Tag: Guide

Beginners’ Guide – Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Media

We all are beginners at some point. For the beginners the biggest challenge is to know the advantages and disadvantages of Social Media. Today we are going to talk about the Social Media – Advantages and Disadvantages. Many small business owners have not yet taken advantage of social media to help grow their business. It has become so vital for us to stay connected and convey the right message. To get the best out of this platform here are some tips and guidance for the beginners to know.

First of all some facts and figures of social media sites:

  • One in every nine people on earth is on Facebook
  • Twitter is adding nearly 500,000 users everyday
  • One in four Americans watches a video online everyday
  • During the second half of 2010, LinkedIn membership base grew, on average, by 1 million new members every ten days

Connect: Facebook helps you connect and share with people in your life. Just think what was your life before Facebook invented? Was it more relax, exiting, boring or challenging? In Facebook we can create a personal profile, add other users as friends & exchange messages. If we talk about LinkedIn, it gives us the opportunity to connect with professionals across the globe. Whether you are using it for personal growth or spreading your business. It also gives you the opportunity to connect with business minded people like you. If we talk about Twitter, it is simply amazing! Twitter is a real time information network that connects you to the latest stories, ideas what you find interesting. It gives you an opportunity to know what’s happening around the world in 140 characters long tweet!

Interact: With your connections Facebook gives you an opportunity to let people know about you. You can share your photos, stories and create fan page. As a business, Facebook pages are a good source of feedback on your product/services. In LinkedIn you can interact with professionals on one single platform. You can discuss business, resources, ideas, learning opportunities and lot more. In Twitter, tweets are text based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author’s profile page and delivered to the followers. On a personal level Twitters allows one to communicate with friends and families. On business level it connects your current & potential customers with your product & service.

Exchange: With the use of Facebook, we exchange joy, fun, sorrows, help and many more things at one place! Facebook slowly also being used like email. So this is one of the cost-effective ways to connected. With the use of LinkedIn we exchange professional expertise along with useful information which eventually enhances our professional brand. It also exchanges stronger business ideas with each other. On a business level, it helps us to exchange feedback, comments which eventually lead to increase business. On a personal level, it helps you in personal development. Twitter is a powerful tool for exchanging information and news as Twitter user often link to useful sites or articles & can be source of alternative news.

Disadvantages: As we discussed the Advantages of Social Media but we cannot ignore the Disadvantages just to be more secure on online platform.

Think about the viral potential of media. When news are negative and bad in taste, the same will happen with that brand. It is hard to undertake damage control when you are dealing with social media. Your name might get spoiled within hours. The best example is MacDonald’s Twitter promotion. According to Mail Online news article – Mac Fail! MacDonald’s Twitter promotion backfires as users highjack hash tag MacD stories to share fast food horror stories. Opponents accused the burger franchise of making customer vomit, serving pig meat from gestation crates and dishing up a burger containing a finger nail. Another disadvantage is to face threat from fake profile and ID. This is one of the biggest disadvantages of Facebook. People often use fake profile to insult or harassing someone. Students who are Facebook addicted do a bad result on his or her exams. One of the major risks of social networking and the Internet in general is breaches in privacy. These sites collect considerable amounts of personal information, with email addresses being one of the most collected pieces of personal data. Also these social networking sites possibly reduce persons’ compassion. You can check Twitter updates from your phone and send messages from anywhere. Social networking sites have the potential of having spreading negative or Anti-social messages. Amongst

As discussed above there are both Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Networking. One thing is clear; it is up to the person how he/she wants to get benefit from Social Media platform. In life we are often subjected to good and bad choices it is only we ourselves, who can decide what we want.

Best Business Loan Options Guide: Learn About Several Funding Options for Businesses and Pros & Cons

Considering that there are so many funding options for businesses – including start-ups – these days, you really don’t have to settle with trying to get a bank loan in the traditional way. However, since every business is unique, the best business loan options for you might not be the same as those for your competitors or other businesses in your industry. It depends on your needs, goals, size of business, specific requirements, what kind of business you’re running, credit rating, location, your risk level, and so forth.

One type of financial option to look into is a term loan. This is a common form of financing with which you get a lump sum of money upfront, which you will be required to pay back with interest over a predetermined period. You don’t have to apply through a traditional bank, as there are plenty of small to medium sized online lenders in the 21st century. A great thing about this option is that if you qualify, you’ll get the cash upfront to invest in your business. The downside is you will likely have to put up collateral, and if you are a new business and lack a good credit rating, the interest rate will likely be higher.

SBA loans have always been popular with smaller companies, as they offer some of the lowest rates and long repayment terms. The repayment period depends on how exactly you plan to use the money. If it’s for real estate purchases, you’ll have a longer period of time to pay the loan back. If you need money as soon as possible, then you probably won’t consider SBA to be the best business loan options, since the application process can be long and rigorous and there is no guarantee your application will even be approved.

Don’t forget about lines of credit for business purposes. A business credit card can come with some great rewards as long as you make payments on time. They are usually unsecured as well so you won’t have to put collateral up. Of course, you’ll need to already have a good credit score in order to qualify for good terms. Otherwise, you might end up with additional costs such as draw fees and maintenance fees.

