Category: News

Retain and Reward

The Key to Staff Retention and Recruitment: Understanding Employees Post-pandemic Work-perks & Must-have

Posted on | by Akeela Zahair

Over the past year, the coronavirus outbreak left many workers confined to their homes. While this presented a number of challenges, it also allowed people to enjoy their creature comforts. From regular (perhaps too regular) trips to the fridge, to watching TV or playing video games on lunch breaks.  

The UK workforce has certainly become accustomed to a more convivial working environment. The question for many businesses, is how does this translate into work-place expectations when so many are now flocking back to offices?  
 
The UK’s leading business energy retailer Love Energy Savings wanted to find out. Through a survey of over 1,000 UK employees who were sometimes or always working from home during the pandemic, they ascertained what office-workers new requirements and must-haves are for their workplace/employment, now that they have worked through a pandemic. 


 
Top 5 ‘nice-to-haves’ that people would like their employers to offer:

1) 75% said dedicated mental health days to take off on top of holiday allowance 
2) 75% said a health care cash plan  
3) 69% said private medical insurance 
4) 64% said birthdays off work separately to annual leave 
5) 61% said social events and activities paid for by the employer 

 

Top 3 ‘must-haves’ that people expect employers to offer:

1) 60% said having more than the statutory minimum holiday allowance of 20 days 
2) 43% said fully flexible working hours 
3) 36% said enough parking spaces for every employee 

It looks like the impact of the pandemic has really driven home the need for mental and physical health care, and it seems holidays have become more important than ever!  
 
According to Lori Rassas, an SPHR-certified Human Resources consultant and author of It’s About You Too it’s more important than ever for employers to take these wants and must-haves seriously: 
 
“The pandemic provided so many employees with the time to reflect about their work-life balance.  These reprioritizations are leading to turnover and a consequent war on talent, where employers are working to both retain and recruit top talent to replace those employees who opt to move on to new opportunities.   
 
“In this type of environment, it is increasingly important for employers to ensure their employees are open about their wants and needs, so they have the opportunity to determine whether they can address them.” 

 

Top Tips for HR Professionals & Business Owners:

Open up a dialogue:

Those companies looking to come out on top need to ensure a dialogue is opened up between staff members. As Lori pointed out, it’s only when we ask honest questions that we receive honest answers. While this may mean asking difficult questions for businesses (wage satisfaction for example), burying heads in the sand is not going to aid in staff retention.

If businesses don’t ask staff exactly what they can do to keep them, employees will move on, especially with the current buoyancy of the job market across many industries.

 

Re-asses existing work-perks:

A number of work-perks currently in place across many businesses need assessing to ascertain whether they are fit for the digital age of flexible working. They may require modernisation.

If a business has adopted a hybrid working model, the question needs to be asked: are staff who don’t go into the office missing out on in-office perks like a free on-site gym or subsidised meals or snacks? If this is the case, can these items be monetised, and digital alternatives offered?

These could really add up in some cases and allow for swish annual rewards ranging from holiday allowances to large Christmas hampers. The sky is the limit!

 

Hybrid working requires hybrid work-perks:

If a business now operates within a hybrid working model, the work-perks need to reflect this. Offering a choice of benefits to suit staff will result in happier employees who feel that their personal needs are being listened to and met.

Some may not wish to take advantage of an on-site gym (or can’t) but would benefit hugely from an employee healthcare scheme to help them upgrade their glasses.

 

Final thought:

The pandemic and home working provided a source of perspective to many in the UK, while the furlough scheme offered employees the time and space for reflection.

Employers should therefore not be too quick to dismiss these changes in employee attitudes and priorities as a temporary side effect of the past two years. Instead, businesses need to understand that these sentiments were only brought to the fore by the pandemic and these demands are likely here to stay.

In order to thrive, business leaders must evolve and listen to a changed workforce. 

Digital Marketing Consulting

Daniel Tannenbaum – “I Used to Make Tea, But Look At Me Now”

Posted on | by Akeela Zahair

London-based digital marketing consultant, Daniel Tannenbaum, finished University in 2011 with dreams of working for a startup environment. After a decade of tricky clients and challenging work placements, he has established himself in the digital marketing sector.

“I graduated with a degree in business management and Spanish from the University of Nottingham in 2011 and this was in the heat of the economic crisis – so working for a bank or in finance didn’t seem too appealing.”

“It was following a work placement at Wonga.com that changed my perceptions about employment choices after Uni. There were some highly intelligent people there who were ex-Paypal, ex-Facebook and Oxbridge grads and it opened my eyes that you could finish Uni and work for a startup and not have to become an accountant or lawyer, something that is pretty much a right of passage in my tight knit community of north-west london.”

“I was desperate to get a job for a startup after graduation but there were no real major ones around in the UK, other than the likes of TripAdvisor, Groupon and Expedia. I darted around working with a number of hopeless entrepreneurs, working out of garages, basements and even their Gran’s spare bedroom – although she made nice sandwiches on one occasion. These people were probably running businesses because they couldn’t do anything else and I got sucked in as a hapless junior, making tea and sometimes not even getting paid.”

“Finally, a year after graduation, an opportunity emerged to work for an online finance startup, with extremely bright and intelligent people. They worked with a top digital marketing agency and my role was to be the middleman between the agency and the senior staff – and this was where I got to learn the ropes and ins and outs of digital marketing across SEO, PPC, affiliates, emails and user experience.”

