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How To Choose The Right Premises For Your Business

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StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article |Business Premises|How To Choose The Right Premises For Your BusinessThe (growing) trend right now is for people to work from home, and for entrepreneurs to start businesses from their spare bedrooms or garages. Although this can certainly work for some, and it does have a vast number of benefits, it’s not going to be ideal for everyone, and sometimes an office space or storefront is essential to the success of the business. If you need to work away from your home either because you don’t have enough space or because the business calls for it, then you are going to need to think carefully about the premises you choose.

The issue with business premises is that they can be expensive, and this is why you need to choose the right one so that you don’t waste any money, and so that you can maximize your business as much as possible. Read on to find out more.

Location

Anyone who works in property will tell you that location is extremely important. It could be the difference between happiness and misery when it comes to your own home, and when related to a business premises, it could be the difference between success and failure.

Although you might be able to spend less in one location compared to another, there could be a big reason for this. Make sure you research all the potential areas for your business thoroughly first. Some things to consider include:

  • Footfall– will many people pass by (assuming this is important, of course)?
  • Public transport and parking – how will you or your employees get to the office, warehouse, or store? Will it be easy, or will it be a chore? If it’s the latter, you might have trouble attracting the right people to work for you.
  • Competitors – are you close to your competitors? It can often be best to be a little further away.

Price

Of course, once you have determined where you want to have your business premises, you’ll need to consider how much you can pay for it. Whether you are buying or renting, there is the monthly cost to think about, as well as a potential down payment. You will also need to factor in costs like heating, electricity, and broadband. How much is it really going to cost you each month to run your premises? Can you afford it?

In some cases, especially if the location you are looking at is a more expensive one, you will need to look at smaller properties or those that need more work than others. This can be a good thing; it allows you to put your stamp on things and design the layout just how you want it; glass polishing for the windows and floor polishing for the tiles and a fresh coat of paint could transform a run-down building into a beautiful one, for a bargain price.

Usage

Finally, it’s wise to determine what the property you are considering paying for is allowed to be used for. Some will have restrictions on them that mean, no matter how perfect they might be for you, you can’t turn them into a store, or they have to remain a store and you can’t use them for offices.

There are dozens of clauses like this, which is why when searching for a business premises it is best to use a professional; you won’t find somewhere only to be disappointed, and they will know just what will work for you.

Talent Acquisition In Crisis – How BPM Can Ease The Recruitment Process

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article |Recruitment Process|Talent Acquisition In Crisis_ How BPM Can Ease The Recruitment ProcessRecruitment has always been one of the more problematic aspects of a business. On the one hand, it’s not one of a company’s primary functions, and therefore often gets pushed to the back of the tasks priority queue. On the other hand, it is vitally important for a business’ continued existence, as both expanding and compensating for turnover necessitate the acquisition of new talent.

2020 has put recruiters in an awkward position. With so many companies going under, unemployment reaching record levels, one would expect that a recruiter’s job would be easier. After all, the larger potential applicant pool should increase the possibility to gain access to heretofore unavailable high-quality workers.

While that may be the case in theory, the situation on the ground is it’s never that simple.

Workers becoming unavailable for unknown amounts of time at a moment’s notice is an ever-present danger to companies in these times of crisis. This state of events pretty much means that companies can’t afford to halt or wind down their recruitment and networking efforts – but they now need to do that on a tighter budget because they are also likely suffering the repercussions of the current crisis.

In order to make this possible, companies need to streamline and optimize their business process as much as possible. BPM software is uniquely positioned to help companies do that in a variety of ways.

Be a Good Company

The first step toward making your recruitment easier is making sure your company is appealing to work at.

Being commercially successful is helpful in this regard, but not necessarily enough to attract employees. Suppose your success is achieved through exploitative practices or toxic company culture, turnover rates will be horrendous, and you will create a bad image of the company sooner rather than later.

Conversely, if you implement good business practices, such as openness, transparency, honesty, effective communications, responsibility, initiative, etc., you will boost both productivity and employee satisfaction.

