Are You Driving Your Business Without a Helmet?

Business Safety

Not having a business plan, proper marketing strategy, and not conducting regular market research is akin to driving without a helmet—you are extremely vulnerable to any kind of fatality in case of any accidents; in this case, you are exposed to a lot of risks which otherwise, can be easily prevented.

Are You Driving Your Business Without a Helmet?

As everyone knows, you should wear a helmet while riding motorcycles. The same concept applies to business. Replace the word “helmet” with a business plan, contingency plan marketing strategy, capital, and market research. Now read the same sentence again.

Are you driving your business without a business plan?

Are you driving your business without a contingency plan?

Are you driving your business without a proper marketing strategy?

Are you starting your business without sufficient capital?

Are you driving your business without conducting proper market research?

Now you get the point. Here is why “driving” your business without a “helmet” is dangerous.

Having a Business Plan is Important for Long-Term Success

A business plan is an important part of starting a new business. The fact of the matter is that business plans can take up a chunk of your time. It requires research and getting your data right. While writing a business plan, you will likely come across a facet of your business that needs in-depth research. 

However, not every business person is sold on the usefulness of a business plan. Experts also argue that taking the time required to write a formal business plan leads to the startup process being delayed that cost valuable prospects for a small business. Studies have even found that there is no effect on the success rate. On the other hand, leading experts argue that entrepreneurs who take the time to write formal business plans are more likely to achieve success.

The point here is, the success rate doesn’t depend on your ability to write a business plan, it depends on your ability to drive business. Having said that, the process of writing a business plan helps you to straighten out your ideas; the research involved in the process helps you establish facts and figures and come up with something that is viable rather than a fantasy.

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How To Start a Residential Cleaning Services

Well, you will be actually surprised when you hear how much some people can be dirty! Well bachelors. Being single is the new thing in. People are taking care of their careers and soaring to heights (as you will too). And as the workload increases many of them don’t get time for cleaning their houses! Now, these people are desperate. They would readily shell up some moolah in order to get their place straight after a week of working/partying (Whatever, all you need is a dirty place to clean!) Now this is where you come in with your residential cleaning services.

Targeted at the elite/working class (aka desperate class for cleanup of household mess) of the human race, what you do is provide your cleaning maid/s for a fee to clean their messed up flat/house. Make sure they are not underage, and make sure they are registered and ok to work and that you follow your region’s labour laws to the fullest. We don’t want to end up in mess, do we? Ever watched Two broke Girls? Well the hot Russian lady ran a cleaning service. Just an example of how urban class is in need of such cleaning services..

Business Expertise

The first thing to keep in mind while opening this kind of business is that you should know how to clean a home professionally. You may have lots of experience in cleaning your own home, but when it comes to professional cleaning, it goes on another level altogether. Your clients will expect you to have some cleaning experience. Cleaning of a house involves cleaning of floor, bathroom, restroom, walls, carets, furniture etc. You might also want to consider the kind of equipments you may need: vacuum cleaner, brooms, cleaning agents, bleach, acid, etc for these purposes.

Legalities involved

Do proper research on your area’s required licenses, rules and regulations, employing of maids/labourers, what to charge and insurances. Age of your servants is a major criterion. You must understand that employing underage children (below 18 in India) is a crime. Having a proof of their age should be a top priority on your list. Also you must also get their police verification done. You don’t want to get involved in any police case due to your nature of work.


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Take Breaks for Better Efficiency

Human productivity is an important aspect of the modern world of business. This article is all about how businesspersons can become more productive when they take a break; as many as possible during work hours. Business energy efficiency is not only important for doing precision work but also for achieving a higher rate of efficiency.

Defining Productivity

Let’s define productivity first. Productivity can be defined in many different ways and one of the most popular quotes on productivity is by Paul Robin Krugman, a distinguished professor of economics and winner of Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. He says (The Age of Diminishing Expectations (1994)), “Productivity isn’t everything, but in the long run, it is almost everything. A country’s ability to improve its standard of living over time depends almost entirely on its ability to raise its output per worker.” Here note his emphasis on the individual worker.

According to Krugman, productivity is measurable and the metrics depend on the purpose.

