Mohit Tater's Blog, page 510

Boris Wolfman Recommends Efficient Use of Cold Chain Capabilities

Lately, packaged food has become an increasing trend in the major developed as well as developing countries. With changing lifestyles, this trend is growing enormously.

However, there is a vast amount of target audience that prefers consumption of fresh food more than frozen food. Logistics related to fresh and frozen food is a lucrative option for several companies to enter this industry.

Also, new legislation in the retail sector is touching higher boundaries, which is why retail chains are now based in several rural areas too. 

Such rural outlets provide access to the less fortunate people and aid in supporting their living. Amidst the industry chaos, maintaining a retail-friendly cold chain is a challenge that is faced by several established as well small and mid-sized companies.  

The Working of the Traditional Cycle

The supply chain of fresh and frozen food varies according to the availability of machinery, capital investment, price wars, changing consumer preferences, and many other factors. Typically, the supply chain starts with the procurement and sourcing of raw materials.

These raw materials and agricultural produce travel from a farmer to a trader. This trader can then pass the goods to either directly the retailer or wholesaler.

In a few places, local authorities add an extra layer of distribution channels. Each step in the chain adds value and a specific cost to the overall distribution cycle.

A lot of times, fresh foods and vegetables need transportation without any boxes, limited packaging, and no cold chain facilities, which hinder the quality of the goods by the time it reaches the end-user. Quality suffers a lot in such cases and adds to the increased wastage ratio.

On average, only fifteen percent of products that need refrigeration get adequately handled, which accounts for a loss of about thirty to fifty percent waste in the developing countries.

How to Solve this Crisis?

Any company that is planning to enter the retails sector has to figure out the different hurdles accurately and jot down how they can overcome these difficulties. The complete know-how of the cold chain logistic system is essential for any retail firm.

Temperature control is an important measure to keep the fruits fresh. The companies must evaluate the dynamics of the routing process and invest in adequate refrigeration capabilities.

Several companies are investing in cold trucks, equipment, and cold chain warehousing and transportation technology to provide the best services to their customers. 

For instance, Boris Wolfman has invested a lot in the procurement and logistics of fresh food and has strong cold chain capabilities. One of the solutions is to invest in unique packaging that can protect the products from temperature fluctuations and improve shelf life.

The cold chain logistic scenario is bound to change as per the requirements of the customers. The public, as well as private firms, are stressing upon the necessity of the cold chain facilities and warehousing to keep health standards high.

However, the mid-sized firms do not possess the adequate capital requirement, because of which the threat of new entrants seems to be moderate.

Also Read- How Much Profit Your Ecommerce Store Is Missing Because Of Your Marketing

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The Value In Exploration Of Lesser-Established Business Ventures: Carsten Thiel On Taking The Road Less Traveled

For pharmaceutical-industry leader Carsten Thiel, this exploration of the proverbial road less traveled manifested in his newest appointment as President Europe of EUSA, a breakout biopharma company dedicated to treating rare diseases. A departure from Thiel’s previous positions within more mainstream pharmaceutical companies, vested in the treatment of more globally common ailments, Thiel’s venture into the realm of rare diseases has proven to not only be fruitful from a business perspective, but personally fulfilling, and professionally enthralling. Carsten’s experiences within this particular niche segment of the worldwide juggernaut known as the pharmaceutical industry, though industry specific, can be applied within many professional settings. The intrinsic values of such exploration of uncharted territories can be recognized by effective leaders, innovative CEOs, and all professionals looking to grow their sphere of influence through inventive avenues.

Tackling The Unknowns

            In the world of pharmacology, several well-researched conditions, diseases, and symptoms dominate the industry, receiving significant amounts of funding, research, and attention from leading companies. Due to the constant influx of resources dedicated to these conditions, there is little left unexplored, and only tweaks being implemented to further evolve products and treatments already proven to provide relief, symptom management, or cures. For example, within the niche of heartburn care, dozens of leading products have flooded the market, providing consumers with numerous choices to make in their care, and providing pharmaceutical companies with a relatively low-risk product.

