Posted by busViews on December 21, 2009
Do people frequently have to wait for you when they arrive at your place of business? If so then you could save yourself a lot of business by making sure that your waiting area is comfortable for them.
Here are five ways to make your waiting area more comfortable:
- Offer free Wi-Fi. The people who have to wait in your office will hardly even notice how long the wait is if they can play around on their computers while they are there.
- Provide water, coffee and snacks. Offer something extra special like chocolates, nuts or fresh fruit. People are less grumpy about waiting when they have treats to distract them.
- Change the lighting in the office. Replace the fluorescent light bulbs with softer lights. Switch to a metal halide ballast system. Make the ambience of the room better with good lighting.
- Repaint the area. Learn a little bit about color theory and use new paint colors to change the mood of the room. You might also try a bit of feng shui if you are so inclined.
- Offer reading material. Provide magazines as well as a variety of different books. For non-readers offer jigsaw puzzles or Sudoku books.
The trick is to set up a calm environment that people have enough to do in so that they won’t be bored while they wait.
Technorati Tags: fluorescent light bulbs, metal halide ballast
Posted by busViews on December 18, 2009
Most people don’t think about the lights that they have installed in their office spaces. This is unfortunate. The right lights can really make a big difference to your working environment. That might be something to think about in the near future if you’re ready to do something different at the office.
Five changes you can make to the lights in your office are:
- Use more natural lighting. This is going to increase energy levels in the office. Open up the windows. Install skylights. Rely on natural lighting as much as your building allows.
- Switch to a fancier name brand for light fixtures. Look into Access Lighting or Landmark Lighting for some creative options that will make your office look richer.
- Get desk lamps. Many office buildings have glaring overhead lights. That’s fine for days when it needs to be bright in the office. However you might find that there’s a more relaxed mood in the place if you allow employees to use desk lamps some of the time. The softer glow will calm everyone down.
- Change colors or get lights that sing. Get something out of the ordinary for the lighting in areas like your break room. It will add fun to the office!
- Go green. It’s always smart to make the switch to energy-efficient lighting.
Technorati Tags: access lighting, landmark lighting
Posted by busViews on July 24, 2009
People who own their own businesses should always look for new ways to generate income. For example, a lot of people sell products on their website (such as ebooks or T-shirts) to get a little bit more revenue from their existing customers. One thing that you might want to look into if you own your own business is the possibility of offering mobile subscriptions to your customers.
Mobile subscriptions are simply subscriptions to services that people may receive on their mobile phones. Subscriptions to download music to a phone or to download mobile movies are the most common types of subscriptions. However, you can charge people for anything that they might download to the phone. You can also charge them for receiving text messages. You can find a creative way to do this to make some money.
For example, let’s say that you’re a freelance writer. You could offer a subscription for people to receive a daily writing tip or writing prompt via text. They pay for the service using SMS billing. You send the text to them each morning. It’s a little bit more money in your pocket and it doesn’t require a lot of work on your part. Thinking like this will help you increase your total annual profits.
Technorati Tags: sms billing
Posted by tbViews on May 23, 2009
Part of running a successful business is also protecting it from things that could go wrong. Here are a few examples of things you should do to protect your business from the avoidable types of disasters that could befall it.
- Back up your data. In case of computer failure, theft, or natural disaster, you will want to have backups of all your important data. In general backups are most effective when they are stored offsite — for instance, on a remote server accessed via the Internet.
- Protect your office from intruders. Be sure all locks are functioning and effective, and install security cameras. If you operate your business out of your home, consider getting an ADT security system. All of these precautions will help to protect you from losing valuable data and equipment via theft.
- Insure your business. Particularly if you go into people’s homes or work with people, it is important to carry insurance to protect you if something goes wrong. In our sue-happy society, you may be unexpectedly grateful for being insured!
- Always be sure to have a contigency plan. You need to always have an emergency fund or some type of petty cash, just in case an unexpected expense comes up. Not being able to pay your employees because the money went elsewhere is almost guaranteed to cause significant problems for your business and even you personally.
Think of your business as an investment — of money as well as time and energy. Like any investment, you will want to take the proper precautions to protect it to the highest degree possible.
Technorati Tags: ADT security system, petty cash, surveillance camera
Posted by BViews on December 15, 2008
Remember who you are affecting when you perform a background check. A criminal records check will help you to determine who to hire and why. Consider all of the different options that you have when it comes to background services and you will see what can be done for you and in what ways it can be helpful as well as hurtful to you. Remember yes you can use these to look into prospective employee’s backgrounds, but what is that to stop you from having someone else. Consider all that is available to research and look into and then consider how much you need to know. You are considering them for employment in your company; so it is your decision, just respect the privacy they have and what you can do to protect it.
