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The 4 Most Important Elements of a Sustainable Home Build

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Photo by João Jesus from Pexels

As environmental concerns and discussions about sustainability become more widespread, many prospective homeowners are looking for ways to make their build more eco-friendly. With new, innovative technologies coming out all the time and lots of strong opinions on which eco-friendly approaches are best, designing a sustainable home can feel like an overwhelming task. 

If you’ve been dreaming about building a sustainable home but aren’t sure where to start, take a look at the four factors that will have the biggest effect on reducing your home’s footprint and enable you to live a sustainable lifestyle. 

Use utility-efficient designs and supplies

All sustainable home builds should focus on reducing water, heat, and electrical usage. Some of the most popular heating options today include geothermal heating, solar panels, masonry heat systems, and hydronic heat systems. 

The best place to begin is to be aware of any issues with your current location. Any plumber can look at the area and see if there are major issues with sewer lines, or if your location is not conducive to efficient sewage. If you build a property on a faulty mainline, the quality of water you use could be compromised.

To conserve water, collect rainwater and recycle your greywater. If you have lots of outdoor space, consider putting in an irrigation system in place of underground sprinklers. If you have the space and a license, well drillers can provide you with your own source of clean, safe drinking water, saving you from purchasing plastic water bottles. 

Keep in mind that although some of these features have high upfront costs, many will save you money in the long run and increase the value of your home. 

Look for eco-friendly materials

When deciding on the materials for your build, there are three main considerations to keep in mind:

  • Is the material easily renewable? 
  • Can they be locally sourced? 
  • Are they free of contaminants and harmful chemicals? 

Bamboo and wool are popular materials, as they meet the first and third criteria. Having an extensive understanding of all potential building materials is just one of many things you should know before you self-build. Even if you’ve hired a builder to do the work for you, you shouldn’t expect to take a back seat in the project. Make sure you have a firm idea about what materials you want and be ready to negotiate this with your builder. Consider every element of your home. For roofing, ask for recommendations from home remodeling contractor, Action Builders.

Less is more

Energy-efficient design or not, larger eco-friendly homes will always use more energy than smaller eco-friendly homes. How much space do you truly need to live comfortably? Focus more on building a functional, comfortable space than your dream eco-mansion. 

There are lessons to be learned here from tiny house architects. While you shouldn’t feel pressured to live in a space that small, their designs are worth taking a look at to get some ideas on how you can maximize the space you have. Less space means less waste. 

Plant a permaculture-inspired garden

Living sustainably is all about seeking connection and mutual benefit with the natural environment around you. Your sustainable home should therefore not shut out the outdoors, but seamlessly integrate into it. 

Your garden is just as important as the house itself. Design your garden using permaculture principles, which take an approach to agriculture that mimics and supports natural processes. Cultivate your own fruits and vegetables to your heart’s content while simultaneously giving back to the environment. 

That being said, sticking exclusively to permaculture principles exclusively isn’t for everyone. To reduce your reliance on the supermarket and eat locally, factor space for a polytunnel into your build to grow produce that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to.

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The Future Of The Cars On Our Roads

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We have all heard about autonomous cars making a comeback this decade. They will be cars that drive themselves, nobody at the wheel and available for us whenever we need them. That is the ideal. We also know that a lot of cars are going to become electric this decade, as a way to save the planet’s resources and use elements that aren’t so damaging. So are electric cars the future?

Beyond the subjective questions – like what needs to happen for each respondent to decide for themselves to switch to using an electric vehicle, the respondents in a recent survey were asked about their clearly unscientific assessments about the rate of technology penetration in the world. On average, car owners believe that they themselves will consider purchasing an electric car in three years, towards 2024, but they believe (on average) that only in 2030 will the car industry cross the turning point and most new cars sold in the world will be electric. Of course the average, by its very nature, misses the differences between all the countries surveyed, and in some countries governments act faster than in others, as well as in a more determined and effective manner. Car owners in India, for example, will consider buying an electric car as early as 2022, that is, in a little over a year, while the Chinese – who are actually leading the revolution, answered that they believe it will only happen a year later.

Charging infrastructure: The egg and chicken problem

Many of the respondents in a recent study actually rated the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles as the most important critical challenge for them. Seventy percent of respondents believe that the turning point for an electric vehicle will exist only after their national charging infrastructure is available to them at least as much as existing gas stations. However, by 2030, will this not be a problem anymore? It is rather ambitious but electric cars do seem to have quite a few benefits; one of which they claim is financial. 

