How Selling My Property Turned Me Into An Entrepreneur

by Ivan Lim, founder of Averspace

The last 12 months have been remarkable for me for many reasons. I sold my first property. I quit my handsome-­paying job at a bank and became an entrepreneur. To say my life changed a tad bit would be an understatement. But it all started out with a strong belief and conviction that I could change things for the better.

It started last year when I wanted to sell my apartment. I hired an agent to help me manage the process. It took over four months to find a suitable buyer, with my apartment simply advertised on various property websites in Singapore. I had to constantly chase my agent for updates and news from interested buyers. I was left scratching my head – surely there was more he had to offer for a fees of $20,000. I would gladly pay for services that make my life better and make the process convenient. However, this was neither and I found the overall experience disappointing.

Although I didn’t get the level of service and information from my agent, I spent considerable time doing research on recently transacted property prices using government databases. In the process, I also gained valuable insights into how property transactions took place in Singapore, and how there was so much more that could be done to make the process simple. My home sales process sparked off a thought process that property transactions can and should be made simpler. That’s why I started Averspace , a digital mobile property app that helps you buy, sell or rent property directly.

I was baffled that technology hasn’t simplified the process of buying, selling and renting homes even more than what we see today. My background in banking had given me a solid grounding into processes, and I leveraged that to design a system that was more transparent and convenient. There is no doubt that the property market will evolve further in the future as we integrate technology even more into our lives, and I started to see how we could already start making a difference.

In this age of digital technology, most of the information is easily available on various websites. I can easily find out about the local infrastructure, shopping centres, proximity to public transportation and MRT lines. I can easily read about the various industry trends. I can find out about the historical transaction prices of various properties through government websites. Perhaps this is an industry that could be easily digitized to offer users greater control, easier search process and automated contract structuring.

Since no other platform was doing it well enough, I decided to jump into the bandwagon of entrepreneurs who ‘are crazy enough to think that they can change the world’. I discovered that being an ‘entrepreneur’ is a mindset – you start looking for things to make better, and problems to solve. It’s a place I have enjoyed so far, as well as learnt a lot from. Here’s where I have had the biggest mindset shift ­ ideas that have helped me become a better entrepreneur:

1. Talk to more people.

The more people you can talk to, the more perspectives you gain. You start understanding the customers better, you start living their problems, and this perspective leads you to create solutions that make their lives better. It helps validate your business plan. It helps you create a product that people actually want. In my journey, I constantly talk to homeowners and landlords, and buyers and tenants. I ask them about their frustrations with the process, and identify areas where things could be made simpler. This process of identifying problems to solve has made me a better entrepreneur.

2. People like having control.

Most people like to keep things simple. They would go for systems that are transparent and easy to do. It makes them feel they are in control of the process instead of being blind and dependant on somebody’s else skills. Many people who have recently bought, sold or rented a property talked about how they didn’t know until the last minute whether the deal would go through. They also didn’t know what the market prices were and were dependant on the agent’s advice. I myself went through this process, and only after doing my own research did I feel confident.

3. Tell them a story.

People love to hear stories. They will forget all the facts and statistics you throw at them, but they will remember your story. Using stories in business is not a new concept, but I saw how powerfully this worked when the property sellers were more willing to tell their potential buyers and tenants about the wonderful time they’ve had there, or the story about how it came to be. Stories create instant bonds, and we love to do business with people we like.

4. Sales will happen if you believe in your product.

Most entrepreneur hate the sales process, but business cannot exist if you don’t like selling. In my view, if you really believe in the product and the value it adds to people, the process of sales becomes less ‘salesy’. If you can communicate the benefits of your service with passion and genuineness, your sales will come.

5. Be prepared.

Be prepared for potential questions and squash doubts about what you are doing. Have the facts ready. It is a lot more easy to talk about what you are doing and how it creates an impact when you know some of the major facts and statistics at the back of your hand. I’ve seen home owners list their properties, but couldn’t remember where the nearest grocery store was, or how far the nearest MRT was. Those that did know their facts found it easier to sell. In my own experience, I talk to people about the property market in Singapore, and since I know the hard numbers, I feel much more confident about presenting my value proposition to potential customers.

 

Founder of Averspace Ivan Lim is a passionate learner who likes to challenge status quo. Upon realising how technology had the potential to transform commerce, he left his handsome paying career to start Averspace. Spurred on by his own home-selling experience, he embarked on this entrepreneurial journey – to help people, home-seekers, and sellers, in particular, to be able to leverage the same technology to sell/buy their homes themselves.

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Singapore vs Malaysia – Who Consumes More And Who Saves More?

• A Singaporean smokes 4 times less cigarettes per day, still pays 57% more per cigarettes compared to Malaysians.
• Singaporean consume 3 times more Electricity per day, compared to Malaysians.
• CupoNation Singapore has created an interactive infographic, where you can see the average spends by a Singaporean per day in real time.

CupoNation, the global savings portal, has done an analysis about the consumption behavior of Singaporeans. The interactive infographic is showing the main categories Singaporeans are on average spending their money on. But how is the consumption behavior of Singapore compared to that of Malaysia? You can find it out below:

Beer and Wine in Singapore and Malaysia.

Beer and Wine consumption is nearly the same in both countries, but Malaysians still pay less (RM0.7/day)  for the same amount of Beer and Wine compared to Singaporeans (S$0.41 which is RM1.23/day). On an average, cost of a domestic Beer in Malaysia is RM11, and a bottle of wine costs RM50, which are pretty high compared to the prices in Europe. Even with the super high prices of alcoholic drinks, Malaysia is said to be the 10th largest consumer of alcohol in the world.

Malaysians drink more coffee but pay less per day.

Malaysians consume more coffee (0.10 cups/day), compared to Singaporeans (0.03 cups/day). But Singaporeans still end up paying 40% more (S$5.47 which is RM16.25) compared to Malaysians (RM9.79) each cup of coffee.

Do Malaysians smoke more cigarettes, than Singaporeans?

On an average a Malaysian smokes 7.45 cigarettes per day. Almost 4 times more than a Singaporean who smokes 2 cigarettes per day. But in the end, a Singaporean spends more per cigarette (S$0.65 which is RM1.93) on an average, compared to a Malaysian (RM0.82).

Restaurants.

Singaporeans pay slightly more (S$8.88 which is RM26.5/day) compared to Malaysians (RM23.33/day) when it comes to eating out in restaurants. Both countries remain fond of Seafood, mainly due to the culture and geography.

Do Malaysians care more about the environment?

Absolutely yes. Malaysians consume 4 times less petrol (0.57L/day), compared to Singaporeans (4.72L/day). And with electricity,  Malaysians use relatively less electricity (8.36 kWh/day), compared to Singapore (23 kWh/day).

From the results it is evident that Malaysians have an upper hand when it comes to saving money. It also shows their responsibility towards a better environment.

With the infographic, CupoNation wants to help users to be more aware of where their money goes, and how they can manage their consumption. You can see the interactive infographics for Malaysia and Singapore here:

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What Type Of Online Marketing Should Your Company Be Looking At

Marketing has never been as important as it is right now, it has never been easier for someone to create a business or brand and as a result there is intense competition for market share in almost all industries. In order to set yourself apart from the crowd, it is imperative that you have a strong marketing strategy to promote your brand or your business. As the world of business has changed so to have marketing techniques and staying on top of the changes is the key to grabbing your piece of market share.

Those who are knowledgable in business success like George Bardwil gained success by making smart decisions, opting for a marketing strategy will be a very smart decision for you to make; here are some options available to you when you start your campaign: 

Social Media Campaign.

There are two possible outcomes when deciding on a social media campaign, the first is that you reach millions of people with your company slogan and logo thus creating interest and sales, the second is that your information gets lost in the sea of other companies and businesses that are jostling for space on a news feed. The key to social media marketing is to identify those who could be interested in your product and show them what you are offering, if you simply play the numbers game and market to anyone who’ll listen then it is unlikely you will gain many customers. 

Relationship Marketing.

