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Rapidly changing technology and working practices mean that job roles today are very different from those encountered five or ten years ago. Administrators need to learn, unlearn and relearn and be equipped with the relevant knowledge and skills in order to remain competitive in the workplace.

Administrative professionals play a key part in holding a team together and a lot of organizations would fall apart without them.

Professionals who hold well-developed administrative skills help to ensure the organization runs efficiently, and constitute a crucial factor in the management of projects and growth initiatives.

Roles such as office manager, customer service officer and human resources administrator need specific skills to ensure they can support staff and meet the team’s needs. The Robert Half Salary Guide assists in establishing not just what administrative staff should be paid, but also what skills are necessary for the job.

There is no such thing as a ‘typical’ administrative role. Companies are always looking for administrative professionals who fit in specifically with their unique corporate goals and culture. Nevertheless, there are a number of must-have skills that are at the top of the list for most companies. The following skills are what administration employers typically seek:

Proficient in Microsoft Office including Word, Excel, and Outlook
Manage databases such as Microsoft Access
Prepare presentations, reports, and documents
Ability to type (keyboard) at 40 to 80 WPM depending on the position
Reporting Skills and Administrative Writing Skills
Ability to manage processes and analyze Information
Excellent organizational skills with high attention to detail
Professional, proactive and self-motivated with an ability to take direction
Problem Solving Skills
Supply Management and Inventory Control
Excellent communicative and interpersonal skills needed along with a “Can Do” attitude!
Ability to multi-task and change direction quickly
Be a team player and be able to work on own initiative in a dynamic and challenging environment
Ability to demonstrate initiative and honed organizational skills
Manage calendars
Book travel
Scheduling facilities and equipment
Routine clerical and organizational tasks
Organizing files
Drafting messages
Mentoring team members
Scheduling appointments and managing social media and general staff support.
Manage small projects and help define new operational strategies.
Negotiate with vendors
Buy supplies, and manage stockrooms
Knowledge of video conferencing, fax, and other office equipment
Conducting research
You are important to your organization’s success and you are in a position to learn management tools, concepts, techniques to be more competent so that you can be effective and enhance your value and credibility to your organization. You can then rise above being what has been perceived as just being “professional” but to the next higher level of being “progressive and competent”.

READY TO DEVELOP YOUR CAREER?
Join our Administrative Support and Office Procedures training today
http://www.successdrives.net/working-as-an-administrative-assistant-an-excellent-choice-for-generalists/

From storage areas to physical office spaces, a business needs to rely upon everything being in operating order to run smoothly. A facilities manager is the individual charged with taking care of the day-to-day maintenance, upgrades, and management of these systems. Facilities operations managers may run one or many locations, and they are generally responsible for ensuring everything to do with the physical infrastructure of the business.

Facility management (FM) is concerned with operating and maintaining commercial and industrial properties. This function may be performed by in-house corporate staff or by an outside firm specializing in facilities management. Facilities may include sports complexes, jails, hospitals, hotels, and retail establishments, but in business, the term is used most often to describe office buildings and factories. Responsibilities include providing janitorial and maintenance services, security, engineering services, and managing telecommunications and information systems. The facility manager’s job is to create an environment that encourages productivity, is safe, is pleasing to clients and customers, meets building regulations, and is efficient.

The Major Responsibilities of a Facility Manager

People Management
Usually, although not always, the Facilities Manager will have a team of people whose responsibility it is to support the FM in carrying out the many tasks that come under the umbrella of the FM department. The Facilities Manager, therefore, requires not only good People Management skills but also leadership skills.

Leadership is one aspect of the role, but a facilities manager also needs to be able to carry out the following management functions

Workload planning
Appraisals
Disciplinary & Grievance
Stress
Developing and managing vendor contracts
Facilities managers often work very closely with vendors to ensure that the companies are maximizing their resources. Not only do they negotiate these contracts, but they are also in charge of making sure these contracts are fulfilled. Through this, they are able to develop and maintain relationships with the vendors

Health & Safety Management
Health & Safety is a major part of the role of the Facilities Manager and managing the Health & Safety of the site is key to the effective running of the department. Health & Safety is governed by a whole raft of legislation but one of the key ways the Facilities Manager supports the core business is by ensuring that the organization remains compliant with that legislation.

The consequences of failing to comply with health and safety legislation can be severe. Apart from the possibility of injury or worse to an employee or visitor, they can include:

Fines
Imprisonment
Bad publicity
Loss of customers
Loss of staff
Creating plans for replacements and repairs
Management and maintenance go hand-in-hand. Facilities managers will also need to plan ahead for any necessary replacements and repairs, scheduling necessary maintenance and management tasks during the times that are least likely to disrupt the business and its employees.