            While
it certainly is important to be able to receive appropriate heartburn care for
the often painful condition, oversaturating the market with an overabundance of
heartburn related products most likely means that companies aren’t shelling out
valuable research and development funds to tackle lesser known ailments. In the
pharmaceutical industry, “rare” diseases, or those affecting less than 200,000
individuals in the United States, are vastly less likely to receive attention,
rendering them akin to the Wild West of disease. Though each rare disease
affects a smaller population at any given time, there are an estimated 6,000 to
8,000 rare diseases in existence throughout the world, adding up to hundreds of
thousands of affected individuals. Thus, exploring the vast unknown of the rare
disease world could have very real life-changing benefits for countless
individuals, and can provide a respectable stream of income for pharmaceutical
companies willing to take the chance on rare disease treatments due to lack of
competition.

            For Carsten Thiel, who has been vastly interested in rare diseases throughout the entirety of his formidable pharmaceutical career, joining the ranks at EUSA allowed him the professional and personal fulfillment of being able to champion the rare disease market. Embarking on missions to research, discover, develop, and market life-changing treatments for previously untreated rare diseases meant delving into uncharted territory, dedicating funding to innovative studies never before conducted, and taking a chance on being the only company to successfully provide a cure, treatment, or medication for a particular rare disease. Tackling the unknown, , was the first step toward building a successfully operational company that focused on a lesser-established venture.

            Though
Thiel’s example is hyper-specific, this methodology can be applied in most
business situations, and in fact, has historically been a feat that has
spearheaded innovation, forward motion, and change. Long before the automotive
field was ripe with electric and hybrid alternative vehicles, innovators in the
field dove into the unknown, dedicating vast resources to develop an
alternative product that has never before been seen in the automotive industry.
Without a proven precedent to act as a model that would simply receive tweaks,
and without a proven market success, these industry disruptors acted on the
behalf of a potentially much smaller population of interested consumers. While
the developers understood their potential market reach would be smaller, they
recognized the importance of creating a brand new product to provide the market
with alternative choices. By tackling the unknowns through trial and error, these
innovators were able to prove their understanding of a market gap in
alternative automobile solutions, and provide a successful product to fill that
void.

            For
businesses of all sizes, and entrepreneurial ventures, exploring a particular
industry in a manner not yet fully exhausted can be key to carving out a niche
spot in the industry. Finding a gap in the market can lend inspiration to
creating successful products to support the niche need, and to close the gap.
Though these proverbial gaps have changed over the years, thanks to technology
and globalization, their existence drives innovation, forward motion, and
evolution.

Making An Impact

            From an early age, Carsten Thiel was vastly interested in science, and in the exploration of DNA. Building upon this innate interest, he actively pursued the sciences, garnered impressive degrees, and set forth to immerse himself professionally within the world of biopharmacy. However, simply working for a pharmaceutical company did not suffice. Passionate about helping people, Thiel’s continuous drive to truly make an impact led him down the proverbial road less traveled throughout his career. Many times, this yearning for the betterment of mankind led him to disrupt the status quo of the pharmaceutical industry to best suit ethical considerations, and provide the most positive, profound, and effective outcome for clients, even if that outcome was to come at the cost of the pharmaceutical company.

            Early
within his career, Carsten was responsible for marketing a pharmaceutical
company’s inaugural foray into the dietary industry via the rollout of a new
weight-loss supplement. As was common practice at the time, the product’s
bespoke marketing was to contain lofty promises, and be widely marketed to a
broad audience, though it was internally understood that the product would not
be effective for all candidates, and required additional lifestyle
interventions to maximize results. In an unprecedented move, Thiel’s innate
desire to make a positive impact reigned supreme, as the young professional
dictated an innovative, honest, and transparent marketing campaign that
targeted only individuals who would benefit from the supplement, instead of a
broader audience. Though Thiel understood that this method would decrease
initial sales volume, he recognized that targeting only individuals who would
garner positive results would render the company as trustworthy, and would make
a positive impact in the lives of consumers, which was a top priority.

            Through
cumulative and continuous efforts to truly make an impact within his chosen
industry, Carsten Thiel acted on various opportunities to better the industry
on behalf of consumers, and was strengthened as a leader by each leadership
experience. Performing his duties with ethical considerations in mind, and the
constant desire to positively impact his industry, his eventual assignment
within the lesser-established, but vastly impactful, realm of rare disease
treatment was the culmination of an impactful career.