Relationship marketing can be a great tool for your business, it flips the idea of traditional marketing on its head as you won’t necessarily be seeking out new customers. The idea behind relationship marketing is communicating with your customers past and present without trying to sell them anything. This communication builds trust between you and your clients and will encourage them to spread the word, create happy customers and they’ll bring some new ones for you.

E-Mail Marketing.

E-mail marketing campaigns can be very hit and miss, gone are the days when e-mails had a click through rate of around 15%, these days the figure sits at around 2.4%. E-mail campaigns should be used to support another campaign, if you use it individually then you will see very little yield for your efforts.

Transactional Marketing.

Something that has gained huge popularity in recent years, transactional marketing is where you give your customers promotions by handing out coupons, individual offers or offering discounts. These practices aren’t new but with the boom of coupon sites and the creativity that people now use when handing out discounts and promotions online, they have been completely reinvented. Transactional marketing is a great way to get people excited about your brand and will give you an opportunity to show them how great your products are. A marketing campaign such as this for 2 or 3 months will really pay dividends in the future and will lead to exponential growth.

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Restaurant Hiring Mistakes That Should Never Be Made

Hiring is really important for the long term success of the restaurant. We are talking about a business where direct contact with guests is vital. This means that you cannot really get away with too many staff related mistakes. We are faced with huge problems that can appear when you want to hire the great people that will help the restaurant grow.

The most common mistakes – as observed by Bob Sambol – are highlighted here:

Not Clearly Clarifying Roles.

It is impossible to hire someone that will help on the long run if you do not clearly define the job descriptions. This practically means that role responsibilities have to be as clear as possible. This does include but is not limited to processes, tasks and goals. Drafting up appropriate job descriptions will always help hire someone that will do the job in a great way.

Sugarcoating Tasks And Responsibilities.

A restaurant job is not necessarily glamorous. Everyone knows that. The problem is that many restaurant owners will try to sugarcoat everything associated with the job. This is a huge mistake. You need to be as transparent as possible. If you are not, the staff members you hire will end up leaving. Do be honest especially about physical requirements and working hours. Never mislead the job candidates. You can go over hesitations by putting a focus on the potential career development.

Low-Balling Compensations.

The best restaurant workers know exactly what their value is. Because of this, when you low-ball offers, salaries and compensations, you will find it tough to maintain talent. A minimum of market-rate compensation is always a necessity. The job candidates will not be interested if they can find something that is exactly the same and that is paid much better somewhere else, even if at first glance the job you offer is more rewarding on the long term.

Not Considering Internal Promotions.

You have to understand that the most valuable workers in the restaurant industry are the ones that show a true passion. It is your job to find them. Many restaurant owners will instantly focus on the external candidates instead of the own employees and the possibility of offering promotions. When you promote right from your business you are basically guaranteed that the performance and ethic that appear are known by you.

Not Offering Flexible Scheduling.

Most restaurant workers that have an hourly schedule will tell you that this is really problematic. Balancing the long hours with personal priorities is challenging. Disorganized scheduling systems are going to make the employees tired and unhappy. They will start looking for another job opportunity that gives them that necessary flexibility. Always be clear about the fact that the schedule is flexible when you hire. This will actually offer an incentive for the worker to sign the contract.

On the whole, hiring in the restaurant industry is something that has to be handled with extreme care. You want the employees that will care about the restaurant but this automatically means that you have to show that you also care about them.

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2 New Cloud Suites Launched By Infor For Fashion & Food And Beverage

Cloud applications launched by Infor are making the news. Charles Phillips, Infor’s CEO often declared that the company is interested in creating specific apps that are going to deliver exactly what operators in specific industries need. That is what these two are all about.

The first one is CloudSuite Food And Beverage. It is tailored for beverage and food manufacturers that want to use cloud applications in order to improve the supply chain and profits. The CloudSuite Fashion suite is the one that offers exactly the same but for fashion customers. Both of these are offering a high level of flexibility, all delivered based on a subscription delivery model.

CloudSuite Food And Beverage.

The set of apps included are designed from scratch for the manufacturing customers that Infor had. The focus is to offer all the tools needed to improve profit margins with capabilities like ingredient variability and shelf-life metrics. Users are able to utilize features like production planning, demand, forecasting, tracking, recipe management, quality compliance, traceability and scheduling.

This set of apps basically offer many different industry specific tools aimed towards analytics together with all the other standard apps included in CloudSuite. Infor Ming.le and Infor ION are included and will offer a really easy way to communicate for customers, client sand coworkers. The manufacturers that are going to use the applications will get a fast ROI and a really useful scalability when compared with the industry related applications that are currently available from the competition. The app is built on cloud technology so implementation is really simple. On the whole, CloudSuite Food And Beverage offers an edge for businesses in the industry.

CloudSuite Fashion.

Infor is now capable of offering many interesting tools for companies that are of any size in the apparel, luxury goods, fashion, textiles, accessories and footwear businesses. CloudSuite Fashion offers a great ability to share critical information like production plans, customer information, product specification and more. We also have management tools that will make the entire supply chain more effective, ranging from the creation process to distribution.

CloudSuite Fashion stands out as a really useful strategic asset that organizations in the fashion industry can use in order to control everything that happens in the business. Business goals become much easier to achieve and cost of ownership automatically becomes much lower. The specialization is useful since absolutely all the features offered are tailored for fashion, making it easy to meet the customer needs that appear, even if they are changing.

To make matters even more interesting, Fashion does offer some pretty wonderful extra communication and information features. This includes the possibility to receive industry specific news that can help to see if changes should be needed in the future.

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Exploring Your Melt-Rate And Other ‘Confront The Brutal Fact’ Questions

by Shane Cragun and Kate Sweetman, authors of “Reinvention: Accelerating Results in the Age of Disruption“

How can we gauge our relevance going forward in today’s tumultuous, disruptive, and global business environment? How can we quickly determine if changes to our strategy and how we do things is necessary? Are there a few key questions we would be wise to ask with our teams throughout the fiscal year?

Let’s consider the case of the trillion-dollar US food industry. As more and more shoppers opt for fresh, organic choices, the top 25 U.S. food and beverage companies market share continues to decline year after year. It seems their fundamental existence is being challenged in very big ways.

A savvy industry analyst summed it up best: “These big food companies are like melting icebergs. Every year they become a little less relevant.” 

Wow. Melting icebergs.

The question now is whether these large companies are willing to confront the brutal facts and pursue significant change through reinvention and other large scale change strategies.

In today’s Age of Disruption, we all need to continually reflect and focus on our current and future competitiveness. We can do that by asking four “confront the brutal fact” questions and, in fact, can ask them about ourselves as professionals as well.

1. Melt-Rate: Is my professional or organizational iceberg melting? If so, at what rate? Why?

2. Relevance Trend: Am I and my organization continuing to increase in relevance in the eyes of customers and stakeholders? If not, why?

3. Adding Value: Am I and my organization continually adding value to our products from our customer’s point of view? Am I engaged in vital work that adds value to the customer?

4. Internal vs. External Change: Is my organization’s internal rate of change faster than the rate of change in the external environment? Am I learning faster as a professional than the creation of new knowledge in my external environment?

Although these questions are somewhat metaphorical in nature, they can spur deep insight into our ability to successfully compete now and in the future. If we avoid asking strategic questions such as these, we risk sliding into irrelevance and launching squarely onto the path of failure. “Head in the sand” strategies will not work for those that have a bias for success in the 21st century.

Whether it is asking the four questions we suggest above, or others that work best for you, we challenge all individuals, teams, organizations, and societies to proactively ask profoundly self-reflective questions in an attempt to maintain complete awareness of your strengths and weaknesses.

There is a natural law called The Law of Nemesis that has been in play in business over the centuries, but seems especially acute and powerful today. The law states, “Find a good thing and count on this…a nemesis will appear. Nothing good lasts forever because others will want to share it.” Asking “confront the brutal fact” questions will be a striking characteristic of future market champions.

Having a mindset in the Age of Disruption of being a “disrupter” versus “being a victim of disruption” clearly makes professionals and organizations feel much more in control of their future, with their hands squarely on the operating dials in an effort to leverage incoming global shockwaves that are sure to come.