What Are the Best Business Loan Options to Consider

A few other business funding options to consider include:

• Angel investors

• Crowd-funding

• Factoring

• Purchase order funding

• Equipment loans

• Venture capital

Take the time to research everything and consider which options you’ll want to try. Make sure you have all of your financial statements and documents organize and ready to go, as well as a detailed business plan showing what you plan to do with the funds you receive.

You’ll find some of the best business loan options for just about any type of business in all industries with US Business Funding. This organization has helped thousands of businesses nationwide get the funding they need in a fast amount of time.

New Business Loans Guide for Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs

It’s not the easiest thing in the world for a new business to obtain the money it needs to help get started. New business loans can be difficult to get unless you have excellent credit and a good plan in place. If you can get approval, you’ll get the proceeds you need for things like working capital, equipment, supplies, machinery, inventory, advertising, or maybe even real estate construction or commercial building rental.

One thing many lenders will expect you to do is determine your personal equity. How much of it will you be able to bring to the table? Lending institutions tend to require that you are able to bring 20% – 40% of the total loan amount you are requesting.

In the 21st century, there are many more options available for start-ups than the traditional loan from a bank. However, before you apply for any type of funding, you must prove that your company qualifies as a small business. Small businesses are usually measured by factors such as number of employees, number of years (under 2) in operation, number of employees, generated income, types of assets and their value, revenue, and so forth. Most traditional lending institutions require that you put of collateral and a guarantee that you will repay.

Your Credit Score and New Business Loans

If your personal credit score is very high, you might want to look into getting a credit card to use towards your business. The line of credit might not be enough to cover everything you need, but it’s a good start. There is no rule that says you have to get all of your funding from one source. There are a variety of microloans for which you might qualify, such as those offered by the SBA and other non-profit organizations. These types of new business loans can be used for the purchase of inventory / supplies, furniture, working capital, etc.

As for alternative start-up business financing options, such as grants and crowdfunding, you’ll want to put more of a focus on our business model as opposed to your credit score. These types of funding are worth looking into if you have poor credit. However, in order to impress crowd-funders, grant organizations, angel investors, etc… , you’re really going to have to come up with a great message and marketing campaign.

Once you get all of your documentation, files, financial records, financial plan, etc. together, you can start checking for new business loans at US Business Funding. This organization has 95% approval rates and offers flexible terms and payment options.

A New Business Guide to Going Green

Many businesses just getting started are finding that the competition for attention on the web is fierce. And these businesses are finding that by going green, they are displaying their corporate responsibility, but they are also finding that there are financial benefits to going green. So how does a new business go green in a responsible way? Start by doing some research on the web and list the ways of which a company can go green. If a company is going to claim to be green, then it must have the consistency in every aspect of the business model. If your business is going to claim to be green, then you must practice what you preach.

Top Ten Ways a New Business Can Go Green:

  1. Comply with all environmental regulations that are relevant to your industry. Compliance not only reduces your company’s environmental footprint, but it also protects the business from any legal actions or fines from the government.
  2. Develop a company-wide environmental plan. Developing a strong environmental plan will help define the corporate culture and boost the energy efficiency of your company to minimize its footprint. The plan should clearly detail the company’s green strategy and encourage divisions throughout the company to follow more green business practices that help to shape the company’s overall environmentally-friendly objectives.
  3. Build green. If your company is opening a new office or expanding locations, now is a good time to include as many energy-efficient features as possible. You can look to install energy-efficient heating and air conditioning systems, as well as appliances, equipment and lighting.
  4. Buy green products and services. When buying necessary supplies or producing service providers for the company, it is important to think green. Businesses owners should consider filling the supply closets with products that are made from recycled materials or can be recycled, bio-based and non-toxic. Look for office equipment that has an energy-efficient rating, such as Energy Star.
  5. Choose green web hosting. Many business owners have decided to go green with their web site in order be more consistent with their green plan-of-action. Choose a web host that is carbon neutral and offers environmentally friendly wind-powered or solar-powered web hosting. Moving a web site to another web hosting provider is not a difficult task, and many web hosts even offer a free site migration service.
  6. Adopt energy efficient practices. Using more energy-efficient office equipment and implementing energy-reducing practices in the office will help save the environment and your bottom line. Employers should stress to employees that they be prudent and conservative with their energy use and provide energy-saving tips.
  7. Reduce, reuse, recycle waste generated. Streamlining the company’s operations can reduce waste and lead to substantial savings and increased productivity. To save money and reduce waste, small businesses should use post-consumer recycled products and cut back on excessive packaging of products.
  8. Conserve water. A water-efficiency program not only reduces your company’s strain on our nation’s water supply, but it also reduces your company’s costs from buying, heating, treating and disposing of water. Small businesses can reduce water waste by implementing water-saving equipment utilities and should always try to minimize discharges to sewers.
  9. Adopt a company-wide pollution reduction plan. Every business creates waste, but it’s how you deal with it that separates you from the herd. Take steps to minimize waste, whether paper, dirty water or hazardous or toxic waste that requires special handling or disposal.
  10. Create a green marketing strategy. Spread the word about your environmentally-friendly business by incorporating “green” claims in your marketing strategy to boost your brand image. Refer back to tip #5. Many green web hosts offer an emblem or a certification program for webmasters who want to use their web site to display the company’s “green” environmentally friendly status.

