DaJobSucks

Unemployment, Time and Creativity

noreply@blogger.com (HmD) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 14:58:00 +0000

I read a book a while back, sorry I don't remember its name, that claimed that 95% of all business came out of desperation, people who had no choice but to rely on themselves for their own salary. They can't take comfort in a monthly salary, but their salary is based on how much work they put in and how creative they can be.

While I would not wish desperation on anyone, it is through the same desperation that you may accomplish more than you ever did with a full time job. The main reasons why desperation spurs industry is that:

YOU HAVE TO MAKE IT AND WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO DO SO. We will generally sacrifice much if we know that our actions will impact ourselves and our families directly. Knowledge of the fact that no work may mean no food can be very motivating.
Most importantly, you tend to be more creative, as you have nothing but time to think and come up with ideas that you would not have time to do with a nine to five.

Creativity is a function of time and unbridled thought. No boundaries, no disturbances, no boss calling you to come up with a quick fix for problems. We have the time to expand our craniums, you know, that thing we have dedicated to lining our bosses pocket. We now have time to conjure schemes to line our own pockets.

Take the time today to be creative if you have nothing to do you may surprise yourself. Use what you have been given and don't wait for a job to come out of thin air.

Test that system

noreply@blogger.com (HmD) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 14:45:00 +0000

So, you have just installed a new system for your business and you'r gleefully waiting to see the results of the money spent and the promises of "ALL PROBLEMS SOLVED" from the IT guys who sold it to you and installed it.

You start it up just like you would a new car and it purs at you. You sigh and feel all is well until you start using it for you daily business. You then find out that the it is not working as you intended it to. Reports are inaccurate, doesn't give you the information you want and the format makes it impossible for you to read them. Simple tasks are difficult, it takes forever to complete the same tasks and it is not user friendly. Then you call the provider and complain and they come in and fix some problems and other arises. Months passes before you finally get it right, but by then, any advantage you could have gained during that period is lost because your staff have gamed the system, taking advantage of the system issues that they know exist. You curse the day you bought the system, but you are stuck with it because you have spent so much money already.

WHAT THE HELL WENT WRONG

We have the tendency to blame the system and its providers. However, in most cases, it's not the system that's the problem, it's us. What we need to do is the following:

Give a detailed list of what you expect from the system to its system providers (vendors). If the providers do not know what you want then they will give you what they think you want, which usually doesn't work out;
Do lots of research. There are many systems out there that can do the things you want it to. From research you will be able to pick a number of providers so that you can have choices;
When you have chosen a provider, ensure that you can get good support if you are having any issues after installation;
Test the system before you start using it ensuring that all you want from the system is working;
Try to get a contract from the provider that ties payment to whether the system is working or not. Many make payment too quickly. Providers may not feel any urgency in dealing with your issues if they already got paid. Remember, it is a buyers market now, so let them work for their money.
Have a back out plan if the system is not working. You don't want to be caught with your pants down if the new system is not working properly. Business most go on even if the system is not working. Determine what manual processes you can perform in the interim.
Ensure that the users have been trained by the system provider. Untrained users is just as bad as a system that is not working.
Keep a log of all issues you have with the system and communicate it to the support.

Even with all that has been said, there is no guarantee that the system will be perfect, but if you do what has been suggested, you put yourself in a much better position to have a successful system implementation.

Good Luck

Brainstorming Deficiency

noreply@blogger.com (HmD) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:31:00 +0000

Brainstorming can be a very useful tool, however, if it is not used properly, it can be as useless as some of our elected officials who seem to make decisions without much thought and pain staking, brain throbbing deliberation.

The business world seems to have taken the approach mentioned above with Brainstorming. The key deficiency I have noticed and which is usually the 800 pound gorilla in the room, is ensuring that all is prepared for brain storming sessions, that is, all should know what is to be discussed so that they can have time to put their ideas together before the meeting.

Persons should be given at least a day to do their own deliberations so that all will come to the table with ideas that have gone through their own personal cerebral grinders. This would avoid knee jerk decision making which I swear has taken over our business universe. We have abused brain storming to the point where it sometimes runs contrary to its intended purpose, which is to resolve pressing issues quickly, through combining the ideas and thoughts of all the persons involved in the meeting.

I know, the idea of having a brainstorming session is to resolve issues quickly so time may not be available, however, if decisions are rushed then you may require more time in the future to fix issues caused because you wanted to make decisions quickly.