“In 2015, I felt I had enough experience to become a freelancer and I specialised in SEO (search engine optimisation), the obscure and often vague techniques needed to rank websites to the top of search engines such as Google.”

“I started working with family friends, friends of parents and any job going around to make a name for myself. Fast-forward a few years, I have truly become a specialist in my niche, working with small startups, family businesses and the dizzy heights of David Cameron, Lord Sugar, McDonalds and Betway.”

“I have always been entrepreneurial and have always run a number of my own websites in parallel with managing clients. Creating sub-sites have always been successful, but driving them to the top of Google and receiving commission for any leads or sales, including vehicle and health insurance, funeral plans and mortgages. One of my most rewarding experiences has been running HolocaustMatters.org, which is a site I run for free, and has grown into one of the UK’s largest resources online for Holocaust eduation.”

“My most recent venture is Pheabs, which combines all the skills and connections I have made over the last 10 years. The website is a loans connection service based in the US and connects people looking for loans with those banks and lenders who are most likely to approve them. The website gets an application every 10 seconds and received over 70,000 visitors last month.”

“Overall, I am glad that I followed my passion for startups and digital marketing, because it was an unlikely path to follow 10 years ago, but today it is one of the most popular options for University graduates. I will continue to live my dream, even if my Mum still wants me to be an Accountant!”

Daniel Tannenbaum
Daniel Tannenbaum
Modern Entrepreneur

The Intense Dedication of the Modern Entrepreneur

Posted on | by Akeela Zahair

A new survey from Superscript: the subscription-based, online business insurance provider, found that business owners and entrepreneurs across Britain are happily choosing to prioritise their business over their personal lives. A shocking 52% of men and nearly half of women (48%) surveyed agreed that it is often necessary for them to put their work or business first, over their family or friends.

Superscript asked entrepreneurs and business owners, with its unavoidable impact on home and family life, is starting up and running a business all it’s cracked up to be? Surprisingly, a third of entrepreneurial respondents (33%) said that they would rather choose to work on their business over spending time with their friends or family most of the time! It is therefore no surprise that 40% of those surveyed said making their business a success is their number one priority right now, putting personal relationships firmly to one side.

“The fact that business owners are willing to put their personal lives to one side to start up and run their own businesses illustrates the intense dedication of the modern entrepreneur,” says Cameron Shearer, co-founder, and CEO of Superscript.

Entrepreneurial spirit continues to grow post-pandemic as 35% of respondents suggested that they were now choosing to centre their lives around their business. For 48% of respondents, this need to prioritise their business has had an initial negative impact on their work/life balance as they opt to park their personal lives for professional gains. Although it is a necessary sacrifice that many entrepreneurs have to make, 60% of respondents did feel that it is worth it, as they thrive from knowing they have delivered a good service for their customers and clients.

Half of British business owners agreed that they love what they do so much that they don’t see it as work at all, highlighting growing feelings of positivity amongst those who have taken the plunge as entrepreneurs.

43% of respondents said1 that they see their work as much a part of their daily lives as they see socialising, so much so, that they do not consider running their business to be an infringement on their work/life balance at all showing it really is possible to new business owners to ‘have it all’. Cameron Shearer, co-founder, and CEO of Superscript has developed tips for achieving a harmonious work/life balance while being your own boss:

  • Prioritise your time – as an entrepreneur, sticking to working hours can be tricky when the next milestone is within grasp. Superscript’s research found that the top motivation for becoming self-employed is greater control over your schedule – use it wisely. Being proactive about your schedule and carving out downtime within your day can help achieve a more harmonious work/life balance.
  • Take a break – as a business owner, your business is your baby, but it is important to look after number one too. Looking after your mental health and managing your screen time is important to avoid burnout. Make sure to exercise, keep hydrated and take that lunch break – you’ll see the quality of your decisions rise as a result.
  • Switch off – it is all too easy to fret about work after-hours, and that is particularly the case for entrepreneurs. Being unable to switch off can often have a negative impact on relationships and cause unnecessary stress and anxiety. It is important to unplug, shut your laptop down and declutter your kitchen table of work documents and devices at the end of each day – this will not only work wonders for your own headspace but also for whoever you share your space with.
  • Re-evaluate success – we can’t all be the next Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos, but what success looks like for you can be difficult to pin down. Set long term goals and short term objectives. There is only so much you can do in a day – so remember to celebrate even the smallest victories every day.
  • Get social – we all know how consuming running your own business can be, but it is important to keep your personal relationships healthy. Our research found that, along with exercise, leaning on friends and family helped entrepreneurs with their mental health the most during the pandemic. Whether it is Friday drinks, a trip to the theatre or a mid-week gym class, plan out your personal life like you would your professional life to make sure you stick to your commitments.

While having a harmonious work/life balance is possible for some business owners, for others, putting their business first comes with a need to make more sacrifices than just social engagements. Other personal commitments at risk of getting parked because of work include; birthday parties (with 19% of respondents saying they have missed a friend’s birthday celebration and 18% said they missed a family birthday celebration more than twice), holidays, with 15% saying they have cancelled a holiday more than twice, ticketed events such as sporting events, concerts (17%) and even current relationships, with 22% saying they have cancelled plans with their partner more than twice because of the business.

Shearer adds, “The amount of small businesses buying insurance from Superscript has more than doubled month-on-month since the start of the year. It’s great to see despite the sacrifices many must make to see success in their new ventures, that the British entrepreneurial spirit is growing. Business start-ups were up 24% at the end of last year, showing just how much opportunity is out there for those willing to take the leap”.