Statistics on Taking Breaks

Invariably most industrial and business psychologist agree that pushing too hard does not necessarily improve productivity – taking a break often, on the other hand, is certain to bring about improvement though not everyone agrees on how many breaks or how frequently during working time. One thing on which everyone agrees is that taking a break away from a task that is defying solution will help to find a solution later.

Here is some statistical information:

1. Research has shown that sleep deprivation can affect office productivity. Researchers recommend that a midday break can help your brain to work better and in a more coordinated fashion.
2. Whether employers like it or not, workers take time off for rest; most often than believed. These rests are in disguised forms – doing non-core activities that require less concentration.
3. Researchers say that fatigue is controllable and can improve the networking hours of employees. They observe that: there was an improvement in productivity when the short breaks included stretching exercises.
4. Here is one from neuroscientist Mark Waldman, a reputed scientist and author of many books on training the brain for happiness and improving productivity. He says, “The research has found that taking breaks during each hour to consciously relax, stretch, meditate, or do something pleasurable–even for 10 seconds–will reduce stress, enhance your awareness, and significantly boost your concentration and productivity.”

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How To Prevent Document Leakage?

Information Leakage Prevention

“Data on 540 million Facebook users exposed”

“Adoption families hit by data breach”

“NSA contractor pleads guilty to data theft”

“An HIV data leak has left a community in fear”

“Internal database of B&Q was accessible to the world – no password required”

It is headlines like these that strike fear in our hearts.

Data leakage is not an annoying thing anymore — like when a salesperson might take a customer phone number list or maybe a manual. Now employees and hackers alike can access the whole list, trading history, financial contracts, emails, phone numbers, product blueprint, credit card information, customer data, competitive analysis, product documentation—the list goes on.

Information leakage is one of the most pressing problems for government organizations, startups and established business alike. It poses a threat especially if the documents you have are of a sensitive nature (blueprints, credit card information, customer data, trade secrets, financial statements, etc.) Oftentimes, the enemy is within the walls of the company. However, in some cases, breaches occur when a third-party provider is involved, allowing the leakage of sensitive data.

For businesses to protect themselves, they must establish a framework like information leakage machine learning, so that it will detect leakage itself without much intervention. Develop a data leakage prevention strategy and apply best practices for document compliance. It should address security policies which helps protect information shared with third parties. It is at best, a balancing act. Follow the tactics listed below to lessen the challenge:

• Rank all business processes involving the flow of data outside the organization according to the level of risk posed to identify threats.
• Define security policies for all types of documents.
• Provide a two-factor authentication to protect against password theft.

Any business today run a high risk of exposure through data leakage. There are several ways to keep your business data protected and secured.

1. Categorize Critical Data and Utilize a Data Loss Prevention Software

There are some steps to it. First, businesses must recognize own critical data. They must be able to identify it and be able to classify it according to its criticality.  Businesses must know how to utilize data loss prevention software (DLP Software) to protect any sensitive information. Depending on the industry, this could be blueprints, credit card information, customer data, trade secrets, financial statements, etc.

A thing to note — DLP software relies heavily on proper organization of data. Businesses should have a data protection strategy in place, mainly targeting sensitive documents and the way they are handled. Data leakage prevention best practices should be discussed well before the inception of the business itself — that’s how important data prevention strategy is.


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How to Properly Start a Business?

Starting a Business

Starting a business involves meticulous planning, making important decisions regarding capital and finance, and going through legal paperwork. Read on to know about the steps involved in starting a business venture

1.Conduct a Well-Thought-Out Market Research

Got an idea? Well-Conducted market research will tell you if there is a need for your product/service or whether there is an opportunity to turn your idea into a successful venture. Market research is a way to identify potential customers, competition, deciding a location for your business and to find your niche. You can use that information to find a competitive edge for your business and make it stand a cut above the rest.

Market research is a way to look at consumer behavior across channels and observe current trends to come up with plans to improve and tweak your business idea around the findings. It is crucial that you understand your customer base from the start. Market research is one of the best ways to reduce risks, which is why you should invest in it. Its ROI is immense. Gather information to better understand opportunities in your area of interest and also the amount of competition you face. Is there a scope for your idea in the market? What is competition? And more importantly, what are the limitations? Gather data on target customers, their age, financial status, interests, and anything that is relevant for your business.

