5 Professional Development Ideas for Small Businesses

No one is born exceptional at their job, nor is there a shortcut to success. Every brilliant leader spent years honing their skills, and businesses do not become empires overnight.

Professional development

In a constantly evolving market that is becoming increasingly competitive, the key to achieving your goals is through professional development. It does not only enhance your current skills and keep you up-to-date on industry trends. It also allows you to gain a clearer perspective of the business landscape, enabling you to create a more effective strategy and come out ahead of your competitors.

Here are four professional development ideas that every small business should consider.…

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How to Keep Scams from Hurting Your Business

At even the best of times, it can be challenging to be a business owner. Unstable supply chains, unreliable employees and, yes, pandemics can throw a big wrench into things. The last thing you need is a scammer showing up and trying to take advantage.

Business owner managing his buiness

Photo by Monkey Business Images, courtesy of www.shutterstock.com

Unfortunately, scammers are everywhere. That’s why it’s so important for you to know how to identify them and stop them from affecting your bottom line.

Whether they come by phone, email or even in-person, you can stop scammers in their tracks by knowing the following:

Phone/Text Scams

We’ve all gotten them: calls or texts from phone numbers that look familiar.…

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The 3 Little Known Tips To Help You Grow Your Contractor Business

Whatever the type of contractor business you have, it is essential to always be growing. Plumbers, HVAC technicians and electricians usually work for themselves and have trouble growing the business while also getting the work done.

Electrician working on a business premise electrical equipment

The problem with this is that you aren’t running a business but rather making a job for yourself. Though it’s nice not having a boss, you are essentially slaving away. The way to go is to grow the business so it can be an actual business.

There are a few things that you can do to grow the business so you can focus on the work getting done.…

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Top 4 Challenges of Being Self-Employed in 2021

For many, embracing a career as a self-employed professional is the ultimate goal. As a self-employed individual, the success of your enterprise is placed directly in your hands.

Self-employed

As you’re in charge of your own destiny, every decision you make directly impacts your business growth and revenue. It can sound like an uphill struggle, yet many self-employed professionals relish the challenge and use this pressure to drive themselves and their businesses forward.

However, despite their motivation, self-employed individuals don’t have the easiest of career paths. With so many responsibilities to juggle, it’s only a matter of time before one facet of their business is neglected to the point where other areas of their enterprise are also impacted.…

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Social Networks to Maximize Your Business Success: The Main Do’s & Appropriate Don’ts

Social media has always been one of the most effective business tools used by entrepreneurs. Over the past 10 to 12 years, they have undergone significant changes.

Social networks

Initially, they were simple, offered a minimum of opportunities, and no special business perks. Much has changed since then. Now it is a powerful marketing platform. Here, people communicate with each other, follow brands, get acquainted with various goods and services.

Billions of users spend time on social media every day. Of course, it is impossible to guarantee that all of them will consume the goods or services you offer. But in order to attract just a fraction of those, you need the right tools, for the right business functions.…

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6 Remote Team Satisfaction Hacks for Midsize Businesses

Over the past years, the popularity of remote work has skyrocketed. Today, about 3.5% of the US population works remotely and by 2025, an estimated 70% of the workforce will be working from home.

Remote team member

photo credit: Pexels

However, remote work isn’t without challenges. Even though remote employees are in general more satisfied than their in-office counterparts, they can often feel isolated and, as a result, less invested in the company’s goals.

So, if you’re wondering how to scale a business with remote employees, the first step you need to take is to make sure your remote workforce is satisfied and motivated.…

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6 Critical Challenges Faced By Businesses in Singapore

Did you know that there are 323,697 local and foreign companies operating in Singapore? Many of these companies must have crossed so many hurdles to support their business. Though Singapore’s government provides many financial aids for businesses, it’s still challenging to be one of the few businesses that access government subsidies. What should a business person do in such cases?

Businessman in Singapore

Every business owner would agree that raising funds is one of the most challenging parts of running a business. That’s why many of them raise funds from a licensed money lender Singapore to support their business. Apart from raising funds, there are some other difficulties enterprises face.…

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What is Asset Management in Local Government?

If you work for local government, you know how difficult it can be to meet the needs of everyone in your community. There are many things the local government takes care of for regular citizens with our tax dollars, but some of the most important things are municipal assets.

Government worker working on electricity

Image Credit: Pexels

What are these “assets” and what is the best way for our local government to manage and maintain our municipal resources? Here’s how it works.

What are assets?

When we talk about assets in the context of municipal resources, we’re referring to the services provided for us by our municipality in order for us to live our daily lives, often funded by taxpayer dollars.…

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Keep Your Workforce Safe and Minimize Construction Site Compensation Claims

The statistics are shocking. Workers on construction sites have a 1 in 10 chance of being injured at work. Each year around 150,000 construction site accidents are reported- that’s 3000 per week! 20% of workplace deaths take place on construction sites, although construction workers only account for 6% of the labor force.

Construction site safety

What can you as an employer do to prevent accidents on your sites, and avoid the potentially devastating human and financial costs they may involve?

1. Protocols

The most fundamental step you can take is to carry out risk assessments on all aspects of the work on your site.…

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Outsourcing Business Operations as Your Business Grows

Currently eCommerce is entering an era of extreme competition and greater professionalism that is causing small and medium businesses (SMB) to fight to attract new customers and grow their revenue. It raises the requirements to manage and optimize their digital marketing strategies, order fulfillment processes and other business operations.

Outsourcing business operations

Outsourcing some of your more peripheral business operations to service providers like Back Office Pro can be incredibly beneficial in helping you survive and thrive in this era by giving you enough time to focus on core in-house operations. It may not only save you on costs, but also time, hassle, and frustration.…

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