Team

Power in People: Human Capital Will Determine Tech Success

Posted on | by Akeela Zahair

According to the Economist, one of the most significant outcomes of the pandemic will be “the infusion of data-enabled services into ever more aspects of life.” We were already expecting a transition to digital transformation thanks to technological advancement, dubbed the “fourth industrial revolution”. However, following on from the pandemic which forced countless businesses to switch to remote working virtually overnight, we expect digital transformation to continue to be adopted on a larger and more rapid scale – becoming an even more prominent objective for organisations in the future.

Automation is something that concerns the layperson – the Financial Times reports that anxiety around automation in the workforce could increase because of the pandemic, as businesses push to automate more processes to boost productivity while many are jobless or furloughed. Not all digital transformation is detrimental to the workforce, however, and doesn’t mean that we have to compete with robots for our jobs.

Here, we take a look at how human talent will determine the success behind technology and business transformation.

 

The right talent

Contrary to popular belief, technology isn’t the main concern when it comes to digital transformation. It’s people and talent. Without the right people, technology won’t be used to its full potential. A business’ ability to adapt to a digital future depends on developing the next generation of skills, meeting the talent supply and demand, and protecting its potential from future changes.

Businesses are working to respond to the growing skills gap and are looking for the talent needed to fight on the frontline in terms of driving innovation to meet competitors. Without familiarising workers with new technology, further advances will not be much use. As our digital and physical worlds are united to offer entirely new processes and information, leaders will need to develop new approaches to equip the workforce with the skills they need to both succeed in and facilitate the digital age.

 

Working together

The main challenges are:

  • Changing the skills and talent needed in non-tech companies
  • Changing how employees do their jobs
  • Changing the recruiting landscape

 

This may seem strange for many people, but we’re seeing the beginnings of a fundamental change in how humans contribute value at work. Though technology is a driver behind digital transformation, technology isn’t the sole solution. Automation isn’t about replacing humans with machines, but about making tasks more efficient.

The best outcome is achieved when humans and robots work side by side to enhance capabilities – robots can perform transactional, data-intense, and repetitive, mundane tasks which allows people to focus on the innovative, creative, and strategic tasks. Forbes reported that recently, as part of an automation education program, they trained over 800 employees to build bots that can do their most mundane tasks. Using these new skills, almost 50 bots have been developed so far which complete a range of functions from finance to marketing to technical support. 

Research has estimated that up to 45 per cent of tasks currently carried out by humans could be automated using existing technology, freeing people to work on value-added tasks. Garter reported that automation is the fastest-growing software subsegment, seeing year-over-year growth of over 63 per cent in 2018.

 

New jobs will be created

Many new, productive, and rewarding roles are being created as part of the digital transformation journey. A century ago, a lot of the jobs today wouldn’t have existed. Digitalisation creates new jobs, for example, digital marketing, data analytics, social media managers, and Internet of Things architects. These roles help raise productivity via technology, lower prices, and help stimulate demand. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), four out of ten new jobs were created in digital-intensive industries and employment increased in these countries by around 30 million jobs. While some jobs will be made redundant, new ones will be created.

 

The importance of good leadership

The human talents of leadership and management level are important in the digital transformation process as well as integrating a culture with digital intertwined throughout. Research by McKinsey found that 84 per cent of CEOs are committed to transformational change.

Companies with leaders that communicate with employees are eight times more likely to achieve transformation success in comparison to those who don’t and this can be improved by transformational leadership developement. What is seen to drive success in terms of communication between management and the workforce is:

  • Clear communication on the objectives around transformation
  • CEOs and senior leaders visibly engaging with transformation
  • Access to information
  • Ability for frontline employees to see visible changes in daily roles

 

Empowering employees with the right knowledge and leadership can help them understand how their contribution and human value can help progress the transformation. This not only keeps them engaged in the process but keeps the technology functioning at optimum performance.

Karan Gupta and Armaan Mehta

Odore: Creating Sample Data with Product Samples

Posted on | by Magdalena Lew

For many beauty brands getting new customers can be tricky because of the volume of competition. Having reliable data to work from can really help your platform and create new opportunities for your beauty brand. Odore is the number one digital sample platform for many leading brands, including Dior, L’Oreal, Clarins, and Sephora, among many others. We sat down with co-founder Armann Mehta to find out more.

 

Karan and I co-founded Odore to enable beauty brands to access product sampling campaigns fit for the digital age. Sampling and product testers have always been a huge part of the industry; beauty products and fragrances are incredibly personal and customers like to try items before purchasing them. Brands also benefit, as people are four times more likely to buy a product they’ve tried first. But, more often than not, the brands have no way of tracking where their samples end up, or if they lead to purchases.

 

Typically, brands can’t measure the outcomes of sample campaigns. This means that they’re missing out on opportunities to learn about their customers and what they want, and in turn, forgoing opportunities to optimise their conversion and retention rates. 

 

A conversation between myself, Karan and a friend in the beauty industry helped us to understand why brands struggle with sampling, and made us realise how we could help. And that was that. We left our respective marketing roles and pooled our expertise to build Odore: a platform which allows brands to build, track and fine-tune end-to-end sampling campaigns using digital tools. 

 

Before the pandemic, most brands relied on in-store sampling to let customers try products. Department stores lined with makeup testers and staff spritzing fragrances were always the go-to place to find your perfect shade or scent. Of course, e-commerce has been steadily stealing the march on in-store purchases and the pandemic has accelerated that trend. 

