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How to Take Control of Your Career

StrategyDriven Professional Development Article |Take control of your career|How to Take Control of Your CareerLife is busy, and the months and years can fly by in what seems like the blink of an eye. With time passing so quickly, many people find themselves stuck in the same job, following the same routine each day without even realizing it. So, when they suddenly notice they have been doing the same job for years and every day feels like groundhog day, it can be an essential wake-up call. If you feel like you have been drifting through life and your role is no longer fulfilling, you may be ready to make a change and to take back control.

Realizing your career is not progressing in the way you hoped can be frustrating. But recognizing that something needs to change is the best way to get your job back on track. Putting yourself back in the driving seat and regaining control of your career can benefit every part of your life. Once you get started and begin taking control of your job, you will soon regain your enthusiasm.

Time to Change?

If you have been unhappy with your job for a while, you will need to decide whether it is worth persevering and sticking with it for the long term or whether you need to try something new. Making the break and moving on to a new role can be scary and unsettling, but doing so can bring a renewed sense of purpose into your life.

If you decide to stay with your current employer, you may want to explore the different career options available in the company. Taking on a new role in the same organization is an excellent way to revive your interest in your career and do a job you love. Alternatively, you may decide that you have been following a career path that is not right for you. If this is the case, you may want to focus your attention on thinking about the type of job you would like and how you will make that happen. It is never too late to change your career, so if there is a job you would rather do, why not find out more about it and make it happen?

Reach Out For Guidance

Whether you are just starting your career or you are a seasoned employee, seeking guidance from others is always helpful. Discussing your options with other people can be a valuable way to gain a fresh perspective on your career and will help you make an informed decision on your plans for the future. Talking through your options with your boss is helpful, but seeking a mentor to guide you is likely to be even more useful.

Having a mentor is an excellent way to get your career moving in the right direction. A mentor will help you map out your plans and be by your side to support you while you put them into action. When you choose to work with a mentor, you can benefit from someone else’s experience and skills, which can be helpful when you are trying to enhance your career. Your mentor will also assist you in developing your interview skills to help you secure a new position. While having a mentor can provide many benefits, you will only enjoy these benefits if you find the right mentor.

Selecting a mentor that is not right for you can be a negative experience. So, choosing your mentor carefully is essential. It is helpful to use a Mentoring Platform to help you connect with a wide choice of mentors so you can select someone that best matches your needs.

Make a Plan for Success

Achieving career success means different things to different people. For some, career success means reaching a high-ranking position in their organization, and for others achieving success means securing a six-figure salary. Deciding what your idea of career success looks like is the first step toward making it happen.

Understanding what you want to achieve from your career is an excellent starting point, but knowing how you will make it a reality requires further thought. One way to take ownership of your career plan is to set yourself goals. Setting yourself SMART goals is an excellent way to propel your career forwards. Making a plan for success and then breaking it down into smaller goals will make your career progression so much more manageable. Mapping out a route towards success in this way will help prevent you from becoming overwhelmed and make it easier to achieve the successful outcome you are aiming towards.

Forge Connections

Making connections and getting yourself noticed is a great way to open yourself up to a whole range of new opportunities. Through networking, you may discover an entire range of career options you have not previously considered, and you may even find yourself offered a new role. There are several ways that you can forge connections to benefit your career. Networking is one of the most popular methods of meeting like-minded people and building up your contacts. Looking out for networking groups in your area and joining them will put you in touch with a wide range of connections that you would not have met otherwise.

Keep Monitoring Your Progress

Taking control of your career and achieving your full potential at work is not easy. Maintaining constant progress and pushing yourself forward is challenging, and at times, you may feel your motivation is slipping. To keep your motivation levels high and to sustain your focus, you need to monitor your progress along the way. Celebrating every small success and acknowledging how far you have come on your journey is an excellent way to keep yourself moving in the right direction.

