Sample 1 - Blog #productivitySample 1 - Blog #productivityhttps://lololol.zohosites.com/thoughts/tag/productivityTue, 06 Aug 2024 20:44:56 -0700http://zoho.com/sites/<![CDATA[Remote work and its impact on business]]>https://lololol.zohosites.com/thoughts/post/Remote-work-and-its-impact-on-business

Reinventing the Workplace: The Rise of Remote Work and its Effect on Businesses

In a rapidly changing world, businesses are now being forced to re-evaluate their traditional business practices in order to compete and stay relevant. One such disruptive trend that is becoming increasingly popular and widely adopted is remote work. As this form of working continues to gain traction, it is critical to consider the impacts it can have on small businesses. 


Remote work has become a buzzword in the corporate world, as more and more businesses are adopting it as a new normal. With advancements in technology and communication, remote work has become an effective and efficient way for companies to operate and for employees to be productive. However, it's not just about technology, it's about a complete shift in the way we think about work, and it's having a significant impact on businesses of all sizes. 


In this article, we'll explore the impact of remote work on businesses, the benefits and challenges, and how companies can make it work for them.


Impact of Remote Work on Businesses

Remote work has changed the way businesses operate, from the way employees work to the way companies approach their hiring process.
With remote work, businesses have a wider pool of talent to choose from, since they no longer have to limit their search to just the local area. This has given companies the ability to tap into a global talent market, leading to a more diverse and inclusive workforce. Moreover, remote work has helped to reduce costs, as businesses no longer have to pay for office space, utilities, and other related expenses.

Benefits of Remote Work

One of the most significant benefits of remote work is increased productivity. With remote work, employees have the freedom to work from anywhere, at any time, which means they can work during their most productive hours.

Furthermore, remote work eliminates the time and energy wasted on commuting, leading to improved work-life balance and higher job satisfaction.

Another advantage of remote work is the flexibility it offers. With remote work, employees have the freedom to take time off for personal reasons or to care for family members without sacrificing their job. This has led to increased employee engagement and a more motivated workforce.

Challenges of Remote Work

While remote work has many benefits, it also comes with its own set of challenges. One of the biggest challenges is communication, as remote workers may feel isolated or disconnected from the rest of the team. It can also be challenging to create a sense of cohesion and collaboration when working remotely, and it can be difficult to communicate effectively with remote employees.

Another challenge of remote work is the lack of structure, which can lead to decreased productivity. Without a clear schedule, remote employees may struggle to balance work and personal life, leading to burnout.

Making Remote-Work Work for Your Business

To make remote work, work for your business, it's important to have clear communication and collaboration strategies in place. This includes regular virtual team meetings, instant messaging platforms, and regular check-ins with remote employees.

It's also important to provide remote employees with the necessary tools and resources to be productive, such as laptops, internet access, and other hardware. Companies can also provide remote employees with training and support to help them feel comfortable and confident working remotely.


In conclusion, remote work is here to stay, and it's having a significant impact on businesses. With its benefits, such as increased productivity and flexibility, and challenges, such as communication and lack of structure, companies need to be proactive in making remote-work work for them. By providing remote employees with the necessary tools, resources, and support, companies can create a successful and sustainable remote work environment that benefits everyone involved.


]]>Mon, 13 Feb 2023 02:38:24 -0800<![CDATA[December - January Dread. The Cost of Not Taking Action]]>https://lololol.zohosites.com/thoughts/post/December-January-Dread.-The-Cost-of-Not-Taking-Action

The Cost of Procrastination: Why Procrastination is the Enemy of Your Business

As a business owner, December and January can be both exciting and stressful. On the one hand, it’s a time to reflect on the successes of the year and to plan for a new, fresh start. On the other hand, the financial realities of the season can be daunting. Whether it's preparing for the upcoming tax season or simply worrying about cash flow, December and January dread can be a real concern.

In this blog post, we’ll discuss how business owners can take proactive steps to ease their financial concerns and make the most of their December and start of the new year - January.

1. Review your expenses: December is a good time to review your business expenses for the year and make adjustments where necessary. This can help you get a better sense of where your money is going and how you can save money in the future.

2. Create a budget for the new year: Once you have a good understanding of your expenses, you can create a budget for the new year. This will help you map out your spending and make sure you are staying on track.

3. Take advantage of holiday promotions: Many businesses offer holiday promotions and discounts. This is a great time to stock up on supplies or take advantage of seasonal deals.

4. Review your financial goals: December is also a good time to review your financial goals for the new year. This can help you stay focused and on track as you start to make your plans for the future.

5. Talk to your accountant: If you have any questions about your taxes or finances, be sure to talk to your accountant. They can help you understand your options and make the best decision for your business.