What does survival in today’s digital and bit economy really require? Learning agility is a good start. Much has been written on this strategy, so we feel little need to elaborate. But, suffice it to say, learning fast and well 24/7 will be a competency as valuable as gold for organizations going forward.

Speaking on the criticality of ongoing learning, American moral and social philosopher Eric Hoffer summed it up in this way: “In a time of drastic change, it is the learners who will inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves beautifully equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.”

Will your strategy be to be a voracious learner willing to ask the tough questions in an effort at maintaining market leadership?

 

Shane Cragun and Kate Sweetman are founding principals at SweetmanCragun, the world’s leader in providing leadership and hi-performance solutions specifically tailored for today’s Age of Disruption. They are co-authors of the new book, “Reinvention: Accelerating Results in the Age of Disruption“.

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Office Life Made Easier: A Few Simple Suggestions

Some things in life have to be hard in order to be worthwhile. A workout that doesn’t make your break into a sweat probably isn’t doing much good for your health and fitness. A two ingredients cake is unlikely to be delicious as a more complex one. But in business, and in the office more specifically, not everything has to be hard.

So, how can you make office life easier? Here are a handful of simple solutions you can put into practice pretty much immediately. Read on to find out:

For issues with your software…

Upgrade your software.

There will be a lot in the office that you are in charge of. For example, you might be the most efficient spreadsheet maker on your whole floor. However, there will always be other things that you are not in charge of. So, even if you are a speedy spreadsheet maker? You can’t help it if your computer is so old it always crashes, or if the software is outdated and slow! So, get your computers upgraded and the software too! While you’re doing this, look for new software that can make you life easier. So, inventory system software, for example, can automate the hardest jobs and improve efficiency at the same time. Sounds idyllic, right?

For issues with your colleagues.

Tackle them head on.

Whether it’s just someone you don’t like, or a serious case of workplace harassment, issues with colleagues need tackling head on. If left undealt with, they are very unlikely to go away, and far more likely to get worse.

For issues with your workload.

Speak formally and firmly with your manager.

Just as you should speak to your manager if there is an issue with your workload, you should also speak to them about issues with your workload. It is often the case that when a manager sees a staff performing well, they begin to give them extra responsibilities. While this might be an exciting thing for the staff member, and can be seen as flattering, there is a line. If this line is crossed, the worker can quickly feel exhausted and even taken advantage of. So, if they are putting too much on your plate, speak with them. But don’t just do it casually, over lunch, or you’re at risk of not being taken seriously. Set aside time for a formal meeting and explain tactfully but clearly what the issue is, and how you propose resolving it. Perhaps an assistant would help?

For issues with your schedule.

Pitch the idea of flexi-working.

From mothers and fathers to people with very specific types of hobbies, interest or second jobs. Many office workers crave a more flexible schedule. This might allow different hours, or a few days a week working at home. If you are one of them, pitch the idea to your employees or team leader. Advancements in technology means that you don’t need to be in the same office as your colleagues and files like you did before. Nowadays, the Cloud allows you to access your files from pretty much anywhere, as long as you have a computer and internet connection.

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EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard

Memories are like a treasure trove, and we capture and preserve them in the form of videos, files, and photos. It is a truth that the importance of something is realized when it is lost but losing the files of these precious moments is quite painful and heartbreaking. Nevertheless, do not worry as our technology has made much advancement and now we do not need to regret losing the important data and files.

EaseUS Data Recovery is one such recovery software that helps us in achieving data recovery.

Here’s a look at the EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard which has pleased many users by its excellent performance.

Various Editions of EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard.

Loaded with a plethora of features EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is a powerful data recovery tool that comes in different versions. The various editions have almost the same features except for the license type and the amount of data it can recover. For example, the EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Free is free data recovery software that can recover only 2 GB of data. However, the other editions like Data Recovery Wizard Pro, Pro+WinPE, and Technician Edition can recover unlimited data.

Ease of Use.

You do not need to be a techie to use this recovery software as its user interface is quite simple to understand. The icons clearly depict the type of files you want to recover like audio, video, graphics, document or all.

Features.

Some of the powerful features of EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard are mentioned below.

1. Compatibility.

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is capable of recovering data from various devices and platforms. So, if you have lost the data due to formatting, virus attacking, deleting, partition loss, hard drive or software crash then it can recover data from your devices like external disks, hard drive, PC/laptop, servers, RAID, pen drives, digital cameras, SD cards, iPod, etc. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is compatible with Windows and Mac operating system. For iOS and Android users there are different versions of EaseUS Data Recovery.

2. Recovery of Multiple File Types.

It supports multiple file systems like FAT (FAT12, FAT16, and FAT32), EXT2/EXT3, NTFS and recovers files from your emails, documents, compressed files, audio, videos, etc.

3. Lost Partition and RAW Recovery.

Most of the users go crazy when the data is lost due to partition loss as the missing partition means the data will be lost forever. Moreover, RAW recovery is also a hard nut to crack as there is no known Windows file system existing on the hard drive. However, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is powerful enough to get the data back from both the RAW file system and lost partition.

4. Recovery Preview.

You can prioritize the data that you need to recover first after previewing the recoverable files. So you can recover your most important data first.

5. Saving the Scan Results.

There is no need to scan the files when you want recovery next time as you can save the scanning results. This will help you in importing and exporting the scan results when needed at any time.

Steps to Recover Data Using EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard.

This is not at all complicated as you might be thinking and anyone can do it with basic computer knowledge. Recovery of data can be completed with these three simple steps.

1. Launch the Software
2. Scan the Files
3. Recover Data

Pros.

• EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is a professional data recovery tool that can rescue you from the various data lost situations.
• It supports various file systems and multiple devices.
• It supports lost partition and RAW recovery.

Cons.

• The only downside is that EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Free can recover only up to 2 GB of data. But if you need to recover more data or want to get advanced features you can buy pro or other versions.
• Some users found the data was not correctly located.

Verdict.

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is packed with powerful features and most of the times it can recover data accurately. The free version is suitable for the ordinary users as 2GB of data is enough for them and is quite user-friendly in operation. But, if you are a commercial user, then you can buy the license for the Pro and Technician versions.

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Back In The Filtering Game: Entrepreneur Drawn by The Siren Call Of The Startup

by Shane Kenny, founder of Filtersnap

I love the fast-paced, see-my-work-have-a-big-impact nature of a new startup. I love it so much that, since middle school, I have been part of starting eight businesses. Admittedly, they have not all been successful. Some have been spectacular failures. Despite this, I have been drawn by the siren call of the startup once again. I am now neck-deep in Startup No. 9, FilterSnap.

In 1999, my brother Aaron and I started InternetSafety.com. That was right at the peak of what some would later call the “dotbomb era”. It seemed as though venture capitalists were throwing money at any Internet idea they could find – no business plan required. We wanted in.

Our idea was to build a dial-up Internet service to compete with AOL, MindSpring and EarthLink. Our difference was that we included an Internet filter so that parents could control the type of content their kids could access while online.

It was a great idea. There was just one problem. Soon after we launched, dial-up began its slow, miserable death at the hands of broadband. We had to pivot if we were going to survive. In a flash of brilliance, we took our dial-up filter technology and built a software product that would run on any computer regardless of its Internet connection type. We didn’t know it at the time, but we had just saved our business.

We called this new product Safe Eyes. We had no experience in running an Internet filtering software business, but this didn’t concern us. We put our heads down, worked hard, and learned as we went. It worked. In June of 2005 while on vacation with my wife, I received a call from my brother. Safe Eyes had been named the #1 parental control product out of 11 products tested by Consumer Reports.

This rating put Safe Eyes on the map. We had beaten out products from Microsoft, AOL and Symantec. The best part was that it was a blind review. We didn’t even know they were doing it.

The next five years were a whirlwind. We hired a CEO to help us build the business. We received a venture capital investment. We did projects with the Australian Federal Government and McAfee. Our little business grew from four employees to over 30.

In 2010, the “we did it” moment arrived. We received an offer from McAfee to acquire our 11-year-old company. After months of due diligence and reviewing hundreds of pages of contracts, McAfee acquired InternetSafety. com for over $10 million on December 2, 2010.

