Business Lifestyle

As a business owner, more and more business is conducted electronically, and email has become an essential part of running a successful business.  Whether it is customer interactions or interacting with business partners and staff, your inbox can quickly get out of hand.

The last thing you want is to miss an important request that would negatively affect your business.  Five simple tips that can save you both time and hassle:

1. Create email folders to organize your email – Not only does creating folders for your important emails efficient but it also help manage your electronic records.  Keep in mind, emails with important business decisions, customer orders or requests or emailed memos on company policies should be kept just like you should be keeping your paper records.  By creating folders for major topics, emails are easy to find and are easily stored once taken care of.
2. Turn off automatic new email reminders and set time aside during the day to work on emails, treat it as another task, scheduling 5 to 10 minutes every couple of hours (or less if possible).  This will keep you focused and less distracted by the little “ding” from every new email.  Make quick work of your time and then move on to other tasks.
3. Read and reply right away – Often when I read an email that I just don’t want to deal with or that will take time my first instinct is to leave it for later.  Dealing it with it right away and then filing the email gets it done and keeps me on track
4. Delete older parts of the thread – when you receive a response to your email or have a thread going back and forth when dealing with an issue, delete the older emails of the thread to avoid filing duplications and to minimize items in your inbox
5. Don’t mix topics in an email – if you receive an email and respond, don’t add a totally unrelated topic into the email if you ever need to find that specific email again.  Make good use of your subject line to ensure you are filing emails into the right folders and the stick to that topic.  If you have more to discuss send a new email with the new topic.  This helps for email storage and finding at a later date if you require it

For more tips you can go to the following sites I found:

• http://www.dailyblogtips.com/10-tips-for-managing-email-effectively/
• http://www.callcentrehelper.com/tips-for-effective-email-management-8682.htm
• http://sbinfocanada.about.com/cs/management/qt/email1.htm

There are many email tips that you can try to become more efficient at email management, but the above five have served me well in keeping my inbox down to less than 15 emails at a time and my folders organized so I can quickly recall an email or task that needs to be done.

Email management is something we can all do to save us just a little more time!

This blog is brought to you by the Moss team at http://www.moss.liquidcapitalcorp.com/, check them out for all of your alternative financing needs.

As an employer, if you have employees, most likely they will have to work together to accomplish shared tasks or goals.  If they have completely separate duties, success depends on how well they do their jobs.  In an environment where there is more than one person, teamwork matters greatly.  With human interaction, a possibility of conflict exists, so even if one person doesn’t depend on another to complete a task, how well they work together makes a difference on the overall success of your business.

Involving your people in every day issues and creative problem solving is a great motivator.

According to http://www.brianmac.co.uk, here are things to consider when looking at your team:

Here are some things to take into consideration when you are looking at your team:

1. Does your team have      agreed-upon goals they created as a team?
2. Do the players openly      encourage and support one another?
3. Do they have open      communication with one another, as well as the coaching staff?
4. Does each player know what      their role on the team is?
5. Is there mutual respect      among the players and coaching staff?
6. Do players use statements      such as “we” when referring to the team, or is it more of an      “every man for himself” mentality?
7. Have they created a positive      team image for themselves?
8. Are the individual      contributions of each player recognised (regardless of whether he/she is a      starter or not a starter)?
9. Is the team as a whole      committed to improving performance?
10. Does each member consider      themselves as a “team player?”

If your team has shared goals and a shared vision of how to reach success you are more likely to actually reach those goals.  A cohesive team that works well together is more productive, more likely to speak well about your company to friends and family and more likely to stay working for you.

No matter if you have a team of two or twenty teamwork is an important component to success.

This blog is brought to you by the Moss team at http://www.moss.liquidcapitalcorp.com/, check them out for all of your alternative financing needs.

Having cash flow problems and not able to grow your business to where you’d like to see it go?  In a previous blog I spoke about different types of financing, including alternative methods.  In this blog I’d like to focus on factoring specifically.

Accounts receivable financing, or factoring is an effective way of both financing cash flow short term and outsourcing the administration of credit and collections for the invoices financed.

Factoring offers flexible underwriting without the restrictive requirements on personal credit scores, business history, with less time and hassle than traditional financing offers.