Checking back in with your goals regularly to ensure you are not venturing off track will help you stay in control of your career. With plenty of focused effort and lots of tenacity, you will not only be able to take control of your career but develop it way beyond your expectations.

How To Start A Coffee Shop Business

StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article |Start a Coffee Shop|How To Start A Coffee Shop BusinessMany people try and fail to make a new cafe work. It takes time and patience and above all quality and location. It is a shame that so many fail. There are many reasons for this: a lack of technical and business knowledge, the jungle of authorities disregarded, the café does not generate enough profit quickly enough, and much more. So let’s take a deeper look into how you can potentially make this work as a business idea.

Tip 1: Have Support From Your Family and Partner

A successful start-up is not possible without family and friends. That doesn’t mean that everyone has to stand in the shop or bake cakes on Sundays. But moral support and protection are very important.

  • What is your partner saying? Is he/she behind your plan or not?
  • Does your family understand and support you?
  • Are your friends enthusiastic about your idea too?

It is important that your immediate environment supports your decision. Because in the first three years you will have little time for your loved ones. They have to endure a lot! Your worries, your stress and even your failure. However they also will revel in your success.

Tip 2: Get a Grip on the Jungle of Authorities

A specialty in the food sector is the care with which – despite all the passion – you absolutely have to proceed. There are many requirements, permits and regulations that you have to comply with. The time required for all of these prerequisites should not be underestimated.

Certain hygiene and catering training can last upto three years. It is possible to shorten it under certain conditions. However, it can be a high investment of time and money but will certainly serve you well. Do things by the book and get legal proceedings in order.

Tip 3: Start Researching and Planning in Good Time

Create a timeline – what are the first steps? Who does what with whom? Opening a café or restaurant is complex – a real monster project. There is a lot to consider, especially if you are not alone in the shop later. So structure your thoughts early on with the timeline. The period includes the four to six months before the opening, the opening day and, depending on the concept, several months after the opening.

  • Writing down the countdown: what will be important when?
  • Planning is good. Verification is better. Now it is important to compare the plan with reality in order to minimize errors.
  • Best practices: Talk to 3-5 restaurateurs who have already had an opening behind them. Here you will get a lot of valuable tips for improvement.
  • What will you serve? What will you offer?
  • Will you sell other items. Coffee granules in packets, cakes to take home?

Tip 4: Create a Workable Concept With a Business Plan

The business plan depicts your concept in text and numbers. To get to your concept and figures, you can ask about “best practices” from founders with a similar gastro concept.
You can ask, for example:

  • What was the decisive factor for your success?
  • If you founded a company again today, what would you do differently today?
  • What are your three tips for founders in this area?
  • And then you build your learnings into your business.

Your business plan must include a little bit of everything. Including your hopes and dreams for the business. Will you branch out and sell other things, as previously mentioned? Coffee shops are forever evolving and so is the market. You should look at coffee packaging trends for example.

Tip 5: Be Brave, Confident and Stick With It

Have a lot of courage! Believe in yourself and your idea, because you need that. Many will say without being asked: The concept does not work anyway, your idea is not sustainable etc. Everyone has these doubts, and you are not alone. Business is a scary concept, yet achievable if marketed right and believed in. Treat it with passion and TLC.
Here are a few encouraging tips:

  • Look for supporters in your private environment who think you and your idea are great. They carry you through difficult times too.
  • Internalize your business idea. This is how you shine and ignite your passion in others too
  • Find a mentor
  • Hold on to your business dream

Stay tuned and dare to go through with it instead of listening too much to all the people who know everything better and better and say: It will never work. People don’t always know best and many may be trying to put you down. Eliminate those people from your business journey, because negativity is never good. In business, you have to be smart, positive and realistic, but also passionate.

