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Four Effective Methods to Maximize Your Business’s Potential

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Four Effective Methods to Maximize Your Business’s Potential

It’s no secret that leveraging your business for efficiency is key to achieving success. That’s why Brad Sugars, founder and CEO of ActionCOACH, puts such a heavy emphasis on it. By optimizing your operations, you can save time and money while boosting productivity and profitability. And one of the best ways to do this is by investing in your employees through ongoing education and training. This helps foster a culture of productivity and teamwork that leads to increased efficiency. Plus, streamlining your delivery and distribution processes can save you even more time and money, allowing you to get your products or services to customers faster and with fewer errors. But don’t stop there – implementing a system for testing and measuring your business processes is crucial to identifying inefficiencies and areas for improvement. And with technology and automation, you can improve accuracy and reduce errors even further. By leveraging these key strategies, you can optimize your operations, improve your bottom line, and stay ahead of the competition.

People & Education

Business owners are always on the lookout for new ways to boost their bottom line and make their company more efficient. Often overlooked is investing in your people and their education is essential for reaching those goals. When you prioritize the growth and development of your team, you’re setting your business up for long-term success.

So don’t forget to invest in your most valuable asset – your people!

Improved skills and productivity:

When you invest in your employees’ education and training, you’re not just doing them a favor – you’re doing your company a favor too. By giving your team the chance to learn new skills and gain valuable knowledge, you’re setting them up to perform their jobs more efficiently than ever before. And when your employees are working at their best, your business outcomes will improve too.

A culture of innovation:

Keep your employees up to date on industry trends and best practices. It can help employees bring fresh ideas to the table and implement innovative and efficient work processes. Plus, when you encourage collaboration and idea-sharing, you create a culture of innovation that can fuel your business success. So, make education and collaboration a priority in your company, and watch your team thrive!

Employee engagement and retention:

Employees who feel valued and supported are more engaged and motivated in their work, which means lower turnover rates and less time and money spent on recruitment and training costs. If you want to keep your team happy and your business running smoothly, it’s time to start investing in your employees’ well-being.

Improved problem-solving:

Having a team of well-trained and knowledgeable employees can make all the difference when it comes to improving your business processes. Your team is on the front lines every day, which means they’re equipped to identify inefficiencies and suggest improvements. By tapping into their collective brainpower, you can identify and solve problems faster and more efficiently – leading to better outcomes and a stronger bottom line.

A strong employer brand:

Investing in your employees is the key to building a strong employer brand and attracting top talent to your business. By prioritizing your team’s growth and development, you’re not only setting yourself up for greater efficiency, productivity, and profitability, but you’re also positioning your business as a desirable place to work. Invest in your people, provide training and education opportunities, foster a culture of innovation, and engage and retain your employees. Your business success depends on it!

Delivery & Distribution

In today’s fast-paced business environment, delivery and distribution can be critical factors in a business’s success. In today’s fast-paced business environment, delivery and distribution can make or break your success. It’s crucial to get your products or services to customers quickly and efficiently, and failure to do so can have serious consequences. It’s important to focus on streamlining your delivery and distribution processes, so you can get ahead of the competition and achieve long-term success.

Faster delivery times:

Streamlining your delivery and distribution processes can have a huge impact on your success. By doing so, you can get your products or services to your customers faster, which not only improves customer satisfaction, but also increases their loyalty. And as we all know, loyal customers are the lifeblood of any successful business. By making it easier and quicker for them to do business with you, you’ll see an increase in repeat business and word-of-mouth referrals. Focus on streamlining those processes and giving your customers the best possible experience.

Reduced costs:

Don’t overlook the cost-saving benefits of optimizing your delivery and distribution processes. By minimizing shipping times and distances, you can cut down on shipping costs and reduce the chances of damaged or lost goods. These small improvements can add up to big savings over time, work on optimizing those processes and maximizing your profits.

Improved inventory management:

Optimizing your delivery and distribution processes isn’t just about speed and cost savings. It can also have a big impact on your inventory management. By ensuring that products are delivered on time, you can avoid overstocking or under-stocking and optimize your inventory levels. This will save you money, reduce waste, and help you better meet the needs of your customers.

