while you’re stuck at home, and you’ve got kids to look after - and there are!
Clearing out old stuff
With the lockdown in place, you’re going to be spending a lot of time at home, and there’s never been a better time to start thinking about having a clearout. We often hold onto things that we’ll never use or wear again, and there’s no sense in keeping it if it has no real sentimental value! Now’s the time to look through what you’ve got and put it up for sale! You never know how much you could make from your unwanted possessions, and that price tag will soon add up!
It’s hard to get rid of your belongings sometimes, but it can come to a point where it becomes no more than clutter, and you could be using that space for things that you’re going to make use of!
Most people have a talent that they could be making money from, the problem is finding the time and energy to bring that to reality. It’s never as simple as just doing what you want and then receiving a paycheck, you have to find the right avenue. It all depends on what you’re capable of, but there are usually effective ways to capitalize on it. If you’re an artist, for example, you’ve got many options that you can make money from. One way would be in the form of a taught class, where you can show others how you do it, and receive payment for the tutoring.
There are many sites out there like Skillshare that offer those with a talent a way to share that with others while making some money back on it. If you have a talent that you think you could capitalize on, now’s the perfect time to look into it!
Just because times are slow right now, it doesn’t mean you should be waiting for things to get better, and there’s a lot you can be doing to get a head start for when the lockdown ends! Having to spend so much time at home is frustrating for most people, but it does provide the perfect opportunity to start working towards something different. There’s no rule that says you have to go back to your usual life once things are getting back to normal, and if you’ve been looking for a career change, now’s the time!
Your life is what you make it, and you can do anything you want to once this is over, whether it’s something simple like taking up a new hobby or something more challenging like this vet tech program. Don’t wait around for change to happen, you’ve got a lot of time now to think of a fresh start.
Lockdown isn’t easy on anyone, and that’s why it’s important that we can find ways to adapt. You have to find ways to make money from home, you have to find ways to interact with others from home, and there’s no point in waiting it out!
How to Make Your Business Impossible to Ignore
If your business has been in a slump recently and you want to do something to turn things around, you need to find ways to capture people’s imagination again. Once your business starts to be seen as stagnant and unappealing, you’re in trouble. Luckily, we’re going to talk about some of the things you can do to change your fortunes and make your business impossible to ignore. Read on now to find out more and start making a few changes from there.
First of all, you should take steps to ensure you’re offering something completely unique and different to what your rivals are offering to customers. If your business isn’t doing something new and original, you’re giving customers less of a reason to be interested in what it is you’re offering. Revise your products and services if they’ve fallen behind the times and are no longer unique.
Creating and sharing content that’s relevant is another way to ensure people carry on paying attention to your business, especially in the online realm. Content creation is pretty standard for businesses in many industries these days. And by sharing relevant content, you can remain an active participant in relevant and ongoing conversations within your niche and your base of customers.
If you’re looking for ways to improve passing trade, you might want to think about making your business more visually appealing and hard to ignore at your location. You can get some custom flags made, change your storefront, improve your landscaping and maybe invest in some new signage. There are many ways to approach this, so find the one that works for you.
A little clarity goes a long way when it comes to branding your business properly. Consistent messaging is really important and you’re going to need to get it right if you want people to pay attention to your company. The branding you employ also needs to be clear and consistent across all platforms too. People pick up on small inconsistencies and people can spot a fake a mile away these days. So make sure honesty and integrity also tie into your approach to branding and messaging too.
Finally, you might want to look at ways to make your business feel more relevant to its audience by partnering up with other businesses. Of course, you don’t want to partner with direct rivals, but you can benefit from partnering with companies that offer something related and complementary to what it is your business offers. And when done right, both companies will benefit.
It’s up to you to ensure people are paying attention to your business and taking an interest in what you’re offering. No one else is going to do that for you. So make the most of the ideas discussed above and make your business impossible to ignore by your target audience.
