Tips

Baby boomers were born between 1946 and 1964. Now that many have reached retirement age, their need and desire to continue working has increased. By the year 2030, roughly 20-percent of the population will be baby boomers. Opening franchises in an industry that interests the individual often produces better results since there is more drive to succeed.

Promedica24

Franchising with Promedica24 is ideal for those wishing to enter the senior care sector. The program is structured to place live-in caregivers with clients to assist with daily tasks, appointments, housecleaning and managing their health. Having a live-in caregiver gives families of loved ones with diminishing mobility and/or health issues a bit of peace-of-mind knowing that someone is with their loved one at all times.

Eazi-Apps

Internet-based franchise businesses are ideal for baby boomers. Eazi-Apps teaches those interested in marketing a new mobile application from the development to launch phases and beyond. For those that require more flexibility and the ability to be creative, mobile applications are ideal. Baby boomers can easily design apps for those in their generation to add convenience to their lives. Apps created by those for a specific generation by that generation have greater success since those creating it have experienced the issues requiring the need for the app.

No Need to Paint

Painting is something that many homeowners and business owners just do not have time to do themselves. Operating a professional painting franchise is a good option as both residential and commercial properties require painting from time-to-time. This is often the case when homes/businesses are bought and sold and require décor changes.This is an ideal option for a baby boomer that wants to own a franchise and have the label of business owner without all of the responsibility. A general manager should be sufficient for day-to-day operations. The general manager would answer to you (the business owner) with any issues and updates on the dealings of the business. Transparency is a must between you and your general manager so that you (the baby boomer) can enjoy your life and still receive an income.

Business Doctors

Coaching and mentoring new business owners is a lucrative way to work for yourself and own a franchise. This is an ideal option for those that wish to work with small and medium businesses in a variety of industries to help efficiency, productivity and strategic marketing tactics to increase revenues and improve overall business operations.Working in business consultancy helps struggling companies adopt rules, regulations and structure to improve operations. Safety concerns can also be addressed and the consultant (you) would help implement proper safety protocols.

Tutor Doctor

Tutor Doctor has over 400 franchised locations throughout the world. Private tutoring offers struggling students the one-on-one attention they need to grasp what is being taught in the classroom. Each student is paired with a tutor that specializes in the area of study they struggle most in. Lessons are made to adapt to each child’s style of learning to ensure that they excel in the classroom.Services like this are easily franchised as the benefits of the flexible learning techniques catches on. Testimonials from satisfied parents and students help a small tutoring business gain attention, build a reputation and grow.

Coldwell Banker

Franchising with Coldwell Banker is a good option for those interested in working in the real estate industry. This brand is well-recognized and has a strong reputation around the world. A franchise opportunity here means that the realtors working in your office may have more success than those working independently simply due to the brand’s name and long history in the industry. Realtors work with residential and commercial property buyers and sellers for a variety of reasons from those looking to start a new business venture to those looking to begin a family in a home of their own.

Final Thoughts

After working for someone else their entire lives, many baby boomers want to venture into new territory. Many are not ready to stop working or their financial requirements require continuous income. Franchises are ideal because these businesses come with guidelines already in place. It is easier to start-up a well-developed franchise than a ground-floor business. It is important to select a franchise, or new business in an industry that interests you for better success.

Working from home comes with ample opportunities for distractions and loss of motivation. It all starts with doing something you truly love to do. If you are unhappy in your career, even working from home is not going to make you more productive. You must have a solid work ethic and the desire to succeed in order to remain productive while working from home.

Design your own Workspace

Create a workspace in your home that is separate from the sleeping and common areas. It should be on the opposite side of the home from the bedroom, when possible. Design the space with things that make you happy. Use prints of inspirational, motivational and productivity building quotations from your favorite people.The happier you are to enter your workspace, the more productive you will be. Keep the space organized as clutter leads to tension and being out of sorts. Clutter kills productivity quicker than a cloudy day.

