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Small Business Owners

The holidays can be fabulous, stressful, or both. That’s true for everyone, but if you’re in the retail business those holiday challenges can be true morning, noon and night. It’s often a great idea to get extra help. But interviewing seasonal workers can get lost in the shuffle of urgency. However, these employees will be working alongside your permanent team. At best, that’s great for everyone, but it also risks being an unfortunate distraction without proper vetting. interviewing seasonal workers

So, maybe you’re sure that you want to start a business. You’re just that person – self-starter, likes independence, can take rejection, and finds the idea of being your own boss irresistible. Great. But, maybe funds are limited – that’s ok too. Consider one of these inexpensive business ideas -- companies you can start on a budget. Whether it’s because you can’t get a loan or don't want to dip into savings, here are low-cost entries with high growth opportunities. inexpensive business ideas

 Inexpensive business ideas help big dreams on small budgets:

Employees are always a company’s most valuable asset. But even great workers are only as good as the quality and quantity of their efforts. Motivation is key, but it can be a constant challenge to maintain or increase office productivity with corporate challenges or employee rewards. However, there are a number of things you can change in the physical office space that may encourage more workflow, without requiring a lot more effort. office productivity

Try out these ideas to increase office productivity:

All businesses value employees – retaining good ones and finding new ones. And some attributes apply to all positions -- companies want employees who are honest, responsible, dependable, loyal, focused, organized and mature. Companies find that one source of such employees is choosing among older workers, particularly workers over 50. U.S. employers spends millions of man hours each year placing ads, prescreening and interviewing candidates, and hiring and training workers, only to find that some of the employees quit in less than a year, making it an expensive process. Workers over 50

Here are some reasons job experts say employers should make hiring workers over 50 a priority:

It may seem like a distant memory, but it wasn’t that long ago when the idea of people working in open plan offices was unheard of. Everyone out in one large space, all at long tables with dividing walls wasn’t a thing. People had offices. Four walls, with a door, and did work in their own enclosed physical space. open plan offices

Open plan offices come with specific challenges.

You’re only as good as the people who work for you. A bad boss is any employee's worst nightmare. Whether they work at a Fortune 500 company or the local hardware store, employees want to work for someone who knows how to motivate people and encourage them to become even better. There is a clear difference between simply being a boss and being a leader. Maintaining traits of great bosses get and keep great employees. Bosses explain; leaders inspire; bosses criticize; leaders mentor, bosses are superficial; leaders are genuine. Traits of great bosses directly lessen the chances of losing valuable employees.

traits of great bosses

Traits of great bosses to strive for:

Trade shows can be a fantastic way to make sales, increase your network, find vendors or partners and assess the competition. But if you aren’t prepared in advance, organized on the day, and strategic afterwards, you can end up wasting time and resources. But there are steps you can take to ensure you have a successful trade show – building your brand as creative, relaxed, informed or whatever you want your business to project.

Ways to make sure that you have a successful trade show:

Even when a candidate looks great on paper, you tend to hold your breath until you meet them. Can they back up their experience with strong examples? Why are they looking for a new position? Without a crystal ball, it’s part interrogation and part instinct. But many employers try to get better predictors of success with behavioral interview questions. behavioral interview questions

How to ask behavioral interview questions:

Whether you are starting a business, in a high growth stage, or just reduced staff, it’s easy to find yourself stretched too thin. Either you are doing too many tasks, or you’re doing things you aren’t very good at – spending a ton of time getting new email up and running, or figuring out which financial software to use. Using a virtual assistant – someone who works from their home or an office in a different location – could be a great solution to ease your workload how you want, when you want. using a virtual assistant

Ways you could be using a virtual assistant:

One of the primary reasons new businesses fail is they simply don’t have enough money. Sure, sometimes they just have a terrible business idea (mittens for cats was not the hole in the market you envisioned). But usually it’s money, and a great business plan – written thoughtfully and early – will reveal potential money problems (and probably the mittens problem too). But people often think of a business plan as a document to provide to a lender or an investor to solicit cash. And that’s certainly true. But even if you don’t need money, you still need a plan. great business plan

Here’s why you need a great business plan: