The Entrepreneurial Spirit: The Unexpected Costs all Business Owners Have in Their Company

09 Jul, 2015 | Tags: , , , , ,

Before a business can thrive and start to make money for its respective owner and investors, it has to weather out the costs of doing business. The process of making the product to landing it to the customer’s doorstep involves a variety of expenses. However, even with the most diligent planning and preparation, a business owner can still miss a few unexpected costs on their list. Failing to identify and address the costs can drastically cripple your business in the long run.

Overdue Returns and Penalties

Regardless of the size of a business, there are bills to pay. Not paying them on time can lead to late payment fees that you might not have considered while making your business’ budget plan. If you do not yet have the cash to pay your bills, contact a representative to discuss alternative payment options.

Workplace Injuries and Accidents

When something goes wrong in the workplace, you are responsible for any financial damages it caused. For instance, you will have to hire a workers’ compensation lawyer to handle paperwork and of course the actual settlement amount for the injured employee. Work-related accidents are never a pretty sight, but is not an uncommon situation, especially in businesses related to construction or manufacturing.

Web-Based Expenses

Your online footprint leaves a trail of additional expenses incurred every month. Majority of businesses nowadays use the online space for their client acquisition and marketing strategies. But a lot of business owners do not recognize costs beyond the obvious monthly internet plan. They fail to account for expenses like annual domain name registration, hosting services, and even search engine optimization.

Strategic Changes

A business may face unexpected costs while trying to adjust their operational or marketing strategies. Costs may be incurred from hiring third-party advisers or from having to retrain the entire workforce to adapt to the strategy.

Hidden Liabilities

This is a tricky part, especially for new business owners. Hidden expenses and liabilities come in various forms depending on the market in which you operate at. Look for charges cryptically embedded in the fine print. This includes introductory teasers, poor quality materials, insurance coverage gaps, professional charges, or underutilization penalties.

No matter how much preparation you put into it, unexpected costs will keep popping up year after year. A smart and financially savvy business owner will be able to weather the increase in costs when competitors are already filing for bankruptcy.

3 Ways to Promote Restaurant Staff Communication

06 Jul, 2015 | Tags: , , , , ,

Restaurant staff members are like family, and as such, they act like family. That means they love each other, but they can also have moments of serious conflict. Any restaurant owner or manager knows how easy it is to succumb to the “family life” in the restaurant business. But no owner wants to play the parent when things go sour. Here are some ways you can start promoting a professional atmosphere without losing the family feel that makes working in the restaurant business so much fun. One of the most important things you can always work on in the restaurant world is promoting lines of communication between staff, BOH and FOH, and managers.

1. Pre-Pop Meet-Up

You know the busiest times for you restaurant. Sometimes the most helpful way to promote healthy staff chemistry is by looking ahead for trouble. When servers and cooks are the busiest, that’s when they are most likely to make mistakes. By gathering the back of house and front of house for pre-pop meet-ups, you’re acknowledging as a manager that things are about to get busy, but you should take the time to ask your staff, “what do we need to get through this busy shift as a strong and capable team?” By doing this you’re making everyone feel involved and ready to take on the busiest points of their shift. Also by coordinating these pre-shift meets, you’re creating an atmosphere of professionalism in the workplace.

2. Open Door Policy

One of the reasons the restaurant business can feel so much like family is because more often than not staff, managers, and owners all work in the same space. The “open door policy” that most corporate offices have, doesn’t really work the same way if you’re manager doesn’t have a “door”. Even if you do not have a private office for staff members to come and speak with you at any time of any given work day, you can help by setting aside a set time each week for staff members to feel invited to come and speak with you about any issues. It’s also helpful to give your staff members a more private way to request a meeting with you. Consider posting a phone number, email address, or even anonymous text information poster in the staff room, anything that will help a staff member talk about issues, before acting out on them while on your floor.