Put a Value on your Time

Your time is not free. It is important to establish your worth and make sure that you are receiving your value (pay) for the time you give to an employer. The more value (pay) you receive for your time, the more productive you are likely to be. Low wages often cause at-home workers to stray from work duties and lose interest in performing those duties.Compare your average hourly earnings and make sure that it matches the dollar amount that you have placed as the value of an hour of your time. If your numbers are not matching up, it is ideal to examine your work situation and make adjustments accordingly whether it is to complete more tasks in an hour’s time or take on additional clientele.

Collect Past Due Balances Diligently

If you are working as a freelancer, from home, it is up to you to collect on past due invoices. All of your clients should have signed contracts and in those contracts it should state that legal recourse will be taken for all unpaid balances. This allows you to send collection notices and demands for payment to clients with the intent of filing in small claims court.When freelancing, it may be a good idea to require payment in advance for brand new clients for a period of time to develop a working relationship. This ensures payment, you just have to be sure to deliver what the client has paid for. Once trust is established, invoicing can occur for services rendered.

Prevent Distractions

Extensions exist for browsers to block you from accessing specific websites, such as Facebook and Craigslist as examples, during set hours. Preventing yourself from accessing distractions during work hours promotes productivity and helps you develop a stronger work ethic.

Get Dressed Everyday

Even if you only have to walk 10 steps to your home office, get dressed for work. Looking the part, even at home, promotes productivity and makes you want to work harder to get back into your street clothes. Make sure that you keep a business-appropriate wardrobe available as you never know when a client may request a formal video conference call. In those instances, you will at least need to be dressed the part from the waist up, so it does not matter if your bottoms are sweats. You are, however, more likely to perform better in conference calls when you are fully dressed in the appropriate attire.

Keep a Schedule

Even if you aren’t leaving the house and don’t have specific due times for projects, keep a schedule. Go to bed at the same time every night. Set your alarm and get up at the same time every morning. Keeping a schedule, with hours created to your preferences, helps you stay productive while working from home. It is also a block of time that you will tell friends and family is off-limits for work purposes and is a timeframe given to clients for contact.

Closing Thoughts

With a bit of discipline, you can be productive when working from home. Allow yourself to listen to music for motivation. Set timers for tasks and make productivity a game to keep improving the number of tasks completed per day. The more you challenge yourself and keep working from your home office interesting, the more you will want to work.

We all know what a media stir Jeremy Corbyn caused last year during his rise to become the leader of the Labour Party. Whether you follow politics or not, his sudden rise to fame from the ranks of near obscurity can offer the small business owner a lot of important lessons.What makes JC stand out from the bland rank and file politicians we see every day on our newsfeed is that he stands for change. He is noticed because he is very different to the navy-blue suits that litter the halls of Parliament, both in his beliefs and in his appearance. Despite the PM suggesting during Prime Ministers Question Time that he should 'put on a proper suit, do up your tie and sing the national anthem', Mr Corbyn refuses to let himself blend in with the crowd.The public are led to believe that Corbyn really doesn't buy into the whole spin-doctor, PR machine, styling or image marketing that the other leading politicians tend to favour, and that has been trendy since Tony Blair started it all back in 1997. But instead JC forges his own path – which to me is pure marketing genius by itself!

What lessons can Jeremy Corbyn can teach us in business?

Image is important

Your image counts for a lot in business, but it doesn't mean that you have to look exactly the same as everyone else. Corbyn doesn't look like your average politician - he doesn't like to wear a tie, has a bit of a scruffy beard, and he rarely wears a suit, but it still didn't stop his image going viral on the run up to the party elections.So although you want your company image to look professional so you can be taken seriously, it can actually help raise your company awareness by being a little bit different to the crowd. Do you really want to look just like everyone else in the club, or would you rather have an image that sets you apart from others and gets you noticed?It is up for debate whether Corbyn intentionally crafted his brand image to be able to connect and engage with an audience that has become tired of the same old generic PR machine manufactured politician. However, contrived or not, it seems to be working very well.

What makes us different, sets us apart.

