February 2023 - Page 3 of 11 - BOLLYWOOD SURKHIYAN

Crafting a Powerful Persuasive Presentation

When it comes to meeting people and presenting in person, you are in a good position to ‘read the room’, to get a sense of how your information is or isn’t being accepted. You can see first-hand the nuances of body language, facial gestures and signs of disengagement of people looking at their mobile phones.

With most of your meetings now happening virtually, it becomes more challenging to put your finger on the pulse of your client or prospects response via the small screen. It can be further complicated when your audience of one or many has their camera turned off forcing you to rely only on verbal clues.

The good news is that you can still deliver an impactful presentation that convert. Before sitting down to craft your next presentation, consider these three things; the objective of the presentation, the decision to be made by the client or prospect and how much time you’ll for delivering the presentation.

Once you know those first few things, you can then sit down to reverse engineer the layout and content of the presentation.

The Objective of the Presentation

When you just read the above paragraph, you might have thought to yourself that the objective and decision to be made are one in the same and they are not.

Before we can even begin to write the content of the message, you need to know what the objective of the presentation is. Determine whether the message is intended to educate on a product or service; to inform the audience, such as a company announcement or to get their buy in. Lastly, is it to inspire or motivate the audience as many corporate leaders might be doing for their employees and stakeholders.

The Business Decision to be Made

In preparation of any presentation you might be giving, you need to understand one key thing-that the presentation is being made so that the person or team members listening can make a decision. Your role as the presenter is to give them the information they need to make a decision to say yes, say no, move forward with the next meeting, raise their hand to an idea or at the very least ask questions.

Delivery Time

You are starting on the wrong foot with your presentation if you have not determined how much time you have to delivery your presentation. It is a huge mistake to have a presentation run longer than the audience is expecting and could effectively squash an opportunity as a result.

First and foremost, find out how much time you are given to speak. Then immediately knock off 10-15 minutes. This will ensure that you end early and allow time for any Q&A at the end.

So, if you are given an hour, plan for a about 45-50 minutes and then reverse engineer the presentation. This means you need to craft the presentation with this timing in mind. Perhaps you allow 5 minutes for the introduction and perhaps another 10 minutes for the conclusion and closing. That means I need to divide up the remaining 35 minutes for the body of the presentation.

The brain likes the number 3. That means your listeners will remember more of your presentation if you deliver the content as three topics. Those three topics along with their talking points would be spread across the 35 minutes for about 10 – 12 minutes for each topic being shared.

You can use this format for any amount of time given for your presentation.

So now that you know your objective, what desired decision the audience needs to make and how much time for delivery, we can now move onto building a persuasive presentation.

Building a Persuasion Presentation

When it comes to delivering your presentation, it is important that you have a structure to your talk-it allows you to establish a foundation for your talk.

There are two formats to consider:

A. Past, Present, Future

Start by having a discussion on where your audience (client, stakeholder, peers) was in the past.

Establish what is happening in the present (what are they achieving or not achieving).

Explain how you can improve their future, where you can take them.

B. Why you?, Why your company?, Why now?

Each time you give a presentation, there are three questions that you need to answer for the prospect or client, even if they don’t ask you directly.

You ned to answer the question of why they should work with you as an individual.

You need to answer the question of why they should consider your company, product or service, especially if they currently have a current vendor or company that they are satisfied with.

You need to answer the question of why they should work with your company right now. This is where you demonstrate the opportunity cost.

Presentation Format

The classic presentation structure has four main parts: An introduction, the body (the 3 main talking points), a conclusion and a close.

Building a persuasive presentation is never complete until you add a conclusion and end with a clear and confident close.

The conclusion provides a quick reference back to your attention-grabbing opening, pulls the loose ends together and brings your argument to an end. The presentation is only complete when you close, i.e., include a specific call to action.

So, there you have it. A process that will allow you to draft a presentation by first asking key questions, using your time strategically and then building the argument for your presentation.

Top 10 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make When Choosing a Business Name

In this rapidly growing economy, it is commonplace to see businesses in every nooks and crannies of the world. Sole proprietorship is having the highest number of registration. From the home-based entrepreneur to the shop owner, and then the small office consultant, people are taking advantage of the freedom enjoyed in becoming their own boss.

Billions of corporate monies are invested yearly in starting new businesses. A visit to the Lagos office of the nation’s registrar of business names buttresses this fact.

While it is true that anybody can start up a business of their own, many entrepreneurs have fallen short of the leveraging that accrues from this experience. This, to a large extent, has to do with the disadvantaged names worn by these businesses.

A business does not actually begin by formulating a business plan or opening a bank account. It starts from choosing a name. There’s more to business names than just identity. The right name is an advertising tool. If the name doesn’t describe the nature of your business, potential clients may not realize that you offer something they need.

Let’s take a look at the top 10 mistakes to avoid when choosing a business name:

1. NOT KNOWING WHAT KIND OF BUSINESS YOU ARE IN. It is surprising that some entrepreneurs choose a name with little or no indication of what type of work the organization actually does. Including a descriptive word in your business name can be useful when marketing your products or company. This may be made possible if you have identified what differentiates you from competitors. Take the following examples:

Adenix and Sons

One Love Enterprises

Just You Shop

Can you tell me what any of these companies do? No! They’re relying on customers already knowing who they are (a tricky proposition for new businesses).

2. USING A NAME THAT IS TOO LONG, DIFFICULT TO REMEMBER, SPELL OR PRONOUNCE. A good name is something that can be mentioned on radio or over the phone without explanation. People will make a quick decision based on their first impression of your business name. Put the name through a spelling test and ask others to spell it. So, choosing a name such as “Lolitoesy” is not a good one.