 

Store closures and new safety measures mean that brands can no longer rely on old methods. New sampling solutions are needed for them, as well as the brands moving to online only offerings. Now more than ever, brands are also well aware that innovation is key to coming out on top of new challenges, and standing out in what is an incredibly crowded beauty market. We’re therefore seeing a bigger appetite for innovation than we did pre-pandemic. 

 

We’ve seen a 401% increase in revenue over the past 12 months, but it’s not come without certain pressures. The main challenge is keeping up with the incredible machine that is the beauty industry. For every new trend or fresh product launch, it’s our job to develop new marketing solutions and strategies to support them. 

 

Rapid growth has also forced us to think hard about what aspects of the business – the startup we worked so hard to build from the ground up – we want to focus on moving forward. Whilst we’ve doubled down on efforts to evolve our software and subscription services, we’ve been scaling back the in-store devices which initially helped us to make a name for ourselves as we strongly believe there is much more growth in digital services compared to hardware offerings, despite them serving an important purpose at the time. 

 

Customers have been forced online over the past year, and some may choose to stay there. But the in-person shopping experience isn’t going away just yet. It’s about seeing, smelling, and testing different products, admiring tactile packaging and chatting with shop assistants to find your perfect match. All these things add up to product sales. But they’re also what make the experience so personal and enjoyable. It’s essential that brands build this magic into digital shopping experiences if they’re to nurture meaningful relationships with their customers, accrue loyalty, and ultimately retain them. 

 

We’ve recently been expanding our team, investing in talented engineers and software developers. It’s all part of the plan to continue developing our platform and ensuring that our product sampling tech is unrivalled in the beauty space. We’re already working with the likes of Guerlain, Clive Christian, and other international beauty giants. And exciting emerging beauty brands are joining us all the time. It’s thrilling to be able to help them grow, monitor their journeys and see the results. So watch this space for new and disruptive partnerships!

 

Our entire journey – since first co-founding the business and being selected for L’Oréal’s Beauty Tech Accelerator in 2018 – has been a whirlwind. Through that programme we quickly won international attention and partnerships with beauty brands we’ve always dreamed of working with – we count each one as a huge success. Then, over the past year we’ve managed to quintuple our revenue and complete our first Seed funding round. Achieving all this with what is for each of us our first business, and in the midst of a pandemic, is what we’re most proud of. 

 

Thank you to the co-founders of Odore Armaan Mehta and Karan Gupta for their time. For business enquiries please visit Odore.

Founder

Covid’s Start-Up Explosion

Posted on | by Akeela Zahair

26% increase in job title change to Business Founder during pandemic

The number of professionals who have changed their job title to Founder/Co-Founder in the past year has increased by +13%, Small Business Owners have risen by +8%, and those formally adopting the title of Entrepreneur (+4%) or Owner (+1) has also increased during the pandemic.

In total this signals a +26% increase in the past year of people who want to be recognised as business or start-up owners in the past year, according to professional services recruiter Robert Walters.

In a year of job uncertainty and furlough, the number of professionals leaving employment to start up a business by themselves has hit record levels – with the ONS reporting new business creations was +28% higher in Quarter 2 (April to June) of 2021 than in Quarter 2 in 2020. Industries that showed significant increases in business creations included business administration and support, and construction industries.

The pandemic has bought about widespread uncertainty for professionals, with almost 10% concerned that their current skillset will be completely redundant within five years. As result 84% of professionals stated that they would be willing to retrain or learn a completely new skill to secure their future earning potential.

Lucy Bisset, Director of Robert Walters comments:

“In a year of remote working, digital upskilling, furlough, reduced hours, and lockdown, professionals have had ample time to think about their career path and what they want to do with their future.

“Added to the economic uncertainty; the removal of office structure, and the lack of facetime with management has had a negative impact on progression rate – which in turn has sparked a culture of ‘will it be better to work for myself?’

“The increase in people starting businesses is not concerning at all, and in fact in times of economic upheaval we do typically see a spike in creative and entrepreneurial thinking – resulting in some of the most successful businesses we have today.”

Success Rate of Start-ups

With funding in 2021 for start-ups currently sitting at $89bn, the country is firmly on track to surpass the $98bn raised for start-ups in 2020 – a sign that the UK is birthing more start-ups with ‘high growth’ potential than ever before.

Lucy adds: “With growth comes the need for exceptional people to lead the way, and one of the biggest mistakes a high growth start-up can make at this stage is to hire the wrong people.

“In fact, the cost of a bad hire for a start-up in the UK is estimated somewhere between £25-50k, not counting the time wasted during the hiring process, or the opportunity cost of the growth and forward momentum you could have been gaining.

“Your first ‘head of’ hires will also have an enormous impact on the development of your company culture — a non-negotiable for attracting and retaining top talent.”

According to the Robert Walters research, 20% of new businesses will close their doors within just 12 months and 60% will go-under within three years. Whilst product and market fit are the leading factors for start-up success, third in the list is the team and people you hire around you.

The Robert Walters Guide for UK Start-Ups lists best practice advice when approaching those all-important executive hires – starting with the most in-demand roles advertised by UK start-ups across Product, Engineering, Go-To-market, Design, Information Security, Finance, People/Talent, and Legal.

