4 Ways to Raise Prices Without Driving Away Customers
Creativity, innovation, and marketing expertise are crucial to the success of your business – but so is a good pricing strategy. As I discussed yesterday, poor pricing strategies – including undercharging for your good or services – are a common cause of startup failure. To maximize revenue and ensure their businesses stay viable, entrepreneurs need to know how to price their goods and...
Read More
Why You Should Let Your Employees Make Mistakes
You've come a long way since your days in college. Scratch that. You've come a long way since you began your leadership role. It doesn't matter if you've been in the position for two weeks or two decades: Leadership requires a constant evolution of skills and management techniques. But what leaders often don't know how to handle – no matter how long they've been in leadership roles –...
Read More
5 Red Flags That Your Startup's Prices Are Too Low
Research from CB Insights found that poor pricing strategies are one of the most common reasons why small businesses fail. When it comes to poor pricing, overcharging is only one aspect of the problem. Undercharging for goods or services can be just as damaging to a company. Many cautious entrepreneurs choose to adopt a low pricing strategy in order to win business and gain market share. The...
Read More
The Business Benefits of Taking a Daily Stroll
Like many companies, we at Due are always trying to be more productive and more health-conscious at work. A couple of months ago, I read that Stanford University recently conducted a survey that concludes that daily walks improve productivity and creativity, so I decided to put this idea to the test. For 30 days, we asked that everyone in our office (if physically able) take two...
Read More
Building a Culture Where Your Employees Would Rather Be at Work Than on Vacation
Ryan Fitzgerald, cofounder of digital marketing firm Net Conversion, sees his company as a family. "Everyone has each other's backs and will pitch in and help when needed," Fitzgerald says. "I make sure I know what's happening in everyone's lives – not just on a work basis, but on a personal basis. I make sure everything's okay." But we've all heard that kind of thing before, haven't we?...
Read More
Do Away With Goals (Seriously) – Just Give Out Medals When Things Get Done!
Welcome to the end of 2015. Right now, goals and annual plans are being finalized for 2016. Employee performance reviews are being conducted. And whether your company does 360, 180, 90 44.5, 11.6, peer reviews, or uses the "latest and greatest" impersonal goal measurement software, it's time to understand one thing: most employees totally forget about the goal-setting process once it's...
Read More
Protecting Intellectual Property: From Big Ideas to Branding
Do you have an idea? Great. You can probably start a business with it. From crafty blogs to the latest apps, great ideas are spurring the creation of new businesses left and right. But once you start your new business, you have to consider how you're going to protect its most precious assets: intellectual property (IP). Most modern business have more than one type of IP that must be...
Read More
How to Give Your Freelance Business the Right Name
So you want to be a freelancer. You need to launch yourself as a brand and build a strong online presence. But what do you do first? Well, you're going to need a name – but what name do you pick? Naming your business is one of the most critical steps in building your brand. Your name will be your first introduction to many potential clients, and it has the potential to either draw them...
Read More
Launching a Startup? 4 Tough Questions You Need to Ask Yourself First
There's never been a better time to start your own business. No, really! Following the Great Recession – and all the corporate scandals that preceded it – consumers have grown increasingly wary of the big guys, and as a result, they are more willing to patronize small businesses and startups. If you've always dreamed of heading into business for yourself, now may be the time. In fact,...
Read More
Don't Let Fear Keep You From Making Your First Hire
When InstaNatural, an online retailer of natural health and beauty products, made its first sale in September 2013, the entire company was composed of one man: founder and current chairman AJ Patel. The company started with one product. Now, it has an inventory of 45 products, and there are many more in the pipeline. These days, InstaNatural pulls in seven figures of revenue every month, with...
Read More
7 Lessons in Efficiency From Small Business Owners [Infographic]
To get by in business, you have to be efficient. Unfortunately, this is something that many business owners often fail to realize. To ensure that your business remains a success, you need to take a careful look at how you can run things more effectively. Whether that involves putting more trust in the members of your team or making a few alterations to your own list of everyday tasks, even...
Read More
How Personal Tragedy Led Me to My Purpose
It's after 8 PM on a Thursday night, and although I left the office earlier than usual, I decided to head back and start my "second shift." The day didn't go as planned, and I felt the need to finish well. Over the course of my entrepreneurial journey, I've found that I'm wired a little bit differently from everyone else. I have been able to master myself and my emotions. There is a...
Read More
Do Employees Truly Embrace Diversity at Work?