Developing and managing vendor contracts
Facilities managers often work very closely with vendors to ensure that the companies are maximizing their resources. Not only do they negotiate these contracts, but they are also in charge of making sure these contracts are fulfilled. Through this, they are able to develop and maintain relationships with the vendors.

Not every business has or wants a dedicated facilities manager. Luckily, there is always the option to outsource. Success Drives Global Consult, Ltd offers comprehensive facility management services, starting with consultations regarding your existing facility and your future needs. Contact us today to find out more about fine-tuning and managing your physical operations.
http://www.successdrives.net/key-management-functions-of-facilities-management/

Public speaking is the process or act of performing a good speech to a live audience. This type of speech is deliberately structured with three general purposes: to inform, to persuade and to entertain. Public speaking is commonly understood as formal, face-to-face speaking of a single person to a group of listeners. Public speaking can be governed by different rules and structures. For example, speeches about concepts do not necessarily have to be structured in any special way. However, there is a method behind giving it effectively. For this type of speech, it would be good to describe that concept with examples that can relate to the audiences life.

Practice makes perfect

Practice your speech a few weeks ahead of the big day. Use this time to master each word that comes out of your mouth. Record yourself and see how fast or slow you are speaking, watch your body language and how you are using your hands to address the audience. Know every word of your speech but give it personality, make it your own, make it unique as you’re practicing see how different your speech would be if you change your tone of voice in certain parts. Know the subject of your speech well, confidence is crucial when addressing an audience and it will show on stage how confident you are.

Practice with an audience

You’ve practiced your speech by yourself for some time now, but what about in front of an audience? One of the best ways to practice your speech is to practice it under conditions that will resemble the day of your speech. Practice in front of a small group of people, to build your confidence that way when you hit the stage you won’t get flustered number amount of people you’ll see.

Hook your audience attention

It’s no secret that capturing your audience’s attention early on is one of the fundamental points in public speaking. You should deliver your big idea or proposition during the first few minutes of your speech. This will be your “hook.” As soon as you start speaking you should start stating all of the points of your speech. This way you will obtain and hold your audience’s attention quickly.

Show your confidence

You are the first thing that the audience will see and how you present yourself plays a crucial part in how the audience will receive the information you’re about to present. Stand up straight when entering the stage and speaking to your audience, it will show your authority and confidence. If you walk into the stage slouching and not standing straight the audience will possibly get bored really quickly because you are. Use the stage to your advantage, walk, run, jump or skip by doing this you will keep your audience eyes on you and keep them engaged continuously by moving around. Standing behind the podium or the microphone during your whole speech and not moving will turn your captive audience into a sleepy audience.

public speaking & presentation skills will be a good start to overcoming nervousness
http://www.successdrives.net/nervousness-is-normalpractice-and-prepare/

Corporate culture is key when it comes to attracting and keeping the best employees. In most companies, a people-focused culture is implied, but very few businesses are actually taking actionable steps to make it a reality.

The culture within a company is about more than just dress codes and mission statements. It’s about the collective traits of the people behind the business and the values and beliefs behind your brand (corporate and employer) that makes a truly effective culture. Simply put: your culture can be described as ‘the way we do things around here’ or ‘our collective habits.’ With this in mind, here are 5 ways to ensure you’re creating a winning culture in your company:

Culture Is A Signal for Success
Building a positive company culture is more important than it historically ever has been, with sites like Glassdoor giving employees and job-seekers alike the visibility into how a company actually functions versus what glossy words are used on the company’s career homepage. 94% of executives and 88% of employees believe a distinct workplace culture is important to business success.
http://www.successdrives.net/why-a-winning-corporate-culture-matters/

In other words, leaders and employees alike believe that culture is a key signal of how well a company is doing, and company success is highly motivating and exciting. So much so that it’s been shown to outrank traditionally important benefits such as health and wellness benefits. How is it possible that culture is more important than compensation and benefits? Simply because research has shown there is a correlation between employees who say their organization has a clearly articulated and lived culture and those that say they are “happy at work” and feel “valued by [their] company.” In other words, engagement.

Purpose

Give your people a sense of purpose within your organization to help them to succeed and feel valued in their role. Create a positive environment where everyone feels like part of a team. This will result in more productivity and job satisfaction.

