When you are starting a new business, it can seem overwhelming to try and do everything at once. You need to develop your product, hire new employees, get your product out there, start fulfilling client orders, and the list goes on and on. Everywhere you turn, people are telling you that you need to be different, you need to stand out, and you may be afraid that you don’t know how to do this at first. Don’t let that fear keep you from starting. Here are a few things you can do to help get your feet under you.
Learning from the Competition
One of the first ways to devise a business idea is to learn from your competition. While you definitely shouldn’t steal everything from your competitors, it is a good idea to know what they are up to. Find out what they are offering, the prices they are charging, and also how they market their product or service. By finding out these things, you will be in position to learn about your competition and what makes them successful. As a result, you will be more likely to make your idea and business successful as well. You can take their successes and improve on them, and you can avoid their failures.
Using Ideas from Competition
This idea is a little trickier. You never want to copy a competitor exactly, since this edges into intellectual property and legal issues. Instead, you can look at some of the things that they are doing and see how you can add that to your business model. If customers really like something that someone else is doing, you can probably benefit from this too. While these ideas may not be original for you, they can still allow you to apply these concepts for your business. By using ideas from the competition, you can apply some of them to your business.
Other Ways to Take the First Step
Whenever you start a business, it will be important to research properly, design a campaign, and avoid stealing anything. When looking to use proper research, it will be important to find out more about a particular product or service that is currently offered on the market. It will be important to find out about the price range, features and how it is designed. It will also be important to find out about its demand as well. After researching the product and service you plan to provide, it will then be necessary to design a marketing campaign. You will want to use methods such as internet advertising, search engine optimization and also social media. Lastly, you will want to start a business and take that first step by not stealing anything. Some companies will have copyrights, patents, and trademarks on what they sell. It is important not to take those ideas and elements and use them without proper authorization.
Conclusion
Running a business and taking that first step can be quite overwhelming. It can be even more difficult if you are looking to start one with an idea that is not original. While this may be a bit overwhelming, there are ways to make it easier. Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed by expectations and things that you think you need to do. Just take it one step at a time, and eventually, you will achieve what you set out to do.
Relocating your career out of the country can be an excellent way to take advantage of opportunities you would otherwise not have. Not only are there exciting new work possibilities, but the chance to travel the world and learn about other cultures. However, before jumping right into an international move, there are many things to consider:
1. Research Your Destination and Job
This step is paramount in making the decision to move your career. You need to learn about who your new boss and coworkers are going to be and if they are compatible with your style. You must also make sure your destination of choice is a good fit in terms of culture, language, climate, and safety. The last thing that some people would want would be to start working at their dream job and figure out six months later that where they now live has a 7-month rainy season. RESEARCH! If you don’t know where to start, and you want a job with a relocation package, try these listings from Jooble!
2. Visa Challenges
Other governments usually require a passport and a work visa to make a living in their country. Sometimes an employer will apply for a work visa for you, but this is something you must ask about fairly early on in the job interview process. If you need to apply for your own visa, log on to the most relevant government website and start the application process after your job is secure. Don’t rely on someone else to do this for you.
3. How Will You Handle New and Old Property?
Workers who temporarily move out of the country for work may choose to rent their property and home. Not only can you return to it after the job ends, but renting your property can add some extra income while you are away. Consider hiring a property manager to handle landlord responsibilities if you are not able to. Check to see if you can list your place on Airbnb or VRBO.
Don’t forget about thinking about where you will rest your head once you reach your destination. Research the area around your new job; the neighborhood, safety, and comfort. You may need to get in contact with a property manager or realtor fairly early on depending on if you want to rent or buy a place to live.
4. Costs of Moving
Immigration processes can be difficult and costly if you want to take your personal belongings and furniture. Don’t forget to think about things like shipping charges and moving expenses. If it is more financially reasonable, you may want to purchase new furniture when you arrive. Check to see if your employer will cover your moving expenses before you make a final decision.
5. Relocating Your Family
Some people who only immigrate temporarily choose to leave their families behind and visit them periodically. Decide if this is financially and emotionally viable or if it would be better to take your family with you. If you bring your family, you must consider their new placement as well, like where children will go to school or daycare. Your new employer may have resources to help you with these decisions. Got pets? Make sure to find out what the rules on bringing animals into the country you are moving to.
Carefully consider each of these options before making the move to another country. Once you have your ducks in a row, you can enjoy the full range of your new opportunities and have a truly fulfilling career.
Alright, it is time to go to work and really embrace your new position. Being the manager of your new team is surely going to be a bit different than when you managed your local ice cream shop back in college. However, don’t get overwhelmed. You need to appear strong for your team. You are their new leader. If you are able to pull off your new position, you are going to further your career and build a team that will be able to accomplish just about anything. Here are are some tips that will help you in your new quest as an office manager.