Greater scalability:

As your business scales, your delivery and distribution processes become more critical than ever. By implementing reliable and efficient systems, you can handle increased order volumes without sacrificing quality or efficiency. This will help you grow your business smoothly and efficiently, without any hiccups along the way.

Competitive advantage:

In today’s competitive business landscape, having an optimized delivery and distribution process can give your business an edge over your competitors. By providing faster and more reliable delivery services, you can stand out and win over customers, thereby increasing your market share and profitability.

Testing & Measuring

As a business owner, testing and measuring can be a crucial component to improve your business’s efficiency and profitability. By understanding five key reasons for implementing testing and measuring strategies, as emphasized by business coach Brad Sugars, you can optimize your operations and improve your bottom line.

Identifying inefficiencies:

Through testing and measuring, businesses can gain valuable insights into their operations. By tracking key metrics and analyzing data, business owners can identify inefficiencies and make targeted improvements to streamline processes and increase profitability.

Optimizing performance:

“Testing and measuring is the key to optimizing your business processes. Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) can help you monitor progress, identify areas for improvement, and fine-tune your processes for maximum efficiency. By doing so, you can stay ahead of the competition and achieve greater success in your business,” says Brad Sugars, business coach and founder of ActionCOACH.

Data-driven decision-making:

It’s important to make data-driven decisions that can lead to better business outcomes. Testing and measuring can help you collect and analyze data, providing insights that can help you avoid making decisions based on assumptions or intuition, leading to more effective decision-making.

Continuous improvement:

Testing and measuring can encourage a culture of continuous improvement by setting specific targets and tracking progress towards achieving them. This can motivate employees to make incremental improvements and achieve better results over time.

Accountability:

Testing and measuring is a powerful tool to hold your employees accountable for their performance. By setting clear, measurable goals and tracking progress, you can identify areas where your team may need extra support or training. This allows you to provide valuable feedback and coaching, helping them reach their full potential and drive better results for your business.

From identifying inefficiencies and optimizing performance to enabling data-driven decisions and fostering a culture of continuous improvement, it’s a key strategy emphasized by Brad Sugars for achieving long-term success. These remarkable benefits highlight why investing in testing and measuring is worth it for your business’s efficiency and profitability.

Systems & Technology

Business owners are constantly seeking ways to optimize efficiency and maximize profitability. Amidst these goals, one critical factor tends to be overlooked: testing and measuring. In this blog, we unveil the significance of this often-neglected practice, shedding light on its potential to revolutionize your business’s performance and drive it towards unparalleled success.

Identifying inefficiencies:

Testing and measuring, according to Brad Sugars, plays a pivotal role in identifying inefficiencies within business processes. By collecting data and analyzing performance metrics, entrepreneurs can effectively pinpoint areas that may be causing bottlenecks or delays, allowing for targeted improvements that drive enhanced productivity and success.

Optimizing performance:

Once entrepreneurs identify areas in need of improvement, Brad Sugars advises them to leverage testing and measuring to optimize their business processes. By consistently tracking key performance indicators (KPIs), business owners can monitor their progress over time and fine-tune their processes to achieve maximum efficiency. This iterative approach enables continuous improvement, leading to remarkable outcomes in the long run.

Data-driven decision-making:

Brad Sugars emphasizes the significance of testing and measuring, stating that it enables entrepreneurs to make data-driven decisions that yield superior business outcomes. By diligently collecting and analyzing data, business owners can avoid relying on assumptions or intuition, leading to more effective decision-making and ultimately driving their businesses towards success.

Continuous improvement:

Put your focus on testing and measuring, you’re really setting the stage for a culture of non-stop betterment in your business. With goals in sight and progress in your sights, you’re motivating your team to reach those targets and make steady strides forward, one step at a time.

Accountability:

Testing and measuring isn’t just about making improvements, it’s also about holding your team accountable. When you set those clear, measurable goals and keep an eye on progress, you’re spot-on in pinpointing areas where your employees might need some extra support or training. That way, you can dish out some valuable feedback and coaching to help them up their game.