When we look at Corbyn and Cameron we can see that they both stand for very different political ideals. In the marketing world, we are often told to mimic our most successful competitors because what works for them may also work for us, right? But what really happens is that the marketplace becomes too similar.Corbyn himself was heard to quote, ‘I think one of the problems in the election was there was not enough difference between the parties' – Jeremy Corbyn on why Labour didn’t win. In recent years it has to be said that both the Labour and Conservative parties has developed blurred lines where they both meet. But by having a completely different strategy, Corbyn has been able to rise to from the ranks of obscurity to take the leadership title.We can apply this logic to our business-related activities too. If you are in a business sector with a lot of competition, what makes people choose your product or service over another that at first glance is just the same? Quite often it boils down to how you package your product or service. If your brand stands for something that your customers can relate to, then they will be more likely to buy from you rather than from one of your competitors.This is exactly what Corbyn has done – he has found a niche audience that are looking for something different. He got people to vote for him that wanted to see change in politics.Separating yourself from your competitors rather than imitating them can help you to align with a whole new audience that will connect with you. Attracting a different audience that share your views is a whole lot easier than competing for the same customers who already buy from your opposition.I bet you never thought you would be picking up business tips from Jeremy Corbyn – but don't forget that politics is also a business. Each party are vying for the ultimate prize of winning our vote and running our country – they do this through engaging a large enough audience to win them that power. It is just the same as a small business winning customers to help their company thrive.Our London based virtual office service and help improve your image and set you apart from the competition!

Most consumers who make ​​purchases aren't considered to have made any ​​significant savings through promotions.The reason? Most of the "promotions" consisted of card payments consisting of months without interest. Only 0.6 percent of buyers saw more than 50 percent savings.Although implementing promotions that do not bring significant benefits to consumers in the short can attract and increase sales; in the long term there is the risk of negatively affecting the image of your company and thereby avoiding repurchases and struggling to generate loyalty.To solve this problem, the key is to create valuable to your target consumer promotions that also suit the demands of digital commerce. This is possible if you have the following considerations in mind:

Watch your advertising discounts

Avoid lying at all costs to your customers to communicate discounts and promotions that you offer them. If the advertising message is inconsistent with promotions that are on your site, the bounce rate or percentage of abandonment after seeing a single page will increase, hurting the metrics of your site in general.It also uses different and less saturated platforms to advertise your promotion channels. For online shops in particular, they are ideal for the generation and sale of coupons and discount codes. Psychologically, consumers are confident that a discount is a legitimate reduction of the original price. Coupons and discount codes help reinforce this idea and discourage bargain hunting in the shops of other competitors.

Focus on customer satisfaction

Although the success of your business will provide a great opportunity to increase the volume of sales of your business, making your customers a priority will need the implementation of certain tactics. When creating your plan of promotions, it establishes a final objective to meet and exceed the expectations of your target consumer.This approach could even provide your business profitability during the remainder of the year, for generating a truly valuable promotion; you will be promoting customer retention in the long term.

Offer valuable promotions and discounts

Offering mediocre consumer promotions can foster a negative image of your business; chances are, that you will be the victim of negative reviews by other means (such as social networking) and they can strongly influence the opinion of potential customers.However, it is not necessary for your company to go bankrupt in order to offer valued promotions. An offer is valuable when solving the problems, needs and interests of your target consumer. Based on your needs during your marketing campaign, analyse what your customers look for this time of year : what will Christmas shoppers want in advance, for example? Should you perform large volume purchases for the rest of year? Should you make the payment of the product or service you offer on deferred amounts? Finding discounts on specific products?To obtain accurate answers, it is best to create a poll. If your budget allows, you could conducted a market survey among a significant potential sample and repeat customers. You can also use free tools like social networks or surveys of users of your online store site. Remember to offer some type of incentive to encourage them to respond.

Align the deals with your products or services

Promotion offers benefits aligned to the consumer, the business and also complements the products or services you offer. In this regard, aligned promotions are those that provide an additional benefit to customer acquisitions as a reward. An example of these developments for success is the gifts on the purchase of goods or services and the payment of loyalty point’s programs and frequent purchases. In general, these developments do not incur high costs for businesses and also they generate a return of high investment.