Taking these proactive steps can help ease your December dread and set you up for a successful new year.

What other steps can business owners take to ease their financial concerns in December?

1. Review your pricing strategy: Make sure your prices are still in line with your cost of goods and that you're not leaving money on the table.

2. Review your payment terms: If you're extend payment terms to customers, see if you can shorten them for December. This will help you improve your cash flow.

3. Take advantage of year-end bonuses: If your company offers year-end bonuses, use them to your advantage. You can either use the money to reduce debt or save it for a rainy day.

4. Make a plan: December is the perfect time to sit down and make a financial plan for the new year. This will help you map out your goals and stay on track.

5. Seek professional help: If you're feeling overwhelmed, seek out professional help. A financial advisor can work with you to create a plan that fits your business's needs.

Taking these steps can help ease your December dread and set you up for a successful new year.


Don't wait to ask for help when you need it! Procrastination is the enemy of your business. Working with GIC Capital, we can help you secure the finance you may need faster— and without stress. #businessfunding #securedloans #grantsforbusiness #smallbusinessfunding

]]>Thu, 05 Jan 2023 23:00:00 -0800<![CDATA[Increase Your Capacity in the Following 4 Areas, If You Want Your Business to Grow]]>https://lololol.zohosites.com/thoughts/post/Increase-Your-Capacity-in-the-Following-4-Areas-If-You-Want-Your-Business-to-Grow
Every entrepreneur must come face to face with the reality that there is only a limited amount of time, money, and people that you can use within your current position. The question is how do we increase or maximize the things that we find limiting? 


As we walk through our hectic and often over packed ten, twelve, or fourteen hour work days, one of the questions that we should be asking is “What can I do to get more, to do more?” Instead, we just put our heads down and plough through the ever growing mountain of work. We are limited by capacity. 


Webster’s dictionary defines capacity as “the maximum amount that something can contain.” As an entrepreneur, we have to be a little more creative than the average person and find ways to increase our capacity through leverage, teamwork & collaboration. 

Below, we’ll identify the four areas where we need more capacity and ways to get more with less: 

We aim to deliver much needed capital for SME’s and Property Developers.

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​+44 (0) 203 2909019

Time

Every human on this planet is granted twenty-four hours a day. That is it. Your capacity is a total of twenty-four hours. Within that amount of time you must manage several different demands. Our goal is to buy back our time, when we can, and operate at peak performance when we are accomplishing our daily task list. 


First, without staying in performance shape, you will lose the ability to stay at optimal performance levels. Our bodies are truly a machine with an amazing capacity, but when it is abused by lack of sleep, improper nutrition, and lack of exercise, you are reducing the capacity at which you are able to work and function. The closer you are to peak performance, the more you are able to accomplish in a shorter amount of time. 


Second is our mental condition. If you are mentally rested, you can think and make decisions faster because you can reason more quickly in addition to understanding the circumstances and information at a faster pace.  


When your brain is healthy, it becomes easier to absorb and process information at a lightning fast rate. Taking the time to allow your brain to rest will give it the ability to function at peak performance. 


Third is our ability to train and delegate. So often, entrepreneurs are control freaks. No one can do it as good, as fast, or with the same passion as they can. While that may be true in most cases, you are only one person with twenty-four hours in a day.  


You’ve got to delegate and accept people’s help. If you add one person that’s willing to give you eight hours of work a day, you have now bought back hours in your day to focus on activities that will generate more income and grow your business. Why wouldn’t you want to add more hours to your day by delegating out the appropriate task to qualified individuals? 


“Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days.” – Zig Ziglar  

Money, Your Cash.

Money tends to be a sensitive topic. We all have beliefs that were formed through our childhood on the concept of money. With many different views and beliefs on this topic, let’s just focus on the fact that money is a tool that will either help grow the company or a tool that limits a company’s growth. 


It is always amazing that the faster a company grows, the greater the challenge of money becomes, and this could potentially cause the company to implode on its own success. How do we then increase the capacity and have more money available to keep the company healthy? 


Here are a couple of things to watch out for:  
  • Keep an eye on your budget and get accurate figures.  
  • Look at your Accounts Receivables. If they get too long, they could cause significant cash flow issues.  
  • Find investment opportunities. There are many private investors that are often willing to invest in companies that have true growth with solid foundations.  
  • Look at additional profit generators, products, or services that fit within your current business model.  

Each of these are ways to increase the capacity that money contributes to the growth of your business. 

Space and Supply, Your Facilities & Inventory.

Space and Supply are tied closely together. Space is often associated with the production. Do you have a space large enough to meet the demands of the supply? If production can only create 1,000 products a day and buyers need 5,000 a day, there is a huge gap and challenge to meet demand.  

