What Do You Need to Open a Business Bank Account? | businessnewsdaily.com

December 18, 2020December 17, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Find out which documents and licenses you’ll need to bring with you when you apply for a business bank account.

To open a business bank account, you will need your articles of incorporation, employer identification number and personal identification documents.
You can set up a business checking and savings account.
A business bank account is necessary to keep your business and personal finances separate.
This article is for small business owners who are interested in opening a business bank account and want to know what they need to get started.

Business bank accounts help you manage your business finances in a professional manner and separate those funds from your personal finances. Opening a business bank account requires more effort than opening a personal account. There are documents to gather, names to be determined and licenses to get in order. Learn why you should have a business bank account and what you need to do to open one.

How to Focus on Goals and Get Rid of Distractions | Life Hack

December 17, 2020December 16, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Have you ever had one of those days where you’re sitting at a screen trying to just tick something off your to do list and finding yourself completely unable to just focus on the task at hand? Maybe you’re on Facebook or falling down the rabbit hole of news, social media, and the countless other distractions the Internet presents instead of trying to focus on goals for the day.

You’re not alone. More than 84% of us are plagued by procrastination at least sometimes[1]. For me, procrastination is the leading reason I used to so frequently get to the end of the week without having achieved what I wanted to. That ultimately meant putting in more hours on the weekends and evenings when I’d rather be spending time with my family or working out and investing in my physical and mental health.

That was the core motivator for me investing two years in experimenting with different tools and tactics to improve my focus.

Amazon wants to scan your body to make perfectly fitting shirts | Fast Company

December 17, 2020December 16, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

For just $25, Amazon wants to make you a custom T-shirt. And a virtual body double.

This week, the company unveiled a brand called “Made for You” that creates made-to-measure clothes. The initial product, a T-shirt, can be personalized to your taste and measurements, and more products are coming. This is Amazon’s latest bid to make itself a fashion destination, and if the company chooses to double down on this made-to-measure technology, it could have significant impacts throughout the industry.

Top 7 Ways to Improve the Live Chat Experience for Your Customers | AllBusiness.com

December 16, 2020December 15, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Consumers today prefer live chat over more traditional channels to handle customer service issues, according to J.D. Power. It’s become a quick and efficient way of resolving problems—or at least, it should be. If your live chat isn’t being handled right, it can lead to frustrated customers who will leave your website and never return. To keep customers happy, here are seven ways to improve your customers’ live chat experience:

79% of Consumers Say They’re Comfortable Shopping In Stores | Small Business Trends

December 15, 2020December 14, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Some 79% of consumers say they’re comfortable shopping in stores this holiday season according to a survey by Square and Wakefield Research. A further 40% of consumers say they will at least do half of their shopping in-store.

The findings of the survey dispel fears by retailers that this holiday season will see a drop in in-store purchases. This as 56% of retailers are expecting many consumers to not shop in-store at all. More importantly, 52% of those surveyed are more likely to support small and local businesses this holiday season than the past year.

How to Engage Customers in a Remote Society | business.com

December 15, 2020December 14, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Local business is continuously getting more competitive, which means getting noticed can be more difficult, especially in a society where most consumers aren’t interacting with businesses in person.

If you are looking to grow your local business and get more customers, you will need to consider expanding your company’s reach. There are multiple ways to make this happen, including learning how to market your company better. Expanding a business is not easy. It takes a lot of hard work, dedication, know-how and a good product or service, but there are time tested techniques that still work even in the current climate.

Your Next Therapy Dog Could Be a Biomimetic Robot | Digital Trends

December 14, 2020December 13, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Having an animal as a companion can be helpful for dealing with a whole range of psychological and physical health issues, especially among children. But not everyone is able to keep a pet. Now, a new study shows that spending time with a robotic dog as a companion can bring many of the same benefits as spending time with a real dog.

The research, performed at the University of Portsmouth, is published in the International Journal of Social Robotics. It found that when a group of 11- and 12-year-old children spent two sessions with the biomimetic MiRo-E robot dog, they experienced many of the same positive emotions as when they spent time with a real therapy dog.

Attention please! 5 interesting ways you can attract attention to your company | The Startup Magazine

December 14, 2020December 13, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

You’ve got the products, the drive, and ambition. But something is missing…customers! You won’t get very far without them, and no matter what industry you might be in it’s safe to say you’re probably all fighting for every like, share, comment, and sale! Positive publicity is important to get that engagement. Gathering interest and momentum around your business isn’t straightforward, and it takes a lot of planning, forward-thinking, and creativity but when you find the right formula, the results speak for themselves. Read on for 5 interesting ways you can attract attention to your great business.

Getting in Your Zone: 5 Ways Entrepreneurs Prime Their Mind and Body for Optimal Productivity | Entrepreneur

December 9, 2020December 8, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

As entrepreneurs, we don’t get to punch our time cards at 5:00 p.m. sharp. In reality, we are always on the clock thinking about our next pitch, marketing plan, or capital raise, sometimes during the most inopportune times. It’s time to start realizing the value that lies within taking care of ourselves, or dare I say – even taking a break. A break does not have to mean a long vacation. Small adjustments throughout our day can let us recalibrate and make sure that we take care of ourselves before trying to build the next great business. These vital self-care routines have been proven to help elevate the performance and mental health of all kinds of people from entrepreneurs to athletes.

1. Get some rest

Ironic, I know. How can more rest make me more productive? #TeamNoSleep! As we go through school, we get into some habits that don’t carry over into the real world. “All-nighters” during finals week seem to be a normal thing, as we stay up until the wee hours cramming those last few slides just in case it can grab us a few extra points. Entrepreneurship is a very different world. Our test questions come in the form of presentations, conversations, negotiations, and so much more. If your mental clarity is not where it needs to be, the opportunity is as good as gone. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) recommends that adults should get anywhere from 7-9 hours of sleep every night. That might sound crazy, but you will definitely feel the difference after a good night’s rest. Don’t be afraid to experiment with some products that may help you get that sound sleep faster, like chamomile tea, melatonin, or even CBD. Focus on your rest, re-energizing, and mental clarity — your body (and performance!) will thank you.

Rethinking The On-Demand Workforce | Getentrepreneurial.com

December 9, 2020December 8, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

In this era of chronic skills shortages, rapid automation, and digital transformation, companies are confronting a growing talent problem, one that has the potential to become a strategic bottleneck. How can they find people with the right skills to do the right work at just the right time? The half-life of skills is shrinking fast, and many jobs now come and go in a matter of years. Not only that, but major demographic changes are under way: Boomers are aging out of the workforce, and Millennials and Gen Z are taking over, bringing with them very different priorities about who should do what work—and where, when, and how it should get done.

To help companies address these challenges, a new generation of talent platforms—such as Catalant, InnoCentive, Kaggle, Toptal, and Upwork—has emerged. In contrast to Uber, Amazon Mechanical Turk, and TaskRabbit, these platforms offer on-demand access to highly skilledworkers, and our research shows that their number has risen substantially since 2009, from roughly 80 to more than 330. Much of that growth took place during the past five years alone. Today almost all Fortune 500 companies use one or more of them.