Tip 6: Have Enough Cash When You Start

Your financing is in place. You order your coffee machine and the kitchen equipment. The electricians are coming in to fit all the wiring and lighting. And then your account is empty. The loan approved by the bank has not yet been paid out. If you do not have equity as cash you will be in trouble, you will not be able to keep to the schedule, etc. That will be really expensive and you must have the cash to be able to keep the business flowing over day to day. If the final financing has already been secured, short-term bridging finance can be the solution. This can be in the following ways:

  • Borrow in a private environment – family, friends & fools
  • Taking out personal loans via online platforms
  • Borrow via your bank or a business loan

A choice of location crucial for your success

An ideal location is an easily accessible place, which is in the roaming area of ??customers, especially in the morning. Before committing to signing a lease, spend time on site and look at who passes by and when. This will help you determine whether there are enough potential customers. And also whether the establishment is visible and how the competition is performing.

Use of Facebook and other social networks to market

Facebook is the dominant social network in the world. Opening a “fans” page for your business (or the site itself), can be a great move to attract potential Facebook surfers, and make them follow any content posted on this fan channel – unique promotions for page fans, announcements about new products, service added or discontinued and the like.

This is actually an online “customer club” , which allows you to keep in touch with the customer at any time. In the news items that appear on the Facebook page, it is possible and desirable to include links to your website. When surfers click on a status, they will be taken to the site to continue reading it. In this way you will also gain visits to the site itself, and at the same time the surfers will also be more accessible to purchase what you offer. Beyond that, Facebook – like Google – also allows you to advertise for a fee in a variety of forms: regular sponsored ads, sponsored stories (influenced by what happens on Facebook pages for businesses) and more. The pay per click is lower than in Google AdWords, making Facebook the second largest advertising platform after Google. Inanimate moves can also be made through Google’s social network (Google Plus) and even via Twitter, as organic marketing channels. Get to know all the subtleties that result from the abundance of channels available for use, and combine it all into one big marketing framework that takes into account your needs and those of the business.

How to Give Your Career the Best Start

StrategyDriven Professional Development Article |Invest in your career|How to Give Your Career the Best StartCongratulations on deciding to invest in your career. It takes a lot of courage and dedication to make this significant decision. The journey may seem long, but you will be glad that you did it when all is said and done.

To get the best start possible, there are some things you need to do: have an end goal, find a mentor, invest in short courses, research continuously, attend conferences and events, and have patience. Dive in to have a better insight.

Have an End Goal

The first thing to do is create an end goal. This can be a national award, or it could mean becoming the youngest person in your company’s history to reach a particular position. Whatever you want from your career, write down what you’re aiming for and keep it on hand for motivation when things get tough.

Goals give your career direction and a sense of purpose. Make sure you have an idea of what you want to do before starting, or else it won’t matter if you’re doing the right things for your career.

Find a Mentor

Find a mentor to help you on your career journey. This person will be the one that can guide and advise you throughout all of life’s challenges. Your mentor should ideally be someone who has taken the same path as you, but if not, they need to at least have experience in what it takes to get ahead in their industry.

In addition, you may want to think about looking for mentors outside of your organization because it might give them more time or motivation to invest in helping you progress with your ambitions.

An excellent way to find a potential mentor is by thinking about networking events near where they live – this could make things much easier when arranging coffee meetings! A word of caution, though: always remember that there are clear boundaries between mentors and mentees.

If not, you can read through their websites. For example, Nathaniel Whittle has a lot of info displayed on his website which you can read to learn more about his work experience.

Invest in Short Courses

If you haven’t started in the world of work yet, it is never too late. For many school leavers, a university can be a daunting and expensive prospect, so taking some time out to get vocational training may be more realistic for your situation.

There are plenty of short courses available online which will teach you skills that are key for today’s workplace, such as Microsoft Excel or Word; course lengths vary but most last between two weeks to three months and cost less.

Alternatively, you could volunteer at an organization while still studying full-time. This way, not only will you gain transferable skills from handling inquiries on the phone or handling events, but volunteering also helps build up your CV with real-life experience without costing anything.