Naturally, every individual business will have to figure out how to do this on their own and judge which good corporate practices are right for their unique situation. However, regardless of your scale or craft, employing a BPM solution can help you implement those practices, and thus improve your business and make your company a more welcoming and preferable place.

Update Your Hiring Practices

Updating your hiring practices to accommodate the new normal is a must if you want to improve your recruitment process.

The current set of crises may well require serious evaluation of your preferences regarding new employee qualifications. If you’re hiring remote workers, you might want to prioritize those with sound technical, time management, and communication skills. Furthermore, online interviews and recruitment, in general, are fast becoming the norm rather than the exception – so you may want to account for that as well.

Reimagining is already an arduous business process – but it is more manageable if you have the right communication tools to do the job. A good BPM solution does wonders when it comes to this sort of thing and can be invaluable in various other situations when business processes need to be updated or even reimagined in their entirety.

Whether you need to figure out how to reduce the number of decision makers, skip unnecessary steps or just organize communications better, a BPM solution can be a great help to you.

Look for In-house Solutions to Your Recruitment Issues

Companies need to keep in mind the fact that they don’t always need a new hire to fill out newly emergent or freshly vacated positions. If you examine your organization and business processes carefully, you may well find that a current employee is already qualified for the job and can just be re-hired at a new position.

This is especially useful if the vacant spot requires a particular set of skills that are hard to acquire, or if the new job requires the worker to hit the ground running. If you can manage to hire someone from your own company to fill that role, at least you’ll spare yourself the bother of having to train them from step one, and they’ll already be familiar with company culture and practices.

Failing that, another great way to make your recruiters’ jobs a lot easier is to get other employees involved as well. Incentivizing workers to recommend suitable candidates for vacant positions should not be underestimated because it has proved to be a viable method for finding new talent.

While a BPM software is not the only way to go about performing the previously discussed steps, it speeds up discussions and promotes transparency, which smooths out any bumps in communication. Communication, in turn, is key to putting the above mentioned efficient practices into action, which is why BPM is invaluable when it comes to recruitment.

Make Sure Everyone is on the Same Page

Devising and introducing new practices when it comes to recruitment on paper is one thing. Making sure that everyone who’s involved in the process in any capacity is committed to following those practices and up to snuff is another.

Clarifying essential details, both when it comes to policy and to logistics and organizational issues, is crucial for recruitment. Failure to do so may result in delays that discourage prospective employees and lose the company valuable human resources that could have proved invaluable for the business.

The fact is that in times of high unemployment, people looking for a job can grow desperate very quickly. Even if they aren’t strapped for cash at the moment, the overall mindset in a crisis is that you can’t afford to wait around for unreasonable amounts of time for an interview. Competition is fierce, after all.

This is why companies need to be as expeditious and decisive as possible when making assessments and scheduling interviews, which makes effective communication between HR and management crucial. Implementing a good BPM solution can go a long way towards helping you with that, as it speeds up the back and forth between departments or teams dramatically.

About the Author

Mariela Kashukeeva is a Marketing Executive at SaaS BPM, a productivity process management system solution designed to manage the recurring activities of teams and entire organizations. With over 2-year experience in SEO, she is responsible for establishing collaboration opportunities with high-authority websites and creating amazing content.

Three digital marketing techniques your company should try in 2021

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Digital Marketing|Three digital marketing techniques your company should try in 2021Every business knows that marketing is important. After all, it doesn’t matter how fantastic your product or service is if no one knows about it! Traditionally a lot of advertising was done in newspapers or magazines and even direct mail, but these days the digital sphere is undoubtedly the most powerful arena in which to do your marketing. Regardless of the size of your company and the industry in which you work, having a professional quality website and decent online presence is vital. With that in mind, here are three digital marketing techniques that your business should definitely consider trying in 2021:

Content Marketing

Content marketing is a strategy that involves creating ‘valuable, relevant and consistent’ content that is aimed at a particular audience (for example, people of a certain age or gender or who have certain interests), with the intention of attracting and retaining customers. Right away you can probably see that this covers a huge range of materials, from infographics and podcasts to books and videos.

