We are working on a few new updates lately, and as always our goal is to make your experience better, faster, more efficient.
We are adding services, streamlining and making our dashboard easier to use, and communication with customer service more accessible.
We hope these changes will make your experience with us even better than before.
Sam Ryan … and the rest of Team Flocksy!
Featured team member design of the month:
Here is a custom logo illustration by our creative Sunardi, for a client. We think its pretty cool! All custom illustrations on Flocksy are drawn completely from scratch by one of our extremely talented illustrators. Start an illustration project today and see results in just hours!
by Flocksy writer Kasey Van Dyke Chances are you have a Facebook page that you visit at least occasionally. Facebook is now so integrated in our lives, it’s how we stay connected to our friends and family; it’s how we get our news and share our opinions. What if you could get your income through Facebook? continue
by Flocksy writer Gerry Ellen Avery Let’s take a shared look at how being empathetic towards your coworkers, your employees, and your clientele can have a remarkable effect on your business operations… continue
by Flocksy writer Kasey Van Dyke As a business owner, part of your job is to keep your employees safe. They dedicate 40 hours a week, sometimes more, to your company and you should repay them their time with your care about their workplace safety. … continue
by Flocksy writer Matt Gladstone Owning and operating a small business is a difficult task and requires foundational and thorough planning. Here’s a short guide to the steps and considerations you should take if you want to start a new businesses now or in the near future… continue
Have you ever started the day with a to-do list a mile long and a schedule full of meetings? Do you feel like you always have a lot to do, but there’s never enough time to get it all done?
As the leader of your company, your attention is constantly being pulled in many different directions. You’re going to overlook some things, but you don’t want to drop the ball on what’s most important.
While you might miss a meeting or leave one item off your to-do list, you can’t miss the boat when it comes to your employees. Building relationships with the people who keep your business running is critically important.
It can be tough to show your employees you care, especially if they’re working remotely. These four strategies will help you keep your employees happy and ready to work.
Show You’re Available And Fair
Employees want to know that they can come to their boss if they have a problem. Whether it’s a tech problem, a coworker problem, or something else, it doesn’t matter. Employees need to know that they can count on their boss to be available to them. While they should ask their direct supervisor first, they should also know that you’re available.
You can share your calendar with your employees, or you can tell them exactly which hours are best to come and see you for help with problems. Make it clear that you don’t consider their concerns a waste of your time.
Fairness is an extremely important quality in a manager. Emphasize that you value everyone being treated with the support that they need. Ask your employees to come to you with any concerns about fairness.
If you want to show your employees that you care, limit required overtime and provide excellent benefits. Take care of the basics first, and fairly, and you’ll be on your way to establishing those important relationships.
Be Appreciative
There’s no doubt about it: without your employees, your business would not run. Your staff is crucial to your success, and you need to let them know.
Always reward employees for a job well done. While the reward will depend on you and the employee, a written thank you card is always a good idea. It’s a memento that they can keep in their desk to provide motivation on difficult days and to encourage them to keep working hard during slower times.
Verbally recognize one employee during a set time period. You could follow the traditional employee-of-the-month schedule, or you could choose to recognize one employee each quarter.
Whenever you recognize an employee, make sure you are specific. State what was most notable about their work. For example, you could say something like “Your follow-through with difficult customers has helped us keep large accounts.” That sort of compliment is much better than, “Your hard work keeps us afloat.”
You should also check in with employees who are experiencing a challenging time, either in their professional role or in their personal life. The fact that they continue to show up in the face of difficulties is important and should be recognized just as much as successes should be.
Schedule Social Events
The population continues to increase and there are more people on Earth than ever before. Because of technology, we can connect with each other more than ever before. However, online connections with strangers or acquaintances can’t take the place of real connections.
While some might view their work as “just a job,” it’s important to give all employees the opportunity to make connections at work outside of their roles. Social events help employees feel connected and motivated to work hard for their work community.
If your staff is working remotely, you can schedule a Zoom call that’s entirely social. Make sure to research games to play beforehand. Set a time limit and encourage employees to bring snacks and drinks.
