Be Prepared: Business Edition

May 31, 2017 ~ Chantal Bechervaise ~ Leave a comment

Dealing with surprises is a part of life. Sometimes they are fun and a demonstration of how much those around you care about you, like a party. Other times, they can be rather tragic and stressful.

Some surprises, especially in business, can be just inconvenient though. To keep your business running all the time takes a lot of patience, hard work, and dedication, and that is when things are going your way. If something goes awry, you have to be prepared and be willing to respond dynamically to the problem. This sort of versatility is what allows businesses to weather the storms of the often tumultuous world of business.

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Easy Things You Can Do to Make Life Easier for the Finance Professionals at Your Office

April 24, 2017 ~ Chantal Bechervaise ~ Leave a comment

No matter which sector you work in, you’re probably at least somewhat familiar with the finance specialists at your office who work hard to make sure you get paid the proper amounts, receive necessary tax documents, and so on. Those people don’t have the simplest jobs, but there are things you can do to make their lives easier.

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Hiring Employees Abroad: The HR Manager’s Cheat Sheet

April 5, 2017 ~ Chantal Bechervaise ~ Leave a comment

When you run a business, there will be times where you need to position your brand in a foreign market. As your enterprise grows, you will no doubt want to target international audiences to make your brand the dominant one in the industry. Many successful companies from English-speaking nations have managed to do that. Examples include Microsoft, Ford, and McDonald’s to name but a few!

Aside from the obvious tasks of setting up local offices and organizing the distribution of your products and services, there is one thing you need to consider: staff. Unless you plan to export some of your existing employees, you’ll need to hire locals to work at your foreign bases. As an HR manager, you will want to make sure this process is as streamlined and straightforward as possible.

Keep reading to learn more about the art of hiring employees in foreign countries in today’s handy cheat sheet:

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How to Create an Effective Cell Phone Policy for the Workplace

March 29, 2017April 2, 2017 ~ Chantal Bechervaise ~ Leave a comment

Smartphones have become a ubiquitous part of our daily lives. They’re often the first thing we touch when we wake up in the morning and the last thing we look at before going to sleep at night. With these devices playing such an important role in our lives, it makes sense for your workplace to create a cell phone policy. An effective cell phone policy should balance your business’s needs with the needs of all employees.

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Don’t Trip Up! The Biggest Stumbling Blocks Affecting Businesses Today

March 20, 2017 ~ Chantal Bechervaise ~ Leave a comment

All business owners want to ensure that their operations are running as smoothly as possible. This is how you will reach optimum productivity and make the highest profits. However, lots of common stumbling blocks can create problems and keep you from reaching your peak performance as a business. With that in mind, I’ve taken the time to highlight some of the most common stumbling blocks today. I hope that reading about these eventualities will help you to make a plan and have contingencies in place. Once you have a plan in place, you should be able to navigate the minefield without stepping on a fuse.

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Lead Your Company Out Of A Crisis

March 17, 2017 ~ Chantal Bechervaise ~ Leave a comment

Doug Yakola has seen his fair share of companies in crisis during his time in business leadership. As the Chief Financial Officer of more than a dozen companies, he’s had several what he calls “boiled frog” moments. Companies, he says, are like frogs put in warm water that are slowly heated up. They often don’t realize that anything is wrong until the water’s boiling and it’s too late to escape. It isn’t necessarily down to bad management. It’s often just that the senior management team isn’t able to accept that the world has changed and moved on and their company hasn’t. The power of inertia can be strong in business.

Other companies get into a crisis by not focusing on the right data. They have the right idea, Yakola says, using data to help make decisions. But sometimes the data they are using is not useful when it comes to improving their revenue. Using the wrong data hamstrings companies and causes them to become less and less relevant to the needs of the market.

After having so many near misses himself, Yakola took a step back and asked how ailing companies can lead themselves out of a crisis. Here is some of his hard-won wisdom.

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Starting Your Own Business as a Senior

February 6, 2017February 6, 2017 ~ Chantal Bechervaise ~ Leave a comment

Do you have an idea for a business but are afraid that it may be too late in life to become an entrepreneur? Don’t allow your age to become a hindrance. There are lots of over-50s creating start-ups and, instead of worrying about this, you could be making a steady income. Starting a business later in life is particularly beneficial if you are missing the buzz of business after retirement, or if your income isn’t quite as high as it used to be.
So where do you begin? The fact that you are a bit older has its advantages in business as you bring valuable industry experience and contacts to the table. However, if you are starting a completely new venture, you will need to devise a business plan.