Focus your promotions

Before making your promotions, you should know your customers in depth: their personality, interests and needs. One of the great advantages of online trading is the possibility of using Business Intelligence tools to obtain this information through the website of your shop and grouping the types of customers who visit and shop at your online store. This allows you to create personalised promotions, consistent with the interests of each type of customer, increasing the effectiveness of your promotions.Keeping in mind these points will help you choose promotions that will provide valuable benefits to your customers, which will result in a positive impact on your online store for the proper completion and, more importantly, in the long run.

If you plan to or already operate a business from home, consider these factors to successfully develop your company.

Enjoy what you do

For a project to be successful, it is important that you like it, believe in it, and enjoy it. When a person performs a job that excites them and makes every effort to get it right, the customer perceives this clearly. This, over time, becomes steady cash flow.

Look like a pro

If you are a selling beauty products, look flawless daily. If you market or represent a health food company, it is best to have a good figure and let people see you eat your products. This earns the trust of your prospects and will keep captive to those who already bought your products. No matter what you do, you should always have a good appearance. That makes the difference between a professional and someone who is just trying their luck, especially when you run your own business.

Prepare to be the best

If you work independently, subscribe to specialised publications and newsletters. Investigate how to develop your own strategy of sales, administration, marketing, and advertising. Analyse your competition.

Design and build your space

If you live in an apartment, for example, you do not have to invest huge amounts of money. Choose a separate space to have as your own, be it an office or warehouse.If you market your clothes or have a cosmetics case, it is best to keep that clean and tidy so that your customers feel they are dealing with a professional space. Do not forget to ask your family to respect your work area.

Take your office wherever you want

Virtual offices Services are a growing trend. Renting a smart phone with unlimited Internet will range from £30 to £80. This depends on the company that you contract with. Mini-computers or notebooks market for £500+ and are equipped with basic tools such as word processing, spreadsheets, and wireless Internet.

Customise your offer

One of the advantages of having a home business is that you have the ability to provide a service tailored to each person. Since you are delivering orders under the specified conditions, send emails announcing packages designed exclusively for each of your customers. Anything goes.

Add value to your offer

We are in an era where people value their time—a car wash in 15 minutes, 30 minutes or the pizza is free, and so on. Therefore, it is important that your current and potential customers see your products or services as the way to solve a problem and make life easier.

Sell only benefits

When you talk about your product or service, always begin with the testimony of your current customers. Market flyers, websites, blogs, newsletters, and social networking profiles to include feedback from your satisfied buyers.

Create personal ties

Make your customer feel that your concentration, effort, and creativity are on the project for which you were hired, just so you stop being a supplier to become an expert advisor.

Organise your time

One of the recurring problems of entrepreneurs operating from home is lacking a working method. Results: work late, delayed deliveries, holiday and time off at midnight. Hence the need to set working hours, as if they work for a company. You also have to design efficient processes to eliminate unnecessary steps in your daily operations.

Put a price on your work

If your product sells or lends items to catalogue services, calculate how much you invest to produce or generate your offer, then check the prices of your competitors and you'll have an idea of the correct rate. Even if you work on your own, remember: you're a professional, and your work has added value. When setting the price, you should consider your studies; you've invested in your preparation and accumulated experience to become the best.

Learn to collect

It seems obvious advice, but in practice not all know it. For starters, sell your products or offer your services among your acquaintances, friends, and family. Design collection strategies according to each profile. Set deadlines for receivables; they must be 15 to 30 days maximum. Remember that as you find new consumers, this work will be easier.

Make a self-sufficient business

A big mistake is to finance projects of your customers with your own resources. It is best to ask for a deposit—usually 50 percent of the total—and the rest in cash once the contract concludes or the goods are delivered. On the other hand, to make an inventory, the bank applies for a microcredit. Even one of your suppliers should always have enough units to meet the demand of your customers. Rule of thumb: one thing is the business money, another your money and another destined to your home.

Design multiple forms of payment

You will not have to go to the office or home to charge your customers. One option is to open a bank account intended only for revenue of your business. Your customers can deposit or make a transfer via electronic banking. Another way to ensure steady cash flow in your business is to design different payment schemes, for example, weekly, biweekly, or monthly payments. It is better to not give extensions, but this is just the exception, not the rule.