According toPwC's 18th Annual Global CEO Survey (released this year 2015), 85 percent of CEOs who have a diversity and inclusiveness strategy say the strategy has enhanced performance. That's great! However, many employees say they embrace and respect diversity at work, but I'm not so sure this is accurate. Why? Because of the counter-proof I've witnessed a lot lately. Here's a little...
Read More
3 Simple Ways to Show Your Employees (or Coworkers) You Appreciate Them This Thanksgiving
It's that time of year again: With the Thanksgiving holiday upon us, countless media outlets will be giving us (maybe "bombarding us with" is the better phrase) suggestions about ways we can show our coworkers and bosses that we appreciate them. At times, "giving thanks" can begin to feel less like a choice and more like a requirement. This whirlwind of "thanks" can be a bit confusing and...
Read More
7 Reasons Your Company Shouldn't Work With Freelancers
Welcome to Recruiter Q&A, where we pose employment-related questions to the experts and share their answers! Have a question you'd like to ask? Leave it in the comments, and you might just see it in the next installment of Recruiter Q&A! This Week's Question: In our travels, we've spoken to many employers who love working with freelancers. Now, however, we want to know if there are...
Read More
4 Essential Personality Traits Every Startup Employee Needs
When you're the owner of a rapidly growing startup or small business, it's really easy to get swept up in the chase for talent, becoming as obsessed with the skills shortage as the rest of the media. This can be dangerous, because the talent-shortage hysteria is largely focused on technical skills. In the panic, employers often forget about the soft, social skills that are just as important to...
Read More
5 Tips for Uniting a Multigenerational Workforce
The American workforce is more diverse than ever before. This is especially true when we consider the ages of today's workers. Four generations now sit side by side in our offices: baby boomers, Generation X, millennials, and Generation Z. Each generation is distinct from the others, and all four bring with them unique life experiences, expectations, and work styles that, if leveraged...
Read More
The Entrepreneur's Path Is Rarely Straightforward
I had never heard the word "entrepreneur" until I went to college in California in the '80s. As a kid, I wanted a career in international business because I spoke French and thought jobs in finance sounded cool (my father and both grandfathers were commercial bankers). The only other career I seriously considered was being an ambassador or diplomat, which also seemed like a natural way to...
Read More
The Worksheet That Will Help You Hire the Right First Employee for Your Small Business
Today's question comes from a busy professional: My business is growing, and I know I will need to hire help soon. People have suggested interns or office support – but my business relies a lot on my own skills. I have thought about partnering with or hiring someone who does essentially what I do, so I can expand based on this expertise. What skills should an individual have to...
Read More
8 Reasons to Work With Freelancers
Welcome to Recruiter Q&A, where we pose employment-related questions to the experts and share their answers! Have a question you'd like to ask? Leave it in the comments, and you might just see it in the next installment of Recruiter Q&A! This Week's Question: More and more people are becoming freelancers every day. We want to know how this trend is impacting businesses. Do you work...
Read More
6 Things I Learned About Job Satisfaction From Interviewing More Than 500 People
As full-time videographer for career exploration startup PathSource, Justin Thach has had the unique opportunity to talk with all kinds of people about their career paths, from doctors, lawyers, and CEOs to professional baseball players, animal breeders, and video game designers. Through these conversations, Thach has gleaned six crucial insights about what makes a successful and genuinely...
Read More
The 4 Keys to Managing Your Contingent Workforce
A new study from Ardent Partners -- sponsored in part by vendor management system provider Fieldglass, Inc. -- has found that contingent workers account for 35 percent of the total workforce. Moreover, the "2015-2016 State of Contingent Workforce Management Report" asserts that, in the very near future, contingent workers will skyrocket to 50 percent of the total workforce. What this means is...
Read More
How to Capitalize on Evolving Cultures in Creative Businesses
The inherent complexity that underpins today's digital products seems to have put an end to the age of the arrogant leader with the killer instinct. In past decades, it was this person who ruled so many creative businesses. During this time, there were only a few crafts that came together to make a magazine, an ad, a film, or a product. There was time for the individual genius to conceive and...
Read More
The 5 Keys to Building a Flexible Work Policy That Works
In a recent survey from FlexJobs and WorldatWork, 80 percent of companies said they offer flexible work arrangements to employees. This may not be surprising, given that both employees and employers can benefit from flexible work arrangements. Employees like the freedom and work-life balance of such arrangements, while employers can reap the many rewards that come with building a more...