If your staff is working in-person, then you should schedule a themed get-together during work hours. It’s a great idea to get a break from the office/the building and go out somewhere, if possible. Bring game ideas as a backup plan if natural socializing needs a nudge. This is also a great opportunity to recognize the employee of the month or quarter. Try to schedule these events on a regularly recurring basis.
Provide Perks That Elevate The Environment
The days of boring office environments are over. It’s time to think about how perks and amenities can motivate employees to have a positive attitude and to work hard.
Studies have proven that open offices, where no one can close the door to their office or has the privacy of a cubicle, create problems. Coworkers distract each other with conversation, and there’s too much noise for real, deep work.
That doesn’t mean that you can’t offer amenities, though. A snack bar is a great perk that shows employees you care. A coffee bar is another great amenity. Some of the giant tech companies have nap rooms, but that might not be the best solution for your business.
It’s also a great idea to give employees the opportunity to walk outside. A walking path allows employees to take a quick break, breathe some fresh air, and come back to their desk rejuvenated.
Take a good look at your office furniture, too. Is it comfortable and supportive, or outdated and flawed? If you can, look into upgrading the oldest furniture at leas.t
Wrapping It Up
To show your employees you care, make it evident that you are available, do your best to be fair, show your appreciation directly, schedule social events, and provide perks that elevate your office environment.
Embracing these four steps will show your employees that you want to help them succeed in their careers. Most importantly, your actions will show that you care about them as not just an employee, but as a person.
Countless business gurus and blogs have made their checklists of what it takes to be an entrepreneur: passion. Ingenuity. Good financial sense. While all these characteristics are important, entrepreneurship relies on one thing above all else. To successfully launch and manage your own business, you need to be creative and make creativity a core element of your endeavors. Here’s why.
Creativity Breeds Innovation
As the saying goes, there’s nothing new under the sun. Most industries are oversaturated as more and more people try to get in the game. Eventually, businesses face seemingly infinite competition, which drives down their value.
To stand out from the crowd, you need to innovate new solutions, and that requires creativity. This doesn’t necessarily mean inventing a new product. Rather, you need to find a way to enter the market in a unique way. Creativity is crucial to this process; it gives you ideas on how to position yourself as distinctive from your competitors.
Creativity Helps You Solve Problems
Ultimately, a business is only as successful as its ability to meet its customers’ needs. This goes beyond creating a desired product or solution; you need to provide a brand experience that supports your customers’ core interests and preferences. To tackle their problems, you often need to brainstorm solutions that don’t yet exist. This is where creativity comes in!
When you are creative, you can more easily imagine your target audience’s journey, which allows you to craft the ideal experience for them. You can empathize with their struggles and find a brand story that resonates with them. Simply putting a clever product out to market isn’t enough! Creativity gives you the tools to position yourself as the wise guide on your customers’ journey.
Creativity Promotes Courage
Starting a business is a risky endeavor. There is a lot of work involved, with only a narrow window for sustainable success. The best entrepreneurs can envision all possible scenarios and find the right path to achieve the results they want. They can imagine achieving their goals, which helps them obtain the courage they need to take risks.
This doesn’t mean entrepreneurs need to be foolish, though. Creative people are better able to think outside the box, which can help them take the right kind of risk. They can measure their ideas against their feasibility, then imagine the outcome they want. This is crucial to making the best decisions at the best time.
Creativity Leads To Collaboration
Creative people are often better able to work with others. That’s because creativity is actually a talent for connection. It allows you to think outside the box and find ways to cross barriers between various experiences. This makes you more empathetic and open minded, both of which are crucial to building strong teams and brands.
People skills are essential to business success! Creativity lends itself to collaboration by encouraging people to share and build on each other’s ideas. When you find the right mix of people, your business can grow.
Creativity Leads To An Empowered Mindset
The much touted entrepreneurial mindset is one that looks for revenue opportunity and financial success. What most people don’t tell you is that this mindset is actually creativity. When we can imagine our business’s growth and abundance, we can adopt the famous “money manifestation” attitude. Countless entrepreneurs have reported that this attitude helped them grow a thriving business.
