Archives for January 2020

Searching for a reputable security guard service is not without its challenges. The variety of security services available can leave you overwhelmed and confused. Some services may try to offer excellent deals but knowing how to find the best security guard companies requires a little more than promises.

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Hire the wrong service and you face unnecessary frustration. Also, your business will be exposed to threats from security violations. Therefore, you must complete a rigorous evaluation of the services available in order to determine what is right for your business.

Here are questions that will help you identify red flags and find the best security services for your business.

Do They Offer Security Services In Your Area?

Location makes a difference when it comes to security. If a security company has no clientele in your area, they may not be familiar with the issues and challenges you face. This should raise flags. Guards must have a working knowledge of your business’ neighborhood and common issues they might face. 

Conversely, consider enlisting a security service with more than one location in your area. Additional offices nearby may mean extra guards on call in that locality should any need arise. For example, presume a security service is covering a building right across your street. Their presence means that the additional security will be monitoring your side of the street, too. 

How Are Their Security Service Reviews?

Before you sign a security contract, look for reviews of the company from previous customers. Take some time to read the reviews on their website. Happy customers will share stories of success. Several bad reviews should cause you to think twice. 

Will They Provide Value For Money?

Think twice if the security firm you are considering provides you significantly lower prices than everyone else for the same service. This could be a sign that they have extra costs unaccounted for in their basic contract. For example, some security contracts do not disclose overtime fees that are charged in case of an incident.

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Talk to your security service about why their costs are so low. Larger companies may offer lower rates because they dominate the market. Also, they may ultimately pay their guards less. As a result, such guards may not be so loyal to the security of your business or their firm.

Insured And Licensed?

A security company must be licensed and insured to carry out its mandate. In the case of an incident, you must know who will bear the burden of cost for damages. You could face problems if they do not have the proper coverage.

What Is Their Response Rate?

You run your business efficiently. It is only reasonable to expect your security service to do the same. Before you sign any contract, evaluate the security company’s response rate. Do they respond to calls quickly? Is it easy to get a hold of them? Their response rate for business-as-usual will give you a sense of how fast will they react if there’s an incident.

These are all great questions to ask before you sign on a new security company to watch over your business.

Working in real estate demands a lot of time and effort, but offers substantial financial rewards for those who become successful. Managing those demands can be an agent’s biggest challenge. Success in real estate is possible with these four principles.

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Real Estate Is Business

Many people picture a successful realtor as a friendly person who is pleasant to work with, knowledgeable, and almost always at ease. However, reality paints a more complicated picture. With all of the pressures to make contacts and finalize sales, the real estate business can be challenging. Always remember that as a realtor, your business is just that—a business.

Do not begin your real estate career without considering all of the normal demands of a business. Like any company, you will need to manage expenses, handle communications, and track cash flow. You will need to market your business and make informed decisions on which marketing strategies work best for your success. Moreover, this is a full-time job, and doing it well requires a full-time commitment.

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Marketing for Real Estate Success

Success in real estate hinges on the constant creation of new contacts and relationships. Therefore, marketing yourself and your business is key to connecting with new potential clients.

Your marketing strategy will require networking and building relationships with the right people in the industry. Brokerage relies on connections, primarily with potential clients of course, but also with professional services related to the business side of real estate. As a realtor, you’ll be marketing yourself to buyers and sellers. You will also build relationships with accountants, lawyers, and investors who can help your business run smoothly. 

Marketing yourself as a real estate broker requires consistency. Target your marketing in a neighborhood with high potential for growth that appears to be overlooked or on an area poised to undergo gentrification. Keep your marketing on-point. 

Marketing expenses should be a constant item in your budget. A portion of every sale or rental should go back into your marketing budget. Don’t waste time and money by frantically trying every marketing approach you can find or dream up. Spend your money wisely with focus and intentionality. 

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For example, while old-fashioned networking luncheons are still viable in today’s world, real estate agents and investors are increasingly connecting online via new tools and social networks. Jake Marmulstein, CEO at Groundbreaker, states, “While at its foundation the real estate industry doesn’t change much from year to year, new technology is beginning to disrupt certain aspects of it, like relationship management and marketing.” Success in real estate demands embracing the disruption of new marketing methods while keeping your message consistent.

Responsive Communication

As your marketing succeeds, you will see an increase in the communication you receive from potential buyers. Your number-one rule for that communication is to respond!

The faster the response, the better. If you can’t take the call right away, or answer the text instantly, do so at least before the day is out. Once your business grows, you may be able to hire help to handle the communication flow. 

