Category Archives: Work/Life Issues

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How To Become Your Own Boss!

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For many, becoming their own boss is the ultimate goal in their professional lives (image: https://www.pexels.com/photo/apple-computer-desk-device-159886/)

Have you ever dreamt of finally running your own business? Do you take pleasure in the thought of being a leader and an inspiration to a workforce of your own? According to research carried out in the United States, the number of self-employed people in the country has grown by nearly 150,000 since 2014 to 8,751,000. In 2016 the number of startup entrepreneurs was 8,602,000. Eighty-five point seven percent of these new founders were over 40 years old.

With the number of people starting their own business growing year on year, now could be the perfect time for you to be launching your own startup. If you have become tired of working from the same office space for a firm that doesn’t fully appreciate your efforts and you can no longer stand the sight of your mediocre boss, it’s time for you to launch your own business venture. Here we tell you how!

Identify your niche and market

With the current marketplace being an extremely competitive one, you should know well what you are trying to achieve by setting up your own business. Understanding the product you will be offering and the audiences you will be targeting will be crucial aspects that you will need to figure out early on in the process. According to several studies conducted over the course of the last few years, 75 percent of venture-backed startups in America fail to see any success. The main reason for this is that the people behind these ambitious projects  underestimate the amount of time it takes for them to see new customers buying their products and services. If you would like for your company to be successful, don’t rush to quick conclusions. Start by writing a proper and carefully designed business plan.

Have an attractive website in place

No business will ever be successful if this doesn’t have a presence on the web. Whether your company sells flowers, books or trips to foreign countries, you need to ensure that its existence is well advertised both online and offline. In order to promote this on the internet, you will first and foremost need a good website that will attract your clients’ attention. The ingredients of a good site are for this to have excellent mobile compatibility, it being accessible to all users, information across it being displayed in a way that is understandable and relevant, having content that loads fast and having efficient navigation. Unless you have coding experience or have at one point designed a website yourself, chances are you will have little idea as to how to create a good and reliable website. If you would like your business to have the presence it deserves on the world wide web, get in touch with these software developers. They will do the job for you!

Market your business

Once you have identified who you will sell your products to and how you will present your business online, it is time to start thinking about marketing your company to the audiences you will be trying to engage. If you are at this stage, it is likely that you will have no or little money to devote to your marketing purposes, but don’t fret, there are myriad ways in which you can advertise your business with no proper funds in place. One of these methods is by having an appropriate social media strategy. Your company is likely to have stories to share on a daily if not weekly basis and the best way to grow your audiences is by making use of social media to drive traffic to your website. An effective social media strategy will see your site receive thousands of visitors every month and if your posts are catchy and contain attractive visuals, you will most likely have returning visitors who are eager to find out more about your services. Don’t be afraid to get your creativity going!

Running your own business is not something that is easy to do. It requires a lot of talent, hard work, determination and a positive attitude to embrace the obstacles that will no doubt pop up along the way. However, if you have the above and are able to commit to running your own business 100 percent, you could become one of the success stories that occur amongst the luckiest of startups in America every year. Put your thinking hat on, start working on that all-important business plan, have a website designed and market your business appropriately through social media in order for yours to become one of the best business ventures this year!

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The Pitfalls Of Doing It All

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Humans are limited. It’s not a malicious thing to say, it’s a cold, hard fact. We have boundless energy and endless potential, but we are limited. We start businesses with stars in our eyes rather than realities in our minds, and it’s for this reason that half of all businesses fail. It’s one thing to have an idea but when you are spending time ensuring that your idea is perfect and nothing else, then a business will collapse. Being a small business owner means taking on a lot of the tasks of your business yourself in the early days, and it’s an exhausting cross that you promise to bear because the early days never last. Or so you tell yourself.

The thing is, many small business owners try to take on far too much and they do not ask anyone for help. Which is a big problem. Having a ‘doing it all yourself’ mentality is a bold one, an admirable one, but it isn’t one that is going to sustain your company for long. Being a leader doesn’t mean doing it all, it means seeing where you can thrive and seeing where you are weak. When you can identify your weaknesses, you can capitalise on them. Being weak when dealing with IT systems means outsourcing to managed IT services. Having a weakness in marketing means outsourcing to a freelancer or a specialist company. Ask yourself how you are focusing in your business and whether you are doing the right thing with your tasks. Are you doing things because you have an interest in them or are you doing things because you feel you have to?