There’s nothing mystical about the money manifestation mindset or entrepreneurial attitudes in general. It’s simply creativity, which allows us to envision our business goals and put them into action! When we know we can find the best ideas and solutions, we feel empowered to make our business a success.
Wrapping Up
If you’ve been reading this article and are worried your entrepreneurial dreams are doomed, don’t be! Contrary to popular belief, creativity is not something you either have or don’t have. While some people may have a greater affinity for creative thought, it can be cultivated in anyone.
If you wish to become more creative and unlock your potential as an entrepreneur, work on developing an innovative, positive mindset. Build connections with other people. Spend time brainstorming and imagining. These activities can help find the best solutions for your target customers’ problems and ultimately form a brand that makes a lasting impact!
We’ve been excited lately to welcome some new members to our team, and as always, we’re blown away by their talent! Passion and creativity are equally important at Flocksy.
We started by innovating the way that businesses can obtain creative services, but we’ve grown into a thriving community — something totally unique! We couldn’t have done it without our dedicated team of writers, designers, developers, video editors, voice over artists, and SEO experts!
Sincerely,
Sam Ryan
CEO/Co-founder
Featured team member design of the month:
This cool custom brand social media graphic was created by Flocksy team member John for a current client
by Flocksy writer Matt Gladstone The world has changed vastly in just the last five years, so it’s important to know where you stand and where you’re going when starting a business. Here are the four most important and most basic things needed to start a business this year. continue
Leveraging the different social media outlets takes time, energy, and knowledge. Before you can develop a strategy, it’s essential to know the basics of how Twitter works… continue
When you focus, you’re able to accomplish lots of high-quality work. Your creative juices are flowing, and you make it all look easy. However, today’s ever-connected digital life can make it feel impossible to focus on any one task.
If it seems like you can never spend more than a few minutes on a project before picking up something else, it’s time to take control of your time! From new workflows to different boundaries, try these tips and tricks to improve your focus and increase your productivity.
Embrace Single-Tasking
The myth of multi-tasking has had a good run, but it’s time to let go of this outdated idea. Multi-tasking, where you try to work on several different projects at once, simply isn’t effective. Multi-taskers accomplish less and make more mistakes than people who work on one project at a time.
Take a look at your usual workday and see where you might be multitasking. Maybe you’re answering emails while on the phone, or are trying to proofread two different documents at the same time. Instead, start tackling each of these tasks separately. You might not think you have room in your schedule to handle them individually, but you’ll probably find that tasks take less time when you’re more focused.
Batch Your Days
Take single-tasking to the next level by batching your days. When you batch your work, you focus on all the similar parts of different projects, one at a time. For example, if you need to send updates on various projects, write and deliver all of these updates one after another.
When you batch work, you save resources because you’re performing similar jobs at the same time. There’s no need to load the same software multiple times a week, get into the right mindset every day, or track down supplies more than once. Batching is a great way to reduce the workload of your routine tasks.
Reduce Interruptions
Your workday is probably full of interruptions. Chat alerts, pop-up email notifications, ringing phones, coworkers popping by your desk, and countless other modern reminders pull you away from your current task, interrupting your workflow and breaking your focus.
Remove as many interruptions as you can from your environment. When you’re working on a project, aim to make yourself unavailable for anything else. If you can close your office door, log out of your email, and set yourself unreachable on chat, you’ll be able to focus on your most important work.
Your work culture might not allow you to go fully offline, but you can still try to reduce your interruptions. Turn off notifications on your personal accounts, block off time on your calendar, and ask drop-in colleagues to circle back at a better time.
Build In Breaks
Don’t push yourself past your breaking point. Regular breaks can help you stay more focused than trying to power through hours of work. Build breaks into your routine to keep your physical and mental abilities sharp.
You can experiment to find the style and frequency of breaks that work best for you. Whether you prefer short but frequent breaks or look forward to one longer change of pace a day, it’s important to take these breathers. You’ll discover new ideas and trains of thought come easier after a break. Your body will also feel better when you stay hydrated, eat meals at a decent hour, and walk around during the day.
Focus On Your Circle Of Control
No matter how talented or high-ranking you are, you can’t control everything. You’ll be able to focus better and stress less when you spend your energy where it’s effective.
