No businessman on the planet is able to foresee everything he will encounter throughout his business. This, of course, does not mean that it is necessary to passively take all the blows of fate, because there is always the possibility, if not to foresee, of warning some common problems that can then manifest themselves as particulars. Continue reading →
Low employee efficiency is an urgent problem for most jobs. Therefore, improving productivity is one of the main areas of application of the efforts of managers of each business enterprise. After all, even if employees in general are working effectively, then at the end of the working day there is still a significant decrease in activity. Leaders take various measures to combat their problem, but do not always achieve the desired result. Often this happens because the diet of employees is not taken into account.Continue reading →
Every person knows that money usually does not fall from the sky, and in order for them to be, you need to work hard and hard. But there is such a thing as passive income, which allows you to earn even when you are sleeping. Of course, for this, too, will have to make some efforts, but dividends will not keep you waiting. Here are a few ways that you can consider and adopt.Continue reading →
As online selling becomes more and more popular nowadays, it’s up to business owners to make sure they have the edge over their competition. We all know that the easiest way to do this is by slashing the prices on the products you’re selling – but what can you do to keep that advantage once you’ve applied the maximum discount on your products?
Today even giants like Amazon are trying to cut down on shipping costs to help out small businesses. But how can you cut down your own costs in the meantime?
The Benefits of Reducing Delivery Costs
It used to be increasingly popular, particularly with overseas sites, to offer suspiciously cheap products on selling sites, only to ramp up the delivery costs to double or even triple the price. Many wouldn’t take the delivery cost into consideration when making their purchase and would have a nasty shock when they went to checkout. However, whilst it may make you a bit more money, it will ultimately give the customer reason not to trust you if your delivery costs are higher than your competition. With this in mind, we’ve compiled some ways you can cut down on delivery costs.
Compare and Negotiate
So many companies are happy to go with the first delivery option that pops up with a quick search, but if you scour the web, you’ll likely be able to find a decent rate, particularly if you can find a local courier.
For example, if you were searching for a same day courier service in Manchester, a quick search would bring up sites such as http://allaboutfreight.co.uk/same-day-courier-service/same-day-courier-manchester, which offers far more competitive rates than the national delivery services for that area. What’s more, with smaller online couriers you may be able to negotiate your rates further, thus securing a better deal.
Don’t Stick with One
Just because you send one parcel with a courier, it doesn’t mean you’re bound into a contract solely with that delivery option. For larger packages, it could benefit you to search around and use alternative delivery methods. If you’re unsure, you can always use a shipping aggregator, which can choose a suitable delivery method to suit your needs.
Have you got any other tips on how to cut down on shipping costs? Be sure to let us know.
The Agile software development manifesto was devised in Utah in 2001. It is hard to think of a more disruptive (in a good way) change to working practices over the intervening 17 years. From start-ups to major players like Google and Amazon, in the private sector, almost everyone is using Agile.
Agile works because it encourages everyone to contribute. By giving skilled people the opportunity, innovation happens. By contrast with its predecessor, waterfall development, better-quality software can be delivered which has a realistic chance of meeting the needs of the end-users.
What’s Different About the Public Sector?
One can see that Agile is eminently suitable for a start-up or a small company where job roles are flexible. Indeed, with an intake of graduates already schooled in Agile methods, it would be difficult to implement anything else.
For a mature software development company there would be challenges implementing Agile, but the management would be well aware of the need to evolve. How else would they be still in business?
The public sector, however, has many different challenges. Governance, controls and, particularly, approvals processes are very different. Software for government departments has to be highly specified. Documents must be approved before development begins. It is easy to see why projects like Universal Credit struggled to deliver what the public needed.
Moving Forwards
The government is becoming aware of the issue. The Institute for Government identifies some suggestions: https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/news/in-the-press/how-public-sector-can-become-truly-agile
Training and Pilot
For public sector teams looking to implement Agile on a project, training is vital. Initially a workshop and training for managers will be necessary to understand and promote Agile working – also a short course for team members, who will need to adapt and learn to think Agile. Critically, a Scrum Master will need to run the project and will need very focussed training, such as Scrum Master Training Dublin from https://www.althris.com/courses/scrum-master/.
Management will need to identify a pilot project and build a cross-functional team. They should monitor the project closely, using Agile reporting, to support the team members and learn from their experiences.
The private sector has had 17 years to understand Agile. The practices and training have evolved to a highly professional level. The public sector is being asked to deliver more systems for less investment. Now is the time for them to embrace Agile.
Like many other things in life and in business, branding is a marathon, not a sprint. We can get a return fast enough, but really good stuff, like wine, works in the long run. You have to devote a lot of time to work and you will never be able to look into the future to find out that your work will really pay off, and the results will coincide with your expectations. Branding requires consistent action.
Here are 7 ways to get started on increasing the visibility of your brand …Continue reading →
Dynamic growth is occurring in the block management market: with growing demand for homes, opportunities arise for property managers.
Problems of Block Management
However, residential management is complex. Management companies need to send out demands for service charges, carry out accounting and keep track of maintenance work.
All information needs to be easily accessible, and individual leases and payment plans have to be monitored.
More properties can lead to escalating outgoings – meaning more work and suppliers to pay.
Postage is a significant expenditure. Block and Estate Management companies need to send out many documents to flat owners – ten per year is standard, and the cost for each is around £6 annually. When multiplied by the number of flats and administration time, this becomes a significant expenditure.
Block managers do not help themselves by using legacy spreadsheets as well as accounting packages, since these are not designed for the job. And manual spreadsheets are equally time-consuming and laborious.
Firms take on more staff to deal with the workload, pushing costs up again. However, there is a solution: automated software that integrates property and financial management. This conserves resources and grows profits.
Software Solutions
These systems cope with day-to-day management as well as the accounts. Where there are complex schedules, IT solutions can carry out calculations based on individual flat owner specifications. This is much more efficient than using spreadsheets.
The software also helps to keep postage costs down. By emailing demands, letters and statements, managers can reduce stationery costs. Block and Estate Management through Complete Property Group is a business that has taken advantage of this technology.
IT solutions need to be scaled according to the size of the business. For the smallest, spreadsheets will probably be used initially: when they grow, the latest software may become attractive.
With between 500 and 1,000 flats, firms usually have enough income to make IT solutions affordable, while businesses which are growing fast and optimistic about future expansion should think about software from the outset.
The biggest benefit of these packages is that by reducing administration time, they enable business owners to bring in more blocks with new revenue streams.
For a comparison of software, look up https://www.softwareadvice.com/uk/property/.
Property management technology will continue to be in demand, creating opportunities for block owners to expand as it evolves.
Every entrepreneur commits mistakes, as evidenced by the fact that up to 90% of all startups are closed in a year of their existence. Many of these errors are due to the poor preparation of the founding entrepreneur (ignorance of the nuances of monetization, marketing, development and distribution of the product). But there are some gross errors that are made year after year, but which could easily be avoided.Continue reading →
Can you imagine that with the current development of technology, about 40% of small business owners do not use social media, as they cannot imagine the full scale of the possible benefits of the enterprise. Needless to say, if an entrepreneur does not use free opportunities to promote business, then even fewer people think of creating their own website. In fact in it will be necessary to pour in a certain amount of money. And meanwhile own internet-resource is extremely necessary for increase of a sales level and development of the company as a whole.Continue reading →
The Facebook ADS are a formidable tool to reach people potentially interested in what we offer, let us know and also lead them to the purchase of our products / services, but, despite being for everyone, also require knowledge of the tool, the principles of online advertising and … of Marketing!
Today we’ll tell you how to avoid wasting time and money on Facebook.Continue reading →