6 Hidden Secrets of Successful Marketing
It is known that the number of sales in a company drives its profitability. Marketing is a vast field that you need to master for your business to succeed. A good marketing campaign will increase the business's profitability. Poor marketing strategies often lead to inadequate sales thus poor entrepreneurial performance.
Choosing a marketing strategy is a critical deciding factor in the success of a business. Besides quality, the popularity of your product heavily relies on the marketing strategy. You need to ensure that you harmonize and integrate your production, sales, and employee welfare departments for smooth operations.
Whether you are starting a business, introducing a new product, or reviving your business, you need to create a strategy that will fit your business position. Each stage in business requires a specific input across all departments. You should, therefore, analyze the current business position using the financial and accounting documents and decide which strategy to use.
You need to specify your financial limits so that you can know which strategies to implement. When budgeting, ensure you list all your requirements, including labor and expertise, for adequate planning. Use approximate prices to cater to the ever-changing economy.
It is also essential that you consult with the experts to search for alternative s that may be more affordable and of better quality. Please try to be flexible and open-minded to accommodate brilliant ideas from your team.
The uncertainty of online and offline marketing is that you can only depend on the marketing projections and variations. Even though you may have nailed down your marketing campaign, you must consult with the experts to verify your plan's workability.
You can also choose to outsource your marketing department to Allvision Billboards, who are adept at different marketing strategies and can put your company’s name on the map.
Every marketing campaign has specific goals that define its success. Your marketing goals will form the basis of your marketing strategy. It would help if you specified your goals clearly to avoid confusion and lack of direction. The plans will set the tone and precedent for the whole campaign.
Target AudienceIn entrepreneurship, the market gap that initiated the business will determine your target audience. You need to carefully analyze your target audience: culture, gender, age, tradition, trends, beliefs, and lifestyle. It will help you narrow down the best marketing strategy to use.
Most campaigns usually focus on a personal experience to help the customers to relate to your product. This experience will also create loyalty and repetitiveness, which, in turn, makes the product tradition.
The type of industry you ply your trade will determine your marketing strategy. You cannot expect similar marketing campaigns for a grocery and pharmaceutical business. You need to understand your niche and learn how to make the best marketing campaign.
Scrutinize and analyze your niche's business culture to identify the triggers you can use to boost your marketing campaign. Understand the market trends and traditions within the industry to help you break into the market with aplomb.
Choosing and implementing a marketing strategy are essential stages in any marketing campaign and business growth. Follow these steps, and you will be sure of success in your campaign and business.
The Concept of Balancing Good and Bad Debt
Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/xoU52jUVUXA (CC0)
To many people, debt is something that must be avoided at all costs. If you fall into debt for one reason or another, then you’ve gone wrong at some point in your life and you should fix it as soon as possible. We plan ahead to ensure we never end up in debt, and we make sure to be as frugal as possible so we always have savings.
Yet despite all of these rules, the majority of us are going to end up in serious debt in the future. In fact, one of the most common forms of debt that we face is a mortgage. This is known as good debt and is actually an important financial concept to understand. But how can debt be good? How can the idea of owing someone else money be a positive thing?
The reality of debt is that it must be used for future growth. There’s a saying that goes “you need money to make money” and the concept for debt is very similar. In order to achieve greater things in life such as owning a car or home, we need a massive upfront payment which just isn’t feasible for most people. As a result, we rely on borrowing money and this puts us into debt–and this is more common than you think.
Think of how people pay for their college education and university fees. Most people will take out some form of student loan and then slowly pay it back by working as they study. In some cases, people will only have to repay their student loans once they actually start working and earning over a specific amount of money. This is generally the preferred way to advance through life and is considered “good” debt.
Bad debt is debt that doesn’t actually help us invest in our future. However, it’s difficult to say what can be considered bad debt. There are some obvious situations such as borrowing money to gamble or pay for bad habits. However, something like borrowing money for a holiday can be considered good debt if it helps you focus on your job afterward and also relieve stress.