Build leadership within your team
The key to having a team that works well together is building leadership within the team. You need to identify those in your team who are natural leaders. If they are willing to take on a leadership role, this will help you with your job. You will feel overwhelmed if you are the only person in your in your department who is a leader. Make sure that you are able to spread your responsibility out through the team.
Make sure safety is key
Your employees need to feel safe when they are coming to work. If people need to work late, onsite security is one safety measure that can give them the peace of mind they need. That onsite security usually takes the form of cameras, but it could also include keys and other passes to ensure only the correct people are entering the building. Fire safety is also something that you should go over with your office. You need to make sure that your employees know what to do during the event of an emergency.
In addition to physical safety, your employees need to know that they are safe to be themselves at work. Make sure that you create an inclusive environment where people can be their true selves at work. It has been proven that diverse teams perform better.
Create a culture of high performance
It is hard to create high performers. However, what you can do is create a culture that rewards these high achievers. Being a leader puts you in a unique position to be able to create any type of culture for your team. If you start rewarding your employees for their high performance, you will notice a significant shift in your team’s productivity.
Make everyone feel included
It is essential that everyone on your team feel included. If you have certain employees struggling to feel like they are really part of the team, work with them to help them feel more included. There are many morale-boosting and team building activities that you can do to make sure that everyone in your office is feeling included.
These are just a few of the many different tips that can help you become a great leader. Remember, it will take time for you to become as awesome in this new position as you were in your previous roles. Be patient and give yourself the time that you need to really excel!
Working from home sounds like a dream. You’re in the comfort of your own home. There’s no boss or anyone else breathing down your back. You can set your hours, and come and go as you please. You’ll need the motivation to work alone, but it’s possible. From freelance writing gigs to setting up a home-based travel business, the internet provides you with a range of opportunities for working from home. The career shift might be a little bit intimidating, but there are plenty of online resources that can help you make the leap if you’re determined to do so.
Work from Home Jobs
Thanks to technology, there are plenty of work-from-home opportunities. Graphic designers, website designers, and writers often work from home. Clerical jobs such as data entry and word processing are usually done from home as well. Some businesses even allow employees to telecommute a few days a week.
Getting Connected
You’ll need to install reliable home internet. It’s practically impossible to work from home without an internet connection. Most correspondence takes place via email, Skype and Facetime meetings are the norm, and every business needs a website. Internet downtime means wasted time and money. Make sure to install reliable home internet as soon as possible. Aside from that, you’re going to want to get connected your team, if you have one.
The Home Office
You can practically use any room for work, depending on the job. And the lack of a home office shouldn’t deter you from working from home. But having said that, it’s true that an office is still important. It provides the privacy you need and allows you to organize. You can connect these to the internet and have some other cable replacements and fixture replacement done as well. The IRS might even give you the home office deduction.
The equipment you need depends on your business. A writer would want things such as a computer and printer. Perhaps a dictionary, additional reference books, and writing utensils. Just make sure your home office is a space for work and nothing else. That will help when it’s time to file taxes.
Productivity
Staying productive is the hardest thing about working from home. There’s nothing to stop you from playing on the internet, watching that daytime talk show, or zoning out. Plus, you might have family members who think working at home means vacation. Set daily and weekly goals to stay motivated. Give yourself a little treat when you achieve your goals. As for family, you need to set boundaries. Explain that you’re working a real job, and can’t be disturbed doing work hours.
Shifting Gears
You’ll have to adjust to being your own boss. There are no co-workers, no one to joke around with, and no cubicle buddy. But you’ll learn that professionalism is still required. Just remember that you’re at work, even when it’s in your home.
Many companies are putting policies and processes in place to help with their diversity and inclusion efforts. For the most part, this is a good thing. Without deliberate effort, companies run the risk of remaining completely stagnant with no new ideas moving them forward and a workforce that looks and acts like a homogenous blog. What are the problems with that? Well, for starters, without people who can bring new and different ideas to the table organizations can’t grow and thrive. The world is changing, why isn’t your company? And don’t get me started on retention. You can hire all the diverse candidates that you want but if your company isn’t welcoming and if there isn’t diversity in your leadership team, you run the risk of having those diverse new hires turn over in droves. For me personally, it is hard to give my all to a company that makes me feel like a token hire or that doesn’t have anyone who looks like me in their C-Suite.
Some companies put different things in place to combat this. A very good friend of mine works for an organization who put a campaign in place to make sure that for every senior leadership role that opened, a diverse slate of candidates needed to be interviewed. Before the position can be filled they have to prove that they interviewed people of different genders, ethnicities, etc. When I heard about it, I thought wow, what a great idea, this initiative will definitely lead to having a more diverse leadership team. After all, they can track the numbers and see how much growth they’ve had in that area over time. Seems like the right thing to do. What could go wrong?