 

Lucy Bisset – Director of Robert Walters – provides her 8 top tips for high growth start-ups when faced with the challenge of trying to build a winning team:

 

1. Emphasise your employee branding and purpose

Employer branding is incredibly important for start-ups since you don’t yet have an established reputation. The first thing a potential candidate will do is gather all the information they can about you online. Don’t underestimate the value of a company mission statement page. Airbnb does this extremely well. Consider sharing your company’s origin story, particularly if you built the business to solve something that was impacting you personally.

Ritual also does this extremely well, basing much of their marketing and advertising on the story of its founder, Katerina Schneider, who built her vitamin company when she struggled during her pregnancy to find a prenatal vitamin free from questionable ingredients. Just as people want to buy from people and not an “entity”, people also want to work for other good people who share common values.

 

2. Sell your employee proposition to attract the best talent

Understand that as a start-up, you are perceived as a high-risk (but potentially high-reward) opportunity. Every founder believes their product or service is the best new thing to hit the market, but convincing top talent at a well-established company to leave their high comp strategic role and roll up their sleeves to work at a start-up requires more than just passion.

Developing a strong elevator pitch now will be important for the interview process later. This should be different than the elevator pitch that you gave to potential investors, where the focus was financial. Later, open every interview and close every interview with this pitch and be sure you have buy-in on your vision before pursuing a new candidate.

 

3. Use company equity to attract top talent

Not everyone has an equal understanding of equity. Learn how to sell equity if that is a benefit you will be offering potential candidates. This will be particularly important for candidates who have never worked at a start-up before.

To help you estimate the value of your equity package based on various scenarios, we recommend you check out this Compensation and Equity Calculator.

 

4. Look beyond the job title

Titles within start-ups can easily become inflated, failing to accurately describe the level of responsibility someone had in a previous role. Focus on what a candidate accomplished rather than what titles they have held. Be conscious that candidates will be looking for a title that fits their own personal branding (an individual who was formerly a Head of GTM or Marketing will likely expect the same titling or higher in future roles).

 

5. Define your business goals

Define how the success of a first hire will be measured. Don’t make the mistake of seeking a hire “because your VC partner said you needed one”. Really sit down to assess what you need. That might be new traffic, new business generated, growth, or profitability. Defining that in a clear way will help you identify candidates that have a proven track record for achieving those goals.

 

6. Agree spread of equity

Don’t run out of cash-runway. Decide on a budget and determine how equity will be distributed. Will it be distributed evenly among executive level roles? How will you approach the equity conversation when speaking with new talent? What are the (realistic) salary expectations for the roles you are hiring for in your area?

Salary and pay rates for start-ups can vary based on what stage funding you are at, the sector you operate in and the equity you have to offer.

 

7. Pipeline future talent pools

Always be building a talent pool. In the beginning, lean on personal referrals and advisor networks. Once you have exhausted personal networks, you may consider posting your roles publicly.

Common start-up job boards include AngelList, BuiltIn, and of course, LinkedIn. Lean on your recruitment partner to assist with job descriptions, head hunting, and sourcing strategies.

 

8. Avoid homogeneity

You can’t build a 100-person team and then later decide to incorporate a diversity and inclusion program. If you hire based solely on referrals, or only choose people who “remind you of your younger self”, you will ultimately create a stagnant environment.

Build your team with diversity and inclusion in mind from the start, and you will have better engagement, employee retention, creative problem solving, and higher profitability. (It’s been proven time and time again!)

Top view of a man using a laptop while making a purchase with a business credit card

Business Loans vs Business Line of Credit – Which One is Best?

Posted on | by Magdalena Lew

Business loans are pretty straight forward but lines of credit are something a lot of business owners don’t fully understand. They might be the best solution for you, however. There are many factors that you have to consider when seeking out financing. One is the amount of money you need. You also have to consider what you need the funds for. Once you’ve established that, it will be easier to find the best option for you. Let’s take a closer look at how both work and see which one you should pick.

Business Loans

Business loans, or term loans as they’re often called, are when a financial institution gives you a lump sum that has to be paid over a term at a certain interest. Repayment terms are typically from 1 to 5 years.

Business loans are usually the best option if you want to make a big one-off purchase, like expanding to a new location, for instance. You can also use this money to buy equipment or make important repairs.

With business loans, it doesn’t matter when you spend the money. You will have to start paying the loan immediately on a schedule that can be monthly or daily. They also come with various fees, such as packaging fees, origination fees, and even fees for paying earlier. You will also need to show the lender exactly why you need the money, and they will only give it to you if you have the business credentials, credit, and if you can demonstrate that the loan will translate into more profit.

Business Line of Credit

Lines of credit are slightly different. Instead of giving you a lump sum, a line of credit will give you access to a predetermined amount from which you can draw. These work pretty much like a credit card, just a more powerful version.

With a line of credit, you only have to pay back what you use. You also don’t have to let the lender know what you will do with the money, which is a big advantage.

They often call business lines of credit operating loans because they are usually best for people who want to cover operating costs. These can include things such as payroll, repairs, inventory, etc. They can also be used to pay for unexpected payments, like a tax bill, for instance.

Getting a line of credit is not always easy, but it’s easier than with term loans. Many alternative lenders also have lines of credit, and they usually have even less stringent requirements. AdvancePoint Capital offers lines of credits to a wide variety of businesses, and they will look at things beyond your credit score to see if you’re eligible, so don’t be afraid to look at your options.

Which Option Is the Best?

It all depends on what you want to use the funds for. If you need something flexible that will always be there for you and back you in case of an emergency, then a line of credit might be a better option. But, if you only want to make a purchase and you feel like you have strong enough credit, credentials, and plan, then you could consider a loan.