In the meantime, it’s up to you to demonstrate to both your current and potential clients that you are available and ready to help them. As with most businesses, clients are drawn to businesses that respond to their needs. Responsiveness and great communication skills show competency and reliability, providing further comfort to your clients and strengthening your relationship with them.

A note about social media communications. Social media can generate a steady stream of feedback from your posts and advertising. Use tools such as immediate responses to ensure that every connection receives an acknowledgment. It is easy to lose track of everything in the shuffle, which could cost you a potential client. Stagger your promotions so you’re not dealing with a potential mass of responses all at once.

Budgeting for Success in Real Estate

The core of any budget is the desire to properly manage income and expenses. Ultimately, the budget keeps expenses lower and income higher, ultimately growing the bottom line. A business budget is as crucial as a personal one, perhaps even more so. Real estate brokerage may not always maintain a steady level of profit even when everything is going well. Be sure to prepare for the slow times, especially when business is going well, by implementing a strict budget. 

When the sales are coming in, the contracts are closing, and cash flow is high, it can be easy to think the good times will last forever. That may not always be the case. Properly allocating your funds in the good months will allow you to reduce the stress that comes with the slower months. This will also ensure that you have the money to market and grow your business throughout the year. The key to any good budget is to remember to set money aside when you can. Always take a portion of each sale and assign it to cover costs down the road.

Real estate brokers and agents face all the challenges of running a business. Developing contacts and good relationships with clients will be much easier when you manage the business side efficiently. These tips will help you keep both sides of your business balanced as you pursue your career.

It costs far more to replace an employee than it does to retain them. In order to keep them wanting to stay with your company, you must provide a workplace that they enjoy. Your business success depends on keeping your employees happy and motivated. After all, they are not robots that are only there to serve the bottom line. They are real people with real lives and they devote a huge portion of their time to your company.

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It isn’t enough to just give your employees the perfect gift for Christmas. You must also maintain a positive work experience during the year to make sure they are content and motivated to do their job. Low employee morale is a business killer. Production drops when morale is low. In addition, employee turnover makes it hard to maintain consistency.

So, what to do? Increase your business’ success through satisfied employees with the following tips.

Pay Employees On Time

The surest way to kill morale in your office is to pay your employees late or make mistakes in their paycheck. Use an employee time tracking app to make sure that their check is always correct. Follow that up with attentiveness and reliability that your employees are paid on time. This one practice is a huge part of your effort to keep employees happy and motivated.

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Set Clear Expectations

Everybody wants to know exactly what their job is. When there are no clear boundaries between what one employee and another do, resentment builds. The most common result of unclear boundaries is that one employee takes on too much while another is perceived as taking on too little. This creates resentment and substantially lowers morale.

Take time to establish a clear set of expectations and responsibilities for each employee. If and when the time arises that they have to take on extra work, their sacrifice is acknowledged. Express thanks for hard work and dedication. As soon as possible, take the extra load away from the employee and return their job expectations to normal. Also, it wouldn’t hurt to make sure they get a little extra bonus at the end of the year.

Encourage Breaks To Keep Employees Happy and Motivated

Burnout is very real. It can lead to health issues, low morale, and feelings of dissatisfaction. If you believe your company has been asking a lot of the employees for a while, encourage them to take time off. Consider offering a long lunch for the week, a long weekend by taking a Friday off, or encourage them to use their vacation time.

Whatever you think will help them unwind and recharge will be appreciated. 

Happy Employees Prioritize Work/Life Balance

Your employees are key to your business success. Therefore, their work must be at its most productive. This only happens when your employees experience well-being in the office and in their life. You can avoid burning your employees out by making sure that they are able to have a life outside of work. Limit instances of calling them in on weekends or keeping them from their family at night. Their ability to enjoy the life your employment provides will keep them working for you.

Celebrate Milestones

When somebody closes a big deal or finishes a project ahead of schedule, make sure you celebrate their accomplishment. Let the employee know personally how much you appreciate their hard work. In addition, make sure the office knows and encourage others to congratulate them on their milestone. The team-effort creates truly happy employees!

Additionally, celebrate longevity milestones and positive feedback accomplishments from customers. People want to know you recognize their loyalty. Show them that you are paying attention to their hard work and see the results.

Offer A Flexible Schedule

The need for 40-hours-per-week face time is becoming a thing of the past. In past years, supervisors required employees to be in the office, checking in (or clocking in) and out each day. Unfortunately, whether an employee was maximumly productive during that time didn’t matter.