Culture Is Everyday
Every single day, the behaviors and interactions of employees within a company can create, sustain, or change a company’s culture. Every email, meeting, an announcement is an opportunity to help craft the culture of a company and drive engagement amongst employees. One key way to help build an intentional culture is to leverage new tools for employee engagement and feedback in order to track and measure the daily interactions that weave the fabric of company culture.

Performance

Provide positive reinforcement for hard work and great results. Give valuable feedback on areas that could be worked on to keep employees challenged and engaged. A steady flow of communication between leaders and their teams greatly boosts employee satisfaction. It also keeps the corporate culture in check, ensuring that everyone is on the same page.

Culture Is A Self-Fulfilling Cycle
The more effective a company’s culture is the more engaged the workers, the better the reputation, the greater the company’s success, and the stronger the company’s ability to attract talent. With recruiting, hiring, and retaining employees so costly, building a culture that attracts the right talent leads to a high return on investment.

Understanding the importance of culture as a signal and self-fulfilling cycle that can be iterated upon every day, companies can make better decisions about how to organize and empower their workforce. Incorporating productivity tools that empower employees with the ability to constantly provide feedback to each other and leadership within the company contributes to a culture of engagement and ultimately, success.

Companies with strong cultures enjoy labor cost advantages, great employee and customer loyalty, and a smoother transition when it comes to the promotion and development of new leaders.

Taking part in our Developing A Winning Corporate Culture will help you to create a winning corporate culture, why not register today?

A leader is not a team of one, but one whose job it is to guide and inspire those around him or her. As the person who drives the purpose and action of the group, some organizations thrive when key skills are engaged effectively, based on knowing where we are heading and how to leverage those on the road to get there.

Whether leading a small team or thousands of people, here are the five key skills we believe make an effective leader:

Belief in Self

Every individual has leadership qualities, but only some are able to show it. Have you ever thought why so? It is because the leaders have a strong confidence in their abilities. They firmly believe that have the ‘X’ factor to achieve their dreams/mission by leading the people. With their power of self-belief, they work hard on making their strengths stronger and overcoming weaknesses. Even rejections don’t deter their self-belief. Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard to start a business which called ‘Traf-O-Data’. The idea failed but he knew that he had it in him to do something. Then, he created Microsoft. Rest is history, as they say.

Goal Setting

It is strange how every leader knows that goal-setting is important, but very few do it. Vision alone does not suffice, an effective leader charts the path that will accomplish this vision. The journey to the vision is made up of small, measurable goals. The leader not only sets goals for himself, but also his people. Take the example of President John F. Kennedy. He was known for setting long-term ambitious goals, but also spent considerable time with his people to make them understand how these goals can be achieved.

Communication

Effective communication is an essential skill of a strong leader. This means both communicating outward as well as listening.

When you share information honestly and transparently, individuals feel respected and trusted versus worrying that something is being hidden and they have something to fear. Even when not all the information is known, sharing what can be communicated is important in creating a healthy work environment.

The willingness to listen to others’ opinions, concerns and ideas is a differentiator for a great leader. It creates a much stronger environment for collaboration and brainstorming, wherein new ideas and solutions can be born. In the end, the team will build something much more valuable than if everyone were working within a vacuum.

Giving Value to People

It is people who select a leader. It is people follow leaders by choice. If a leader can’t value his people, it wouldn’t take long for them to topple him from the seat. Unfortunately, leaders conveniently forget this fact. An effective leader does not work in isolation but encourages people to walk along with him. Mahatma Gandhi used to say that honest disagreement is a good sign of progress. His words of wisdom teach that a leader shows displeasure if his followers voice opinions and differences. An effective leader believes in his people, trusts them, delegates responsibilities gives them respect and pays attention to their suggestions.

Setting the Example

It is imperative to act, speak and engage in the way in which you want your team to act. Expecting certain actions and forms of participation from others without demonstrating it yourself sends a conflicting message. When you lead by example, people understand what actions are valued and what to emulate.

It is not a smooth ride to leadership and then being effective at it. If you want to become a one and pick up some tips, executive leadership courses would be a good start.
http://www.successdrives.net/5-keys-to-becoming-an-effective-leader/

Almost everyone Today wishes to start their own business so that they can enjoy the best life has to offer, but it is said that to start a business you need an enormous amount of cash, an office or workplace or a warehouse and plenty of other resources like manpower, etc. Along with luck. We here to prove this wrong. To start a business, you only need to have a clear head, awareness of your skills and the knowledge to sell them in the market.

There are numerous online opportunities that an individual can look into. With the penetration of internet and eCommerce business models, a lot of people are finding it easy to start a business.

