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Dealing with Change as Your Company Grows

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While most entrepreneurs hope their fledgeling business will one day grow into a multi-national corporation, making the transition from being the head of a small, tightly-knit team to overseeing a large number of employees working across a range of departments can often present a host of unexpected challenges. The following tips will ensure you are ready to pay the price of success.

Expect conflict

Just because you have hired the best possible people for every leadership role in your company doesn’t mean they are all going to get along all the time. As the departments become larger and more focused on their individual areas, there is an increased chance some of they may end up at odds. Perhaps the marketing team is pushing for one set of goals while the sales team wants to go another way. Perhaps the technology team want to spend more time developing an upgrade to your product, but the finance team insist the money is better spent elsewhere.

You may have once been solely responsible for all such decisions, but you now need to adjust your leadership style to ensure that everyone from all the key areas of your business has a voice and is able to participate in company decisions. Foster an atmosphere of trust between the key personnel of the leadership team so they are more willing to work together to achieve whatever is best for the company.

Add by subtracting

As your company grows, many of the systems and procedures you had in place in the early days will no longer be effective and may even begin holding you back. Focus on finding new strategies to maintain and accelerate growth. For example, one senior VP of HR at Adobe eliminated the need for employees to produce performance reports, allowing them to devote their time to something more productive instead.

You should also look for ways to replace any element of your business that isn’t working as well as it should. At Twitter, team members were made to hand over their phones during meetings, and the meetings became far shorter and far more effective as a result.

Upgrade your software and systems

When the time comes to invest in specialist software for your business, ensure your system is modular so you can simply add to it, rather than having to start over from scratch. Although such a system may initially cost more, you’ll make huge savings in the long run, both in monetary terms and in terms of the time you save by not having to retrain staff.

In the very early days of your enterprise, especially one in the manufacturing sector, you are likely to have only a few facilities and a small number of maintenance workers and managers. Once your company begins growing and starts to purchase or lease a number of large, expensive pieces of manufacturing equipment, you’ll need to invest in enterprise asset management software to provide a clear, big-picture view of the operation.

Such software will give you the ability to compare asset performance and the relative costs of different facilities while also keeping tabs on regulatory compliance, both across facilities, departments and locations, and without it, your business will not be able to continue to succeed.

Investing in Mortgage Foreclosures

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Foreclosure is a process that enables a lender to recover the amount owed on a loan defaulted by a borrower. This is achieved through selling or repossession of the property securing the loan. The foreclosure process begins when the lender files a public default notice, called a Notice of Default or Lis Pendens after a borrower defaults on loan payments. Foreclosure investment is a strategy that requires a level diligence. For investors to succeed in the foreclosure (FCL) market, they should study over time the strategies and tactics adopted by other successful investors. They allocate their time and resources into making appropriate market contacts in order to create a competitive advantage over the myriad of other market participants. FCL investment has big potential but requires real effort before cashing in. investors, therefore, require focus, diligence and careful research into the local property, economic and demographic trends. Majority of foreclosure buyers go to the auction with the hope of creating profit between the auction price and the property’s intrinsic value. However, the majority of them lack the real knowledge of the investment and lack risk mitigation strategies.

Investment Strategies

Great investors in real property investment always have a specific strategy that entails the goals and the process of acquiring the property, holding the investment and disposing of the investment. The investment strategy is critical in the foreclosure market. An investor should determine whether the foreclosure is as a result of some unique circumstance or a trend affecting the market in which the property is located. In addition, to be put into consideration is the probability for infrastructure development, such as roads, schools and community projects, which will make an area more desirable and increase the value of properties within it.

Acquisition Strategies

Most investors scour publications that list assets going to auction. This is done with the aim of corresponding with owners to make known their intent to purchase the property before it goes on the auction block. Finding alternative ways to secure distressed properties will greatly improve one’s chances of closing as well as provide an opportunity to fully understand and analyse the property before taking the title. An investor may also purchase the distressed loans at a discount from the lenders such as mortgage rates bb&t. Banks and other lending institutions often sell non-performing loans at a significant discount to par because they avoid taking on real estate owned properties. Investors are more flexible than the lenders in working out a non-performing loan, and most commonly convert it back into a performing loan that will command a much higher return.

Holding Period and Exit Strategies

Investors should consider creating value through redevelopment. This helps provide a rationale for the higher resale price reducing the risk of long marketing periods. However, improvements should be within the pricing of neighbouring properties. Investors should have an exit strategy, setting time limits within which to sell the property and then discounting the price until the property sells in order to avoid excess carrying costs.

Making Smart Investments in The Market

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Making money in the stock market is always attractive and in fact, several people are lured by big money claims that are most often advertised. Is there any truth to it? Is it possible to make obscene amounts of money by investing small investments into the money market? While it is not entirely true, adequate research and an in-depth understanding of the markets can push you in the right direction. With time and practice, you can definitely begin to understand the stocks that will repay your money plus an additional amount of the risk. There are a few guidelines one should follow especially if you are new to the market and do not wish to get burnt!

Mob Mentality: Everyone has a different understanding of the market. Further, the risk is a personal thing and therefore the amount of risk you may be willing to take will not be the same as the other person. So, the first rule of thumb when you begin investing is to do your own research. Never follow free advice thrown in by people around you. There are several authentic websites such as prodigiousnews.com which provide valuable and important information about companies and their performance in the markets. Make sure you read up enough about a company before you decide to invest your money in it.

