Ready to Take the Leap into Self-Employment? Here’s How to Set up an Awesome Home Office

Published on: 20 December 2018 Last Updated on: 06 May 2021

Working from a home office can be amazing. A study showed that 3.9 million Americans have gone the way of a home office. It can help you have a work-life balance, and you don’t have to commute anywhere. Dress codes are flexible too.

To maximize your efficiency, you need an awesome home office. Here are some helpful tips to make sure you create a space that inspires you to work.

Where Will You Have Your Office?

Decide what part of your home you will work in. For some, there aren’t many options, so it’s off to the sofa or kitchen table for work. For others, there is that perfect space that will minimize outside distractions, and let you move around freely.

Plan Your Awesome Home Office:

Now you need to plan how to make your space comfortable. If you live in an area where it gets cold, you want to be able to work without shivering. This is where you should consider your options for window coverings and flooring.

Painting, flooring, and the structures in your space are the canvas for a home office that will serve you best. Before you move anything in, see what you want to change first.

Prepare Your Seat:

It goes without saying that you need to be able to sit comfortably while you do your best work. A quality office chair with multiple adjustments, like the ones at winc.com.au, will allow you to find that sweet spot where you can focus for hours without any aches.

Have Good Lighting:

Set up your work area close to a window. You want to get your daily share of vitamin D from natural light. It will help your mood, and will also look great.

Don’t stop there. You need a few more lamps so that you can read and use other parts of your workspace when the sun isn’t shining.

Plan Against Clutter:

How much time do you spend per year searching for papers? You can plan to prevent that. Having stacks of books and paper around your desk will hamper your productivity.

Your things have to go somewhere, so decide how you will store them. Perhaps you have another room for that. What will you use for storage? A file cabinet or some modern looking boxes on a shelf?

If you have a lot of wires in your office, add cord holder under your desk and minimize how many extension cords you need.

Walking into a tidy home office setup feels great. It’s only one of the secrets of a productive home office.

Add Some Comfort:

You don’t need to do all work at a desk. Sometimes you need a space where you move, stretch, and have some time to think. A sitting area is great to have if your space allows for it.

Thinking about adding in a soft chair, leather ottoman, coffee table, rugs, and lamps. With a space like this, you will be happy to take a thinking break or invite clients over.

Personalize Your Space:

Now you can put your own special touch on your home office. Designer posters, personal photos, or one differently painted focus wall are only a few ways you can start to achieve this.

Do you have a style you love, but it’s not right for your entire home? Your home office could be the place for that. Remember to cater to you first. If you like your space, you’ll work better in it.

The Perfect Office Setup:

There is no one solution, but by knowing yourself and how you work, you can fit these tips into an awesome home office that suits your style.

If you’re starting to work from home this year, check out our small business section for more helpful posts.

Read Also:

Content Rally

Content Rally wrapped around an online publication where you can publish your own intellectuals. It is a publishing platform designed to make great stories by content creators. This is your era, your place to be online. So come forward share your views, thoughts and ideas via Content Rally.

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How To Sell A Small Business Without A Broker