Early Retirement Doesn’t Mean the End of Being Productive

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Early Retirement Doesn’t Mean the End of Being Productive

You can plan all you want for a life in retirement, but the change still comes with a sudden force that you won’t be ready for. If you’ve spent over twenty years in Corporate America like I did, you get grooved in hard to a certain lifestyle. After all, someone or some organization thought you were useful enough to deserve a paycheck.

In addition to that paycheck, you get instant camaraderie, with colleagues you generally enjoy connecting with each day in the break room, or during the typical conference call. The “hard groove” also comes with built-in mentors and surrogate parental figures called “managers”.

Just like not all parents are amazing, not all managers are wonderful either. Cubicle life can be unpredictable. While you’re stuck in it, make the best of it and own it, but always look ahead to when you can achieve financial independence and leave that hamster wheel behind. Don’t settle for being a corporate huckleberry longer than you absolutely need to.

 

If You’re Unprepared to Retire…

The problem is that you have all of these employment-at-will dynamics – many of which can be toxic, limiting, or boring, but they’re still consuming a big chunk of your life. Take it all away, and you’re left with a big gap of time to fill from Monday to Friday, for 45 hours, or roughly 50% of your waking life.

A few weeks into retirement and even yours truly started to romanticize the warts I’d left behind. And I had a PLAN for Pete’s sake!

I figured that the real estate licensing process and a transition to full-time REALTOR would provide all the tonic I needed to put the past into the past and move on. Do I regret resigning? Hardly. Do I still have work to do to establish a brand new set of grooves, including a new network of colleagues/friends and associates? Absolutely.

 

furriers on the move
furriers on the move Just another amazing day in Minneapolis

The Art of Being Useful

Believing in the theory of Blue Zones living, I put a good deal of stock into the notion that one should “never retire”. A great example I’d written about years back is Jiro Ono, now age 98 and still slinging world-class sushi.

Does a contented life of good health and longevity depend on one working until he or she drops dead at 90, 100, or older? If that’s the case, I am 100% certain of my decision to resign from my Fortune 50 goliath, seeing as it employed practically zero octogenarians.

I’d have been dropped like a hot rock at some point in my 60s as many around me were (through layoffs or forced retirements) before I left. Unless you happen to be in a class with Rupert Murdoch, ditch the notion of corporate work beyond your 60s.

Leaving a paycheck, managers-by-carousel, silly meetings, and other corporate nonsense behind won’t kill you. But if you leave a job where you sit on your duff all day only to wind up sitting on your duff all day and subsequently doing nothing to improve yourself or serve others, then it’s game over.

Instead of the notion that one should never retire, how about a more flexible idea that one should never stop being useful?

If, like Jiro, you find yourself employed on your terms, being useful, and true to yourself and your values, a lifetime of meaningful work (e.g., being useful) is a healthy thing. But you won’t be 98 and working for the man – you’ll be working for yourself.

 

A Challenge to Be More Useful

The Arnold Schwarzenegger docuseries on Netflix inspired the crux of this post. Arnold is pushing 80 but refuses to slow down. His words, spoken with trademark accent: “Be useful”.

It’s a series worth watching for anyone needing motivation to reach audacious goals while making wholesale changes in his or her choice of profession. The Terminator jumped grooves easily, building success as a bodybuilder, then as an actor, and finally as governor of California.

Arnold’s mantra is to always keep moving forward, never dwelling on failures or tribulations. Learn from mistakes, and as Ted Lasso would say, “Be a goldfish!”

It’s impressive and a little sad at the same time how again and again we learn that the highest achievers came from troubled and abusive upbringings. Arnold was no exception. But unlike many of his generation, he didn’t and doesn’t dwell on being a victim. Instead, he viewed and continues to view the world through a lens of opportunity and optimism.

For me, the challenge to be useful post-retirement* starts with a complete career makeover. It’s a career defined by my terms, not by used car salesmen pretending to run a major company. I am my own boss now.