Why start a business?
Before starting a business, you need to ask yourself that why do you want to have your own business? The answer is pretty simple, who doesn’t want to work on their own terms and be their own boss. If you own business no matter big or small, you will be one who will be running things around. It will be you deciding things, it will be your call and the best of all, you will do what you feel is right rather than to listen to some “Superior” that usually happens when you’re an employee.

Here we will provide you with a list of businesses that you can start without any massive financial investment. All these businesses are very easy to start and require only basic planning. Perfect for people who are new to entrepreneurship.

1. Freelance Writing
Writing is one of the most important skills you can have as an online entrepreneur. This is because the majority of the things we do involves writing in one way or another.

We understand that everybody is not a writer, but if writing is your thing, then we have good news for you-you can make a lot of money on the internet.

As a talented writer, you have a lot of opportunities to build a business by offering your writing services in the form of articles, magazines, blog posts, books, editorials, etc. to busy webmasters.

2. Blogging
Be a blogger. Through blogging, you will be able to build a virtual entity of your own. Through blogging, you can create a brand name for your self by establishing a domain authority in a specific niche.

Consider it like this, if you are interested in baking, then create a blog around this segment. There are lots of online dwellers who are looking for tips and advice to make muffins and pastries. Your blog could be their preferred choice. Once you started to see the online traffic you can apply for Google Adsense. Where you Google will pay you for every engagement that happens with the ads that are displayed on specific pages (by Google Display Network).

3. Video Blogging (Vlogging)
Similar to blogging you can create video blogs. You can start with YouTube, Once the platform finds that people are finding value with whatever videos you are uploading, the platform will be happy to remunerate you on specific business models.

Customize your videos for your audience. The success of your YouTube channels depends on multiple factors like, how interesting is the video, to what extent does it address the industry, how informative is it, did the user find any actionable insights out of it, etc.

4. SEO Consulting
The majority of website traffic today still comes from Google. People cannot possibly ignore the importance of search engines. Hence, search engine optimization (SEO) is still a valuable and in-demand skill set that anyone can have.

This usually takes about 4-6 months to learn enough SEO to start offering it as a service to others. Over time, you can open your own SEO agency.

5. Consulting
So you think that you know that market like the back of your head and you have spent a long time working and now you’re somewhat an expert in a particular field. If all that is really true and you really are an expert, then all you need to do is advertise about your experience and people who will or have recently started in that particular line of business will come to you just for your advice.

Apparently, nothing comes free, charge them according to and in this way you can set up a consulting service. But do remember that you need to keep yourself updated otherwise your advice won’t do any good, resulting in a bad business.

If you’ve been dreaming of starting your own home-based business, now is the right time. Stop procrastinating and get to work.

All you need to do is take the first step, and you will be amazed at how easy every other thing will be.

Just pick one of the ideas here and get started now on your journey to financial freedom.

Which one of these online business ideas are you going to try? Have any other ideas that are not on this list? Let us hear your thoughts in the comments below!
http://dewinitiatives.com/business-to-start-with-zero-investment/

Entrepreneurs, young and old, are all jumping their presence online every day. Every other investor or entrepreneur one meets in a seminar or conference hands over his business card, which details the said person’s social media handle.

From LinkedIn to Twitter and Facebook, not one is considered any less important from the other. Right said by Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg “When you give everyone a voice and give people power, the system usually ends up in a good place.”

If you’re not taking advantage of social, you’re missing out on a fast, inexpensive, and effective way to reach almost half the world’s population.

Let’s look at the many ways in which social media can help you connect, engage, and grow your business.

Increases brand awareness
With nearly half of the world’s population using social media platforms, they’re a natural place to reach new and highly targeted potential customers.

Think people only connect with brands they already know on social media? Consider that 60 percent of Instagram users say they discover new products on the platform.

Humanize your brand
A UK study from Trinity Mirror Solutions found that more than half of adults do not trust a brand until they see “real-world proof” that the brand is keeping its promises.

To connect with customers—and potential customers—you’ve got to show the human side of your brand. How are you embracing your brand values? (Do you even have brand values?) How are you looking out for the best interests of your customers and employees? Does your product really work?

The ability to create a real human connection is one of the key benefits of social media for business. We call these Meaningful Relationship Moments. Introduce your followers to the people who make up your company and showcase how existing customers are using and benefiting from your products.

A social media advocacy program can be a great way to humanize your brand.

Increases traffic
A great aspect of social media is the ability to embed and share links. Entrepreneurs can simply add a link to a post and watch the traffic increase to their website or other social media pages. Having a small giveaway or something that draws people in goes a long way on social media. Just make sure your website and company can handle it.