Once you’re ready to sell your small business, hiring a business broker tops your list. An article from this perfectly defines the role of business brokers that is to act as “intermediaries between buyers and sellers of a business”. They are the equivalent of real estate brokers or agents who sell properties on behalf of property owners. Business brokers manage everything necessary to sell your small business, from planning to marketing to closing the deal. Some even assist during the transition process. Considering such an enormous task, enlisting a broker may seem the easiest and most convenient thing to do. However, their service comes with an outrageous fee, usually around 10% commission from the sale. This is certainly a huge cut from your profits. If you want to retain the full profit from the sale, you can opt to sell your small business sans middlemen. This is an excellent choice especially if you have previous experience selling a business, you know of prospective buyers, or you’re not in a hurry to sell-off. However, when you decide to sell your business on your own, you have to be ready for a tedious legwork. So, how do you go about the sale? Know your reason for selling the small business According to a business broker, the first thing that a buyer would want to know is why a business is being sold. For a business to attract a potential buyer, you need to have a good reason. Some of the common reasons are retirement, sudden changes in personal circumstances, illness or death, boredom, partnership disputes, and burnout. Prospective buyers find these as ‘attractive’ reasons to buy a business. It may be harder to sell a business if you tell the buyer that you’re selling the business due to its sorry financial state, persistent losses, lack of manpower, and changing market conditions and trends. Make your business easily marketable by timing your sale properly. Show positive attributes to make it more marketable such as a strong customer base, increased profitability, consistent good financials, well-defined business processes, and a good contract. Plan your sale Prepare your business at least two years ahead of the sale, especially if you won’t enlist a broker. Have an ample amount of time to improve your client base, business structure, and financial records. This will help improve the value of your business and make it more attractive to buyers. This should also help ease the transition process. Get your business appraised Once you’re ready to sell, you need to decide on the worth of your business. It is best to work with a professional business appraiser to get a proper valuation. Often, business owners become illogical when it comes to evaluating their own business. Some price is too low in an attempt to make it more marketable but end up losing on potential profit. Others price it too high hence making it unattractive to potential buyers. A business appraiser will evaluate your business to determine its worth. He then prepares a detailed explanation to give credibility to the proposed price. Prepare all documents Give time in preparing the design or sales package for your business. This document represents your business in the best possible light to potential buyers. It should include financial, operational and marketing information. If you are not comfortable with your communication skills, you can enlist the help of professional business writers. Financial documents are an important part of the sale process. Gather your books of account, financial statements, and tax returns for the past four years. Review these documents with an accountant. In addition, develop a list of assets that are being sold along with the business. Include other necessary documents such as lease agreements, supplier contracts, and contact lists. Prepare an information packet or operating manual that provides an overview of your business processes. In addition, you want to add photographs of your business, testimonials, case studies, and customer profiles. Highlight accomplishments and milestones to make it more marketable and command better-asking price. Prepare your business on-site Alongside the documentary preparations, you should also make your business site presentable. Check your physical store, production site, warehouse, and other related locations. You might need to have some areas repainted or redeveloped. Check if equipment or machinery needs to be replaced or fixed before the sale. Investing in such developments can help improve the asking price. It might sound cliché but first impressions last. An unkempt and dilapidated business site might turn off a potential buyer. It pays to invest in your physical asset as soon as you decide to sell on your own. Look for a buyer to sell your small business Finding a buyer is difficult, but it becomes doubly challenging if you don’t have a business broker. Unless you have a ready buyer, it may take several months to years before you can find the right buyer. The advantage of hiring a business broker is that they have wide networks and established marketing methods. If you are working solo, you will need to compensate for these services. There are listing sites dedicated to businesses-on-sale. You only need to pay a one-time fee and your business becomes available to potential buyers. You can also tap your networks. Perhaps, a friend or an acquaintance (or someone they know) is planning to buy a business. You can check your local business clubs or chambers. Visit online forums and social networks. Don’t limit your advertising methods. Final Thoughts As you can see, if you sell your small business without a broker is possible. It can even be advantageous if you play an active role in the sales and negotiation process. Quite obviously, business owners are more passionate to sell their business to the right buyers. Of course, you just have to remain rational and avoid getting your emotions to affect your decisions. As a final caution, if you have no experience selling and buying a business, you should consider working with a business broker or someone who has experience in this field. Better yet, you can check with your local chamber of commerce for assistance and counseling. Read Also: How to Boost Traffic to your Small Business Cost Effective Custom Mobile Accessories Packaging for your Small Business How To Empower Your Small Business through Digital Marketing? 4 Simple And Cheap Methods To Attract More Customers For Your Small Business

How to Boost Traffic to your Small Business

We read about new startups coming up with their services and products on the market almost every day. The story of most of the entrepreneurs is same; a team of hard-working people coupled up and managed to string some money to get off the strip to finally cruise in the field of business. Unfortunately, most of them have to close up shop for numerous reasons. Being an entrepreneur, one should be able to learn so many things, all at once. Failure teaches a lot, and there’s always a way out of the mess in every field I can imagine of. Some make it to the next level, which is; a small business: one that has steady growth and ensured revenues. Since a considerable number of people have moved on from the offline world to the digital arena, business firms have to evolve their marketing strategies as well. Failing to do so will only make your business get out of the market in the end. To create a hurdle for failure on your way, the most important thing today is to opt for some affordable digital marketing services. Affordable is necessary to cut the overall costs because initially, most startups do not have enough financial resources. What digital marketing does is that it attracts people towards the services that you have to offer to them. The four primary pillars that digital marketing works on are content, communication, community, and commerce. Let us circle around these pillars in brief. Content : To enhance your visibility to the public, you need to have a presence on the platforms that people use frequently. You must spend a little deal of your precious time and money in buying a website which can be used to reach out to the people. But to be able to generate some customers from there, you need to put some content over there to lure the masses. Content Marketing does not directly promote the business. If done correctly, it attracts the targeted audience, which can eventually drive to profitable customer action. Communication : As it is said; it takes two to tango. Although it does not precisely fit into the context, the rough meaning it carries here is that you must not focus only on speaking. Give the visitors a platform to respond to you as well. This can be achieved through adverts, personal communication with people who seem to be interested, and social media. With the application of email address at almost forum, there’s a very thin chance that people will not go through yours when they open up their account. Community : This again is customer engagement but in a slightly different way. Because of the presence of social media, businesses have the liberty to interact with their audience to understand their opinions about them. Visitors can help you improve your services to an all-new level. These platforms occasionally make changes to their policies as a whole, so you must go through them every single time they amend. If you don’t manage accordingly, well, get ready for the consequences then. Commerce : Regardless of where people choose to buy a product, it all starts with the internet today. A significant number of people search for a product online and read about it in different places to know about it as much as they can before paying for it. Digital marketing commerce meets the needs of consumers based on how they research and purchase. Review sites are the places where people spend most of their time to read about the products, and then is the online shopping stores. People use multiple applications on their smartphones to look out for the product description as well. Summing Up : Traffic is the backbone of every business, and that is why it needs to be taken care of, for better growth. Enterprises survive in the competitive market only when they have enough customers. Note that you must never compromise your quality for quantity. While there are a lot of things like SEO, SEM, PPC, this article was about what exactly can digital marketing do for your business to grow over the years. Smart and hard work must go hand in hand to reach the top of the business ladder. Read Also : Money Borrowers, A Profitable Business Building A Brand For Your Small Business Google Maps Marketing: Guides On How To Boost Brand Advantage Why Every Business Needs Digital Marketing

What Does Business Law State about Monitoring Employees?