3. Strategic Scheduling

You know your restaurant employees. You know who works best with whom, and that means from the kitchen to the front of house staff to the managers. Consider carefully when you put together the work schedules for the week. How can you make the most of the staff you have? Consider if there are some people who enjoy each others time more and work well together. Consider if there are some employees who could use more help during peak rush hours and perhaps that individual should be scheduled with someone who can help that employee during the shift. There is much to consider when scheduling for your restaurant, but by choosing whom you schedule and when carefully, you will make a more productive and enjoyable shift every time. Use What Time Do I Work for your scheduling needs to help you clear your lines of communication!

Company Morale: How to Keep Your Employees Happy

03 Jul, 2015 | Tags: , , ,

Employee turnover and the effort required to hire new employees can take a huge chunk out of a company’s budget. Hiring new employees is expensive since it requires training, significant time on the part of the hiring manager, and there is no guarantee that a new hire is going to pan out. New hires cost the company in terms of recruiting, training, workplace integration and other factors that go into hiring. Companies that view their employees as investments and valuable assets tend to have better overall financial pictures. By keeping your employees happy, you can avoid a high turnover rate and significantly decrease your hiring expenses.

The Cost of Added Value

When you consider the average company spends $1200 per year on training employees, it becomes clear that it’s more cost-effective to keep existing employees than hire new ones. A well-trained employee saves your company money. One of the ways to increase employee morale and save for the future is by adding incentives that make it enjoyable for a company to stay on at a particular company. Facebook, Google and Adobe all have unprecedented company benefits from free food to flexible work/life balance initiatives. These programs cost very little compared to the overall cost of hiring and training new employees each year. When you consider that only 12 percent of employees quit due to salary, it becomes even more important to provide some of these basic programs to help improve employee morale.

Make Employees Count

Taking your employees thoughts and needs into consideration is a great way to improve employee morale. Set up weekly or monthly meetings where employees can voice their concerns and suggest ways to improve the company. Listen to your employees and take action when necessary when an employee has a complaint. A simple review of the information available at Glassdoor.com shows that many reputable companies simply don’t take their employees concerns seriously. For example, ASEA reviews indicate that most employees are happy with the company, but they still desire more opportunities for advancement and growth. Create opportunities within your company, and give employees a chance to shine in their respective roles within the company.

Benefit and Insurance Packages

Employees that have good benefits and insurance packages often find that their employees are happier. Having the ability to take time off work to see a doctor, take care of their mental health and be with family is an important perk to any job. By offering flexible work schedules and good vacation pay, employees are more likely to stay happy and loyal to a company. Adobe is a premiere software company that lets employees take as much time off as they need provided their work is completed. While this isn’t possible for every company, it’s an example of how the company looks at its needs and provides benefits based on those needs. Adobe focuses on production, and as long as those needs are being met, an employee doesn’t need to be sitting in the office when they could be taking care of life issues.

Don’t Focus on Salary

More money isn’t always the solution to keeping your employees happy. Offer a system where employees can get discounts with local businesses, or find ways to increase benefits while keeping salary capped at a certain amount. Minor benefits can make a difference in an employee’s happiness. Free coffee, discounts on gym memberships, life insurance, disability and other major incentives make it less likely that an employee will become disgruntled and leave for another company.

Treat your employees with respect, listen to their concerns and create programs that add real value to their lives and you will see your company thrive. Happy employees work harder and take more responsibility for their roles in the company. By taking care of your employees, you’re feeding the machine that helps your company to reach higher profits, produce better results and you can feel good knowing that you’re making your employees lives better.

5 Things You Should Be Doing On Twitter

27 Jun, 2015 | Tags: , , , ,

Nowadays, everyone can be found on a social media channel, and keeping up with the times means you have to be on several channels. But Twitter still reigns in many social circles as the best and fastest way to get the news you want to hear without having to scroll through your old college roommates posts. Here are 5 things you should be doing on Twitter to make your experience there worthwhile.

Use Hashtags

Hashtags are a way of Twitter life. Words (or phrases) that start with a pound are automatically turned into a link. You can now search through all the tweets that also used the same hashtag. Use tags in your profile bio to help you be seen in searches. Example: My name’s #Bob and I’m a lover of all things #Pizza.