These debts can be considered good in many ways especially if it improves your quality of life. But if you ever end up in debt that is difficult to pay off, then you’ll need to work with companies such as Improved Data Services to get a swift resolution. The problem with debts is that they can easily spiral out of control, even if they’re considered “good”. For example, you might have a mortgage for a home but also need to make regular car payments. This can easily get too much to handle, especially if your job is only barely making enough.
Balancing good and bad debt can be tricky, but if you focus on using your money in a way that actually benefits you, then most things can be considered good debt to a certain extent. Just make sure you’re not overdoing it.
Boosting Your Personal Finances To Make A Difference
Image source - pixabay - cco license
It isn't easy when you feel like those financial restraints are getting tighter. It can often feel like you are trapped in a vicious circle of paying bills and only having a set amount come into your bank account each month. It can be exhausting. However, what some people fail to realize is that it doesn’t need to be your story, that actually there are steps that you can take to building a better and more prospective financial future. With that in mind, here are four steps you could implement today.
Research potential investments that could work for you
We all have a little time to browse our phones or the net these days, right? You are reading this right now online, be that through your phone or computer, so my suggestion would be to use the time to start researching more investment options that could work for you. Websites online have some great advice on options out there that could be viable for you. It might be worth looking at expert advice from people like Wayne Blazejczyk ASIC to help you get the best out of your investment potential. You may also want to look at how much money you might have for investment, maybe you have a savings pot already there that could be working harder for you?
You may be surprised to read that you may be able to make a saving on your outgoings at this very moment. How? You may ask. It is simple. When was the last time you checked your current outgoings were correct? Too many of us allow those debits to leave each month without another thought, focusing on what is left rather than what has left, if that makes sense. Get your last three months of bank statements and look at each debit. Many people find that they are still paying for things they thought they had canceled. Some of the most popular culprits are things like magazine subscriptions or gym memberships.
There are bills out there that we have complete control over. One of them happens to be the food bill. Are you spending too much in store? Could you buy groceries cheaper or perhaps even change the store in which you go to? Sometimes making radical changes to habits like your grocery shopping can significantly reduce your daily and weekly spend. Maybe even meal planning could help you to be more prepared for what you might need to buy, and always arm yourself with a list to avoid impulse purchases.
Finally, when was the last time you changed suppliers of things like electricity and insurance products? Often, these companies don’t reward loyalty and save their cheaper deals to entice in new customers. Changing suppliers may sound complicated but many of these companies do all the hard work, and bagging yourself a cheaper deal every six to twelve months will keep your outgoings at an all-time low.
Let’s hope that these steps are the start of a journey to help you make and save money in the future.
March 10, 2021
Hidden Things To Look For When Renting Office Space
Renting office space is a tiresome task with many different things to pay attention to. Naturally, you have the obvious things - location, rental price, etc. - though there are a few lesser-known things that you should also be aware of. If you're not careful, you can end up renting an office that's nowhere near as good as you thought it was. So, here are the hidden things to look for when renting an office:
Rental price per square footWhen you see an office up for rent, it tends to show the main rental price for all to see. This is how much you will pay each month, and it's clearly a very important thing to look at. However, there will also be another rental price that's outlined when looking at different office buildings to work in. This price is usually described as the rental price per square foot. In essence, it tells you how much rent you pay for each square foot of the office.
Why does this matter? It helps you determine the true value of office space. Let's say you have two offices in a similar location, both offering the same rental prices. However, when you look at the size of the office, you realize that one has considerably more space than the other. Therefore, the price per square foot is cheaper, even though the rent is the same. So, in this instance, you know that renting the larger office represents much better value for money. Basically, it can help you avoid getting ripped off.
The lease itself shouldn't be hidden - you should know how long you hold the lease for! Speaking of which, and this is a bit of a side-note, you should choose offices with leases that match your business. If you're likely to outgrow an office within a few months, it doesn't make sense to rent it with a 12-month lease. It'll mean you're stuck in an office that's too small for your growing business.