With factoring the alternative financing company actually purchases the invoice from you.  You don’t incur a debt and you keep control of your business.  The factoring company takes care of following up with customers and collections.

Factoring is adaptable to almost any industry; Liquid Capital has dealt with the following industries:

• Agriculture
• Apparel & Textile
• Chemicals & Plastics
• Computers, electronics and technology
• Construction
• Consulting
• Cosmetics
• Entertainment
• Energy
• Food & Beverage Distribution
• Furniture & Housewares
• Graphic Design Companies
• Healthcare Centers
• Import/Export
• Janitorial & building maintenance
• Landscaping
• Manufacturing
• Media & Communication
• Metals & Mining
• Modeling agencies
• Printing, Publishing Services & Paper Suppliers
• Professional services
• Medical Sales
• Security guard agencies
• Service Industry
• Software Industry
• Technology
• Telecommunications
• Transportation
• Staffing Companies & Temporary Personnel Agencies
• Wholesale Distribution

This blog is brought to you by the Moss team at http://www.moss.liquidcapitalcorp.com/, check them out for all of your alternative financing needs.

In our last blog post we gave you some tips on the interview and different types of questions that can be used to gain the best insight into the candidate.  Once you have done the pre-screening and the interview, you hopefully have one or more candidates that would be suitable to your position.  Some employers neglect to do a reference, particularly if the candidate does well through the rest of the process.  It is important to learn from past employers how the candidate actually performed in their previous employment(s).

It is also important to ask the right reference questions.  According to HR careers.com, the top 10 questions to ask are:

1. Verify the candidate’s dates of      employment, title, and role.
2. Is the candidate eligible for      rehire? Why or why not? What was his reason for leaving?
3. Determine the candidate’s      advancement in the company; did she receive any promotions or demotions,      or did she remain in the same role throughout her tenure?
4. What was the candidate’s      beginning and ending salary? How often did the candidate receive salary      increases?
5. What kind of duties and      responsibilities were assigned to the candidate? Did he complete them      satisfactorily? Did he go above and beyond what was required of him      without being asked?
6. What were the candidate’s      strengths as an employee? Would you describe her as a hard worker?
7. Ask the reference to evaluate      the employee’s performance the tasks likely to be assigned in the new      position.
8. Was the employee punctual? Were      there any issues with tardiness or absenteeism?
9. Did the employee get along well      with her peers? With managers? With customers?
10. Is there anything else I should      take into consideration before I hire this candidate?

Personally when I’m doing a reference check the single most revealing question I have asked is “Would you rehire them?” The answer to this question can give you great insight into how the previous employer truly feels about the person.  Even a hesitation or well worded avoidance can be a great tell.  Often it’s what they don’t say that matters.

I wish you luck in your search for the best employees, and success in your business.

In our last blog post we gave you some tips about pre-screening candidates for your job posting.  By pre-determining the skills required, reviewing resumes and cover letters to find those that stand out amongst the rest and by a simple telephone interview you can save yourself time and money spent to bring people in for an interview.  These steps can help ensure you have the best candidates coming in for the interview.  You want the best candidates, not just any candidates.

Once you have done your pre-screening and have selected your candidates for the interview, it’s important to consider what questions you will ask to gain as much insight as you can.  There are several different types of interview questions that employers can use, often a combination get the best results.

Types of interview questions:

1. Opening questions – these are generally open ended questions designed to set the interviewee at ease and get them talking about themselves.  Questions such as “Tell me about yourself” or “What skills and experience would you bring to this position” get the person talking and providing some general information about themselves and their history.  These are often used at the beginning of an interview and are great icebreakers, but are not the best indication of how well they have performed in past or will in future.
2. Technical questions – these questions are designed to determine the candidate’s level of knowledge and whether or not they have the relevant training, education and experience to do the job.  These questions are important particularly if the position you are hiring for requires a specific trade or skill.  If the position requires less technical expertise these questions may be more general, such as experience handling cash, working with simple computer programs, etc.  Technical questions are important in any interview, they help you select the person with the experience most suited to your position.
3. Situational questions – these questions are one way to determine how well someone may perform, and are based on asked a question about what a candidate would do in specific situation.  These are hypothetical however and aren’t as good of an indicator of what actions they have taken.  These questions would work well if you are hiring for a position where the candidates have no work experience.
4. Behavioural questions – these questions are in my opinion the best way to determine how well a candidate will perform in future.  With behavioural questions, the interviewer asks what the candidate has done in a specific situation and typically for a specific skill set.  For example, if the interviewer is looking for communication skills, a question may be “Tell me about a time where you had to communicate to a customer under difficult circumstances, specifically what did you do to turn the situation around?”  It is said that past behaviour is a great indicator of future behaviour.