From other people’s mistakes, to international trade wars, to the weather, it’s easy to fixate on what could go wrong with a project. But when you focus on events you can’t control, you’re wasting your efforts. Instead, spend your time and energy working within your circle of control. Your focus will be improved when you’re thinking about realistic, workable solutions.
Set Achievable Goals
Lofty goals are a vital part of your company’s growth, but it can be hard to know where to start with a big task. Break your goals into smaller steps and sub-goals to help them feel more approachable. You’ll have an easier time making plans, taking action, and focusing on your work when you’re reaching for a small, realistic goal each day.
Prioritize One Task A Day
No matter how careful you are with your time and energy, there will be days when it’s hard to focus. Last-minute directives from your boss, an unfavorable news cycle, and other emergency situations can require all your energy without any warning. You can still keep making progress towards your long-term goals when you prioritize one task a day.
Every day, identify what’s most important to accomplish. If you could only do one thing that day, what task would be most impactful? Front-load this task and take care of it as soon as you can. Even if the rest of the day’s plans are ruined, you can better focus on the emergency situation when you know that your priority task is already taken care of.
Women around the world enjoy pouring themselves a cup of ambition and trying to make it big in the sales world. But how fair is the sales world, really, to women? Do women get the promotions they deserve whether they’re working 9-5 or longer hours?
According to the 2018 U.S. Census, the answer is no. The U.S. sales industry has the second-highest pay gap between women and men. The highest pay gap in the country is between men and women in finance.
That spells bad news for women who want to, or who are currently trying to, make a large income in sales. Being prepared for the challenges women in sales face is the first step to closing this gap. Equal pay for equal work is essential in a modern world. Here are five problems women in sales face and potential solutions to each.
Problem #1: Systemic Flaws
Unfortunately, one of the top problems that women have in business is that they simply haven’t been allowed to, or had the opportunity to, establish their place for as long as men have. Women who don’t have relationships with clients passed on from mother to daughter, for example, are at a disadvantage. Fathers who pass on their clients to sons are giving their sons an advantage that women just don’t have.
Speaking of sons and daughters, let’s take a look at motherhood. Women have faced hiring discrimination for decades because employers do not want to hire, train, and pay someone who will be temporarily gone for maternity leave. They sometimes even attempt to fire women while they are gone on maternity leave. This is illegal now, but it has been a problem that’s prevented women from having successful sales and business careers in the past. Maternity leave is a major issue that prevents women from leading successful sales careers.
Problem #2: Lack Of Networking Opportunities
Because there have historically been fewer women than men in business, there are fewer women to go to for networking opportunities. That means fewer women mentors are available, which is especially bad news for young women who are just starting out in their careers.
Connections are extremely important in the sales world. While it’s important to have a mentor for support, simply knowing more people in the sales world who can help you change companies, for example, is useful and can lead to a more lucrative career. Networking opportunities can be hard to come by for women in sales.
Problem #3: Unconscious Bias
Women tend to be undervalued in the workplace, especially considering that they meet their sales quotas more often than men do! Someone holds an unconscious bias when they do not know that they have a set of attitudes or beliefs about a person or group of people, and these attitudes/beliefs are not based on reality.
Many men hold common, stereotypical unconscious biases about women in the workplace. Examples include, “Women can’t be trusted because of their hormones,” and “She can’t deal with that client because he’s old school. We need a man to work with him.”
Unconscious biases are dangerous because if they are not recognized and addressed, they can turn into discrimination. If, for example, a supervisor never assigns a woman representative to a certain client, they are limiting the woman’s ability to do her job. It doesn’t matter if the supervisor thought he had good intentions; by preventing women from even trying, his unconscious bias is setting up (or perpetuating) problems from the start.
Note that women can also hold unconscious biases about other women. However, it’s much more common that men hold unconscious biases about women, and these biases affect their actions, women’s opportunities, and ultimately, their performance.
Problem #4: Unfair Business Environments
When many men in a company hold unconscious biases against women, it has a major impact on interpersonal relationships and on women’s attitude about what they can accomplish at work. Unconscious biases effect women during interactions, but it extends beyond moment-to-moment interactions.