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If you are rubbish at managing finances, then surely making a point of managing finances for your business is an idea that just isn’t sustainable? Outsourcing to a finance company or an accountant isn’t a weakness. Instead, you’ve identified what you are not strong at and you’re bringing in someone who can do it for you. Trying to do it all yourself is only going to sacrifice quality in your business and make it hard for you to push your company to success. Investors and other companies want to see you do well, they want to bask in your successes. They don’t want to see you flapping around trying to be the best when you are unable to do more than the minimum.

Your business growth is crucial for your continued profitability and you cannot hope to grow a company when you are bad at the tasks that are necessary for success. You spend time hiring staff who are experts in their field for the pure reason that you are not an expert. Own that fact and show yourself how good you can be. There’s no need to worry about business failure if you are concentrating on what you CAN do, while asking others to do the things that you cannot. It’s a trait of a good business owner to be honest – be honest with yourself and do what you can do. Success will follow.

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Easy Self Care for Entrepreneurs

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You would be hard pressed to find a business owner who would disagree if you said starting a business takes up all your time. When you launch a business, and as you put your energy into growing it, it feels like you need to use every available hour of the day to increase your chances of success. While you might be thriving on the effort you’re putting into your work, spending all your time working isn’t a good idea. You need to look after yourself if you want to be healthy enough to run your business. A plan for self-care helps you stay on track.

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Get the Right Business Support

If you’re a solopreneur, you’ll be doing pretty much everything yourself, by definition. However, even someone single-handedly running a business can get help in the right places. The right support for tasks both big and small will stop you taking on too much. You might start off outsourcing some of your work to freelancers. As your business grows, you might require some supportive computer services for your office, and some permanent employees. No one can do everything entirely alone, so you should look for business services that can support you on your journey, from mentors to contractors.

Give Yourself a Routine

How often do you find yourself burning the midnight oil? While you sometimes need to work a late night or two, it’s not healthy to do it all the time. Being in control of your schedule is great too, but if your days are all over the place, it might not be doing a lot for your health. Setting up a routine for yourself could be what you need. You get to decide when you do what, but you can craft a routine that helps you meet your goals and stay on track each day. The good news is, you could work from noon to 8 pm if you wanted to, and fit everything else around your work.

Healthy Diet and Exercise

Busy entrepreneurs have a tendency to forget to look after themselves while they’re working. If you’ve ever looked up from your desk to realize you haven’t moved for five hours or eaten all day, you might need to give your habits a rethink. Eating healthily and getting plenty of exercise are both important if you want to take care of yourself. A good routine can help with these things because you can schedule your exercise and healthy meals every day.

Don’t Cut Yourself Off

Being an entrepreneur can be lonely. Even if you’re communicating with clients or people you work with, it’s not the same as socializing. Your business might need your attention, but it’s important not to neglect your social life. Getting out and meeting people is essential. It stops you getting lonely, and if you work at home, it makes sure you leave the house occasionally too.

Self care is often something you need to work at. Not everyone realizes that they need to take better care of themselves, so think about whether you’re looking out for your own needs.

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7 Signs Your Business Is Stuck In The Past

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When it comes to running a healthy and successful business, entrepreneurs have a variety of tips, from investing in team building to launching new products. Ultimately, your growth strategy is the result of a thorough market analysis and will naturally depends on many factors, including your competition and your in-house resources. However, there is something that all successful business owners can agree on and it’s the importance of an innovative business. While you may not need to create the product of tomorrow, you should at least make sure that your company is moving with the flow. Businesses that are built on obsolete strategies and processes are doomed to collapse soon or later. But how can you tell whether your company is too old-fashioning for its own good? Is keeping formal office wear a sign of living in the past or is it part of an expected business etiquette? As legitimate as the question is – especially when you come across so many trendy startups that value casual workwear – there are other elements that indicate it’s time to bring your company into the 21st century. Here are the top 7 things you need to change before it’s too late to maintain a running business.

IRL training is a waste of resources

#1. You still think training is a waste of money

If you still schedule days off-site for your staff training throughout the year, then it’s fair to assume that you might find it difficult to keep costs low. Indeed, the costs of travel can be significant, especially if you need to plan for an accommodation overnight and for meals. Naturally, you also need to make sure that your team can maintain a positive productivity throughout the training period, which means that you try not to send the entire team on training days at the same time. For small business owners, there is nothing worse than training as it can drain the budget very rapidly. Except that you’re doing it wrong. You could provide your staff with access to a digital training platform, such as eLearning to reduce costs. More importantly, this option lets your employees manage their training time as they see fit throughout the day. You’ll be surprised to find that most people choose to go through online lessons at night, in the comfort of their home. In other words, you’ll be saving money and productivity costs!

