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Are You a Great Leader or a Competent Manager?
The difference between the two lies in the ability to inspire your team, especially during difficult times. “Leader” and “Manager” are not one and same. A Leader is one who influences people to produce desired results whereas a Manager is a person who merely directs a team. Leadership also requires the ability to create an enjoyable work place. Most businesses face the challenge of proper management training. During an economic downswing, training programs are often the first to be eliminated to cut costs. In fact, it’s the wrong choice and reflects lack of foresightedness and vision. Most managers who have successfully undergone management training are likely to stay with their employer longer. The effectiveness of company leaders from the CEO and down is a crucial indicator for a company’s success. Business owners may face difficult times but they should remember employees are the most critical part of any business and true leaders can weather the storm by motivating their team to stay with them in difficult times. Want to know more about some of the core traits of a true leader? Read the article; Visit: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/217494
About Jim Jacques
Jim Jacques is the President of United Virtual Office, a leading nationwide provider of virtual offices for entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses. A virtual office includes an address at a prestigious business location in the US, live virtual receptionist, courier services and more. Google +
The Importance of Schedules and How to Keep Them
As a business entrepreneur – particularly when starting a new venture – you need to adjust ways of working and maintain schedules that work best for you. If you are an entrepreneur, balancing various tasks – an office, a home and a family – you might end up making an unplanned commitment with your scheduled tasks. Some proven ways to make schedules work for you are:
- Block off certain times of the day for completing parts of any large task.
- If your business requires meeting clients – pick one or two days of the week to fix a client meeting schedule and focus only on clients appointments.
- Consider mixing other important family tasks with your office work schedule (a school pick-up or drop-off, doctor visit or a grocery pick-up etc).
- You may have a relation building day if someone wants to schedule a lunch or coffee.
- If you write articles or blogs choose most relaxing or quiet times for your writing activities.
Stick to one task/project on a particular day.
Sometimes you may need to plan your work schedule around someone else’s schedule. Planning work schedules and keeping them can certainly help you complete different projects smoothly. Get more information on this topic, visit:http://www.womenentrepreneur.com/2010/12/when-you-need-to-avoid-going-insane-the-importance-of-schedules.html
About Jim Jacques
Jim Jacques is the President of United Virtual Office, a leading nationwide provider of virtual offices for entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses. A virtual office includes an address at a prestigious business location in the US, live virtual receptionist, courier services and more. Google +
How to Create a Mastermind Group
Developing mastermind group requires an alliance of a small number of people who are willing to make regular commitment to each other to achieve a common goal. It may sound simple but in practice it can be quite difficult. Compare mastermind group dynamics with the art of baking bread. The process might be simple and straightforward but mixing all the ingredients in right proportion and proper kneading of dough is something that needs an expert and delicate touch.
Mastermind groups often find it difficult to sustain the passion with which they are started. May be members of the group find they don’t have sufficiently similar interests and goals. Developing element of mutual relationship is important for achieving common goals of the group. Some of the ingredients suggested for developing a mastermind group are:
- Time commitment to meet on fixed schedule ? preferably once a week.
- Right number of members in the group – 5-6 members is “just right”.
- Flexible meeting agenda – allowing more time to a member if it is so required.
- Accountability – members should be accountable to themselves and to the other members of the group for the steps they agree to take for achieving their common business goals.
Sounds interesting? Read Nina Kaufman’s article – visit:
http://legal.entrepreneur.com/2010/11/30/how-to-create-a-mastermind-group/
About Jim Jacques
Jim Jacques is the President of United Virtual Office, a leading nationwide provider of virtual offices for entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses. A virtual office includes an address at a prestigious business location in the US, live virtual receptionist, courier services and more. Google +
How to Build a Million Dollar Business
Achieving $1 million in sales is a dream of every business firm. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, approximately 80% of all U.S. firms fail to achieve this figure. Getting to $1 million in sales is reaching a level of sustainability. Most businesses fail because they commit three major mistakes when they are starting and developing their business.
- Most entrepreneurs spend a lot of time in research and development, building a product without validating the idea with their prospective customers. One should consult as many prospective customers as possible by making cold calls to validate the idea of launching a new product. Discuss what exactly your product is meant to offer and how do you plan to solve their problems with your product.