            For
many professionals within various sectors, the idea of making a tangible
difference in the lives of others, or in propelling the industry forward, is a
motivating factor. Rather than simply completing meaningless tasks on a daily
basis, many professionals are motivated by the desire to utilize their
professional experience, business savvy, and other skills for the betterment of
mankind, big or small. This innate driving force may often manifest
opportunities for spearheading change, disrupting the status quo, or otherwise
propelling a particular company’s ventures into an arena that will profoundly
better the lives of others. At times, this desire can drive professionals to
try new approaches, dismiss traditional methodology, or take the proverbial
road less traveled within an assignment. These experiences, however
intimidating at the time, can lend themselves to growing leadership skills,
professional fulfillment, and can create tangible change within an industry.

Considering The Potential

            Developed
in 2015, EUSA is considered a “young” pharmaceutical company. However, in the
few years since the company’s inception, Carsten’s EUSA has already
accomplished great feats in the realm of rare disease care. Notably, the company’s
innovative products include a treatment for advanced stage Renal Cell
Carcinoma, and an immunotherapy product for Neuroblastoma, a rare type of
cancerous tumor that predominantly affects children. Without a previous
available treatment for children, this breakthrough option has swiftly opened
the doors to disease progression, continued research, and the potential for
additional products that can be supplemented to produce the most effective
results. Within the short span of five years, EUSA has managed to become
financially stable, garnered profit, and has avidly invested in infrastructure
to support ongoing growth, while focusing only on the less-established realm of
rare disease. Additionally, through the company’s initially successful product
launches and treatments, they have increased the potential to build upon this
momentum, to utilize the initially successful research findings to create
additional and supplementary products, and to tap into the previously unearthed
potential for effectively treating rare diseases.

            Without
ever initially exploring treatments for these rare diseases, the potential for
creating various symptom relieving treatments, disease progression products,
and even potential vaccines would not exist. By opening the doors, and finding
positive results, the company was able to widen the potential for what could be
possible within the previously somewhat-abandoned super niche field.

            Within
all professional fields, pre-existing limitations exist, determining the course
of action for various industries. Within these limitations, companies decide
what is worth pursuing, what potential exists, and what options are viable to
explore. However, by broadening exploration, and delving into
lesser-established ventures, companies can see new potential in areas
previously thought to not be worth exploring. Finding this untapped potential,
and exploring the possibility of growth, can be instrumental in any company’s
success, and can help to successfully propel entire fields forward. The value
in exploration of lesser-established business ventures, then, relies on seeing
a potential, and seizing the opportunity.

Follow Carsten Thiel on his personal website ( carstenthiel.com ) and ThriveGlobal.

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Most Common Tendering Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Writing a tender can be a tricky thing to do. To make sure that
you are writing error-free answers and the tender reviewers can find no space
to ignore your written response, you need to follow some tips. In this article,
we are about to discuss the most common tendering mistake and how exactly to
avoid such errors.

Not answering a question correctly– Even though this sounds something weird but, this is probably the most common error that most of you make when writing an answer for tender. Maximum people make this mistake without even realizing it. Now there are several reasons that you may not answer the questions correctly, like when you do not understand the subject, and you end up partially answering it because you are probably desperate to convey a message regardless of the question.Not addressing specific requirements- This is again a general mistake most people make when answering tender questions. You often tend to list down about all the excellent work you have done in the past without even paying attention to what the organization requires, particularly for this service. To avoid this mistake, you must remember that a tender is not an opportunity to sell your services. Instead, it is an opportunity where you can demonstrate your capability of meeting and exceeding the requirements of the commissioning body.Insufficient detail– Overly brief or superficial answer, both can end up in losing perfect opportunities to win bids. The descriptions and propositions must all be detailed to have credibility and show the tender reviewers what exactly they are buying. You must make sure that the reports and proposals must be detailed to show the reviewers what exactly they are buying. You must exhibit all your achievements and prove to them that you are capable of delivering what they claim.Avoid irrelevant information- In case you are not getting any attention or positive feedback from the reviewers, you must be sure that you have provided utterly unrelated information and content. So to get attention, you must always make sure that your responses are relevant and direct, involving no long-winged stories. You must keep the content crisp and mention valid points if you genuinely intend to make a good impression and increase your chances of winning bids.Compliance errors- In some cases, the questions in tenders may ask you to be accountable for some agreements while maintaining specific standards and regulatory or legal requirements. Now, if your responses do not reflect on the expected standards, then you are most likely to lose marks based on the discrepancy for not agreeing with their terms and conditions.Not adding value to the answer- In most of the cases, you get extra marks per response for showing where and how you can add value to the contract. This requires a detailed understanding of what the commissioning body wants specifically for this contract and generally. So this will need you to do proper research about the organization’s background.Plagiarised content- Another worst issue that most people do is cut and pastes some other material for the answers. So this does not look good at all when you are bidding for someone’s business and submitting then plagiarized solutions as a tender response.Check your grammar- While answering the bidding questions; make sure that you must have a command over your English language. You must give the buyers confidence that you have a professional organization.

