Top 4 Reasons You Need Insurance for Your Home-Based Business

April 30, 2018 By Tara DuBois Leave a Comment

Did you know that more than half of all businesses in the US are home businesses? That means you’re in good company, especially if you are one of the 40% of small office home office businesses that carry adequate insurance.

Here’s what you need to know about having insurance for your home business:

Your homeowner’s insurance policy does not cover your home-based business.

We repeat: Homeowner’s insurance DOES NOT cover business assets

One would assume that a homeowner’s policy would provide sufficient coverage for a home business, but it doesn’t. Even if it does include business coverage, the amount is likely rather limited. The average policy offers around $250 for premises, and it doesn’t necessarily cover business assets, such as:

Outside buildings used for business purposes.
Damage or loss of data or business records.
Loss of income caused by loss of business property.

Here are some good reasons to consider getting yourself a policy that is designed to cover your small office home office:

If you’re a financial adviser and a client sues you because your advice cost him money, your homeowner’s policy will not even look at it.
If you’re a photographer or an IT professional, your home may be targeted in a robbery and you could lose all your expensive equipment. Since your computers, cameras and other equipment are considered business property, it will not be fully covered by your homeowners’ insurance.
Most homeowners’ policies do not cover third party claims, especially for business deliveries, so they will not cover slip and fall accidents that occur when someone is delivering something to your home.
If the outbuilding or shed on your property from which you run your business catches fire and you lose your equipment as a result, your homeowner’s policy will not cover it.

However, for a small additional fee, you can probably include add-on cover to your homeowner’s policy to protect you from the situations described above. It may just be sufficient for your small one-person operation, especially if you don’t have a lot of business equipment, and if you don’t receive many deliveries or visitors.

But, if you require better protection, you may want to consider:

General Liability for your SOHO – This policy will protect you from third-party claims, such as those from delivery drivers, liability or slander, and damage to a third party’s property (if you rent temporary office space, conference facilities or storage).

Professional Liability – Errors and omissions insurance provides protection in case you are sued for negligence.

Business Owner Insurance – Business owner policies provide comprehensive cover, including professional liability claims, loss of business data or equipment, and general liability.

Property Insurance – General liability insurance policies usually include property insurance.

Life, Health, and Disability Insurance – This policy provides an extra layer of protection in case you and or your employees suffer injuries or death.

Be smart about your home business in the short term, and you will reap the rewards in the long term.

Top 5 Reasons Running A Business is Hard & How to Rock It

February 26, 2018 By Tara DuBois Leave a Comment

Running a business sounds like a great idea – in principle. Having no boss to answer to is wonderful for an independent or introverted entrepreneur. But let’s be honest, some parts of running your own business can be hard. It’s no secret that many businesses fail in the first few years, but your business needn’t become a statistic.

Let’s look at the biggest struggles small business owners face in more detail so that you can be prepared to deal with it and succeed in the world of entrepreneurialism.

Top 5 Reasons Running A Business is Hard & How to Rock It

1. You will want to do everything on your own.

When you start your business, you will be tempted to prove yourself – it’s only natural. However, pride or an unwillingness to look for or accept help can cause you to make costly mistakes.

Don’t fall in this trap. Understand that no person can do everything perfectly and that successful businesses consist of teams of people who each brings his or her talents and skills to the table. Also, you can’t do everything on your own. Each day only has 24 hours, after all!

2. You may receive feedback you don’t appreciate.

You started your business because you feel that you have a great product or service. Your family and friends may even agree. But ultimately, the most important opinion is that of your target audience. For your business to succeed, your product or service must provide the perfect solution to their problem. Sure, if your product is quite good, they will buy it initially, but if you want it to be their go-to solution and if you want them to refer people to you, it has to provide the ultimate solution.

Be open to feedback from the market. Accept it gracefully, and consider suggestions before you bin it. Let your market help you fine-tune your solution to suit their needs.