After the acquisition, I managed the Safe Eyes team at McAfee for two years. In the end, they laid off my entire team. I had been planning to leave anyway. They just made the decision for me before I had a chance to make it. I took a few months off to travel, play golf, and generally live as if I was retired. I quickly became bored so I started doing some consulting work. This helped with the boredom, but it also started feeding my desire to start something of my own again.

The result was FilterSnap. The idea grew from my own struggle to remember to change my home’s air filters every three months. I figured other people had the same problem and came up with a plan to build a service that would send me my filters when it was time to change them. The arrival of the box would be my reminder, and I would avoid the frustration of going to the store only to realize I could not remember which filter size I needed. It would be like Dollar Shave Club, but for my house.

Officially launched in November 2014, FilterSnap offers 72 filter sizes and a choice of 1, 2, 3, 6 or 12-month replacement schedules. The service helps customers save money because clean filters use less energy and help avert costly repairs. We are still very much in the startup phase. But I am back in that fast-paced, see-my-work-have-a-big-impact startup mode and loving every minute of it. I’m not sure where this journey will end. Some days I think that Startup No. 9 will be my last. Others, I think, “Who am I kidding?” This time next year or the year after, I might be working on No. 10 and just as exhilarated by the ride as I’ve been since I first felt the thrill of starting my own business back in middle school.

 

Founder of Filtersnap Shane Kenny has been in the filtering business for over 15 years. In 1999, he started InternetSafety.com with his brother. Together they built Safe Eyes, the top-rated Internet filtering software product for parents. After selling InternetSafety.com to McAfee, Shane started looking for his next project. One day it dawned on him that if replacing his air filters was such a hassle for him, it had to be a hassle for plenty of others. From this initial idea, FilterSnap and the concept of filters delivered to your door when you need them was born.

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IF You Want A Truly Successful Career, Try Doing Just 5% More Than You Did Before

By Michael Alden, author of “5% More: Making Small Changes to Achieve Extraordinary Results“

Why do some people seem so successful at whatever they do in their jobs or their careers? Do they have exceptional talents or knowledge? Do they know the right people or come from a privileged background? The truth is that highly successful people are not any different from you or me. They come from all sorts of backgrounds; have a wide range of educational and personal experiences; and may be talented or just plain average. But what they do have in common is that they understand the concept of “5% More”.

I am the perfect example of someone who has used the principle of 5% More to achieve greater success than I could ever have imagined. Like me, if you put just 5% More effort into any aspect of your life, you will not only achieve your goals, you will surpass them. The thing that holds most people back is that they commit to making big changes too quickly. They move full steam ahead and easily become overwhelmed by the amount of work that needs to be done.

While I was in law school, I took a job in a call center in the basement of a dingy building with no windows. I had just declared bankruptcy, was about to get married, stressed about keeping my grades up, and I needed money badly. Initially, I was just a call center agent who made sales and got paid a commission.

After awhile, I was given the opportunity to become a Team Leader on the sales floor, responsible for roughly a dozen or so other agents. I would be compensated for the extra work by receiving a small override on my team commission. The catch was, if I wasn’t on the phones making my own sales, I wouldn’t be making money for myself. But instead of looking at this as a burden or an added responsibility of having to manage other people, I viewed this as an opportunity to increase my net worth. That’s when I realized that I had to embrace a 5% More mindset. I had to be open to giving 5% More in a way that at first seemed contrary to what I wanted to achieve. I had to open my mind to 5% More. And when I did, it led me to making a whole lot more money.

If you put 5% More effort, time, or commitment into your career, you too will reap huge rewards in the long run. Here are three actions you can take to get started:

Stay 5% longer at work.

Putting in an extra few minutes at work seems minor, but completing an additional task, week after week, can add up quicker than you think.

Increase your results by 5%.

Don’t focus on activities, focus on results. Looking at how to increase your results, even by a small amount, will help you identify and eliminate actions that waste your time.

Spend 5% more time thinking about how to save your company money.

If you can identify a small change that can save your employer thousands of dollars, you will increase your net worth to the company.  Discussing that savings during your performance review will help you get a raise.

As you start to embrace a 5% More mindset, you will think of other ways to use it to build your career. Whatever your task is, tell yourself you will just do a bit more. Then depending on your goal, you compound it. Each day or week or month, do 5% More than what you previously did, and continue to build on it. I call this creating micro goals that lead to micro successes that can be compounded and turned into major wins. It’s simple and it’s doable. That’s how people achieve solid, long-lasting success. They do it step-by-step.

 

Michael Alden, author of “5% More: Making Small Changes to Achieve Extraordinary Results“, is the founder and CEO of Blue Vase Marketing, a multi-million dollar marketing firm that has been ranked by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing private firms in America. A successful serial entrepreneur, who hosts his own podcast and a writes a popular blog, Alden is a speaker and regular guest on television and radio throughout the country. His first book “Ask More, Get More: How to Earn More, Save More, and Live More…Just by ASKING” was a national bestseller.

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3 Reasons Assertiveness Is So Important for Freelancers

The evolution of the modern economy, across the globe, has created a massive number of new opportunities for freelancers. Not only are more jobs available, freelancing positions now span across all industries allowing people to work from virtually anywhere in the world. This opportunity for people to basically own their own business, while offering their services for a number of different clients is something that offers a huge number of benefits.

However, while there are all these benefits offered, it does not mean that freelancing doesn’t come with its own challenges. In order to overcome these challenges, it is crucial that freelancers are assertive in regard to what they need and want from their clients, before, during and after any project is done. Some of the main reasons that assertiveness is so important for freelancers can be found here.

It Shows Your Confidence in Your Abilities.

As with any type of relationship, regardless of if it is business or personal based, you become much more intriguing as a person when you show that you are confident in the abilities that you have. When you have to deal with a client, being assertive also makes others feel good about themselves, since they know they are speaking with someone who is confident they will be able to get the job done properly.

It Makes it More Comfortable to Discuss Fees and Rates.

There are too many freelancers who clearly outline their rates on their website or when speaking with a client only to have them turn around and ask that the rate is reduced. In most situations, the freelancer is compelled to say yes, simply because they want the job. However, other business owners don’t even offer rate negotiation, so why should you?

What should happen in these scenarios, rather than backing off of the established rates, is to let a client know that reducing the prices you have stated is not an option. Be confident enough to discuss the issue with them. Don’t be scared to ask them what they would do if you requested they reduced their prices. This is a great, assertive way to make your point.

Get Ahead of Your Competition.

It is important to mention that a large number of freelancers that clients deal with will not be extremely assertive. While you may believe this is a disadvantage if you are the one that is confident and assertive, it will actually serve as a huge benefit and give you a unique way to separate you from your competition.

After all, wouldn’t you feel better and more comfortable working with someone who is confident in their abilities and who runs their freelancing business just like a small business owner runs theirs? There is no question that in the freelancing world, being assertive is essential and it will help you get further than those with more passive approaches to their work.

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[ADV] Independent Financial Advice from Accredited Consultant

Financial decisions require ultimate attention. Make one big wrong decision and your life is in ruin! Many a times, you would find it tempting to go for a risky decision. Now, there is no general rule of thumb to say if you must take it or not. It depends on circumstances, and accurate risk evaluation. The decision may work, if you have counted on all the factors fully before taking the decision. Then again, it may not work by an unexpected twist of luck. It is good to be open to all possibilities, in the affirmative and the negative.

Also, you would feel more confident if an accredited expert backs your financial choice. Look out for suitable independent consultation in the UK.

No Strings Attached.

A financial consultant works by two main methods, independently or by commission. An independent financial advisor has no stakes with the profit or loss you incur on your decision. He/she receives a pre-determined consultation charge for no-obligation service. In this consultancy model, the expert can deliver unbiased services, to help you take the right decision, instead of trying to push you towards a certain preferable investment. On the other hand, a mutual fund manager has his income directly tied to the performance of your investments, and therefore would take the decisions on your behalf. Essentially, the investor needs to determine which option is best. In the first choice, you are liable, and in the second model, you cannot hold the consultant liable because market conditions are subject to volatile fluctuations.

Introspective clarity.