Conclusion

Choosing between a line of credit and a loan depends on your needs and what you can realistically get. Look at both of these, but don’t hesitate to look at other options as well.  

Apprenticeships

Focus on Skills: Why Apprenticeships Are the Future for Business

Posted on | by Akeela Zahair

The need for specific employable skills in the workplace is essential. Attracting and acquiring new talent to all industries is a competitive field, with more students leaving school and attending university than ever before.

However, for growing businesses, the benefits of apprentices are becoming apparent. The ability to train your staff and integrate them into a working culture has its obvious advantages. But the reasons for creating on-the-job training courses for new talent are increasing every day. Here we look at how businesses are benefiting from apprentices, and how they can grow in the future.

 

Growing skills and businesses

Apprenticeships are one of the best opportunities for young people to learn valuable workplace-related skills. Where once the idea of apprenticeships was saturated by jobs in sectors such as engineering, construction, and care, a growing number of courses now compete with higher-level education and degree level careers.

The Government introduced an apprenticeships levy in 2017, forcing businesses with payrolls of over £3 million to reserve five per cent of wage costs for training in the workplace. The levy was expected to create 3 million more apprenticeships in the UK by 2020. It is essential for large businesses to generate high skilled employees from apprenticeships.

This is demonstrated by the growth of high-level apprenticeships over the past five years. A level seven apprenticeship is considered equivalent to a post-graduate course. A 2019 report found that only 30 people enrolled at this level in 2015, compared to 4,500 people in 2017 when the levy was introduced.

The growing number of high-level apprenticeships is reflected in the variety of roles available to those who want to learn in a workplace. Some examples include apprenticeships in aerospace engineering with the MOD, digital marketing, and as a police constable. UCAS advertises apprenticeships that pay £30,000 a year, over 25 per cent more than the average graduate salary in the UK.

 

A day in the life

Apprenticeships are not just an alternative to further or even higher education. Courses often contain useful skills that act as introductory workshop into specific sectors.

Grace started an apprenticeship in digital marketing in July 2019 with Mobile Mini, a storage container provider and rental service. She explains why an apprenticeship course appealed to her: “I chose to do this rather than going to university because I wanted to continue in education at the same time as learning on the job.”

For Grace, being able to work while earning had obvious advantages. But most importantly, she believes that it will benefit her career in the long run. She continued, “An apprenticeship really prepares you for the world of work, as you are not only continuing education, you are also gaining so much valuable experience of a real workplace.”

This reflects the growing need for sector-specific skills over generalised, particularly in digital and high skilled roles. For businesses, the prospect of moulding the ideal worker through work and education creates the perfect employee, ingrained within the culture of the company.

 

Beyond 2020

While apprenticeships are becoming increasingly prevalent in workplaces, the future will depend on them. The World Economic Forum noted that changing technology and business practices will mean that up to 42 per cent of skill requirements will change by 2022. Consequently, reskilling is becoming not only necessary but difficult to do on a large scale as well.

The turnover of essential skills means that they can only be learnt in the workplace, and often, if practical skills are taught in higher education, there is an expectation that they will be redundant by the time a student enters the workplace.

Only through apprenticeships can a business move with the era of accelerated and digital innovation. With young people engrained in a culture of digitisation, they will adapt to changing scenarios and technology. Businesses will compete for talent from a pool of young apprentices. As the number of apprentices increases, opportunities must adapt to meet the needs of an intelligent workforce, where education occurs throughout their working lives.

As apprenticeships become more common and attractive for both students and businesses, are we likely to see a shift in post-school education? With the cost of university becoming an unattractive prospect for young people, will apprenticeship schemes become the best way to prepare people for a working future? Only time will tell, but he benefits are evident.

Business Success

How Your Business Can Gain a Competitive Advantage in Your Industry

Posted on | by Akeela Zahair

Businesses of all shapes and sizes will all benefit from gaining a competitive advantage within their industry. However, it can be tricky to identify just how to do this. Here’s how your business can start building for further success.

 

Attract the Best Talent

In order to drive your business to be more competitive within your industry, it is imperative that you have the best team on your side. That means looking at all levels of employment within your business and thinking carefully when it comes to the hiring process.

Not only should incoming employees be skilled enough to be effective in their roles, but they should also be around long enough to be impactful. The last thing you want is to hire an employee, spend time and money training them, just for them to leave a month later. Employee retention is crucial to building a loyal and successful business.

 

Understand the Needs of the Customer

Your business will be doomed to fail if you fail to provide a product or service that is wanted by customers. Indeed, you need to give the people what they want, in order to be as competitive as you possibly can. Even if your business has the tools equipped for success, if you ignore customer demands then your business could possibly collapse.

 

Educate Yourself and Staff

When it comes to running your business, you should be knowledgeable enough to understand unique industry challenges and know how to manage your team. Likewise, your team should be well equipped enough to work without you looking over their shoulder all the time.

In some cases, the best way to overcome these challenges is through education. For example, you could enrol your employees into programmes that help improve specific skills that will benefit themselves and the business.

You yourself as a business owner or manager could look into courses specific to your area of work, such as learning effective management skills, or learning how you can develop strategies that drive a culture of innovation. This will not only help you within your business, but it could also benefit your business externally.

Fortunately, there are plenty of online universities and colleges with a range of courses that you could look into. If you’re wanting to get a bigger advantage over the competition, then you should look into leading professional service firms programmes that help you understand the modern business landscape, and what emerging trends you need to be aware of.