Good market research covers the following:

• Demand: Is there a demand for your product/service?
• Market size:what is the potential size of the market?
• Interest: How many people would be interested in your product/service?
• Economic indicators: What is the financial status of the consumer demographic you are targeting? What is their employment rate?
• Location: Where are your target customers located?
• Saturation:How many similar businesses are operating?
• Competition: Are their offerings better than yours? Where does your idea stand in the competition?
• Pricing:What is the price point and how can you price your product/service competitively and yet stand to make a profit?

You can do market research yourself or approach a market research consultant. There are many Market Research Firms in India whom you could approach.


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5 Signs Your Business Needs Advice in the Right Direction

Business Tips for Success

There comes a point in every entrepreneur’s life when they must answer a serious question: “Is my business headed in the right direction?”

The planning phase of a business is of the utmost importance—whether you are in the pre-startup phase, opening another office location for your business, starting a new project with a new client, or upgrading your service.

Without a plan, a business is like a ship without a rudder. Sometimes, people need the advice to steer the business in the right direction. This is to make sure that the overall business is following a growth-focused trajectory.  Strategic planning is absolutely critical. It is one of the signs of a successful business. However, as much as entrepreneurs know that they need to plan ahead for their business to be successful and approach a business advisor, many of them don’t undertake the strategic planning sessions that are required to run a successful business as often as they might need.

So, how do you know if your business is headed in the right direction? How do you know that you need business startup advice and need to approach a business development consultant? What signs should you be paying attention to indicate that your business needs a facelift and is in dire need of some work? Here are five telltale signs.

1. You’re Losing Existing Customers

If your business is losing existing customers, especially the ones that have been loyal to you, it’s a sure shot sign that something is amiss in your business. It is time to hurry to the business advisor and see what needs to change in the way you are running your business. Either, you are pursuing the wrong demographic, or you are not focusing enough on the customer experience. Either way, it’s important to determine why the customers are leaving you for other businesses so that you can retain your customers.

2. Your Employee Attrition is High

Are you suddenly losing more employees than usual? Or maybe, your employees are less enthusiastic about their work and are less engaged in the workplace leading to a lack of productivity and burnout. Whatever the case, you need to look into it and need to determine why employee morale is low in the workplace. To increase employee engagement, you may need to implement employee wellness programs or processes that help forge an amazing office culture, attracting and retaining the best of talent. Strategic planning will help you in the process and achieve success. Or you could consult top management consulting firms to identify what measures you need to pursue.

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How Do Investors Find The Right Startups?

Startup Investors

Each and every year we see a lot of new startups emerging and make it successful while few have blink and miss appearance. Startups are always on the lookout for investment for their ideas and products. Investors are looking to invest in startups even though the stats state that more than 50 percent of small business fail in the first four years.

An entrepreneur wonders where they can find the right investor for the idea, but the truth is the right startup is able to garner the attention of the investor if they have the right idea.

The success of a startup is very opinioned and dependent upon the type of industry and business involved. Even though investing in startups has its share of risk but definitely, growth is one major aspect to invest. Here are a few reasons investors find it their money’s worth to invest in a startup.

1. The Product

The product is an important aspect when an investor looks to invest in a particular business. What is the potential market for a particular product? How is the product going to make an impact in the market? How much traction the product/service can bring in? What is the market size of the product/service? All these points interest the investor while finding the right kind of startup to invest.

2. Investors see if the Business is Scalable

Scalability is yet another factor that an investor searches for when asking a decision to invest. A scalable business depends upon the market size of the product/business. Only a high growth and scalable business are able to give the 10 times the return on investment.

3. The Timing of the Product

Investors analyze and keenly follow the market trends, as well as the wider economic condition before making an investment decision. When they feel that the product rises at the right time and is able to occupy a large market share they deem it the perfect product/service to invest.

4. Competition

Competition for the product is a major force for an investor to make an investment decision. Whether a monopoly or a disruptive marketing strategy, the investor needs to have a strong belief that the product is going to work in the market.



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