For instance, women might not feel comfortable using office equipment or going into the break room because they fear an awkward or unpleasant encounter. They might not speak up in meetings because they fear that they will not be taken seriously. Women might also feel uncertain on business trips because they do not have a support system in place.
Sometimes, companies will require a man to partner up with a woman, even if another woman could have filled that role or if the woman could have accomplished the task on her own. These are all examples of how unconscious biases work to create unfair business environments that prevent women from feeling safe and empowered at work.
Problem #5: Imposter Syndrome
While we’ve looked at major external forces that create problems for women in sales, we haven’t considered one important internal force: imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is the untrue belief that you aren’t good enough to accomplish something, even though there is evidence that suggests you are.
Imposter syndrome affects women much more than men. It creates insecurities that lead women to take fewer risks, risks which could pay off and help decrease (and ultimately, eliminate) the gender pay gap.
Women in sales need to fight imposter syndrome by taking a look at all the hard work they’ve put in and the rewards they’ve reached. Take time to be proud of how far you’ve come and what you’ve accomplished. Then, take that positive attitude and energy and put it to work.
In Conclusion
Women face many challenges in the work place, including systemic flaws, a lack of networking opportunities, unconscious bias, unfair work environments, and imposter syndrome. These five problems can be resolved if both men and women work together to fix them.
Equal pay for equal work is extremely important, and creating an environment where more women will want to work is also essential to eliminating the gender pay gap. Despite the challenges they face, women can led rewarding careers in sales.
Your customer service team is your first line of defense when it comes to customers. They handle customer complaints, concerns, and questions. They are actually who your customer will likely interact with and how your customers will develop an opinion of your brand. And because of that, your customer service team has to stay motivated for the long haul.
Here are some things to keep in mind when thinking about how you can better motivate your customer service team.
Encourage Individual Growth
One of the best ways to motivate your team is to help them grow both professionally and personally. For their professional growth, you should engage in regular training sessions that actually help them learn the techniques to be better in customer service situations. Things like deescalation training, how to make small talk, ways to connect with the customers, and how to multitask are all great places to start.
You may also want to look into seminars and conferences or classes that your team could attend. These should have experts giving more insight into their position and providing the advice your team will need to be excellent in their day-to-day activities.
Personally, you can help your team grow, too. They spend a huge amount of their lives at work, making it important that their personal growth makes an appearance at work. Help them identify their goals in life and how they want to accomplish that. For example, you can help your team achieve better health by creating a wellness program for them. It will improve their lives while helping them feel more motivated to work hard for the company.
Give Them The Right Tools
Obviously, your team can only be efficient and effective with the right tools. Make sure they have all the equipment they need to do their job well, from training to physical equipment. Stay up-to-date on the best tools in the industry and consider having a part of your budget there to cover the expense of new equipment.
One of the crucial tools for success is autonomy. Your team needs to know that you trust them to make certain decisions. Without a mutual trust, they will never feel like they are progressing in their position and you will continue to see a large number of calls referred to supervisors. Instead, make sure your customer service team is well-trained and fully equipped to handle the majority of situations.
Strengthen The Team
Your team will always work better when working as a team. Start to encourage this by listening to their feedback. You are an essential part of the team and you should trust the feedback you’re getting when making decisions.
Additionally, you need to regularly help them participate in team building activities. These can be something as simple as a team coffee break or as elaborate as going out into the community and doing charity work together. The act of doing something together outside of work can help broaden their relationships and given them experiences together they may not have gotten otherwise.
You can also help them build as a team by fostering friendly competition. You don’t want to pit one employee against another, but having a little competition will incentivize them to work harder while also helping them appreciate the skills of other team members.
Focus On Appreciation
Think about the last time someone asked you for something. Chances are, if you chose to help them out, you knew you would be appreciated. Appreciation is an excellent motivator. You can use this with your customer service team. Try placing some focus on their purpose and importance within the company. As they see why they are coming to work every day and why others rely on them, they will have context for their daily activities.