3. You may want to diversify.

The employment market changed dramatically a few years ago. We went from grey-suited drones to a vast horde of digital nomads. It was scary at first, and the thought leaders of the remote working, freelancing movement advised us to DIVERSIFY. They figured that having your rods in as many ponds as possible will ensure that you catch some fish. However, the modern consumer demands a different type of service provider – they demand the best of the best.

If you want to succeed in a modern world, you need to be the best of the best in your niche. Specialize, but make your service as excellent as possible by offering value-added services to your core product or service.

4. You may be afraid to charge upfront.

If you offer services, you may not feel comfortable charging upfront. It’s a quandary, as clients want to see your work before they pay you, but if they decide not to pay – for whatever reason – you will lose bargaining power.

Find ways to reach a middle ground, because time is money.

5. You may be tempted to undercharge.

In a competitive world, you may undercharge to secure more contracts but beware of making a habit of this, especially early on in your career. When you first start out, you may not have the experience to know exactly how long a project takes, or the additional expectations clients may have. Charging too little – even across more projects – is not sustainable.

Instead of selling at a lower price point, compete on excellence – quality products and services, professional expertise and specialization. Accept that clients who price shop will always opt for the cheaper price, but there are many clients who want quality, even at a higher hourly rate. Those are the clients who will stick around for much longer.

Running a business is hard, mainly because you will always feel that you never really know what you’re doing and whether you’re doing it right. Rest assured that most small business owners feel the same way. Ultimately, being patient and flexible and responding to the needs of your target market is what you need to do to stay current.

11 Best Blogs to Follow for Small Business Inspiration

February 12, 2018 By Tara DuBois Leave a Comment

One of the best things about being a small business owner is that the world is your oyster when it comes to finding inspiration. You can select a mentor to follow and emulate, or you can select a bunch of successful people from whom you can draw inspiration. There’s literally no limit.

In keeping with that, we decided to compile a list of Best Blogs to Follow for Small Business Inspiration.

Best Blogs to Follow for Small Business Inspiration

Big Ideas for Small Business – Headed by Barbara Weltman, the blog’s content deals with technical and legal aspects of running a small business.
Success Harbor – George Meszaros inspires small business owners to achieve success by their definition.
EOFire – Kate Erickson inspires entrepreneurs with great content and step-by-step resources on how to start and build their businesses.
Location Rebel – If you’re a new small business owner still looking to earn your first few thousand dollars online, Sean Ogle will inspire you to break through with his awesome tips on online marketing, productivity and building a lifestyle business.
Buffer Blog – Learn all you need to know about how you can use social media marketing to the benefit of your business with Ash Read’s in-depth posts.
Social Media Examiner – Lisa Jenkins runs the world’s most prolific social media marketing resource.
A Better Lemonade Stand – Starting a business involves thousands of little decisions. Richard Lazazzera will help make those decisions easier.
Nav Blog – Kali Geldis provides great financial advice for small businesses. Learn how to save money while running a successful business.
The Personal MBA – Don’t let your lack of a business degree make you think you can’t run a business because this blog provides helpful tricks and tips to help you become a pro at managing your business.
Smart Hustle – Grow your business to the next level with insightful commentary and interviews with Guy Kawasaki and other inspiring business celebrities.
Hubspot – Hubspot’s marketing blog is a thought leader in the world of online marketing, sharing insightful content, data, research, and reports.

There you have it! Our favorite blogs for small business owners to follow. Did we mention your Best Blogs to Follow for Small Business Inspiration? Please share in comments below!

The Ultimate Small Business Owner’s Guide to Having a Great New Year

January 8, 2018 By Tara DuBois Leave a Comment

The New Year means big things for small business owners, but envisioning and having a great New Year are two different things.

As we gear up for 2018, it’s a good idea to set your intentions about what you want to achieve and how to take your business to the next level.

In 2016, Statistics Brain reports that only eight percent of Americans who make New Year’s resolutions end up achieving their goals.