3. NOT SPENDING QUALITY TIME BRAINSTORMING. Business names are not “spur of the moment” creations. It is the result of possibly long days and nights of brainstorming, digging the Thesaurus for synonyms and antonyms, interrelated words and words that have some kind of relationship with the proposed business activity. The big companies even hire expensive consultants to help them choose the right name for their businesses or products.

4. PROMOTING A NAME WITHOUT TESTING AND CHECKING ITS AVAILABILITY. Once you have chosen a few names, test them out on friends and family, potential clients and everyone you know. Ask them what kind of service they feel you provide and feeling they get about the name. You’ll be surprised at how honestly they give you suggestions. Then you can proceed to check availability at the name registry nearest to you after being convinced it’s best. Don’t waste money on letter heads and complimentary cards trying out a business name already chosen by someone else.

5. CHOOSING WORDS WITH NEGATIVE OR NEUTRAL CONNOTATION. A word’s connotation can be positive, negative or neutral, depending on the emotional associations that people generally make. If you are starting a transport business for instance, you don’t want it to have a weak sounding or negative name, such as “Willow Twig Trucking” or “Kitten Transport”. You want a business name that conveys strength and reliability. A choice such as “Stone Creek Transport” would be much better. Remember: Words are powerful.

6. NAMING A BUSINESS AFTER THE FOUNDER OR ANY OTHER PERSON. It is a common tendency for a business to be named after the original founder. This approach can make customers expect the personal attention and care of the owner. Using your name, followed by the type of service works well if you have an already established reputation in your specialty. But, if you are planning to one day sell your company, a company-owner named business is less attractive.

7. NOT CONSIDERING THE FUTURE. Robert Dilenschneider wrote about a public relations person who broadened her services from just writing to media relations and had to change the name of her business from Miller’s Writing Services to Miller’s Communications. Aside brainstorming for ideas, you need foresight in choosing a name. Even if you are operating a highly-niched product, select names that would represent a broader category of your product line.

8. FAILURE TO GET THE RIGHT DOMAIN NAME FOR YOUR BUSINESS. If your business activity is almost 100% online or will do better having an online presence, you may need to consider starting your search by getting a suitable domain name for your website first. In the modern world of the internet, where people automatically turn to the web for information, it pays to have a domain name that reflects your site or business.

9. NOT AVOIDING LAWSUIT. Be unique. The best you can be trying to be someone else is second best. Avoid being a copycat. Using a name similar or identical to that of another business can get you into problems including legal issues. If you call your line of equestrian apparel “Polo Sporting Designs”, the holder of the trademark “Polo” – the giant Ralph Lauren – may slap you with a lawsuit.

10. NOT CONSULTING A BUSINESS NAMING EXPERT. While the services of lawyers, chartered accountants and chartered secretaries can be invaluable in the registration of a business name and company, these categories of professionals might not understand the selling and marketing principles that copywriters can use to your advantage. A good copywriter is always looking for ways to help you communicate more effectively to more people.

Effective Lesson Plan Making Strategies

Planning is an integral part of any activity that you do as it is the only thing that can ensure the smooth completion of your activity. An effective plan can let you work in a proper way and also lets you analyze your path, your growth and your progress towards your aim. The same principles are applicable to the field of education. This makes Lesson Plans an essential part of the teaching and learning process. A lesson plan is a blueprint for a teacher on his/her course of teaching or conducting a class. While this takes care of the different styles in which a subject can be taught to the students, it also takes care of the various understanding levels different children may have.

An effective lesson plan helps you in finding the right way to guide the students. A teacher gets to know how to handle a topic in an effective manner and how to go about it so that the concept or the learning outcome is absolutely clear to the students. While the plan lets you to strategize your teaching course it also helps you in effectively managing assessment.

An effective Lesson Plan should broadly be based on the following elements:

• Direct Instructions: this is where a teacher makes a formal introduction to the topic that has to be taught. Reading and explanation can be included under this.

• Guided Discovery: Also known as ‘learning by doing’, this should include activities where students gather information about the topic and learn by way of researching or doing. A plan should include the kind of activities that can be conducted for this purpose.

• Assessment & Review: this should include the way in which the teacher plans to assess the understanding of the students and the way actionable feedback can be given in a well-structured format.

Steps in making an effective Lesson Plan:

• Share clear learning outcomes – the principles or concepts you expect children to learn and understand by the end of the class

• Make a strategy to have an instruction process that ensures that the whole idea is made clear to the students.

• Find out different methods that can be used by students to investigate the topic and research it which in turn will facilitate learning.

• Chalk out activities that would make students learn in groups and develop learning partnerships.

• Develop and design activities that generate interest in the subject and make students learn through discussions, reflection and investigation.

• Find and develop activities that will help in assessment of students’ learning

•Find out ways to recognize and review understanding and grasp of core concepts.

A major challenge here is to have a right plan in place and most teachers struggle in making a perfect plan without wasting much of their time that is needed in teaching. Here educational experts can help out. They have the professional skills and the qualifications to chalk out the best plans and help teachers manage their time effectively. Since they are experts in subject matter as well as educational planning they know how best to strategize and plan to get the desired results. One can go for some well known Educational Service Provider for getting a good lesson plan prepared for effective teaching delivery.

How to Start a Staffing and Recruitment Consulting Agency – A Complete Guide

Have you ever considered a new business idea or consulting career into uncharted territory? Perhaps starting a staffing company? The mere thought of taking the plunge can often feel very intimidating particularly start a temp agency from home and you’re unsure of where the whole idea might land. The entrepreneurship world is packed with endless unknowns, particularly if it is your first time in that specific industry or sector-it can scare you enough to even hinder you from taking that important first business step.

