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With unemployment rates at record lows, many large companies are recommitting chunks of their budgets to employee training. Why? This is to increase retention rates and enable their companies to keep their best and brightest team members. Yet, small businesses and startups may find themselves reluctant to provide employee training. Let's look at five reasons why not providing employee training costs your startup money.   #1: A more competitive workforce If you want to be competitive in your...

Did you know that a huge number of family-owned businesses do not survive into the second generation ( 65 percent ), and, on top of that, around 20 per cent fail once it reaches the third generation? The reasons for this are many and varied. Some heirs are simply not the business leaders their parents were. Others don't have the same appetite for the sector. Others might have different risk tolerance. In still other cases, family rivalries and legal issues can tear a business apart from wit...

If you think your new business is too small for a human resources (HR) department, think again. Many new startups think they're too small for HR to matter, but this couldn't be further from the truth. You might think you can handle issues as they arise, but this leaves you open to conflict and even legal trouble. As a new startup, it's best practice to set get HR onboard in the beginning. In this article, we look at why your startup isn't too small to develop HR policies and processes from the s...

When it comes time for startup valuation, you may wonder just how you can work out the value of your startup. The methods are important because you may not have a huge revenue stream which makes valuation a bit harder. In this article, we look at five tips to help you determine the value of your startup. After all, you want to earn this highest valuation from your investors, instead of being undervalued.   #1: Talk to your accountant, lawyer, and investors Yes, you are most often worth what...

When it comes to staffing your startup, the price is high. In fact, your hiring decisions are vital to the success and upward trajectory of your startup. In this article, we look at five reasons why bad hires are so costly to startups. From the actual cost, to your time, your reputation, lost opportunities, and the culture impact, you can't afford to mis-hire. #1: The cost The straight up costs with putting your job on job boards, culling through applications, interviewing candidates, calling re...

Sure, there's an "official" Employee Appreciation Day , but why wait? Showing your staff appreciation every day goes a long way towards improving employee morale and creating a top notch company culture. This not only improves employee retention, but when word gets around about what a great company you are to work for, your hiring chances explode. There are many ways you can make your employees feel valued every day. In this article, we look at seven ways startups can show appreciation for their...

To defend our country, military service members have some unique qualities that translate well into the general job market when their service is complete. Active duty military are most often the hardest workers in the room. They are also usually motivated and exceptionally ethical. As a startup, these are just the kind of employees you want to recruit . Let's dive into this and look at why hiring veterans is a great idea for startups. They are natural leaders The military trains their people wel...

As a small business, you know that the process of finding the right team members is costly and time consuming. Job postings, recruiting, interviewing, hiring and onboarding add up quickly. In addition, you know that keeping your employees around is vital to the survival of your startup because going through the hiring process over and over zaps your budget and your energy. One way to boost both your business and employee morale is with learning opportunities. In this article, we look at the bene...

Did you know that more than 30% of new hires quit a job within the first six months? This is a pretty staggering number considering that you run a startup. The hiring budget is tight, and you've spent a lot of time hiring the best available talent. The last thing you want is to lose them. So, how do you increase your chances of keeping the top talent you hired? The answer is onboarding. What is onboarding? For many business owners it means giving new employees a tour of the facilities, showing t...

What you should look for when embedding Instagram It pays to think about embedding Instagram feeds on your website or linking them to other sites because this social media platform is very popular. Use this fact for your SEO and other campaigns, it can be very helpful to do it. It's worth knowing how to embed an Instagram profile on your own platform and how to do it right. Obviously, the first question is how to do this. If you want to embed Instagram feeds into web pages and the like, you'll f...

According to the Harvard Business Review , nearly 90% of American workers would take a lower paying job if they had the option for a flexible work schedule. Those numbers are sure to be similar across the globe. Why? In today's digital age, employees understand that for many jobs, they are able to work remotely. It provides a certain freedom not traditionally found in the workplace. What's more, when they work remotely, they are happier, and their productivity soars. Flexible work schedules are ...

Whether you are about to launch your startup, or you already have, you've probably had many ideas about what your office would look like and feel like. After all, it's quite common to think of the startup office as the cool place with the ultra-hip and chic vibe, and you might want that feel for your own space. So, how do you create the perfect office where people have the freedom to move around, the flexibility to work where they are most productive, with design elements that are attractive to ...

