Why You Must Embrace Green Home Technologies?

Abdul Aziz Mondol

Small Business

Published on: 22 March 2016 Last Updated on: 29 July 2024

Why You Must Embrace Green Home Technologies?

Did you know? Buildings in India account for…

33% greenhouse emissions
38% energy consumption
30% landfill waste
12% water consumption

And, every year, built-up areas in the country grow by 10% with a whopping 700% increase in energy consumption!

It’s time to re-evaluate our priorities,

It’s time to give back to nature,

And for our children, it’s time to ensure that our homes do not destroy the world.

India has been a fascinating growth story. Our story of growth is also about stress on the environment and natural resources. Fragile ecosystems and endangered species are struggling amidst the fast-expanding concrete. However, there is a silver lining in every cloud. Staying true to the traditional ethos of living in harmony with nature, Indian real estate is welcoming new technologies and innovative architecture to ensure a sustainable future. New-age financial solutions and subsidies are likely to encourage the adoption of green technologies in the construction sector.

Your contribution, however small, is significant in creating an eco-friendly living space. Going green is an important milestone for your family where you create a positive environment for growth. It saves you lots of money as you pass down the lessons of conservation to the next generation and add to their inheritance. Green constructions and architecture are the flavors of our times and builders are incorporating environment-friendly and energy-efficient features like LED lights, waste management plants, urban forestry, natural ventilation, thermos bricks and many other design elements for your conservation and well-being.

Why do you need a green home?

Money, money, money

A green building creates many financial benefits for owners and tenants. Natural materials are compatible with the environment, while solar energy, proper ventilation, rainwater harvesting, water recycling, waste management, and foliage help to cut energy consumption and save large amounts of money for you. Tenants are clearly attracted to buildings which offer a reduction in everyday costs.

Environmentally safe with GRIHA

It feels great doing your bit to safeguard the environment. Buildings are responsible for one-third of greenhouse emissions and that portion can be reduced by 35%. Demand for high-quality, eco-friendly and energy-efficient real estate is growing across India. It applies to both, residential and commercial spaces. And with our urban air becoming a pollution hazard, it is imperative that as an Indian, you seek green alternatives to safeguard health, environment, and productivity. You can choose environment-friendly homes as per GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) rating. It evaluates how your home stands against accepted benchmarks of green buildings.

Better innovation

As an investor, you gain a higher yield from green buildings. The practice also spurs design and material innovation, which is important for our nation. The “green wave” has brought forth new technologies, understanding of ancient practices and ample research interest. Green buildings are using traditional material and recycling old materials to reduce our carbon footprint. Reduce, reuse and recycle: that’s the mantra sustaining your green home.

A great start-up culture

Grassroots awareness will drive greater adoption of green technologies. Rural artisans, cottage industries, and agriculture have felt a positive impact of the green drive. A new culture of entrepreneurs providing new solutions to builders is enriching the green economy.

Green buildings in India are becoming a part of the culture. You should be thrilled to know our country was ranked #3 on a list of 10 countries by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) for LEED outside the US. India today boasts of 1 billion square feet of green building area. With over 200 million square feet of commercial space and 45 million square feet of construction coming up, you can say without a doubt: The sky is our limit!

Apoorva Bharadwaj is a freelance blog writer. She has written blog posts largely catering to the real estate industry. Throughout these many years of her career as a blogger, she has kept up with changing trends in the real estate industry. She has written many blog posts on why the real estate prices are skyrocketing in major metros, how to choose the right real estate agents, about new apartments in metros, etc. At present, her latest blog work is on Jain Height’s new eco-friendly homes, luxury condominium projects for sale in Bangalore and about the right time to invest in an apartment.

Abdul Aziz Mondol

Abdul Aziz Mondol is a professional blogger who is having a colossal interest in writing blogs and other jones of calligraphies. In terms of his professional commitments, he loves to share content related to business, finance, technology, and the gaming niche.

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6 Top CRM for Small Businesses in 2019