The goal of employment and recruitment consulting firms is to help match employers who have job openings with qualified employees who are available. Going by different names such as recruitment agencies or staffing agencies, this type of business or industry can be found in big cities and small towns giving support to lots of different industries or organizations.

The objective of this comprehensive guide is to bring to the fore in a transparent manner what and how to start a staffing agency or consulting business entails when you are completely new to the consulting industry and fully in charge of the staffing venture. This is your ultimate guide to creating and starting a recruiting and staffing consulting firm.

To start a staffing company may appear to be a straightforward transaction or business undertaking. You need just a couple of employees, there’s no huge inventory to acquire, and you could even start your staffing consulting business from the convenience! There are, however, plenty of things and steps to be considered before your staffing and consulting business is ready to take staffing orders from clients or even face your first candidate. This article is designed to guide you if you are thinking about how to start a staffing agency online or establishing a brick and mortar recruitment consulting company.

Starting a Staffing consulting Agency – What Do You Need

So, you are determined in terms of starting your own staffing consulting and recruiting agency – excellent business idea. Remember that entrepreneurship in any industry comes with lots of ups and downs, many quite unexpected and the same is true of staffing agencies. Even when you have a great love for what you are intending to do, your consulting business won’t succeed with passion alone. You not only need to be fully committed for the long-haul but also have an in-depth understanding of every possible staffing situation, business downturn, or even points of frustration which you could be transformed into a growth opportunity. And that is what this article intends to equip and guide you with as you enter this potentially lucrative consulting agencies industry.

Let’s first look at the basic staffing and consulting business requirements and areas that you will need to focus on when starting your consulting and recruiting agency in your new industry.

Get your Staffing Business Registered and Licensed

Perhaps you have explored the business plan or ideas on running agencies, or may be actively considering taking the plunge from your modest in-house temp recruiting to starting full consulting. Step one is obviously to get your staffing business registered. Before starting, learn all the relevant local requirements for that appertain to getting the appropriate business licenses, contact your local business bureau or check online. Then proceed to register the name of your staffing recruiting agency at the designated office, file your business articles of incorporation, and pay all fees.

Some of the key staffing business registration requirements for this consulting and recruiting agencies industry before starting include:

• A business name

• A qualified accountant

• Money for fees

• Business Banking account

• Insurance cover

• A place to work

• Website.

You may, in addition, need to obtain extra staffing licensing to place employees legally in select specialized sectors or an industry like health care. Before you start the staffing or recruitment consulting agency, it is prudent to consult your local business bureau or licensing office regarding special staffing licensing information. They can also advise and guide you on ideas, business and industry approach strategies.

Obtain Legal Counsel that Understands How to Open a Staffing Agency

A larger portion of investment when starting recruitment agencies will go into getting suitable legal counsel to ensure proper due diligence on clients and employees. It is important to make sure that the legal counsel you employ understands staffing and the consulting business as well as all the relevant national and provincial legislation dealing with the staffing and recruiting agencies industry. This way, you are sure of them giving good guide tips.

Such legal counsel will assist you in terms of the requisite staffing consulting business documentation before starting operations in this industry. Some these will include:

• Employment Agreements

• Workplace Violence and Harassment Policy

• Termination & Layoff Clauses

• Disciplinary Policy

• Health & Safety Policy

• Client Service Agreements.

Secure Staffing and Recruitment Consulting Business Insurance

Most clients will want to see proof that your staffing agency has in place some insurance in case one of your temp workers cause damage as they work for their company, industry or site. Getting affordable insurance capable of meeting the needs of your clients is imperative. Talk to a reputable insurance company that understands your staffing, recruiting and consulting operations to ensure you remain covered for all manner of possible insurance situations before starting any consulting or recruiting agency or agencies as they can guide you.

Finding Your Staffing Consulting Business Niche

Staffing and recruiting services have traditionally been operating across all employment sectors. However, increasingly staffing consulting services can now be seen operating within a single niche market. The growing number of specializations existing today in the staffing industry is making the staffing industry more complex.

Also, beware of special niches existing within a single staffing or recruiting sector. If for example, you plan to start staffing agency that focuses on clerical and office positions, you will discover that it’s possible to even specialize further. For example, you may decide to only provide midlevel administrative support staffing needs to only select Fortune 500 companies. Other examples worth looking into include recruiting for finance or legal personnel staffing if your location has many accounting or legal firms.

As you plan and look into the above staffing and recruiting business niche possibilities, take some time before starting and consider the following important staffing and recruiting factors as they can guide your choices and strategies in the recruiting industry:

Past Consulting and Recruiting Experience

If you happen to have a background or previous experience in a specific field or sector, this could turn out to be a greatly advantageous. You will not only be able to assess job applicants better in that particular field, but the experience also lends much credibility to your recruitment business. The other great benefit is that you will be feeling more comfortable because you are doing business in an industry that you understand well or have sufficient experience in. You will still need to carry out your staffing market and industry research prior to starting out in this employee recruiting industry. Understand the employees and clients industry well to be successful.

Staffing Demographics and Psychographics

The most common structure when it comes to starting a staffing agencies or recruitment consulting business is to acquire a small office staffed by a handful of employees who do the recruitment of candidates and selling employment services to businesses operating in the local area. The composition of your staffing or recruiting consulting services agency should be determined by the demographic and psychographics of the area you intend to specialize in. In general, staffing agencies should make sure they are adhering to the country’s labor laws.

Competition in the Staffing Consulting Services Industry

The competition level in this industry will by a large degree depends on the location of your business and of course your chosen staffing consulting niche. If for instance, you start your own staffing agency and it is the only one dealing with recruiting nurses for the home care industry in the whole location, you can be sure of monopolizing that staffing aspect right from when you are starting.