Occasionally, we come across many individuals that are conflicted about the role monitoring applications have to play in the day to day office routines and activities. The most common question asked deals with the boundaries and limits that are “bendable” with the installment of monitoring applications. And the answer is simple; monitoring applications and software programs are legal and frequently advised to be installed in any firm or company. Here is why. Legal but… Monitoring or spy applications are legal in any court of law across the world. However, there are some regulations that need to be upheld by the employers’ side before installing monitoring software around the company premises. These guidelines include: Informing Employees Beforehand When it comes to employee monitoring applications, every court of law strictly states that the employees should be clearly notified about being monitored. The best way to accomplish this is via policies and guidelines that should be always kept on display within office premises. These guidelines should clearly explain every element of the employee monitoring intervention put forth by the company. Moreover, even when the firm decides to take on new employees, they should adjust a clause in the contract which makes it mandatory for every person being hired to sign a nondisclosure stating that they are alright with being monitored on company-related matters. Only Limited to Company Owned Gadgets Monitoring software programs tend to give employers an unwarranted power over the employees. And to protect the employee's interests, legal guidelines regarding monitoring apps clearly state that the spying should be only limited to company-owned gadgets. This means that every information coming in and going out through the company-owned gadgets are company property. The guidelines placed around the office premises should also clearly pinpoint this clause so that it poses as a reminder at all times. Furthermore, it is also recommended that the employers get their employees to sign a nondisclosure agreement that clearly states that all information on the company owned gadgets is company property. This means it can be used by the company in court if need be as well. Using Reliable Technological Sources When another’s a source of income and image in the business world is on the line, it is always best to be careful and use reliable technological sources and software programs rather than the usual cheap ones. The expensive yet well-reputed ones can be easily programmed and altered according to the specific needs of the company, hence always used for easy access and usage. Balancing is key Putting so many restrictions and highlighting many stingy clauses regarding monitoring applications like TheOneSpy mobile spy software around the office can definitely scare an employee and hence hinder their overall productivity. This is primarily due to the lack of rapport that should be there between the employee and employer to help increase profits as employee motivation grows. Therefore, it is always recommended by experts to use a system that is similar to a token economy where the employees are given some leeway and flexibility in some areas while at the same time restricted in some too. For example, allowing them access to specific social media sites during a few designated hours of the day. Never Resort to Open Slander It is never healthy to insult or accuse an employee openly among their peers. And with monitoring applications installed, there will be many times that the system may show you red flags which in reality are nothing but some mishap with the coding of the monitoring application itself. Therefore, rather than losing your cool and openly slandering a perfectly loyal employee, it is always best to take them aside or discreetly conduct a further investigation either with their knowledge of it or without it. This is because an employee can otherwise sue you for slandering their image followed by wrongful termination which would prove bad for your company’s image. The law about monitoring applications is specifically made to protect both the employees as well as the employers in case of any mishap or misunderstanding between the two parties. While it may look like the employers have all the power with monitoring applications installed, but in reality, analysis has shown that monitoring applications have been found to be more useful to employees. For example, if an employee faces discrimination at the hands of another employee or employer, they can use the backup made by monitoring applications to highlight the wrongful act in court.

Ready to Take the Leap into Self-Employment? Here’s How to Set up an Awesome Home Office

Where Will You Have Your Office?

Plan Your Awesome Home Office:

Prepare Your Seat:

Have Good Lighting:

Plan Against Clutter:

Add Some Comfort:

Personalize Your Space:

The Perfect Office Setup:

The Need to Settle End of Tenancy Issues Before Leaving

Custom Standup Pouches for Small Businesses

Content Rally

Content Rally wrapped around an online publication where you can publish your own intellectuals. It is a publishing platform designed to make great stories by content creators. This is your era, your place to be online. So come forward share your views, thoughts and ideas via Content Rally.

Leave a Reply

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Related

How To Sell A Small Business Without A Broker

How to Boost Traffic to your Small Business

What Does Business Law State about Monitoring Employees?

Ready to Take the Leap into Self-Employment? Here’s How to Set up an Awesome Home Office

Where Will You Have Your Office?

Plan Your Awesome Home Office:

Prepare Your Seat:

Have Good Lighting:

Plan Against Clutter:

Add Some Comfort:

Personalize Your Space:

The Perfect Office Setup:

Share this Article

The Need to Settle End of Tenancy Issues Before Leaving

Custom Standup Pouches for Small Businesses

Content Rally wrapped around an online publication where you can publish your own intellectuals. It is a publishing platform designed to make great stories by content creators. This is your era, your place to be online. So come forward share your views, thoughts and ideas via Content Rally.

Leave a Reply

Popular

Follow Us

Recent

Related