Selection of vehicles: Wanting to diversify

A selection of electric vehicle models is indeed a less important barrier for most, but precisely in terms of fleet managers this is currently perceived as the second most important factor on the way to the turning point. In total, more than half of the respondents indicated that they would consider switching to an electric vehicle only when they found a model equivalent to their favorite vehicle. They can still look at changing their tyres and painting their exteriors. Platinum Wheel Repairs are important to ensure the safety of any car.

One of the important challenges facing anyone today is to help customers understand that most barriers that are perceived by them as separating them from switching to an electric vehicle are likely to be removed much earlier than they think. An electric car on its own is certainly a big purchase but it is a very valuable investment that will serve you well into the coming decade.

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Be Smart about Your next Car Purchase with this Ultimate Guide

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New cars in this day and age tend to have much better safety features and they also come with way more tech gizmos as well.  That being said, a lot of people make mistakes when they buy a new car. They go into too much debt and they also struggle to come out of the other side better off. If you want to find out more then carry on reading.

Get Preapproved

The best advice you can get is to get a preapproved loan before you go to the dealership. If you have a preapproved loan from your bank or your credit union then this will help you out far more than you realise. You may even find that you are able to save money on the deal you are getting from your dealer and that you are able to pay down your car faster too. Another bonus of doing this is that the salesperson won’t be able to talk you into taking out extra features on the car you have chosen because your loan will be pre-approved and you won’t be able to go over this amount. If you aren’t sure if you need a new car then remember that you can easily source diesel truck parts online if you need to get your existing car repaired.

Source: Pexels (CC0 License)

Keep it Simple

If you are purchasing a car at a dealership then you have to make sure that you focus on a single thing at a time. Don’t tell the salesperson too much, remember that you’re playing a game. If you’re playing poker, you don’t show everyone that you have a pair of queens, do you? At the dealership, you need to start out with the price of the vehicle you plan to buy.  The dealership will want to know if you plan on trading in your existing car. If you can, don’t tell them this. You are going up against pros so the more you can keep things in your favour, the better. You need to negotiate the best deal possible and then offer to trade in your car. If you do this, then you may find that you are able to come out with even more money knocked off your purchase, so keep that in mind.

Don’t Buy Add-Ons

If you have bought a car then you will probably know how this works. You have probably been at the dealership for a number of hours and you’re probably tired by the end of it. Your dealer will probably offer you a ton of extras at the end, whether it is an extended warranty, paint protection plan, tyre protection plan or even gap insurance. Dealers tend to make a small fortune on this kind of stuff, and usually it will be very overpriced. Most people have no idea how to get a fair price here, so you need to say no to all of it. If you do, then you will probably come to the conclusion you don’t need it anyway.

Beware of Seven Year Car Loans

A third of loans that are given out tend to be over 7 years. This is a very dangerous trend because you will be paying way more interest and you may also find that it is harder to pay everything down.

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Magnesium Infusions: Uses, Underrated Benefits, and More

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Magnesium Infusions: Uses, Underrated Benefits, and More

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Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in the body. It is vital to optimizing brain and body health and is involved in hundreds of biochemical reactions. Every cell in the body needs magnesium to function properly. It is responsible for energy creation, protein formation, gene maintenance, muscle movements, and nervous system regulation.

Why Magnesium infusions?

Unfortunately, studies from the National Library of Medicine suggest that roughly 50% of people in the United States and European countries get less than the recommended daily amount of magnesium, even if they have a healthy diet. Doctors propose incorporating magnesium supplements into your diet, but studies suggest that its oral bioavailability is far less effective than infusions. To read more about the comparisons between oral bioavailability vs. injection bioavailability, click here.

Common Uses of Magnesium infusions

Magnesium injections have many far-reaching uses, both common and uncommon. Mainly, magnesium injections are used to treat hypomagnesemia: low levels of magnesium in your blood. Deficiency symptoms include numbness, tingling, chronic fatigue, muscle spasticity, high blood pressure, and abnormal heart rhythms. Magnesium deficiency can become serious if left untreated. Magnesium can also help treat acute asthma by improving peak expiratory flow rate: a person’s ability to exhale efficiently.