Whatever the case, it pays to be prepared and have ready strategies to face all manner of competition, either as you set up or later as you begin recruiting.

Local Staffing Industry Demand and Supply

Staffing and consulting agencies need both clients and temporary employees to survive. Before choosing your niche, ensure you know what types of jobs opportunities are available in your location as well as the supply of potential staffing labor. If for example your town 10 factories, you cannot afford to rule out the potential for industrial placements.

Before you start a staffing company or recruiting services, plan a visit to your location’s chamber of commerce website so that you may get to know more about the top companies and industries in the area.

Economic Feasibility

Occasionally, a staffing consulting market niche that would appear to be the natural option given your background may not be feasible due to the financial implications. For example, you might be a medical professional with experience in clinical services but choose not to set up a medical staffing business because of its rather steep start-up financial demands. In addition, nursing homes, hospitals, and other medical facilities generally tend to pay after 1 to 3 months. In that case, you may decide to try your hand in higher-end clerical recruitment instead.

Different Types of Staffing Consulting Agencies

Having covered a staffing agency or consulting business in its broadest sense, here are the different types to help you plan your recruiting strategies.

• Temporary staffing agencies

• Long-term staffing agencies

• Temp-to-perm staffing agencies

• Contingency Search Firms

• Executive Search Firms.

While it’s important and helpful to understand the existing distinctions among these different types of staffing consulting services, you can now easily start a staffing agency from home that offers all these services combined under one roof.

Starting a Temp Agency from Home

A temporary agency employs individuals who are trained in specific fields to work for other businesses through short-term contracts or assignments. This is a very hands-on type of environment as clients and employees may contact you any hour of the night or day throughout for a variety of reasons. When starting a temp recruiting and staffing consulting agency from your home, it is important that the staffing or consulting business is structured in such as to maintain your home’s privacy while still keeping in contact with your consulting clients.

In terms of choosing whether to rent or lease staffing recruitment office space, what should guide all your strategies is your business budget.

Important steps in setting up staffing/consulting business include:

• Visiting your local zoning office.

• Get insurance coverage and all vital staffing business licenses employees!

• Obtain worker’s compensation and important consulting and business tax details even for employees.

• Acquire a dedicated or private phone line for your staffing agency.

• Plan on purchasing ads in the local radio stations or local paper for promoting your new consulting agency to find new or additional employees or consulting clients.

• Consider accepting online applications from potential employees. This helps in keeping employees and clients away from your private home and offers security.

• Organize meetings with human resources managers and executives; explain the working of your staffing consulting business and the benefits that come with temp employees.

• Keep yourself accessible so that staffing consulting clients and employees can inform you in case of no-show employees or any other staffing or recruiting incidents that need your immediate action.

If you want to run a staff consulting and recruiting firm of medium scale, experts suggest that you will need at least 10 key staff when starting. Of course, there may be times when you may need to go further and engage experts to assist you in recruiting high profile employees.

In all probability, when you are just starting consulting, finances may be limited or your staffing consulting business structure still growing and unable to retain all the recruitment professionals full-time hence why it is important to partner with other recruiting experts operating as freelancers. Locate your staffing consulting office near where potential clients are operating and identify a convenient spot for interviewing temporary workers or future external employees.

Get Latest Applicant Tracking & Payroll Processing Systems

Once your staffing business is rolling, you will need to plan how to begin paying your contract workers employees on a regular basis: weekly, bi-weekly or every month. On top of that, you have to regularly remit both the employer and employee taxes. Options to handle all these technical consulting aspects include either outsourcing a professional business payroll processing provider or hiring an in-house payroll administrator.

It is possible to use Microsoft Office as you are starting out but soon you are going to need some more robust staffing and recruiting tools geared to boosting the efficiency of your staffing agency. Ensure that you research the available tools as well as technical support, functionality, and cost.

Staffing Client Credit Checks

Clients credit checking is perhaps one of the most important components of the entire process of your taking on all your new clients. A credit check on clients informs you how long it takes a particular client to clear invoices on average and whether they could be experiencing financial stress. Don’t unintentionally plan to be part of those waiting to be paid or those that never saw their money after offering consulting or legal services.

Give your Expertise and Consulting Time

There is a very reason why recruiters are referred to as ‘Consultants’. Some of the leading recruiters end up developing lots of industry expertise and knowledge which they openly share that openly with many of their clients. Hiring managers and industry owners need access to experts they can easily contact to seek guidance and discuss the latest trends in salary rates, resources, legal issues on recruiting, consulting, employee availability and so on. Become that person to whom your clients can confidently turn to consulting, and remember to do that for free – you will reap the benefits in the long-run. You will be amazed at the referral this approach can bring to your brand, especially if you are starting a recruitment agency or consulting firm in an area that is untapped.

Develop Relationships

As you prepare on how to start an online staffing agency, remember that when it comes to recruitment, developing personal relationships is everything. Spend time off-net getting to personally know your key clients. When funds allow, take potential clients for lunch as you sell your staffing business ideas to them, call them weekly just to say hello, invite them to a game of golf, share useful information with them even before thy ask. While these business tactics may appear obvious, the art of building relationships is disappearing slowly in many recruitment sectors as it becomes too automated.

Experiment and be Flexible with your Consulting Terms

When starting a temp agency from home, it is important that during the initial period you don’t become too fixated with your business Terms and Costs. Of course, this necessarily doesn’t mean you should go giving discounts everywhere, but it’s good to become creative and try experimenting with different arrangements in attempts at finding what works best for your clients and yourself. Engage clients in discussions on retainers, fixed fee arrangements, exclusivity, etc. You will be pleasantly amazed at the kind of deals or ideas that you can get by offering a more personalized kind of staffing service, each customized to the needs of individual clients.