For your next brain storming meeting, give your staff more time to come up with ideas so that you can get higher quality resolutions that add value to your business processes and overall operations. Trust me, the wait is worth it.

Homelessness Report Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (HmD) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:55:00 +0000

This report was sent from TB a day ago. If you have any information that can help her please leave a comment.

I just wanted to say that getting help here in N.E.Texas is near impossible. I am a single mom and because my son is a teenager we are having trouble finding help from shelters. It is not fair for them to discriminate against boys just due to their age. If I had a girl, there would be no problem. When you contact the housing authority for gregg county, they say they are helping seniors and the disabled only. And if you can find other counties to apply to the waiting list is years long. It is a no win situation.

What to check for when you have received goods from suppliers

noreply@blogger.com (HmD) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:27:00 +0000

As simple as the following recommendation may be, many small business owners do not perform these tasks to ensure that the goods they ordered from suppliers and paid for is what was actually delivered to them.

The recommendation is that all supplies received from your suppliers should be:

Compared with the delivery slip and invoice received form the delivery man/woman to ensure that you have received all the items you have ordered and paid for;

Checked to ensure that the expiration dates have not been passed; and

Checked to ensure that their quality is within your expectations and specifications.

If you have not received all the goods you ordered, then ensure that the item is crossed off both the original and copy of the delivery slip, that you and the delivery man signs both copies and that you take a copy of the sgined delivery slip. You should also ensure that you inform the supplier of the discrepancy immediately.

Think Export

noreply@blogger.com (HmD) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:11:00 +0000

If you think that you have saturated your market or that there are too many new entrants into your industry, then it may be time to consider expanding your market to countries outside of the US. Too often we think within the box and ignore opportunities outside of the norm. However, it is imperative, especially during a recession, to identify new customers outside of your local surroundings.

Our recommendation is that you should try to determine the needs of your countries closest neighbors, identify products that you produce that matches these external needs, determine the feasibility of exporting your product to these countries taking into consideration export cost and possible revenue and whether your products are up to international standards.

You should also try to determine if there are any government or state programs that provides assistance to small business's like yours for exportation of your product, if there are any trading clubs or organizations that can help you to find trade partners and whether your product needs to be re-engineered or re-designed to suite your potential trade partners.

State and federal laws should also be considered as well as the laws of the country of your potential trade partners. Consideration should also be given to how the exchange rate between your country and your potential trade partners country will impact your revenue and whether the stability of the countries economy and political system will encourage could trade relations.

noreply@blogger.com (HmD) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:50:00 +0000

As small business owners, we sometimes discard raw materials that we don't need for the creation of our end products. However, with each ounce of raw material we throw away we have thrown money in the trash. We should seek to use all raw material.

Unused raw materials can be used to:

Make other products (Some farmers who produce orange juice tend to use oranges that are not suitable for display trays in the supermarket to make orange juice).;

Can be sold to other small business for their own products;

Can be sold to your general customers (meat shops sometimes sells as dog food, scraps of meat that are generated after meats are cut for display and which would normally be thrown away).

Two part timers or one full timer

noreply@blogger.com (HmD) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:20:00 +0000

When a business has just open its doors and there is a position to be filled which may be extremely demanding, then it is better they hire two part time workers, especially if the work will be too much for one person but not enough for two people.

Hiring two part timers gives you the ability to spread out work load more effectively to ensure that one person is not carrying too much of the work load that may make him/her inefficient.

It also reduces the risk of mistakes due to exhaustion and reduces the risk of staff resigning prematurley due to frustration.

Having two part timers in this scenario also makes it easier to ensure that someone is always assigned to the job, especially in the case that someone calls in sick.

Benefits of documenting business procedures

noreply@blogger.com (HmD) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:33:00 +0000

If you have a business and you hire staff or have plans on hiring, then it is important that you document all the procedures you complete during each business day. This documentation gives your staff clear instruction of how to complete each task they are assigned to. Don't get me wrong, this documentation is not done for each individual staff but is a general document that all staff can use to guide the performance of their tasks.