Similarly, you need to read all of the hidden lease terms. This will detail everything you need to know about moving out of the office. Are there any penalty fees for doing this at a certain point before the lease is over? Do you have to reapply for the lease, or does it automatically rollover? These questions are important as they help you realize if an office suits your business or not. To keep things simple, the best leases are those that are as flexible as possible. You can extend it whenever you want, and you're able to leave the lease without incurring extra charges. Will you ever find one like this? Probably not - landlords aren't known for their niceness! Nevertheless, make sure you check all of the lease terms before you sign any contracts.
There are only two things on this list, but they're very much essential when renting an office. Also, these two things may be quite hidden and neglected, but don't forget about the more obvious things to look for when renting an office as well!
How to Make Your Healthcare Facility More COVID-19-Secure
Healthcare is an essential service that must always be available to the public, irrespective of the prevalence of COVID-19. But, as you might imagine, many healthcare providers are nervous about offering their services and increasing likely exposure to their employees.
As a healthcare provider, how can you overcome such challenges? It turns out by making a few temporary adjustments to how you operate, you can still provide a much-needed service to patients. Here’s what you can do to make your facility COVID-19-secure:
Embrace Telemedicine
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, your facility will likely have preferred seeing patients face-to-face. You can still provide that personal service, but it’s a wise idea to scale back such in-person appointments given the current situation.
However, that doesn’t mean you should limit the number of patients you see and treat. Instead, what you should do is embrace telemedicine practices. Telemedicine is a practice widely championed by Brad Schaeffer and Medcomp Sciences, among others.
In a nutshell, telemedicine involves seeing patients remotely using video call technology. Additionally, telemedicine can involve patients using medical devices in their homes, with healthcare providers viewing live data remotely.
Of course, there will be some occasions where you’d need to diagnose patients in-person. However, digital healthcare can be useful for an array of simple diagnostics, such as blood pressure readings.
Enforce Social DistancingPeople can undoubtedly risk getting COVID-19 in enclosed spaces like healthcare facilities rather than open spaces. With that in mind, your healthcare facility should enforce social distancing to protect staff and patients.
There are many ways to achieve that goal. For example, you could close your waiting room and ask patients to wait in their cars outside the building. When you’re ready to see them, you can call their cellphones and invite them inside for their appointments.
You could also operate a one-way system throughout your facility by asking patients to leave through an emergency exit door rather than the main entrance. And when patients travel through your facility, ask that they wear a mask to protect themselves and your team.
Check Patients for COVID-19 SymptomsAnother common-sense approach to making your healthcare facility more COVID-19-secure is by checking if patients exhibit any of the main symptoms. Such checks can get conducted by a team member wearing personal protective equipment at your facility’s entrance.
Patients should confirm they haven’t got any symptoms by answering a quick questionnaire. Additionally, you could also do a temperature check on them using an infrared thermometer.
You may even ask them to take a rapid lateral flow test and have them wait in their vehicle for the results before allowing them inside your healthcare facility.
Deep-Clean Your Facility Several Times DailyLastly, your team can deep-clean your facility several times a day using a steam cleaner or other cleaning apparatus. The cleaning should get carried out in medium to high-traffic areas like reception desks, halls, waiting rooms, and consultation rooms.
A strict cleaning regime will significantly decrease the likelihood of COVID-19 spreading inside your healthcare facility.
Useful Ways To Use Tax To Boost Your Company's Bottom Line
Tax isn’t something you use to your advantage. It’s a necessary evil that you have to deal with if you want your business to be successful. Sure, you can scrimp and save here and there, yet it won’t impact your bottom line too much.
What if the conventional wisdom regarding tax wasn’t true? What if you could use it to your benefit year after year? Most companies can. Sadly, they let the myth that tax is a hurdle get in the way of the organization’s best interests. The good news is, you can change that in a flash with the following tactics.