Understanding the Industry: It’s a well-known fact around investing circles, that you never should put your money in a business or industry that you are unfamiliar with. Understanding an industry and how it works will help you to make the right decision about when to invest and when to exit the stock. Further, news in the industry, around the world can affect the stock and its price. Following such news and trends will help you to make money or save depending on the kind of news you are dealing with. With technological advances, there are several portals online now that make such information available as soon as it becomes known. Signing up on such portals, using your smartphone to keep tabs on related information and ensuring you are following your investments will help you to monitor your finds effectively.

Discipline: It is critical to have a disciplined approach to investing in the stock markets. Not only will you limit your losses, but by doing so, your chances of making money in the market doubles up. It is important that you do the right research, invest systematically in the right shares and be patient with your investments. It is important to have a long-term view which will allow your investments to grow and give you the returns. A huge part of seeing gains in the market is knowing when to exit and most people lose their money thanks to greed and fear. It is important not to be swayed by the sentiments in the market.

Making smart investments is all about having the right approach and a perfect understanding of your risk capacity.

How to Get Your Business Noticed

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Whether you are just starting out in business, or have been running your own firm for the past decade, it can be difficult to get your business noticed in today’s increasingly competitive world. While you might previously have been the market leader in your field, any reputation or titles that you have earned can be taken away in a heartbeat, if a competitor is able to provide the same services for a quarter of your prices. Costs aside, a poor marketing strategy or failure to embrace change could be seriously impacting how your business is perceived. Just as large corporations such as Apple, Pepsi and Mercedes have had to adapt and change their business strategies over time, then your business will also need to consider new ways if you want to ensure that you retain your loyal customer base and continue to build upon your reputation.

Social media

You might already be using social media to some extent, but are you using it effectively? Anyone can open a Twitter account or a Facebook page, but failure to keep it updated or respond to customers’ questions or complaints will cost you dearly. In today’s digital world, social media can make or break your company in an instant, so it’s essential that you check your social channels on a regular basis. While not all companies can afford to have a dedicated resource to do this, with some common sense and careful planning you can ensure that you are using social well. First, draw up some stock responses that can be used in the case that you do acquire a troll or negative product feedback. Next, consider using tools such as Hootsuite to automatically schedule posts, no matter the time of day. Finally, keep it fun and light – no one likes to read lengthy copy. Injecting some humor into your social media will get your noticed, and you may even attract new followers too.

Branding

You might have had the same branding or company logo for the past five years, so why not consider injecting it with a new lease of life? Companies such as SmashBrand can help review your design, and suggest potential new ideas that will help your firm stand out from the crowd. Sure, you might love your branding but do your customers? If you want to make sure that you continue to grow and expand your client base, then out dated imagery could be cramping your style.

Check out the competition

Ok, it might sound a bit odd, but do make sure that you check out what your competition is doing – and be sure that you do it better. Have they launched a new company website? Are they experimenting with new branding or marketing strategies? If they are upping the ante, then this is a sign that you should be too. So, make sure that you don’t get left behind, and be sure that you use your competitors to help spur you on.

From changing your branding to updating your social media channels, make sure that you give your business a makeover if you want to get noticed.

4 areas of your business that you can improve

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As an entrepreneur, you should always be on the lookout for new ways to push yourself. This is the only way that you, and your business, will be able to thrive in a competitive market. You need to make sure that you are constantly evaluating your options and evolving your entrepreneurial model. If you are searching for inspiration, use this guide as inspiration. Below are four areas of your business that you can improve.

Your online profile

In this digital age, it is vital that you invest heavily in your online profile. Your company should have its own social media sites, with professional profiles. It should also have an extremely attractive and user-friendly website. However, it is not enough to simply create an online profile. You also need to take a proactive approach to getting people to engage with your business. That is why you should turn to Fusion SEO. Their services will help you to draw in a wider audience and to secure more sales. They will also provide you with the tools that you need in order to stand out from your competitors.

Your customer feedback

In the world of business, there is always more that you could be doing in order to improve your levels of customer service. This is especially true when it comes to customer feedback. Understanding the customer experience is the only way that you are going to establish an impressive reputation and secure repeat sales. That is why you need to think carefully about how you are engaging with your customers and responding to their opinions. You could set up anonymous surveys, a comment section on your website, and an online help desk. You could also pose as a customer and put your employees to the test.

Your employee experience

If you are going to run a successful business, you will need to get your employees onside. Ideally, your team should be filled to the brim with loyal, hard-working, and ambitious individuals. This will be much easier to achieve if you are able to offer your staff a pleasant working environment. You also need to think carefully about your pay packages, the extra perks that you can offer, and the opportunities for advancement that are available at your company.

Your reputation

If you are determined to achieve success, you will need to work hard to improve the reputation of your business. You can do this by helping out in your local community, donating to good causes, and setting up a successful internship programme. You could also enter your company into plenty of competitions and do everything in your power to secure a prize. This will help you to stand out from your industry peers when you are appealing to your target audience. It will also help you to create an ambitious working environment, where all of your employees are encouraged to reach their full potential. Ultimately, you want to create a business that you can truly be proud of.