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Author: Chloe Chong
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While oranges get all of the vitamin C hype, red peppers have about twice as much (95 vs. 50 mg per 1/2-cup serving). In a study in Psychopharmacology, people who took high doses of C before engaging in stress-inducing activities (oral presentation followed by solving math problems aloud) had lower blood pressure and recovered faster from the cortisol surge than those who got a placebo. “Diets loaded with vitamin-C-rich foods lower cortisol and help people cope,” says Elizabeth Somer, R.D.
Don’t go more than three hours without eating. This will lead to overeating later. If you have long gaps in your day without meal breaks, plan ahead.
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There comes a time in the growth cycle of any start-up when it becomes more pressing to move on from handling every aspect of the business yourself. At this point you probably look to hire your first member of staff. Maybe prior to that you utilised the services of freelancers, and while that had its benefits, it meant there was no-one you could fully trust to take over the reins when you needed to be away for business or pleasure.
Employing your first member of staff has many advantages, but it also comes with additional expenses, regulatory responsibilities and a call on your time for induction and further training. Weigh these all up carefully before you move ahead as it is not a decision to be taken lightly.
If you have limited experience of hiring staff there is a great deal of employment law relating to hiring, creating contracts and regulations you need to abide by once the person is in your employment. It can therefore save you considerable time, money and stress to take advice on this before you start the process. That said let’s look at the key areas of cost you will incur when you make the decision to hire your first member of staff:
Recruitment Costs
There are numerous ways to find staff and each comes with its pros and cons. A recruitment agency will take much of the strain out of the process for you but you will usually pay a fee equivalent to around 20 to 25% of your hire’s annual salary. This is a substantial amount and therefore you might be better off opting for a cheaper option such as advertising online or even using a social media site like LinkedIn to research potential candidates.
The Employee’s Salary
Naturally the new employee’s salary will be a considerable expense and even if you are only paying minimum wage this will soon mount up. You also need to be aware that an employee’s salary will be a priority for your business as staff members expect to be paid on a fixed date every month and there is no way to move this. Therefore, if you cannot accurately predict your cash flow for the year ahead, you may not be ready for a new hire.
As well as the basic salary you will also be responsible for contributing to your employee’s pension, calculating and paying tax and National Insurance and usually providing your employee with a range of other employee benefits, such as bonus schemes, life assurance and even private medical insurance. These are not all statutory requirements but as your business grows, they will make you a more attractive employer.
Payroll Costs
If you don’t want to calculate all these details yourself, you can outsource the management of your payroll. This too will incur an expense however it may well be worth it to ensure you are abiding by the law and in the process it will take a great deal of stress off your plate.
Insurance
Once you employ even one member of staff you are required by law to get employer’s liability insurance. This protects you against claims should your staff be injured or fall ill as a result of working for you, and there are steep fines should you not purchase this. You can also get additional insurance to protect against legal claims from your staff, for example for discrimination or unfair dismissal.
Employment Rights
You also need to take into account the rights your member of staff will have for holiday pay, sickness pay, maternity leave and pay and the right to request flexible working. All these will incur extra costs and could leave you with gaps you will need to fill whilst your staff member is absent. If you fill these gaps with temporary staff or freelancers then further costs still will be incurred.
Premises
As a sole trader you may have been used to working from home but this becomes much more difficult once you have an employee. You will probably need to either use a serviced office for you both to work from or lease an office directly. Both of these can prove expensive so it’s worth doing your research on local costs before making the decision to hire.
Your Time
When you hire your first member of staff you need to put employee policies in place and spend time training the staff member; carrying out appraisals with them; monitoring what they are doing; and ensuring their performance is at the level you expect it to be. As someone who has taken responsibility for every aspect of your business up until this point, it can sometimes also be difficult to delegate. Therefore, ensure you have clear parameters for the work your new hire is going to undertake.
An employee also has a very different mindset to someone who owns a business and therefore you may need to deal with performance or disciplinary issues if you don’t hire wisely. You will also be the only two people in the business initially, so you need to ensure you have a good working relationship for things to run smoothly.
Risk of the Unknown
A big risk when you are making your first hire is that you know next to nothing about the person you are taking on. You may not be hugely experienced at recruiting and you are going to need to trust very much to what the person’s CV says and what they communicate to you during the interview.
Because of this element of risk it is always important to stick to the rulebook. Make sure you implement robust HR policies and procedures, always take up references, and monitor the person very carefully, particularly during their probationary period. Do not be afraid to make a decision, however difficult, to bring the employment to an end at this stage if things aren’t working out. It’s also vital to put a business disaster recovery plan in place. This will help you to ensure you are not leaving yourself open to major problems and it means you have a clear plan to follow should the worst happen. The more you can minimise risk the better.
The Costs of Not Hiring
We have outlined all the costs involved in making your first hire, and they are substantial. However, if your business is growing at a fast pace and you are struggling to keep up with demand, it might be just as costly not to hire. Any business which wants to grow over the long term will need to hire at some stage and it can be just as detrimental to leave this too late as it can be to hire too early.