One final tip. Join industry partnership and stewardship programs to help you keep abreast of the latest developments in green processes and equipment, but it also helps build relationships with other green business owners in the industry.

As demonstrated, there are numerous shades of green, so going green can equal many different things. If choosing a company-wide green plan is important to you or your organization, then take a closer look at your business plan to find out what green practices are in place in the plan and what changes need to be made. Take into consideration, for example, the everyday practices you plan on implementing and the company’s policy on green practices such as “reduce, reuse and recycle”.

How To Plan A Banquet – A Guide To Planning Perfect Banquets For Company Or Private Parties

First time planners are often stricken with complete fear! Even those that plan events over and over again still fear that something will go wrong and they will be the subject of ridicule. Hopefully we can allay the fears and quell the butterflies in your stomach by helping you through the entire project.

There are a lot of questions you need to ask. First timers probably don’t have the foggiest idea what questions to ask, so, the first thing we’d better do is outline these for you.

Perhaps the easiest way to do that is to fill out a form. (I love forms!)
If you were to phone me and ask me to help you make arrangements for a special event, the first thing I would do is reach for a blank form, and over the phone we would fill it out. When I had all the information, I would be better prepared to help you.

Before you continue reading, you may want to print the banquet planning worksheet(PDF) from my website. That way you can follow along with the worksheet as I describe the planning process. I’ve also included a pre filled sample planning worksheet that you might help.

Let’s begin with fact finding.

PURPOSE

The first question to ask is, “What is the purpose of the event?” This question should be really easy, but it’s perhaps the most important. The purpose of your event will determine your event’s agenda.

DATE

Break out your calendar to decide a date for your event. Look for possible conflicts. It might be tough to get people out to a Saturday night banquet if it’s a three-day holiday. It would be unwise to put on a church social if your local school, where most of your congregation had children attending, were having an open house or play that night.

Pencil in a date and then try to think of possible conflicts. I know of one organization that booked a very popular and relatively expensive Jewish comic into the club house of a predominantly Jewish retirement community. Attempts to sell tickets failed miserably, because they had not realized they had scheduled his appearance on a Jewish holiday – a very expensive oversight!

BUDGET

There are many, many determining factors in establishing a budget. First of all, how many are expected to attend? You might have a pretty good idea for a company party, but in some cases you might just have to make a “guess-timate” until you can get more information. Make the best possible estimate based on what facts you have, and proceed.

TICKET PRICE

Another factor to determine before we select a location is how much your attendees are willing to pay. Sure, we can work the other way: we can pick a location, hire a band, select the menu, etc., and then add up how much it all costs and thus determine how much everyone needs to pay, but doing so will probably leave you hurting in the end.

If you expect 1,000 people, and you determine $25.00 a person is acceptable, then your entire budget for food, printing, entertainment, etc., is $25,000. If you expect only 20 people and you know they won’t come if it’s over $5.00 a person, then you know you’re far more limited.

LOCATION

Determine the geographical area where the event is to take place. If you live in the area where the event will take place, you may already know of various hotels, country clubs, restaurants or catering halls that can accommodate your group. If you don’t live in the area, be sure to go look at the potential location before you book it. If the event is in a distant city and it’s not possible for you to travel there, and the event is a significant one, I suggest you hire a professional meeting planner.

I once attended a banquet in a quaint “50’s malt-shop-type restaurant. The party planner had not gone there to look at the room where the party was to be. She had just taken the word of a friend. True, it was a great restaurant, but their “room” had about 5 permanent booths on each wall. Guests were facing in all different directions. This made it almost impossible for the magician they had hired to perform. To further confuse the issue, it was not even a private room. Restaurant customers could not get to the restroom without disturbing the party, and the 50’s music continued to blare through the ceiling speakers throughout the evening because it was piped throughout the whole restaurant and could not be isolated from one room. A visit beforehand could have prevented this nightmare.

Many, if not most, facilities do not charge a fee for the use of the room but instead absorb the rental fee into the price of the meal. For instance, in our example of 200 people, a banquet facility would be delighted to supply a private room in order to sell 200 dinners.

Usually they will have several dinners to choose from – perhaps a chicken dinner, complete with beverage, salad and dessert, for $12.00 per person; or prime rib at $18.00 each; or sirloin steaks at $25.00 per person. In our example we are charging $30.00 per person. Let’s select the prime rib at $18.00.

Does that include tax and tip? Oh, Oh! Find out if it does, or you may get a surprise at the end of the night. Let’s say it does not. 15% tip and 8% (or whatever) tax makes the dinner a total of $22.14 per person. Our sample budget calls for 200 people at $30.00 each for a total of $6,000. If all 200 people attend, dinner will cost $4,428. That leaves $1,572 for all other costs.

By the way, the facility may ask you for a deposit and guarantee. If you guarantee 200 people, you will have to pay for 200 dinners even if only 175 show up. Generally, a facility is prepared to serve about 10% more people than you guarantee. So it makes sense to guarantee a lesser number than you expect. Even some of those who told you absolutely they would be there, maybe even gave you a deposit, don’t show for one reason or another.