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Now, people are more focused on productivity and results. If an employee can come in later or leave earlier than the traditional 9 to 5 (which has really become 8 to 6), and still get results, then let it happen. You can also offer some employees the opportunity to work from home a day or two per week. Not having to commute helps increase productivity and helps relieve the pressure from your employee’s day.

Today’s employers must be concerned with keeping employees happy and motivated. The generations entering the workforce expect a level of satisfaction in their work. Use these principles to ensure that your company is known for a workplace that supports and cares about your employees.

If you’re a .NET developer and want to break into freelancing, you have many options. However, .NET freelancing requires time and intention to become lucrative. 

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Most freelancers will tell you to start on the side. You can pick up freelancing jobs while still staying in your current form of employment until you build a steady client base. The goal is to make consistent money over a period of a few months before diving right into life as a full-time freelancer.

Freelancers have a lot of responsibilities that normal employees do not have, including:

Thankfully, .NET’s framework is used in applications worldwide, so you’ll be able to develop for small and large businesses alike. Use these tips to get ready for this next step in your career.

Experience and Portfolio

Developers are unlike other freelancers because you can’t share your source code with others. This can make creating your portfolio a challenge. Though you can show a prospective client your examples of software, websites, apps and other projects you have created, showing the source code allows the client to steal the code. Also, If you worked for someone else at the time of development, chances are good that they own the code.

You can, however, say that you used .NET to:

• Develop X website (providing an example) and were responsible for connecting to banks, databases and other third-party sites via API calls
• Develop an app that allowed for financial institutes to manage clients on the cloud

You must provide samples to show clients. Consider building a website with live examples of your work for potential employers to test. When listing projects that you worked on, make sure to mention your contributions and key responsibilities when working on the project.

If you have no experience, you may want to work with Redwerk or another .NET development company to learn the ropes of .NET development.

Develop your portfolio using open source project contributions. Many companies respect open-source projects and will view your contributions to these projects in the same way they would view your experience working with a development firm.

Finding Clients as a Freelancer

Once you have a portfolio ready to show prospective clients, it’s time to go out and find clients. It takes a lot of work and effort to find clients to fill up your schedule. It’s not uncommon for freelancers to charge more per hour of work than a development firm pays its developers. This is because freelancers carry a lot more responsibilities. However, employers save money by avoiding the cost of benefits packages. So, price your hourly rate accordingly.

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You’ll find that finding clients requires you to:

• be persistent,
• be patient,
• communicate well,
• become detail-oriented,
• and be willing to learn.

You will also need to be able to properly assess projects and offer realistic timelines. 

Be persistent. Be willing to be rejected. A lot of people are vying for the same job and a lot of people may be willing to work for less than you charge. It’s up to you to be able to create a proposal that allows you to stand out from the competition.

Here are a few key methods to help jumpstart life as a freelancer:

• Look for jobs on Upwork 
• Look for jobs on Freelancer
• Email companies to pitch your services
• Search job boards for freelance positions

Connections are everything, so try and find a .NET forum where people are asking for help. If you can demonstrate your expertise and help others, you’ll find that a lot of these connections can lead to work, too.

Specify Your .NET Freelancing Niche

Your success depends on the right clients with projects you are perfect for finding you. In order to help this process, be clear about the projects you have experience working on. For instance, say you work particularly well with startups and have helped them keep development costs low.  Provide examples of your work that feature a startup and provide the cost savings analysis. 

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Use your network, social media and other avenues to source projects.Once you land your first gig, treat every opportunity as a learning process and continue marketing yourself. Slowly, you’ll build up your portfolio and reputation. You can also try working with recruitment agencies that can help you land your first few freelancing gigs to get started.

The key to freelancing is persistence and marketing. If you continually market yourself and aren’t afraid of rejection, you’ll eventually land gigs. Good luck!

If you own a business, you might think it is far too late for you to go back to school. Nothing could be further from the truth. Pursuing higher education as a business owner can do wonders for both your business and your team. In fact, there is nothing holding you back and everything to gain for your business success through higher education.

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Here are five ways that advanced higher education can help your business grow.

Higher Education Improves Your Skills

One of the main advantages of additional education is an improved skill set. This is especially true for managers. Unfortunately, managers often get promoted to higher positions without ever receiving extra training or education. This can make the managers feel overwhelmed and unsure and is reflected in their work. A recent study found that over 50% of managers say they have never received management training. This most certainly costs your business in the long run.