Look into and make sure to adhere to the guidelines that have been set forth by governing bodies in regards to information gathering. You need to know that is true, but the question is how much do you need to know in order to get make an informed decision. So be discreet and give the prospective employee the same amount of respect and courtesy that you would expect from them if the tables were turned.
Technorati Tags: background check, background services, criminal records check
Posted by Busyview on November 19, 2008
Some people just do not like to take customer satisfaction surveys. Let’s face it; they all have their reasons which may vary. Maybe they are just too busy so they do not have the time for it. Perhaps it is that they feel like they will have to give too much personal information out which they don’t want to give. Maybe the reason is that they could really care less about helping a certain business improve itself. The reasons could go on and on.
I do not mind taking a customer service survey at all though. In fact, I jump at the chance to take customer surveys! You know, it is not they really take all of that much time to complete. Plus there are benefits you can receive from taking these surveys.
Every so often if I’m shopping and they ask me if I have a moment to answer a few questions, I will always do it. Also, if there is a web site mentioned on a receipt where I can do a survey, I will get on line and do that. Heck, even if I’m online and one of those pop up surveys comes up, I’ll dive right in. Maybe I’m weird or something, but I just get a real kick out of taking surveys.
Technorati Tags: customer satisfaction surveys, customer service survey, customer surveys, surveys
Posted by Busyview on September 22, 2008
Is it really too much to ask that my personal life not intersect with my work life? I understand that as a freelancer, it just happens that way, but I moved into a one bedroom (notably without the boyfriend) in an attempt to get some space to do my work. He just does not seem to get that even though it is totally flexible, I still have deadlines, work, and bills to consider. He thinks that I should always rearrange for him because he works at a junky nine to five all day. It isn’t my fault that he hates his job. However, it is certainly my problem when he is either over here, or yelling at me that I am not over there. Not fair! I am up to my ears in work trying to get this shopping cart up and running, and not only does he not understand, he doesn’t care. I’m going to have to set up new storefront software and new ecommerce shopping cart software and it doesn’t even register with him. He just doesn’t respect the amount of code writing I have to do, or my job in general. I am not a little woman! I want to support myself.
Technorati Tags: boyfriend, ecommerce, ecommerce shopping cart software, shopping cart, storefront software
Posted by busViews on June 26, 2008
One of the things that you learn after you’ve lived for awhile is that jobs are a lot easier when you have the right tools to complete them. When you’re using the wrong equipment for a project, the job just gets a lot tougher than it needs to be.
For example, let’s say that you need to cut different pieces of paper in different ways for a certain project. You can try to use scissors for the job but you may find that some parts of the project aren’t easily done with scissors. You may want to use some of the following equipment instead:
- Corner Rounder. It’s a lot easier to get rounded corners when you’re using the tool that’s designed to do this than when you try to do it by hand with scissors.
- Stack Cutter. Why spend a big chunk of time cutting a stack of paper by hand when you can just use a tool that’s designed to slice the whole stack in one fell swoop?
- Rotary Trimmer. When you have papers of varying thicknesses, scissors can find the job tough to handle but a rotary trimmer can do it with ease.
Using the right tools almost always makes a job go more smoothly.
Technorati Tags: corner rounder, rotary trimmer, stack cutter
Posted by BViews on June 25, 2008
For many years now, our firm has just been throwing the paper in the trash, with no concerns over the possible personal security risks that it presented. We figured that our locked compound offered enough security, so much so that it didn’t warrant us using a paper shredder at all.
It wasn’t until I was referred to the Identity Theft Resource Center - a non-profit organization that helps businesses and individuals resolve and reduce the crime of identity theft. Inside I found that as a business, it was our responsibility to protect our customers from the possibility that their personal information could be abused in any manner.
We decided that at this point, we needed to do something to make sure that our waste paper couldn’t be used for fraudulent purposes. We purchased a high security shredder that was to be used to destroy all paper leaving the building into a specialized locked recycling dumpster.
There have also been changes in our document handling policies and we are required to use Dahle paper shredders that have been stationed near the photocopiers for any paper that we need to throw out. We have had to take some training so that we know the new procedures, but after a couple of weeks, it becomes second nature, and everyone in the company has embraced the new document handling procedures.
Though we have not had any problems, taking a proactive approach when it comes to the welfare of our customers is paramount - without them, we wouldn’t have a business.
Technorati Tags: Dahle paper shredders, high security shredder, paper shredder