Social media posts and ads are key ways to drive traffic to your website. Sharing great content from your blog or website to your social channels is a great way to get readers as soon as you publish a new post

Participating in social chats—like the weekly #HootChat on Twitter—can also be a great way to increase your visibility, get attention from new people, showcase your expertise, and drive traffic to your website.

Aids Better consumer Understanding
One of the best benefits of using social media as an entrepreneur is the opportunity to understand and connect with the consumer. Before launching your business, you need to identify your target audience. Once you know who you’re marketing to, you’ll be able to research what social media networks they use and how they interact with their favorite brands. Watch what successful companies do to market on social media and take tips from that!

Brand recognition
Using social media allows entrepreneurs to get the word out about their new business venture and starts making the brand known to people. By regularly posting on social media and sharing quality posts, entrepreneurs create brand recognition amongst their target audience. A strong social media presence also increases the authority a brand has in their industry, because people recognize the brand and what it provides to consumers.

Generate Leads
Social media offers an easy and low-commitment way for potential customers to express interest in your business and your products. Lead generation is such an important benefit of social media for business that many social networks offer advertising formats specifically designed to collect leads.

Low cost
For an entrepreneur that’s starting a brand-new business, the cost is usually a major consideration when it comes to marketing. Small businesses usually limit the amount of marketing they do in order to save costs and put more funds toward perfecting their product or service. Social media allows companies to get the exposure they’d otherwise pay for and a simple Instagram or Facebook ad can lead to new customers. You can spend money to reach a larger audience, but these costs are usually low. With careful planning and research, an entrepreneur can make the most of social media resources for free, designing and sharing logos, news, and images.

Boost sales
No matter what you sell, social media can help you sell it. Your social accounts are a critical part of your sales funnel—the process through which a new contact becomes a customer.

As the number of people using social media continues to grow and social sales tools evolve, social networks will become increasingly important for product search and e-commerce. The time is right to align your social marketing and sales goals.

For individual sales professionals, social selling is already a critical tool.

Partner with influencers
Word of mouth drives 20 to 50 percent of purchasing decisions. When you get people talking about your product or company on social media, you build brand awareness and credibility and set yourself up for more sales.

One key way to drive social word of mouth is to partner with influencers—people who have a large following on social media and can draw the attention of that following to your brand.

Reputation management
Your customers are already talking about you on social media, whether or not you’re there to respond. If you and your team are on the ball, you can pick up on important social posts about your brand to highlight the positive and address the negative before it turns into a major issue.

Is someone saying something about your business that’s not true? Be sure to share your side of the story in a polite, professional way. Someone singing your praises? Send them plenty of thanks and draw attention to their kind words.

If you’re not taking advantage of social, you’re missing out on a fast, inexpensive, and effective way to reach almost half the world’s population.

Register For our Social Media Entrepreneurship class today and learn endless ways to use social media to boost and grow your business effectively.

http://dewinitiatives.com/10-importance-of-social-media-to-entrepreneurs/

Over the next decade, marketing jobs are projected to grow faster than the average for all occupations. In this era of digital disruption, companies are increasingly focused on digital marketing, creating a heightened demand for a specialized skill set.

As a local, small or big business owner, taking advantage of digital marketing is key to success. The barriers of entry into the marketplace are minimized when compared to traditional forms of marketing. Learn how you can take advantage of the digital space with these top tips.

If you’re determined to get the most of your digital marketing efforts, check out the following best five digital marketing tips for small and big business owners.

Research Competitors and Differentiate Yourself
Competitor research is important because as a local business, you’ll want to be able to offer additional value in the market. Google Search is a great place to start. You can see how your competitors are positioning themselves within their ads. In this example, the below shows Google Search Ads results for local Nottingham plumbers. Terms such as “No Call Out Charge”, “Fully Qualified Plumbers” and “1Hr Response” are great selling points.

Get Your Website Basics Right
Online users are becoming increasingly demanding in terms of the experience they expect from a website. They want a fast loading website as a minimum requirement. As a local business, you may not have the budget of the bigger, national or international firms, but you can at the very least get the basics right.

Anticipate your audience’s needs
The ability to reach a wider audience doesn’t mean the basics don’t still hold true. As a marketer, it’s important to know what your audience needs. What frustrations, or pain points, are they trying to resolve? How can you present them with a solution?

What has changed is your ability to disseminate this information. Through search engine optimization (SEO), the potential to reach a huge organic audience has never been better. By simply producing content centered around an audience’s major source of frustration, you’re able to appear in search results and guide the right sort of visitors to your website.

