5 Reasons Why Pop-up Shops May Be The Future of Retail

Pop up shops stormed on to our high streets a few years ago. What some people thought would be a flash in the pan, a temporary answer to the temporary glitch in the economy, have stayed. Even as the economy looks to improve, the pop up shops has not quite seen its day just yet.

Pop-up shop

And no surprise when you consider the top 5 reasons why brands – established and start-ups – gain when they create a pop up shop experience for their customers. With branding and marketing material available at competitive prices from printers such as Colour Graphics, any sized business can successful revitalise sales and garner interest in their products with a pop up store.…

Continue reading

The Holy Grail of the Modern Export World: Achieving the E-Star Awards

When a company is engaged in exporting, one of the highest awards it can win for its operations is the “E” and “E Star” awards. This award signifies outstanding growth of a company and is an honor commemorating success that has been achieved, as opposed to projected earnings or hypothetical success.

E Star award

The award is given by the President of the United States, and authorized by the Secretary of Commerce, and is meant to recognize businesses with outstanding growth in exports to other countries.

The History Of the Award

World War II gave birth to the idea of the “E” star award.…

Continue reading

Perfecting the Urban Office with Window Treatments

If one analyses most cities in the country, it might be difficult to comprehend just why so many offices decide to be located in such urban areas. They’re full of traffic, often away from major transport links and also happen to be mightily expensive. There might be a few generalizations here, but urban offices carry plenty of problems.

Downtown office

Nevertheless, most businesses have offices located centrally in a city. Therefore, we’re going to cipher through some of the common problems that these businesses face and how many of them can be solved through window blinds. Unfortunately, we’re no longer referring to the barrage of traffic that your employees may run into on a daily basis – but rather some of the problems that blight your office environment during the day.

Continue reading

UK Startup Paves the Way for Standardised Parking Spaces

The blossoming sharing economy owes much of its success to the simple fact that it connects and empowers people. With the consumer becoming an increasingly willing collaborative participant in the digital rental phenomenon, entrepreneurs have been quick to capitalise on the business potential of tackling everyday irritations.

Ferrari car park

From ride-sharing apps that put an end to cab-hailing, to online chore marketplaces that advertise local odd-jobs, it’s clear that technology is making our lives more convenient.

But as technology replaces old systems that simply relied on advanced planning, for example: booking a specific parking space through an online parking marketplace rather than hoping to find one in an area while driving, we can expect discoveries that highlight industry inadequacies.

Continue reading

The Modern Office: Dramatically Changing the Way We Work

Your grandfather’s office space resembled that of most working Americans, but today’s office and workday look much different. The modern office appears and functions differently and continues to evolve with technology.

Nomad office in Kuala Lumpur

For example, it would take days for inter-office communication to come to fruition, but today, with emails composed and sent in seconds, communication (with anyone in the world) moves much quicker. What else influences the modern workday and drives the dramatic change?

The Virtual Office

It’s surprising to businesspeople of earlier eras to realize that some of today’s entrepreneurs have businesses but no office buildings, and in some cases their employees live on separate continents.…

Continue reading

Three Workplace Safety Essentials

As an employer, you have a duty to keep your employees safe while they’re working for you. Much of this is about having common sense as everyone goes about their daily business, but there are a few things that you need to have present in just about any workplace to ensure that it’s safe.

Safety first

Here are three of the things you should check off the list the next time you review your safety credentials; many are legal obligations so it’s essential that you’ve got them.

Fire Extinguisher

In most places of work it is a requirement that you have the necessary fire-fighting equipment present and working at all times; after all, you never know when a fire might break out.…

Continue reading

Disruptive Marketing Trends Every CEO and CMO Should Follow

Running your own small business is no easy task. Not only do you need to know how a business works, but how to market and brand your business successfully. Computers were first intended for business use mainly to store data, and other information processing needs. This marked the start of the digital age. With the growing number of people using personal computers, business realized that there is a new emerging market.

Social media apps

After two decades since then it has become a must for every business to expand their marketing efforts online. In fact some business solely relies on online market. Many big companies would make major investments on online marketing campaigns to launch a product and promote their brand.…

Continue reading

What to Do with an Unwanted Property

The good news for property developers keeps coming as the most recent report from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) has found that the UK housing market is up over 12%. However, it’s not all positive news. The boom has created an increased competition amongst developers for buy-to-sell homes that has led to many investing in riskier ventures.

Abandoned barn

Risky Properties

The property market has long been seen as an ideal get rich quick scheme to outsiders of the trade. The previous boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s inspired a generation of Location Location Location viewers to dust of their tool boxes and get in on the action.…

Continue reading

5 Eco-Friendly Changes You Can Make to Your Office Space

A lot of business owners put off making eco-friendly changes to their office spaces and businesses because they believe that those changes are expensive. If we’re being totally honest, the actual implementation of those changes does usually cost money–sometimes a lot (like with the solar paneling we mentioned here). What makes that cost worth it, though, is the amount of money the change saves you over time. Many of the upgrades and changes you make really do end up paying for themselves.

Eco friendly light bulb

Here are five of those types of changes:

1. Install Eco Friendly Lighting

Did you know that CFL bulbs actually aren’t the most energy efficient bulbs out there?…

Continue reading

Modern Retail: Is Location Everything?

The retail industry has changed dramatically over the past 30 years. Stores are no longer gathered in downtown neighborhoods and rather than attracting people to the marketplace, out-of-town shopping malls must offer shopping possibilities and a broad range of eateries, from budget-oriented fast food to upmarket restaurants, as well as movie theaters and fitness centers. More recently, the future of these malls has been threatened, as an increasing number of consumers find it more convenient to shop online.

Berlin mall

What is the future for brick and mortar stores?

The death knell for actual physical stores, or ‘brick and mortar stores,’ has supposedly been sounded for many years now.…

Continue reading