A business needs to understand that challenge, and there are only 3 solutions to this problem: The business figures out how to increase production within the current workable hours, adds more workable hours with the equipment and space, or adds more equipment and space to increase production. 


Space and supplies are assets that can be used towards the businesses advantage. Here are a few questions to ask when making decisions based on space and supply.  
  • Evaluate your supply channel. Are they able to maintain a solid supply of your raw product materials to match your growth as a company?  
  • Are there back up supply manufactures that can create a safety net for your raw products?  
  • Evaluate the amount of space you have available along with the time the space is usable. Can you run a second or third shift with the current space and equipment? 
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson 

People, Your Human Capital

Your employees are likely going to be the most important way to create more capacity. We talked briefly about delegating to qualified individuals to increase capacity around your own personal time. The next phase is to create more capacity by adding additional, trained people.  


You need to create leaders of leaders instead of you being the leader of followers. Don’t miss this because the greatest of all companies focuses on increasing their capacity by training leaders of leaders and not just a loyal following. 


Entrepreneurs tend to be a lonely bunch of souls. Too often, we are misunderstood and looked at with slight amount of annoyance. Others just don’t always know how to take someone that is passionately thinking outside the box.  


People skills are a must in order to have more than just yourself work to achieve that dream. As an entrepreneur, develop the social skills to work with individuals that are different than yourself.   


Here is a 3 step plan to have great capacity with people as your allies: 
  1. Start by learning how to delegate your own tasks to buy back your time. Identify the tasks that are easiest to delegate and document how you do them (create manuals & operational procedures as well leverage technology such as CRM, Project Management Tools, ERP etc). This will give you a specific job description, set achievable goals, and create a daily action plan that is now something that is teachable.  
  2. Use this system and apply it to the other things you are currently doing. I would suggest building out an organization chart and dividing the different tasks you do within the company. Then create a plan that will allow you to hire the right person and move you onto the next area in the organization that you will systematize.  
  3. Finally, create the culture. Culture is like a child, it will grow whether or not you pay attention to it. So be intentional. Learn what it takes to build a culture that attracts the employees that want to be there and grow with the company.  

Each of these four areas has an incredible amount of potential to increase your capacity, and allow your business to grow. Don’t attempt to tackle everything at once. Identify just one area that you will commit to grow within the next three to six months. Take action and implement.  

GIC Capital – Matching Capital With Opportunity  London +44 (0) 203 290 9019

]]>Thu, 19 Sep 2019 05:54:38 -0800<![CDATA[Side Hustle! The Best Investment You Can Make RIGHT Now…]]>https://lololol.zohosites.com/thoughts/post/Side-Hustle-The-Best-Investment-You-Can-Make-RIGHT-Now


“Show me somebody’s Calendar, and that will show me how Committed they are to Achieving their Goal”

We aim to deliver much needed capital for SME’s and Property Developers.

Call Now +44 (0) 203 2909019

]]>Wed, 20 Feb 2019 01:28:01 -0800<![CDATA[What is Agile?]]>https://lololol.zohosites.com/thoughts/post/What-is-Agile


This short cartoon answers the question "What Is Agile?" and will give you the background to understand the Agile principles and values and how they can help you and your team work together more efficiently.

We aim to deliver much needed capital to start-ups and SMEs

Call Now +44 (0) 203 2909019

]]>Wed, 31 Oct 2018 22:37:46 -0800<![CDATA[Systems Integration: What it is and How SMEs can Benefit ]]>https://lololol.zohosites.com/thoughts/post/Systems-Integration-What-it-is-and-How-SMEs-can-Benefit


When it comes to business, there’s nothing more important than eliminating unnecessary costs and boosting efficiency. The goal of every business – big or small – should always be focused on making the various systems across the concern as well-balanced and useful to one another as possible.

This is where systems integration comes in and it can have very real benefits for SMEs, no matter the sector they operate in.



Productivity


The name of the game in business is being as productive as possible and, preferably, doing it in the most efficient way. Many businesses don’t see their productivity where it could be because their operation features standalone systems that don’t work together.

Software and systems that deal with stock, invoicing, accounts and other operations are often left on their own, with minimal interconnectivity. A simple missed figure or a wrong input can mean problems across multiple areas of business. Systems integration does away with this issue for good. By linking these different systems together your business not only benefits from eliminated mistakes, it also derives value from the fact that you now have a clear overview of the business and how each area impacts the other. This means, in the long-term, major boosts to productivity.



More Agility


SMEs need to be able to move fast to correct problems and seize opportunities. A failure to do so can have huge repercussions and by the time you react, it’s already too late.