- Arranging for adequate capital to meet the growth needs of your company is the second priority after your sales start gaining momentum. The most common type of financing comes from friends and relatives. Understanding the structure of investment and inviting equity partner needs serious consideration for the right growth of your company.
- Third major mistake that most entrepreneurs make is Reckless Hiring. Hiring expensive employees should be avoided to prevent drainage of funds. It is advised to seek a working partner for equity who will have the required skill and can offer useful advice when you are wrong. Outsourcing is the best option to find network of workers on as and when needed basis.
- Want to know more about these useful tips from Sramana Mitra, consultant and author of theEntrepreneur Journeysseries of books” Visit http://www.bnet.com/blog/entrepreneurs/how-to-build-a-million-dollar-business/747
About Jim Jacques
Jim Jacques is the President of United Virtual Office, a leading nationwide provider of virtual offices for entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses. A virtual office includes an address at a prestigious business location in the US, live virtual receptionist, courier services and more. Google +
Making Time for Marketing
Most self-employed professionals feel they have no time for marketing. If you are the only one to serve the clients, manage the business, and perform all the sales and marketing functions, you really feel scarcity of time. Some Time Management techniques can guide you to defer tasks or delegate them; you can manage time for making calls, writing letters, or updating marketing materials. Have you already tried all those methods and discovered that time is still scarce”
What is your real challenge – to find more time for marketing or to MAKE time” Every day, you take part in many time-consuming activities which surely arent related to marketing. You could integrate marketing with all those things you are already doing if you could check some examples of how that can work:
- Attending workshops or cultural events with some business contacts can help develop better relationship instead meeting one-to-one.
- If you are planning to meet someone on lunch or coffee, add one or two persons to this get-together. This is great way to make new contacts. New invitees would appreciate the opportunity and you can have a rewarding group discussion.
- It is good to invite someone to join you for a walk in the park or a game of tennis. Such meetings help building business contacts. You can meet some contacts in golf course where you can discuss business while doing exercise.
- While reading an interesting article in a magazine or online, think of three people whom you could send it with a short “thought-you-would-be-interested” note. It will take only a moment, but can make a big impression on the recipient.
Sounds interesting” Get familiar with more ideas to make time for marketing, visit:
http://entrepreneurs.about.com/od/salesmarketing/a/marketingtime.htm
About Jim Jacques
Jim Jacques is the President of United Virtual Office, a leading nationwide provider of virtual offices for entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses. A virtual office includes an address at a prestigious business location in the US, live virtual receptionist, courier services and more. Google +
How To Greet Your Clients
Good client relations are one of the major driving forces behind the success of any business. It is generally the first encounter, rather, the very first impression that makes or breaks ones client relationships. Greeting a client is not a difficult task. It may sound complex sometimes, but the essentials remain the same, which stress on nothing, but a healthy interaction.
During your interaction with the client, you should try to put the client at ease and try to establish control of the dialogue. It is your easiness and confidence, which act as the convincing or trust-building factors for any business deal. In general, 70% of the success of any deal directly relates to a good interaction. One should always be his best while greeting a client.
At the outset, one must always dress in accordance to the situation, which is formal in most of the cases. One should also be particular about the place of meeting. Usually, peaceful, neutral places are the best meeting grounds as the possibility of disturbances are very unlikely in such places. It makes the client comfortable and free from all pressures. Make sure the place looks sounds and smells good. There must not be any distraction.
When it comes to the actual act of greeting, one should stand up and extend a firm handshake. If it is the first meeting, you may as well introduce yourself, and then get the clients name. It is always advisable to keep the conversation light in the beginning. For instance, you may begin with a casual small talk about the place of meeting or food items. Such small off-the-topic talks facilitate in making the client comfortable. Once the client is all comfortable, you may slide into the main issue of discussion. At the same time, one must always seek permission to ask questions.
Business talks must never be hasty in nature. It takes a while for the client to enter into a business deal with you; however, it takes only a second to break the same. One must be patient in answering all the queries of the client. In addition, eye contact is very important for creating interest. You must maintain a firm eye contact with the client to show that you are attentive enough. Smile is another factor that sets in a pleasant mood of discussion. As is popular, smile a lot, it costs nothing! In client interactions however, a smiling face may fetch you a lot.
Next, one should provide for tasty refreshments at regular intervals depending upon the course of meeting. Essentially, greeting a client serves as the fulcrum for all further business meetings. You must conclude with a handshake. The tone should be promising and confident in nature. At the end, the client should be sure of a good business relation.