Read More
The Morning Routines of Successful Business Leaders [Infographic]
They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and the way you choose to start your morning can have a knock-on effect on how the rest of your day pans out. A regular morning routine can not only help with your time management and organizational skills, but it can also have a major influence on your mood and productivity. Bearing this in mind, we have to wonder: How do some of...
Read More
How I Overcame Shyness and Became CEO of a Networking Company
Today, I'm the CEO of a career-networking mobile app, Trustly. But not too long ago, I was a very introverted person! How did I go from being a shy, quiet introvert to being the CEO of a company -- especially one based on networking with people? When I was 12, I was accepted into an entrance-exam school that serves a much larger geographic area than my small hometown. Because I was from a...
Read More
Part-Time Workers Matter, Too: 4 Tips for Engaging Hourly Workers
Current estimates suggest that around 20 and 33 percent of the workforce is composed of contingent workers (part-timers, casual workers, freelancers, etc.). This figure could reach 50 percent by 2020. This change in the makeup of the workforce results from the recent trend toward building flexible workforces. Employing contingent workers is seen as the best way to achieve this end. The...
Read More
How Small Businesses Can Benefit From the Surge in Corporate Layoffs
We take no pleasure in hearing about the decline of any firm's fortunes, nor in the subsequent layoffs that often go hand in hand with such declines. Such events are shocking and challenging for many innocent and unsuspecting workers. Sadly, CNBC reports that the number of layoffs by U.S. companies surged in September, climbing to 58,877 from 41,000 in August. But we are not going to...
Read More
8 Things Every Employer Should Know About Hiring Interns
Welcome to Recruiter QA, where we pose employment-related questions to the experts and share their answers! Have a question you'd like to ask? Leave it in the comments, and you might just see it in the next installment of Recruiter QA! Today's Question: Most Q&As on internships are aimed at the interns themselves, but this one is geared toward the employers who may one...
Read More
Help Your Employees Manage Stress — the Business Will Thank You
We've written before about how stress harms workers. Routinely high levels of stress can lead to physical and mental health problems, career burnout, and chronic underperformance at work, among other things. But employee well-being isn't the only thing that stress can damage. High levels of stress among workers can negatively affect the overall performance of a company as well. According to...
Read More
The Power of Female Leadership: 3 Important Behaviors to Adopt
We've all read about the qualities it takes to become a great female leader: how to "lean in," what language to use in order to show an attitude of cooperation, the importance of personal flexibility, etc. In addition to these overt actions and the content of what we say, subliminal messages play an important role in leadership. Sometimes, these subliminal messages can be more powerful than...
Read More
How One Preventable Mistake Is Driving Your Employees Away
According to a recent survey from Saba and WorkplaceTrends.com, one third of U.S. workers are looking to change jobs in the next six months. A large chunk of these employees -- 41 percent -- said they're itching to make a move because they want career development opportunities that their current employers just aren't offering. "People are looking to grow, expand, and use their skill sets, and...
Read More
The Multi-Generational Workforce Isn't as Divided as You Think
As the consequences of the coming baby boomer brain drain loom on the horizon for companies across the U.S., it's more important than ever to understand the common values that unite our multi-generational workforces. By acknowledging the similarities between the generations -- rather than focusing on their differences -- leaders will be able to more effectively guide their companies to...
Read More
Who Should Get Promoted? 4 Signs of a Promotion-Ready Employee
It's vital that your firm has a healthy internal job market where opportunities are advertised and offers are made via a fair and transparent process. The alternative -- a promotion culture that is rife with favoritism and secrecy -- will demoralize employees and drive away talent. Admittedly, it can seem like a waste of time to go through an internal hiring process when we think we know who...
Read More
An Amazing Boss Reveals His Hiring Secrets
For four years, Cole Lindbergh had one of the most fun jobs you could imagine -- but it was also a pretty tough one. While overseeing the games department at the Worlds of Fun amusement park in Kansas City, Mo., Cole managed between 125 and 145 teenagers every summer. Teenagers aren't known for being the easiest age group to manage, and Lindbergh's employees were no exception. He...
Read More
Is It Time to Let That Employee Go?
Yesterday, we shared a piece from Dr. Paul White about deciding when it's time for you to quit your job. Today, we're going to turn that topic on it's head: How does an employer know when it's time to let an employee go? Fred Mouawad, CEO of project management software company Taskworld, takes a very dynamic approach to "getting the right people in the right roles." "We don't have a set...
