Letting Go: How to Handle the Process of Firing an Employee
No matter how promising an employee may be during the hiring process, sometimes it just doesn't work out in the end. Whether it's a personality conflict that can't be resolved, change in attitude or an inability to keep up with the requirements of the job, firing an employee is never a pleasant task. Here are some tips to help you handle the process gracefully and with as little risk as possible. The termination process isn't usually an immediate thing - you should provide wa
Promote from Within: Developing a Training Program for Your Business
When you operate a business and need to fill a non-entry-level position, choosing to fill that position by promoting employees who already have a feel for your company's culture, goals and mission is the obvious choice. But at that time, you often have to face the difficulties of whether the employee knows enough or if you're throwing them in the deep end without sufficient background. Fortunately, there's an easier way to make the transition simple: add a training program to
Boom and Bust: Taking Advantage of Market Cycles in Business
When you work in any number of different industries, such as construction, petroleum, real estate and others, you're probably already aware that there are times when business is great and you can barely keep on top of all of the work that's available. But for all of those boom cycles, there's a bust cycle when no matter how hard you try to find work, you're concerned about whether you will be able to keep your business afloat. These market cycles don't need to be feared, howe
How to Add Value-Added to Your Sales Cycle
When your business is strongly focused on sales, value-added sales can help with improving sales figures drastically. There are a number of different techniques that you can use to improve your sales by improving your odds of future sales or improving the total amounts of your current sales. But how do you incorporate value-added sales techniques into your current operation? Here's a quick look at several techniques you can use to add these type of sales techniques to your bu
7 Ways to Work Around Low Unemployment Hiring Issues
With the growing economy, is it really surprising that 58% of business owners are trying to hire while 86% have had trouble finding qualified workers? When the country has low unemployment numbers, hiring issues abound. Here are a few ways you can work around issues with finding qualified workers for your company. Be flexible. Is it absolutely required that your employees only be there from 9-5? Add some flexible scheduling in so that workers feel they have a better work-home
Getting Past the Disasters: New Loan Funding Available in Missouri
With all of the recent issues that have popped up in the news around natural disasters in Missouri, many businesses are facing serious challenges as they rebuild. Fortunately, the State of Missouri is reaching out a helping hand through LIFT, a new low-interest state loan program for businesses in counties that have been declared a disaster area. State funds will be provided to banks at reduced rates to offset funding being provided in the loan, allowing them to pass on lower
Considering Marketing Automation? 4 Hot Tools to Try
One of the best benefits of living in the age of digitization is the ability to automate portions of your business, allowing you to focus on operations rather than being regularly distracted by other activities. Marketing automation allows you to continue bringing in business without having to constantly be checking your advertising. Here are some hot tools to try to get you started in marketing automation, all of which start with free versions. MailChimp. When you're getting
7 Tips to Help You Get Started in Google Advertising
You know you've seen them - those little ads that appear during search results. The websites that appear right in the list with the rest of the search results. You know you want your company's webpage to show up there, but how do you make that happen? Google Ads provides you with a platform to improve traffic to your website. Here are some tips to help you get started. Determine what your goals are for your advertising. If you're setting multiple goals, such as one that impro
Why is it Important to Have Good Accounting Practices in Place?
Businesses thrive by maximizing profits and minimizing expenses, figures that are recorded using accounting. But what about when the process isn't being completed correctly? Having proper controls in place to track the overall accounting process is vital to ensure that your company's finances are being tracked properly. Here's a look at why it's important to have solid accounting procedures in place. Imagine a customer's paperwork is missing for an account that is now being c