If you find it challenging to keep
all these factors in mind, then you must try out the BidAssist app. This is currently
India’s largest tendering platform that can guide you in the entire bidding
procedure.

For
Example, if you want to explore tenders from Maharashtra Government (mahatenders), you can do so too using BidAssist Website or
Application.

About Author:- BidAssist is the Largest Destination of Business Tenders in India. We help SMEs discover the latest tenders. We have more than 15,000+ Tenders Per day, 100+ Categories with more than 7000 Authorities.

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How to be a Motivated and Healthy Digital Nomad

Life as a digital nomad involves a lot of traveling, sightseeing and fun activities. However, on the other hand, everything is not always as rosy as it looks on those Instagram photos. For example, you need to plan your time properly and find ways to stay motivated at all times. This is important if you’re to remain productive and make enough money to sustain your lifestyle while you’re on the road. What’s more, you need to keep fit and eat right to stay healthy and enjoy the perks of your new lifestyle.

Tips for staying motivated while on the road



Stable Wi-Fi is a must-have

The idea of working remotely as a digital nomad is based on the fact that you can access information and work from anywhere. All you need is a stable internet connection that enables you to surf the web and gather information quickly. This combined with your skills means you can run your business and earn a living remotely.

So before booking accommodation anywhere, check out past reviews on the stability and strength of its Wi-Fi. Additionally, ask your landlord for clarifications on critical aspects like internet speed caps and whether the connection is shared or dedicated.

Designate a comfortable workplace

Whether you’re staying at a hotel, rental house, or in a fully serviced apartment, it’s essential to create a dedicated space for working. This is where you stay when you want to focus and do your important work. Choose a space within your room or house and remove all possible distractions from the area. Where possible, add a comfortable working desk and table and have everything you need within arm’s reach. Most importantly, keep it neat and clean. Depending on which apartment provider you chose – you might already have a designated spot set up. 

Create a schedule

When you choose a digital nomad lifestyle, the one thing you’re probably looking to give up on is your boring old routine. However, this doesn’t mean you should do away with a work schedule; you will need one if you’re to stay the course with your goals.

For starters, decide what time of the day when you’re most productive; are you an evening owl or do you achieve the most results early in the morning? Once you’ve found out about it, stick to the schedule and try to make the most results during this time.

Back up your work

Only a few losses hurt as much as lost hours of work and data. Imagine if you suffered theft and lost the laptop with your novel manuscript or a batch of unpublished blog posts. Sounds painful, right?

You can avoid such painful experiences by always backing up every important work, preferably in multiple cloud locations. Depending on the size and nature of the work, you can use storage services like Dropbox, Mega, Google Drive and Google Photos.

Tips for staying healthy as a digital nomad



Join a local gym

If you are planning to stay at a location for several weeks or months, consider joining a local gym as a member to save money. If not, you can check out some of the high-end hotels as most have a gym on-site. Some gyms also allow people with no membership to use their facilities. If you’re trying to save money or aren’t staying at a place for long, check out those and pay only when you want to use the accommodation.

Exercise outdoors

Not a fan of gyms? You can still keep fit by engaging in outdoor activities like swimming, running, surfing, and rock climbing. Your choice of workout activity depends on your current destination, skills, and preferences. At the very least, keep your body active by walking or jogging around your neighborhood a few times a week regardless of how busy your schedule might be.

Stick to your eating routine

One of the most effective ways to stay healthy while you’re on the road is to eat well and stick to your usual dieting routine. If you’re used to having your breakfast at 7 am, lunch at noon, and dinner at 7 pm, try as much as you can to have your meals at these fixed times. Most importantly, eat balanced foods, drink plenty of water, and incorporate relevant supplements in your diet.

Cut your alcohol intake

When you’re out on the road with friends, there’s the increased likelihood and temptation to increase your alcohol intake. As you possibly already know, alcohol can be detrimental to your health. As such, set your boundaries by determining the maximum amount you can take per sitting and on which days of the week. Your body will thank you for it!