Eight percent! That’s like dreaming about tacos for 12 months and then only being able to eat one bite before it vanishes.

As a business owner, you don’t make resolutions…you make adjustments to how you do business with your eye on the long-term. Although that’s a smart way to do things, sometimes you can get a little tripped up throughout the year.

However, when you break it into small steps, it should be easier to achieve. Let’s sail right into it.

Introducing the Ultimate Small Business Owner’s Guide to Having a Great New Year: 2018 Edition

Reflect on 2017

What important milestones have you achieved in business this year, that can be carried through to help you grow in 2018?

Also, take some time to go through your statistics; such as profits and losses, web traffic, foot traffic, and other important factors to find out where your business is strong and what weaknesses can be improved upon.

While you’re working with these statistics, spend some time organizing and backing up your data from 2017.

Set New Goals

Over time, our goals change. As a business grows, you are exposed to new things and your focus may change. That’s perfectly fine.

However, this is a great time to have a look at your goals to ensure that you are not just going with the flow, but actively pursuing the direction of your dreams.

If you find goal setting tedious, you may want to consider Pray Rain Journaling. This simple method has the power to help align your mindset with your goals to bring about dramatic shifts in your attitude and experience. Many people who have practiced it, have seen life-changing outcomes.

How did you fare in terms of achieving your 2017 goals? If you’ve achieved them all, congratulations!

If you didn’t quite get there, measure just how close you came and consider how you would attempt it, if you had the same goal again.

Use the intel derived from this reflection to set new goals for 2018. Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself!

Do Market Research

The best way to serve your clients is to know them and to understand how they feel about your business. It starts by taking an objective look at your website.

If you were in a customer’s shoes, how would you feel about the business?

Does the website inspire trust?

Try to look for ways in which you can simplify the user experience and provide better content. Work through the entire process as a mystery shopper: submit a mock inquiry, order a product, submit a return and see how satisfied you are with the process.

Then, mystery shop your competition and see how you compare.

Reach Out

Stay on top of people’s minds by reaching out to them. Make it your goal this year to scroll through your contacts and to reach out, even if it’s to one person per week.

Another great way to reach out and to spread brand awareness is to attend networking events in your community.

In fact, to help you get the most out of your networking, here are a couple of quick related posts for you:

8 Quick Tips To Networking as a New Entrepreneur

5 Tips to Make the Best Out of Business Networking

Educate Your Audience

You’ll be surprised by how social media can help your company stay relevant. Share your articles, business news and photos via social media.

People do business with people, not with companies and these types of posts make your business seem more approachable.

Invest In Yourself & Your Team

The quieter time of the year is a great time to invest some time into knowledge and betterment.

Whether you decide to advance your skills with a refresher course, learn something new, or read some industry magazines or blogs, or even a book by someone who inspires you, just do it!

Manage Time Positively

We all love to multitask…it makes us feel productive. But, the truth is that multitasking is inefficient and simply exists as a convenient excuse for some of us.

Innovative Time Management Tips for Small Business Owners provides some great insights into why people waste time, and explains why multitasking is no longer effective.

Instead of falling into your old multitasking routine, try to focus on tasks that provide the most value to your business and customers. These tasks can make or break the year and require time and dedication.

Ditch the Politics

2017 was a rough year, politically and emotionally, for everyone. So, to start 2018 off on the right food, we suggest that you ditch the politics in your business and daily life.

That’s right. Ditch ‘em.

Unless your business IS political, you don’t need to burden yourself and your employees with the stress of political agendas and logic battles. Just put it out of your mind and focus on what’s important: serving your customers well.

Learn to Delegate

Managing time is not about doing more with less, but about achieving results. It’s about spending 80% of your time doing the 20% of activities that bring the most results. Learn to delegate mundane tasks that do not require your personal input.

Get More Out of Your Day

By getting up an hour earlier in the morning, you can achieve so much more.

