Month: February 2021

The business management style you adopt will depend on the needs of your business, what motivates your employees, and your style of work. Therefore, you do have some flexibility when it comes to the choices you make and how you manage your business. However, there are some which you should always avoid due to the relationship they foster between employers and employees. 

Autocratic

This style of top-down management leaves all decision-making to managers and expects full cooperation from employees. Any sort of criticism from employees will be received with public disapproval. This management style relies on fear and guilt and seeks to micromanage employees rather than allowing flexibility. 

This sort of strategy limits innovation and inhibits employees’ loyalty and personal motivation to progress as employees do not share the company vision. 

Servant

This type of management values people first and tasks second. Overvaluing emotions and wanting to avoid conflict at all costs is detrimental to effectively completing work. 

This sort of strategy places no focus on success and goal completion. It can damage the business if performance is not to par and employees are not encouraged to do their best at the tasks assigned to them. 

These two management strategies sit on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to valuing employees. You should regularly make an effort to interact with employees and ask them for suggestions to improve company performance as collaboration can be extremely valuable. However, don’t get carried away in developing personal relationships with employees that can be detrimental to business success. 

Webinars are online conferences that have become much easier to host with technological advances. They are also cheaper and, if used correctly, can be beneficial for your business. 

Build brand authority and trust

Giving potential and current customers the opportunity to speak directly to you allows for transparency which can improve trust. During the seminar you can demonstrate your products and discuss your services and explain why they are better than competitors. Your customer interactions during these seminars will allow customers to ask questions to which you can provide insightful information and show your commitment to the business. 

Improve search engine rankings

Hosting webinars boosts your search engine rankings. Improving your rankings on a search engine can benefit your business as the higher you are ranked the more trusted you are perceived. Not to mention, you are seen by more people and this increases the likelihood of gaining customers.

Generate more leads

Webinars can help you get into direct contact with potential customers. Asking those who join your webinar to leave behind their email addresses if they want to work with you is a chance to form a community. 

Launch new products

Thanks to the development in technology, webinars can be highly interactive. You can host Q&A sessions and conduct demonstrations of new products to familiarise people with them before they launch. 

People often perceive asking for help as a weakness, but sometimes, asking for help demonstrates strength. It shows self-awareness and a willingness to learn and grow. 

If you find yourself in the following situations, you should consider asking for assistance:  

You don’t know what you’re doing

This sounds straightforward, but if you’ve been given a task that you haven’t done before and you’re struggling, it is worthwhile to approach someone for assistance. You could ask your manager for clarification about the task, or some support in completing the task. There is no point in trying to repeatedly re-attempt the task if you have no idea what you are trying to achieve. This is not an effective way to spend your time, and you will end up stressing yourself out more than anything else. 

When there is too much work

Although well-intentioned, being overly enthusiastic about your work practices can cause trouble. Having too much work on your hands will prevent you from completing it to the best standard and leave you overwhelmed. In this scenario, asking coworkers to help you can seem as though you are shirking responsibilities that you chose to take, but it is more likely that people have been in similar situations to you. However, make sure that the next time you take on more responsibilities, you don’t take on more than you can handle. 

When you make a mistake

It is inevitable that you make a mistake at some point – it is part of being human. But managing your response is where it counts. Rather than trying to sweep it under the rug, you talking to someone about how you could fix it is a much better response. You will not be the first person to make a mistake and there will be others after you that will make mistakes after you. 

n Australia-wide survey asked employees what benefits they would most want from their employers. 

The following are the top 10 benefits:

• Flexible working
• Discounts on electricity, gas and water
• Continued education options
• Petrol discounts
• Free meals
• Supermarket discounts
• Mental wellness initiatives
• Subsidised massages, yoga, and gym memberships
• Special company deals on loans, mortgages, health insurance
• Discounts on mobile phones and data services

Many of these benefits are difficult to arrange and may be costly. However, the top benefit desired by employees is flexible working, which small businesses can also adopt easily. 

Further, due to COVID-19, there are many more resources available to facilitate flexible working and it has become more normalised than ever. 

Offering flexible working will make your workplace more attractive to potential employees and increase the loyalty of current employees as they can work according to times that suit them.

Employers should also consider providing other benefits that are accessible to them – this will improve employee satisfaction and inevitably contribute to productivity in the workplace.

There are four types of partnerships. The partnership type you choose will depend on what best suits the partners involved. 

General Partnership (GP)

All partners involved will be equally responsible for the management of the business. Each member has unlimited liability (personally liable) for the debts and obligations that the business incurs. 

Limited Partnership (LP)

Liability of partners is limited to the amount of money they contributed to the partnership. Limited partners tend to be ‘passive’ investors who don’t play a role in the day to day management of the business. 

Incorporated Limited Partnership (ILP) 

ILP partners have limited liability for the debts of the business. However, there must be at least one partner with unlimited liability. If the business is failing to meet its obligations, then the general partner (or partners) will become personally liable. 

Choose a business by discussing what and how each partner can contribute. Based on this, choose a structure which accommodates these differences.