It is worth mentioning that the world of SEO is also changing. Ten years ago it wasn’t uncommon to find a website overflowing with the words a frustrated visitor was looking for. These days, search engines are smarter than that. They penalize content that appears to be “stuffing” keywords and prioritize content that sounds more human. Depth takes priority over keyword density, and search engines are becoming better and better at recognizing intent.

Create Interesting Blog Content
If you’re in a very competitive industry – and most local businesses are – you would need to think about a content strategy that will drive results. Working with smaller businesses, it’s often the case that it’s highly unlikely to rank on the first page of Google for a broad term related to their product/service.

For example, “Plumbing Nottingham” would be near impossible if you’re just entering the market.

Firstly, this would require a large budget and resources that wouldn’t make achieving this affordable. Secondly, ranking for a broad term may not eventually lead to more customers. This is where your blog content plays an important role.

Stay relevant and unique in a more accessible marketing world
As the cost of advertising goes down, and access to audiences increases, the ability to jump into the world of marketing becomes a lot easier. The number of fish in the pond has grown exponentially over the past decade or so, which means it’s more important than ever to stand out. Stay on top of best practices, learn the new algorithms and strategies, and remain relevant.

The digital age has brought with it major changes to the way marketing is approached. In many ways, this works to your advantage. There’s more opportunity than ever before. But it also requires flexibility, as things are also changing faster than ever.
http://dewinitiatives.com/marketing-in-a-digital-world/

One common belief amongst business owners is that success is often the result of being in the right place at the right time. But It’s not that simple. You can’t expect to appear on the scene and step into a big puddle of success. Success isn’t a one-shot deal. In fact, it can take 10 years to become an “overnight success.” Persistence can play a part in becoming successful. You have to show up and keep on showing up until you make it.

Here are four reasons that being persistent and well-prepared to tackle life’s many obstacles is more important than trying to manage things out of your control.

PLANNING DOESN’T ENSURE ADAPTABILITY
In the Teams, while doing combat dive training we had a saying, “Plan your dive and dive your plan.” Things can get confusing underwater in pitch blackness but when you start second guessing yourself, it can snowball out of control. That said, good old fashion common sense is also a great standby when your plan starts falling apart.

For companies to be dynamic and adapt to internal or external forces pushing against them, they must have nimble leadership, healthy financials, and a team with a shared sense of purpose.

THE PROBLEM WITH PATIENCE
Many smart people never succeed as entrepreneurs. We often chalk this up to bad luck, but one of the main reasons why entrepreneurs never get their ventures off the ground is that they wait for things to come to them.

There’s simply no truth to the idea that if you work hard and pay your dues, success will come. Success never comes to anyone. You need to go out and grab it.

THINGS DON’T USUALLY GO AS PLANNED
So be ready when the inevitable roadblocks stand in your way. Whether you are an entrepreneur growing a start-up or a team member at a large corporation, you’ve probably noticed that plans can change, and change often. But a company has to be well-structured in order to remain strong as well as dynamic.

Good leaders must remain focused on what lays ahead in order to foresee potential obstacles and adjust accordingly. Experiencing failures along your path to success doesn’t mean you failed. Failing occurs when you let those experiences cause you to quit.

PERSISTENCE IS A VIRTUE FOR FOUNDERS
Startup founders need persistence because everything always takes longer than expected — often two to three times longer. It can be difficult to keep things going when you’re not seeing instant traction and success.

Persistence is also crucial because you’re bound to make mistakes, some big and some small. Messing up is a part of being human, but we learn and improve from each mistake. When you give up too early, you lose the opportunity to learn from your mistakes and are then just left with failure.

THE TAKEAWAYS
So what does any of this mean for those of you who are building a product or dreaming of starting a company?

Don’t wait for the perfect moment or situation to start a business. You don’t have to have all the pieces in place or everything figured out in order to get going.
Don’t expect someone to hand you an opportunity. Nothing worthwhile ever simply comes to you.
Don’t wait for your product to be perfect. Think about Mark Zuckerberg’s saying, “Done is better than perfect.” Even Steve Jobs said, “real artists ship.”
Don’t sweat the small things that are out of your control. If you’re sitting in traffic or waiting in line, no amount of restlessness is going to help the situation. The more frustrated you get, the less energy you’ll have to spend on the things that matter.
Realize that no one else will be on your same timetable. It’s your job to convince others of the importance of what you’re trying to do and communicate that sense of urgency. You won’t be successful if you continually push people without getting them to buy into your vision first.
Don’t give up if things take longer than planned. Look for signals that you’re on the right track, keep your burn rate as low as possible and keep moving forward.

princetom1:
U guys will just say anything and then end it with atiku... U can simply say atiku without trying ti drag anyone into it... Mimiko isn't the type of person that tried at all... One of the people who too ondo state backward

Think mimiko didn't try, pls try Akeredolu, the man who increased all the state-owned institutions' tuition fee by 100% and also requested payment for child birth

Every problem companies experience with their employees springs from the same root cause: there is too little trust in the environment. There is too much fear.