You would need to develop introspective clarity on your long-term economic obligations. What do you seek? Do you want quick dividends or do you need a solid future savings plan? Are you focusing on retirement planning, or is your key objective to make sure that there is a steady flow of cash to support your successive investments? Perhaps, you want to explore rare areas in the stock market. Maybe, you simply want to go with the flow and make the best of the trends.

An independent advisor would help you to achieve this clarity. A commission-based service would obviously push its own judgment on your choices. Essentially, the circumstances of everyone are unique. Falling into a loophole of generalization should be avoided. Think for your own, instead of trying to determine the secret of your peer’s success that is. Seek suggestions from a veteran expert.

Look up an adept independent financial advisor. There are a few things to consider. First, check whether the professional service has due accreditations from the FCA. Next, check out the specialization area of the professional by going through his or her bio data. Talk directly for a primary determinant discussion. Discuss lightly at first and start with obvious questions just to see whether the consultations are satisfactory. Proceed only when you are sure that there would be no third party involved. In case, the advices do not suit you, see if you can seek a change of consultant from your preferred IFA service.

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3 Ways To Boost Worker Productivity

by Matej Zalar, CEO of Visionect

Today’s tech revolution has dramatically blurred the lines between work and play with its infinite well of information readily available at our smartphone-heavy fingertips and the ability to connect with people across continents in real-time. New technology has supported the shift towards collaboration by providing a seamless and effective office interaction model. Cloud computing, IoT and the blurred lines between enterprise and personal tech offer a staggering world of possibility for businesses everywhere. Doing more with less, delivering the best on a limited budget makes life for businesses difficult, but on the other hand it also makes their north star completely clear.

Let’s look at three ways a CEO can immediately boost productivity and in turn profitability as we approach the end of the fiscal year:

1. Follow efficiency 100 percent of the time.

According to Bob Evans, CEO of Oracle, be the legal industry, consulting, marketing or food blogging, every industry struggles to ride the new tech waves and create profit. Creating new revenue streams is number one of the top 10 strategic CIO issues in 2016. The role of CEOs here is to embrace digitization and fuel innovation. By offering new products, services or data-as-a-product based on IT, they can enhance customer engagement and boost revenue.

2. Shorten or eliminate meetings.

The biggest time waster in a business is unnecessary meetings.Whether held virtually or in person, meetings are essential to the vast majority of modern businesses. Pay close attention to how much time you’re delegating for meetings each week, and you may find that they’re cutting into your productivity to a large extent. In most cases, a meeting should only last for 30 minutes at most. There will certainly be scenarios where you’ll need more time than this, but these shouldn’t occur on a regular basis. Many meetings can be completed in less than 30 minutes, which can be beneficial in a number of ways. When it comes to work productivity, long, unnecessary meetings should be avoided at all costs.

3. Track and limit time spent on tasks.

An immediate solution to boosting productivity is to track time and limit how much time you spend on overall tasks. Production equals success for business, so it’s no surprise that many businesses list increased productivity as one of their primary goals. One strategy to achieve this is by using time tracking. Not only can time tracking provide managers with a better perception of who’s doing what and when it’s completed, but it can also help employees with organization.

With the end of the fiscal year in sight, companies are quick to adopt technologies that will save their employees’ time in their daily duties and reduce labor costs, enable a robust, integrated IT infrastructure, and, as an upshot, actually increase revenue by increasing business efficiency and activities.

 

Matej Zalar is the CEO of Visionect.  The company’s flagship product, Joan Meeting Room Assistant, is a digital door label and meeting room scheduling solution with impeccable energy efficiency. Joan connects to existing calendars and infrastructure, and is the only true plug & play solution on the market. Since 2007 Visionect has worked on numerous electronic paper development projects for many different industries.

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How To Attract Venture Capital For Your Startup

Looking for some venture capital funding to fuel the growth of your startup? The process of attracting large dollar donors can be an intimidating one for entrepreneurs that are doing it for the first time.

If you find yourself in this situation, there are several things you should keep in mind before picking up the phone or sending an email to a venture capitalist…

Is your value proposition interesting enough?

When venture capitalists look for a startup to invest in, they are hunting for value. First and foremost, the goal of the venture capitalist is to make a return on their investment. As such, it is important for the startup owner to put together a value proposition that is compelling enough to get venture capitalists interested.

You need to demonstrate how your product will make the lives of your customers easier, that it can scale, and that it stands out enough from your competition. If you can answer these questions convincingly, it’s only a matter of time before venture capitalists like Marc Leder come knocking on your door.

Do you have proof of consumer interest?

Part of putting together a compelling value proposition is actually having proof that consumers are interested in buying. If you do not have your product to the point where you can sell it, you aren’t ready to go after venture capital.

No venture capitalist wants to invest in a product based on the gut instinct of an inventor that “just knows” that it’s going to be the next big thing. There is no social proof stronger than consistent and rising revenues.

VC’s are solicited by people everyday that have no proof of interest from the public. Sending them an e-mail that shows a history of actual sales will be a beautiful sight for their sore eyes.

Do you have sufficient talent on your team?

It is not enough to have a killer idea. You must also have the talent in place that will be able take your company to the next level. Thus, it is vital to recruit aggressively for key positions before attempting to woo venture capital.

Worry only about covering the most critical areas: as long as you have the key pieces in place to hit the ground running the day after you get your first round of funding, you’ll be able to hire the additional employees to continue your growth.

Does the venture capitalist you are contacting have an interest in your field?

You might have a solid idea with proof that it will be a smashing success, but you will be wasting all the time you spent preparing your presentation if the venture capitalist doesn’t even have an interest in what you do.

A key rule of investing is to never invest capital into an asset class that you don’t understand. They might be impressed with the amount of work you put into your presentation, but inevitably, a VC that has no clue about your niche will give you an answer that will only break your heart.

When you are looking for a venture capitalist to contact, make sure that they have investments in the industry in which you operate.

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Slow And Steady Wins The Race

So you’ve managed to achieve every young upstart’s dream: you’ve created something people truly want. Venture capitalists and investors are clamoring for your attention, your profit margin makes your competitors want to cry, and suddenly you find yourselves flush with success and cash. What do you do?

You’ve probably been dreaming of buying a vast swath of trendy office space – something big enough to accommodate foosball and air hockey tables – and re-fitting your operation with up to the minute tech. You’re likely looking forward to being able to afford the fancy and individually printed business cards and paying to join a few of your industry’s most exclusive organizations.

Try to resist this urge. After all, sure you’re a superstar right now, but what about next month or next year? The world moves fast and consumers’ attention spans are short. Instead, make some modest investments.

Work Space.

For example, now is a great time to move out of your basement and into real and actual office space. You don’t have to bargain basement or strip-mall this. In fact, it is a good idea to situate your company in a good space that lends to your legitimacy. For example, a small suite in a high-rise downtown is a great move. You might also consider leasing offices in other independent and entrepreneurial spaces, like this one in Portland (look for something similar where you are). This helps you expand and it pays forward some of your success to others in your local independent and entrepreneurial communities.

Showing Appreciation.

Next, you will want to thank every person who has helped you get your company up and running. It is okay to take some of your profits to throw a party for your friends, family, and investors. This is a good time not just to say “thank you” but to show everyone exactly how you will be putting your current windfall to work. It will be tempting to host this event in your new offices, but save the tour for later, when everything is setup properly. Instead, look for event spaces that are set up to accommodate parties and presentations simultaneously. For example, NOAH’s event venue rental company specializes in fully equipped and multi-faceted spaces.

Why is “fully equipped” important? Because, unless you plan on hosting a bunch of events, you do not want to have to buy (and find space to store) your own A/V equipment, serving materials, etc. If you find that you host a lot of these types of events, investing in your own equipment might be a good idea but wait until that is a reality and not just a plan.

Hiring Help.

You’ve likely already hired at least a couple of people to help you get your company up and running well. These people deserve a raise–nothing extravagant (we’ll get to why in a sec), but enough to make a difference for them.

You will also probably want to expand your employee pool by at least a few people. The best way to do this is to have a company-wide meeting to figure out where your gaps in experience are, who needs help with what, etc. Fill these gaps and find people to supply this help.

