So you have finally taken the plunge and are either starting a franchise from scratch or have bought an existing branch. If you are thinking about running a franchise as a small business, you should have a good idea of what it takes to run it, from the day-to-day operations to the administration tasks. You should have also decided how involved you will be in the daily running of the business.
work life balance
Suzy Pelta is the latest entrepreneur to feature in one of our success stories. Suzy from SuzyPeltaBakes is a business woman, a recipe book writer and demo chef. After winning Lorraine’s Cake Club, Suzy transformed her life and took advantage of opportunities that came her way. She discusses juggling being a parent and being a business owner as well as the importance of social media.
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COVID-19 has disrupted our businesses and our personal lives in unimaginable ways. As Vladimir Lenin once said: There are decades where nothing happens and there are weeks where decades happen. There is no doubt about which kind of week, month or year we have been experiencing.
[continue reading…]Working from home is an ideal situation for many, however, in some cases, it is simply not possible, for example, if you are a heart surgeon you can of course only really work at the hospital! Whether you are a home-based small business owner full time, or you balance your time between working from home and at the office, you will know there are many pros and cons of both.
[continue reading…]Which matters more: recruitment or retention? Many employers struggle to answer this easy question. Every organisation is powered by its people, and hiring the right people starts with strong recruitment. Typically, employers believe that finding talented, motivated, experienced, and high-potential applicants to fill open positions is the best way to ensure a prosperous future of growth and innovation. But how much is that talent worth if it walks out the door after a year or two? Retaining existing employees means building institutional knowledge in your workforce and generating more stability.
[continue reading…]The UK experiences shockingly low employee engagement levels, which is impacting productivity, worker morale, and staff turnover levels nationwide. Many businesses overlook this fact however both employer and employee suffer the consequences of this. Only around one-third of British employees say that they’re engaged with their work, and 66% of millennials feel they’ve chosen the wrong career.
Now more than ever professionals are keen to move away from traditional working hours in favour of a better work-life balance, and as more of life moves online, the idea of working from home seems to make sense. Many organisations are now offering, or at least trialling flexible working hours, but some are still behind the times.
In a recent study conducted by FreeAgent, looking at the work habits of micro business owners and freelancers, it was found that they are creating a new phenomenon called workation. A workation is essentially working whilst being on holiday. This is not the ideal situation, checking work emails and doing admin whilst on holiday. The self-employed are workaholics and seriously need to find the balance between work and life. Holidays are a time to get away, switch off and rejuvenate, constantly working achieves the opposite of that.
Running a small business is by no means an easy feat. It requires so much from one person whether it’s emotional intelligence, being able to effectively manage and lead a team, or passion that will help you get back up after setbacks and failure. Naturally, you will have a heavy workload as a small business owner. Therefore, you will need to make sure that you manage it effectively in order to make yourself and your business a success.
Co-working is becoming more and more popular, with many corporations choosing to do this instead of having a full time, permanent office space. Coworking is about sharing office space with workers from other companies, all doing their own thing in one large, usually open plan, space. It has many benefits, and it looks as though coworking could really become the way of the future. Cornerstone Office Search give us reasons why so many corporations are choosing coworking as their preferred option.
Following on from our previous article on ‘How to attract the millennials‘, it’s interesting to examine this age cohort’s spending attitudes and behaviours by comparing them to those of other generations; Baby Boomers and Generation X.
When you think of New Year’s resolutions, you probably think of failed attempts at getting fit or travelling more. However, New Year’s resolutions can actually be useful and you can even set some that you can achieve. The whole idea of a New Year’s resolution is to make a change that will have a positive impact on you and your business, so why not take the opportunity to do so.
With the year coming to a close, it’s time to look back and reflect, as well as looking ahead. 2017 has been a great year for small businesses which have thrived and stood strong despite uncertainty bought on by Brexit. From the Autumn Budget being small business friendly, to the huge success of Small Business Saturday, small businesses can allow themselves to be optimistic about the upcoming year.
Getting less than 7 – 8 hours of sleep per night on a regular basis can have severe repercussions for your health. Your brain functions, your mood and the way you interact with people will be affected. Those are all vital aspects for small business owners, so the smart thing to do would be not to lose sleep.