Just to be on the safe side, in our example of 200 people, I would guarantee the restaurant 185. If you’re pre selling tickets, which I recommend, you can always adjust your estimate upwards with the restaurant a day or two ahead of time if needed. Ask the facility about their requirements in regard to a change in the guarantee.

AGENDA

The evening agenda is largely determined by the event’s purpose. A typical event might go like this:

6:00 – 7:00 – Social or cocktail hour

7:00 – 8:00 – Dinner

8:00 – 8:15 – Meeting/Awards/Business

8:15 – 9:00 – Entertainment/Speaker

9:00 – 9:10 – Raffle/Door Prizes

9:10 – 1:00 – Dancing

Having an hour to “gather” is always good. You and the facility both will want everyone present when you actually sit down to eat. It’s been my experience that almost everything starts late, so plan for it and don’t be disappointed when it happens.

Will you be having a cocktail hour? A “Hosted” bar means that drinks are free to the party-goers. If you choose to host the cocktail hour, be prepared to spend about $1200 for our sample group of 200 people. Most organization-sponsored events have a ‘No-Host’ bar, in which guests buy their own drinks. It’s appropriate to announce ‘Hosted’, or ‘No-Host’ in the invitation.

Some form of entertainment during the cocktail hour is certainly a plus. The facility may have music piped in through its sound system, which is certainly the most economical; however, for around $300 you could have live music. Most banquet facilities have a piano, sometimes on wheels, and will let you either rent the piano or use it for free. Fee for the piano rental should be around $50 to $100 and a piano player anywhere from $150 to $250.

Other cocktail hour entertainment could include a chamber group, a jazz or “society” trio, harpist, or a strolling accordionist. A strolling “close-up” magician, performing from group to group or table to table, is always fun. Other forms of entertainment for the cocktail hour could include celebrity look-alikes, mechanical or conventional mimes, a balloon animal sculptor, caricaturist, graphologist, palm reader, tarot card reader, stilt walker, or just about anything else you can think of! Again, your budget is your gauge.

DINNER

This is pretty easy. When the Maitre’d says dinner is ready, have your party sit down!

The vast majority of banquets have certain people assigned to sit at the head table while everyone else may sit where they wish. If you choose to have a head table, you should make small place markers for those assigned to sit at the head table, and don’t forget to discuss table arrangements with the facility.

OPENING

Someone, perhaps you, should step to the microphone and announce that dinner is ready and ask everyone to take a seat. When this has been accomplished your President, or whoever is presiding, should welcome everyone.

It is appropriate at most banquets to have someone lead the flag salute, followed by a blessing on the food. People should not be called upon for these jobs extemporaneously, but should be asked in advance and their names and responsibilities should be listed on the printed program if there is one. Following the flag salute and prayer, your Master of Ceremonies (or who ever is conducting) should introduce the people sitting at the head table, introducing himself last.

THE PROGRAM

If business of any sort needs to be conducted, begin when dessert is finished, or at least served. Make sure that the facility knows that you do not want any bussing (clearing of tables) or coffee served after the program starts, as it can become an irritating distraction and take away from the enjoyment of the program.

ENTERTAINMENT

Following opening remarks, and/or other business, you could either introduce the main speaker, or present some form of entertainment.

This could be the highlight of the evening! There are many outstanding after-dinner performers and speakers. If you really want to have a successful event, hire a professional. At this writing $500 to $1,000 can buy you some pretty top-notch entertainment.

How about a comedian-magician who uses a member or two of your group and does some hilarious bits of business and audience participation magic tricks – 30 or 40 minutes of non-stop laughs!

Or picture this…the dessert has just been served and in walks “Lt. Columbo,” complete with overcoat and cigar…”Oh, excuse me,” he says, “I was looking for somebody else.” All eyes are riveted on this familiar figure as he turns and starts to walk out. “Oh, one more thing, is this the Walker party?’ Then for the next 30 minutes or so he does a comedy routine in the style and delivery of Peter Falk as Lt. Columbo, using names of people in your group.

That will rock your people out of their seats with laughter. These are just a couple of suggestions. Everybody loves to laugh, and a good professional entertainer can make you a hero.

How do you find that kind of entertainment? Again, watch out for the well-meaning friend. Sometimes hiring a friend of a friend who tells jokes or plays the banjo can put a wet blanket on the evening if they don’t live up to your expectations.

Probably the best way to secure talent is to work with a professional talent agent that specializes in special events. Ordinarily there is no fee for his services. He can make recommendations and suggestions based on what your needs are, and work within your budget limitations.

Some entertainers may have special requirements, like a stage, spotlight, two mics or something else, and these items need to be arranged with the facility. There may be a rental fee involved.

RAFFLE/DOOR PRIZES

Giving away door prizes or raffle prizes should not be held until after the entertainment or main speaker. Perhaps it’s an inducement for your guests to stay until the end.

If you’re selling raffle tickets, again you need to make out a budget. How many tickets do you expect to sell and for how much money? Do you want to make a profit? Let’s say you expect to sell 100 tickets to those 200 people expected to come, and we sell them at the banquet for $2.00 each. That’ll give you $200 to buy prizes with. You can put this in your general budget or assign someone to take care of the whole raffle, including purchasing the prizes and selling the tickets.