Real estate (property management, investing, and sales) is work that I enjoy and I can throw myself into it with passion. I have paid my dues to achieve financial independence, which affords me the flexibility to prioritize family time (and ME time).

 

lots of bags of leaves
lots of bags of leaves 39 bags of leaves on the drive, 39 bags of leaves…

Being Useful In the Service of Others

As a family, we are dedicating more of our free time to serving others. Volunteer work is a wonderful thing, but it’s even better when you can give your time and energy together. Not only is it character-building for the kids, but it’s a tangible benefit to the community and your mental health.

In the real estate realm, I’m now able to give more of my time, energy, and focus to my tenants and the very old homes they rent from me. This year I invested more cash (over $28,000…OUCH) and time to improve and repair a variety of issues that I’ll anecdotalize in a future post.

 

Being Useful In the Service of Myself

I have a lot of work to do still. Those deep grooves from the old corp gig will take a little more time to climb out of, but I’m wearing them down. I can be an even better husband and father, son, brother, neighbor, and friend.

If I use this newfound freedom to improve as a person, then I’m optimistic I can avoid any pesky regrets down the road.

That includes spending more time exercising, learning, reading, and *gasp!* writing. If I can commingle growth with building a community of friends and acquaintances, then I’ll know I’m hitting the mark. For starters, I joined a pickleball league with my wife. Woot!

I’ve got a long list of home improvement tasks to tackle as well. Working with your hands on household projects is a passion of mine, and I’m pretty sure I’ll get more into gardening as time rolls on.

Am I bored? Some days, honestly, yes. Retirement boredom is that little devil that can creep up on you at any moment, especially M-F 9 to 5 when we’ve all been programed for student or worker productivity.

Starting out in real estate as a REALTOR is tough. The real estate market is slower than molasses with mortgage interest rates persisting north of 7%. Demand has softened, but supply remains limited. Grrr…

But you know what? I am using this lull in the market to educate myself, exercise, and network. No video games. No movies. No sleeping in past 7 am.

Bottom line: I am incredibly content with my choice of at-will WORK.

 

*Retirement is defined in this blog as leaving an at-will employment job (i.e., work where you can get fired for any reason). One can still retire and continue to work, whether it’s volunteering, part-time hourly to supplement social security, child or family care, or even owning a small business, gardening, or heck, even writing a blog!

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🔴 Cryptocurrencies Face Major Threats | Crypto News Update – Dec 25, 2023

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🔴 Cryptocurrencies Face Major Threats | Crypto News Update – Dec 25, 2023

China is back in the crypto game, a new dog plays the same old memecoin trick, and which coin has stolen the show this altcoin season?  These stories and more, this week in crypto.

New 4th Largest Crypto

Solana’s SOL token surpassed Ripple’s XRP and Binance’s BNB to become the fourth-largest cryptocurrency globally. Driven by a thriving DeFi ecosystem and the rise of meme coins on the Solana network, most notably Bonk, SOL’s price climbed to a 20-month high. Solana’s total locked value exceeded $1 billion, and its daily stablecoin transfer volume also skyrocketed by 600%, surpassing both Ethereum and Tron.

China Changes Stance On Crypto

China is quietly flipping its policies on crypto, as the Ministry of Industry published a document saying it will place great importance on the development of the crypto industry in the future.  Despite the Chinese crypto trading ban introduced in 2021, the country now pushes ahead with NFTs and blockchain-based decentralized applications, marking a complete U-turn in policy.

National TV Ad for Bitcoin ETF

Bitwise Asset Management unveiled its first commercial for a spot bitcoin ETF that is featured across major TV outlets, including CNBC and Fox Business Network. The commercial features Jonathan Goldsmith, the actor renowned for his familiar role as The Most Interesting Man in the World. In it he draws a parallel between the iconic character and the intriguing nature of Bitcoin.

Rush for Inscriptions Cloggs Blockchains

The latest trend to inscribe everything, from profile pictures to memecoins on blockchains, has led to major blockchain networks struggling recently. Over the past week Arbitrum, Avalanche, Cronos and The Open Network have all experienced partial or full outages due to the increased number of inscriptions. Users are spamming tiny mints repeatedly because of the lower cost of minting on these chains.