Systems integration affords insight into issues as they occur, enabling your business to be agile and proactive, instead of entirely reactive. Without systems integration, a problem can sit and swell on a system until it becomes a crisis. That then means all energy and focus has to go into one issue, rather than the daily affairs of running the business. The result is lost time, lost money and all because there was no comprehensive outline of business operations.



Time & Money


The effort of maintaining and updating independent systems is an onerous one, and by the time one is up to speed, another requires attention. It becomes a never-ending game of updating and checking, with the business basically going in circles.

In an integrated system, maintenance is a one-shot affair. It’s a simple matter of applying overarching principles and then some focused work, and the system is good to go. If there’s an issue, it’s easy to spot and remedy before it becomes a major problem. This means real savings in terms of time and money, and you can just focus on doing what you do best. 

We aim to deliver much needed capital to start-ups and SMEs

Call Now +44 (0) 203 2909019

]]>Tue, 03 Jul 2018 22:49:00 -0800<![CDATA[Struggling with productivity? Here is how you can regain control]]>https://lololol.zohosites.com/thoughts/post/Struggling-with-productivity-Here-is-how-you-can-regain-control



As new figures reveal that SMEs across the capital are struggling with high levels of unproductivity, we must cite the benefits of effective borrowing for sustaining growth and increasing competitiveness. 


A lack of productivity is cited as being a major concern for SMES, prompting action to be taken across different corporations.

It’s not just London where unproductivity is an issue either, with statistics revealing that a staggering 78 per cent of firms across Yorkshire, the South West and East England are also facing issues when it comes to remaining productive and facilitating growth.

Ambitious businesses need money that matches their goals, in order for them to push through the barriers of unproductivity and continue to build their brand.

 

Many SMEs, including ones in London, are now taking drastic actions in order to see results. Most are making changes to assist with employee wellbeing while 36% are offering incentives and perks to raise team morale.

    

There are a number of financing options including a business overdraft, loans and property expansion capital, all of which may seem like worthy suggestions for the 93% of SMEs across London that are citing a lack of productivity as being a significant issue. 

For those running SMEs, having confidence in their business and remaining competitive are imperative to both sustained success and growth.

    

With our personalised approach to offering SMEs guidance and funding and a commitment to exploring the best avenues for individual companies, GIC Capital is the perfect resource for businesses ready to expand or maintain the current levels that they are working at. 

We aim to deliver much needed capital to start-ups and SMEs

Call Now +44 (0) 203 2909019

]]>Sun, 11 Mar 2018 05:11:00 -0800<![CDATA[How to ensure your business meetings are productive]]>https://lololol.zohosites.com/thoughts/post/How-to-ensure-your-business-meetings-are-productive

Each of us has endured the long struggle of a seemingly pointless business meeting, only to leave it feeling very little was addressed. It’s remarkable how many terrible meetings we go through in our working lives. The latest data suggests the average SME employee attends 207 meetings each year and a startling 139 of these (67%) are considered a waste of precious time. This makes unproductive business meetings one of the costliest business decisions you can make and finding ways to maximise productivity in a meeting environment one of the best ways of building a company made to last. Here’s our top tips for productive meetings.


Set an Agenda

Many businesses shy away from agenda-setting for fear of being too rigid but by setting a step-by-step that lays out everything you want to discuss in the meeting, you’re much more likely to make the most of your time. Allocate space for questions and don’t be concerned about being too obvious – a great agenda should allow everyone to understand the meeting’s objectives. If you need to skip an item, that’s no great hardship – but don’t add anything to the agenda during the meeting or you risk falling into bad habits which are detrimental to your productive potential.


Stick to Your Timings

Don’t let your meetings run on longer than expected. Being respectful of everyone’s time is key to keeping their attention for the duration of the gathering and also ensures they’re engaged in helping to achieve your stated objectives. Setting start and end times also avoids slipping into repetitive and unhelpful discussions, as well as limiting off-topic conversation which can be detrimental to getting through your agenda with ease.


Ask for a Recap

Your time as an SME is limited, and many staff members will likely be working to their own pressing deadlines, so ensuring everyone is on the right tracks before splitting up the gathering makes infinite sense for smaller companies. This is also another way of making sure everyone in the room is sufficiently invested in the meeting’s outcomes, as it will be glaringly obvious if they’ve been coasting on the side-lines hoping not to have to contribute. Ending each meeting by asking each attendee to quickly recap their thoughts helps to clarify whether additional clarification is needed, and helps flag anything which requires addressing in your next meeting. 

We aim to deliver much needed capital to start-ups and SMEs

Call Now +44 (0) 203 2909019

]]>Tue, 30 Jan 2018 21:00:00 -0800