You cannot learn or inherit the perfect way of greeting your clients. The more you interact and build upon the above-mentioned tools, the closer you get to know your clients and the faster, your business expands.
About Jim Jacques
Jim Jacques is the President of United Virtual Office, a leading nationwide provider of virtual offices for entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses. A virtual office includes an address at a prestigious business location in the US, live virtual receptionist, courier services and more. Google +
Office Decor
Office is one of the places where one spends most of the time of a day. Thus, it is essential that office décor is changed at regular intervals for giving it a fresh and new look. By making changes in office décor, one can also give a boost to their production as well. There are some simple office décor tips that can be used for transforming the stale office environment into a warm and friendly place where one can enjoy working.
Even if you have a small office, it becomes necessary to decorate it finely so that it is made a great place to work where each one can enjoy working. With a well furnished and decorated office according to the vision of your company, the clients will feel comfortable that can thereby make them ready for having a focus on the business.
If you are one of the business professionals who are looking for changing the office décor, there are various easy and simple decoration ideas that you can implement. Even the smallest changes made in décor can make considerable impact on feel and environment of your office.
Changes in the colour of walls, furniture. Lights and addition of other accessories can change the overall look of office. Also if you are looking for creating custom modern feel in your office, consulting the specialist providing well designed office furniture is the best solution. There are furniture designers who are specialists in creating excellent designed high quality furniture that can ad charm and grace to our office space
If your office has a reception, it becomes essential to it reception designed in an adequate manner because it is the area where your company can show in the best possible manner who you are. Creation of the first impression is extremely essential for the business and for doing this, the reception areas need to be well designed and decorated.
Other vital ideas that can be used for enhancing office décor include planting of trees such as bonsai. These trees take up less space and add freshness to environment. Other than this old sofa sets at the reception and waiting rooms can be changed with colourful and decorative sofa sets. These sofa sets can be more comfortable than the existing ones and also add ambiance to the office. Small tables with glass tops can also be placed besides the sofas. Some magazines and newspapers can also be placed on the table for visitors.
Works stations can also be given a personal touch by giving an option to employees to decorate their areas finely. With such small decoration ideas, a well decorated office can be achieved. Large sized clocks that are visible to all employees can also be placed inside the office and at the reception.
With these simple decoration ideas, you can easily get rid of boring office environment and bring in a cheerful and fresh atmosphere that can be best done by bringing a change in office décor.
About Jim Jacques
Jim Jacques is the President of United Virtual Office, a leading nationwide provider of virtual offices for entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses. A virtual office includes an address at a prestigious business location in the US, live virtual receptionist, courier services and more. Google +
San Diego Virtual Office
Enjoy the clean air and sunny skies over in the great city of San Diego. You can always see people tanning by the beach or soaking in the rich history which is the city of San Diego. Besides the great climate, people, and atmosphere what can this great city offer a business man/woman like yourself? Well economy wise they have much to offer. Forbes ranked San Diego the fifth wealthiest city in the United States and although tourism is a big part of the economy in the city, the leader in the economy belongs to manufacturing. There is a lot to San Diegos economy which is composed of agriculture, biotechnology/bio sciences, computer sciences, electronics manufacturing, defense-related manufacturing, financial and business services, ship-repair and construction, software development, telecommunications, and tourism. With so much composing the economy, take your pick and run with it.
Being the fifth wealthiest city in America means that to live or work there you must have deep pockets and in our current state of the economy, a few of us can say we can afford to spend that much money. So you want to have an office in San Diego but don’t want to spend the office money, what can you do? Well the solution is simple, United Virtual Offices. Not only is it economically friendly, but also environmentally friendly. No more paying thousands of dollars on rent, equipment, and supplies. No more waking up early and driving in traffic, wasting gas, and polluting the air. With United Virtual Offices, you can stay at home and have your own friendly receptionist forward you the calls, mail, and anything else you need. Don’t waste gas and rack up unwanted miles on your car. Let’s save the environment and think green, especially in a beautiful city like San Diego. What can this United Virtual Office offer you?