Uncommon Uses of Magnesium & Magnesium Infusions

Magnesium infusions can also help resolve less severe conditions. Therapeutic uses of magnesium help treat chronic migraines, anxiety, and stress. The National Library of Medicine ran a study monitoring the effects of magnesium on mild to moderate anxiety. Their findings concluded: “The effects of Mg on clinical affective disorders and experimental studies of anxiety in animal models provide a clear rationale to propose that Mg supplementation will have a beneficial effect on mild/moderate anxiety.”

How Can I Incorporate Magnesium into My Routine?

Look into some Magnesium-rich foods and drinks.

There are a plethora of ways to incorporate more magnesium into your diet. The easiest way is by eating foods rich in the mineral. Some foods high in magnesium include:

  • Avocados
  • Nuts
  • Leafy greens
  • Tofu
  • Whole grains

This is just a short excerpt; check out this list to read more about what foods are rich in magnesium. 

Additionally, there are some drinks out there that are rich in magnesium. Most of these are powdered additives but are blended into drinks to make the perfect supplement. Some drink powders include:

Utilize Magnesium Supplements

Supplementing magnesium is also a super easy and effective way to increase your magnesium levels. The ideal dosage of magnesium varies by age. Females 14-18 years old should consume 360 mg/day, women 19-30 years of age should consume 310 mg/day, and females over 31 should consume 320 mg/day of magnesium. For males aged 14-18, the daily dosage is 410 mg/day, the dosage for men aged 19-30 is 400 mg/day, and for men 31 years and older, the dosage is set to 420 mg/day.

Consider Magnesium IV Therapy

Though it is the most expensive method of increasing magnesium in the body, magnesium IV therapy is a long term way to help increase levels. Intravenous magnesium treatment is more useful for those deficient in the mineral. It effectively helps treat eclampsia and preeclampsia, arrhythmia, severe asthma, and migraine.

Conclusion

Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in the human body. It is responsible for over 400 metabolic reactions, including energy creation, protein formation, gene maintenance, muscle movements, and nervous system regulation. Almost half of the people in the United States and European countries are magnesium deficient. As a result, magnesium infusions are becoming more and more common.

Magnesium infusions are mainly used to treat magnesium deficiency and the symptoms that accompany it. It also helps resolve chronic conditions such as acute asthma. Some less severe conditions that can be treated with magnesium include migraines, stress, and anxiety.

Oral supplementation is a great and easy way to obtain more magnesium, but IV therapy is a much more effective treatment method. You can also get magnesium from foods and drink powders as well. Make sure to always consult your doctor before considering magnesium injections or magnesium infusions.This article was originally published at iveeapp.com.

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Define Success, Then Chase It

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Define Success, Then Chase It!

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A successful career is one of the most rewarding features in anyone’s life. However, what you consider success may vary greatly from what someone else thinks it should be. So, if you want to carve out a career that will leave you smiling, determining your definition is a vital first step to take.

Once you know what success looks like in your mind, you can set out on turning that vision into a reality. Here are the most common definitions to consider.

Big Earnings

Let’s face it; earning a salary is the chief reason for having a job in the first place. For many people, then, financial success is the main objective. When you trade your time for money, getting a bigger return will open the door to greater opportunities away from work.

Money-orientated workers should know that some careers will have a higher ceiling than others. Moreover, there are plenty of well-paid roles that do not require special qualifications. So, you can begin earning big in next to no time.

Find a lucrative career that you can follow, and then take the steps needed to maximize your hopes of securing the desired role. Simple.

Making A Difference

While earning money is an important issue for all workers, you may also have a desire to support society. When altruism is a priority in your eyes, there are many ways to make it happen. Whether it’s a role that secures status or retains some anonymity, it is your legacy.

The medical and healthcare sectors stand out as the best place to make a difference. Getting a degree from USAHS will open the door to several opportunities in this arena. Alternatively, you could look at working in the field of greener technologies.

Making a difference may even include teaching the next generation. Getting paid to make the world a better place is surely one of the best things anyone can do.

Managing Your Destiny

Establishing a sense of control in all aspects of your life can feel highly rewarding. As far as your career is concerned, putting fate in your own hands can be considered another form of success. Not least because it removes the ceiling on what could potentially be achieved.

