September 2015 14
COMMON CONTRACTS IN BUSINESS
You may have just started your business and are so excited about taking things ahead. One of the main responsibilities of owning your own venture is that you need every activity you work through to be legally documented and if possible, signed on a contract. Here are some of the common legal documents that you would need to make a part of your business to keep it legitimate:
Partnership Agreement: If you have a partner working with you and contributing in some way toward your business, you need to make sure that there is a properly written and signed legal contract between two or more partners. In the contract, you need to specifically mention to what length each partner is chipping in, what is the capital input ratio and what percentage of the total profits and loss each partner will be taking home. Yes, today everything may seem fine and things may be going smoothly, but tomorrow you may never know what legalities might take place and it will be at that vital moment that you would need to bring forth the great Partnership Agreement for all the technicalities to be placed forth in black and white.
Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA): This is another important legal document that needs to be signed with every person that has access to your business information. Maybe you have come up with awesome software that could revolutionize your field or maybe you have a product or service that you know is going to make a difference in the world. Anyone beside you that in the knowledge of this vital information needs to legally state that they will not share it with anyone else or use it for any purpose apart from benefitting your enterprise. Without this important declaration, you cannot do anything to anyone who has leaked out your surprise to the world, at least not legally!
Contractual Agreements: You may have heard about this term from celebrities who enter into these agreements for a certain number of years and promise to do a certain amount of work. The same holds true for a corporate business that is run by you. In it you need to clearly note the duration of the work, what type of activity is being done and for how long and for what amount. The reason you need to do this is because you are busy running your business and you seriously cannot afford to have someone sue you or leave their work half completed. This legal document will bind them and obligate them to finish what they started and do it on time.
As per the business you run, there would be many other legal contracts that you might have to enter into. You might think you are running a small enterprise and nothing could go wrong. But if you grow exponentially later, you do not want to face legal issues just because you didn’t sign an official document about the work you are doing. Be smart and sign on the dotted line!
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SECRETS OF SUCCESS IN BUSINESS
Learn From Your Mistakes: There is not a single successful businessman out there who never made mistakes. Maybe there was a market trend they were following and did not see a bend in the road, or it was a failed venture that never took flight. One of the most successful entrepreneurs out there is Richard Branson. If you follow the Virgin brand closely, you will see as many start-ups that worked were also start-ups that nose-dived. But you never hear Mr. Branson cribbing about it. Taking it with a shrug and good humor, he looks ahead to the next potential business opportunity. True, he has the finances to afford a minor slip-up, but it is more about the never-can-die attitude that gets successful businessmen going.
Prioritize: This is a super important “secret” of successful people in the biz. As an entrepreneur you will be inundated with emails, calls, meetings, updates, news and what-have-you. There will be individuals taking your time all the time and you will feel it is your responsibility to answer to every disturbance. This is absolutely false. Your concentration should be on one thing at a time. You’re here because you want to build your venture. Anything else that doesn’t fit into that description has got to go. Start every morning by setting a timetable and figuring out how your day will be spent and then stick to that.
Keep Researching: Another success secret is all about knowing your market. No business has ever prospered by staying stagnant. You need to make sure that you learn from your peers, read magazines, research trends and stay abreast with the latest news. Markets are changing on a daily basis, so start your day by reading the newspaper and coming up with a plan. You will find that as your business starts to take on wings, you will need to customize your vision for what suits your enterprise the best at this moment.
Hire The Best: Bill Gates famously said: “I will always choose a lazy person to do a difficult job…because he will find an easy way to do it!” The best part about owning your own business is that you get to hire whoever you want to work for you. ALL successful business people surround themselves with those they work well with and who have the same wavelength for thinking up ideas and strategies. This is key because firstly, you spend so many hours with them and you want to gel well with your colleagues and secondly, they are the catalysts who will improve on your ideas as well as come up with brain sparks to boost your business. You need allies in business and if you can hire them, you are sorted!
Have Fun: Do not think that just because you are running business means that you need to sit in front of your computer or at meetings all of the time. Thank God the age of the BlackBerry has passed! All successful entrepreneurs make the time to relax because this helps them rejuvenate and come back with brand new eyes. Tycoons like Richard Branson take it a step ahead by working from their place of vacation, but if you are not able to do that, at least plan a holiday over the weekend. A change of scene always helps with refreshing your brain. Encourage your employees to take days off as well as they will come back with renewed energy to help you run your enterprise.