With this type of interview question, it’s important to know the S.T.A.R method ( Also – See more at About.com):

Situation Use: specific details about a situation or task
Task: Tell what led to the situation or task
Action Taken: Discuss what you did and who was involved?
Result: or outcome Communicate the outcome?

For some commonly used sample questions:

From UBC: commonly used questions

From Jobsearchonline BC: Sample questions

From emurse.com: “A complete list of behavioral interview questions”

You can use a combination of different types of questions in an interview, in fact, it’s been my experience that it’s most effective to do that.  I personally use Opening, then behavioural, then technical questions when interviewing candidates for positions.

For tips on referencing, see our next blog “Part 3 of 3: How to get the most out of your interview process – the reference

This blog is brought to you by the Moss team at http://www.moss.liquidcapitalcorp.com/, check them out for all of your alternative financing needs.

For small business owners who are expanding their business and now need employees or even large companies who have many employees trying to get skilled, enthusiastic employees in the door can sometimes be a challenge.  Interviewing take a lot of time and many employers may take shortcuts when doing this, but to get the right people in the door this stage is imperative.

Some tips on the interviewing process (some resources from About.com):

• Pre-determine what skills required – Before even posting a position or looking through resumes it is important to think about what skills and experience you want in the person(s) you plan to hire.  Some companies already have established job profiles so this is easy.  If you are just establishing your business or if this is a new position being offered it is important to have a job profile created, complete with what the person will be responsible for and what skills and knowledge is required for the specific job.

• Sorting through resumes – review cover letters and resumes and choose those that really stand out from the rest.  A well written cover letter and resume is a good indication of the candidates writing skills.  How well someone showcases their skills, knowledge, experience and abilities in a resume and cover letter can be a good indicator of how well they show up on the job.

As someone who has done many interviews nothing annoys me more than a resume and cover letter that are out of date, full of spelling and grammatical errors or isn’t tailored for my specific job posting.  Recently I even had someone submit a cover letter with the wrong name and position.  That resume quickly found its way into the blue bin.  A resume is a good opportunity to demonstrate ones excellence, if they can’t be bothered to put any effort into it, then I can’t be bothered to consider it.

• The telephone interview (pre-screen) – this is a good way to eliminate anyone who is not qualified or suited for the position and takes a lot less time that the actual interview.  It also gives an indication of salary expectations and ensures nobody’s time is wasted if expectations aren’t compatible.  To short list your candidates, prepare a short list of questions you can ask over the telephone.

Once you have completed the above three steps you should have a solid list of candidates to invite for a more extensive interview.   The pre-screening process can take time but it is essential if you want the right people to work for you.  It also saves time in the long run, not bringing in every person who has applied for an interview.

For tips on the actual interview, see our next blog “Part 2 of 3: How to get the most out of your interview process – the interview

This blog is brought to you by the Moss team at ttp://www.moss.liquidcapitalcorp.com/, check them out for all of your alternative financing needs.

Many people think that motivating and inspiring are one and the same thing, or very closely interchangeable.  While both can bring forth positive results they are different.  Let me explain.

To motivate is to push yourself , move yourself forward to get something accomplished.  When you have mundane tasks to do and don’t feel like doing them, you may be motivated to complete these tasks to move on to more interesting things.

About.com defines motivation as “Motivation is defined as the process that initiates, guides and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. Motivation is what causes us to act, whether it is getting a glass of water to reduce thirst or reading a book to gain knowledge.”

To inspire isn’t just about getting something done, it’s about the spirit of things.  Being inspired may not produce quick results (or it may), it’s more about the sense of fulfilment achieved.

Inspiration can be defined as “Stimulation of the mind or emotions to a high level of feeling or activity (answers.com)” or “a sudden feeling of enthusiasm, or a new idea that helps you to do or create something (MacMillan Dictionary)”

According toilluminatingmind.net you know when you are inspired because…

•Life feels effortless.