About interns: it can be tempting to try to cut expenses by hiring unpaid interns to do the “grunt work.” Make sure you are following the letter of the law and not just trying to get free employees.

Saving and Investing.

You want your money to make its own money. That’s just good finance. Still, do not just chuck whatever is left of your investment capital into the stock market and hope for the best. First, put at least half of it into the bank (in an account with highest yielding interest rate possible). This will be your “cushion” if sales wane or you go through a dry spell–something even the most successful enterprises’ experience from time to time. Then, set aside at least a year’s worth of payroll and benefits funding for your employees and to cover your bills like lease payments, utilities, etc. And then, if you have anything left over, it’s time to start investing.

Paying It Forward.

One of the best investments you can make is in another up and coming startup or entrepreneur. Paying forward your good fortune doesn’t just set up your own company for a potential influx of funds later (depending on the type of investment you make), it’s great for your and your business’s reputations.

All of this probably sounds a little bit boring compared to what you’ve been dreaming of doing when you “hit it big.” Trust us, though: the goal is long term success. The best way to do that is to use your investment funding wisely.

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How To Make Your IT Future Proof

by Shaun McKay, Managing Director of LeadingEdge Technology Ltd

The future, they say, belongs to those who prepare for it today. In the ever-changing world of technology, small businesses need to be flexible and savvy to keep their competitive edge. The most important way to do this is to make sure that your tech is future-proofed and able to support business growth and change.

When considering your future technology, think about the markets your business operates within. Consider how these are markets are changing with new goods and services and how they might have an impact on your business. The systems you have in place and how efficiently your business operates all have practical applications when it comes to the future-proofing of your business.

You should also consider how your business might cope with a major disruption to your service. With these core tenets in mind, there are a number of things SMEs can do to prepare their technology for the mysteries of the future:

Innovate with Intelligence.

When looking to future-proof and grow your business, the volume of information and data available within existing systems can help you make smart decisions. Make use of your big data and analytics to determine areas for improvement and growth.

Update Existing Systems.

Before you go and blow a year’s budget on shiny new tech, consider whether you can upgrade your existing tech. Many businesses still use systems that they first started their business with. But when it comes to growth, you may find that a simple upgrade will be enough to meet your needs. A thorough systems check and audit on your existing IT is an essential part of your growth plan. These legacy systems can be a fundamental part of your enterprise, so think hard before throwing them out. This includes hardware, such as servers and drives.

Grow as One.

84% of office workers believe that cross-department coordination will be the biggest barrier to business digital transformation by 2020. With this in mind, you need to address this issue today to be prepared for the future. Technology will never be effectively implemented in silos. When planning your future technology investments, listen to each department, devise a strategy that works for everyone and the necessary technology investments will become clear.

Test Drive Your Future Tech.

When you’ve decided which direction you want your tech to grow in, you need to make sure that those proposed future changes will work as expected. Make sure to run the tests against every eventuality to ensure that the new changes will not break any existing functionality.

Invest in Internet Security.

People say this all the time and yet despite this, businesses are still being attacked by cyber criminals. Cyber crime and cyber security is a constant fight for superiority, so having up-to-date security that is capable of protecting your business as it grows is essential. Recently, the Office For National Statistics reported that there had been more than 5.8 million incidents of cybercrime in the past year in the UK alone. In the States, this figure is even greater. While people seem to be aware of the frequency of cyber attacks, many companies across the world are slow to respond to the risk, and SMEs are under the greatest threat. Demonstrating a strong, comprehensive cyber security setup is going to become a great way to set your company apart in the coming years.

Set Up Cloud Software.

Customers expect more than just a product or a service. As we become more connected and more vocal as a society, customer experiences become more and more important. SMEs should have tools in place to manage customer management databases. CRMs help businesses manage customers on a much more personal level. In the early days of growing a business, you should take the opportunity to try out other digital solutions and determine the best ones for their unique needs. This is not just limited to CRMs, but accounting software, time management solutions and ordering systems.

Thanks to cloud computing, you can test innovative new ideas on a small and relatively inexpensive scale. If successful, these solutions can then be easily scaled up for a full company-wide roll out. This provides low-cost means of developing new ways of working without excessive cost. It’s a process of continuous improvement. Plan your strategy, build your approach, and then analyse, feedback and repeat.

Don’t Forget Your People.

Having the latest tablets connected to the cloud is all well and good, but the future-proofing of your business’s technology also means future-proofing your staff. As you begin the process of growing your business, keep your workforce in the loop and develop a training regime to address any new applications or job roles your growth will create. Business growth also means personal growth for your staff.

 

Shaun McKay is a board level business executive with over 16 years of experience working in the IT industry. He is the Managing Director of LeadingEdge Technology Ltd. LeadingEdge is a tech company focusing on IT infrastructure support and management services for SMEs.

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What To Look For In A Great Staffing Company

Need to fill some positions in your company fast? Better call up the staffing agency! Every business has been in this position at one time or another.

Do you know what to look for in a great staffing company? In this article, we will share what makes these agencies truly great for business owners that are in a bind:

1. Do they deal with the talent that you’re looking for?

Not all staffing companies are the same. Some deal exclusively in clerical positions, while others specialize in helping to fill industrial vacancies. If you are courting a staffing company that isn’t the right match for what you need, you will waste valuable time that is better spent growing the core of your business.

That being said, if you are looking for a company that specializes in a wide variety of positions across different industries, there are providers that you can work with as well. For example, The Select Family of Staffing Companies – headed up by Steve Sorensen – has spent the past 27 years filling talent gaps in work environments ranging from corporate front offices to warehouses.

2. Are they able to work within your timelines?

These days, companies are looking for temporary help that can show up as soon as possible and do a great job. If seamless integration of the timelines of a staffing agency and your company is of utmost importance, you are best off going with a well-established staffing agency.

These companies have a large talent base that is ready to be deployed at a moment’s notice, making them great for businesses that are looking for just-in-time flexibility in their labor force.

3. Are they transparent?

As with any other business relationship, mutual trust is of paramount importance. They should be upfront about any difficulties and hidden costs that may arise from use of their services, and they should be completely willing to share how they handle payroll, HR and other functions that you are outsourcing to them.

Any staffing agency that is worth working with will be willing to go over the details of their contract with you, explaining any terms and commitments that you might not fully understand.

4. How solid is the recruitment process?

A staffing agency is only as good as the quality of its employees. If an agency is able to provide workers that stay on task more often than not, and that have a degree of competency that allows them to work within your systems, they will be the superior choice compared to an agency that provides unmotivated and unknowledgeable workers.

5. Will they give you a solid return on your investment?

When a company outsources labor, the primary consideration are the cost savings that come with it. When you are soliciting the services of a staffing agency, they should be able to outline how using them will save your company money.

They should be able to supply return on investment numbers, which will show how much money they have saved clients in the past.

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How To Find Business Software That Takes The Company At The Next Level

Every single company in the world is thinking about profits. This is quite normal. Business growth is a priority for most CEOs out there. The big problem in many cases is that this is something that is expensive.

In order to help you make smart decisions, Charles Phillips offers some advice that can be taken into account. He is currently highly respected in the business world because of the work he did for Infor. In addition to his role as CEO of Infor, Phillips and his wife founded Phillips Charitable Organizations. You can also see him as speaker at events and supporting sports events as he really enjoys basketball.

Business Software Use Does Not Always Mean Grow.

One of the first advice that Phillips offered at all times is connected to whether or not business software is actually necessary for the company. Contrary to popular belief, buying business software does not actually guarantee that success is going to be achieved. In many cases we are faced with some problems because of the fact that company managers invest into programs that do not help with the growth process.

Think about the problems that the company managed has at the moment. At the same time, remember that software is aimed towards making the entire process a lot easier. If using new programs will make the business more difficult to manage or production will be affected, it is much better to not buy business software.

Industry Specific Software Is Better Than Generic Software.

Some generic business software programs are cheap while others are incredibly expensive. No matter the situation, the programs are normally going to be a whole lot better than what you would receive from the standard programs that come with a set of fixed features. One thing that so many business managers do not understand is that the industry specific programs will basically offer specific features that are designed for the industry that the company operates in. This is definitely something that is going to help out a lot more than what many think right now.

