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Taking Inspiration From Google For Your Business Premises

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Taking Inspiration From Google For Your Business Premises

Renowned for creating incredible workspaces that aim to increase productivity in their staff, Google has 70 offices in 40 countries, each of them carefully designed to be an appealing and inspirational place to work. Here are just a few of the most exciting and design-led Google offices around the world.

Google Zurich, Switzerland

Step inside Google’s European engineering HQ, and you’d be forgiven for assuming you were atop an Alpine ski resort. In fact, you’re in one of the company’s many zoned conference areas, which encompass a snowy “North Pole”, complete with penguins, an aquarium chill-out zone, and swing chairs for (literally!) hanging out while you work.

Google Tel Aviv, Israel

Another innovative Camenzind Evolution design that can inspire your business, this sales and engineering hub sits in a prime spot in Israel’s coolest city, focusing on Google’s EMEA activities. The office has themed designs across its seven floors. Each reflects an authentic Israeli scene; hence an in-house orange grove tipping a wink to one of Israel’s most famous exports, corridors mocked-up to look like heritage cobbled streets (complete with window-boxes bursting with colourful blooms) and even a tractor-turned-lounge to complete the weird and wonderful décor.

Google London, United Kingdom

The Central St. Giles Building in Covent Garden is situated in the heart of London’s theatreland, playing host to Google’s London “Super HQ” within an unmistakably British space. Designed by British firm Penson, the patriotic theme starts from the Union Jack-swathed reception and continues on throughout the building with Chesterfield-buttoned velour lounge seating in British Racing Green, reminiscent of a vintage town hall, and kitschy chintz wallpaper and wing-back armchairs suggestive of a retro “Granny Flat”. This quirky style of interior design celebrates all things London with tongue firmly in cheek.

Google Amsterdam, Netherlands

Finally, engaging local design firm D/DOCK to refurbish its Amsterdam offices, Google’s newly refreshed reopened in January 2014. With eco credentials just as impressive as the design focus, this makeover adhered strictly to an approved materials list that minimised toxins, while maximising efficiency in power and water consumption. You can easily take inspiration from this, creating an industrial environment by engaging a pallet supply company and re-using materials and equipment in order to create an office space that inspires and amazes all at once. The wellbeing of the staff was also a major driver, with all employees afforded a 180° view across Amsterdam from the multitude of windows that line the offices. Thoughtful decorative touches appear everywhere, with bikes featuring heavily in the design (a nod to Amsterdam’s pedal-power transport culture), plus cute and comfortable 1960s caravans, complete with deckchairs and faux grass, repurposed as enticing meeting rooms for staff to enjoy.

As you can see, Google has gone a long way to ensure their office spaces are inspirational and truly incredible. You can take this approach with your business premises, irrespective of whether you have a number of offices or you own a warehouse. You can still make the place exciting while productive and adhering to safety regulations.

5 Steps for Starting a Successful Manufacturing Business

StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article | 5 Steps for Starting a Successful Manufacturing BusinessStarting a new manufacturing business can be a daunting prospect, but if you pull it off, there can be great rewards.

One of the most important things is that you don’t rush into it without being ready, and this means careful planning is needed. These five steps for starting a successful manufacturing business can help you on your way.

1. Planning

You can’t just go into business and hope things will fall into place, because they invariably won’t. Instead, you’ve got to plan your approach in as much detail as possible.

Some of the first things you need to think about are how you’re going to enter the market, where your competitive edge lies, and how you’re going to finance the venture. There are a lot of start-up costs associated with manufacturing, so you may have to come up with some innovative ways of financing your company.

2. Location

Where you locate your factory is going to play a big role in your business’s success.

Logistics play a huge part in manufacturing, and you’re going to want to minimize these costs as much as possible. One of the ways you can do this is by finding a factory in a location with excellent transport links.

Great transport links also make it easier for customers to get to you and your staff to get to and from work.

3. Personnel

When you’re starting a new venture, it’s vital you get the right people in to help you out. This is a critical time for your company, so you want to be able to rely on competent staff to help carry out your vision.