Steps on How to Start an Employment Agency from Home

Starting a staffing business that cost much money may appear to be an intimidating undertaking, but the key lies in staying organized. By following the simple guidelines described below on how to start a staffing agency from home or in a leased office, you’ll be positioning yourself for success.

1. Gain some experience: Lots of people launch a staffing business with very little or zero experience in this competitive industry. Try and gain some experience or basic knowledge about the industry before you start.

2. Research all governmental requirements: plan for and look into aspects like areas licenses, taxes as well as workers’ compensation.

3. Have a viable cash flow analysis: During the first year of your consulting, put into place a realistic estimation of your cash flow needs. Take into account all staffing business overheads to avoid potential pitfalls towards the close of the year. It is important to determine your staffing business income and expenses, from there calculate the amount of much cash needed to operate your operations on a daily basis.

4. Consult industry and business experts: Free counsel is always available. Talk to others who have also started a staffing firm. Talk to business owners not operating in your geographic area or the chosen recruiting niche to avoid unnecessary competition.

5. Develop a niche: This allows you to stay updated on current staffing consulting trends and needs in the chosen niche and also limits levels of competition.

6. Hit the streets. Use all the contacts you have to bring in employees and clients and if you lack these, hit the streets and knock on doors.

Locating your Staffing Agency

‘Location, Location, Location’ – You may be forgiven for thinking that this is something only found in the real estate business sector. It is, however, equally true when applied to the staffing and recruitment consulting industry. Office location matters a lot, and generally speaking, operating from home is the best idea except when you are grappling with how to start a staffing agency with no money or at low cost. Ideally, you need a professional atmosphere to conduct your consulting business like testing applicants, interviewing and training candidates as well as for holding business meetings with clients.

So when looking for a suitable location for your new staffing consulting firm, make sure it’s located in an area that is easily accessible and visible, probably in the business hub of your city. Your applicant ought to easily locate your staffing office when seeking to submit their CVs, or coming for background checks. Your staffing clients should easily locate you and drive there with no difficulty.

As you work out how to open a staffing agency and scope out possible locations, consider all of the following business-related factors:

• Image: Depending on the clientele you want to serve, location can be very important. For instance, for the legal consulting profession, image is everything and you may want to locate your staffing office in an upscale area. You also want to project the image of professionalism in tour staffing consulting business.

• Proximity to client: Often choosing your business office location on the basis of the clientele you wish to attract pays. If you want to serve McDonald’s, placing your office close by may be a good idea!

• Accessibility: Your consulting business location must be easily accessible to your potential staffing employees and clients. It makes no sense locating your business where those who want plan to reach your office must hire a taxi cab.

• Economic Feasibility: Your staffing office location must make economic sense. Go for a location that contributes to minimizing business overhead.

• Possibility for expansion: Always consider and hope that your consulting business and brand will grow. Therefore choose a location that has room for potential expansion as moving is expensive. To plan ahead is to be successful

• Lease flexibility: When starting small, it’s an excellent idea to consider taking up temporary space for an initial couple of months. If you feel the decision to start a staffing business is not your idea, then you won’t find yourself locked into a binding long lease.

Starting a Staffing Agency – Promotion Strategies

Marketing is vital for any business, especially a new consulting startup. Here are several advertising strategies that you can adopt or modify to suit your specific promotion goals and the cost you are ready to incur:

• Brochures – This is a recognized staffing brand advertising vehicle.

• Direct mailing – Choose your list in such a way that it focuses on those organizations and companies whose industry sector and size make them potential staffing clients.

• The Internet – Well-crafted electronic business ads place on select bulletin boards are an effective method, especially when they are industry-specific.

• Newspapers. This traditional tool is useful for select staffing industry sectors.

• Specialty publications. Helpful when you’re staffing consulting agency is targeting specific types of organizations or brands.

• Telephone – Your consulting and staffing business can use this to get in touch with existing clients to alert them about available applicants. An effective business tool of generating additional business.

• Select Business &Trade Journals/Publications – Effective for targeting professional clients and technical sectors.

• Word-of-mouth – Perhaps the best method of brand advertising, most credible and certainly one of the least expensive.

• Yellow Pages – Ads placed on Yellow Pages are effective when you want to recruit employees though not very good for attracting clients.

Financing a Recruitment Agency Business

The most important and greatest expense for a recruitment consulting agency goes to employee payroll. Employees have to be paid on time and regularly otherwise they may seek employment elsewhere. Your staffing agency business will, in addition, need to have funds that are sufficient to pay for relevant employment taxes as well as other employee associated expenses. Tax compliance is another issue that a staffing business has to deal with and to fail can cost you much money and could even put you out of work besides having to pay penalties.

Starting Recruiting Agencies – Financing Options

When starting a recruitment agency, much needs to be done and you cannot afford to relax. To get suitable financing will require perseverance, diligence, and great wisdom in identifying the best financing option for your new staffing business. Today, however, securing business credit can be easier than many would assume.

Assuming you have now fully registered your staffing business, obtained licenses, have ready employees, and secured all applicable insurance certificates, you are now ready to roll. However, before you proceed to apply for all available business loans, sit down and carefully go through your business plan. Take a detailed look at the projected business operating costs over the initial 6 to 12 months including how long you are expecting to be operating before you begin turning a profit.

Here are some of the options on how to start a staffing company when it comes sourcing for business financing.