Have any other tips on how to make a business a success? Maybe you have your own victorious story that you would like to share. Comment below!
TIPS FOR SMALL ENTERPRISES TO MAKE THEIR MARK
If you are a person who has is thinking of, or just launched, a start-up, you may be looking all over for inspiration about how to get your business working and move ahead in the game. Here are a few tips for small enterprises that should get you going:
- Networking: At this stage of starting-up, you might have limited finances and clients, which is faced by almost all budding companies. What you can take advantage of, however, is the popular phase of social networking sites. There is a food truck that does the rounds in New York and the only mode of advertising is through micro-blogging site, Twitter. They let their customers know what’s on the menu, have live tweets about their current location and entice people with their mouth-watering delicacies to keep them on the edge. All major social media sites are free and accessed by millions of users, so take advantage and market your brand as much as you can through this avenue.
- Keep Positive: Rome was not built in a day, but through it all stayed put and till today stands strong. Have a little hope. You might be excited about your venture and expect that others would feel the same, but true success doesn’t necessarily happen over a week, so don’t feel dejected if the world isn’t yet buzzing about your enterprise. Keep the faith and work hard, grabbing at valid opportunities whenever they arise. With a good attitude and a positive mindset, you and your company will soon start going places!
- Build Loyal Customers: As a start-up, you won’t have a line of customers outside your location in the beginning. But as soon as you get patrons, do not let go of them. They are your walking advertisers, and if treated well they will return to your business and bring other potential customers along with them. You can come up with offers like providing a free service, discount coupons, referral offers, etc. Anyone loves a bargain and if you show that you are generous, people will automatically be attracted to you.
- Find Opportunities: As a start-up or small enterprise, your resources would be limited. Even the big guns in the game sometimes find it a problem to get what they want and have to search real hard for it. This is the time that you take any opportunity that will benefit your company. Even if you are given the opportunity to work for free, if that means that your enterprise is going to get promoted, then take a grab at it!
If you want any more tips and resources about your start-up, you can visit smallbiztrends.com for more information.
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HOW TO CREATE A KICKASS WORK CULTURE
One of the main assets that your company could have are your employees. Without them, how would you manage to run it? You could argue that you started up as a one-man show. However, if you are planning to expand in any way, you need people to help you out. Whether you have just one person or rows of human workforce doing stuff, this article is for you.
Employees are not paid slaves. You have put in a lot of your personal resources to train them and make them valuable for your company. When they came in, they were like molten clay that you have molded to perfection. Intricate details of your start-up were shared with them so that they can get going on helping you prosper in leaps and bounds. Also, you might be spending hours with them on a daily basis, so they are like family. Letting or seeing them go will not only cause a certain amount of personal heartache, but professionally, you will have to start from scratch teaching the new recruit the ropes of the business.
One of the best tried and tested methods of retaining employees in your firm is to create a work environment that they will enjoy being at and will find hard to leave. Better yet, they might even refer another professional who could add human resource value to your enterprise. And wouldn’t you one day be so thrilled to hear that your company is in the coveted list of Forbes’ “The Best Places To Work” list? Here are a few ways that you can create a kickass work culture for your employees:
- Build A Great Management Team: For any company, the core management team is the most important to eventually trickle down information to the rest of the work clan. They are also the executives that would be the closest employees who interact (hopefully) on a daily basis. They lead their respective teams and departments on your behalf. You need to therefore, surround yourself with people of like-minded nature as you. They will be your hands that extend to their subordinates.
- Be A Role Model: Right from childhood we have always had that role model that we wanted to emulate. For your company, you can be that mentor that your employees look to for inspiration. Whether you are the relaxed kind or even if you are the serious, professional type, what your workers absorb from your behavior will ultimately reflect on them as well. Be the best person you can be, and rest assured, they will be their best selves as well.
- Take Time Off: Weekday working can get monotonous for employees who start getting used to the daily grind. To get their minds off it, hold an out-of-site conference or chill session for them to unwind. This could be a great opportunity for you to personally interact and get to know those who you know by face in the workplace. Also, if there are any concerns that they have been scared to share with you during office hours, they will be able to do so now.
- Communicate: Not everyone is great with telepathy. If you have something on your mind, speak it out. When employees see that you are easy to approach and open to understanding them, they will be more laid-back in general and work will go on smoothly. You do not want a dictator type of environment, so why give out the vibe that it is one?
Liked this article? Any other tips that you want to share about creating a better work environment? Maybe you have your own success story you want to share? Comment below!