#2. You think flexible work means no work

You’re opposed to flexible working. You’ve always worked from 9 to 5 and you can’t see any reason why anybody would want special arrangements for their day. Unfortunately, strict working hours can damage the overall productivity of your team, especially as most people are trying to cope with personal appointments and schedule at the same time. If someone has to see the doctor, they need to take a day off. This isn’t practical. Flexible working options enable people to manage their day effectively. More importantly, flexible workers experience less stress, which means that they can focus better.

#3. You don’t look for smart health management solutions

Most companies have fixed health management solutions, including paid sick days and health insurance. However, a proactive approach, such as the one here, can help businesses to keep track of employees’ health and ensure that the team can get a 24/7 access to a network of certified doctors for online appointments. People who are more sensitive to stress, for example, could benefit from real-time telephonic coaching as they need it. The bottom line is that one solution never fits the variety of individuals in a company. It’s foolish not to look after your employees, as they are, after all, your most important asset.

#4. Your administration is paper-based

You have a paper archive that you keep on shelves by your desk. From an environmental point of view, you might be killing entire forests with your printing habit. More importantly, paper documents are not practical in a modern business situation. Imagine paper)based patient records in a hospital, for instance. The documents need to be archived in a searchable manner, which requires additional costs for cross-indexing and labeling. Additionally, if a record is misplaced, it’s the entire history of a patient that disappears, which could lead to costly mistakes, especially if the hospital can’t find any record on the patient’s allergies to medication. In other words, as long as you don’t switch to a digital archiving system, you might be putting your business at risk, and potentially other people too.

#5. Your customers can only contact you by phone or email

Young customers like interactive business communications. Most Millennials turn to social media to for their customer service complaints and queries, which can lead to negative reviews if your business is too slow to pick them up. Additionally, web visitors might need real-time answers, especially if they’re shopping online. A chat function on the website can ensure that your visitors can find the answers they need to commit to purchase. If they need to call your number to find out more, it’s likely that they will buy from a competitor.

Customers connect on social media

#6. Millennials don’t stay

Millennials are often described as the job-hopping generation. In fact, 60% Millennials are open to a job opportunity at any point in time. If you can’t keep young adults in your company, you need to realize that people leave a business that didn’t meet their requirements. What do Millennials want? They want recognition for their work, especially in a cross-generational team. They also want to be listened to, through a feedback loop. Their opinions matter as their the largest population in the workplace.

#7. You don’t want a content marketing strategy

Finally, if you don’t update your website regularly, you are missing out on an effective content marketing strategy. From keep up with the market innovation to remaining visible to your audience, content creation is at the core of your digital presence. If your website doesn’t have a blog part or if you don’t join hot topics on social media, your business will become irrelevant to your target.

From digitalizing your processes to understanding the needs of your employees, it’s time to kickstart your business rejuvenation project if you want to secure your survival on the market.

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Do Unto Others: Happiness in Helping

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Helping other people is the noblest of causes. Taking time out of your day to help friends, family, and strangers is something that we all tell ourselves we will do, but so few of us actually do. But the opportunities are out there, no matter where in the world you may live.

There are a plethora of options available for those who want to do more to help their fellow humans. Enriching other people’s lives will help them, as well as yourself. The positive effect that philanthropy has on our mental health is well documented, and so, in a world awash with inequality, doing your part to aid the less fortunate is something that will benefit everybody.

SOCIAL WORK

Going into the world of social care is an admirable endeavour. Often, you are working with those who have mental health problems, the poor, and sometimes the dangerous. Before starting, it is wise to look into obtaining an online MSW, to adequately prepare you for what many believe to be a thankless occupation.

Only, it isn’t a thankless occupation. There will be times where you get screamed at, called names and generally treated not very nice. But keeping your head up and knowing that you are doing this for the greater good is a reward all in itself.

VOLUNTEERING

Work for free, are you mad? No, actually, not at all. Volunteering can be done anywhere, anytime, whether it be at an animal shelter, homeless shelter or ever travelling abroad to build a school in a third world country.

Sure, you don’t get paid, but that isn’t the point. You are in this to help others, not boost up your bank account. You can find local or worldwide volunteering networks online with a quick search and start to give back. Along the way, you might be surprised at what wonderful, interesting people you meet and gain a broader perspective of the world. While you may not be rich in cash, your wealth will be overflowing with good vibes and experience.