Growing your small business in a cost-effective way that increases your brand awareness and attracts more customers is no easy feat. According to a Statistic Brain study, the failure rate for all companies across the US after 5 years is over 50%. So how do you make sure you don't fail? By ensuring your customers are happy, of course. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems allow you to collect data about your customer's interactions with your business. Read on to learn about the top CRM for small businesses. Why Use a CRM? Customer Relationship Management systems are a great way to analyze data from various channels. Channels include your business's website, social media channels, customer support logs, and feedback reviews. CRM let you see what your customers like about your business's products and/or services. CRM also allows you to address any customer concerns and better your products/services. The success of a business, particularly a small business, relies on its customers. That's why CRM systems are one of the most essential business tools you need in order to grow your business. Top CRM for Small Businesses: Find out everything you need to know about CRMs by learning more about the pros and cons of CRM for small businesses. We've compiled a list of 6 of the best CRM solutions for small businesses, check it out now: 1. Salesforce: Salesforce offers an affordable package whilst still including all of the essential product's great features. Salesforce is easy to use and includes key features such as: Lead generation Contact and opportunity management Sales forecasting Workflow automation Salesforce is ideal for small businesses who want an affordable CRM. 2. HubSpot: Be sure to add HubSpot to your list of must-have small business tools. The free version of HubSpot offers CRM solutions for small businesses and includes: Learning guides Invoice template generators Email signature generators Marketing plan template generators HubSpot offers a great package for independent contractors and/or small businesses. 3. Agile CRM: Up next in our top CRM software solution that your business needs are Agile CRM. Agile CRM allows you to: Store details about 10,000 companies or contacts Receive support for tracking emails Set lead scoring and custom deal milestones Access builder tools for forms, email templates, and website landing pages Monitor social media Agile CRM is great for small and big-sized businesses that want a whole range of customer relationship management tools. 4. Zoho CRM: The multi-channel online CRM, Zoho CRM can collect data from your emails, calls, live chats, and social media channels. It is popular amongst small businesses because of it: Is easy to use Offers real-time analytics and notifications for every customer Allows you to assign individual targets for your team Features the option to build and automate your sales processes Zoho Marketplace also ensures that you can increase your business functionality by offering various extensions that can be added to your CRM dashboard. 5. Streak: If you are looking to implement a CRM system that is easy to use, you need to get a Streak. Streak can be installed and added as an extension on your Gmail. Streak CRM for Gmail features: Easy collaboration options (with the ability to easily share contacts and files) Webhook API access Mail merge Ability to manage deals The streak is ideal for small business owners who are new to the world of CRM and need an easy to use platform to help grow their business. 6. Insightly: Insightly is great for small businesses because it is an affordable CRM that offers a range of features, such as: Storage space of 10gb send up to 2,500 mass emails a day detailed reports and analysis options API access and the ability to import 25,000 records per session. Insightly can be used by big, medium, and small-sized businesses who are looking for a tool that offers a range of features to better understand their customers. 7. Freshsales: Freshsales is a full-fledged sales CRM software for businesses that range from startups to enterprises. With Freshsales you don't need multiple tools to drive sales anymore. The major advantages of choosing Freshsales are below Simple UI with powerful features Detailed overview of leads & customers Configurable dashboards and reports Great integrations It also offers a free forever plan for unlimited users with basic contact management and a built-in phone system. The Right CRM Software for You: When choosing from our list of the top CRM for small businesses list, make sure you know what you want from your CRM. If you want a more basic, low-cost CRM then opt for one that is free or cheaper. Or if you want one that has all the trimmings and helps you understand and analyze all parts of your business, then opt for one that has more features. Discover more of the latest technology news now. Read Also: CRMDialer: A Zoho Alternative What You Need To Know When Outsourcing SEO Custom Standup Pouches For Small Businesses 7 Ways Technology Can Help In Customer Management And Sales 5 Critical Branding Tips To Attract New Clients To Your Auto Parts Shop 3 Encryption Trends And How They Make Communication More Secure Why An Automated Sales CRM Platform Is What Your Business Needs To Take Off

Tips for Small Businesses To Raise Funds for Their Projects

Are you planning to start your own business? If your answer is yes, then what is stopping you from going ahead with your plan? Well, most of the people who want to run their own business, fail to take even the first step towards it just because they do not have sufficient funds. Money remains the first and most important thing that you need to start your business. Though people say that if you have a strong idea, you can surely take your business to the next level, however that can’t happen without taking the first step. Whether you talk about hiring an office on rent or paying salaries to your employees, you need funds for all that. If you believe that you have a strong idea, but no money to implement it in the right way, then you can take the support of crowdfunding platforms to fulfill your monetary requirement. Crowdfunding platforms are extremely popular among startups and small business because they help them in raising funds for their projects in the form of small donations from unknown people. If you are in a dire need of some money for your project, then you can find a good crowdfunding website to achieve your goal. And here are some important tips on how to raise maximum money with the help of a crowdfunding platform. Your Idea Should Be Your USP If you want unknown people to support your project, then the idea behind it has to be strong which can easily convince people. If you think that you really have a great idea, then try to present it in front of the target audience in the best way possible. Choose An Ideal Platform There are several crowdfunding websites which help people in achieving their fundraising goal, and you have to find a good one for launching your project. When it comes to finding a perfect crowdfunding platform for your project you have to research and try to make a list of at least ten good crowdfunding website and then read effectively about them. Read all the information that is given on the websites so that you can figure out whether they are a good fit for your project or not. Make sure that you research effectively about all the ten websites so that you can get comprehensive information. Once you are done with your research then try to find out the best five among them. This will help in identifying the best of the best websites. As now you are left with only 5 crowdfunding websites, make sure that you read their reviews to clear your doubts further. Reviews are the most important ways of identifying the authenticity and reachability of websites in question. Set A Goal That Can Be Achieved Once you are done with picking a perfect crowdfunding website to raise funds for your project, your next step should be setting a realistic goal. When it comes to launching a fundraising campaign, you try to be practical about setting your goal. If you have launched a fundraising campaign earlier as well, then you must be aware of the fact that the money that is donated initially for your project actually comes from the people in your network. But if you have not done anything like this earlier, then make sure that you set a goal based on the potential of your own network, because that’s what helps in taking your fundraising goals to a next level. Create An Attractive Video For Your Campaign If you want more people to associate with your project then it’s better to create an effective video for it. Videos are very powerful as they easily catch the attention of the people. For example, if you want to send your message to the masses, you can do that easily with the help of a stunning video. You should also use powerful images for drawing the attention of the audience. Promote Your Campaign It’s very important for you to promote your campaign so that more people can donate to your cause. You can promote your campaign on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, etc., as everyone uses them nowadays. Meet As Many People As You Can Before you launch your fundraising campaign, make sure that you meet the people in your group personally so that you can talk to them about your project. In fact, you can ask the people in your group to promote your campaign. In addition to that, once you launch your campaign, make sure that you make a constant effort to thank the people who have donated for your project.