Well a San Diego United Virtual Offices offers:
- World-class business address
- Professional phone receptionist
- Call forwarding to any location
- San Diego telephone number
- Access to office space and conference rooms
- Voicemails and faxes delivered to you/as per your instruction
Want that extra day off to hit the beach with your family? Think it’s time to save some gas money? Want to save the environment? The answer is right here. Let’s make you the big shot you are while working at home. Be at both places at the same time with the San Diego Virtual Office.
About Jim Jacques
Jim Jacques is the President of United Virtual Office, a leading nationwide provider of virtual offices for entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses. A virtual office includes an address at a prestigious business location in the US, live virtual receptionist, courier services and more. Google +
Denver Virtual Office
The Mile High City has much to offer an entrepreneur like yourself. It has great ski conditions at places such as the Rocky Mountains and also has great scenery but most importantly for a businessman/woman like yourself, Denver is approximately the half way point from the big east coast cities to the big west coast cities. Now what does that mean to you? This means that Denver is the key point for the major trading points in the US and you should capitalize on this opportunity. Denver, Colorado is a world-wide recognizable city and having an office in the Mile High City can boost not only your image but also your business.
In the business world, your image is one of the most important aspects for your success. Of course your business would fail without a great product but with that multi million dollar idea at hand your business can flourish immensely with the right image. Having a Denver address on your business card can get you on the right track to impress your clienteles. It is a nationally recognized city and gives you that image that you are already a well established company. For those that work at home and have a home based company, people never give you that attention and respect that you deserve because you are working at home. With a virtual office with United Virtual Offices you can work at the comforts of home yet possess everything you would get at the fancy office for a fraction of the costs.
A Denver virtual offices typically includes-
-Phone reception
-Call forwarding to any location
-Unique Denver,CO telephone number
-Voicemails and faxes delivered to you/as per your instruction
-Prestigious Denver,CO address
-Access to office space and conference rooms
Now enjoy Colorado’s own Coors beer in the comfort of your own home of Caldera, Alabama. Be at two places at once for a fraction of the price with your very own Denver Virtual Office.
About Jim Jacques
Jim Jacques is the President of United Virtual Office, a leading nationwide provider of virtual offices for entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses. A virtual office includes an address at a prestigious business location in the US, live virtual receptionist, courier services and more. Google +
Virtual Office Space
Virtual office space can make you look big, even when you are not. A great alternative for small businesses, those want to create a professional business identity. It is designed for corporations and home based small businesses to create a professional image for their business without the expense of a full time office. Imagine working from your suburban house outside New York City, but coming to Manhattan to meet your clients in a fully equipped conference room in a luxurious office building! With virtual office space, you can stay at home and your clients will never know unless you tell them. This helps small businesses and entrepreneurs to establish themselves without the hassles of finding and setting up a physical office space.
It is not always possible for small businesses to buy office space in prime locations due to heavy investment requirements. And for a minimal fee, you can get a virtual space in a posh locality that can technically be yours. A virtual office space is an easy, cost effective way of boosting one’s company image by having a prestigious business address.
The virtual office spaces are generally fully furnished and professionally decorated and equipped with all essential amenities, telephone systems, high-speed internet access, video conferencing, secretarial and administrative services, conference rooms, meeting rooms and even cafes. They are also located in upscale buildings in major business areas and provide a very professional atmosphere.
Video: United Vitual Office
Virtual Office Space by United Vitual Office
With virtual office space, you can-
1. Have a professional receptionist answer your calls using your company’s name or you can set up personalized voicemail services.
2. Get a prestigious business address that you can use on your business cards and marketing materials.
3. Get a local phone number with a desirable area code and have your calls forwarded to you wherever you are.
4. Use your conference/ meeting room as and when you need
5. Have your mail and packages collected and delivered to your home office.
Here is how it works
For a reasonable monthly fee, you can rent the services of an office suite without actually renting the office itself. A virtual office lets you stay at home and have a prestigious business address and phone number at the same time. The office suite can collect your mails and forward them to your home. If you choose, a professional receptionist can answer your calls with your company name and take the messages as per your instruction.
With virtual office space, you can choose which services are best for your business and pay for what you use. You can keep your costs down while making your services appear bigger and stronger. Virtual office is one that offers you all the benefits of a traditional serviced office without the need to occupy any office space physically.
About Jim Jacques
Jim Jacques is the President of United Virtual Office, a leading nationwide provider of virtual offices for entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses. A virtual office includes an address at a prestigious business location in the US, live virtual receptionist, courier services and more. Google +