The important factor is to weigh up all the pros and cons, look at your profit-and-loss forecasts for the year ahead, and then decide whether now is the right time to welcome a new employee into your business. Only you can make that decision but if you do it with full awareness of what you are taking on, it’s much easier to make the right choice.
The post The Real Cost of Taking on Your First Employee appeared first on Home Business Magazine.
Author: Joe Thomas
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Business meals are more than just talking shop. They are a way to distinguish your demeanor from the dinner table to the boardroom. You can be the best in your field or tops in your company, but if you mess up the business meal, no one is going to be impressed. What do you need to know about modern table manners to make a great impression?
Here are seven business dining tips to present yourself in the best manner possible and ace every business dining experience that crosses your path.
1) Invitations- Remember that the person extending the invitation is the host and is responsible for payment of the bill. When receiving or extending invitations, pay attention to special dietary needs. The host may ask about food allergies or sensitivities, kosher, halal, gluten-free, sugar-free and dairy-free diets. Be sure to RSVP or reply within 24 hours with any dietary restrictions.
2) Guest Duties– As a guest, observe the host for cues. For example: place your napkin in your lap after the host; the host does so first to signal the start of the meal. When excusing yourself between courses, the napkin is placed on the chair seat soiled side down. At meal’s end, place your loosely folded napkin on the left of your plate after the host does. Don’t refold it.
3) Silverware & Service Signals – Once silverware is used, including handles, it doesn’t touch the table again. Rest forks, knives and spoons on the side of your plate. Unused silverware stays on the table. If you are resting between bites, place your fork, with tines up, near the top of your plate. To signal the server that you’re finished, place your fork and knife across the center of the plate at the 5 o’clock position. Service signals also include closing your menu to indicate you’re ready to order. If you are browsing an open menu, the server has the impression you aren’t ready.
4) What should you order? Ask the person who invited you (host or hostess) for suggestions on the menu. Ask them to make suggestions or for their favorite dish. Listen carefully because they will provide a top and bottom price range based on the entrées they recommend. Then select a moderately priced item or one of the dishes they recommend.
5) To drink or not to drink? If the host orders alcohol, and you don’t wish to drink, you simply order the beverage of your preference without an explanation. “I’ll have an iced tea with lemon please” or “Diet Coke please” and continue to browse the menu. You are under no obligation to consume alcohol at lunch or any other time of the day. Polite dining companions will not comment or ask questions. If they do, simply ask, “Pardon me?” and look at them intently. They will realize the impertinence of their question.
6) Connections & Conversation– It’s the host’s job to keep conversation going during the meal; and guests must contribute with courtesy. Just don’t monopolize the conversation, rather ask questions and express interest. Light topics include books, travel, vacation, movies, and pets; avoid politics, sex and religion. If you need to talk to the server, don’t interrupt the flow of the conversation. Rather catch the eye of the server if you need assistance, or slightly raise your hand. If they are busy, softly call their name or “server?”
7) Tipping – The host is the person who extended the invitation, and they are responsible for paying the bill. Consider these U.S. tipping guidelines: bartender: 10-20 % of bar bill, valet: $2.00-$5.00, coat check: $1.00 per coat, server: 15-20% of bill; 25% extraordinary service, sommelier: 15% of wine bill. The tip should reflect the total price of the bill before coupons, discounts, or gift certificates.
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Author: Sharon Schweitzer
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For many people, the idea of starting a business from home is an exciting prospect that is being made more and more possible with the popularisation of cloud computing and industries like digital marketing. Chances are you will already be expecting it to be quite difficult, but surely, enough people are doing it that it can’t be that difficult … right? Actually, to make it work, it takes a lot of thought, perseverance, and planning. If you’re thinking about starting your very own business from home, here are some of the dangers that you will need to consider.
The Commute
I know what you’re thinking: ‘I can’t wait to work from home and destroy that commute. It means I can get up late and still be finished before office workers have even left the office.’ This is wrong. Yes, you won’t have the long car/train journey into work, but do you know how difficult it is to get out of bed and head to your desk. Oh, I’ll just have a bit of breakfast … I had better wash up the breakfast stuff now before I start … a shower might be a good idea, actually … did I get the bins in yet? … I’ll quickly make my bed … I’ll make a coffee before I start … oh I didn’t clean out the vegetable draw last night … you get the picture? It takes a long time to start work in the morning when you work from home … I like to call this subconscious procrastination.
Conscious Procrastination
I’ve covered the subconscious procrastination, now it’s time to look at the active version. If you ever get sat at your desk, the procrastination possibilities are everywhere and without the threat of a boss looking over your shoulder, it can be too easy to simply waste away hours literally doing anything else. You will check Facebook and Twitter, you’ll pop onto Sun Bingo for a ‘just a little bit’, you’ll check the latest deals on Amazon, and before you know it, it will be 5pm and you’ve done nothing apart from win a little bit of money on the bingo, spend that money on a new pair of shoes from Amazon, and jealously stare at your friend’s wedding pictures.