Small Business Loan

If you are considering how to start a temp agency with no money or limited saved funds, the Small Business Administration is implementing strategies designed to make loans available for wider range of small businesses. However, similar to any standard loan, the process of small business loan underwriting can take anything from a couple of weeks to several months. It might also entail pledging collateral – something that might not be possible for a new staffing agency. While some of the application and approval criteria have recently been relaxed, it remains it is incredibly difficult for new businesses or those with less than perfect credit rating to qualify for this type of loan.

The main drawback associated with small business loan is that even if you qualify you are not guaranteed that what will get approved is the amount you need to comfortably operate your staffing business. In addition, there is no way of ensuring that interest rate is going to be low enough as to justify the debt appearing on your new business balance sheet.

Unsecured Business Loan

Also referred to as a business cash advance, an unsecured business loan is basically a short-term financing option that gives you the financial cushion you need to get the staffing agency started. Unsecured business loans don’t demand any form of collateral, although they require business bank statements of at least 3 months. While this may not be the best option for new business, if your recruitment agency can supply those needed bank statements, they offer a reasonable financing option.

Private/Angel Investor

Private investment may typically assume several forms such as stock options or a friend or family member contribution. It is always tricky business navigating money contributions coming from a family member or friend, particularly when you consider the risk of your business not succeeding and them losing their contribution. This avenue of financing should be approached with care and very candid communication.

Another mode of private business investment that gaining popularity is financing from an ‘angel investor’. This is a person who gets sufficiently motivated by the business concept and plans you have and is ready to contribute some hard cash into the business.

In their own standing, angel investors are tricky enough, though also advantageous. Usually, there is no pre-existing connection with them on a personal level, which a useful angel when it comes to negotiating agreements and contracts. Typically, these categories of investors also have access to more funds compared to your typical relative or friend. However, the trick comes in terms of convincing an unknown angel investor to trust you and take their chances with their money on your business. This certainly calls for a well-drafted business plan along with convincing financial projections that guarantee near-future success.

Consulting Business Growth Impossible Without Funds

Once you start a recruitment agency, one of the biggest challenges you are likely to face is ensuring that your employees get paid on time and accurately. The consequences for your brand and business are sadly understandable if this fails to happen. As a new startup, what you need the least is to constantly worry about having to pay your employees (and other overheads). You need financial freedom so that you can concentrate on building other aspects of the new business.

The majority of government and commercial clients generally clear their invoices after a month or even 60 days. For most agencies, this time frame could pose a serious business and financial challenge. Remember you need to pay your corporate business overheads during that period before the invoices are cleared by your respective clients.

The only way your business will grow is if you got adequate money sources or reserves capable of meeting all your corporate expenses. It goes without saying that when you have larger contracts you are going to need a reserve that is larger. Without a reserve, you certainly will not be in a position to take up any new contracts. When you cannot take on board new contracts, your growth will be stifled.

Include in your overall financial plan and budget extra start-up cash that you will utilize in paying your external employees. Most likely, you will have to arrange how to pay your employees before you get paid by the clients. In your business financial forecast, establish your payment plan overall pricing, including details such as hourly pay rates in case you have engaged external employees, the markup percentages to be charged to clients as well as your gross margin target percentages.

Starting a staffing agency from home – Possible Threats and Challenges

To start a temp staffing agency requires hard work but is well worth your effort and time if you love the recruitment industry. Among the major challenges likely to be faced when setting up a new staffing business is the possibility of competing with well – established consulting firms offering similar staffing services like yours. The only route to avoid or overcome this type of business challenge is by creating your own niche market; focus on providing services to start – ups who may not be in a position of affording the high-end fees being charged by the big and established forms.

The majority of start-up temp staffing agencies don’t even realize they have to pay their temp workers out of pocket as they wait for the clients to honor the invoices, something that can take even 60 days. Securing the adequate payroll financing is possibly your biggest single challenge towards securing your staffing business startup success. A healthy cash flow is critical for business survival.

Be Aware of All Relevant Laws

When looking into how to start a temp agency from home options, it is up to you to ensure your staffing company follows both national and local labor laws. While knowing the national laws on employment is important, some may become more complicated when you apply them specifically to the staffing and recruitment industry.

Some business and labor laws related to recruiting labor you may need to get familiar with include:

• Official Wage and Hour Rates

• Non-Discrimination Guidelines

• State/Provincial Law on Workers’ Compensation and Unemployment Insurance

• Locality-Specific Labor Laws

• Business Taxation.

Final Thoughts

Whether you are looking into how to start an online staffing agency or an office-based business, this is a potentially very viable business option for those who love the task of matching personnel to appropriate companies and jobs. Through opening a recruiting agency, you are helping those seeking employment to get temporary or permanent work in your area or elsewhere. You are also helping businesses to get the right candidates suitable for job openings they have.

It’s important, however, to realize the degree of responsibility you are taking on towards businesses and employees you are recruiting when you start your own staffing agency. You must put in place appropriate staffing business measures to not only streamline the entire hiring process but also ensure that everybody is happy with the service being offered by your recruitment business. A happy client is the surest route to a good Return-On-Investment on your staffing consulting business.

With the right tools, information and a good plan, there is absolutely no reason why your small staffing consulting and recruiting business can grow, thrive, be successful, and compete with other well-established players in the industry. A good plan is all you require for a successful consulting recruitment company that will be the envy of many in the recruiting agencies industry.

Party Planning Business – How to Start?

If you are asking yourself what is in it for me there are many things to consider about starting a party planning business. Are you the one people always come to when they want a party planned? Do you always have ideas about parties, and think about how much better a party that you attend could be if you had planned it? If you have had any of these things happen to you, maybe a career in party planning could be right up your alley.