 

Clarify Your Strengths

You may well be familiar with some of your strengths, as a business or individual, but it will be of a great benefit to clarify and understand them deeper. For example, you may realise that one strength of your business is so effective that it would need more investment, both in terms of time and money.

This way, you will be able to realise what works for your business and understand what needs to be done to help drive your business forward. You may discover that you are not able to focus on your business strengths, as you have too many other tasks and responsibilities. That could help you realise it’s time to expand, and hire workers with strengths you don’t have, in order to focus on your own strengths and gain a competitive advantage.

 

Discover Your Weaknesses

You can imagine just how important the flip side of this is too. Identifying your weaknesses will help put you in the best position possible to find what needs more work. Weaknesses, no matter how small, can hinder a business and stop them being successful. This could be down to individuals within a workplace, or models used within the business.

Once you have identified your weaknesses, you will be able to boost your growth by knowing for sure what isn’t working. Not every element of your business will be able to be fixed. In fact, it’s perfectly possible that there will be dead weight within your organisation, in terms of business practice, that could be outdated or just not needed.

 

Increase Price Over Time

When it comes to gaining a competitive advantage, sometimes money can be one of the most important factors. You will have probably noticed that prices from your favourite business have increased over the last ten years, and that’s no coincidence.

Prices will rise with the success of a business, as well as to help match inflation. When prices rise, you should follow that example in order to stay competitive. This will help you maintain success and drive profit.

 

Utilise Data

Don’t underestimate the effectiveness of utilising data. Gathering data has become easier in the digital age, as there are multiple platforms and applications available that can do all the heavy lifting for you.

Data could help show you what’s effective and ineffective within your business, as well as find cost saving methods you could utilise. The end goal is to help drive your business in your industry with a more competitive edge.

Work culture

How to Create a Learning Culture at Work

Posted on | by Akeela Zahair

By Helen Barraclough, Global Education Manager – Customer Success

 

“The single biggest driver of business impact is the strength of an organisation’s learning culture”, according to a recent Bersin report on how learning cultures can empower businesses to be successful. 

Findings from Xero’s Future of Small Business Report reveal that the pandemic has led to ten years of innovation and technological adoption taking place in just 90 days. This disruption has led to a shift in demand for human expertise –  in fact, the World Economic Forum suggests we are on the brink of a ‘Reskilling Revolution’ as we’re required to work more intimately with intelligent machines, data and algorithms. 

To put this into context, a recent report from LinkedIn has revealed that the most in-demand skills today didn’t even appear on their list three years ago. Now more than ever, there is a premium on employees with the intellectual curiosity to adapt and develop new skills. 

Encouraging a learning culture at work is essential to attract top talent, give employees the necessary tools to become successful and thrive as a business. But how can you create a thriving learning culture for your business? Here are the three biggest changes that you can make to your business to do just that. 

 

1. Encourage questions 

Learning cultures are all about having a growth mindset, meaning it’s important for your employees to seek out and engage with new information whenever possible. Collective knowledge is a powerful thing, and actively sharing it among your employees should be encouraged. 

One way to do this is to ensure that your team is able to ask each other questions without feeling self-conscious. In fact, tough questioning should be welcomed as a constructive process. 

There are other ways to grow your business’ collective knowledge, too – engaging with feedback, acknowledging opinions (especially the ones that challenge your own), asking for help and sharing frequent updates on the business are all equally effective. 

This active sharing of information will enable your employees to learn about the business and how it works on an ongoing basis, ultimately developing your business’ learning culture. 

 

2. Find the right tools

When it comes to creating the perfect learning culture at work, having the right tools can supercharge your business’ development. 

There is now no excuse for even a small business owner not to have the best insights and control over every part of their business, from marketing and customer acquisition, to customer service, financial performance and staff wellbeing. There truly is accessible technology for everything. 

Even learning to stay on top of your finances – the thorn in the side of so many small businesses – is made easy with cloud accounting software like Xero, which has over 1000 apps for you to choose from to build a personalised toolkit for your business. 

Finding and implementing the right tools will result in a culture that empowers your employees to develop their understanding and productivity in new areas – in turn, this will nurture your business’ learning culture. 

 

3. Celebrating failures

Perhaps the biggest way for your employees to learn is through failing. Failures are natural for any business – especially in the early days – and the ability to adapt and overcome them is essential for your growth. 

By accepting and even embracing failure as a business, you will create a culture that enables your employees to use failure constructively as a stepping stone towards success, while learning how to improve for next time. 

Creating a vibrant learning culture at work will enable you and your team to stretch each others’ capabilities and thrive. This article has explored the three key ways for you to nurture this kind of culture – from encouraging questions from your team, finding the right tools to supercharge your skill development, and celebrating failures as opportunities to learn. 

But ultimately, the most important aspect of creating a learning culture is openness. By being open to new ways of thinking and challenging old approaches, you can unleash and maintain a growth mindset among your employees that accelerates your business’ potential. 

Three people having a business meeting about their finances, with papers and graphs scattered on the table

Quick Ways to Save Money As A Business Leader

Posted on | by Magdalena Lew

Leading a business as an executive means that there are a lot of decisions you need to make to ensure that your business prospers. One of the key things a business leader needs to figure out is how to save money and reduce spending costs so that they can maximize profit.

Unfortunately, the prospect of saving money often requires a great deal of time, which not every executive can make room for, particularly when trying to run a business.