Perhaps the clearest way to achieve this goal is to start a company. Registering a business at US formation is the first step to success. Whether it’s a side hustle, solo endeavor, or full company is up to you. Either way, working towards your dream in this way feels amazing.

Every target you hit will deliver a massive boost of self-esteem in the process. Moreover, you will be in full control to make any alterations as other life goals evolve.

The Final Word

There are over 7.5 billion people on this planet. So, to think that we all have the same career goals would be crazy. Whether starting out in your work life or looking to change direction, now is the time to think about what you truly want. When your eyes are locked on the destination, the road ahead will be a lot clearer.

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44 Positive Affirmations for Depression to Inspire Change

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Originally posted by

MS Broudy Ph.D November 12, 2020

Have you ever given yourself a pep talk? You may not have realized it, but you were practicing a form of positive affirmation. Coping with depression can be discouraging and debilitating. Vocalizing certain phrases about yourself can provide a much-needed lift and motivate you toward positive change. Affirmations are a simple and useful tool that can help with depressive symptoms.

Reciting positive affirmations for depression

What Is a Positive Affirmation?

A positive affirmation is a self-statement that emphasizes your strengths, values, and favorable qualities. According to cognitive theory, depression is caused by distorted negative beliefs. Positive affirmations can be used to counter negative perceptions and bolster confidence in your abilities. For instance, you can replace the thought, “Nobody will ever love me” with the affirmation “I am worthy of love.” Many people who use affirmations recommend standing in front of a mirror as they repeat specific phrases to themselves, but you can perform them anywhere you feel is comfortable and effective. For increased success, it is suggested you practice your affirmations at least twice daily.

Do Affirmations Work?

Positive affirmations have been associated with multiple factors related to the reduction of depressive symptoms. Self-affirmation has been shown to activate parts of the brain that are associated with positive self-valuation. There is also evidence that suggests that affirmation increases the neural pathways related to a person’s reward centers, which undeniably boosts your mood. Further, an affirmation can serve as a protector against stressful situations that threaten your well-being. It can also help motivate people toward healthy behavior, such as eating fruits and vegetables. Maybe most importantly, the use of affirmation has been directly linked to feelings of optimism and happiness.

Keep in mind, however, the effectiveness of positive affirmations depends on their content. You need to be able to believe in what you are saying for them to be helpful. If you tell yourself something you know is not true or is unlikely to occur, it probably won’t help.

For example, if you keep saying to yourself that you look like a supermodel or are as musically talented as Adele, you are less likely to be able to convince yourself. In addition, the above research concludes that personally relevant affirmations appear more effective. Therefore, the more specific the affirmation is to your life, the better. Finally, affirmations that focus on the future seem to be most powerful. As a result, emphasizing behavior or outcomes that you can work toward will make them more productive. It may be useful to think of an affirmation as an active roadmap for positive thoughts and behavior.

Affirmations for Coping with Depression

There are literally millions of possible affirmations. Here are 44 you can use that are specifically geared for dealing with depressive symptoms:

1) I have come this far and I am proud of myself.Tweet

2) This moment in my life does not define who I am.Tweet

3) My challenges bring me better opportunities.Tweet

4) My life has value and meaning.Tweet

5) These are just thoughts. Only I determine the way I choose to feel.Tweet

6) I choose to release negative feelings and thoughts about myself.Tweet

7) I will try to see the best in others.Tweet

8) I believe in who I am.Tweet

9) I am working toward making a better life.Tweet

10) I do not need to rely on others’ judgment for acceptance.Tweet

11) I do my very best and that’s enough.Tweet

12) I believe in my ability to get through this difficult period.Tweet

13) I am resilient and can handle problems that come my way.Tweet

14) I am worthy of happiness.Tweet

15) My goals are achievable.Tweet

16) Depression makes me sad, but it builds my resilience.Tweet

17) I feel low now, but tomorrow is another day.Tweet

18) Where there is life, there is hope.Tweet

19) I’m not limited to anything.Tweet

20) I love myself unconditionally, no matter how I feel.Tweet

21) I am not the first to deal with depression, and I won’t be the last.Tweet

22) Depression is just a human emotion and I am human.Tweet

23) My life is what I make it.Tweet

24) I find and enjoy the simple pleasures life is offering right now.Tweet

25) I experience depression but I can also experience joy.Tweet

26) There is nothing wrong with me because I feel sad.Tweet

27) If they can do it, there’s no reason I can’t do it.Tweet

28) I am taking control of my own mind.Tweet

29) My future is bright because I am designing it.Tweet

30) I am just as good as anyone else.Tweet

31) I am deserving of self-care.Tweet

32) My life is a gift.Tweet

33) Being depressed is not my fault. Tweet

34) I deserve love and happiness.Tweet

35) Smile and breathe.Tweet

36) I look forward to tomorrow.Tweet

37) This feeling will pass.Tweet

38) I’m okay right now.Tweet

39) I control my destiny.Tweet

40) I may be sad now, but that’s fine.Tweet

41) I am gaining strength every single day.Tweet

42) The depression I experience doesn’t define me.Tweet

43) I work on myself every day.Tweet

44) I will wake up tomorrow and do the best I can.Tweet

While the above affirmations are suitable for numerous situations, one of the strengths of using affirmation is that it can be tailored to fit any area in which you are struggling. For example, if you are lacking confidence in whether you will do well on a work presentation you could affirm “I am prepared for today’s presentation and I will be successful.” Again, the more specific an affirmation is to your particular situation, the more it will resonate with you and produce positive results. Fortunately, affirmations can be made as distinct as necessary and easily changed to fit a particular circumstance.

Positive Affirmation as Part of a Depression Busting Package

Practicing affirmations daily is a useful tool in the fight against depression. It can improve self-image, reduce stress, increase healthy behavior, and boost mood. It is especially effective if the affirmations are personally relevant, realistic, and future-oriented. In addition, creating and performing an affirmation is a relatively simple process that only takes a few minutes.

It should be noted, however, that affirmations are not suitable as a lone treatment for depression. Clinical depression is a serious psychological disorder that often requires professional intervention. Affirmation is most effectively used as part of a treatment protocol that may also include psychotherapy, online counseling, medication, and positive lifestyle changes. While some steps for dealing with depression can be initiated independently, such as reciting positive affirmations, the most significant improvements typically result from working with a trained professionals.

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5 Must-Have Tools for Your Remote Teams

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5 Must-Have Tools for Your Remote Teams

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Quite a while back, remote working was not considered a full-time career with salaries barely above the minimum wage. Fast forward to 2021, the coronavirus and technological evolution has prompted massive trend changes as businesses try to adapt to the innovation. Before COVID-19, only 7% of US employees worked from home, but today, approximately 59% of employees work remotely and prefer to continue even post-COVID. But how do you keep productivity at acceptable levels while working remotely? These essential tools should keep your business and remote teams functioning effectively.

  1. Google drive

Are you looking to centralize your data in one location? Google Drive is a cloud-based storage tool that keeps every one of your data in a secure and centralized place. This platform allows your teams to remotely share documents and files from one integrated location while permitting weekly metric reporting. Moreover, Google Drive documents can be synced, viewed, and updated across several devices from any site.

  1. Dropbox

Dropbox is a cutting-edge workspace tool with many features to manage your remote employees effectively. Sharing large documents via email can be problematic, and that is where Dropbox comes in. The cloud storage framework has API, which makes it very useful for collaboration between remote staff. Remote teams can easily share huge documents, for example, PowerPoint, Sketch, Photoshop, etc., with anybody. Dropbox has staked a claim as the first smart workplace tool with data access control through an admin access system, link sharing, and user-friendly application.

  1. AccessE11

AccessE11 is a web-based management software that allows access on any web-enabled device. The platform is cloud-based and ideal for local governments in citizen request management, code enforcement, and citizen issue tracking. As a centralized storage solution, your team and department can access data from a single source with ease without requiring any complex training and learning. AccessE11 allows for easy recording of citizen issues, assigning staff for resolving, and access to trend reports for analyses and decision making. This way, you are provided with enhanced visibility for staff management.

  1. Basecamp

If you are looking for a simple, clean, yet functional tool for your project management and remote collaboration, you should consider basecamp. This all-in-one remote toolkit is popular among freelancers, managers, and agencies due to its varying range of features and tools. Despite this, the platform is flawed with no time tracking, subtasks and professional team hierarchy limitations. However, if you have specific needs like project management and effective communication with clients, basecamp can get the work done effortlessly.