DONATIONS

If you don’t have the time to volunteer or obtain a new qualification, you can always find the time to donate to local or national causes. Organisations such as charities are the obvious option, but also consider food banks and clothing donations.

Furthermore, you can set up payment plans to donate to wildlife or environmental conservation, as well as medical research to battle the most devastating of diseases. It doesn’t matter where you donate to, as long as you do it. Although, some charities are less transparent than others, so it pays to do your research and ensure your money is going where you want it to.

The happiness to be found in helping others is unlike any other sort of happiness in life. Taking just a bit of money out each week to help save the planet or those in need, donating old clothes that otherwise would rot in the attic, or going that extra mile to engage and support are all admirable. You have been gifted with a good life; it’s not too much to ask to help make someone else’s life just as good, also.  

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Balancing The Work/Life Scales

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Most of us know about the importance of work/life balance. But, in the modern age of online business and smartphones, many of us are moving further away from the possibility. Instead, we hook our email accounts to our phones and open them as soon as we receive correspondence. We head online to check business social media and such. Before we know it, work eats into our free time.

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And, of course, this works both ways. Some people have taken the work/life balance to the extreme, and their work has suffered because of it. If you let your personal life into the office, it can’t be any surprise when your concentration isn’t as good as you’d like.

If you think you’ve fallen foul to either of these traps, it’s time to rebalance those scales. And, here are a few simple ways to do it.

Separate accounts for everything

In an age where many of us are responsible for our earnings, it’s increasingly tempting to merge accounts. Freelancers or business owners may decide to use their personal email for work. And, the same can be said for phones. Only having one is much more straightforward, after all.

But, these choices can prove catastrophic to that all important balance. After all, you won’t be able to log onto your email of an evening without dealing with business correspondence. And, when you take your phone along for business calls, a few personal ones are sure to slip through.

So, think twice before attaching your business email to your old Hotmail account. Instead, look into the separate business accounts offered by packages like Microsoft 365 Business. And, stock up on a phone just for business. You don’t have to go all out with this, as you’ll only be using it for necessary research and calls.

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Don’t take work home

If you’re in the habit of taking work home, stop. You may think it’ll only take a second to update the business Twitter page, but that’s rarely the case. The chances are that you’ll spend hours replying to customer comments. Instead, leave your business laptop at work. Try, too, not to memorize passwords. This way, there’s no chance of logging on at home. As such, you’ll be able to sit back and relax. If you never give yourself this downtime, you could easily damage your health, or burn yourself out. Then, you wouldn’t be able to work at all!

No personal correspondence through the day

And, remember, this works both ways. Don’t log onto your personal email account during the day. Doing so will only take your head out of the game, and leave you behind. And, when we’re behind, we’re more likely to slip into taking work home with us! For the same reasons, you should always avoid taking your personal phone to your desk with you. Leave it in your coat pocket if you want, or leave it at home. If you have your work phone to hand, going without shouldn’t be a problem.

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There’s Gold In Them There Hills: Finding Income From Property

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As you get older, it becomes clear that to really secure your future and live comfortably, one job might not be enough. Those with real financial smarts look for other ways to find income. A second-job is one of the most time and energy inefficient ways of doing it however and just isn’t healthy for most people. Could property be the answer you’ve been looking for, instead?

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Becoming Mr. (Or Mrs.) Landlord

By far the most common thought when it comes using real estate as a source of income is to buy-to-let a property. It’s an industry as old as time and with more people turning to rental properties rather than buying homes straight-up, it’s a growing field with opportunities still out there for the taking. However, how profitable it is depends on how hands-on you are willing to be with it. You have responsibilities as a landlord that have to be fulfilled somehow. You can take care of maintenance, repair, advertising, and finding tenants yourself at little cost. Or you can choose to partner up with an agency that can do much of the heavy lifting for you. If you go down the latter route, make sure you get a thorough idea of how the agency works, not just in advertising, but the quality of tradesmen they use for repairs and so on.

In the biz

You don’t have to rent out to private individuals, either. Depending on where you are and the increase in new business, you could make more money per square foot by renting out space to business owners, as well. There’s a new industry growing around this as well. If you’re willing to run the building like a business and be thoroughly involved in its upkeep, you could run your own co-working space. Many freelancers and small teams that can’t afford their own property will instead come together to share a single working space. As a property owner, it offers you a broader market to target instead of relying on one income source.