DANCING

Following the raffle, the formal portion of the program is really over. Your people can now go home. If you’ve elected to have a deejay or band, they may stay for dancing.

The facility might charge to set up a dance floor. Sometimes this is a portable dance floor they build right on top of the carpet. A band will cost anywhere from $150 per band member to $450 per band member for four hours. A small trio of keyboard, drum and guitar could be anywhere from $750 to $1,500.

An $1,800 to $3,500 five-piece band, including a vocalist, is average. If you hire a band, you may be able to use one or more of those same musicians to provide cocktail hour and/or dinner music for a small additional fee. You normally need to make a deposit at the time you hire the band. Anything over four hours’ playing time is considered overtime, and you should talk with the band or agent about the cost of overtime when you make the initial arrangements. Bands also need to take a 10-15 minute break each hour. Ask if the band will supply recorded music during their breaks.

MOBILE DEEJAY

Sometimes you might prefer a DeeJay playing recorded music instead of hiring a band. This gives you the advantage of hearing the original recording artist instead of a dance band’s rendition.

Another advantage is that most mobile DeeJay units will set up before dinner and offer to play dinner music at no additional cost, and of course, a DeeJay does not take a break during the evening, so you have non stop music for your event.

Cost-wise, there is not a lot of difference between a 3-piece band and a DeeJay. Some DeeJays offer a full light-show that few bands do, and even with an additional charge, this could be a real plus. I think it’s just a matter of taste. Some people insist on a live band and others are just as adamant about a DeeJay.

PHOTOGRAPHER OR VIDEOGRAPHER

Video taping an event, except for historical purposes, is unnecessary. Seldom will the video tape or DVD be watched more than once after the event. Yes, maybe a Bar or Bat Mitzvah will watch his or her recording years later when they grow older, and maybe even a bride and groom would watch a well-edited and condensed recording. A company or organization’s banquet, however, will be seldom if ever watched.

I would recommend that you hire, budget permitting, a professional photographer rather than leaving it up to one of your guests or a friend of a friend who only takes photos twice a year. You can have the photographer deliver prints or a CD of digital photographs in which case you could print just the photos you want.

PROMOTION

Probably the most traumatic thing that could occur is that you planned the entire event and then no one came. If it’s a company party and the food, entertainment, drinks and dancing are all free, I don’t think you will have a problem, as long as you let everybody know when and where and that it’s FREE!

But if that’s not the situation, you may need to promote the event. Once you have all the facts (WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY, WHO, and HOW MUCH), you can create a flyer – a piece of paper with all the facts on it, designed to motivate people to attend.

If you’re an artist, great! You can create the flyer yourself. If not, maybe someone in your group is and they can help you. Otherwise, you need to “rough it out” the way you’d want it and take it to a graphic artist to do the “camera-ready copy” for you, then off to a printer to print however many you’re going to need. How many you need will depend on how you’re going to distribute them.

The layout, printing, envelopes and postage all need to go into your budget. There are, of course, additional ways you can promote the event – word of mouth, bulletin boards, phone committee, club or company newsletter, posters. If your event will be open to people outside your organization, you might try using the publicity channels of other related groups, companies, schools, etc., as well as your own. Have a “brainstorming session” with your committee, if you have one, to think of all the ways you can get the word out.

And remember that if you want people to come to your activity, you can’t just tell them. You have to tell them and tell them and tell them! Use all the resources at your disposal, and don’t hesitate to repeat yourself. The more times you tell them, the more will come!

TICKET SALES

There are as many ways to handle this as there are ways to promote the event. If you have to lay out funds ahead of time (which is usually the case), it is good to get as much money as you can up front. Pre selling your tickets will help you do that. Of course, your publicity must state your requirements and deadlines. This also will help you get a handle on how many are going to attend. Remember though, that there will still be some last minute cancellations and additions, so stay flexible.

TABLE ASSIGNMENTS

As mentioned earlier, most organizations assign only the head table, and the rest of the attendees are left to sit where they wish. Some groups insist on drawing pictures of the tables on a sheet of paper, numbering them, and then assigning people to specific tables.

I think it’s far more work than necessary, but if you must, then have at it.
Some banquets, especially those honoring individuals or groups, offer entire tables “for sale.” 10 people per table at $30 each means that for $300 someone could reserve a whole table. Make sure you put a “reserved” sign on that table, showing the name of the host.

THE PRINTED PROGRAM

When all the facts are in, if the budget will permit, a nice printed program could be put at each place setting or handed out as people arrive. It should contain the agenda for the evening and credits given to all those who contributed to the event.

Many organizations have been successful in selling ads in the program to defray the cost of printing or even to raise some extra money. I’ve put $250 income under the income column of our example. Don’t you think you could convince 10 people to give you their business card and pay $25 to be advertised on the back page of the program? Of course, this idea could be a little tacky if the event is to celebrate little Bobbie’s 10th birthday. Use your best judgment.

DECORATIONS

This could be a big item or not – strictly up to you. If you picked a beautiful location, and it’s not a special seasonal event like a Christmas or Halloween party, why not just enjoy the facility’s decor? If you feel you need decorations and you have a sufficient budget, call a party decorator who uses balloons. They go a long way towards dressing up a room without spending a lot of money.