What are you doing to enhance your health and stay productive when you’re on the road? We’d love to hear your feedback.

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Barriers to Starting your Business and How to Overcome Them

So you have an idea. It’s a great idea, and you know that it will succeed if only you can get it off the ground. The problem is, there are a lot of barriers standing between making your idea a reality. Sometimes it seems these barriers are out of your control, but looking at these barriers as obstacles to be overcome rather than insurmountable hurdles will put you back in the driver’s seat and get you moving toward your dream of starting your business.

Money

Starting a business takes money. You have needs like an office, a computer, space to store your product, money to hire your first employees, and advertising costs. When you sit down and calculate what being in business is going to cost you for the first few months, you might find your heart beating a little faster and start thinking that there is just no way you can make this happen.

You’ve probably thought about a business loan, and that can be a great plan for a lot of people. Banks may be hesitant to lend you money as a start-up, so if that doesn’t work for you there are some alternatives to business loans. One of these, or a combination, can help you get the cash you need to get your plan off the ground.

Moving

So you need to move. The thing is, the housing market might not be great where you live. Maybe your house isn’t ready to put on the market, and all your extra cash is going towards your business expenses and you don’t have the money nor the time to fix up your home.

Companies such as We Buy Ugly Houses Milwaukee can buy your house for cash and close quickly, giving you the funds and the freedom you need without taking a lot of time or more money. 

Website

If your business is building websites, you won’t have any trouble with this part. But for the other 99% of you, building a website involves learning more information, researching a company to host it, hiring copywriters, and basically it can be a huge suck on your time resources. Hiring a company to build your website for you can save you a ton of time and headache so you can focus on doing what you need. 

Getting Customers

Whatever your business is, you’ll need customers to buy your products or services. You need to find customers and make sure that you convince them that your product or service is the one they should choose.

Using search engine optimization can help your website rise in the ranks of Google searches, placing you in front of your potential customers. This is another area where it may be wise to hire an expert to give you tips and help you create content to maximize your results. 

Burnout

You probably remember your first day of training for your first “real” job. You met 20 people, you learned how to clock in and out, you learned all about the company and HR procedures. You probably learned where to sit, and how to do several different tasks for your job. By the end of the day, which felt like it lasted an entire week, you were completely overwhelmed with information and ready to go home and take a nap to recover. 

Starting your business is a lot like that. You have a ton of decisions to make every day, and you feel the burden of knowing that if you make the wrong decision on a key item it could be the end of your dream. Burnout is a real threat to your business and to your mental health. Make sure you’re taking time to do things you enjoy and make yourself take some breaks. You do need to work on your business, but letting that become the focus of your life is a sure way to become burned out, stressed, and cynical.

Starting a business takes a lot of time, a lot of money, and a lot of thought. Let the experts handle some of these things for you so you can focus on what you’re good at – making your business better and thinking of ways to innovate and serve your customers well. Can you do everything yourself? Maybe. But be sure that you’re not sacrificing your mental health on the altar of doing it all. Outsourcing some of your needs might be just the lifeline you need and give you the extra energy for that final push to get your business off the ground.

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5 Ways to Sell Business Real Estate in 2020

If you are selling your commercial property, and there are so many different reasons why you might be doing this. It could be that you are upsizing or downsizing due to expansion or a change like the business? One good example of this is shops looking to move out of town to retail parks. But whatever the reason it’s good to know that are various ways to sell these days, and the more options you have the better chance you have of making that sale sooner rather than later.

The Traditional Route

Firstly, it would be daft to talk about selling your property or land and ignore the fact that there has been a system for doing this for generations. You pick a Realtor and assign them to the task of selling your home, a good one will have a steady reputation and will attract queries based solely on their reputation. They may also even know of clients looking for types of properties that may match up with yours, this is particularly true of commercial property.

Online Real Estate Firms

Anything that can be done in the real can, and is, being done online these days and real estate is no different. You can exclusively do this online with many realtors saving on office space and being cheaper as a result. You can even sell without a realtor but be aware that many buyers may be wary and this means a longer period before selling usually.

Property Buying Firms

If you are struggling with cash-flow and need to make a quick sale then there are places where you can get a quick offer, sale and have the cash in your account in a very swift manner. WeBuyCLE is one we’ve heard very good things about.