No time to exercise or eat a healthy breakfast? Well, by getting up earlier, you can do that. Of course, you don’t have to exercise, but do something that will positively influence the rest of your day.

Related Posts: 7 Keys to Less Stress and More Achievement

Do you have more insights into making the most of 2018? We’d love to read more about them in comments below.

4 Steps to Get Your Small Business Ready for the Holiday Season

October 30, 2017 By Tara DuBois Leave a Comment

Believe it or not, but the holiday season is upon us! You might still be basking in the afterglow of summer, but winter is upon us, and you know what that means: It’s time to start preparing your business for the holidays.

Overall, the holiday season brings the biggest amount of sales to large companies. As a small business owner, this is your season to beef up your own visibility. Don’t give shoppers a reason to overlook you this holiday season.

Use these tips to get your retail or e-commerce business ready for the holidays:

1. Ensure Your Website is Ready

When last did you update your brand? Now is the time to tidy up, freshen and prepare your website for the holiday rush. Depending on the type of website you use, you may need to:

Refine, adjust, and update product listings.
Check to ensure that your search function works as it should.
Clarify shipping costs and delivery deadlines.
Place contact details where it is easy to find (in the header or footer of each page).
Test the checkout process to ensure it is simple and functional.

If your business is e-commerce only, consider categorizing items into gift categories to make it easier for users to find what they are looking for. You may also want to consider selling gift cards, as that will help increase post-holiday sales.

Updating your website is important, whether you’re using your website as an e-commerce platform or as a marketing tool for your brick and mortar retail store. The following tips are especially important to the latter:

Update your Google Local Search information as well as on Local.com.
Put a map as well as coordinates and the full address of your retail store on your site, including your phone number and hours of operation.
Ensure that your site is mobile friendly. A majority of shoppers use smartphones to find stores nearby.
Add a click-to-call button to your site to make it extra simple for customers to call you.

In addition to preparing your online presence, consider how you will add a festive touch to your store using decor, lighting, music and possibly scented candles. Cinnamon, pine, and apple are great this time of the year.

Many of the principles included in our blog, 4 Tips to Prep Your Website for Festival Season Traffic, can be applied to the holiday season.

2. Plan Your Promos

As you might have guessed, marketing is key to holiday success in a small business. Plan your marketing period for November first through January first now, including:

discounts and deals
lead generation methods
your marketing budget
customer loyalty rewards
daily marketing

Pre-holiday promotions are always very exciting, and an excellent way to get ahead of the competition.

3. Tidy Up Your Social Media Reputation

Many online and offline shoppers use reviews and social media to choose where they want to shop. Now is the time to tidy up your online presence and ensure that your company’s reputation is in good shape. Use a monitoring tool to keep an eye on mentions so that you can quickly respond to any negative reviews or comments.

While you’re at it, start preparing your editorial calendar and schedule posts to go out throughout the season. That way, it’s one less thing to be busy with while serving all your holiday customers.

4. Review Your Inventory

Do a sales forecast based on last year’s performance and see where you need to stock up. Ideally, your business should offer good representation or products at all the different price points.

Once you have done your preparations, it is time to sit back, relax and enjoy your last few weeks of peace before the holiday rush. Think of it this way: You may be busy over the holiday season while everyone is resting, but you will make great profits that will help you out when the post-holiday sales hit the shelves.

How to Choose the Right WordPress Security Plugin for Your Site

October 23, 2017 By Tara DuBois Leave a Comment

WordPress is an awesome tool, which provides unlimited customization through its vast range of native and third-party plugins. It’s ironic how we forget how fortunate we are for having so much choice while wading through thousands of options in search of the right WordPress security plugin. With this post, we aim to make the process of choosing the right WordPress security plugin just a little bit easier for you.

How to Choose the Right WordPress Security Plugin for Your Site

WordPress security is not something to take lightly if you’re serious about following the best practices and building an online following for your business.