Coinbase Secures License in France

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has secured registration with the French markets regulator, as it seeks to expand globally. France’s AMF watchdog has given Coinbase a virtual asset service provider approval, a green light for the company to operate digital currency services in the country. Registration will allow Coinbase to offer retail, institutional and ecosystem products to users in France.

Hong Kong Considers Spot Crypto ETF

Hong Kong regulators are open to considering spot crypto ETF applications following expectations that the SEC might soon approve spot bitcoin ETFs in the US. The SFC’s rule update in October widened investor access to spot crypto and ETF investments, and is now ready to accept applications, acknowledging the rapid evolution of virtual assets into mainstream finance.

Sam Altman Promotes Worldcoin Project

OpenAI’s ex-CEO Sam Altman has restated his concept for the crypto project Worldcoin, following reports the company is seeking $50 million in funding. Worldcoin aims to create a global network onto which more than 2 million people have already had their irises scanned in exchange for a digital ID and free tokens.

New Dog, Old Tricks

Similar to prior crypto bull runs, a new dog-themed memecoin has emerged. Just like Shiba-Inu and Dogecoin before it, the value of the newest memecoin Bonk, a new Shiba Inu-themed Solana token, has rapidly increased due to the excitement of Solana’s Saga phone owners being able to claim BONK tokens for free. As Bonk’s hype has waned, another Solana-based memecoin, Dogwifhat, has also surged by 1000% in a month.

That’s what’s happened this week in crypto, see you next week.

Survey: 10 Essential Finance Questions to Ask (and 5 to Avoid)