If you hire well and build a good, solid team, you start to breed a culture that will define your business for the years to come, but if you get your hiring wrong, it can lead to bad habits and poor-quality work.

The hiring process is crucial, and you need to be getting the right people in, something that has served this dowel pin manufacturer well.

4. Technology

You can only get the best out of people if you give them the right tools to do their job.

Investing in technology is expensive, but if you’re investing in the right technology, it’s going to make a huge difference to your efficiency and make your company more profitable.

It might mean a big upfront investment, but technology can make all the difference in your manufacturing business’s success.

5. Suppliers

We’re always talking about customers and rightly so: they’re the ones that help pay the bills. That said, suppliers play a big role as well.

If you can start to build good relationships with your suppliers right from the very start, they can stand you in good stead for many years. Your suppliers are one of the very first cogs in the entire manufacturing process, so it’s vital you can rely on them.

Really do your research and due diligence on suppliers and try to cultivate strong relationships.

5 Ways Small Business Can Cut their Shipping Expenses

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | 5 Ways Small Business Can Cut their Shipping ExpensesShipping is a major expense for many small businesses. Yet, you can’t keep on expecting your customers to pay, and there’s a point when you’ll have to reduce costs in order to stay competitive. Thankfully, there are lots of things that you can do to keep these costs under control. Sometimes, all you have to do is make some minor adjustments, or look at ways that you can streamline your processes. Let’s take a look at a few ways small businesses can cut their shipping expenses.

Look at Shipping Insurance Software

One thing you should do is automate your shipments, insurance process, and tracking. Find a shipping insurance software company that offers third party insurance, and will allow you to save money in the process. Not only will you be able to find insurance for less, but you will also be able to get insurance on items that other carriers usually won’t offer. Find a tool that will allow you to manage all of your packages in one place, file claims, and get automated notifications about things like risk zones among other things.

Have Things Shipped through Your Shipping Account Number

A lot of businesses will have a tendency to have inventory shipped directly to them and get billed, but a better option would be to ask them to ship through your account number. Not only will it increase your volume, which translates to lower costs, but you also won’t have to deal with suppliers padding their shipping fees.

Use Your Carrier’s Packaging

Another thing you should do is use any packaging your carrier is providing instead of your own. If your packaging does not meet the size regulations of carriers like FedEx or UPS, you might have to deal with “dimensional fees”. Doing something as simple as putting small boxes in a FedEx envelope could save you tons of money.

Look at Regional Carriers

You should also consider working with regional carriers as well. Many of these carriers do as great of a job as national carriers like UPS but at a fraction of the cost. Some examples of great local companies include Lone Star in the state of Texas, Spee Dee in the Midwest, and OnTrac on the west coast.

Look for Association Discount

If you aren’t a member of a professional association in your industry, we suggest you start looking immediately. If you are already, then you should check to see if you can get a discount. You’d be surprised at how much you could end up saving. As a matter of fact, you could save up to 50% on shipping fees if you join the right organization. Not only will joining an association allow you to save on costs, but you’ll be able to get tons of visibility through directories and discounts on all sorts of things.

Conclusion

These are just some of the ways your business could make significant savings on shipping costs. This could have a big difference on your margins and allow you to offer better shipping terms to your clientele.

Energy Saving Tips | How to Reduce Bills

StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article | Energy Saving Tips | How to Reduce Bills

A recent study shows that energy usage in the United States is doubling every 20 years. If you are like most homeowners, reducing the amount of energy your home consumes is something you are passionate about. Luckily, there are a number of things you can do to conserve energy and save money.

However, implementing the changes needed to reduce home energy use can be difficult. In this article, we will discuss some methods you can use to conserve energy and save money.

Make Sure You Are Getting the Best Energy Rates

One of the main things you need to focus on when trying to reduce monthly energy costs is getting the best rate. In states like Texas, the energy sector has been deregulated. This means that the energy providers in this state are competing with each other for business. This level of competition can help you get cheaper electricity rates.

By taking the time to compare the various rates being offered by providers in your area, you can get a much better deal. Ignoring the need for this type of research may result in you paying too much for your home energy needs.