  1. Zoom

Since its initial release in 2012, Zoom has grown to become a leading video communication tool for enterprises worldwide. The platform raves in high customer reviews with integration to online marketplaces, next-generation phone systems, video conferencing, and video webinars. In 2017, Zoom reached a $1billion valuation before peaking at 10 million users in 2019. With COVID-19 lockdowns and stay-at-home restriction, the platform saw enormous user stats with over 300 million users in April 2020. Zoom is easy to use and boosts quality videos for your video chatting and meetings, with full-length video recording features.

With businesses trying to keep up with the new trend, effectively managing your remote team has become necessary in achieving business objectives. However, these tools should keep your remote staff productive and focused. 

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The Biggest Challenges Small Businesses in Singapore Must Overcome

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Small business owners look forward to a bright future, but before they can start enjoying their ROI, they will have to ready themselves for the challenges of the first couple of years.

Data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that from 1994 to 2019, a little over 20% of small businesses close down in their second year. Further analysis of the data by mortgage broker LendingTree adds that 50% of small businesses close by the end of their 5th year, and about 75% are out of business after their 10th year.

Why do small businesses have bleak odds of success? There are many factors, but we can pinpoint several major ones that are shared by the majority.

Here are some of the biggest challenges that small businesses face today, and what they can do to ease their situation.

Getting Enough Funding

Small businesses may not need as much capital as startups with ambitious business roadmaps, but they still need enough to get things started. Owners must fund the renovations, rent, staff’s salaries, production, inventory acquisition, and overhead costs for the first months of operation without depending on revenues. Bear in mind that most small businesses recoup their investment after two or more years. If there’s too little capital, the business could go bankrupt before it even turns a profit.

Tip: A low-interest loan in Singapore for small businesses can increase your capital and sustain your business when profits are slow. This loan can be your primary source of capital or supplement your overhead months after you opened your business. It may be daunting to apply for a loan when you’ve yet to generate an ROI, but your ability to generate products (and by extension, profits) will be sorely limited if you have a nonexistent cash flow.

Increasing Brand Awareness

The first challenge for new small businesses is getting the word out about their products or services. It’s crucial to market ahead of the opening, but as most small businesses have little capital, they could divert the majority of it into other areas of the business.

It’s also extra challenging when the competition are bigger, older, and more established brands that are well-known and well-liked. Not only do small businesses have to make people aware of their existence, but they also need to convince the market to try their products and services out.

Tip: Optimize social media and word-of-mouth marketing to promote your new business. It’s the most cost-effective method of marketing to a wide audience if you have a brick-and-mortar establishment. Your target audience is more defined, which is advantageous if you want to run an ad on Facebook, for example, because you can use geo-targeting to reach the right audience. You can also ask friends and family to spread the word to their own networks of friends.

Earning Customer Loyalty

Getting customers to walk through the doors is one thing: delighting them is another. Not to be confused with customer satisfaction, customer delight is achieved by exceeding expectations and eliciting an emotional reaction from your customers. Delighted customers do not just remember the brand, they also become its loyal patrons.

This is challenging for small businesses that are offering something new and innovative or have a very niche market. With the former, the business has to create a strong and positive first impression; and with the latter, the business may have to compete with a long-established brand that has enjoyed a monopoly over the market.

Tip: Get to know your target market. Understand their needs and find out exactly what you can offer to meet those needs. Test your products and services, get honest feedback, and use the information to innovate and offer something “extra” that your customers will love. Meeting needs and exceeding expectations — if you achieve these, you’ll delight your customers and earn their loyalty early on.

These are just three of the biggest challenges small businesses face. Others are building an email list, attracting capable and experienced employees, and scaling or achieving growth at the right pace. There are no black and white solutions, but business owners can prepare and strategize so that they don’t fold because of these problems.

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Why Your Business Needs A Rainy Day Fund

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Every business can benefit from setting aside money into a rainy day fund. In the event of a disaster, such money could help to pay for any reparations. This could include paying off a lawsuit, covering employees wages during a period of closure, replacing broken machinery or making repairs to your premises. 

The following post explains in more detail why you need a rainy day fund – and how you can go about setting one up. 

You can’t always plan for disasters

Preventative measures can be taken against some disasters. For instance, investing in security measures could help to reduce the risk of getting burgled or being the victim of a cyberattack. Alternatively, it may be a wise idea to invest in flood defences if you have an office based in a high risk flood zone. 