Did you know that Google has blacklisted more than 50,000 websites for phishing and 20,000 for malware?

The good news is that the core WordPress software is regularly audited by a large team of developers which makes it very secure. However, you can do a lot to reduce and eliminate risks. Even better, you don’t have to be particularly tech savvy to improve your WordPress security.

With more than 30,000 WordPress plugins to choose from, it’s not easy to choose the right security plugin. While this guide will not guarantee that you choose the right plugin, it will certainly help you make better decisions.

Step 1: Understand the Confusion

When it comes to WordPress plugins, the bulk of them are either handy, great, or amazing. However, there are some that are useless and some that are downright annoying. The descriptions can be confusing for one of two reasons:

Deliberate confusion is perpetrated by marketers looking to make money off their plugins.
Accidental confusion is caused by well-meaning developers who have experienced the same issue you’re trying to solve.

The latter will typically introduce a genuine solution that narrowly addresses your issue.

When choosing a WordPress security plugin, you have to ensure that you choose one that meets your needs. That leads us to the next point.

Step 2: Make a Checklist of Features

What are you looking for in your WordPress security plugin? There are close to 2,500 WordPress security plugins to choose from, across a variety of categories, including:

Auditing – This type of plugin allows you to keep a tight reign on who logs onto your site when, and what they are doing while they are there. Using the information from your auditing software, you can identify a risk and respond to a compromise faster.

Detection – These plugins offer great protection for known issues, but not so much for unknown issues. If your site has been attacked, it will be blacklisted by search engines, and flagged by visitors’ antivirus software. Your host may disable your site, or it may be redirected to different sites.

Prevention – These security plugins offer perimeter defense against hacking. These are firewall plugins that prevent:

brute force attempts
denial of services (DoS)
exploitation of software vulnerabilities
remote file / local file inclusion attacks
cross site scripting
remote command execution

Utility – The most common type of security plugins offers a diverse range of tools, including maintenance and backups.

3. Search and Compare WordPress Security Plugins

When you enter the word ‘security’ into the Add New plugin search bar, you will see many results. Each result features a range of statistics to consider:

Updated – This is the date on which the latest release was updated. If it has been more than a year, you may want to avoid this plugin as it may not be compatible with the latest version of WordPress.
Downloads – This is the number of downloads of the plugin.
Average Rating – Out of 5 stars.

It is important to compare the last two factors. A 5-star rating from five users is less of an accurate indication of the quality of the plugin than a 4-star rating across 10,000 downloads.

Next, you must compare the plugins by opening each of those you are considering in a new tab. Pay attention to:

Plugin Description: Read through the description to ensure the plugin does what you expect from it.
Requires: Find out whether the plugin can run on your version of WordPress.
Reviews: Don’t just rely on star ratings. Also, read user reviews – both good and bad – to understand the reasons why users have rated it as such.
Support Overview – This section will provide an overview of the number of open and resolved threats. The key is to see how quickly the plugin author responds to requests. You want to choose a security plugin with an involved author.
Screenshots – The plugin screenshots should give you a good indication as to how easy it is to work with a plugin and some of its functionalities.

4. Test the WordPress Security Plugin

Once you have chosen your security plugin, it is time to take it for a test drive. Simply click on Install and Activate, and then access it from the left-hand menu to change settings and options.

WordPress Security Plugins: A Word of Caution

Don’t leave your WordPress security to chance. Once your site has been compromised, you may have to hire a professional to fix it properly.

We hope this blog post shed some light on the issue of WordPress security plugins.

8 Hidden Benefits to Keeping Your Business Small

October 9, 2017 By Tara DuBois Leave a Comment

Many of us dream of turning our modest small businesses into huge empires that will change the world and secure the fortunes of our children and their children for centuries to come.

While moguls such as Bill Gates and Elon Musk laugh all the way to the bank, the Hartford Small Business Success Study highlights a different trend.