The first place you should start in the party planning business is finding the niche that is right for you. If you are always being called upon to supply food, then maybe you should look into a catering business of some kind. Start with things that you are good at, like making appetizers, or main dishes. While this field can be quite demanding, it pays really well, and there are many people and businesses that can use a good caterer.

While you don’t really have to have any real formal training for the party planning business, you should at least have a high school diploma, and it is a good idea to take some courses. There are many duties that a party planner has to cover. You have to be able to talk well on the phone, deal patiently with customers, even if they are rude and obnoxious to you. You have to be able to book space for the party, get caterers, and an assortment of other things. You have to be able to be really detailed, and look ahead to unforeseen circumstances, like if the caterer backs out at the last minute, or the entertainment you booked doesn’t show up.

You don’t have to actually start a party planning business yourself, there are many different venues to choose from. You could work for a hotel or restaurant, or some other company. You can also start small, planning parties for friends and family, to see if this is really the right choice for you. This also gets you some real hands on experience, and is something you can add to your resume when seeking bigger planning jobs.

So if you feel that a career in the party planning business is right for you, then there are many resources to help you. You can go to websites like Party 411; they have an abundance of tips and information that are free. If you look up EzineArticles, they have an abundance of topics about all aspects of party planning, from tips on foods to serve, to step-by-step instructions on what you need to do to start your own business. If you do decide this is a right step for you, and you are really considering starting your own business, then you should go to your local city building and get a business license.

One of the reasons for doing this is that with a party planning business license, you can get a wholesale tax identification number. This way any supplies that you need to buy are at wholesale prices, and there are no taxes on what you buy. A business license also protects you, and businesses who need party planners hire more people with a license than those who don’t.

Raising Start Up Capital For Your Small Business

You have your business idea, your business plan in tow, your ducks in a row, and you’re ready to get your business off the ground except for one problem – you have no start up capital. Unless you were born into wealth and have it at your disposal, then you are like most small businesses and need a helping hand.

How can you raise start up capital? There are a few ways to go about it:

Small Business Bank Loans

Many financial institutions provide some type of small business loan program. In order to get funding from a bank for your small business, you will need a solid business plan. You’ll have to prove that your business will generate enough cash to make the loan payments. Each bank’s requirements are different but if you are able to articulate how you will succeed, have decent credit, and possibly a co-signer, you may be able to secure a small business bank loan.

SBA (Small Business Administration)

The SBA is a great resource that provides information on requirements, credit factors, how to apply for loans, etc. The web site is a good starting point before attempting to apply at a bank. The better prepared you are, the easier it will be when you begin the application process.

Family & Friends

A lot of small businesses raise start up capital this way. Family and friends usually want you to succeed and believe in your business. It is wise to treat these relationships as real business relationships. Plan how you will repay their loans, the time frame, and at what interest rate.

Angel Investors & Venture Capital Firms

Private angel investors and venture capital firms work primarily in the same way. They invest in the equity of your business and expect a return in the form of an acquisition, IPO, or stock buy back in the future.

The key to any of the above methods is to have a well written business plan. A good business plan will prove that you are serious about your business and that you can demonstrate the way you plan on making it successful.

Understanding Business Development Ideas For Event Management Industry

What is Event Management?

Event management refers to methods of outsourcing business occasions, social occasions, or a combination of both. There is no limit to the business development ideas for an event management business. It is possible to organize every kind of event ranging from wedding to a political rally. An event management team can be retained for any type of business meeting.

500 Billion Dollar Industry:

Last 15 years have witnessed a tremendous growth in the field of event management. If we add the amount of money spent on event management all over the world in one year it comes to a whopping 500 billion dollars. Gone are the days when we could do with hiring only a small catering team that supplies the food for a business event. If you wish to make an impression on your potential clients today, hiring a meeting management company is a necessity.

Events of Any Range Can Be Managed:

If you wish to start an event management business and you are looking for business development ideas for it then you will be happy to know that you can start this business for any range. It is possible to manage an event for only a small group of people. On the other hand, you can manage mega events for five thousand people and more.

People prefer to choose an event management team that is known for its expertise in this field. When you plan an event, it not only consumes your valuable time but also produces much stress. Event management business owners have contacts in this field and they can offer you the best possible services at the most competitive prices.

Manage Accommodation and Entertainment:

As an event management business, when you organize an event involving five thousand people for a whole day, you should not assume that catering is the most difficult thing to manage. Accommodation and entertainment are also very important for managing such large events. You also require sufficient and efficient staff for the event. Moreover, you also have to plan about the size of the room, seating arrangements, and the total budget of the event. If you do not have enough expertise to deal with all of these factors, you may face difficulties in running event management business successfully.

External Factors Affecting Event Management Business:

Several external factors also affect the growth of the event management industry. Some of these factors are the rate of the growth of economy, lifestyle, and changing characteristics of the people living in the area. Tourism and branding activities like festivals and corporate activities such as conferences, product launches, award ceremonies, and gala dinners are under the scope of event management business. Key factors for the success of an event management business are reputation, network, service promotion, links with the suppliers, and high quality managerial skills.

Advantages of Drafting Business Plans for the Success of Your Business

It is important to define the goals of your organization before you want to make it successful and writing business plans is the best way to create a roadmap to identify the goals and the steps required to grow your organization. An organization plan also acts as the financial blueprint for starting and profitable running of your organization.

The plans will distinctively explain how your organization is going to function and, how it will be managed, capitalized and marketed. An organization plan includes the executive summary and financial projection supported by relevant documents. Rather than starting your organization right away, relying upon business plans gives you a better understanding of your new organization in the marketplace, allowing you to compare it with the competitors and gives distinctive benefits in that sense.