In general, the following advantages can be derived from documenting your business procedures:

Continuity in business procedures if key staff are no longer employed to your place of business;

Better efficiency and effectiveness in the performance of daily tasks, as there are clear expectations based on the procedure document;

Activities will be better coordinated if everyone is fully aware of each procedure that is to be carried out, how they are to be performed and when they should be performed;

There is a decreased chance of error in the performance of daily activities; and

Staff tend to follow instrucions better if they come in writing, furthermore, it removes confusion from the assignment of job tasks as each staff will be guided by the documented procedures and not word of mouth.

Surprise cash counts

noreply@blogger.com (HmD) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:18:00 +0000

If you run a small business like a convenience store, restaurant etc. you should consider doing a surprise cash count periodically.

This cash count is not the same as what you do at the end of each day to make sure that your cashiers have balanced their collections to your cash register tape, but it is a step to ensure that your cashier is not borrowing from the cash register and then replacing the founds at the end of the day.

Yes I know the funds are being replaced, however, fraud is a culture that starts with a pebble but then turns into boulders used to demolition buildings.

So it is imperative that you put your staff on notice that you are watching them through the simple means of a surprise cash count.

Providing the best products

noreply@blogger.com (HmD) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:47:00 +0000

The best way to guarantee customer satisfaction and maintain customer support for your products is to ensure that you provide the best possible quality of goods. The aim is to separate yourself from the pack, as most companies tend to provide goods in keeping with market standards and requirements rather than seeking to provide the best possible product and so we follow the market and the leaders in the market rather than seeking to become leaders ourselves.

We must seek to be leaders in our industry. There is no space for mediocracy. We most always be dissatisfied with the quality of our product and seek to do the necessary research to develope our products far and beyond what we can ever imagine or dream of. We most think outside the box and not be slaves of industry standards for quality as we must seek to surpass them and be innovative. That is how you hold your customers with a gimik free approach.

Tarketed Marketing

noreply@blogger.com (HmD) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:36:00 +0000

I find that many of my colleagues in error, thinks that while trying to attract new clients or customers to their business, they need to throw a large net out in the sea in hopes that they will catch something. So they get a big list of numbers or emails and cold call or send emails in the hope of getting customers. This tends not to work as well as identifying a set of customers you would like to get and tailoring your marketing program around their needs.

The later approach is much more organized and will be more effective.

Consider renting

noreply@blogger.com (HmD) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:09:00 +0000

If you are not able to concentrate at home because of your children or other responsibilities, it may be time to rent an office space.

Yes, you may have become comfortable with working from the comfort of your home, however, if being at home has started to come in between you and profitability, then renting an office space close to home may be your best option.

Renting an office space adds a level of professionalism to your business, which may help you to add additional clientele. It also adds credebility to your business and is more conducive to business meetings. Renting an office space also allows you privacy and peace and quiet which is necessary sometimes for concentration and for excercising your creativity muscles.

Safety for a real estate agent

noreply@blogger.com (HmD) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:42:00 +0000

Here are some safety tips for real estate agents:

If you have an appointment with a client, always inform your co-workers, friends or family of where you will be going and when to expect you back in office or at home and let the client know that they know.

Always make the client walk in front of you when showing them a house.

Know all the possible exits from the house you are displaying just in case you have to make a run for it.

Try to deal with multiple clients at once, in other words try to ensure that you are meeting with more than one clients at a home. Open houses are usually the best way to ensure this.

Have a draft emergency message that can be sent to your office or family if you are having any safety issues.

If possible, have someone accompany you to meetings with clients.

Try to avoid showing homes at nights.

Avoid wearing expensive jewelery when showing a home.

Always travel on main roads and roads that has good lighting.

Take self defense classes.

Walk with pepper spray or a taser gun (if it is legal to do so).

Avoid going to criminal infested neighborhoods.

Background checks for potential parnters

noreply@blogger.com (HmD) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:52:00 +0000

If you want to start a partnership, remember to do a background check of the potential partner.

The background check should include looking at police reports, credit reports, current financial statements, physical inspection of the prospective partners assets, professionally done valuation of your partners business assets and staffing and human resources reports.

Two things to look for when seeking a business partner

noreply@blogger.com (HmD) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:42:00 +0000

If you feel that you need to partner with someone to get your business to the next level, then there are two main things you should look for, a relationship based on mutual benefit and someone with lots of "business" goodwill.