Pay your taxes

Receipts of fees can work for large companies. Just do not forget to pay your taxes on time and at the end of the fiscal year, you can even get a refund for what you are due. To streamline this task, hire the services of an accountant to help you keep your accounts in order.

Consider including the following technological solutions in your current Business Plan:

• Check out your website.

Analyse if your website is still tailored to the needs of your business. Is it time to move to an "e-commerce" solution that allows you to market your products or services online?

• Update your applications.

Move your spreadsheet accounting Software as a Service (in English Software as a Service, SaaS). The SaaS today best known example is Google Apps, which offers basic business services such as e-mail or MS Office Saas service platform with a designation as Microsoft Office 365, which lets you access the software through the Internet.

• Duplicates and archives.

Make a backup of documents and archive them. This is a more complex process than it seems. If we copy redundant data, storage capacity is exhausted, and if we do not make a backup of sufficient data, you might miss critical information. Among the most popular backup programs are ArcServer, ZendalBackup, Cobian, SECOFI, and NortonGhost.

• Take a stroll through the "Cloud."

You must have heard the various applications that give you the ability to place your files in the "Cloud.” Working with files in the cloud will allow your team to interact with the information from different points as being connected virtually, each of the computers can be in different places around the world. It also stores information that you consider necessary and indispensable. The application iDriveSync, for example, helps you create such virtual drives on your computer and gives you a capacity of up to 2 GB in its free version.

• Allow yourself to discover.

SEO is an acronym for "search engine optimisation.” Hiring an SEO can improve your site's ranking in Google and Yahoo; certain keywords can lead you to the top in just a few months. SEO is part of the "Inbound Marketing", a new tool that makes your business easy to find through search engines like Google, the blogosphere, and social networks. This tool improves your ranking in Google to get more traffic, produces and promotes blogs for your business, and also strengthens your community on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

• Turn up your "networking."

It is no secret that blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube, among others, are no longer considered only places for entertainment purposes. These tools strengthen your management strategy and the possibility of attracting more potential customers for your business.

• Learn from others.

Search publications and blogs in your industry and subscribe to them via RSS. Interact with relevant experts, including those that can only be partially related. Follow the opinions of business leaders through Twitter. Monitor industry trends through Twilerts and Google Alerts, or make an RSS feed with information relevant to your industry.

• Make every contact sales opportunity.

CRM software (acronym of the English term, "Customer Relationship Management") is a management model based on customer orientation. The main advantage for a company is to increase the information to your customers and prospective customers, allowing the offer to address their wants and needs, thus increasing satisfaction and optimising its life-cycle. Normally, it produces increased sales and reduces the sales cycle.

• It projects the future.

You have to anticipate and respond swiftly and efficiently to market conditions to keep your business from the competition. To achieve this, you need information systems that perform activities flexibly, including all areas of the company, from financial to human resources. Enterprise resource planning allows you to integrate and automate operational activities or productive aspects of your business.

• United we stand.

This consolidates voice, data, web hosting and other computer service provider. Using this, you only pay one bill and contact one supplier with any questions. This will save you time and money.

8 Digital Tools to Help You with Your Business Plan

Many entrepreneurs know that having a good business plan is the key to carrying out their ideas, understanding the viability of their business, and assessing the financial side, among other issues.The Internet has several tools that help you develop a business plan.

Any.do

• Found in iOS and Android
• Free
• Organize and share your business
• Assign tasks and responsibilities lists dates
• Turn words into written text through a microphone

Basecamp

• Found in iOS and Android
• Free and pay
• Keeping track of each cloud archive, meeting and events that you carry out
• Share the project with the team and assign tasks to all members

BIZPLAN

• Found on the Internet
• Available payment
• Software that allows elaboration of your business plan by following simple steps
• Interface includes templates and models that can be edited

Premier Business Plan

• Can be found in iOS
• Available through payment
• Plan objectives
• Define your target and expectations of your company
• Find tips for drawing a marketing plan