Business Software Will Be Used By People.

It will be your employees that will use the business software that you buy. Because of this, no matter how good the programs are, they may end up hurting your business. It is important that you are sure that the software is going to actually be used to its full potential. If this is not the case, productivity is affected in a 100% negative way. Make sure that you discuss the programs you are about to buy with the software employed. That is going to help so much more than what many believe since you will be told if the employees are comfortable with your decisions.

Remember that it is the staff members that make money for the company. Because of this, neglecting the indications that they offer is basically an incredibly bad idea. Always learn all that you can about this and do take feedback into account.

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Curb Appeal For Your Small Business

By Lea Schneider

It’s no surprise that everyone I know plays the “makeover game.” Take a walk or drive around your neighborhood and you can’t help but thinking of ideas for other people’s houses. You look at them and imagine updating with cedar shutters, trimming back old hedges and brightening things with new trim paint.

You might be surprised to realize people do that with stores as well. When driving past a store that’s seen better days, people wonder why it looks the way it does and why the owner doesn’t care enough to spruce things up. The fact is that curb appeal matters even more to businesses than it does to your home. It can draw in customers and make those customers want to linger and return. A lack of curb appeal can also make potential customers think your business isn’t up to date or you don’t take pride in your work, and they might just drive on past.

It’s a simple DIY task to incorporate curb appeal into a business appearance and the payoff can be big. This checklist can help you move from “wondering how” to “wow.”

Here’s my Top Ten list for business curb appeal:

1. Conquer Clutter.

You’d think there’s no such thing as business clutter, but it exists. From pallets leaning on the side of the building to empty boxes or now-dead potted plants, it is time to make it go away. If it is useful but makes the space look cluttered, move it to a back room or out of customers’ sight.

2. Clean Up.

Apply some elbow grease to the decluttered store exterior. Pressure wash walls or sidewalks if they need it. Shine windows. Kill weeds in cracks and pick up trash.

3. Repair It.

Maintenance keeps things in tip-top shape. Check out how your business looks. Even ask fresh eyes to take a look. Get a new coat of paint on doors and trim. Caulk windows. Replace beat-up doorknobs or kick-plates.

4. Hide the Mess.

Plenty of businesses have necessary messes, from dumpsters to pieces of equipment that can be left outside, but having it is not the same as showing it. Use privacy fencing to hide messes from view.

5. Get Bright.

Increase both security and exposure by adding lighting to or increasing brightness around the exterior of your business. Sometimes a well-lit business will show off more in the dark than it did during the daytime. Make sure all exterior lights and window display lighting are in good working order.

6. Shout Out.

Take advantage of sign marketing. Make sure your sign clearly reflects your company. Have it repainted as it fades. Keep lit signs in working order. If you can’t fix it yourself, get a maintenance contract with a sign company. Use spotlights to highlight your signs. Don’t forget to use professional-looking, easily readable signs for items such as store hours and open/closed notices. Use vinyl banners on fences or building sides and tout specials.

7. Wipe Your Feet.

Keep your business clean and set the tone by having great exterior door mats and indoor rugs.

8. Make It Pretty.

Bring the eye to your business and increase your curb appeal by making your business look great. Plant flower beds or containers. Trim hedges. Add a striped awning over the door or great shutters to the window. Keep your curb appeal in line with your company’s image. If flowers are not your thing, you can use potted evergreens, palms or topiary’s.

9. Engage Your Customers.

Change things up. Use engaging exterior marketing like menu boards with specials. Change out the window displays. Go seasonal and make changes based on the time of year by working in items like pumpkins in fall or pinwheels in spring.

10. Keep Them Lingering.

Customers that sit down and relax are clearly enjoying your location. The more they linger, the more they are likely to shop. Make the exterior inviting by adding seating and patio furniture for customers who are waiting or just need a break.

Changes that are made must be kept up. Too often, owners and managers park in the back and come in a backdoor. Make it a habit to not just unlock the front door but to walk out and survey the front of the store each day. Create a maintenance plan for how often the front should be cleaned up and whose responsibility it is to do so.

 

Lea Schneider is an organizational expert who has consulted with many businesses on how they can better manage their companies and attract more customers. Lea writes on organizational planning for The Home Depot. To review a selection of outdoor furniture that may be of value to your business, you can visit Home Depot’s website.

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Don’t Start Up – Just Yet!

by Ed “Skip” McLaughlin and Wyn Lydecker, co-authors of “The Purpose Is Profit: The Truth about Starting and Building Your Own Business“

You have a great idea for a new business and can’t wait to start up. Should you rush to market with a minimal viable product (MVP) and risk the cycle of failing, pivoting, and then starting again? Or should you do some planning first? The trend toward launching without planning may be why the failure rate for venture capital-backed businesses is as high as 75 percent. Yet, if you take too much time to plan, you may never launch your business at all. Recognizing this challenge, we developed a short list of pre-launch steps designed to increase your probability of startup success.

The steps focus you on developing your business model. But they only require “the back of an envelope” to figure out how you are going to make money, how much it is going to cost to run your business, and how soon you will generate a profit and reach breakeven. Having these estimates in hand will help you decide if you can bootstrap your business or if you will need to raise funding.

Taking the following six steps will give you confidence that you are ready to start up:

1. Don’t start up until you know how you’re going to generate revenue (simple estimates will suffice).

• How many customers are there?
• How much product will each customer buy?
• How will you price your product (share of value, cost-plus, market pricing)?
• Calculate revenue by estimating monthly sales (customers x units x price)
• Calculate revenue per quarter and revenue per year

2. Don’t start up until you understand how much it will cost to run your business (do your homework on expenses).

• How much will it cost to produce your product (manufacturing & distribution)?
• Who will be on your management team and your staff, and how much will it cost to compensate them (equity and/or salary)?
• Where will you work and how much will it cost (rent per month/year, furniture costs, utilities, & supplies)?
• How will you communicate with your customers and how much will it cost (computers, printers, mobile phones, internet access, website, & hosting)?
• How will you brand the business (name, logo, tagline)?
• How much will it cost to sell your product (marketing, travel, & entertainment)?
• How much will it cost for risk management and compliance (legal, accounting, & insurance)?

3. Don’t start up until you know how you’re going to make a profit (back of the envelope).

• Revenue minus Cost to Run Your Business equals Profit or (Loss) 

4. Don’t start up until you have preorders to validate your business model and liftoff plans.

• A preorder is an informal commitment from customers to purchase your product before it is formally offered to the public

5. Don’t start up until you have lined up the funding you need to reach breakeven (typically 18 months of operating capital).

• Estimate how long it will take you to reach breakeven
• Determine your startup and operating capital needs
• Generate a list of funding sources and alternatives

6. Don’t start up until you have a crystal-clear understanding of the impact of your choice of startup funding on your costs and control.

• Self-funding or bootstrapping will maximize control and avoid outside partners and interest payments
• Selling equity will avoid interest payments but reduce control by introducing outside partners
• Raising debt financing will let you maintain control by avoiding outside partners but will require interest payments

I completed the financial modeling portion of this exercise in my kitchen with my two founding partners. We hashed things out with a flip chart and markers to get comfortable that we had a financial model that would work. It took about two months to figure things out and be confident that we were on the right track. I secured preorders by meeting in the field with my first two customers. Once we had these orders in hand, combined with our financial model, we were able to make the decision to bootstrap and launch.

If you are planning on starting a business, I urge you to go through all six of these steps. If you do, you can increase your probability of startup success.

 

Ed “Skip” McLaughlin is author of the forthcoming book, “The Purpose Is Profit: The Truth about Starting and Building Your Own Business“, and is running his fourth business, Blue Sunsets LLC.

Wyn Lydecker is co-author of “The Purpose Is Profit: The Truth about Starting and Building Your Own Business“and is the owner of Upstart Business Planning.

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Should You Automate Your Business’ Social Media Feeds?

Social media is a great way to promote your brand and products. It is also a way to connect with customers directly. Thanks to today’s best social networks, it is possible for brands and companies to interact with users in real-time and on a personal level. The whole experience that social networks present allows brands to market itself more effectively.