Relationship based on mutual benefit

Not only should your business benefit from the partnership, but your prospective partner should get something from the new business relationship. When a company wants to employ someone, they ensure that the prospective employee requires a salary that is lower or similar to what the company wants to pay, because there will be possible discontent if the person is hired and they are not being paid the salary they want. The discontent may lead to poor work performance in the future and the employee leaving the company earlier than both parties expected. When seeking a partner ensure that their expectations of the partnership are in sync with yours as the partnership may not last as long as you intended and the intended benefits may not be realized.

Someone with lots of "business" goodwill

For our purposes, goodwill is the value of a prospective business partners business apart from the physical assets they own. It can be just their popularity with their customers and community and all other intangible value of the prospective partner. Studies have shown that some cusotmers are willing to pay more for products if the company has high levels of goodwill. The higher the goodwill of your partner, the higher your goodwill will be and there will be increased possibility for higher revenues.

Balancing customer retention and addition

noreply@blogger.com (HmD) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:48:00 +0000

It is important to maintain the correct balance between keeping your current customers and adding new customers to your business. It is easy to get scared during a recession and seek to divert all your revenue to keeping the customers you have, however, during a recession, it is best to balance both initiatives because there will always be new customers due to the development of new industries and business's as people try to cope with the recession. With new industries comes new business, new revenue and the possibility for a new customer base.

So try to keep your old customers, however, ensure that you have a program to get new customers.

Job Fairs in California and Washington

noreply@blogger.com (HmD) — Fri, 29 May 2009 11:47:00 +0000

San Jose Career Fair
05/29/2009, 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM

Holiday Inn San Jose
1740 North First Street
San Jose, CA 95112

&

Bellevue Career Fair
01/06/2009, 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM

Red Lion Bellevue Inn
11211 Main Street
Bellevue, WA 98004

Job Fair in Portland

noreply@blogger.com (HmD) — Fri, 29 May 2009 11:46:00 +0000

Putting America Back to Work - Sponsored by Employmentguide.com, Healthcareerweb.com, careersingear.com and wiserworker.com.

Downtown Hilton
921 SW 6th Ave.
Portland, OR 97201

June 4, 2009, 10am to 3pm

Staying small has its advantages for a business

noreply@blogger.com (HmD) — Fri, 29 May 2009 00:12:00 +0000

Small businesses sometimes benefits from more flexibility and a greater ability to move quickly to take advantage of business opportunities because there is less bureaucracy.

So while your business is small, take advantage of the speed at which you can broker deals because as you grow, this ability may not be available.

Washington state increases yearly tuition cap

noreply@blogger.com (HmD) — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:56:00 +0000

The Governor of Washington State signed a bill a couple days ago which increased the 7% cap on yearly tuition increase to 14 %. Undoubtedly, this is a serious blow for prospective students especially in a recession. There are two options for students, who just cannot afford the high cost of tuition apart from getting loans and maxing out credit cards.

Students can go to College part time and try to get a job to help pay for the less expensive tuition; or

Seek to get certified in the area you are interested in, work for a year or two and then go to college when you have the funds or when you are in a better position to get a loan and repay. The work experience along with good grades may also help you get scholarships. Some employers are also willing to pay a part of your tuition if you intend on working for them after you have graduated.

How to Find a Job During Economic Recession

noreply@blogger.com (HmD) — Fri, 08 May 2009 16:28:00 +0000

Author: wickram

Concentrate on the Unpublished Job Market: The most important question you can ask is “how do I increase my chances of successfully landing a job?” The answer, cast a wide net. There is an unpublished job market out there with positions that are not advertised. Some say that that market is actually larger than the published market. In the published market you are competing against large numbers of professionals. The first thing that you can count on is your positive attitude. With a strong motivation you tend to achieve even the impossible.

Look in Hidden Job Market: Secondly look for jobs where markets are steady even though it may not be the area of your specialization, you can always switch back when things change. One of the key factors for any job is your selling skills; you need to establish a face in the crowd that you will be able to outperform and get that desired job.

A few years ago, employers wooed workers with bonuses, perks and trips to ski resorts. Now, more young people are losing jobs and getting by on unemployment benefits and help from family.

Use Your Networking Skills: One of the best solutions is to consult your friends and family who are working so you can use the job referrals they may give. Do not give up on your routine schedule and keep yourself busy. Have a clear talk with the consultants and be frank about your expectations.

A full-time job is hard to come by in this economy, so concentrate on freelance jobs these jobs are available in plenty on internet and work from home option is one of the best selling concepts about this.