According to this report, 55% of businesses (ranging from dry cleaners to restaurants and construction companies) were focused on remaining at their current size.
The number of business owners who had the main goal of growing their business has decreased from 41% to a mere 33%.

Noble as that may seem, there are many hidden benefits to owning a small business. After all, 73% of the respondents reported satisfaction with the success of their businesses and the fact that they were building long-term independence.

Perhaps these business owners knew something about building businesses that are successful enough to turn great profits, but small enough to bring true benefits to the owners.

Keeping your small business small means that:

1. You can follow your own moral compass.

When you are responsible for a small team, you have fewer responsibilities, which means that you don’t have to take decisions that don’t sit well with you.

2. You can react fast.

Instead of being bogged down by red tape and endless meetings, you will be much more nimble, which will allow you to make fast decisions and react to market trends in minutes, rather than days.

3. You will have more control.

Keeping your business small means that you can oversee more of its activities. (Let’s face it: We’re all hiding a bit of control freak deep inside!)

4. You will make better connections.

In a small team, it is easier for the business owner to connect individually with each member of staff. This leads to better teamwork and morale.

5. You’ll have a better work-life balance.

It’s true that more money means bigger and better toys. But it is so much easier to take off a day here and there to just rest and recharge.

6. You will be able to do what you love.

You may be passionate what you do, but turning it into a multi-million dollar company means that you will be spending much more time on the strategic business aspects than on your passion.

7. You get to build a business for YOU.

When you build an empire, you will need investors. Before you know it, you will be nothing more than a minority shareholder in the company in which you invested your sweat equity. By staying small, your business will always be yours.

8. You will develop new skills.

When you have a small team of staff, you will have the opportunity to learn new things. You will be the PR person, and you will become great at public speaking. You will deal with outside contractors on issues such as web development or marketing. Who knows how those new skills will benefit your business in the future?

Over to you: What is your take on the multi-million dollar empire vs. successful million-dollar company debate? Let us know in the comments!

The Ultimate Guide to Small Business Trade Show Success

September 25, 2017 By Tara DuBois Leave a Comment

We have two words for small businesses looking to promote their brands: Trade Shows. An exhibition or trade show presents a great opportunity to connect with potential clients, as it draws plenty of foot traffic. With thorough preparation and by following the tips in this post, you can rock your next trade show, securing enough new business to launch your company to the next level.

Researching the Trade Show / Expo / Event

Since attending an exhibition or trade show requires some investment, it is important to use every tool and opportunity at your disposal to ensure its success. Before you commit, make sure it is, in fact, something that will benefit your business:

Who will be attending?

You want to make sure that those attendees who have already confirmed, are relevant to your industry. This goes for both exhibitionists and clients alike.

How likely are you to turn a profit?

Find out how the event went for attendees in the last two years. You will invest a large sum of money into the event and you need to be sure that the prospects are good before you sign up.

Designing Your Trade Show Stand For Maximum Impact

Once you have completed your event research, it is time to start thinking about how you can make the most of your stand.

Type of Stand

A stress-free stand with an imposing backdrop should help ensure the best return on your investment. Consider your budget and the logistics of your stand and business when deciding on the type of stand. Remember, it is not about how amazing your stand is, but rather about the quality of your services and products. Blend beauty and functionality, and stay within your range of affordability.

Stand Design

You only have a few seconds to grab trade show attendees’ attention. Make it count by expressing your brand persona through the design of your exhibition stand. Ensure that your visuals and clear, concise content relay your unique value proposition. Having your visuals professionally designed would be a great investment.

Bring along chairs along for attendees. After a long day on their feet, they will be much more amenable to listen to your pitch if you offer them a seat.

Be YOUnique

Thousands of people attend trade shows every year. Many industry veterans attend the same exhibitions every year. This is your opportunity to show what makes you different to the other exhibitors by engaging with your audience and by letting your brand shine.