Centerpieces on each table look nice. You can ask someone to donate these or have someone clever make something for each table. Many facilities make such a nice table layout that a centerpiece is not necessary. Don’t spend money unnecessarily, but do remember that the nicer the ambience, the better the memories or the event will be in the minds of those who attend, which means that they will want to come to your next event, too!

One note of caution. If you’re having entertainment, be careful that large
centerpieces, particularly balloons, don’t block the view of the performing area or even the people sitting on the opposite side of the table who want to see and talk to each other.

YOU DID IT!

Yes, you will fret and worry until the whole thing is over, but every party planner does. Just relax, do your best and enjoy! (Here’s a secret: If you enjoy what you’re doing, the people you are doing it for will enjoy it, too!)

A Guide to Auditing Top Management and the Internal Audit Checklist

Organizations must audit the processes associated with top management as part of an effective internal audit program. These processes include those relating to strategic planning, the establishment of policies and objectives, ensuring effective communication and ensuring the availability of resources.

Auditing management or directors is often seen as a sensitive issue but by considering each management activity as a normal organizational process, it becomes much easier to focus on determining whether the outputs of their activities are effective.

How to Audit Top Management

By using a formal risk-based approach to internal audit planning, as required by ISO 9001, auditors have a great opportunity to engage top management in the audit process. By making management part of the planning process and by giving them ownership of the areas to be audited, the internal audit becomes a valuable mechanism for development.

A good starting point is to copy, into the audit checklist, all requirements from the standard that say ‘top management shall’, almost every clause of section 5 starts with ‘top management shall’ and it’s the auditors job to find if management ‘did’. The audit checklist must cover the requirements from the following sections:

5.1 Management Commitment

5.2 Customer Focus

5.3 Quality Policy

5.4.1 Quality Objectives

5.4.2 Quality Management System Planning

5.5.1 Responsibility and Authority

5.5.2 Management Representative

5.5.3 Internal Communication

5.6 Management Review

5.6.1 General

During the Internal Audit

When undertaking the internal audit of top management, the auditor should collect and corroborate evidence of top management’s commitment from within the quality management system itself. The auditor should ask how the quality manual addresses management commitment issues and ask how they are accomplished; then, the auditor must find objective evidence that proves it’s actually being done. This method applies to management as well as the production machinist, and everyone else in the organization for that matter!

If the standard, documented procedures, policies and objectives are audit inputs, then the evidence sampled and the interview statements made by top management auditees are the audit outputs. If the input does not align with the expected output, the auditor simply states this misalignment as a non-conformance whilst providing an audit trail to the supporting evidence.

Final Reporting

Auditors should prepare the internal audit report in a manner appropriate for presentation. It might be necessary to present the executive summary of the audit report directly to the top management and other interested parties within the organization. The executive summary must highlight both positive and negative findings and suggest opportunities for improvement.

The CEO’s Guide To Succession Planning – Managing Risk & Ensuring Business Continuity

Introduction

Once reserved for the upper echelons of senior management, and often viewed as replacement planning should catastrophe strike, today’s succession planning is being redefined. The discipline has broadened in both breadth and scope to become a central component of board-level strategy.

Succession planning focuses on managing risk and ensuring continuity across all levels of the organization – risk of untimely departures of critical personnel, risk of retirees taking their skills and knowledge with them and leaving nothing behind, and risk of losing high value employees to competitors. It does so by helping your business leaders to identify top performers within the organization, create dynamic “talent pools” of this critical talent that other leaders can leverage, and prepare and develop these high performing employees for future roles.

If this was easy, everyone would be doing it. The problem that exists today is that succession planning is barely automated, let alone optimized. This CEO guide provides five key tips for jump starting your succession planning efforts.

1. Automate and Reduce Costs

Today’s succession planning efforts are characterized by fragmented, inconsistent, paper-based processes. Indeed, 67% of companies are still primarily paper-based, according to a global survey conducted by SumTotal.

Conventionally, business and HR leaders will spend weeks or even months manually scouring different parts of the organization for information needed to build lists and pools of nominees and successors for specific job families or positions. The information required to generate the lists often includes self assessments, past performance appraisals (often paper-based), and 360 feedback. After a lengthy period of information gathering and aggregation followed by manual analysis (e.g., nine-box, gap analysis), the results are printed and collated into large three-ring binders for use in executive planning meetings. This time-consuming, inefficient, and costly process is still commonplace today.

To effectively transform succession planning from a manual, paper-based process to one that is systematic and technology-enabled, CEOs must focus on laying a solid foundation supported by strong executive leadership.

Program & Process Foundation

  • Establish dedicated management function (e.g., program management office) with CEO-sponsored executive leader or council (with senior representation from line-of-business, geography, and corporate HR)
  • Define core succession process along with key constituents and tasks at each step of the process; Clearly articulate touch points to other business processes (e.g., performance management, career development)
  • Understand implications of change with emphasis on managers & employees
  • Align program with broader business strategy
  • Determine initial scope (e.g., enterprise-wide, divisional)
  • Define processes independent of technology

Technology Foundation

  • Must support and enable key processes
  • Must integrate learning and development
  • Must link seamlessly to other business processes, especially performance management
  • Must be flexible and configurable to meet unique needs
  • Must centralize and consolidate key information and data
  • Must be easy for managers and employees to use

2. Drive Succession Planning Deeper into Your Organization

Many CEOs still view succession planning as replacement planning to designate successors in the event of a catastrophe befalling senior company leaders. Indeed, succession planning penetrates only the highest levels of the organizational hierarchy, according to survey data. Only 35% of companies currently focus their succession planning efforts on most critical roles within the organization.