For most of the independent organization start-ups, money may be scarce and knowledge is available to them in abundance and it is their key strength. Even when you are not going to market your venture, creating plans is going to help you sell your ideas successfully to the investors. For example, if someone asks you the market for your idea, you would be will prepared in advance.

In its simplest form, your plans will clearly define your organizational goals, identify your organizational goals and also acts as the resume to your company. The plan will help you allocate all the available resources efficiently, manage all the unforeseen problems and make correct decisions in regard to every aspect of your organization.

Your business plans are also important when you are considering going for a loan. Your business plan will provide organized and particular information on your company and this is crucial to your loan application. In addition, your business plan will also extend the scope of information offered to your employees, especially sales staff, to your suppliers and partners. The crucial part of this information is your organizational goals and operations.

When you venture into the marketplace, it would be required to present your plans to different people. Your plan is going to be your professional document so make sure that it is detailed as well as concise. It is this document that is going to generate the trust of your investors in your idea and it will help you present your sales pitch. If raising money for your organization is a priority, you cannot think of proceeding without well drafted business plans.

PIE: The Simple 3-Step Process for Creating Your Strategic Business Plan

Many business owners (especially those with a non-business background) struggle when it comes to creating a strategic business plan for their business. Chances are they’ve never ran a business before, and even in their “employment” days were not involved with the day-to-day business management.

So when it comes to running their business they struggle!

“Still need to figure out (sit down and actually learn) how to do this!” said one business owner to me earlier this week.

They have a dream for their business, are an expert in whatever it is they do, but have no idea how to take that idea/dream and turn it into a viable and profitable business… so they continue in a state of overwhelm and frustration, with a slow growing business.

Spending some time planning all of your business activities is crucial if you are to succeed long-term. It’s not just about planning your business – you need to understand the strategy behind what you’re going to be doing. And you also need to understand how all the different pieces of your business fit together to create one coherent business.

Today, I’d like to share with you my simple, 3-step process, for sitting down and crafting your own strategic business plan.

PLAN – schedule some time in your calendar to work on your business plan. Some people opt to take a mini-retreat away from their office. It could be spending the day in your local coffee shop, or actually going out of town for a few days. Or you could just schedule one or two hours and sit quietly in your office planning out your business (that advantage of doing in your office is that you have all your business information right there with you). Whatever works best for you is going to work best for your business. But the important thing is, you to schedule in the time to create your plan!

INVESTIGATE – what is it you’re going to be offering over the coming 90 days; 6 months; 12 months? I like to have a loose 12-month plan, but then have a very specific 90-day plan in place. It’s much easier to focus and implement with a shorter time-frame than it is to do so over, say, a 12-month period. Sometimes planning out so far ahead can feel overwhelming. But it is important to have that “big picture vision” in place so that you know where you’re heading.

Also when you’re deciding what it is you’re going to be offering ask yourself, “Does this make sense? Does it fit my big picture vision?” This is where understanding the strategy behind your business comes into play. It’s no good deciding you want to do a live event, or offer an online training course, if you don’t understand how this fits into your “Big Picture Vision”. All paths must lead you to that “Big Picture Vision”.

EXECUTE – now that you know what it is you’re going to be offering and when, it’s time to put that plan into practice. One thing that I do in my business is “reverse engineering”. I always start with the end date in mind and then work backwards. For example, if I’m offering a 4-part live training class on a specific date, what do I need to do to promote that training class, and when. It’s much easier to plan out the promotions if I work backwards from the start date of the class. That way too, I can see if I’m leaving enough time for the promotions or if I need to adjust something in some way.

So there you have my simple 3-step process for creating your strategic business plan. No go ahead and create your own!

The ABC’s of Writing a Restaurant Business Plan

Even though setting up a restaurant is easy, you still need to create your own business plan not only because it is one of the regulatory requirements, but you need it to guide you during the operation of the business.

If you plan to set up your own restaurant, then you need to write your own business plan.

It serves as a map that guides you on what path to follow. It details the owners of the business, investors, suppliers, creditors and many more. It contains your business strategies and tactics on how to manage and to operate your company. It serves as your compass that helps you achieve your goals and become profitable.

Despite the hard work and dedication associated in opening a restaurant, many individuals still decide to open one. Majority of entrepreneurs love to open up their own business due to the fact that they are their own boss and the satisfaction of creating new dishes.

For those who do not know, having a restaurant requires majority of your time. As owner, you need to manage the facility six to seven days weekly and to work from opening time to closing time. Moreover, you have to interact with different types of personalities who dine and who eat at your company.

Despite the onset of recession, you should not worry of its profitability because food is one of the basic needs of everyone. Due to the fast pace we have nowadays, professionals, executives and students make it a point to eat out and dine instead of going home and cook a meal.

Before writing one, you need to research and conduct feasibility studies to know the basics of setting up a new restaurant. If you lack ideas on its process, you can consult a professional business planner to help you identify ways of creating one and know strengths and weaknesses of the business. You need to identify your goals, your target market, owners of the firm, suppliers, creditors and many more. You need to identify your competitors, business trends, profit expectations and ways of achieving your goal.

You also need to have a business forecast to identify hard times and ways of overcome it. You need to disclose your cash flow to prepare your budget strategies and keep you going despite recession.

Other factors you need to consider in opening a restaurant:

Experience – To better manage your restaurant, you need to have knowledge on restaurant administration. You can acquire them by enrolling in special short courses offered by institutions.
Budget – You need money to fund your operations. It is need to fund purchasing your raw materials, your equipment and salary of workers.
Workers – To operate successfully, you need to hire credible and experienced workers and managers. In your absence, they are the ones who interact and who operates the company.
Restaurant equipment and supplies – You need to acquire the supplies and equipment needed in your operation, such as tables, chairs, plates, serving dishes and many more.