Category: Tools and Information

5 Ways to Support Freelancers and Improve Collaboration | The Startup Magazine

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Freelancing is a booming industry right now, with great talent pools available. The percentage of full-time freelancers in the U.S. workforce soared from 17 to 28 percent between 2014 and 2019 and has been continually growing since the pandemic.

Moreover, the demand for freelancers is also set to increase as the gig economy proves that they are equally productive as full-time employees, but arguably, a more cost-effective option for employers. To maximize the benefits of hiring freelance workers, it is important to learn how to support them and work with them properly.

Knowing how to work with a freelancer efficiently will ensure the relationship is successful and the collaboration is fruitful. Here are things you should do when you consider working with freelancers:

1. Be Ready for Them

Hiring talented and skilled freelancers can help cut costs for many businesses. But that is only if you employ the appropriate strategy to find, hire, and onboard them. Depending on your business or the tasks at hand, try to find the right platform where you can find the best ones in their field.

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10 Types of People Companies are Hiring | Getentrepreneurial.com

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Are you looking to hire new staff and wondering which personalities are right for your business? Here are the top 10 to focus on.

  • Companies benefit from having a diverse group of employees on each team.
  • Employers want to hire loyal and sincere workers who act with integrity.
  • Many employers rely on some form of personality test or psychological profiling technique during the hiring process.
  • This article is for business owners, recruiters and hiring managers who are looking to build a great staff.

Exactly what kinds of people do employers tend to look for when hiring? In the 2021 Traits and Qualities Employers Look For study by Zety, recruiters identified loyalty (52%), integrity (49%) and sincerity (48%) as the three most important qualities in a job applicant. The majority (83%) of those same recruiters said that their first impression of a candidate was an important factor in their hiring decisions.

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Should You Finance Your Startup With a Credit Card? | businessnewsdaily.com

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When starting a business, you might consider financing your startup with a credit card. What are the advantages and drawbacks?

  • When used correctly, credit cards can be useful financing tools for your small business.
  • Pros of credit card borrowing include maintaining control over equity, accessing inexpensive capital and avoiding collateral.
  • Cons of borrowing include potential for merged expenses, credit damage, liability issues, insufficient funding and qualification challenges.
  • This article is for entrepreneurs who are considering using credit cards to cover some of their startup costs.

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Essential Employee Handbook Updates to Make in 2022 | AllBusiness.com

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An employee handbook is one of the most important components employment attorneys advise companies to have and update regularly. The reasons for this are simple: employee handbooks not only formalize guidelines, expectations, and terms and conditions of employment, but, more important, they can also help provide a layer of protection against employee claims and lawsuits.

A thorough and detailed employee handbook, reviewed and signed by the employee, establishes that both company and employee are aware of the employee and company’s legal rights and obligations. In addition, should the business ever face an employee claim or lawsuit, the handbook also serves as a helpful legal defense by demonstrating that the company strives to operate in compliance with all relevant federal, state, and local laws.

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Beginner’s Guide to the Accounting Cycle | business.com

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The accounting cycle provides a detailed overview of your company’s financial standing, simplifies financial reporting and helps protect your assets.

Winning business owners know financial management is one of the most critical factors in a company’s success. An accounting cycle is one of the best ways to keep track of your business’s finances. It creates simple, organized financial data that external parties – such as investors – can easily interpret.

The accounting cycle tracks each transaction from the moment of purchase until the date it’s added to a financial statement. This eight-step process, usually completed through accounting software, is a great way to get more time in your day to focus on growing your business while protecting your assets from theft. By maintaining the accounting cycle consistently, you will notice balance discrepancies at a glance.

Here’s a look at the accounting cycle and its eight-step process.

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7 Benefits of Using a VPN (Spoiler: It Could Save You Money) | Digital Trends

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We all regularly use the internet nowadays for a variety of different purposes. Whether it’s to keep in touch with friends and family, to work from home, or to conduct our banking and bill paying online, it’s important to be secure. One of the best ways to keep yourself secure and your activity private is to use a VPN.

With many different VPN services out there, it can be tough to know which is the best VPN for you but it’s also tricky to know if it’s really worth the expense and effort of setting one up. Fortunately, we’re on hand to help advise you on what the key benefits of using a VPN are and why you should get one. Read on while we take you through them.

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World with Bitcoin | The Startup Magazine

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Bitcoin is a digital currency that was created in 2009 by an unknown programmer, or group of programmers. The overall world Bitcoin impact permeates a growing portion of the financial ecosystem. Bitcoin can be used to make purchases online and in brick-and-mortar stores using mobile apps. Bitcoin is the first of hundreds of “cryptocurrencies,” which are forms of currency that exist digitally through encryption. Bitcoin has become increasingly popular since its creation, with the total number of Bitcoin users around the world growing to more than 5 million today from 500,000 in 2013. Bitcoin Revolution can help you in providing proper tips and tricks for bitcoin investment.

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3 Ways to Set Freelancers Up for Success | Entrepreneur

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Freelancers are just like any other tool that you use to complete a task — their effectiveness depends on how you as the user operate them. You wouldn’t write with a dry pen and then blame the pen for not producing ink, would you?

Freelancers can be an excellent resource for your company. They can take a lot of work off your plate and offer a much-needed outsider’s perspective if you set them up for success.

So, here’s how to do that.

Empower them to make decisions

If you’re like me, you’re bringing freelancers on to complete work without the hassle of a full-time employee. This means giving them a longer leash than you would to a full-timer and empowering them to make decisions that most employees would try to leave up to you.

So don’t treat them as disposable — treat them as you would an employee who’s been with your company for a long time and knows what will earn your seal of approval and what won’t. Train them the same way you would a normal employee and take the time to fully explain how you want the job done and what standards they will be held to.

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The ultimate guide to pricing your services | Getentrepreneurial.com

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If there is one thing that budding entrepreneurs struggle with the most, it is pricing their services. There are umpteen reasons behind this – all of which we will tackle through today’s article – but, ultimately, it can pose monumental, bottom-line problems. After all, if you’re not pricing yourself accurately, you’re faced with two situations. Firstly, you could bottom-out and not make sufficient profits. Or, if you go the other way, you won’t attract the clients. So, how do you start? Let’s dive into the best practices for pricing your products and services.

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The spring-loaded screw could be a cheaper form of soundproofing | New Atlas

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Nobody likes hearing their neighbors’ music, TV shows or loud conversations. Soundproof wall materials, however, can be quite thick and expensive. Swedish scientists have developed a thinner, less costly alternative, in the form of a spring-loaded sound-damping screw.

Known as the Revolutionary Sound Absorbing Screw (or the Sound Screw for short), the device was created by a team at Malmö University, led by senior lecturer Håkan Wernersson. It consists of a threaded section at the bottom, a coil spring in the middle, and a section with a flat head at the top.

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