When it comes to your business, one of the simplest ways to get started with content marketing is by having a blog. The key factor here is to make sure that the articles you write are genuinely interesting and informative – they shouldn’t feel like marketing to the reader. If you can give your audience something of value, they will keep returning to your website and be more likely to convert into paying customers.

Paid Advertising

While content marketing has the advantage of being free (aside from paying your staff to write it!), sometimes there are advantages to using paid advertising too. Some of the most common examples of paid advertising are pay per click Google ads, product listing ads, video ads during YouTube content, and Facebook ads.

The world of paid advertising can be a confusing one, so if you’re not an expert in the area, then it may well be worth working with a professional agency such as Octiv Digital. They can help you to design the best adverts, decide where and when to place them, and manage them once they’re up. This is a great way to ensure that you get the best return on the money that you spend.

Social Media Marketing

Although Facebook ads must be paid for, there are ways to use social media for free marketing. By creating tailored content for the most relevant social media websites in terms of your target audience, you can boost engagement with your company, raise awareness of your brand, promote your products or services, and ultimately increase your sales.

Social media is actually one of the best ways to showcase your brand’s unique personality, thanks to its informal nature and opportunities for making direct connections with people. These days the majority of people use social media, so it’s a key place to advertise and build relationships – particularly if your target audience is young. Take a look at your top competitors and see how they use social media if you want some ideas to get you started!

3 Types of Merger and Acquisition Transactions

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article | 3 Types of Merger and Acquisition TransactionsThere are many reasons why one company may merge with or acquire another company. Sometimes it may be out of convenience and other times it is a necessity. When two companies join it leads to more resources, expanded profit share and less competition. As Aristotle said, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” Entrepreneurs, like David Walsh Bronxville, make their living by knowing which mergers and acquisitions are going to profitable and which are not. Often, this comes down to the legal details and what type of transaction takes place.

Asset Purchase

When one business acquires another, it could be done through an asset purchase. In an asset purchase, the target business sells all of its assets to another company, known as the acquirer. These assets may include licenses, customer lists, equipment and patents. The target business retains ownership of the entity. Sometimes the target company also passes some liabilities to the acquiring company, especially if that debt is associated with an asset. Asset purchases favor the acquiring company when it comes to taxes. This is because the newly acquired assets provide tax deductions for depreciation. On the downside, contracts with employees, customers and suppliers may need to be renegotiated.

Stock Purchase

A stock purchase is another type of acquisition. With a stock purchase, the acquirer takes the target company’s assets and liabilities by buying its stock. The target company then dissolves. Contracts typically transfer to the acquiring business without renegotiating, and the assets transfer without having to pay for retitling. This type of acquisition is more straightforward. There is less to negotiate, making the purchase much simpler. The main disadvantage comes with the transferred liabilities. Separate agreements need to be negotiated if the acquirer doesn’t want the liabilities. Also, the acquirer doesn’t receive tax benefits from those assets.

Merger

Mergers are a little more complex than acquisitions. This is when two companies completely combine, along with all the assets and liabilities of both companies. In this case, the stocks for both companies are surrendered. The new business entity is issued its own stocks. A merger is usually thought of as friendly, while an acquisition can be hostile. Although mergers sometimes lead to hostile work environments. The management structure changes and many departments need to be blended, which often leads to layoffs. Restructuring is necessary so that operating costs are not doubled. Successful mergers benefit both contributing companies and are usually done between similar size businesses.

How To Start Your Own Company

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StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article |Start your own company|How To Start Your Own CompanyAre you an employee? If not, no worries. I am just going to put an example that will immensely help you understand the significance and uncertainty of starting a new company. Consider an employee who is well-recognized(of course due to his performance), highly-benefited, and well-settled with an XYZ company, but due to certain issues, he has to find another company. He will only be hoping if the new company has the same atmosphere and working culture.

Isn’t the above scenario related to a businessman/businesswoman finding a stage to put their business into the market? If not for the idea, the entrepreneur would be more worried about getting a predictive reach, perfect location for sufficing the demands, and the list is endless. But perfect planning never goes vacant. So let’s begin the checklist of how to start a company.