Enloop

• Found on the Internet
• Available for free and pay
• Web application that guides users through every step of creating a business plan
• Sales, profit and loss
• Cash flow and balance sheet projections
• Explanatory graphics and other visuals

Evermeeting

• Found in iOS
• Available for free and pay
• Keep track of meetings, classes, conferences and other events in real time
• Record audio and add annotations
• Store data in the cloud

LivePlan

• Found on the Internet
• Available through payment
• A comprehensive tool that puts emphasis on building the financial model of the business
• Provides examples and counselling service a group of experts
• Free version with examples and templates for business plans on the web

Stratpad

• Found in iOS
• Available for free and pay
• Lets you assess the development of your business
• Data and graphs will show income, expenses, sales, product quality and customer satisfaction

These were some of the applications and software that can help you succeed with your business. Have you used any of these applications and tools? Do you know any other digital resource for business plans?

Many people do not give importance to this simple piece of card, thinking that it doesn't pay much attention to detail or lacks impact to be useful - wrong! So, what key points should a business card have on it to be effective and original?Here are 10 key points that should help with this:

1. Watch the design.

Before anything, get a pen and paper and broadly design your card. Record the information you want; include the colours of the letters and the background and if you should put any image (company logo for example) on the card.

2. Size matters.

What do we mean? It is important that it is not too large nor too small, and it must fit into your card case or in your wallet. Normally the standard format is 9 × 5 cm.

3. Take the duplex!

We always recommend that you use the duplex. Normally we tend to always see both sides when you get a card and it just looks ugly and unfinished when the other side is plain white. It is a perfect opportunity to add your own personal logo or image.

4. It's time to design your card on your computer.

When you sit at the computer to design your card, it is very important that you have to the first draft at hand (point No. 1), just so you do not forget any important data. It is also important that you consider the size of the images you want to place, because then the card may not be seen well. Have you thought about putting it in the background?

5. One of the common questions is what information is put onto the card.

The information must be clear (not too many letters together) and with the necessary information (no beating around the bush). I would state your profession and nothing more. If your case is that you work for another company, also specify this.

6. Contact. Don`t feel like you have to include your phone number.

Because today, with WhatsApp this can become very chaotic ... In this case, if anyone wants to contact you, they can make it through email. It depends on the type of business you run and the intake of customers you receive. In any case, if the person is trustworthy, you can always write down the phone number by hand in a card space.It is therefore essential that your email appears on the card and also your web page where they will find more information about you. If you're going to give this card to a lot of random leads, it`s recommended you do not put your phone number on. If, however, you will present your card to people you know and businesses, then add your phone number to your card.What about an adress? If your business provides local services you need an adress for people to find you. If you provide business services and image is important to you, you might benefit from a London address providing prestige and professionalism for your business

7. What social networks?

It is important that you also state that you are present in social networks. You don`t need to put every single one down that you are present on, but for example, it`s recommended that you put Facebook and Twitter on, and also if you have Instagram, because it lets your clients see that you are a modern person, who likes creative photography.

8. QR Code?

It is important that you also display the QR code for quick access to your website or section of the website of the company to which you appear. How to generate a QR code? It is very simple. It can all be done by copying a link to the web and in a few seconds you`ll have an image that you must put in a corner of your card.

9. Logo?

If in your case, you own a personal logo, it is important to appear on your card. It is the first graphic image that your customers remember you by, so you have a perfect opportunity to add your personal brand.

10. Take advantage of offers!

There are many programs and websites that will help you design your own card. Note the print quality and type of paper, as you want something durable. Search and compare will lead you to finding good deals.For more business ideas and news, check out our Virtual Office Business Blog today and especially the tips and advice section.

Every organisation needs a leader and each leader has their own style of management. What defines leadership? We all have in mind the qualities and skills needed to be a leader and are almost always rigged to a particular style of exercise that encompasses leadership. Among the most repeated include communication skills to convey confidence, determination, commitment, proximity, passion or responsibility.

Negative leadership styles

Ultimately, each leader has to find their own style a - the key in any case goes through to find a style that works best for you. However, the five that follow are generally those that do not succeed.

