Can Bundling Save Money for Small Business Customers?

November 26, 2013

Can Bundling Save Money for Small Business Customers
Bundling products and services is a time honored technique used by businesses of all types. Walk into a McDonald’s and you will see bundling in the form of Value Meal where you can buy burger, fries and drink for the price that is lower than if they were bought separately. When you book your vacation package that includes airfare, hotel and car rental for one low price you are buying a bundle. In customers’ mind bundling saves them money by paying less than what they would have to pay otherwise. Businesses also benefit from bundling because they are able to sell more even if they sell at a discount. It appears that bundling is a win-win for both customers and businesses.

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Leaders are Trained, Not Born. How to Develop Your Leadership Skills

November 13, 2013

Leaders are trained not born
It is said that leaders are not born, but made through hard work and dedication. It takes different types of skills to advance in your profession and be a true leader that everyone admires. Unfortunately, these “soft skills” are not taught in the classroom. You have to learn these skills on the job and by seeking advice from friends and professional colleagues. The good news is these skills can be learned, and once you master them the payoff is significant in terms of promotion and pay increase / bonus. You don’t even have to wait till you get a job to learn these skills. You can teach your school going kids these skills to give them jump start on their future careers. After all, you need a combination of school education and soft leadership skills to get hired and advance in the career.

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What is the Best Organization Structure for Small Business

November 6, 2013

The benefits of SOA organization
How your business is organized can have a major impact on the outcome of your business. Business organizations have morphed in many different ways from the early 1900’s when Henry Ford invented an assembly line. Even today, you are likely to find different organization structures in different parts of the world as well as industries. The way Google is organized and operates is quite different from how organization is structured at GE. A new organization structure concept based on the principle of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is a different way of thinking than the traditional hierarchical organization.

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3 Ways to Be a Better Coach to Your Employees

October 22, 2013

3 Ways to Be a Better Coach
A great leader or business owner not only knows how to run his company, but he is also a great motivator and coach to his employees. Think about it – your business is only as good as the contribution made by your employees and you are only as good as the value you can get from your employees. That is why coaching and motivating your employees to bring out the maximum potential from them is one of the most important jobs of any leader.

The problem is not every leader is a born coach. There are those who are natural at bringing out the best from others and there are others who make employees run away from them. With little help and determination it is possible for a leader to improve his coaching skills. All you need is to put yourself in your employees’ shoes. Below are 3 important steps you need to take to be a better coach.

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5 Simple Techniques to Keep Your Employees Stress Free

September 27, 2013

5 simple techniques to keep your employees stress free
According to NHS, an estimated 10 million days are lost each year as a result of work related stress, depression and anxiety. This is despite businesses spending enormous amount of money on employee health care. Many small business owners feel like there is no end in sight to this vicious cycle of rising healthcare cost for their businesses, increasing stress for their employees and reducing productivity and profit resulting from both.

While the situation may appear dire at times, there are some simple and effective ways by which businesses can help their employees reduce daily stress, and in turn reduce their health care cost and improve business productivity. The key is to take these steps before the situation warrants immediate attention and make them part of your and employees’ daily routine. Below we provide some tips to do just that.

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From Seating to Heating: 5 Factors to Consider for Effective Business Meetings

September 23, 2013

5 factors to consider for effective business meetings
Having an effective meeting is as much dependent on people participating in it as it does on the surrounding environment in which the meeting is held. Proper environment can foster healthy dialog and quick decision making. It may sound trivial, but having the right room temperature or proper seating arrangement can sometimes be the difference between having a fruitful meeting versus the one where everyone departs thinking why they had the meeting in the first place and what they accomplished.

So, what factors do you need to take into account when arranging business meetings that are highly effective? Here are 5 important ones we have come across in no particular order:

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Preparation is Key to Managing Crisis for Small Business Owners

September 16, 2013

Preparation is key to managing crisis
Wikipedia defines crisis as any event that is, or is expected to lead to, an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, community, or whole society. For small businesses a crisis can wreak havoc if they are have not made adequate preparation in advance. Most small business owners do not really think about or planned for crisis until it is too late. This is unfortunate because with just little advanced planning and preparation they can not only withstand crisis, but come out much stronger from it.

Here are some basic rules of crisis management to consider and to familiarise yourself with in the event that your company is faced with such a situation. The key to managing any crisis situation is advanced planning.

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3 Tips to Make Your Meetings More Productive

September 5, 2013

3 Tips to Make Your Meetings More Productive
“It is time for a business-related meeting.”  How do those words make you feel?  Do you feel like something productive will come out of the congregation, or think that it is going to be waste of time and productivity at hand?

So, how can you ensure you always host the former feeling?  Consider ways to host productive meetings at your place of business.

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How to Get Quality Legal Advice without Too Much Hassle

August 27, 2013

How to get quality legal advice without too much hassle
When it comes to dealing with lawyers, small business owners have love-hate feeling. They understand the importance and need for legal services. At the same time, they also get frustrated by the amount of time they have to spend on it as well as dealing with fine nuances of legal process. For many, the cost of legal services is just too high. No wonder many small business owners like to avoid the subject of legal services altogether.

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Education Foundation of Joelle Wyser-Pratte

August 27, 2013

Sponsored Post

 

Education foundation of Joelle Wyser-Pratte
Charitable foundations such as the one started by Joelle Wyser-Pratte are helping address the challenge of educating world’s poor. “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” This powerful proverb that has taught generations the power of education is still true – probably more so today when the world economy is moving from labor oriented tasks to cerebral tasks. Millions of people in developing nations, such as India and China, have come out of poverty by educating themselves and moving up the rungs of economic ladder. Not only can education help you realize personal dreams, but it can also solve many of the world’s pressing problems such as terrorism, war and other social malice.

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