Steps To A Perfect Start Of Your Company

Out of every ongoing managerial, industrial or automatic process in the surrounding, hardly some would be working without any planned layout. Similarly, before starting a company, here are a few steps which can help you earn good fame in society.

1. Analyze the market demands for your product

Until you have an idea that assists the society or a section of the society, you cannot say or analyze its demand, a good location, probable customers to attract, how to innovate it, and reduce the price compared to the competitors.

Start with business ideas eradicating the common problems with advanced technologies that also serve as the future need of the common people globally, if possible. You can also work on already implemented solutions but can be designed better and economically. You might have seen some artsy people jumping into some related business, which is wonderful if you have some hobby.

According to Forbes, the definition of a successful startup goes like this: their product meets the needs of the society, their growth-rate is faster, they ignore nothing, and they recover from every hard-fall. (source)

2. Invest in your business

Even without required funding, appropriate investment, and all hard work, the business cannot reach the heights you desired. Even if you have a small investment to make, go for it. You can explore other options like a partnership, business grants, third-party investors, crowdfunding, loans, etc.

People say money can buy you anything, but that’s not 100% true for business as it requires an equal amount of dedication and hard work all the time.

3. Search the perfect location

The location also has quite an impact on the business. The location you choose is based on the target customers, company funding, partners, and other required preferences. Additionally, an owner should also consider the cost and restrictions to the business.

The location also becomes a preference if the business generally comprises selling offline as in retail stores.

4. Design your business structure

Now that you have picked up your idea and location, the next important consideration is to define how your business would function, the workflow of all the processes, product release and update process, marketing and sales, product financing, employee payroll, and HRMS process.

The business structure should aim at the organizational goals, vision, and mission that your organization needs. This also helps you in setting employee goals and OKR to measure performance.

Think about how to serve your customers and have a supportive query resolution workflow because customers are the main strength of your business to keep it on the right track. Analyze the market demands of the product to stay ahead in the competitive world by delivering the perfect required solution or service.

5. A name that reflects

Business/product name is the main aspect to be finalized as it is the first entity of your organization that will be highlighted in the market.

The name you choose should reflect what you want to deliver, should be simple and catchy for the customers to remember, and should be unique in the history of the trademark. You can refer some names to your co-founders, investors, and prospective customers. This also shows the culture and social front of your organization.

Now that you’ve come up with the name, register it legally according to your business type.

6. Work on financial setup and accounting

Whatever business type you set, whether e-commerce, mobile application, online retailers, etc., it is essential to deal with finances and accounting. Finances include payroll to the employees, deals with the customers, and partnerships for which bookkeeping is the primary for further accounting purposes.

Start from choosing a bank account, a promising one probably. You can also create employees’ bank accounts in the same bank for ease of process in salary transfer.

And yes, don’t forget to verify the statutory compliances at all stages to avoid the evasion of penalties and risks. Better consult a professional advisor for all your liabilities stated under the government rules.

7. Build your product website

In the modern world, websites, social media, and applications are mostly in use for searching and analyzing as per the needs. Listing your contact details and other forms can help customers reach you quickly. Providing an interactive website and social networking page can help customers get the product or service knowledge from it.

Purchase a personalized domain, theme, plug-ins, WordPress and set up your website using simple but attractive designs and content. And don’t forget to apply digital marketing techniques to gain online reach and google reviews.

For instance, founded in 2008, Zomato has become one of the largest food aggregators fulfilling their mission of “better food for more people” till date. An interactive website, social media pages, Instagram trends are somethings that people admire.

Above mentioned bullets may not be the only steps to start a company, but these are the main ones that you should look after.

In a nutshell

Starting a new business can be overwhelming and tricky until and unless you have proper planning at hand. Even if you are building the organization single-handedly, going the correct path and following the rules can help you cross the hardest difficulties easily. And don’t take forever to finalize your decisions, think and consult for better and start working towards the goal.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Shubham JoshiShubham Joshi is an experienced content marketer at FactoHR. Passionate about training and development programs, he is always ready to help colleagues and customers by representing concrete ideas and methodology. Beyond work, he is well-equipped with problem-solving abilities.