You can also help the team show appreciation for and take pride in the brand. Fundamentally, people want to work for a company that they respect. Whether it’s the mission of the company, the quality of the products they’re selling, or the good treatment they get from upper management, there is something that will help them stay connected to the company and the brand, which will then motivate them further.
You should also get in the habit of showing appreciation for the team. Regularly show appreciation for them during team meetings, throughout the week, and individually. This doesn’t always have to be an elaborate thing that you do. Simply bringing in a treat or sending a thoughtful email can make a huge difference.
Know What Motivates Them
Generally speaking, people are motivated either intrinsically or extrinsically. If your employees are intrinsically motivated, consider encouraging their creativity. As they improve their problem solving skills and in their position, that intrinsic motivation will continue to be met.
If you have some employees who are more motivated extrinsically, consider coming up with an employee incentive program. How you structure this is completely up to you! It might be based on how many customer service calls they take in a day or their average rating by customers or even the length of their calls. However you decide to make your incentive program, it can be a great outside motivator for every employee.
While some companies are telling their employees to keep working from home, others are calling staff back to the office. Although it might be easier to avoid office conflict when working from home, that doesn’t mean that arguments disappear entirely.
We’ve come up with four best practices for managing employee conflicts, no matter what the setting might be. Whether there’s a disagreement happening in the office or online, one thing is certain: that conflict is decreasing productivity and making your workplace a less pleasant place to be.
Don’t let conflict take away from your company. Follow these best practices to keep conflict to a minimum and to provide a positive work environment for your employees.
Be Proactive
For this best practice, you’ll have to pick a day to start, and we suggest the first Monday of a new month. The symbolism of choosing the first day of the week to launch an initiative actually helps people get in the right mindset: new month, new practice.
And just what is this best practice? It’s simple but so important: respect. When employees don’t respect each other, miscommunications and arguments increase. Respect is essential to the functioning of any organization or society,
Unfortunately, you can never control whether or how much employees actually respect each other. But what you can do is establish a set of norms. Don’t interrupt when someone is speaking. Each person has this much time to speak. If you have an issue with a coworker’s behavior, then talk to your supervisor.
If an employee breaks these norms, then it’s time to have a discussion with them about the importance of respect and their future with the company.
Establish A Complaint Process
Sometimes a conflict gets out of control, or an employee’s behavior escalates in a way that can no longer be tolerated. When this is the case, there needs to be a process for filing a formal complaint.
No employee should have to feel like their voice won’t be heard. If a coworker is treating another employee poorly, then that employee needs to make it known.
A written complaint that goes into a personnel file will help HR track employee behavior in case the case escalates even further.
Communicate the complaint process to your employees. Make sure they know that they will not be penalized for reporting the inappropriate behavior of a coworker.
Confront The Issue
For less serious conflicts, it’s time to leave passive aggressiveness behind. When a minor event happens, employees should be encouraged to confront each other over what went wrong.
Ignoring tensions can actually make the problem worse as time goes by. When employees secretly dislike a coworker or manager, that’s a recipe for miscommunication. It’s difficult to ask for help from someone who you don’t like or don’t trust.
Encourage your employees to have honest, open conversations with each other. Explain that the first step is to politely state how they feel and what the other person might be able to do in a future similar situation to minimize the issue.
Set Communication Standards
Establishing norms for respect, a process for filing formal complaints, and a policy of addressing issues as they arise are three important steps that all have to do with communication. Communication is critically important in the workplace, and that’s why having high standards for it will help your business move up to the next level.
Decide on how much communication you expect from your employees daily, and how much communication is needed within teams. Make sure that you model clear and concise communication in your emails and meetings.
Be honest, open, and to the point. Prioritize your employees’ understanding. If you have communicated something unclearly, then that could lead to future miscommunications.
You should also ask each team to establish their own communication standards, and make sure you approve them. Ask your employees for feedback about what was communicated well and what needed more clarity.
In Conclusion
Respect, complaint processes, conflict policies, and communication standards are four areas where companies should be following best practices to keep conflict to a minimum and employees happy at work.
Arguing at the office or online can lead to more than just a miscommunication or lost time. When conflict gets out of hand, serious consequences can ensue that can lead companies into disaster.