Do A Direct Approach: For many it is difficult to approach people that you don’t know. However you call the prospective employer directly or drop off a resume in person. You can also contact a number of recruitment agents in your area of interest and sell yourself to the agents who will then knock on doors on your behalf. This can be a win/win proposition for both you and the consultant

Get Your Resume Verified: Over 45% resumes contain false statements or misrepresentations. Aware that bad hires cost businesses billions of dollars in losses every year, 86% of recruiters in a recent survey done by Crederity prefer to review resumes listing credentials that have been verified. Verify your resume using Crederity and get hired faster. Sign up for a free trial account now. – http://www.crederity.com.
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About the Author:
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - How to Find a Job During Economic Recession

Improve Your Professional Career

noreply@blogger.com (HmD) — Mon, 04 May 2009 21:08:00 +0000

Improve Your Professional Career - Useful Resources
By Abhishek Agarwal

If you are a fresher, or a person who is seeking a new job, as a change in career or to move to a higher level, these career development programs will come in as a boon to you. The World Wide Web hosts thousands of pages and even entire sites on developing ones skills and finding the right job.

If you are unsure on how to tackle this situation and also find where your heart lies, take the services of a career development counselor. A counselor must be able to figure out the key skills of a person, provide various career options, harness the interests, give information on right schooling to the person who wants to rise up the ladder and provide programs for career development along with new ideas for the employees and employers.

If you are happy with your career and well settled in it, still there are ways to improve it to make it more fulfilling for you. Keep your eyes and ears open to speakers with modern ideas that can change the outlook of your field. Some sites host free articles on topics in career development such as employment outlook, finding the career that is right for you, setting up a career development scheme, and planning and putting into action short and long term goals.

Read through the classified ads both in newspapers and on the net. Most online career development resource sites list many job vacancies along with the hourly wages that can be expected from it. Many of these also contain a summary of what is expected from the job seeker, including schooling, areas of expertise and even whether they bundle together benefits for their employees.

Certain other resources rely on the ability to use facilities such as company and employee networking. Self respect is of prime importance to both the employee and the employer. There are programs and teachers who take courses on how to improve self esteem and take up his/her job with confidence and even to tell the boss that the person does not satisfy all the pre-requisites for the job.

Losing passion for your job is something that happens in daily life. Having a well refined career development plan can help a person stay focussed in his job. As a matter of fact, there are varied programs that are created solely for focus on your career whether you are a fresher or whether you are the head of a company looking for fresh ideas to inspire your employees to build their career around.

There is a tailor made professional career development scheme for you irrespective of the job you are in, and the direction in which your career is taking you.

Abhishek is a Career Counselor and he has got some great Career Planning Secrets up his sleeves! Download his FREE 71 Pages Ebook, "Career Planning Made Easy!" from his website http://www.Career-Guru.com/769/index.htm. Only limited Free Copies available.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Abhishek_Agarwal
http://EzineArticles.com/?Improve-Your-Professional-Career---Useful-Resources&id=1663988

Real Estate opportunity

noreply@blogger.com (HmD) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:13:00 +0000

“Be Fearful When Others Are Greedy and Greedy When Others Are Fearful” - Warren Buffett.

That quotations sounds like quite a stretch during these economic times, however, it is still true as we will probably see a new set of millionaires and the loss of the old blue bloods. The new generation of millionaires will take risks in times like these in the hope for long term gains and will probably benefit.

In keeping with the foregoing, we try to identify business opportunities across the US and we found one in Birmingham Alabama.

Over the past year or so home prices in Birmingham has decreased. In February alone, home prices dropped by 25% and they are now much closer to what I think is their fair market value. With the reduced home prices, its a great time to buy, as it may provide long term profit revenue which may exceed whatever interest you can get with holding your money in a bank.

The time for investment is now, you have left your money under your mattress long enough.

Virtual Jobs Fair: Work Force Central Florida

noreply@blogger.com (HmD) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:36:00 +0000

With a couple weeks left to hear the unemployment numbers, I quiver when I think about the possible numbers. Hopefully, the numbers will not be as bad as January, but there is something telling me that it may be just as depressing.

For those who have fallen prey to lay offs in Central Florida, there is a virtual job fair by Workforce Central Florida, which will be held throughout this week. Even if you live outside of Florida it may be to your benefit to attend the virtual fair, especially if you are willing to relocate.

You can access the virtual fair by registering at Work Force Central Florida.