Life’s a beach

The final rental property we’re going to look at is the idea of buying a vacation home. Vacation homes are significantly higher value than most other kinds of property. In time, its worth will likely increase so you can always rely on the fact that you can sell it even if it isn’t making much of a return through rentals. As popular as vacation homes can be, after all, they are largely dependent on the calendar. Most will not make even a fraction of what they earn when it’s “in season” for tourism in that particular location. Then again, there is the added perk of owning your own vacation home to use as you like.

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Good soil from growing

It’s not the most traditional option nowadays, but once upon a time land was most valuable because of the income that could be made from farming. There are still plenty of teams like Ranch Marketing Associates, LLC selling high-quality ranches that could end up being a valuable enterprise in their own right. There are more ways to make money from a ranch than by raising livestock or planting crops, however. You can run businesses on the side such as using it a tourist destination, using it to care for horses or rent them out for rides. If the land is picturesque, then that’s plenty of profit potential there alone. Don’t underestimate the value of good rural land.

Land with value

In general, don’t underestimate the value of land itself. When people think of real estate, they think of buildings, but sometimes the land can be significantly more valuable. If you’re able to get your hands on a large portion of land in the right place, it could be one of the most passive, hands-off forms of income you might ever find. As BWAB says, your mineral rights alone could make you a lot of money from oil and gas companies. Then there are other ways your land might be valuable such as logging offers if you own woodland or selling it to a real estate developer down the line. Of course, it’s not a good idea to buy land based on the speculation it might one day be valuable. It’s better to choose land that already has value, such as a ranch, with the knowledge that the volume of land might provide extra value down the line.

From flip to flip

Flipping houses is a high-risk, high-reward way to invest in real estate. It’s all about purchasing homes at well below market price, developing them, and selling them for a significant profit. Becoming a real estate developer takes a lot of work, so it’s not likely to be a side-gig or an extra source of income as opposed to a particularly lucrative main source of income when you get it right. But you have to know not only how to add value to a property or negotiate. You have to know the market with pinpoint precision, being able to tell which markets are up-and-coming and which potential buyers they best appeal to and how to target them.

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Get those dividends

Most of the examples above demand that you think of real estate not like any other investment, but rather like an asset that you use as a tool to make money or that you improve before selling. However, another way of taking a hands-off, passive income approach to real estate is to use investment platforms like Realty Shares to join up with other investors and developers. Rather than being responsible for the property yourself, you use some knowledge of the market to choose the right investments, often providing capital to a developer, and hoping for a return. Some people see it as a riskier move to make yourself less responsible for the property, but it’s a good option for those who don’t want real estate to take up too much of their time.

There are a lot of ways to supplement or even get your base income from property. Renting might be the most commonly used option, but it’s not the only one. Real estate is a broad market, with plenty of opportunities for enterprising minds. Could it be the revenue stream you’ve been looking for? Could it be where you thrive?

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10 Ways Your Job Could Be Damaging Your Health

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Your day job is more dangerous than you may realise. Whilst you may not have the imminent dangers that a firefighter or bomb disposal technician faces, there may be more long-term and hidden health risks within your line of work. Here are just a few ways that you could be doing damage to your health in the workplace and how to minimise this harm.

Sitting down too long

Got a nine to five desk job? Sitting down all day could be doing all manner of physical harm to your body. Too much sitting down can waste away the muscles in your stomach and cause you to get overweight. Those craning over a desk meanwhile can cause damage to their spine and neck over time, whilst constantly bent knees can lead to these joints getting affected. Physical inactivity all day meanwhile has been linked to cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure.

There are ways to combat some of these health risks. The simplest solution is to force yourself to get up more. This could include putting a phone on the opposite side of the room so you have to get up to answer it. There are even standing desks, which can allow you to use your PC whilst standing up. Another option could be to simply exercise more out of work hours. If you commute to your workplace by car but live nearby, you could even try walking or taking a bike. There even options whilst you’re at work – deskercises are exercises that can be performed behind a desk that allow you to stay active and can combat all the various health risks of sitting down all day. There all exercises out there for people with driving jobs that may see them sat behind a wheel all day.

Standing up too long

Those that don’t have a desk job and are constantly on their feet may also be putting their bodies at risk. Too much standing up can cause excess pressure on the hips, knees and ankles. This has been linked to musculoskeletal disorders such as heart diseases. Like sitting down all day, it can also cause heart problems.

Whilst these jobs may not give you the option to sit down frequently and take a break, there are still ways to limit the physical damage. Wearing comfy orthopaedic shoes can relieve the pressure on your joints. There are shoes in all professions that can ease this pressure. Heels are definitely not recommended for a job that requires you to be on your feet all day – these will speed up the damage to your joints. Taking the pressure off your feet whilst not at work can also help give your joints a rest (you can still do sat down exercises!).