Yet a most dramatic transformation is underway: 65% of the organizations surveyed plan to extend succession planning to all critical positions within the two years. Applying succession planning beyond the top layers of management is critical to retaining high performers across all levels of the organization and mitigating the risk of untimely departures of personnel in high-value positions.

The key to extending succession planning into the organization is to provide career development planning to employees. Indeed, fully 97% of business and HR leaders believe that a systematic career development process positively impacts employee retention and engagement. These leaders also believe that providing career advancement opportunities as well as dedicated development planning to employees are the two most important mechanisms for retaining high performers.

Retaining existing employees not only has the potential to minimize the effects of talent shortages, it also provides significant and tangible cost savings (since replacement costs range from 100%-150% of the salary for a departing employee).

3. Establish Dynamic Talent Pools to Improve Pipeline Visibility

Centralized talent pools provide CEOs with global visibility into their talent pipeline and overall organization bench strength. They provide a mechanism for ensuring that the organization’s future staffing plans are adequate, thereby reducing risk and ensuring continuity. To be truly effective, talent pools need to be dynamic in nature. For instance, if an employee is terminated, that person should be automatically removed from existing successor pools. Alternatively, if an employee closes a key skill or certification gap that had previously kept her from being considered as a successor, the pool should be updated appropriately. Talent pools that are inaccessible or not up-to-date are of little use to decision makers.

A key element of making talent pools accessible is in-depth searching for talent exploration. A talent pool is not much good if managers cannot easily view, track, update, and search for potential successors. Dynamic talent pools should take the guess work out of succession planning by aligning employee assessments, competencies, development plans, and learning programs. Proactive system monitoring ensures that as employees learn and grow, talent pools are dynamically updated to reflect the changes. It is this element in particular – supported by robust reporting and analytic capabilities – that helps CEOs make more objective staffing decisions and better plan for future staffing needs.

4. Promote Talent Mobility to Retain High Performers

Industry analyst firm Bersin & Associates defines talent mobility as “a dynamic internal process for moving talent from role to role – at the leadership, professional and operational levels.” The company further states that “the ability to move talent to where it is needed and by when it is needed will be essential for building an adaptable and enduring organization.”[1]

Talent mobility is:

  • A business strategy that facilitates organizational agility and flexibility
  • A mechanism for acquiring and retaining high performing and potential talent
  • A recruiting philosophy that favors internal sourcing over costly external hiring
  • A method for aligning organizational and individual needs through development
  • A proactive and ongoing approach to succession planning rather than a reactive approach

A systematic talent mobility strategy enables business leaders to more effectively acquire, align, develop, engage, and retain high performing talent by implementing a consistent, repeatable, and global process for talent rotation. Without a cohesive talent mobility strategy, CEOs face several risks:

  • Focus on costly external recruiting vs. internal sourcing
  • Wrong hires (cost can be 3-5x person’s salary)
  • Increased high performer churn
  • Reduced employee engagement
  • Reduced flexibility as business conditions change

CEOs should consider the following integrated processes – and a complete technology platform to support them – to promote and enable talent mobility:

  • Current workforce analysis:Includes detailed talent profiles, employee summaries, organization charts, competencies, and job profiles.
  • Talent needs assessment: Assess employees on key areas of leadership potential, job performance, and risk of leaving.
  • Future needs analysis:Development-centric succession planning to create and manage dynamic, fully-populated talent pools.

5. Integrate Succession Planning to Broader Business Processes

Succession planning is not a silo. It implicitly relies on other talent processes and data, especially assessments that provide a performance and competency baseline. Yet unlike a performance management process, which can be executed in a relatively self-contained fashion (assuming it has access to core employee data), the same is not true for succession planning.

Succession planning requires foundational data (e.g., competencies, job profiles, talent profiles, and employee records) and inputs (e.g., appraisals, feedback). Outputs include nominee pools, successor pools, development/learning plans, and reports. To facilitate the level of integration required to get succession planning right, a single, natively-integrated technology platform that centralizes key talent processes and information is required. With this single platform, the time to develop succession plans can easily be reduced from weeks or months to mere hours. The benefits can be significant: reduce costs, reallocate personnel from tactical activities to more strategic endeavors, and mitigate the risk of untimely departures of essential personnel.

Additionally, a single technology platform promotes the linkage of learning and career development to succession planning. By bridging these processes, nominees who are not ready for advancement can be assigned detailed development plans that guide them to improve the competencies and skills required for new job positions. Learning paths and specific courses can be established for employees to facilitate their career growth. By providing learning opportunities and development plans to employees, CEOs can take a more active role in promoting employee growth, retention, and engagement.