Sell at Auction

Many entrepreneurs invest in property and one of the main ways of sourcing these are to check out property auctions. So it stands to reason that putting your property in one of these will give it a good chance to sell, and you at least know the date when this will happen. It’s important to research the auctioneers, visit one of their auctions to see what the crowd is like and if properties tend to sell above or below market value.

Part- Exchange

Properties are available on a part exchange basis these days, you may have thought this is only available to those looking to move into houses from a building contractor. This is largely true although we are hearing rumors and rumblings in the industry that several major commercial property players are considering offering similar schemes for commercial property owners. This makes perfect sense as if they are building an industrial estate full of new units then they want to attract new businesses and if they offer part exchange then they are also acquiring new land to build on as well at the same time. It’s not a certainty this will be happening but watch this space.

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3 Things that set you apart in an Interview

Interviews can be nerve-wracking, no matter how many you have attended. The anxiety and stress of leaving a positive and lasting impression on your future employers can get to you. It is easy to succumb to the pressure of your nerves, especially if it is your first time or you are ill-prepared. You get there, and the first thing you do is compare yourself to the competition. Some have longer resumes than yours and are dressed better than you. But, even when things look like they are against you, there are a few things you can do to get ahead. Here are helpful tips for setting you apart in an interview.

1. Do your research

You must do some reading about the company that is hiring. Whether it is a job interview or a casting call, be sure you research the company. Learn about their mission and vision and go through their social media pages. Researching will arm you with information that you can use during the interview to spark an interesting conversation between you and the employer. Also, research on how to answer common interview questions and practice answering them confidently. If you are going for a casting call, find out how you can stand out from your competition whether you will be alone or in a group casting.

2. Be confident 

It’s no secret that confidence is essential in any job interview. When you are insecure, your presence will be uninspired and weak, and it might cost you the opportunity of a lifetime. For instance, every model knows that casting calls are life in the industry, and making a good impression is a priority. Before you attend, you must read and practice as many casting call tips as you can, so you are well prepared. Read the brief supplied by your agent and ensure you have everything you need. Also, note the location carefully, don’t go out drinking even when nervous, and take your friends with you. If you want to keep busy before it’s your turn, listen to your favorite music on your phone or play candy crush. 

3. Always keep time

If you are on time, you’re late. It is better to arrive at least ten minutes early for an interview. Showing up early tells the employer that you respect their time. You are not the only one they are interviewing, and maybe they only have a day to choose their candidate. Being on time also shows that you are taking the process seriously. Employers are impressed by people who take their job seriously. Arriving early for a job interview also allows you to get the feel of the work environment and get comfortable with it. If you are nervous in the beginning, you will be a bit calm when heading into the interview.

In the modeling industry, a casting call is considered the interview. With the above tips wrapped up in confidence, you are likely to stand out. Say thank you, smile, and shake hands with the interviewer.

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How to Create a Productive Work Environment

If you want your business to flourish, you need a productive work environment where employees can focus, collaborate, and produce amazing results. An unproductive work environment can be detrimental to your company and can cost you thousands of dollars in lost revenue.

To decrease the amount of time wasted while at work, you need to create a culture of productivity that encourages employees and teams to work their best. Take a look at our tips below to bring your productivity up a notch.

Invest in the right tools

Business owners today have an advantage over business owners of the past due to the abundance of tech tools available to them. All tools are designed to make life easier. Take a look at some essential business tools you should invest in now to boost productivity:

Workstation tools, such as the best wireless printers, laptops, mouses, keyboards, and hard drive, will keep all essential items in one place so employees can work without having to visit different parts of the office.



Software, such as project management software, time tracking software, and operation management software will streamline tasks and projects and allow employees to collaborate.



High-speed and encrypted WiFi , to ensure teams can work safely without lagging computers that take a lifetime to load a new browser or website page.



Safety tools, such as an SSL certificate for your website and a password tracker, make sure security breaches don’t wipe away important documents, steal information, and take time away from important projects.



Hire a dedicated workforce

As they say, one bad apple can spoil the entire bunch. This motto holds true for employees, as well. One negative employee can throw a major wrench in the productivity of other employees, creating a negative work culture that isn’t focused on getting the job done.

To ensure you hire the right employees, follow these tips:

Create a thorough job description that outlines every aspect of the role, the daily duties, the qualifications needed, and any additional information.



Start with phone interviews after you begin receiving applications to better gauge candidates. Then, move on to in-person interviews and final interviews. Make sure to allow team members to partake in the interviewing process to provide their own insight on the potential new hires.