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Noise exposure

Many jobs can leave workers exposed to high levels of noise which can cause hearing loss. Whilst some workplaces have to provide ear protection by law such as airports, construction sites and shooting ranges, other workplaces such as nightclubs and busy pubs don’t. Wearing ear protection is advised in any job environment which regularly exceeds 85 decibels, which includes nightclubs. If you don’t want to wear earplugs, you should at least consider taking a noise detox after every shift (i.e. not playing music loudly in your spare time or going to noisy places). This will give your ears time to recover and potentially allow damaged cells to rebuild.

Poor lighting

Working in a dimly lit environment can put a strain on the eyes and cause damage to your vision. This is especially the case with tasks that involve reading or looking at something closely. Contrasts in lighting can also be bad for the eyes. For example, staring at a bright computer screen in a dark room can cause strain.

Make sure that there’s always sufficient lighting in the work environment. As for computer screens, programmes such as Flux are useful to download, matching the lighting on your screen to the time of day to minimise the contrast. Try to minimise screen glare from the sun in summer as this too can cause eye strain.

Repetitive motions

Many jobs can cause people to develop repetitive strain injuries resulting in joint diseases such as tendonitis and arthritis. The most common RSI (repetitive strain injury) is tendonitis in the fingers as a result of too much typing on a keyboard. Many manual labour jobs may also come with their own unique RSIs.

Most of these repetitive strain motions aren’t easy to pick up until body parts start hurting. In cases, such as typing, it may be difficult to regularly take a break. There are programs out there such as Albion StopNow which can tell when to take breaks from typing to protect your joints. These breaks could be used to do other jobs such as using the phone, researching – or even doing some deskercises!

Poor air circulation

Poor air circulation indoors can lead to respiratory diseases such as asthma. With nowhere to escape dust and vapours from chemicals are more likely to enter the lungs and cause damage. Unclean air conditioning meanwhile can cause serious health problems and has been linked to the deadly lung disease Legionnaires.

An easy way to combat poor air circulation is to always keep the workplace well ventilated by keeping a window open. If the office faces a busy road, it could be worth fitting an extractor fan instead – this will stop pollutants from outside getting in the office. Air conditioning units meanwhile should be regularly cleaned out to avoid dust and dirt building up in them. Professionals can be called in to do this job.

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Unclean equipment

Many tools in the workplace can get regularly handled but never cleaned. These tools can often end up carrying bacteria which is spread amongst colleagues. This can cause illness to be easily spread. A common culprit is computer keyboards. All it takes is someone who is ill to sneeze on a keyboard and for another colleague to then use it. Computer keyboards meanwhile have been found to carry other bacteria as a result of crumbs falling between the keys and going mouldy, consequently causing illness.

It’s worth always giving such equipment a quick clean. It may even be worth giving your keyboard a deep clean once a year by taking all the keys off and wiping beneath. You can buy special cleaning kits for these items.

Chemical exposure

You don’t have to work in a scientist’s laboratory to handle chemicals. Many workplaces use chemicals for cleaning, although may not always use correct health and safety precautions. These chemicals can cause reactions in some cases that may result in rashes or respiratory problems.

You should always refrain from mixing cleaning chemicals and ideally use gloves when using such chemicals to prevent rashes on the hands. COSHH offer various health and safety laws concerning the use of chemicals – it could be worth talking to your employer if you do not think these rules are being put into place.

Too much coffee

Okay, so few jobs require employees to drink coffee. However, for many a regular cup of coffee comes part and parcel with the job. Too much caffeine however can cause high blood pressure, which can contribute to various cardiovascular problems. It can also cause dehydration and insomnia.

Try drinking less coffee throughout the day and more water. Whilst this may not wake you up like a hot cup of Americano, it’s far healthier and good for your concentration. Herbal teas may be a solution for those wanting a hot drink that’s healthy.

Work related stress

Constant stress at work is thought to be as bad for your body as smoking. Stress increases the blood pressure and leads to all manner of cardiovascular problems (it’s thought to be one of the biggest causes of heart attacks). It can also affect sleep and digestion, whilst muscle tension from being stressed can cause the body to feel tired and achy.

If your job is stressful to the point of being unenjoyable, it’s generally a good decision to find another job – even if it is well-paid your health is more important. If you can cope with the stress and otherwise find your job rewarding, it could be worth focusing on different ways to relax in your spare time. Taking a bath at the end of each day, drinking herbal teas, listening to music and meditating can all relieve stress. You should also consider how you get to work – commuting for many can be a stressful process that can often be made less stressful by taking alternative transport or doing a relaxing activity whilst commuting.