Make sure that you take the right steps and follow best practices to create a positive work environment where employees feel heard and valued. Communication is key!
We all need to make money to make our way in the world, but self-fulfillment is just as important. In the business world, doing good work that you can feel good about is the first step. Companies from all over the world and a wide range of industries are finding ways to create lasting social impact. Whatever your business, you can make a difference, too.
Build A Business On Your Passion
Do what you love, right? It’s sage advice. You have to care about something to feel good about doing it. Doing good and giving back isn’t just for nonprofits. Parents start businesses selling products that will help their family and other families. A vegan establishes a line of prepackaged vegan foods. Yes, a business needs to be sustainable, but you can enjoy what you do. The first step to feeling good about your business is selling a product that makes you feel good and makes a difference.
Here are some great examples of companies selling feel-good products:
Alternative Apparel sells sustainably sourced clothing that’s Fair Trade certified.
Seventh Generation sells eco-friendly products that are packaged in 100% recycled material.
Warby Parker sells eyeglasses. For every pair sold, they donate a pair.
Grove Collaborative sells paper goods made from 100% bamboo.
Build It Into Your Business Plan
Every business isn’t selling bamboo paper towels or sustainably sourced clothing, and that’s okay. You can still do good by building it into your brand. You don’t have to wait until you’re well established to give back either. Build it into your business plan from the very start. If you can’t afford to make monetary donations right now, build quarterly volunteer days into your business plan. You can include monetary donations in your business plan for when your start-up is off and running. Factor donations into your budget and projections. 2 years from now, how much do you want to be donating? 5 years from now? Set goals for yourself, then track your progress. Get your team involved, so everyone can feel good about their contribution when you meet a goal.
Your business plan is the blueprint for your business. What you choose to put in it is entirely up to you. It can just be about profit and loss, or it can also be about doing your part to make a lasting change in this world.
Build An Atmosphere of Giving
As the founder of a company, you set the tone. If you make charity a focus of your business, it sets an example for all of your employees. If you want to make a difference but aren’t sure where to start, hold a meeting to ask your employees’ opinions. They may have some great ideas! Or perhaps, they are already involved in volunteer work and need assistance. Don’t just assign an eager employee as head of charitable contributions and step back, either. Get involved yourself and set a positive example. You may inspire your customers and business partners to get involved, as well.
Build A People-First Philosophy
Customers know the difference between a company that values its customers and one that values its bottom line above all else. Chewy, the pet retailer, sends condolence cards to its customers when they lose their beloved pet. Acts of kindness like this will win the hearts and minds of your customers.
Yes, good customer service is good business sense, but a people-first philosophy is more than that. A people-centric business is one employees want to work for because their time and input are valued. They have fair wages, good working conditions, and an understanding boss. A people-first philosophy means implementing policies that protect the physical and mental health of your staff. From adequate leave time to group health insurance, there are a lot of things an employer can do for his or her employees. A smart business owner knows a company’s success depends upon how hard its employees are willing to work.
Build A Reputation for Good
As a business owner, you have choices about how you package your products, how you advertise your services, and what vendors you use. You choose how you treat your employees and how you run your business. Make choices you can proudly share with your customers. It will establish your business as one that cares about people over money. People don’t just want a good product at a good price. They want a product they can feel good about buying.
As a new year approaches, the all-too-familiar making of resolutions becomes front and center. Have you given any thought to health related issues lately? If not, it’s time to wake up to the fact that your health and wellbeing is vitally important. January is a great time to make changes and improvements that will not only last the short term, but for a lifetime.
It’s no secret that poor health and wellbeing affects you in several ways, including physically and mentally. To enjoy life to the fullest each and every day, here’s 9 ways to help give you a kick-start to improving your health.
Exercise
If you’re already partaking in daily exercise, good for you; if not, it’s time you started. If you lead a sedentary lifestyle – you either sit at home or you have a job which keeps you inactive for long periods of time. Therefore, not only does exercise improve your strength, stamina, and flexibility, the obvious health benefits associated with exercise include weight loss and improved fitness. You’re also less prone to injuries and ‘aches and pains’ such as fall, sprains, backaches, shoulder aches and so on.