Micromanagement

It is easy to fall into micromanagement, a style that is characterised by absolute control of what happens in your work environment. It is something to be avoided because it means extra pressure for the employee, a cut in their autonomy, is against empowerment and a very inefficient method of facing major tasks.The problem with micromanagement is that it is not always easy to distinguish the line between what is active and helpful support and what is not. However, there are other signs that will help you realise whether or not you're a micromanager:

• You have difficulty delegating tasks, even in people who you consider competent
• You indulge in additional projects and agree to perform tasks that cannot be developed
• Lose time correcting small mistakes and lose the overview of the project
• You are on your employees backs and want to know what they do at all times

If you see yourself reflected in these attitudes, not sporadically, but overall, maybe you should review your management style.

The absolutist

A leader is responsible for setting the course of the ship and the direction to be taken by the team, but should also be open to proposals from the pack. A common mistake is to fall into a kind of absolutism, in which the vision and direction are Law.Authority is required in the company because it creates respect in the workplace, but it should never come at the expense of silencing the rest of the employees. The leader will always have the last word, but it should address the proposals of the group to make them see that their opinion matters and make them feel part of the company, increasing their productivity.In any case, it is impossible for one person to control everything that happens in the company. In this sense, there is nothing worse than making a decision on an issue that is unknown.

The softest

On the opposite side we find leaders that are too lax, that do not establish rules or supervision. They may struggle in making sure that everyone works in the same direction and that the company communicates the goals accordingly. Without this direction, a team can have great ideas, but nothing on which to align, consolidate and unify them under one criterion.Flexibility is important in the business, but everything has its limits.

The "I can do it all"

In this case we find a variant of micromanagement, only aggravated also because the leader will want to take care of all tasks. One of the first things you should do is learn to delegate leaders.The advantages of not doing everything on your own are obvious: you release workload to the team and you make sure that everything is done as you intended. However, if you want to go further, you will also let others take responsibility to grow as a team. Remember, the more you work with other people, the further you`ll grow in these environments.

The rigidity

Consistency in itself is positive, but taken so far can be very harmful for the company and for your development as a leader. One of the most common mistakes is often to draw a mental picture of the way forward and stick to it no matter what, through thick and thin, regardless of your surroundings. This is a recipe for disaster.A good leader must be able to understand that their management style must adapt to new situations and environments.You can read more on our business blog for more helpful articles, if you found this a good read you can read more in our "tips and advice" section.

Meetings can be a powerful weapon for SMEs, but also a huge waste of time. A well-organised meeting agenda can be vital for any company; the key here is to be clear about the agenda of business meetings, the reason for each one, the people who will attend and the maximum time that can be devoted to each. Once this information is analysed, it is easier to create a meeting that has far more worth than one simply thrown together in a rush.Seen this way, the task may seem daunting, but fortunately today there are many tools to help you manage your schedule of business meetings and to fix an appointment with employees or customers. These are the ones we have selected:

Tools to set up meetings

Doodle

Its main function is to organise the calendar of meetings, but can also be used for other events. With Doodle, you can know the availability of the people they want to meet up with and so find the date that suits everyone. Once you have it clear when you want to be at the meeting, you can send the link by email or through the interface to other participants.Doodle works as a shared online platform and is known for being a very intuitive calendar. If you do not have time to learn to drive a more powerful calendar and do not have big needs, this is your tool.

GoToMeeting

One of the tools that is most renowned and most used. It is a paid software which not only allows you to manage a calendar of events, but also makes presentations to large groups and even creates online polls and surveys. It has several versions which also include the possibility of interactive training sessions.GoToMeeting is a good choice for those conducting online meetings and conferences through the network on a regular basis. Besides organising the meeting agenda, you can setup meetings through the platform.

Google Calendar

With improved Google Apps, Google Calendar also comes to mobiles and tablets. The advantage of Google Calendar is that it integrates with your Gmail and, of course, is free. The tool provides a personal dashboard that allows you to create appointments, set reminders and even share with other team members. Plus, you can synchronise with Google Hangouts to video conference with up to 10 people.