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Converting Your Home To Business Premises: 5 Crucial Considerations

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When you’re in pursuit of turning your business dream into reality, you have to think big.

Successful entrepreneurs are all united by the driving force of their ambition. Faced with situations that others might dismiss as unworkable, true entrepreneurs are prepared to throw themselves full-throttle into trying to overcome the obstacles in their path– even if that means sacrifice.

Sacrifices Start At Home

One such sacrifice that many business owners find themselves contemplating is a need for business premises… and not having the funds to rent and outfit entirely new premises. It’s at this point that many entrepreneurs may decide to rein in their business plans, or do something different, but a good entrepreneur knows that there are always options to pursue. If their business absolutely needs premises, then they’re going to obtain business premises– whatever it takes.

Unfortunately, what “it” sometimes takes is the home of the entrepreneur. After all, their home is something they are already in possession of. It’s a physical space, with a backyard they can use for storage, and there’s an established gas, electricity, and water supply to the property. When evaluated from a business perspective, there’s plenty of benefits there to consider. It really might work.

The downside, of course, is that their home becomes their office, their workspace. They lose that thing so crucial to a good work-life balance; having their own space.

If you’re a budding entrepreneur who is struggling to afford premises, then you may find yourself considering converting an area of your home into office space. You may have wondered just how much storage you can fit in the backyard; and idly considered how you might need to adapt your property to suit business requirements. Would it be worth it? Is this a step you should take, or a terrible idea from the outset? Let’s dive deeper into the things you need to know when considering converting your home into your business premises…

Know The Difference: Working From Home vs. Premises Conversion

Many people assume that there is little difference between “working from home” and “converting your home for use as premises”. However, this is an oversight, as the differences are actually rather stark. Many people work from home; this requires no adaptation for the most part, just a working internet connection and a laptop.

Conversely, converting your home into business premises is far more detailed and laborious.

So you have to figure out which you really need. Here are a few circumstances in which converting to premises is suitable:

    • You need a space to host customers or clients. Most people who work from home don’t need this; if they do, on occasion, have to meet a client, they will arrange it at a local coffee shop/business venue.
    • Your business requires you to hold large amounts of stock. While it’s possible to run some small ecommerce-type businesses without converting your home, anything more advanced will require larger storage capabilities than the average home can hold.

 

  • You want to offer a retail space. Some people choose to convert an area of their home into a retail space. This happens for various reasons; not being able to afford conventional retail outlets, wanting to take advantage of a good location (for example, if their house is close to an area that receives a high volume of foot traffic) or just out of preference– it’s a pretty short commute if you live above the store, after all.

 

If you don’t need any of the above, then you don’t need to consider a full-scale conversion.

If, however, you do need premises for one (or more) of the above reasons, then read on.

The Legal Hoops: A Guide To Jumping Through Them

The process of converting your home for use as business premises is an extensive, time-consuming one, and the biggest time suck of all will be the bureaucracy you have to deal with.

There are so many different legal areas you need to consider prior to a conversion. Here’s a primer on the areas you will need to investigate, the companies you will need to contact, and the notification you will need to give to ensure your conversion is allowed:

 

  • Call your home insurance provider. If you’re going to change the nature of your dwelling, then your home insurance company needs to know. In all likelihood, you will require an entirely new home insurance policy; one that covers you for business as well as domestic use.
  • Call your local authority. This is particularly necessary if you’re opening up a retail space; you must have permission to trade from the local government. Obtaining this permission can be a long, slow process; you neighbors will have a right to register their displeasure at your plans, and you will need to prove you are insured for business usage and public liability.

 

  • Learn your codes. You’re going to need permission for a material usage change for your home from three coding sections: Zoning, Business Ordinances, and Business Licensing. Hopefully, your initial call to your local authority will have directed your queries in the direction of these offices, but you are responsible for checking this has happened.

If all of the above sounds worrying, well, that’s because it should be. This road isn’t an easy one, and it will take time to ensure you are fully compliant with local requirements. However, there are plenty of steps you would need to take to register for any business premises, so don’t be unduly deterred by the list above– just focus on the paperwork and make sure everything is in order.

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The Conversion Process: What Do You Need To Do?

When you’ve obtained all of the appropriate permissions, you now have to move into the conversion process itself. There are numerous areas you’re going to need to consider.