Putting Together Your Trade Show Strategy

Now that you have your stand ready, it is time to execute your plan. It all starts with…

Planning Lead Conversion

The objective of your exhibition stand at the trade show is to attract and convert more leads. How do you plan to do that? Two popular tools include digital signup forms and business cards. Have everything you need on hand to help establish a database of leads which you can nurture and lead towards sales.

Bring a container in which to collect business cards
Write notes on the back of business cards as specific reminders about the lead

Recruiting an Awesome Team

When choosing a team to run your trade show stand, select those who:

are at least as passionate about the business as you are
have as much knowledge as you do about the company
exude your brand persona

Remember that first impressions matter, and the image your team presents at the trade show could open important doors in the future.

Hire sufficient staff to never leave the booth unattended
Be friendly
Be engaging
Look attendees in the eye (not in a creepy way, though!) and smile
Acknowledge attendees’ presence
Don’t start out with a sales pitch
Hand out a business card or promo item
Make your pitch short and engaging

Promote Your Stand Beforehand

Let your following know that you’ll be attending the event before and after the event via social media. Not only does it create awareness about the fact that you’re attending, but it will also help to drive traffic towards your stand on exhibition day.

Tweet about the event
Create a Facebook event
Invite clients and prospects you wish to meet at the events

During the Event

Take plenty photos
Share live video on social media
Attend keynote sessions, parties, and sessions

After the Event

After the event, stay in touch with the audience you have built at the event and nurture those relationships via social media and email marketing.

Take a day to debrief
Collate your contacts into a new database
Follow up right away, while they are fresh
Write up a blog post

Being prepared for your trade show exhibition is the key to success. No matter which angle you take, it is important to be prepared for any eventuality. Preparedness will ensure that you, your staff and your clientele are all relaxed at the event, which is the right frame of mind for creating openness and engagement.

11 Ways to Streamline Your Business During the Back-to-School Season

September 11, 2017 By Tara DuBois Leave a Comment

It’s that time of the year. You’re done with the kids’ back-to-school shopping, and you’re excited to get back into the flow of your business at full steam. The summer rest has probably sparked a few exciting new goals that can help grow your business.

As a solopreneur or small business owner, your time is extremely valuable, especially since you want to be able to pursue other activities that are important to you in your free time. Streamlining your business is, therefore, essential to make sure you spend less money on mundane business activities and more time on what really matters.

Check out our tips on how you can streamline your business during the back-to-school period and enjoy more time spent on income-producing activities that will provide you with the unbound lifestyle you desire.

“Spring” Clean Your Office

Most people function best in a clean and tidy environment. Perhaps a tidy office is indicative of a tidy mind, which is fertile soil for creative ideas. Check out our post about office organization hacks HERE.

Set Some Goals

Unless you have a goal, you may not know what you’re working towards. The back-to-school period is the perfect time to set new 3-month, 6-month, 12-month, 3-year, and 5-year goals, complete with achievable and measurable milestones.

Create a Schedule

Most businesses benefit from adhering to a marketing program. Of course, at Unbound Web Design we’re all about flexibility and working when inspiration hits, but an editorial calendar is a great way to stay on track.

This is especially valuable for planning your marketing for the holiday season when you’re not in the office. Also, unless you’re marketing regularly, it will be hard to track your results in order to see what works and what doesn’t.

Unplug

So many entrepreneurs have become slaves to their gadgets. We have become reactive rather than proactive. Unplug for an hour each morning, and you will be surprised at how much your productivity increases.

Prioritize

Instead of lengthy to-do lists, focus on the three most urgent or most important tasks of the day.

Implement the 80:20 principle, by spending 80% of your time on the 20% of activities that bring the most value to your organization.

Set Boundaries

You will derive more work-life balance from setting boundaries between home life and work life. Even if you work from home, be sure to make some flexible rules which you stick to most often:

Set aside 15 minutes a day for personal phone calls or recreational social media.
Leave the office at the same time every day, even when you have a lot of work to do.
If you have to burn the midnight oil, take a two-hour break to enjoy dinner and some quality time with the family first.