Contribute To PensionsInvesting money into employees’ pension pots is a legal necessity in many states. Logically, it makes sense because the wealthier a worker is when they retire, the less the government has to contribute. Businesses must equal what individuals put in, depending on the amounts. However, this is healthy because pension contributions aren’t classed as benefits or assets, which means they reduce the company’s overall trading profits. As a result, you’ll pay less corporation tax for the year. The key is to balance how much you can put into pensions while reducing tax enough that the business wins in the long-term.
Pay DividendsDividends are like bonuses. You can pay them to anyone who owns shares in the company, as long as the business has enough liquidity to cover the costs. By handing them out to individuals, you can lower your tax contributions again since they aren’t taxable. The people who receive them have to consider what they’ll do to their returns, yet the majority of shareholders won’t turn down money, even if it takes them into another tax bracket. As long as they are recorded properly on your end, the responsibility is on the person who receives a dividend, not the firm.
Start A FranchiseYou may know a lot about tax as you’ve dealt with it for years. Some entrepreneurs don’t bother with an accountant to save money, for instance. If you fall into this category, you’re an ideal person to launch a tax franchise and use your experience of the industry to help others. This is probably the best way to improve your profit margin because the amount of revenue you can secure by enhancing your earning potential is massive. And, franchises are easier to make successful as they already come with a range of tools and assets.
Take A Low SalaryHow much you earn will impact how much tax your business has to pay. After all, you’re the boss. Thankfully, you can take the lowest possible amount that enables you to qualify for a federal pension. What about the rest of your earnings? You can take these in different forms, such as bonuses. Bonuses have different stipulations, depending on what they are, which means your exposure is lower. Also, taking a low wage means you will only be personally eligible for the minimum tax contribution.
There are several ways to use tax to your advantage. Which one will you pick?
March 8, 2021
Budget-Friendly Construction Tips For Small Business Buildings
Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
If your small business is taking off and you need to expand your office space, then you may be considering building your own office space. Many small businesses are run from people’s homes. If you have enough external space or know of somewhere you can purchase land, you could build your own office or manufacturing building. For those considering this, here are some budget-friendly tips.
Use the bricks and mortar methodThe bricks-and-mortar method for building construction is one of the most reliable methods. You will guarantee to have a safe building that can withstand all weather. To make it affordable you should source your bricks in bulk from a local company and use an asphalt pugmill. These are reliable options for ensuring your building is safe and secure when made from brick. For example, if you creating a small office as an external building of your house, using a pugmill service will generate the best cement to adhere to your brickwork. The architectural backbone of a brick building is much more reliable than other materials. Thus, you will want to use budget-friendly options that are reliable to make the most out of your money as a small business.
Since you’re building your office from the ground up, you have the rare opportunity to include green amenities without significantly adding to the cost of your project (since you don’t have to undo anything to make your home eco-friendly). Certainly, there will be a price for installing a geo-exchange, a residential wind turbine, or a solar array, just for example. But considering that you might otherwise install other types of equipment for power and temperature control systems anyway, you probably won’t incur extreme additional costs for such items. And you stand to save a lot on your monthly utility bills once you move in, so these systems will eventually pay for themselves.
There are times when you can save by adopting a do-it-yourself attitude. For example, purchasing materials means that you won’t have to pay for the time your builder spends picking things out for you (or the finder’s fee they might charge). And you can probably do some of the finishing work yourself, as well, such as painting, laying carpet, adding fixtures, and so on.
With a new or small business, you may not have to build something huge to satisfy your needs. Thus, you can start by building a small space. It could be as simple as building an outside building in your garden or a family garden if there is enough space. This means you won’t need to purchase land and can save on insurance costs. This will satisfy your budget and also be enough for your business. You can even start small with furnishings to make sure you do not overspend and be out of pocket.