Conduct a background check to determine the person is who they say they are—you’ll be surprised at what a background check can uncover, such as criminal, education, living, driving, and credit history.



Create a thorough onboarding process for the new hire to make their transition into their role as seamless as possible.



Set goals and expectations

Your team members need to know what they’re working toward. Setting goals and expectations will outline the steps they need to take to reach new heights and accomplish something. The goals you set depend on your company and clients, but should be attainable and have clear objectives. Additionally, each team member should have their own individual goals to reach, too. This will give them the motivation to work their hardest and know how they’re contributing to the team.

Redesign the workplace

The physical environment where your employees work plays a vital role in their productivity levels. Let’s say you have a team of writers who have to bang out 2,000 words a day. If they’re working in an open-space office where other teams are loud and noisy, they may not be able to concentrate and hit their word count.

If possible, create separate sections of the office for different teams to work. Those needing a quiet space can be put together in one area of the office, while those who need to talk and collaborate can be placed in another area.

Other improvements you can make to your office design to boost productivity include:

Painting the walls the right color. Yellow is proven to boost creativity, while blues and greys are more calming and relaxing.



Placing plants throughout the office to reduce stress and improve air quality.



Setting a comfortable room temperature between 68 degrees and 72 degrees.



Promote healthy habits

Have you ever tried working when you were sick? If so, you probably noticed you didn’t get too much done—thank your headache for that. Healthy employees are productive employees.

To boost productivity, encourage healthy habits and provide your employees with health benefits such as medical, dental, and vision insurance. You should also encourage daily walks to break up the day and reset their minds, along with offering an employee gym membership, healthy snacks in the office, and exercise equipment that can be used during breaks.

Wrapping up

Creating a productive work environment doesn’t have to require a complete overhaul of your company. Implementing a few of these tricks, whether investing in productivity-inducing software or filling the company kitchen with healthy snacks, will motivate your employees to work more efficiently.

The post How to Create a Productive Work Environment appeared first on Entrepreneurship Life.

Tips to Make Email Marketing Easier and More Effective

It’s possible to make your email marketing
easier and start improving customer engagement.

Email marketing can be a great tool for businesses, but for many, it can just be another thing to manage. Whether the reason is a small marketing department or limited money to invest in email software — it can be a tactic that easily falls to the wayside.

Luckily, there are ways for even the smallest companies and budgets to utilize email marketing to improve communication with their customers. From integrating mail merging into GMail to improving the content of emails, there are ways to make email easier and more effective for your business.

In this article, we’ll look at a few simple
changes you can make to improve your email marketing strategy.

Here’s a quick look at the topics we’ll cover:

How you can easily reach a larger
email audience How using a variety of different
email types can make things easierWhy you should be testing your
emails for future improvements



The goal of your email marketing should be to reach as many of the right customers as possible. Having the right tools can make this possible and save you time in the long run. Image courtesy of Pixabay.



Reach Larger Audiences Easier

One of the benefits of email marketing is that
you can reach a large group of customers quickly. For many companies, finding a
way to reach a segment and reach larger audience groups can be challenging, but
is an important step in email marketing.

Having the ability to reach the right customers
for the right campaigns will help set you up for success. While it can be
costly to invest in marketing automation and segmentation platforms, mail merge
solutions can be a great solution. 

Mail merge will help you to send emails to a
large group of customers from your existing spreadsheets. It allows you to
merge a select list of customers and easily upload their contact information
into a campaign. From there, you can schedule automatic follow-up emails to
keep the conversation going.

The best part about it? Working with a partner like GMass, you can connect Google Sheets to make the sending process even easier. That means you no longer need to mess around with uploading multiple spreadsheets and importing it into Gmail — everything is already connected.

Just choose the sheets you want to upload and hit
send. Mail merge options are a great solution for companies looking to expand
their mass email marketing campaigns while working with their current process.

Use a little variety in your email marketing! This will help you provide your customers with more of what they want and make it easier for you by setting them to send based on behaviors or triggers.

Use a Variety of Email Types

While this may sound like it’s creating more work
for you, it will actually make things easier over time. That’s because using a
variety of different email types can help you better react to what your
customers need. Many of these emails can be set up to automatically send based
on an action or trigger — meaning you don’t need to do anything once the
signal is in place.

Let’s take a look at 2 different types of email
types that your company could benefit from.