Turns out plenty. When a company rolls out an initiative like this and doesn’t necessarily have the buy-in from the people doing the hiring teams, the leaders and everyone in HR, it may not go well. When the company tracks the numbers, not the experience, all sorts of things can go wrong. My friend is a testament to that. They were invited to interview for a leadership role and based on the feedback that they got during the interview which was that they didn’t have enough experience for the role, they were left feeling like they were just interviewed to check the box of having a diverse slate. They aren’t the only person to have this problem. Someone else who “checks 2 boxes” as a black female, has had multiple interviews but hasn’t been promoted and she isn’t quite sure why. Another woman received feedback that the white male that was hired had more experience than her even though, based on his resume, he absolutely didn’t.
Tracking the numbers may tell you a story that isn’t true. I think that it’s time to start tracking experiences. The best-laid plans may have holes in them that you didn’t see coming. You may get the desired results, more diverse candidate slates, but at what cost? Making people feel like representatives of their gender or race instead of valued employees? My two cents, when something like this is rolled out, follow up and get real feedback on the candidate experience. As an employee going through this process, I can imagine that it would mean a lot to me to have someone reach out to me and ask about how I felt going through the interview process. Gathering this information can also help you determine the level of engagement your leaders have with the process. Doing some digging and getting feedback on the candidate experience can show you what work you may need to do to help advocate for your campaign and teach leaders in your organization the business case for diversity and inclusion.
I’m not saying that tracking numbers is a bad thing, it is important to know if you are moving the needle towards meeting your diversity goals. But you can’t just roll out a program and walk away. You have to check in, you have to have hard conversations, you have to track experiences. Your numbers may say that your initiative is a raging success but the people who are being impacted by it may have a completely different idea about how well things are going. I’m not saying that it will be easy, these may be very difficult conversations to have. You must ensure that the right people are involved or it will turn into yet another check the box activity. You need to have genuine care and concern to show genuine care and concern. A disingenuous focus group is not the way to do this. Detailed one on one conversations with candidates and hiring managers led by someone who is trained to facilitate such discussions is key. View the feedback that you receive as the gift that it is and make any necessary changes. No one wants to feel like they were the token candidate. Well, no one wants to be a token hire either, but we’ll save that for its own blog post.
Take a look at your current diversity programs, campaigns, and initiatives and ask yourself, do I know what it feels like to A-Be in the trenches and comply with these policies and programs and B-Be a diverse person on the receiving end of the policy or program? If you don’t you have some work to do. Time to start tracking experiences.
When I started my coaching program to learn how to be a coach, I was pretty sure that I already knew everything. I walked in, cocky as all get out, with my 15+ years of Human Resources experience “coaching” leaders. I could not have been more wrong. Turns out, coaching, true coaching, is completely different than feedback and has nothing to do with mentoring.
It was hard for me, I had been in Human Resources for so long, I thought for sure that I had been doing coaching all along. I’ve helped leaders with handling difficult conversations, I worked with leaders on how to help their teams work better together, I spent years and years helping leaders. But the work that I did was not coaching.
There is a lot of silence in coaching. You have to give people space to think. If you’re doing your job as a coach, you should be asking difficult questions. Questions that aren’t easy for the person that you’re coaching to answer. You aren’t giving them information, you are drawing things out of them. It seems like such a small distinction but it makes such a huge difference.
When you give someone the answers, how long do they stick? When you engage a consultant and the engagement ends, and you stumble across something that you don’t understand, you have to call the consultant back to get the answers. When you engage a coach, you can go back to the tools, exercises, and resources that the coach has equipped you with and once again draw the answers out of yourself.
How is coaching different from giving feedback or mentoring?
Why does coaching work?
It’s done in a safe space and is non-judgmental
It helps you build confidence, trust, and dependence on yourself
It creates an action plan and accountability process
According to research done by the International Coach Federation, people who have engaged a coach say that they would do it again. It can be truly transformational, I know that I was for me. As a part of my coaching training and accreditation process, I had to engage a coach and it changed my perspective greatly. I’m extremely grateful that my coach is now one of my mentors and was able to give me this advice. When a leader engages a coach, you’re not just transforming their life, you’re transforming the lives of their whole team. The team will see a difference in their leader as they develop and grow. When their leaders employ their coaching skills, their team will develop and grow, it is an exponential factor. That is why it is important to truly coach, coaching can change the world.
So, let’s get back to the original question. Why coaching? The best answer that I can give is the only answer. Because it works.