 

  • What rooms are you going to dedicate to the business? A common choice is to convert the ground level of your home and “live” on the second floor. This works well, but what about the kitchen? You may want to adapt your home, which will require consulting with an architect and building firm.
  • What about entrances and exits? Firstly, you will be required to provide adequate fire escapes as part of the process you undertake with your local authority. You need to make changes to ensure that all of your business visitors — be it suppliers making deliveries, customers arriving for appointments, or eager shoppers — are able to access your property comfortably. For supplier deliveries, you may need to consider extra wide safety gates to ensure trucks can enter your property boundary correctly to load and unload. For customers, you’re going to need to think about where they will park their vehicles; your neighbors will swiftly turn to anger if the street is blocked up by customer cars.
  • Which security changes do you need to make? Home security is always important, but this necessity moves up another gear when your home is also your business. You may want to consider installing extra CCTV systems, and if you have gates, you’re going to want some kind of intercom system installed.
  • What do you need to redecorate? If you’re converting a space in your home for business use, that space needs to stop looking like a home. You’re going to need to redecorate, install new furniture, and ensure you have adequate lighting. If you’re opening a retail space, you are pretty much going to be outfitting the entire selling area from scratch– so you need to have room for this in your budget.
  • What happens if you want to sell the house in the future? Unless you are lucky and find a buyer who wants a home/business premises combination, you might find that you struggle to set your home for the amount it would be worth if it was still just a home. This is an aspect you’re going to have to calculate into your future financial planning, so be aware of it.

 

One thing that’s important to remember is that the conversion process will not be rapid. You will need to manage the project efficiently, juggling multiple different issues at the same time, and ensure that you keep an eye on your costs, too. It’s hard work, which begs the question… is it worth it?

So Should You Convert Your Home For Business Usage?

The above sounds like an exhausting list of potential problems, issues you are going to face, and more red tape than you have ever dealt with before in your life. Is it worth going through all of that stress?

The answer is probably “yes”. If there’s a reason you don’t want to invest in commercial premises, then the home conversion is the next best thing. Not only are you able to control everything about the process — there’s no landlord whose preferences you have to take into account, for example — but you will also save a fortune on leasing fees in the long term.

Ultimately, the decision is yours. If you don’t mind the short-term hassle, then you may just find that converting your home into business premises is the right solution for your business.

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Is A Career In Medicine Right For You?

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When you’re a kid, and someone asks what you want to be when you grow up, there are always some pretty predictable answers: firefighter, astronaut, movie star. But one of the most common that comes up, again and again, is, of course, doctor. The appeal of working in medicine should be pretty obvious to just about anyone. You get to work directly with other people, saving and improving lives every single day. Of course, that doesn’t mean that it’s always going to be easy or enjoyable. The reality is that medicine is one of the toughest fields out there and if you’re not ready to handle that then you could end up having a pretty unpleasant time. Here are a few important questions to ask yourself in order to figure out if a career in medicine is right for you.

Are you willing to put in the training?

Working in medicine is, for obvious reasons, involves a lot of specialised skills and knowledge. Because of these things, it’s important to remember that you’re never going to be able to work in that field without going through incredibly extensive training. You need to ask yourself if you’re willing to put in the time and effort that most medical schools require of you. Becoming a doctor isn’t something that happens overnight. You need to be willing to put in many years of hard work in order to reach that stage. It’s crucial to ask yourself, are you willing to put in that time?   

Can you work long hours?

Speaking of time, there are few career paths that demand quite as much of your time as working in medicine. This is especially true for doctors and nurses. You need to be constantly ready for anything, and there’s always a chance that you’ll be needed, even when you thought you were having time off. Not only that but the hours can be incredibly long and exhausting. If you’re truly passionate about what you’re doing, then that shouldn’t be too much of a problem, but if you’re not then, it can leave you feeling incredibly frustrated and unhappy.

Can you handle the pressure?

Some jobs allow you to sit back, relax, and skate by putting in the bare minimum amount of effort possible on a day to day basis. That simply isn’t going to fly if you’re working in a medical environment. The reality of working in medicine is that people’s lives are often at stake and if you’re not ready to handle that kind of pressure, then you could be putting people in danger. You need to think incredibly carefully about whether or not the kind of pressure involved in working in medicine is something that you’re able to handle in the first place.

Of course, this isn’t designed to discourage anyone from wanting to go into a career in medicine. Instead, it’s designed to make you think much more clearly about whether or not it’s the right career choice for you. Because, if it’s not, then you could end up under more pressure than you could possibly handle. Of course, if it is right for you, then you shouldn’t let anything stand in your way.

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