However, social media can be a handful. There are multiple social media pages that need to be maintained in order to have a strong online presence. It is also important to keep users (and followers) engaged for the social media campaign to be effective. Social media automation can really help simplify these tasks in a number of ways.

The Best Time to Post.

For a social media post to be effective and highly targeted, there are a few things to consider. One of them is the time the content is posted. Timing your social media posts correctly can really help increase user engagement and get you the exposure you want for your products and brand.

It is easy to figure out the best time to post on different social networks too. A handy marketing automation tool should be able to analyze your followers and the engagement rates of your previous posts to determine the best time to post content.

Some automation tools go even further and help you determine the right content to post at the right time. Use the tools correctly and you’ll be able to boost not only your engagement but also click-through and conversion rates.

Post Scheduling and Content Mapping.

One of the worst things you can do on social media is not posting anything. Staying silent for a day could prove to be devastating to your business or brand, simply because it’s a very active medium that requires a lot of attention. The nature of social networks – and their users – means you have to be on point with your posts at all times.

Of course, it’s almost impossible to keep up with these kinds of demands, even when you have multiple people handling your social media accounts. You need to create the right content, post the content on social media, engage with followers and answer questions as the same time. This is where, once again, automation comes in handy.

Instead of doing everything manually, you can actually map your contents over a certain period of time. Schedule posts based on the data you have and keep your social media pages active at the right moments. Don’t forget to set aside some time to answer questions and reply to your followers as well.

Curate and Share.

Even with the many benefits social media can offer, it is still important to have a strong website to anchor your brand. Social media posts are gone in a matter of minutes – or even seconds – and the only way to keep them evergreen is to have the same contents (or more complete versions of them) on your website.

You can, for example, share a blog post about how to optimize the use of your products on social media. You can continue to share the same article whenever you want. To make it even better, you don’t have to do it manually. You can use a script or a tool to automatically post articles from your brand’s blog to social media pages periodically.

Randomize the way contents are shared to make your social media pages appear natural. Be sure to share articles that are timeless only; news and updates should be treated differently. You can save a lot of time and still have an affective online presence this way.

Offload More Tasks.

A social media campaign is not just about posting stuff on social pages. It’s about producing content that works well with social media users. It also involves constant analysis and evaluation to keep the campaign effective the whole time. Some of these tasks can be offloaded to third-party service providers.

Content creation, for instance, isn’t something you have to do yourself. You can hire writers or video producers to make content for your brand. The time you save on content creation can then be allocated to doing other, more important things.

The same can be said for evaluation. Master all you need to know about marketing automation and you’ll be able to automate everything from data collection to analysis rather easily.

So, should you automate your business’ social media feeds? Based on the discussion we just had in this article, the answer is quite simply: YES.

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Essentials You’ll Need Before You Launch Your Non-Profit Organisation

It could be that you are in the early stages of considering whether or not your idea for a non-profit organization is viable or not. Or, it could be that you have already taken the big leap and go things in motion! Either way, congratulations. Even getting as far as you have is inspirational and something to be proud of in itself.

However, as you surely know, setting up a non-profit organization is a challenging thing. It needs various serious considerations and decisions to be made before you launch things. With this in mind, let’s take a look at an important handful of essentials:

A Head Office or Venue.

For the very early stages of your non-profit organization, you may be able to work out of a makeshift office at home. However, as things grow (as you surely hope they will!), you will find yourself needing space. You may take on colleagues and volunteers, for example, and so you’ll need somewhere that they can all meet. So, a head office or venues of some sort is an essential. You’ll also need seating, of course; stackable church chairs are a good option. Not only does the fact they are stackable means they take up less space, but they are also affordable. When you do have meetings, be sure you give clear directions and parking instructions, so there is total clarity. You may even find a local business willing to donate tea and coffee supplies for your meetings when they hear about what you are doing!

An Online Presence.

Non-profit organization use to raise interest with things like posters, flyers and people out on the streets. Today, however, you have an entirely different tool at your disposal. Using it, and using it properly, is so important as it can make a huge difference. We’re talking about having an online presence of course! You’ll need a website, to start with. This means that people can research you and find out correct information, vetted by you. It also means that you can direct people to one main source of information. Don’t forget about social media, either! Get the word out on Twitter and set up a Facebook page. Snapchat your fundraising events and post pictures on Instagram!

A Support Network.

It would be a lie to pretend that curating, setting up and then launch a non-profit organization isn’t lots of hard work. It will take time out of your own life, and could be pretty tiring too. You know all this, of course. But what you may not realize yet is how important it will become to ask for help. You are going to need a support network to get you through this portion of your life. It is inevitable that things will go wrong, and mistakes will be made. People will let you down, or events may not get the attendance you were hoping for. When these things occur- as they surely will- you need loved ones to remind you of what a great job you’re doing! Their words will be your motivation to continue making a difference to other people’s lives.

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How I Knew That I Could Bootstrap My Company

by Aytekin Tank, founder & CEO of JotForm

In the realm of software and internet companies, 2006 was a whole different landscape, and it was the year that I founded JotForm. At the time, most users accessed the web through Internet Explorer. Facebook had just opened its doors to outside college campuses. Myspace was the largest social networking website in the world. I was working as a software developer in New York City and came upon a recurring problem, having to spend tedious hours coding online forms.

It was a less than glamourous task that took valuable time away from more paramount responsibilities, so I began looking for a more efficient way to build forms. There was nothing sufficient and available at the time.

Pain points spark ideas.

Inspired by solving my own problem but also realizing that a solution would help others, I set out to create what was then the first WYSIWYG drag and drop form builder. It started as a simple, limited product that functioned as a shortcut for developers so that they could create forms without needing to code. I worked on improving JotForm and adding new features, while I kept my day job. I had a hunch, which I learned the hard way while coding forms, that this was a practical product that was needed and desired by many people.

Just like I had done, people were searching for a product to help make building forms easier. They stumbled upon JotForm and the user-base started to grow. Encouraged by the demand, and motivated by direct conversations from users, I began to realize that my personal pain point with form building was shared by many people around the world.

Determining if your product can be bootstrapped.

An important lesson that I had learned while I was a software developer is that the universal limit to productivity that we all have – the fact that each day is 24 hours – is a limit and a cap to how far we can scale our product if that product is our time. Software, on the other hand, has enormous potential for scalability, confined only by user awareness and demand.

I found proof that there was demand for the type of service that JotForm offered in the growth of my user

base and by talking directly with users. At the time, there was a wide open space for online form builders. It was truly uncharted territory which came with the risks that competitors would quickly emerge and saturate the market. However, the growth of users that came about organically and mostly through word of mouth was promising enough that I decided to devote myself full time to JotForm, knowing that the potential of viability was there and I just needed to deliver to fulfil those needs.

It was the right time, and market was on our side, and the SaaS model made the choice an even safer bet. Many software products are typically purchased once, or rarely. For SaaS products with a subscription model like JotForm, gaining one user is a gift that keeps giving- whether that be monthly, quarterly, or yearly.

Learning by doing.

Business decisions must be made carefully at a bootstrapped company. Resources are more precious, and each year is not guaranteed. I erred on the side of caution, making many small changes along the way and never drastically pivoting on a whim. Each hire is tremendously important to the lifeblood of the organization, and I made sure to have a year’s worth of salary in the bank before bringing a new co-worker on board. Prioritization is also very important as we’re growing steadily, purposely, and are focused on long-term success rather than a growth-at-all-costs-model that is enticing for funded companies.

We prioritize projects based on feedback from users. We welcome feedback as it helps us know what would get the most bang for our buck. Users ask for integrations and new features, and that feedback feeds into our development cycle. In order to scale while continuing to be a profitable bootstrapped company, we focus on tasks that will provide the most value first. We are constantly running experiments in small batches to see what works, what we can learn, and how we can best serve our users as they are the backbone to JotForm’s success.

Figuring how if your company can be successfully bootstrapped involves a combination of being in the right place at the right time, solving a problem for a significant amount of people, and by having a company culture of learning by doing and taking small yet constant steps forward.

 

Aytekin Tank is the founder & CEO of JotForm, a SaaS online form building company based in San Francisco.

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