It is never too late to invest in your career and skills. Short courses are an affordable option for those who don’t want to commit to full-time university or need a break from studying. At the same time, volunteering will help build up experience on the job.

In conclusion, a solid start to a career is vital. It takes time and effort, but it’s worth the investment! Starting your research now will ensure that you’re set up for success later on.

Starting Your Own Business

StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article |Starting your own business|Starting Your Own BusinessYou’ve had a business idea in your head for some time and you’re just now ready to put it into action. Maybe you have a fresh, new startup plan that you’re ready to build from the ground up. Or, perhaps you plan on buying an established small business. Either way, starting your own business is an exciting, albeit challenging, life journey, that can be very fulfilling.

There are several considerations when it comes to starting your own company. While there are many technical and legal steps you need to complete to open your doors for business, this article is focused on the personal qualities necessary to be a CEO. Here are some suggestions to keep in mind when chasing your entrepreneurial aspirations.

Make sure you’re ready.

Timing matters, but at a certain point, there likely will never be the perfect time to start your own business. For every reason to take the leap, there might be several factors that point to why you should wait. That is why it’s essential to ask yourself if you’re in the right mindset to take on the challenges that come along with owning a company. Are you ready to turn your career into a 24/7 lifestyle? If the answer is yes, then shoot for the stars.

Say goodbye to your 9-5.

Speaking of adopting a 24/7 schedule, understand the limitations of a work/life balance when you become the owner of a business. When you eat, sleep, and breathe your career, time becomes a lot more valuable. You’ll always be on the go, forcing you to adapt your old ways of doing things. To avoid over-scheduling yourself, you’ll want to find time-saving solutions to give yourself more hours in the day. For example, you can use a household delivery service and have your weekly staples brought to you, saving you time otherwise spent at the store. And with a personal assistant app, it’ll be easier to keep track of your daily to-do. Finding little ways to save you even just a few minutes will add up over time.

Set reasonable and realistic goals.

Especially if this is your first venture as an entrepreneur, being realistic about your goals and expectations is fundamental in maintaining your sanity. Optimism is important, but naive optimism can hurt you. Owning your own business has a steep learning curve and every day will have its own lesson. Your company probably won’t outsell your competitors in your first month of business, and that’s okay. Set goals that will encourage you to create the best company possible, and if applicable, be a great leader to your team. Perseverance and patience are key in helping you learn and grow as an entrepreneur, and will pay off in the long run.

Find a mentor.

The only people who will understand the trials and tribulations of starting a new company are other entrepreneurs. Because of this, surrounding yourself with others who have had similar experiences as you can prove to be an excellent resource for you to consult. You can bounce ideas off of them, share goals, and receive constructive feedback, a fundamental component of success and growth. If you don’t know any other business owners in your immediate circle, you can still find people to connect with by other means. Go to networking events, check out your city’s startup incubator, utilize a mentorship network like SCORE, or turn to LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social networking sites to find like-minded individuals. You can find a mentor practically anywhere. It’s up to you to invest in the relationship so that you can benefit from the knowledge and experiences that they have.

Have a stable financial footing.

It should be no surprise that starting a business costs money. While it can pay off tenfold in the future, there is significant financial risk involved. You’re likely leaving a well-paying and stable job when starting this journey, which is already a risky endeavor. Not to mention there are plenty of startup and ongoing costs required to keep your company afloat. You’ll never eliminate the financial risks associated with entrepreneurship, however, you can protect yourself from too much financial harm. Best financial practices are to minimize your personal expenses, reduce or eliminate debt, improve your credit score, and have an emergency fund ready. Additionally, considering the type of business structure you want to implement, such as an LLC or S Corp, can have lasting impacts on your personal liabilities and taxes. Taking the time to determine what structure fits your company best will help ensure that your finances stay in check.

Starting a new company is an exciting and fulfilling journey. However, the challenges that come along with it make it so that it isn’t for the faint of heart. Take the appropriate steps to prepare yourself mentally and financially for this new trajectory in your career.

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