Outsource

As business owners, we tend to take on more than we need to. By outsourcing some of your work, you can free up the time to focus on more important tasks or activities that will make you feel good. Try to outsource the following types of tasks:

tedious tasks
time-consuming tasks
tasks you’re not good at

Reduce Staff Meetings

In recent years, research has shown that we waste too much time in meetings. Instead of insisting on a weekly staff meeting, consider having your meeting online, or sending out an email update. If you absolutely have to have a meeting, follow the meeting techniques of highly successful leaders.

Organize Your Finances

Handling your money better offers a wide range of benefits, so consider doing the following:

Find out what you get for your monthly bank charges. If you’re paying for a service. you’re not using, ask your banker to reduce your costs and reinvest your savings into things that enhance your business.
Pay smaller expenses in advance. Many smaller monthly fees can be paid in advance for the year in order to save money and a lot of time every month.
File your taxes electronically.

Invest in Knowledge

Since the kids are back to learning, it might be a good time for your own back-to-school knowledge tune-up. What can you learn that will enhance your business further or bring more value to your clients?

Sign up for an online course, join a community class or a MOOC. Many of them are free, so there’s no excuse not to invest a few hours a week into bettering yourself.

Streamline Your Website

Now that your business is streamlined, it may be a good time to see how you can streamline your website. Here are some factors to consider:

Streamline the sales funnel from your advertising through to your payment gateway and delivery.
Streamline the way clients interact with you by incorporating online chat or placing your contact details in a prominent spot.
Create an editorial calendar and consolidate your advertising, social media, blog posts and special offers.

Juggling a business as a solopreneur can be fun, especially when you have systems in place to allow the more mundane tasks to take care of themselves. Thankfully, technology gives us the luxury to free up some time to spend on more fulfilling activities.

9 Key Podcasts to Listen to for Entrepreneurial Inspiration

August 28, 2017 By Tara DuBois Leave a Comment

Tune Into these 9 Podcasts for Entrepreneurial Inspiration

Recently, we’ve been listening to several amazing podcasts from inspiring people, sharing their views and information. As an entrepreneur, listening to other entrepreneurs on the same level or ahead of you can be a huge inspiration. Let’s face it, we don’t always have time to read blogs, but listening to podcasts is easy. It’s especially great to listen to podcasts while you’re quietly working alone in your home office, when you go for a walk or run, at the gym, or driving.

You can use one of the many podcast apps available for your phone. Here are some of our favorite podcasts for entrepreneurs.

Foundation

Hosted by Kevin Rose from Google Ventures, Digg, and North Technologies, this podcast offers both audio and video recordings and it’s highly inspirational to hear the stories of big name entrepreneurs such as Elon Musk.

A Better Life

Rachel Rofe is a huge inspiration with a voice as soothing as honey. Each podcast shares practical action steps that normal people take to make lifestyle improvements.

Entrepreneur On Fire

John Lee Dumas hosts Entrepreneur on Fire, a daily podcast where he interviews trending entrepreneurs such as Tim Ferris, Pat Flynn and Seth Godin. Each interview is jam packed with valuable information.

The Tim Ferris Show

Speaking of Tim Ferris, you can hear from the man himself, by listening to his podcasts where he interviews entrepreneurs and top achievers. It’s a truly informative podcast and worth tuning into.

Creative Living with Jamie Ridler

Life coach Jamie Ridler is all about inspiring creative, independent spirits and her show encompasses profound wisdom, energy, and passion for life. This is a must for creative entrepreneurs!

The School of Greatness

Former pro athlete, author, and lifestyle entrepreneur Lewis Howes hosts the School of Greatness. In addition to sharing real stories of inspiration from successful entrepreneurs, he also interviews influential people and world class athletes to share their wisdom.