How Can Thrift Stores Encourage People To Donate?

Regardless of the type of items a thrift store offers, donations are essential for reaching objectives. Not only are donations needed for thrift stores to remain functional, but they’re also necessary for stores to help the local community. Owners must find ways to encourage donations positively, without leaving a negative impression in the minds of potential donors or clients. This guide can help. Simplify the Donation Process In a perfect world, people would be motivated by the kindness of their hearts to drive to a thrift store and unload all their donations personally. Unfortunately, this isn’t reasonable to expect from the majority of people these days. Put simply, today’s families are busy, with barely any time for rest, let alone time for social causes that go above and beyond. There are many things that thrift stores can do to make donating easier for everyone involved. For example, many thrift stores schedule pickups, either at nearby locations or at individual homes. These options are more convenient for donors, which makes it more likely for them to support local efforts. Don’t pickups represent a significant expense and hassle for thrift stores? Not with the help of modern technology. Modern thrift store POS system features often include convenient pickup scheduling. Donors may even be able to self-schedule pickup times or see the closest drop-offs online. Other features include self-service kiosks and online receipts for tax purposes that speed things up for donors. Provide Many Dropoff Options What if thrift stores aren’t able to handle pickups at individual homes because of personnel issues? They can still make donations as convenient as possible by providing a range of ways people can donate items: Secure donation boxes at partnering business parking lots Driver-attended box trucks 24/7 thrift-store donation boxes Even seemingly simple changes can have a large effect. For example, if a store normally accepts donations at the rear entrance, is it possible to implement a drive-through option instead? Even though donors probably only save five or 10 minutes, the convenience factor can make them more likely to contribute. Instead of viewing donation as a hassle, they’re more likely to see it as something they can take care of quickly on the way to work or while running errands. Understand the Donor Mindset A common misconception is that people are strongly motivated to donate because of charitable feelings. This is the case for some people, but not that many. In today’s hectic climate, people who donate often do so because it’s convenient and beneficial for them. In other words, they probably have a secondary motive in addition to helping out the community. This motive can be wanting to get rid of clutter, showing respect for a loved one’s final wishes, or simply hoping to avoid the hassle of a garage sale. A large number of people donate because they view it as preferable to simply throwing items away. Moms who are cleaning out their child’s closet often have this habit. Thrift stores shouldn’t criticize this attitude. Instead, they should welcome (high-quality) donations from any source, regardless of whether the person cares about the mission or not. What matters is the donation itself, not what motivates it. For this reason, attempting to increase donations by appealing to feelings of guilt or compassion toward less-fortunate individuals isn’t generally very effective. It’s good to have a mission statement, believe in it, and promote it in marketing, but this mission isn’t going to be a major driving force in prompting donations. Show Gratitude Once thrift stores understand that many potential donors have a quid pro quo mindset, it’s possible to find ways to encourage donations by appealing to this attitude. Some stores provide vouchers that donors can redeem for free items. For example, for $50 worth of items, donors could receive a voucher for a free $10 item. Doesn’t this cut into the already tight profit margins for thrift stores? Not necessarily. Few donors redeem the vouchers, and those that do are more likely to return to donate other items in the future. The benefits of being generous to donors generally outweigh the costs. The idea is to produce a feeling of satisfaction, a “reward” for donating. This feeling makes people more likely to tell friends and family members about the store, which is good for both donations and sales. At the very least, gratitude means saying thank you. Even an automatic email can do wonders for online donations. Read Also: Do You Really Want to Live on Mars? 3 Sustainability Tips for an Eco-Friendly Lifestyle 8 High-Need Animal Shelter Donations How to Collect Vintage Items

Why You Must Embrace Green Home Technologies?