TimePal

TimePal is useful for setting events with partners from different time zones. It also allows you to set the duration of the meeting, so that it will tell you if you are exceeding the schedule.TimePal functions as a board that matches the schedule of each region, to see the hours that match the rest of the group. Like most applications, there is a limited free version, or if you pay, then you get no ads and more features.

TimeBridge

As with Google Calendar, TimeBridge can be used to organise meetings or personal events. TimeBridge's meeting management service can either be operated with large groups or one-on-one meetings and cover different time zones too. It can be integrated with Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar and Apple iCal. and also includes phone and Web conferencing opportunities.

WhenisGood

WhenisGood is a basic, online tool that will generate a link to a survey and send this to other participants with different proposed dates. Once respond by all, you can access the results and choose the date that received the most votes.

Meetomatic

Meetomatic is another free service online, where you just have to choose possible dates and send them via email or social networks. With the responses of all participants in, you can easily establish which date generated the greater consensus.

UberConference

A very useful tool to find out who's who in a meeting. UberConference can query data collected from other people and initiates a simple, visual, and free to use conference call. It allows you to quickly set up and join free conference calls without the use of PINS.

Attendium

Attendium is a tool that automates the lists of invitees to a meeting, which is useful for mass events, but perhaps not for use with meetings where there are a limited number of participants.If you liked our business blog post, you can find more helpful tips in our productivity section.

It was in the summer of 2014 when the Internet users around the world suddenly realised that their data online were not immune to risks. Risque photos of Rihanna, Kate Upton, Selena Gomez, Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Watson, Kirsten Dunst and other celebrities, began to circulate through the network completely unopposed. Taking advantage of a hole in the security system of Apple passwords, the hackers had gained access to private files stored in the Cupertino company iCloud service, to seize and disseminate such images on the Internet.It was not the first time. In 2011 Scarlett Johansson was thrust in the worldwide media about selfies that had been done in her bathroom. It was by no means the only case. Just a month and a half later the same thing happened again: More stolen public photos emerged from the "cloud" of celebrities. In total sixty were affected, according to the list published by Daily Dot.The fact is that this has cast doubt on the safety of the service from Apple, although there were those who insinuated it was all a publicity stunt. Either way, we now know for sure that if we decide to have the cloud, we have to take security measures to prevent our sensitive data (bank account number, private email, phone numbers etc.) ending up in the hands of digital criminals.But is it possible to protect a hack? Before this is answered, we have to take a step back, because it can be dangerous to take things for granted. When a file is put on the net, there are certain issues that must be considered. A huge number of people use the cloud to store their files - in 2012, 86% of companies used it, according to a study by VB News - and had access to them at any time, without overloading their hard disk.This is an amazing system, especially if we consider that the cloud services usually provide sufficient protection. Whenever you deliver a document or a photo to iCloud, to the Drive or Dropbox, however, we must note that we are raising our data to a server, i.e. a computer. Unfortunately, security systems are not insurmountable, and the criminals are always on the lookout, prepared to take advantage of minor faults.How to protect yourself, then? Is it possible to prevent the risk of someone else taking your documents? The obligatory premise is that nobody and nothing can be absolutely sure if you surf the net, although we can do something to minimise risks. Here are some simple rules that let you gain a level of digital security.

Encrypt your files

Rule number one - cloud security: Always protect your data using complex passwords, as these are difficult to guess. If your data storage service offers authentication options, use it; if it has two-factor authentication, even better. If you have available locally encryption, please use it.

If you do not want to share it ... do not put it up!

Rule number two - ask yourself before you save a file to the cloud: If it was a paper document, would you give it to a stranger, or in an envelope? If the answer is "no", you know what you have to do with the pin of the bank account, for example. Be extra vigilant about what you are releasing into the cloud, just in case and if it is too sensitive, then perhaps it isn`t the best idea sharing it.

Always close your session

The third and last part relates to your behaviour when you turn off the computer. It is not enough to close the browser, because the session can remain open for the next user to view. You have to log out using the "Exit", "close" or "logout" buttons, especially if used on a shared computer, and in this specific case, it is better to clear the cache and chronology too.