Automated Marketing Email
Campaigns

These can include campaigns that focus on
welcoming new customers, re-engaging inactive customers, or retaining customers
who are about to churn. Each of these types of email campaigns can be set up to
automatically enroll customers based on their behaviors.

For example, if a customer recently subscribed to
your email list they would then be enrolled in your welcome campaign. Whereas
if a customer has been inactive for 60 days, they may be enrolled in a
re-engagement campaign to try and win back their business.

Transactional Marketing Emails

Transactional emails follow a similar process as
the automated campaigns but are based on a specific trigger. This means that a
customer must do something specific to receive one of these emails. Often,
these emails are well received by customers because it provides them with
information they want or need.

Here are a few examples of transactional emails:

Order confirmationsShipping and delivery
notificationsAppointment remindersPassword or account setting
notifications

Both types of emails are great ways to frequently communicate and retain customers. Once you have them set up, they can save you time by automatically sending messages to the appropriate customers.

Don’t forget to learn from what emails your customers are already engaging with. Use testing to learn more about their behaviors and actions to improve future emails.

Don’t Forget to Test Them

Last but not least, testing emails and knowing
the metrics can help you improve your future emails.

Testing emails and reviewing monthly metrics is
important to improving your email marketing. As you learn more about what your
customers engage with and what they don’t, you’ll be able to incorporate this
information into your future emails.

With the information you can learn from testing
emails, you will no longer have to waste time creating campaigns that won’t
convert.

Improving conversion rates among your current customers is important because it’s much cheaper to retain current customers than attract new ones. Providing your current customers with the information they want will make your emails more effective and increase engagement across the board.

Testing is another one of those things that may
take some time to invest in and understand what the data says — but the
knowledge you’ll take away from it will provide you with long term benefits.

Don’t let email marketing bring you down. With the right tools, your email strategy can be simple and effective.

Start Focusing on the Right Email
Marketing Tools

Email marketing shouldn’t feel like just another
chore you need to check off your list. When done right, it can be an extremely
effective solution that can improve customer engagement and boost sales.

Using these tips will help you save time and
start reaching out to your customers easier and in a more effective manner.
Having a way to reach a large group of customers, providing them with the types
of emails they need, and knowing what they want will vastly improve your email
marketing.

The post Tips to Make Email Marketing Easier and More Effective appeared first on Entrepreneurship Life.

Outdated Job-Hunting beliefs

The industries we work in adapt and continue to change with the times. These times have been some of the most fast-paced with disruptive technologies popping up and data privacy changes. But just like industries themselves change, so does trying to land a job in them.

Many people struggling to land their dream job are failing not because they don’t have what it takes, but they are stuck in the past using outdated job-hunting beliefs. Learn the four biggest mistakes job seekers are making here.

#1: All Job Sites Are the Same

Indeed, you will often find the same jobs advertised across different job sites. After all, employers want to cast their net far and wide to see what type of talented professionals they can get through the door.

This has led people to believe that it doesn’t matter what job site you use, as you will always get the same jobs on any website. However, this is not the case because some job sites offer other reasons to choose their service.

This is true of JobRapido, a site that uses AI to make sure your searchers are quicker and more convenient. This site will categorise jobs together as a library, so you find more recommendations from a single search, saving you time and effort.

#2: You Only Need One CV

Having a stellar CV is not the winning ticket to get you a job in any field. Today, employers look for CV’s that have been tailored to their specific job, which may mean reorganising your lists such as education and experiences – and could mean a whole new CV structure.

The better news is that if you are applying for one type of job, your original CV should already be made bespoke to that industry and what employers are looking for.

#3: Languages Are Not that Important

If you were good at foreign languages in the past, your potential in the job market was indeed limited to teaching roles and translation. Yet, the world has moved on since then and has become far more connected. Globalisation mainly has caused businesses to team up across continents, and for that to work effectively, language skills are essential.

The modern CV should boast language skills and should not be left dangling at the end anymore!

#4: Soft Skills are Not as Important as Hard Skills

Of course, hard skills are usually a prerequisite to getting the job, but the gap between these and soft skill such may be closing dramatically. This has somewhat to do with the competitive job market where employers have access to individuals with the specific hard skills they are looking for. Fewer people have developed impeccable soft skills to go with them, and these could be what results in an interview or a rejection email. That being said, there are still some skills that you can leave out of your CV.

Avoid these four mistakes to improve your chances in the job market instantly!

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