Finally, with a single system of record, reporting and analysis is vastly improved, since all relevant talent data resides within a single data structure. Strategic cross-functional metrics can be readily established (e.g., measure the impact of learning and development programs on performance). Reporting and analysis are key to the CEO’s success in managing employee resources and implementing strategies that support corporate objectives and initiatives.

Conclusion

Organizations can realize significant efficiency gains and cost savings by moving from a manual, paper-based succession process to one that is fully technology-enabled. The shift to a single technology platform facilitates extending succession planning deeper into the organization, since a well-architected solution seamlessly links succession to career development and learning. A complete platform improves senior management’s global visibility into the talent pipeline and bench strength, and promoting talent mobility to retain high performers becomes a viable engagement strategy. Succession planning, done correctly, is all about process and supporting technology integration. Without integration, succession planning becomes just another organizational silo.

Endnotes

[1]Lamoureux, Kim. “Talent Mobility: A New Standard of Endurance.” Bersin & Associates, November 30, 2009.

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.

Guide on How to Write a Business Plan

From the start, a new business owner gets to know that having a business plan is important when dealing with banking personnel or potential investors. A business plan is also used by business owners and employees to make business decisions and to measure your company’s success. This document, at the least, should outline your company’s goals, and projected expenses, as well as marketing plans and exit strategy. Perhaps with these objectives in mind, many business owners want to know the easier way how to write business plan.

Here are some techniques.

a. Use a business plan template which has blank areas in which you can fill in the relevant information regarding your own business. Although a “fill in the blanks” approach is not a really a serious way to write a plan and will not help in securing financing or ensure the business’ success, think of templates as a good point to start writing your plan for business.

b. Business plan outlines are also a good place to start. Generic business outlines can be found in books or on the Internet, but the outline or the business plan’s basic structure should be changed to suit the type of your business.

c. Some beginning business owners use software like Business Plan Pro. It has sample of templates which can be used to help in writing your own business plan.

Here are some guidelines on how to write business plan. It should have:

1. An executive summary that outlines the company’s goals and objectives – Lending institutions always look for a business plan’s executive summary, which should always come at the beginning. It is important to emphasize the viability of your proposed business to persuade institutions to give you a loan. The executive summary can also be used as a way to communicate your ideas to employees and potential customers to get their support.

2. A short account of the company’s beginnings – Give a clear explanation on how the company was created and how the idea to start the business came about.

3. The proposed product or service you will offer – It is important that you discuss how the service or product is different from those already available in the market. Emphasize the market potential of your offering to convince employees and potential investors. Knowing the market potential usually requires research to know market demand but you can usually get basic information on this in the Internet.

4. A clear marketing strategy – If the business owner already has a good reputation, he or she could rely on word-of-mouth but most beginners should think of a plan to market or advertise on television, in print, or on the Internet. You need to include in this section your projected marketing expenses.

5. An exit strategy – List the benchmarks that will make you decide when to stop the company’s operations. These benchmarks could be based on revenue growth or the consensus among top management officers.

Knowing how to write business plan should not add to the pressures of starting a business. Good thing there are many resources beginning business owners can use for this.

Internet Marketing For Small Business – A Guide

Most small businesses don’t have huge marketing budgets, so they are looking for the most cost efficient way to get their marketing message to the most people possible. Only a few years ago, this would have been next to impossible. However, with the growth of the internet, what was recently impossible is not only possible, but is now quite easy for small business owners.

A popular internet marketing tool for small businesses wanting to start marketing online is Google AdWords. With the Google AdWords system, you can reach millions of people with your advertising message, while only paying for the people who show interest in your ads by clicking on them. This is in contrast to a more popular form of advertising which charges businesses based on how many people see their ad. The Google AdWords system of “cost per click” is much superior as it only costs the advertiser based on how many people are interested enough in their product or service to click.

One main way businesses can use Google AdWords is to advertise on the Google search engine and the rest of Google search network, which includes sites like Ask.com.

All you as an advertiser have to do to start seeing ads on these search sites is to follow these easy steps:

– Create a Google AdWords account: It is very easy to set up a Google AdWords account. All you need to do is create a Google account, or use an existing Google Account. It is very quick and easy to create your new Google AdWords account.
– The second step is to create a “campaign”. While creating your first campaign, just pick the option for showing your ads on the Google Search Network.
– Next, you’ll want to pick some keywords that searchers would use to find the product or service you offer. The closer the keywords are to what people will search, the better success you will have.
– Then write some ads that are related to your keywords and product. Make them very catchy and appealing, as you will want searchers to click on the ad and visit your site. However, make sure they are also accurate, because if your product or service doesn’t match what you advertised, the searcher won’t buy, and you’ll pay for their click without getting anything from it.
– You’ll also have to set your bid for how much you want to pay for clicks, and maybe a few other smaller settings.

Once you’ve completed these steps, you’ll soon see your ads on Google and their related search sites. This is a great way to reach millions of people, as Google has over 70% of the entire search volume on the web. If you want to reach even more people, check out Google’s display network, which allows you to advertise on other websites, even sites like the New York Times. You can start advertising on these sites within the same Google AdWords account you’ve already set up.

Within a few minutes, you could be set up to get your product or service in front of millions of people, while only paying for those that are interested in your product or service. This ability gives you a huge advantage over businesspeople of the past, who could only have dreamed about such a great opportunity!

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