Too little trust and too much fear in a workplace has a name: it's called a toxic work environment.

Poor performance, high turnover, problem employees, tension between teams, burnout, political infighting and lack of commitment -- they are all symptoms of a broken culture.

Here are five ways to build trust into your company's or department's culture.

Talk About Fear and Trust as Business Topics.
For many leaders, this is the hardest step to take. We have been trained not to talk about our fears. If there is a high level of fear in your organization already, employees may bite their lips rather than tell the truth about your toxic culture even when the topic appears on a meeting agenda.

If you want to gauge the fear-versus-trust level on your team, talk about culture at your next meeting. Invite your employees to share their thoughts. If it's not a safe environment for people to contribute, then they won't. Don't blame them. See the sludge in your culture, and take steps to clean it out!

Trust Your Staff First.
Give even the beginning staffer the opportunity to show that you can trust them, too. If you want a company culture built on credibility, help other people get into situations where they have to prove that you can believe in what they say.

If people know that speaking up will get them in trouble, they'll be quiet or say "Our culture is perfect!" Actions speak louder than words. Your actions will build trust on your team far more than your words will. It may take time to get your employees to trust you, but that time is well spent.

Stop Blaming and Shaming Employees for Mistakes.
The third way to build trust in your organization is to step away from the philosophy of blaming and shaming employees for mistakes. Every mistake is a learning opportunity. If you track your employees' mistakes but say nothing about their triumphs, you are begging for the best people to leave and only the most fearful ones to stay.

Role Model Appropriate Leadership.
Role model appropriate leadership and get your fellow leaders to do the same thing.  Too many managers look at "the employees" as a bloc and seldom think about the individual people they supervise, or their needs or challenges. Real leaders are intently focused on the people who report to them and the energy on the team. Every leader can develop that same focus. You can support one another on the journey!

Be Patient.
Don’t expect them to do everything you suggest perfectly or trust completely right away. The ability to wait with expectation but not impatience is to lead by example, and a hallmark of a great leader they will learn to trust.

There is no higher priority for any leadership team or individual leader than to build trust on his or her team. You can start right now!
http://www.successdrives.net/5-ways-to-build-trust-among-your-employees/

Launching a new product is an exciting new venture for any business. A new product or range has the potential to boost sales, increase brand awareness and add an additional revenue stream for your company. But if you don’t have a strategic marketing plan behind a launch, a new product could flop.

The goal is to prioritize your new product portfolio – just like your individual financial investments. Once completed you then need to determine if your new product portfolio is “balanced” and can potentially deliver results vs. expectations. There are three critical elements to consider to make sure your new product portfolio is “balanced”.

Are your new product ideas strategically aligned with business and innovation growth strategies
Is your new product portfolio balanced across product type, risk, time and resources
Can they deliver against new product revenue growth expectations – are they sufficient?
The key to a successful launch is an integrated strategy. One channel alone will not do enough to really sell your product; you have to take advantage of all of your marketing assets. Here are just a few platforms you may want to use and how you could use them to spread the word about your new venture.

The follow-the-rabbit strategy:
Use a non-platform demonstration project to model success and attract users and producers and then convert to a platform. (Amazon, for example, started as an effective pipeline business, then converted itself into a platform by opening its system to external producers.)

Social Media Campaign
A strategic social plan with a content calendar and an intriguing hashtag can generate some pre-launch buzz and interest.

Facebook and Twitter are popular sites you can use to get the word out and announce your new product but you could also use Snap-chat or YouTube to be a bit more creative with your announcement.

Competitions are not only a good way of attracting interest but also collecting email addresses and building a social following. For any new product launch, social media is a great place to start.

Launch Events
Launch events can be a useful opportunity for meeting customers and press in person to talk through your new product – and when it comes down to it, they can be enjoyable and fun experiences for all involved.

Holding demos, answering questions, taking bookings and encouraging social sharing can all be powerful strategies for pushing your customers down the sales cycle. These strategies can be harder to do solely online so an integration of online and offline marketing activity can really help.