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Survey: 10 Essential Finance Questions to Ask (and 5 to Avoid)
Everyone knows there are certain subjects you just don’t bring up in conversation, whether it’s religion, politics, or marital conflicts. But if there’s one thing Americans can agree on, it’s that money is the most taboo topic of all. Asking about salary or diving into details about debt is just not a casual conversation anyone wants to be a part of.
While there is a time and a place for everything, does the same always apply to money? Which financial questions are appropriate to ask, and who are people most comfortable talking money with? We surveyed over 980 employed people who currently owned or rented their homes to get a better idea about the boundaries of financial discussions. It’s time to talk about money—read on to see what people had to say.
What can you ask?Discussing Money Matters
Talking about money is obviously tricky, but not talking about money can also have repercussions—to our health, wealth, and happiness. There are some questions, though, that people should steer clear of, at least according to our respondents. Asking how much money someone has in his or her savings account was perceived as the most inappropriate (92 percent), along with asking about salary (83.5 percent). Meanwhile, around half of respondents thought it was inappropriate to ask about the amount paid for a child’s schooling.
Even when it comes to discussing finances with a significant other, 56.6 percent of people said it strained their relationship. Not only is money a leading cause of stress in relationships, but it’s also one of the most cited reasons behind divorce. While asking about salary and credit card debt may be necessary when cohabiting, starting a family, or thinking about marriage, it might be better to stick with easier financial questions at the beginning of a relationship.
On the other hand, the majority of respondents said asking about the cost of food, clothing, or renovations didn’t cross the line. However, when it came to asking how much someone paid for their car or how much they spent on rent, people were nearly split. While 54.6 percent of people thought asking about the price of a car was appropriate, 52.6 percent said the same about rent.
Dealing with your landlordThings You Shouldn't Ask Your Landlord
Of course, what you ask often depends on whom you’re asking. The relationship between renter and landlord may heavily revolve around money, but asking if you have to pay your rent on time is a conversation most landlords don’t want to have. On the other hand, asking to lower the rent might be a little bit more acceptable. While 40.6 percent of landlords said the most inappropriate question a tenant could ask was about paying the rent on time, 30.9 percent said asking to lower the rent was also inappropriate.
Asking to lower the rent may seem like a typical negotiation tactic, but nearly 60 percent of landlords said they were unlikely to rent to a potential tenant who asked about dropping the price. And considering roughly half of landlords believed it was inappropriate to haggle move-in fees or security deposits, it may be more beneficial to ask about paying in installments—only 9.2 percent of landlords thought that question was inappropriate, and playing it safe may boost the chances of landing a lease.
Asking in the workplaceThings You Shouldn't Ask Your Co-Workers
It’s no secret that your salary is supposed to be, well, a secret. Discussing money with co-workers can be awkward, especially if there is a large discrepancy in paychecks. However, despite some companies prohibiting it, discussing salaries with co-workers can actually make employees happier as well as improve the bottom line. Nevertheless, nearly 56 percent of people thought it was inappropriate to ask how much a co-worker makes, with women almost twice as likely as men to be very uncomfortable discussing their salary with co-workers.
Even when salary was brought up, over one-third of employees admitted to lying about how much they brought home, while 22 percent said it was against company policy to discuss. Seeing as money is a hush-hush topic, many people aren’t aware that pay secrecy policies—whether mandated or insinuated—are against labor laws.
But regardless of pressure from higher-ups, employees still don’t want to talk about money. While 71.3 percent of men said co-workers should not tell one another their wages, 80 percent of women said the same. Of course, this difference is likely due to the gender pay gap that still persists. Women may be more uncomfortable talking about money since they typically make less than their male counterparts, but pay transparency is the only way to truly know how large the gap is and take steps toward closing it.
Responding to financial questions
Do You Answer or Divert
When faced with an uncomfortable financial question, people are typically faced with two options: Answer honestly, or avoid it entirely. But which route they take seems to depend on their gender, age, and the person asking. Slightly over half of men said they answer questions about their finances, while nearly 60 percent of women said they divert the conversation.
As for age, millennials seemed to be the most comfortable with money talk—even if the subject is broached on a first date. While baby boomers, Gen Xers, and millennials all said they would answer financial questions if a family member asked, millennials were the only generation to answer financial questions posed by both friends and co-workers. Over 34 percent of Gen Xers said they would answer a friend’s questions about money, but when asked by a co-worker, just under 36 percent said they would divert the conversation.
The oldest generation we asked, on the other hand, seemed to be a bit more traditional when responding to financial questions. Thirty-eight percent of baby boomers said they would tell a friend they were uncomfortable talking about finances, while 36.5 percent would say the same to a co-worker.
The right kind of money talk
Broaching the subject of money is never easy, but it’s crucial to ask the right questions. Instead of asking a landlord to lower the rent, you’re better off asking about payment plans or even finding a location better suited to your budget. As for discussing finances with co-workers or friends, gauge the relationship first. While it might be best to squash the salary talk with a new hire or a co-worker you consider an acquaintance, someone who is more involved in your personal life will likely be more receptive to the discussion.
Regardless of the relationship, though, most people are keen on hearing about a good deal. Considering home renovations were perceived as an appropriate financial topic, it can’t hurt to tell your friends, family, or co-workers how much you saved on home improvements. At Porch, our goal is to help you find the best professional for the job while giving you a deal worth talking about. We’re your pro for everyday home projects. To learn more, visit us online today.
Methodology and limitations
To collect the data shown above, we conducted a survey of 982 respondents. To qualify for this survey, respondents were required to own or rent their home and be employed. Of the 982 respondents, 217 were landlords. The respondent pool was 51.9 percent female, 48 percent male, and less than 1 percent who chose a different option. 324 were baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964; 330 were Gen Xers, born between 1965 and 1980; and 328 were millennials, born between 1981 and 1997. Because the survey relies on self-reporting, issues such as telescoping and exaggeration can influence responses. An attention-check question was included in the survey to make sure respondents did not randomly answer.
Fair use statement
Talking about money is clearly controversial, but sometimes, it’s necessary. Before broaching the subject, it’s vital to know what is and isn’t appropriate. Feel free to share our findings with your friends or followers. The graphics and content found here are available for noncommercial reuse. All we ask if that you link back to this page so that readers can get all the information and contributors receive proper credit.
Originally posted on Porch.com
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