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How the Military Prepares People for Running a Small Business

Military veterans only make up roughly 7% of the general population (including retirees), yet 9% of businesses in the U.S. are veteran-owned. If you factor in businesses that are 50% veteran-owned that number jumps to 13%. These Census statistics highlight that veterans are about 45% more likely than non-veterans to start their own business.

Military veteran

For those who have been in the military, worked with service members or are a direct relative, this comes as no surprise. The special training and discipline veterans receive in the military prepares them for entrepreneurship. It also helps that there are franchise opportunities for veterans and special programs that can help prior military members realize their dream of being an entrepreneur.…

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Why You Should Consider Using AI in Your Marketing Strategy

Are you struggling to communicate with your customers at all times? Fortunately, artificial intelligence (AI) can help you to improve your marketing strategy. In fact, it is estimated that the AI market will have a $5.05 billion revenue by 2020, and is a factor that will dominate the marketing industry in 2017. So now is the perfect time to incorporate AI into your own strategy.

So what is AI?

The first thing to do is understand what exactly AI is. It sounds like some form of futuristic technology, but it is in fact not a new concept. In fact, the term was coined by Stanford researcher John McCarthy in 1956.…

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How 2 Kids And Working From Home Taught Me To Become A More Efficient Business Owner

At first, I felt euphoric.

It was 2012. I had ditched the 9-5 and I was my own boss. I no longer had to ask permission to leave work early and I could pick the kids up from school whenever I wanted.

But it didn’t take long for things to change.

Work from home issue

Sometimes I wasn’t putting the hours in when I should be. Other times I found myself pulling all-nighters and getting grumpy from the lack of sleep.

Something needed to change.

Pretty quickly, I realized that I needed to be more disciplined.

Here are 3 tips that taught me to become a more efficient business owner:

Tip 1: Set yourself a routine and stick to it

Most businesses have a normal working day, so why should I be any different?…

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How Can SMEs Thrive During and After Brexit?

Brexit has been one of the most important news items of the past 12 months, and whether you were for or against leaving the EU when the vote was held, chances are that as a business owner you have some concerns about how it will affect you.

Brexit

There has always been a saying in business however that every crisis brings with it its own opportunities – so can you really stand to benefit from the current volatility caused by the Brexit situation?

1. Leaving the Single Market

It remains to be seen how leaving the single market will affect different industries, but since Theresa May announced that that was the intention Britain would be going with – rather than trying to negotiate a deal where Britain left the EU but remained in the market – the pound has rallied somewhat.…

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Expanding your Business: 3 Things to Consider

Many business owners hear the term expansion and assume that we are talking overseas, and yet expanding even within the same town carries many different duties with it. For a start, there is finding the right property and deciding what makes it a good space to expand to.

New office space

There are different factors which will affect what kind of property you might want to go into, such as its location and proximity to conveniences for staff. This makes the building seem more attractive to staff and can help with longevity.

Buy or rent

When it comes to finding industrial property, you will need to think hard about whether to buy or rent.…

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How to Prioritise Employee Wellbeing in Your Business

Sometimes in the work place the wellbeing of employees is sacrificed in the flow of business. It might sound like something well out of your capacity, but it happens more often that you’d think and generally without anyone even realising. It’s important to stay aware of the spirit of your employees as, apart from the social and moral responsibility that comes with being an employer, maintaining a happy workforce is proven to improve your company’s performance and efficiency.

Employee wellbeing

What is employee wellbeing?

Employee wellbeing is, in its simplest form, all to do with how happy your employees are. There are many factors that could influence this, many of which are, obviously, out of your hands, such as their home and personal life, but employers are often unaware of just how much power they have over their employees’s happiness.…

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Could Mobile Phones Lead The Rise of The Cashless Economy in Africa?

The world is moving towards a global economy that deals less with paper and more digitalized data. Electronic payments have made substantial inroads among consumers in some developed countries, and many of these markets have been building the infrastructure for cashless transactions for a long time. However, even in the most cashless developed countries, such as the Netherlands, cash is still used in 40% of all consumer transactions.

Entrepreneur using smartphone

Trends in Africa

Africa is already leading the world in the use of mobile money, and its growth is accelerating with Internet penetration rising rapidly through mobile technology. In countries such as Kenya and Uganda, mobile-money accounts have become much more widespread than bank accounts.…

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Company Cafeterias Foster Healthy Eating Habits

You are what you eat. Unfortunately, a sizable portion of today’s workforce is going about their lunch breaks all the wrong ways and paying the price through lethargy, stress, and overspending. By implementing health-focused cafeterias in their workplaces, many employers could see a rise in productivity and overall well-being among their staff members.

Corporate cafetaria

Picture the typical lunch break for the typical office worker: it most likely involves someone ducking out for an hour and stopping at any number of fast food restaurants or microwaving a frozen meal for a quick, cheap, and satisfying bite. However, the momentary bliss of a greasy burger is negated over time by the cumulative effect of years upon years of fatty foods high in saturated fat.…

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Solving Bank Collection Compliance Issues For United States Financial Institutions

If you run or manage a financial institution, then you already understand how difficult staying ahead of collection compliance laws can be. Although staying compliant is not always an easy task, any mistakes can make it all but impossible for you to collect on delinquent accounts, and they can even result in legal problems.

Bank collection compliance

Taking the proper steps and following an effective plan can work wonders to keep your bank on the right track. If you are unsure of where to start, the following information will get you moving in the right direction. In addition to learning about the most common issues, you will also discover some of the top tactics that are used by industry professionals to keep their records and collection processes organized.…

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Property Management Industry Faces Drone Invasion: Why That’s a Good Thing

With drone technology having advanced to the point of offering an attractive alternative to human labour in industries ranging from defence to wedding photography, property management markets around the globe are bracing for impact.

But between government crackdowns and hidden costs, property management companies wishing to replace their human employees with robots have their work cut out for them. Let’s investigate the pros and cons of the drone use in this report.

What are drones?

The term “drone” is a catchall buzzword for most types of aircraft that can be piloted remotely. Drones are broadly categorized* on the basis of their standard usage, control methods and physical characteristics.…

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