According to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics , three million people have voluntarily left their jobs every month since June 2017. If you're an employer, that is worrisome news. As a startup, you're going to spend some money and a whole lot of time hiring new staff and onboarding them. You want employees who stick around. To help you with employee retention, we look at five tips to help you reduce employee turnover. #1: Analyze turnover rates If you've been in business long enough, yo...

Of all the marketing methods for your startup, email is one of the most powerful. What's more 59% of marketers say it is the number one ROI-generating marketing method. Many companies, in fact, are increasing their spend on email marketing because it simply works. Because email marketing is a great tool for you, let's look at how startups can use newsletters to accelerate growth.   Build your list One of the hardest parts of email marketing in the beginning is growing your list. You can do ...

When looking for new employees, you want to set your company up for success. This may mean several things for your business when crafting your job posting ads. It turns out that according to Career Builder nearly 75% of job seekers begin their search online. What does this mean for your hiring potential? It means you want a clean, respectable online reputation. What's being said about your business online is vital not only to your revenue stream but to your well-being as an appropriately staffed...

Global executives gained inspiration to Get Future Ready Now during the Executive Growth Alliance Summit.   Future-readiness means having the confidence, peers support, collaborating partners and commitment to: Explore new ideas Take Action and drive change Empower others to explore, learn, fail and innovate Listen openly to customers, employees, partners Take risks Seek and embrace diversity Rapid advances in technology, changing customer buying patterns, increasing global competition and ...

As a new company in the early stages, you may not have an excess budget for recruiting and hiring employees. Yet, like any other company, you want the best talent. So, how do you compete for the most competent new hires without a big budget? Let's look at how startups can maximize their recruiting budgets so they can compete with established, larger companies. Focus on the web It's a given that before anyone submits a resume to work for your startup, they've done a bit of internet research . The...

When you write a resume, highlighting your most relevant skills is crucial if you want to impress the hiring manager. Listing all of your skills without honing in on the most applicable ones to the job you're applying to is a mistake. To make sure you're on the right track, check the job posting if you're unsure what skills are relevant to a role, and then find ones that match your own skill-set to use on your resume. There are two types of skills for a resume: hard skills and soft skills . Hard...

As a startup, you face different challenges than more established companies face. Many of these challenges have to do with staffing and human resources. Let's look at some unique HR issues faced by startups. Lack of management buy-in Sometimes startup management teams don't care enough about HR policies and ignore them. They go so far as to think HR is only about hiring when it's about so much more. Make sure your leadership team buys in to your policies. Your human resources team will set your ...

You probably know your employees dread performance reviews, but did you know that most managers are uncomfortable with them, too? If you fall into this category as well, it's good to know you aren't alone. Performance reviews are difficult to do, but they are the basis of a happy, well-trained staff. That is, if they are done right. In this article, let's look at performance review options for startups. Ditch the annual review ​ Who really wants this hanging over their head all year long? Plus, ...

You've thrown everything you have into your startup. You've been the one in charge from the start, making things happen, and gradually leading your startup to growth. In the beginning, you probably had your hand in a little bit of everything – you were product developer, human resources manager, marketer, fundraiser, and several other jobs in-between. At some point during this time and now, you might be thinking about transitioning your role into something more specific. In this article, we look...

Scaling your startup in the right way and with the right people is certainly key to your success. When you begin building a startup team , it's about finding people with the right skills. But you also want to find people who will work well together and complement one another. You have the unique opportunity of creating your team from the ground up. You get to choose the skillsets, the personalities, and the right mix of people who can work as a true team, collaborating to scale your startup. To ...

Do you like working with people who are sick? Probably not. Would your employees like sharing space with someone coughing and sneezing? Of course not. Do you like it when employees call in sick when they really aren't? That's an easy one – we're sure your answer is no. If there was a ripple effect, and everyone called in sick in the same week, what would happen to your startup? Because of these scenarios, we look at why your startup needs a sick leave policy from day one.  Policies are vita...

Most people who are working a 9-5 job every day of the week get tired of it at some point. Even if you love your job it can be hard to feel satisfied with doing the same thing over and over again each day. However, if you are feeling a bit burnt out and you are looking to explore something new, there are a number of things that you can do to make money that are not boring and tiresome. 1. Become a care worker If you want to find a way to give back to the community that gives you a little bit of ...