Reduce Your Screen Hours
There’s no escaping the certain amount of screen time for your work, but too much unnecessary Iphone, laptop, and T.V. time is not good for your health. It not only makes you lethargic but also has a negative impact on your eyes and the brain. Over time, you can develop lifestyle disorders such as obesity, hypertension or diabetes as you sit for hours in front of the screen, instead of undertaking more physical activities. Too many screen hours can also have a derogatory affect on your mental health and posture, as it does nothing to stimulate your intellect or the health of your spine.
Get Outdoors
Getting out of a confined indoor space and into the fresh outdoor air needs to be adhered to as often as you can. Sunlight is a great source of Vitamin D and the open environment will do wonders for your mental and physical health. A walk outdoors decreases your stress levels and the fresh air energizes your brain while enhancing your mood. A walk is also going to improve your physical fitness. If you’d prefer running to walking, make sure you have the proper footwear and know your limitations prior to setting out. Both are excellent for your overall wellbeing and both contribute to weight loss and mental stability.
Decrease Alcohol Intake
Drinking too much alcohol has multiple side effects on your body, as alcohol interferes with your brain’s working pattern and disrupts clarity of thought and coordination. Also, regular intake of alcohol can lead to high blood pressure, arrhythmia or even a cardiac attack. Imbibing on a regular basis affects your liver and can cause fatty liver, cirrhosis, fibrosis or alcoholic hepatitis. It can also affect your relationships with others and your mental health if you drink in excess, therefore limit the alcohol intake and boost your wellbeing.
Walk Whenever and Wherever You Can
Because walking is a great way to get your body moving, park the farthest away from your designated place and walk extra steps to the front door of a market or your workplace. Walk to the supermarket, take a walk around the park and if you use public transport to your place of work, get off a few stops early and walk the rest of the way. Take a short break at your office every two hours or so and go for a five-to-ten minute walk. If nothing else, walk around your house and always take the stairs where possible. Set yourself a target each day, and stick to it!
Limit Processed Foods
By limiting processed foods which contain a variety of additives, colors, and taste enhancers, you’re also limiting the fat, sugar, and salt content, all of which are harmful to your health. They can also actually work out to be more expensive than eating freshly prepared food. Processed foods have very little nutritional value and over-consumption can lead to obesity, type II diabetes, cardiac problems, and digestive issues such as inflammatory bowel disease.
Have Fitness Goals
Even before the new year rolls around, getting fit will have a huge impact on your overall health. If you are obese, try to shed the pounds. If you are too lean and weak, try to build your muscles and improve your strength with yoga and weight training. Don’t ‘simply try’ but rather set fitness goals, hire a personal trainer if your budget allows, have a workout partner, and select a particular workout regime that is within your comfort level. Then join a group or a gym that offers your preferred workouts.
Quit Smoking
Simply put, smoking cigarettes is not good for you or those around you, particularly your children. The toxic effects of the smoke leave a dark tan on your skin and make it look dull. Those who smoke regularly are more likely to develop wrinkles earlier, and continued smoking can lead to lung and oral cancer to name a few. It also stains the teeth and leads to several gum diseases. In women, smoking during pregnancy can lead to abnormalities in the developing fetus. All in all, it’s time to quit smoking and avoid a life with many health risks and complications.
Carve Out Time to Relax
Just as important as exercise, work, and play, it’s also vital to take a break and relax. Relaxation is the simple mantra of living happily. Carve out time to sleep at least six to eight hours a day, spend some quality time with friends or family to take your mind off life issues, read a book, watch a film or go for a weekend getaway to de-stress. You will be more productive, healthier and better equipped to take life on.
In a Nutshell
Your health and wellbeing depends on the steps you take to make it forever. No more excuses and no more reasons to sidestep the obvious. A new year is asking you to take control of your life and implement proper nutrition and movement protocol that leads you into restoration, an awakening, and even a transformation of every cell within your body.
Improving your chances of staying alive and becoming the BEST YOU CAN is now here. Go for it!