Website and Customer Experience
If you’re selling your product online or are even taking enquiries, the process needs to be as streamlined as possible. There’s nothing worse than generating hype and getting customers excited only for them to struggle to use the website when they do want to buy.

Make sure that the checkout or inquiry process is smooth, quick and easy – but also make it enjoyable with creative text and beautiful product photography.

A well-designed website is a final piece in the product launch puzzle but if this isn’t right, all of the marketing before it could be a waste of time. Provide incentives to attract key users (consumers or producers) whose participation can make or break the success of your platform.

Other Marketing Channels
You will probably have existing marketing channels that you can also use to help promote your new product whether through email newsletters or a blog post on your website. If you use these channels too, make sure the messaging is consistent with the rest of your campaign.
http://dewinitiatives.com/launching-your-own-digital-productplatform-getting-started/

Every year millions of entrepreneurs come up with great ideas. And every year they spend countless hours creating and re-creating detailed business and strategic plans. Often most of this effort goes to waste as entrepreneurs fail to follow through on their own well-thought-out plans.

Formulating and executing a strategy is the most important activity any organization can undertake. It ensures your organization understands its key capabilities, its current and future environments and that it is able to position itself of sustainable growth and profit.

Below is the simple five-step process to help entrepreneurs execute their strategies:

 Engage the right people
All members of the executive team should be a part of strategy formulation. But this isn’t where it should end. Who else in your organization can contribute meaningfully to your strategy and help you implement it? Look across your organization for staff who, while not a part of the leadership team, have influence across the organisation. Look for influential staff who can contribute insights to the strategy and, more importantly, can help with the successful execution of the strategy by helping engage staff across the organisation.

Set clear priorities
Entrepreneurs might fail in carrying out their strategy if they set too many priorities. Establish only one priority at a time along with supporting initiatives. For example, a priority might be penetrating a new territory. Supporting initiatives could be leasing an office, hiring staff and initiating a marketing plan.

Having too many priorities is like trying to keep too many balls in the air. Then it's problematic if only one gets focused on. Chances are good that eventually, all the balls fall to the ground.

 Create the right environment
Demonstrate the importance of your strategy by committing to it and expecting the same of all those who contribute to its formulation. Take at least two days off-site to commence setting the organizational vision and to set priorities. Then take a few months undertaking the research and focus groups that will help inform it. Meet regularly (every couple of weeks) to update the strategy team on findings.

And make sure you’re across the whole formulation process. For example, don’t leave focus group findings just to a third party (ie. market researchers). Make sure the strategy team attends all focus groups. Because focus groups are often when you will find hidden gems of information about your organization, your competition, the industry, and untapped opportunities. Hidden gems that the research company will never see, because no-one can know your organization or your marketplace like you do.

Collect and analyze data
Entrepreneurs often specify measurable goals in their strategic plans. But once the planning process is a wrap, the document might be set on a shelf and not revisited for quite a long time.

A key to ensuring execution is staying on top of results. Entrepreneurs should develop key performance indicators (or KPIs) that can be measured and monitored on an ongoing basis. They need to procure operating data related to these indicators and evaluate results on schedule (daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly).

The executives should evaluate what's working and continue these processes and enhance them to boost performance. With failing results, they should determine what processes don't work and make immediate adjustments to prevent further deterioration.

 Communicate across the organization
So often what is forgotten in strategy formulation and execution is where the strategy intersects with those that deliver the strategy – those that will determine its success or failure – our staff. When staff doesn’t feel they understand the vision of the organization, when they feel they are expected to change but don’t understand why, when staff is not engaged in the strategy, you are guaranteed one thing: resistance. A resistant staff results in a failed strategy.

For a strategy to execute effectively all staff across the organization and all critical stakeholders must be engaged in the strategy and its delivery. The vision of the organization must be communicated to all. The story must be clearly articulated: what is the company vision, what will success look like, why is change necessary, what role does each individual play in the delivery of the strategy and how will they be measured.

When staff feels they understand the organizational vision when they understand the role they play in its delivery when the expectations are clear on how they will deliver on the vision and how they will be measured against that vision they are likely to engage. And when the staff engages with a strategy the most important part of the execution process is enacted.

When organizations fully commit to formulation and execution of a strategy: when the right people are engaged to create a meaningful strategy that sets out the future for the organization; when the execution process is integrated into the strategy formulation, and staff are meaningfully engaged we create an environment that not only facilitates successful strategy but propels organizations into a sustainable and profitable future.
http://www.businessmasterclassng.com/2018/10/09/5-secrets-to-a-successful-strategy-execution/