Create Follow Lists

Again, one of the best features of Twitter is that you decide whose tweets you want to see in your feed. You can also very easily divide your users into “Follow Lists” to help sort through the tweeting madness. Name your lists and then place the accounts you follow into the appropriate lists. For instance, you might have a list for your News, Friends, and Technology. Creating your lists will help keep your overall tweeting experience enjoyable.

Subscribe To Public Lists

Just as you have created Follow Lists, other users create lists as well. You can make these lists public and follow other account’s lists. If you follow Mashable for example, you can look at their 30 public lists. You can easily follow their entire staff members, or just their interns, or the Mashable staff members that are at SXSW. Can you understand what a gold mine public lists can be?!

Upload Videos and Photos

It’s a well-known fact; tweets with videos and pictures garner more attention than words only. The Twitter app allows 30 second video creations, but you can also use Vine or other apps to help you get more from your tweets. This is also important because it helps you say more than your 140-character limit!

Search Hacks

The search bar in Twitter seems pretty harmless and humble, but with a little know how, you can open doors you didn’t know possible! Here are a few hacks for the Twitter search engine.

Operator: “happy hour” | Finds tweets: containing the exact phrase “happy hour.”

Operator: love OR hate | Finds tweets: containing either “love” or “hate” (or both).

Operator: beer -wine | Finds tweets: containing “beer” but not “wine.”

Operator: #Puppies | Finds tweets: containing the hashtag “Puppies.”

Operator: “happy hour” near:”san francisco” | Finds tweets: containing the exact phrase “happy hour” and sent near “san francisco.”

Twitter has a lot to offer as a social media channel. So use it to benefit you and your company! Feel free to share any tricks you might have as well. Also, check out our free 30 day trial on What Time Do I Work Software!

Four Ways Your Business Can Capitalize on National Holidays

23 Jun, 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Our Nation celebrates many national holidays throughout the year, and the Fourth of July is right around the corner. While the holidays themselves stand as reminders of our nation’s history, let’s be honest, most of us are just excited to have a three-day weekend.

During those holiday weekends, how can you help your small business stand out of the crowd? Here’s four ideas to help get your business out of your four walls and into the public eye during this upcoming Fourth of July weekend, and any other upcoming national holidays.

1. Sidewalk Sales

You might think the sidewalk in front of your business is there for pedestrians, but during holiday weekends, that sidewalk is there for you to make sure every pedestrian knows your small business exists. Get some of your products together and set up a small table outside. Have a staff member stand outside with your products. Every person who walks by your small business should receive a smile, as well as a quick idea of what you sell.

2. Holiday Related Products

Holidays are all about getting creative; so let your creative self out of the bag. The Fourth of July is all about celebrating the rich heritage of this great nation. How can your small business represent the red, white, and blue for a weekend? Specialty cocktails on your patio, small flags surrounding your windows and sidewalks: whatever you decide to offer, give your customers an opportunity to celebrate the national holiday with you!

3. Community Events

Sometimes national holidays are all about getting away from your building and into your community. Community events are a great way to get exposure to potential new customers who otherwise might not get the opportunity to know your small business. Take your product into the community. There are always many options for community events during holiday weekends, and many of those events are held in public areas like schools, parks, farmer’s markets, or block parties. Find a holiday event that your small business can participate in, and take your staff and products to them!

4. Holiday Social Media Campaign

Stand strong, and stand proud; let it be known that your small business celebrates national holidays! Your small business’ social media accounts are the best way to ensure your customers know how they can participate in your holiday festivities. Use creative graphics, show teasers of specials, and give a heads up for any discounts or markdowns you’ll be offering. Your social media accounts are a paramount tool during holiday weekends; without communication, your customers won’t know to come and take part in your holiday specials.

Sidewalk sales, holiday related products and sales, community events, and using social media skillfully, are all easy ways to start capitalizing on national holiday weekends. Utilize your staff members to put your best foot forward on these weekends. Use What Time Do I Work to schedule your staff appropriately throughout the weekend to make sure you’re ready to pick up on all that new holiday weekend business! What are some ways your small business capitalizes on holiday weekends? Let us know in the comments, and don’t forget, holiday employee scheduling doesn’t need to be a source of stress, try What Time Do I Work today!