You Can Continue Working

One of the main reasons adults do not engage in higher education is because they can’t afford to take the time off from work. Because of the growth of online education, earning a degree does not require you to leave your company in the hands of others. You can study while you work. Also, many courses are only a few weeks or months long. So, you don’t need to dedicate years to acquire additional qualifications.

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Higher Education Builds Confidence

Learning new skills helps boost confidence. As we mentioned before, many managers feel unsure about their skillset. However, when they receive extra training, their confidence grows and they are more likely to be successful. This has obvious benefits for your business. Better productivity. Professional success. In addition, your self-esteem and happiness levels also increase. Research shows that people who train for their dream jobs (and then work in those jobs) are significantly happier than those who do not.

Creating New Possibilities

Education opens up new possibilities for you in your career. After all, an additional qualification makes you more qualified! However, many people think that on the job training is just as valuable, so they forgo education. However, in order to be promoted well and advance through your career additional education communicates your motivation to improve. That kind of confidence attracts more business!

Education Makes Employees More Valuable

Higher education does not only benefit managers; it can also benefit employees who want to improve their performance. Learning an extra skill set will make the employee (and therefore, the team) more efficient and productive. Supporting education also helps employees feel more motivated and passionate. This is very important, as a recent study found that over 80% of employees feel disengaged at work. That’s four out of five employees. Further education can help to reduce feelings of disengagement. 

For instance, if you run a healthcare department, and one of your employees gets a bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration, your whole team improves. The newly educated employee can take on more advanced healthcare roles and responsibilities. This eases pressure on other employees, and it makes the team more cohesive and productive.

Finally, higher education for employees improves employee retention. Over time, promoting uneducated managers leads to unproductive employees and high employee turnover. Turnover alone costs businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars every year. Therefore, promoting and completing additional education ensures that your business is being managed well. A win-win situation!

Employee turnover costs your company in multiple ways. In fact, reports show that turnover costs employers a whopping $15,000 per employee, mostly for reasons that are avoidable. In addition, there are massive ramifications to the entire company when your top star leaves the team. As a business owner, attention to employee retention is key for a thriving work environment.

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If you run a small business, you are most likely faced with limited resources. So, retaining your best and brightest is vital to your business success. Therefore, efficient and effective employee retention strategies help to improve office morale and productivity. Such strategies ensure that your best workers don’t leave you for the competition. 

Consider these three simple and cost-effective employee retention strategies to help you succeed. 

Communicate With Your Employees

You might think communication is handled. Employees come to do their job and go home. However, healthy and transparent communication significantly improves employee retention. Great communication encourages employees to ask questions, addresses employee and company concerns, and provides you a vehicle for receiving feedback. Considering employee feedback and follow-up are key factors for effective leadership. Great leaders foster excellent employees and positively impact employee retention.

Experts explain that “an emphasis on communication equips employees to feel valued, satisfied and motivated which enhances their morale and increases their output.”

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Our favorite tool to communicate with your employees is Connecteam’s free employee communication app. In the click of a button, you are able to create a two-way communication channel. Managers can send private or group chats and updates. The platform allows you to share weekly goals, celebrate the employee of the month, send birthday wishes, release company announcements and more. Additionally, employees have a tool to communicate with you in real-time if they have issues. Apps like this make communication simple and effective.

Hire For Retention

According to Glassdoor, 35% of employers who hire new employees already anticipate that other employees will resign in that same year. If your hiring strategy includes the expectation that existing employees will soon resign, something isn’t working! Make changes toward retention rather than hiring a workforce you expect will not be with your company for long.

To begin, revamp your interview process. Ask questions that help bring out qualities that you seek to develop among your employees. Consider past performance relevant to tasks you’re hiring for. Be consistent across interviews so you can utilize lateral comparison. 

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Next, ensure that the job description is clear. Many new hires reported that they would stay at a job and company longer if they knew more about their job role early on. It is essential that you do not omit details of the position. Take the time to find the right candidate, even if you are desperate to fill the vacancy. Remain transparent so the right employee joins your company and stays for the long term. 

On-Boarding Is Crucial 

As soon as a new hire arrives on their first day, make sure they’re set up for success!  teach them about the company culture, training opportunities, mission and values, and so on. Make clear to them that their job role and responsibilities, while very important to success, are just a part of their relationship with your company. HR experts say, “Onboarding new hires at an organization should be a strategic process and last at least one year to ensure high retention.”

Employee Retention Makes The Difference

Employee retention is just one strategy for your business’ success. Still, having the right team with the right employees invested in your company’s success makes the difference. In order for them to invest and be loyal to you, invest and be loyal to them. Your business will most certainly reap the rewards.