Thankfully, there are ways to start saving up and cutting costs sooner rather than later, often without having to think about it too much.

If you feel as though you could be doing more to reduce the costs of running your business, here are some tips and tricks you might want to take a look at.

Switching Utility Providers

In the past, switching utility providers may have been a terribly time-consuming undertaking, but thanks to some wonderful price comparison sites and online advisors, it can be done exceptionally quickly while still allowing you the chance to find the ideal service.

This is a great way to save your company money on its overheads without wasting too much time waiting around for results. For example, if you needed to cut down on your business water costs, you can do it from your smartphone with a simple swipe of the thumb. Doing this for all your utility providers can add up to a sizeable saving that a business leader can invest into other aspects of their business.

Hire Freelancers

If you need to get a project done but do not have the workforce to make it happen as soon as you would like, hiring a brand-new member of staff can take up a seemingly unfathomable amount of time, money, and energy, and even then, you might not find the right person for the job.

Hiring freelancers might be a way to get around this while saving yourself some money on wages and hiring costs.

Thanks to some great online platforms that offer transparency and quality, it may be a quick fix to a potentially drawn-out problem. Furthermore, freelancers are great options for executives who need their services for a limited time only.

Automatic Savings Apps

Being a business leader can be difficult if you cannot sufficiently manage your own finances or if you need to use your personal account for work purposes every now and then.

Automatic savings apps could be worth checking out if this is the case for you, as they can pick up the responsibility and start saving behind the scenes, so you do not have to worry about it.

Some of the best apps can even help you come up with your budgeting plan for the foreseeable future and make you aware of where your money is going on a day-to-day basis.

Budgeting often needs to be done realistically and honestly if it is to be effective, but this can take time, so seeking out some help from a reliable AI partner may be a great way to go.

Hire an Intern

Needing help on administrative matters is a fairly common position for small business owners and executives to find themselves in, especially when they are trying to juggle a range of different duties on a daily basis.

Hiring an intern may be able to help you take some pressure off, save yourself some money on wages, and hopefully give an eager individual some valuable work experience at the same time.

Happy Employees

3 Ways SMEs Can Recognise Employees

Posted on | by Akeela Zahair

Employees are at the core of any successful organisation, and that is why the best employers understand the value of employee recognition and realise its benefit not only to individual performance, but to the wider company as a whole.

The key benefit is improved motivation, with two thirds of employees (66%) reporting to feeling more motivated to stay at their job with the presence of a corporate recognition program. However, recognition not only drives retention, but also leads to improved productivity and greater overall employee output.

There is a common misconception that recognition has to be monetary, for instance celebrating an employee’s achievement with a cash bonus. But luckily for smaller businesses looking to boost employee performance, this isn’t the case.

Instead, there are different levels of recognition schemes available to suit businesses of all shapes and sizes. With this in mind, employee benefits provider, Sodexo Engage, has put together three cost effective ways SMEs should recognise their employees without breaking the bank:

 

1. Public appreciation

It may feel a little old fashioned, but publicly appreciating members of staff through initiatives such as ‘employee of the month’ can really go a long way to boosting an individual’s self-confidence. A framed photo on the wall is no longer necessary, and for some employees might be their worst nightmare, but a great alternative would be a regular roundup email highlighting people’s successes or a celebratory social media post.

Over half of employees (53%) want more recognition from their manager or supervisor, and public acknowledgment is one of the best ways to do it. Showing appreciation publicly not only tells the employee that their achievement is something that their manager is impressed by, but it’s in fact good enough to be of interest to the whole company. This makes people feel like their work is valued and gives them a sense of understanding of how their individual efforts contribute to the overall company output.

 

2. Peer to peer recognition

As beneficial as monthly recognition rewards are, it is imperative that business owners foster an environment of regular and immediate acknowledgment for good work. Immediacy is key as the positive behaviour which earned recognition is more likely to be reinforced if it is highlighted sooner.

A practical way to achieve such an environment is through peer-to-peer recognition. This is because even before the pandemic managers often struggled to keep up with the actions of every single employee they were responsible for, and working remotely has only made this harder. Co-workers meanwhile are more tapped in and attuned to the everyday activity of team members, so it is much easier for them to spot good work. As well as being easier, it is also just as effective as praise from management, with a Harvard Business School study revealing positive recognition from colleagues can increase an employee’s output by seven per cent.

 

3. Make it personal

While managers having a professional working relationship with their employees is key, perhaps what is more important is being able to connect with them on a personal level. Recognising your staff as individuals is vital, and going the extra mile when they go the extra mile can show just how much you appreciate their work.

To bring this personal approach to life, managers can consider recognising good work with rewards. Avoid generic one-size-fits-all gifts, and instead provide personalised rewards which the employee will actually appreciate and recognise as their own. Unlike a cash bonus, something like an eVoucher can be tailored towards an employee’s favourite retailer or restaurant.

 

Jamie Mackenzie, Director at Sodexo Engage, comments:

“While it’s true money is a big driving factor for a lot of employees, we recognise that it isn’t necessarily the key to happiness, productivity and satisfaction in a role. Depending just on financial rewards has in fact got a few pitfalls. The most obvious downside is monetary bonuses are often paid as part of an employee’s salary, which means the reward disappears into their monthly outgoings and isn’t presented with any fanfare.

“Non-monetary rewards are far timelier and offer something tangible which the employee can enjoy immediately. It’s also typically a lot more engagement oriented, for instance a public thank you – something which will hold a lot more value than a bank transaction at the end of the month.”