Friends and Family from Hell
As I sit here writing this, I know my brother is going to stop in for a cup of tea any minute. You will never, ever be able to convince your friends and family that during the day you are still working and are just as busy as they are when they are at work, but as soon as one of them has a week off, guess how long it will be before they come round for an impromptu shopping trip or ‘nice lunch’ somewhere. It can be very annoying, so just try to stress that between the hours of 9 and 5 (or whatever) they are not allowed to call on the phone or come round unannounced. They will still do it … they’ll also always volunteer you to help out gardening, moving and DIY-ing, during the week because ‘you’re just sat at home anyway’.
No one thinks about these issues and although they can sound a bit tongue-and-cheek, take it from someone who does work from home: they are real issues. The amount of deadlines and work I’ve missed out on due to procrastination or bothersome family members is way too much and you need to really take it into consideration when planning a change to work from home. If you’re the type of person who is easily distracted, stay at the office and leave the working from home to people who can sit on their own working for 8 hours at a time.
The post What Are the Hidden Dangers of Starting a Business from Home? appeared first on Home Business Magazine.
Author: Editor
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A few years back, two marketing companies, Yesmail Interactive and Gleanster, did a study. They wanted to find out whether companies really had any idea what it was that their customers wanted. It turned out that 80 percent of businesses didn’t have a clue. They lacked the basic data necessary to launch an effective marketing campaign.
The marketing companies argued that the way that businesses got to know their customers was wrong. They were relying on outdated transaction and behavioral data. What they really should have been measuring was relational data. Research shows that the companies that build the best relationships are the enterprises that gain the most market share. And so its relational data companies should be using to build their brand. Sure, online behavioral data might be useful for spamming customers with emails based on product searches. But it does little to convince them that you’re genuinely connected. And it certainly doesn’t help you learn about what they’re thinking about your brand.
So with that said, what can companies do to know their customers better?
Identify Triggers
Marketing is most effective when it is deployed at the opportune time. Often, that means marketing a product to coincide what the experts call a “customer trigger.” These triggers could be anything, but usually, they revolve around major life events or after a certain amount of money has been spent. Different customers will have different triggers. And so it’s important to learn how the market is segmented. For instance, when some customers spend more than a certain threshold, they’ll keep spending more and more. Others will spend like crazy if there’s a wedding or if they’ve just got their paycheck. Thus, it’s important to identify when these triggers are likely to occur and capitalize on them when they do.
Monitor Social Sentiment
Businesses need to know how their brand is perceived by the wider community if they’re going to address problems. Unfortunately, most businesses have no idea about the popular perception of their brand. And they do very little to learn more about it.
The fact that they don’t do anything about it is certainly not down to a lack of appropriate tools. There are now apps that allow you to monitor general sentiment around your brand and to track reviews. These apps help to reduce the amount of time spent trawling review sites and social media. Instead, they let businesses view what customers think about their service in real time from a single dashboard.
Look At Past Purchases
One of the best ways for small businesses to act like big businesses is to track past purchases. Recent purchases provide an essential insight into the tastes and preferences of customers. And yet, according to Yesmail, only around 50 percent of businesses collect this type of information. The other half are missing a trick here.
What’s more, most of the people collecting data are only doing so in a superficial way. They know what products particular customers buy, but they don’t know anything else about them. Knowing by which channels individual customers arrive at your business can help better target your marketing. And understanding household composition tells you more about the type of demographic you serve.
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Author: Editor
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You receive a job that you have been wanting for a while. Now, after a few months on the job, you begin to realize that things are not as you would have hoped. Office politics start to take a toll on your workflow and ultimately, you notice how managers deploy their positions to their advantage despite corporate objectives. How do you handle this frustration? Where does this stem?
As someone who has had many personal accounts in similar positions in his career, Michael Owhoko decided to share those years of unpleasant experiences into a guidebook, “Career Frustration in the Workplace.” Throughout the book, employees will begin to make sense of the situations they find themselves in and also, businesses will understand how they can improve their environment.
“The words in my book expose what transpires in the workplace all over the world that people have not been bold enough to discuss in the public space,” Owhoko said.
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Owhoko points out that many managers allow personal interests to override organizational objectives that can lead to selfish motives. All of these developments have negative impacts on the employees and the organization.
“To avoid pitfalls, I’ve provided and identified specific principles that will put the organization and careers in jeopardy if not addressed and upheld,” Owhoko said.
By reading “Career Frustration in the Workplace,” readers will learn how to prove their worth to co-workers, confront bad behavior in a professional way, and follow through on organizational mission statements and objectives. Whether you’re a new professional or a veteran, Owhoko’s words will leave an impact on your career.
Career Frustration in the Workplace
By: Michael Owhoko
ISBN: 978-1-4917-8552-2
Available in softcover, hardcover, e-book
Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iUniverse
About the Author
Michael Owhoko is a media and public relations practitioner who has worked in the banking, oil and gas, and media industries. Owhoko earned degrees in political science and mass communications from the University of IIorin and the University of Lagos in barNigeria. Currently, Owhoko is the publisher of Media Issues, an online newspaper, and resides in Victoria Island, Lagos.
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Author: Editor
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