Check Your HVAC Air Ducts

Finding sources of home energy waste will usually require you to perform an audit. Inspecting the various parts of your home can help you see where problems exist. During this audit, you need to pay close attention to the condition of your HVAC air ducts. If these ducts are filled with dust and dirt, it will be hard for air to pass through them.

The longer this problem is left in place, the harder your HVAC unit will have to work. Not only will this result in higher than normal energy bills, it can also lead to the unit being damaged. Hiring professionals to clean your ducts is a great way to keep your HVAC system efficient and reliable.

Control the Amount of Natural Light Entering Your Home

During the summer months, temperatures inside of your home can get pretty hot. As a homeowner, it is your job to find ways to reduce the amount of heat that enters your residence. If you leave your blinds open or have curtains made from sheer material on your windows, a lot of natural light can enter your residence.

The more natural light you have entering your home, the higher the temperature will get. Rather than putting your HVAC unit in a bind, you need to work on controlling the amount of light entering your home. The best way to do this is by investing in blackout curtains. The money paid for these new curtains will be worth it considering the energy they can help you conserve. Just be sure to find blinds suited to your windows, such as blinds for large windows for instance.

Invest in Solar Energy Solutions

If you are trying to make your home more environmentally friendly, investing in solar energy solutions is a great option. With the addition of things like solar panels and solar-powered water heaters, you can save money and reduce your dependence on fossil fuel-based energy. Most homeowners fail to realize just how much energy their electric water heater wastes. With the addition of a solar-powered water heater, you can get the consistent supply of hot water you need without relying on fossil fuels.

Solar panels are also a great addition to your home. Allowing professionals to install these panels will allow you to avoid mistakes.

It’s Time to Take Action

Using any of the suggestions in this article can help you save a lot of money and energy. With the help of professionals, making these energy-efficient changes will be easy.

How To Start A Successful Business In A Niche Market

A lot of businesses now are within a niche area. There are plenty of ways to be successful still. The industry of plumbing for example, is a highly skilled area that will take you some additional steps before you can really see the business flourish. This is because it is a skilled job, as many niche industries are, such as building, architecture, medical equipment manufacturing, car manufacturing and they require a lot of hands on work.

Here are the first fundamental steps for starting in a niche market:

  1. Know your niche.
  2. Get training and experience – this includes knowing about plumbing as well as business and also the implications of hiring staff and their wages, insurance.
  3. Take care of the legalities with the necessary insurance needed and all the important information relating to your businesses’ tax.
  4. Make a business plan and look at what you would like to achieve in the first year or two of business.
  5. Have a unique logo and create a business website to help drive sales – you should look at good web design to ensure that your business is being advertised in the right way.
  6. Generate leads and be a good salesperson.
  7. Have a license – this may vary from state to state, but often you’ll find that being a trade qualified plumber isn’t enough to obtain your licence. You may also need to prove you are capable in business, whether that is exams or additional skill sets that you can prove on paper and in practice.

StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article | How To Start A Successful Business In A Niche Market

Look At What You Need

If you are looking at the world of plumbing for example, you are going to need to look at a big supply of tools and equipment. With wholesale plumbing supplies, you can be sure that your business is well equipped to deal with all types of plumbing situations and that you can do your job well with good quality supplies. You want to ensure that you have reliable equipment and tools that will serve you well. You want to keep your customers happy with being able to carry out the work effectively and efficiently without any problems. This will keep your customers coming back time after time. This depends on how well you do the job, your expertise and the staff that you employ.

Another important thing to remember is that when you are working as a business, you will need a team of people behind you, so employing the right people is vital. You need friendly and reliable team members who will be qualified for the job and be able to prove their skills as well as offering a personable attitude to customers. Without this, your business is dead in the water. You must be able to look at the positives of business too, because you will need a lot of focus and determination. Look at the competition. What companies are you currently competing with before you start your business? What are they doing differently to you and how can you outsmart them and do better?

Starting any business is an exciting prospect but there are some additional things to consider in the plumbing industry. Start small, know your craft and see the benefits.