•You have to hold yourself back from starting right now.

•Your passion burns steady, it doesn’t flatline.

•It occupies magnitudes of mental space, there’s no vacancy.

•You feel called to do this; the feeling comes from your core.

•You feel it in your bones.

While you want your employees and yourself to be self motivated and productive, to be inspired can bring your company to another level of success.  Inspiration is what has made some of the world’s biggest companies their greatest successes.  Next time you look at your business, your employees and even yourself ask yourself are they inspired?  If they aren’t, giving time for creative thinking may boost inspiration and success in your organization.

This blog is brought to you by the Moss team at http://www.moss.liquidcapitalcorp.com/, check them out for all of your alternative financing needs.

In a recent blog post I mentioned different ways for alternatively financing your business.  One of these ways is called factoring.  Liquid Capital is a company that offers this type of business and I just happened upon a great opportunity!

Liquid Capital is sponsoring a contest that a business owner can win up $100,000 to build their business with.  There is no purchase required; you simply fill out the entry form.  There is also an opportunity to get a bonus entry for recommending someone else in business, with no obligations.

When building your business it’s often hard to get the funds to bring you to the next level, with this contest you have a small chance of getting that capital without all of the hassle!

To check out the contest rules and details click here.

You never know where you can grow your business, and where the opportunities will come from.  I wish you luck and prosperity!

Find out more or to enter -

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Business-Sweepstakes/282172545179668

If you have tried the more traditional methods of financing with no luck, there are alternative methods of financing that may work for you.  Some of these options include:

Alternative  financing:

• Friends and family – When starting out on a new business or expanding your business sometimes the first place people will look is to their friends and family as investors or loan providers.  This may or may not work for you.  A benefit of this is that you have available money quickly and at a low interest.  The downside of this type of financing is the possibility this could put strain on or damage a relationship.

• Personal credit cards/ unsecured lines of credit – This is an option if you require a smaller amount while you build your cash flow, the downside being that you must qualify personally for these or have an established credit card or line of credit for your business.

• Accounts receivable factoring – This is a great option if you have accounts receivable outstanding or have just received a large contract that you cannot fulfil without financing.  The factoring company actually purchases the invoice from you and once the invoice is paid receives a percentage of the total.  If you are short on funds but have the opportunity to grow your business this can be the perfect solution. A client of Liquid Capital states “Turning to Liquid Capital was the best business decision we have ever made. Within a month of our decision to factor, we were set up and running.”

Sometimes traditional financing is either not available or not the best option.  It’s important to consider alternative measures that will help you grow your business quickly and without hassles.  To learn more about factoring and to solve your cash flow issues visit http://www.moss.liquidcapitalcorp.com/

This blog is brought to you by the Moss team at http://www.moss.liquidcapitalcorp.com/, check them out for all of your alternative financing needs.

Once you’ve decided to open a small business, there are a lot of things to arrange, one of the most important factors is the financing options available to you.  There are also times once you’ve started your business that you made have cash flow issues that require some sort of financing solutions. There are different ways of financing that can be considered.  Different types of financing include:

Traditional financing (From Articlesbase.com):

• Bank or Credit Union lending – this is the first place many business owners look, to their financial institutions that they already deal with for daily banking services.  These institutions may only lend money if you have assets or capital to “secure” a portion of the loan. The lending criteria for most banks are quite extensive and conservative.  If you don’t have great credit, assets and a stable, profitable business with a lot of capital this way may be harder to get, especially when you are starting out.

• Independent financing companies – these companies may have lower lending criteria but charge a larger interest

• Venture Capital/Equity financing companies – this is a viable option if you have equity in your home or business that you can lend against. They are largely capital based and expect high returns.

• Government grants/loans – Often the government has grants available when starting up new businesses, they have very good rates but are time consuming and limiting in their criteria.  There are also many hoops to jump through.

These options can work for you but are often heavily based on good credit standing, capital and assets and have many restrictions.  If you cannot get more traditional financing, there are alternative types of financing to consider.

See our next Blog post: Part 2: Alternative financing

This blog is brought to you by the Moss team at http://www.moss.liquidcapitalcorp.com/, check them out for all of your alternative financing needs.