Read More
3 Small Employers That Win Big With Recruiting
Despite their smaller budget and teams, small businesses can still find great ways to boost their brands and stand out when it comes to recruiting. A strong brand and a strong online presence will attract quality candidates, resulting in lower turnover rates and a lower cost-per-hire. Small businesses are likely to use social media platforms to market their employer brands, as these...
Read More
6 Salary Negotiation Tips for Startup Owners
Welcome to Recruiter QA, where we pose employment-related questions to the experts and share their answers! Have a question you'd like to ask? Leave it in the comments, and you might just see it in the next installment of Recruiter QA! Today's Question: Do you negotiate with prospective new hires about pay? If not, why not? And if you do, what is your approach to salary...
Read More
Forget the Apps and Techniques: If You Want to Boost Productivity, Spend Quality Time With Your Employees
In a surprising turn of events, "We're like a family here" may be more than a garbage platitude the boss feeds their team right before the latest round of budget-slashing and downsizing. Bringing family dynamics into the workplace may actually boost engagement and performance levels among employees. "True leaders apply the principles of family life to work to create a safe, nurturing...
Read More
7 Empowering Ways to Cultivate Company Success
Welcome to Recruiter QA, where we pose employment-related questions to the experts and share their answers! Have a question you'd like to ask? Leave it in the comments, and you might just see it in the next installment of Recruiter QA! Today's Question: How does your company breed a culture of success? The answers below are provided by members of FounderSociety, an...
Read More
Why We Need to Take the 'Review' Out of 'Performance Reviews'
As you've likely heard by now, performance reviews are broken. In large part, that's because performance reviews aren't really designed with employees in mind. They're really only good for one thing: deciding to fire someone who hasn't met expectations. A lot of thought leaders have held forth on how we can fix performance reviews. Often, the suggested solution is to "have them more often."...
Read More
Everyone Is Replaceable — But a Great Team Isn't
Out of context, Rodolfo Saccoman's assertion that "everyone is replaceable" sounds like the coldest expression of cutthroat corporate politics. But Saccoman, a winning Shark Tank contestant and the founder of AdMobilize, is no arrogant tyrant. In fact, he includes himself on his list of "replaceable people"; he really does mean everyone. "I tell my team, 'Look, I am replaceable,'" Saccoman...
Read More
How to Move Beyond Annual Reviews
Annual reviews are rapidly becoming a thing of the past. A crop of the world's largest and most well-known companies, including Accenture, Microsoft, GE, Deloitte, Gap, and Adobe, have recently done away with annual performance reviews and rankings. It is estimated that 10 percent of Fortune 500 companies and 12 percent of Fortune 100 companies are ditching annual reviews and rankings -- up from...
Read More
Networking on the Square: How the Right Accessory Can Help You Be a Better Networker
I'm always looking to add to my bag of networking tricks. I'm not a shy person, but networking does't come easy to me, especially at larger events. I'm an introvert; I've never been comfortable in crowds, and the bigger the crowd, the more uncomfortable I become. I admire people with the guts and grace to work a room without offending or alienating everyone in their wake, but have long since...
Read More
3 Key Qualities Successful CEOs Possess
While it may sound fancy, being a CEO is not easy. As the leader of your company, you're expected to satisfy the needs and expectations of employees, customers, investors, communities, and more. To boot, you're often solely responsible for moving the company forward and propelling growth and success. Talk about pressure! As an entrepreneur myself, I know that it takes a lot of hard work,...
Read More
Hiring the Right Employees for Every Phase of Your Startup
Hiring the right employees is crucial to your startup's success. My company, UpCounsel, would not be where it is today if not for the unconventional, passionate, and extremely hard-working team that comes into the office each morning ready to further grow and expand this company. I'm very lucky to have such a persevering and intelligent group beside me, but "luck" was nowhere near the driving...
Read More
Thinking About Launching a New Business? Read These 7 Books First
You have what you believe to be a brilliant, unique idea for a product that has the potential to revolutionize the marketplace. While you are confident in your innovative concept, you are also debating whether or not to take the next step and launch your business. What if you quit your job and spend all your hard-earned money on a startup just to watch the business fail? Given that 50...
Read More
The Single Most Underrated Career Skill Ever Is ...
... PowerPoint. I'm not kidding! (It is a strange one, isn't it?) You probably thought it was going to something like "initiative" or "creative thinking" or "interpersonal skills," didn't you? Let me explain. I'm using "PowerPoint" as a kind of shorthand. I am not really talking about how to bullet a list or bold a word. I'm talking about something a little more. What Are...
Read More