Unfortunately, you cannot plan for all disasters. Just take the pandemic as an example – before 2020, few businesses would have ever predicted such an event. Those that had a rainy day fund set aside have been able to use this to keep their business alive. For businesses that didn’t have savings set aside, it’s been much harder to deal with the closures and restrictions.

In essence, a rainy day fund is a useful form of financial backup for those hard-to-predict disasters. If a surprise storm hits and you need to pay for storm restoration, it’s unlikely you’re going to have storm insurance if you don’t live in a high risk area. A rainy day fund could be a more flexible option – serving as an all-purpose form of self-insurance that you can dip into if necessary.

Saving is a better option than borrowing

When disaster strikes, some businesses simply take out a loan. However, saving up a rainy day fund has many benefits over borrowing money:

  • A rainy day fund is cheaper. You won’t have to pay interest (in fact, you can earn interest by putting your money into a savings account).
  • You don’t have to worry about finding a lender that will approve you. If you have a low credit score, savings are a much better option.
  • When using savings, you don’t have to owe anyone. This means not having to pay back the money in installments. 

How to set up a rainy day fund

Ideally you want to put your rainy day fund into a high interest savings account. This should be an account that you can still access urgently when necessary. To prevent you dipping into this money for other purposes, you may want to look into savings accounts with withdrawal penalties. You can compare business savings accounts online to find the best interest rates.

Building up a rainy day fund takes patience. Put as much money into it initially as you can and then try to contribute money on a monthly basis to build it. You should try to keep a minimum of $500 in this account so that you’ve always got some money to fall back on when disaster strikes.

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Top Tips For Growing Your Business

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As a business owner, you should always be looking for new ways to grow and develop. This will allow you to reach out to more customers, develop a loyal base of supporters, and significantly increase your earning potential. With that in mind, here are some tips for growing your business in 2021!

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  1. Develop your online presence and digital marketing methods.

We live in a society that is dependent upon technology. Therefore, you should strive to curate a strong online presence for your business or brand. There are various ways you can do this, including running several social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), setting up a quality website, and finding alternative sites on which you can offer your products and services, such as Etsy.

You should also focus on your digital marketing, ensuring that the adverts you create do their job. Focus on analytics – who is looking at your adverts, and who are they inspiring to make a purchase? Which adverts are working, and which aren’t? Edit them accordingly! 

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  1. Ask for feedback

Your customers are instrumental to your success – therefore, you should value what they have to say above all else. One way in which you can allow your business to grow is by taking on feedback from customers and applying any necessary changes. For example, if your customers like a particular product but would prefer to buy it in a different color, consider expanding your range. Alternatively, if you receive negative reviews for a service – think about any changes you can make. There are various ways to ask for feedback from customers – you could ask them to leave reviews online or participate in focus groups. 

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  1. Don’t do it all yourself.

When you run your own business, no matter the size, you are in charge. This can feel incredibly refreshing, especially if you were unhappy in previous employment. However, just because you are in control does not mean you have to do everything alone. In fact, doing EVERYTHING on your own is likely impossible – especially if you are trying to do things that you have never done before. For example, you can rely on ELogistics to tackle the logistical side of your business, such as shipping and ocean freight. This means that your products are in expert hands, and you have more time to focus on other areas of your business. You can find more here about the brilliant work that ELogistics do! 

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  1. Networking

Networking is another excellent way in which you can grow and expand your business. Start with your local area, and reach out to other vendors operating nearby. When building a relationship, you will be able to share tips and tricks and provide guidance when necessary. You can also use your friendships to support your business by collaborating. For example, if you run a clothing store and partner with a beauty company, you can host a competition on your social media channels – giving entrants the chance to win a hamper of both of your products. The contest will help new customers find your company and will increase your earning potential and customer base.

5. Invest Back into your Business

It is important to invest back into your business, to ensure it runs as efficiently as possible. You do not need to upgrade everything in your company, but there will be some tools in particular that will hinder your progress if they are not. Some of the most effective investments you can make are, for example, upgrading to Microsoft teams phone system so your employees can work efficiently and collaboratively, keeping your database safe and secure to ensure there are no data breaches, and finding new ways to get feedback and insights from customers and about their behavior so you can continue to improve your business.

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