For business owners, the holiday season is often a time for purchasing client, employee, and partner gifts for everyone who supports your business throughout the year. However, it’s important to give gifts in a way that won’t offend or create awkward situations among those who are important to your small business.
Before shopping for holiday gifts for clients, colleagues, or employees, consider the following business gift giving etiquette tips for all occasions.
Some of the world’s most prosperous economies – including Germany, Australia and the UK – have robust apprenticeship systems. School leavers and job changers in those countries can access education and training that leads directly to the workplace, while the companies that sponsor them get top-quality workers with the precise skills they need.
In the United States, however, apprenticeships are far less common. Many businesses see them as complicated and expensive and don’t know if they really work. Others aren’t sure the benefits are worth the cost. U.S. employers are more comfortable shopping for talent than creating it. However, astute employers know it’s critical to have access to a pipeline of workers with 21st-century skills.
When the 2010s began, smartphones were in their infancy, artificial intelligence had few consumer-facing applications, and self-driving cars were a sci-fi fantasy. A lot has changed. As 2019 comes to a close, here’s a look back at some of the best and most important inventions of the decade.
On The Simple Dollar, I’ve often written about my love for cookbooks. My friends and family know about this and often give me cookbooks as gifts for the holidays, which means I’ve actually reached a point where my cookbooks fill up a small bookshelf and I have to be selective about what I keep and what I pass along to others.
I enjoy several kinds of cookbooks for various reasons. I like ones that have a lot of basic recipes I can trust and modify. I like ones that are reference works for ingredients and equipment, like lists of spices that go well together. I also really like ones that focus on technique. And I like ones that are focused on “framework recipes,” where you can kind of fill in the blanks with what you have on hand. The only ones I generally don’t like are ones that are just collections of complicated recipes without any sort of theme or pattern; I can do without them. A cookbook should either answer a question very quickly, show me how to do something or inspire me to try something new that builds upon what I already know — and ideally do more than one of those things.
It’s easy to easily establish unconscious biases about who the “best fit” for a job might be based on our individual experiences. For example, let’s say that you attended a top university like Harvard or Yale, and you receive a slew of applications from candidates, some of whom attended universities ranked lower than the one you attended. You might unknowingly be less inclined to hire those candidates despite them having the qualifications to back up their expertise.
The business structure you choose dictates your path to commercial success, but choosing the right entity requires extensive research and personal reflection. Each structure has its own set of guidelines, benefits and drawbacks.
How do you know if you should set your business up as a limited liability company (LLC) or an S-corp? We spoke with accountants and business advisors to get their take.
The world of productivity has several hacks or tricks to help you manage your time. The amount of time management tactics to productivity strategies out there is both amazing and overwhelming.
Of course, to make matters harder for people, a lot of these methods have been tried by various people who have stood by them… To-do list systems, the Pomodoro Technique, Parkinson’s Law…
All of these strategies are great strategies in their own way, but one strategy stands above all else: The 80 20 rule. Out of the many, this particular strategy has been used the most and is regarded as the most helpful in developing time management and other concepts in life.
But what’s so special about this rule? How does it give you success and how do you use it? Let’s explore the specifics.
Snowflakes are already falling softly on the roofs of the wooden chalets at the Christmas markets of some of the most beautiful cities in Europe as the aromas of mulled wine, cookies, gingerbread, roasted chestnuts and cinnamon spice perfume the air and festivals of lights illuminate the old streets and plazas.
As we wrap up the year and prepare for the next, make sure to give your business a cash health checkup. This is more than looking at a statement to see if there is money in the bank or to check the profit margin. It’s analyzing where you are, deciding where you want to be, and outlining a strategy to get you there.
If you’re struggling to spot Instagram influencers for your influencer marketing campaigns, then it’s time to change your approach. This is because most influencers have had it with the term ‘influencers’.
Creator or Influencer?
According to The 2019 Influencer Survey, 71% of Instagram influencers don’t actually call themselves influencers. Only 29% of Instagram celebrities give themselves the title of ‘influencer’.
Small Business owners with a limited budget often collaborate with micro Instagram influencers. And it goes with saying that the success of any influencer marketing campaign largely depends on finding the right Instagram influencers.
If you know what Instagram influencers call themselves, it will be easier for you to spot them. So, the next time, you should look beyond the ‘influencer’ title.
Dispatches From The Front 