Many businesses excel when it comes to landing quality employees. That’s because they do everything by the book. They screen qualified applicants, ask for references, and ask thorough questions during the interview process. After that is when things start to fall apart. Many businesses stop checking in with new employees.

They think that just because they landed a quality employee they don’t have to do anything to keep them. Don’t make that mistake because that can lead to a high employee turnover rate. Here are six ideas to boost employee morale and decrease the employee turnover rate.

1.) Make Your Employees Feel Special

Once you hire a new employee, it’s up to you to make sure that they are thriving and well-adjusted. Employees who don’t feel challenged and see no room for growth will be less inclined to stay.

That’s why you should make them feel special. All you have to do is learn their name and some background information about them. Remember their work anniversary or birthday. If they feel their company cares about them, they’ll be more comfortable sticking around for the long run.

2.) Acknowledge the Hard Work They Put In

When an employee does something good, acknowledge them even if it’s just sending them a quick email to say a great job. Offering rewards for meeting sales goals is a great way to keep employees focused on the tasks at hand. Many businesses offer an ‘Employee of the Month’ award because it helps foster healthy competition among employees. It gives them something to strive for.

3.) Schedule Team-Building Events

If you have a large group of employees working together, it’s important to make sure that they get along. If fights pop up between employees, one or both may be tempted to quit. That’s why you need to meditate the situations immediately. Before things like that even become a problem, try to schedule team-building activities where employees can get to know one another. This will also help them build trust, know they can rely on each other, and create a better work environment.

4.) Small Perks Go A Long Way

In an office setting, small perks can go a long way in keeping employees happy. Offering gear with the company’s logo on it will make them proud to be apart of something. If employees are doing a great job, reward them with a pizza party. When employees are putting in overtime, bring them in coffee or doughnuts just to show that you appreciate what they’re doing. Employees will notice this and feel cared for.

5.) Keep Your Office Door Open

An open-door policy is a great one to enact. Your employees should know that if they ever are struggling, have a problem, or feel unappreciated that they can come and talk to you. Make sure you have time to devote to your employees. Click here to learn about payroll outsourcing so that you can focus more attention on being present instead of the technical side of things.

6.) Offer Room for Growth

No employee wants to be stuck in a dead-end job. They want to know that there is room for them to grow. This is why you should offer a competitive salary, ways to climb up the ladder, and opportunities for a raise. When employees have different goals to work towards, they’ll want to stay for the long run. The second they feel stuck in a dead end job, they’ll consider other options.

Keeping your business running smoothly and making a profit depends largely on your employee morale. Studies show people who do not enjoy their job do subpar work and miss more days than those who like their work.

Encouraging a strong sense of morale among your employees directly correlates to increased teamwork, less absenteeism, and higher production rates. Although it is an intangible aspect of your business, morale must be consistently addressed with long-term initiatives to successfully help your business reach its highest potential.

Raising morale among your employees does not have to be expensive or complex. There are some very simple and inexpensive techniques that any employer can use to boost morale and increase productivity in the workplace.

Here are five easy ways to boost employee morale.

Be a Part of Something Bigger

Another way to give your employees a bonding experience is to make your company a part of something bigger such as a charity or local nonprofit. Choose an organization to support that really means a lot to your employees. Coming together as a group to raise money or donate time or merchandise to support something that is important to everyone gives a sense of accomplishment as well as pride in your group.

Become a Family Unit

The workplace can be about more than just getting work done. A group of employees is much like a family. Incorporating family-type events into the work week goes a long way in alleviating boredom and depression. Celebrating birthdays and work anniversaries helps employees bond as a work family.

Another fun way to bond as a work family is to celebrate your unique work culture. Start each group meeting with a knock-knock joke or even play a prank call! Implant a funny memento that mysteriously appears on random desks and imparts a particular reward for the week. Have a standing joke that only your work crew would understand. Enjoying each other’s company with these funny activities strengthens the work bond.

Recognize a Job Well Done

Employees should be praised for doing their job well. Those that go above and beyond consistently do so because they know it is appreciated. Showing your appreciation doesn’t have to mean throwing an office party or even buying lunch. It can be as simple as a public thank-you and a dollar store desk candle. It is the thought and action that makes the most impact. Celebrating low absenteeism, great customer service remarks, and high productivity instils a drive to do more.

Give Back

Giving back to your employers is a successful way to boost morale and encourage more work output. Periodic raises to continually improving employees keeps them at their best and encourages others to reach the same heights. Even weekly lunches for high-yielding employees can keep everyone striving to do their best.

This can be as simple or as complicated as you want. There are even online employee reward systems, such as GRS Rewards Solutions, that help you give your employees gifts such as cards, travel amenities, and mobile top-ups.

Revamp Your Work Environment

Your work environment includes everything from the décor to the vending machines. Productivity is higher when employees are in an environment that they feel is professional. It should be conducive to the work involved but have designated space for break time and areas that stem creativity.

Plants have been scientifically proven to enhance mood and stimulate the mind. Place them in breakrooms, personal desks, and in conference rooms. Decorating concepts such as Fung Shei, incorporate colours and shapes to increase workflow and worker confidence.

It doesn’t matter if your giving a pat on the back or a big pay raise, showing your employees that you care about them makes them care about their work. A comfortable, productive environment helps employees feel like they have a home away from home in their workplace. Even small gestures have a big impact on your businesses bottom line productivity.

Wondering how to login to Shopify? 

Just chill! 

Logging in to Shopify is a cakewalk now because of the Shopify app. But that is not the only method of doing it. There are several other methods for logging in to the Shopify platform and this post will discuss all of those methods. 

Let us begin with a sweet introduction then. 

Intro

The thing that we like the most in Shopify is that it has several security mechanisms in place to protect against malicious attempts of login. If you type in anything wrong in the input field of password then the verification box will appear and you will be required to solve the security challenge. 

The security challenge is in place so that a hacker cannot make an automated script try out a dictionary of passwords and see which one works. In terms of information security, this thing is known as a brute-force attack. Therefore, Shopify has several security measures to prevent it. 

The verification can also be asked if you log in from a different device, clear the cookies of the browser you used before, or use the incognito mode feature of the browser. You just need to solve the challenge and then click on the verify button. 

However, if you have forgotten your password then log in becomes hard. Hence, you would require to reset your password. Furthermore, if you remember the password but have forgotten the email then you have to ask for help from the support team. 

Let us now look at the steps to Login to Shopify on different platforms. Starting with: 

Desktop devices

Here are the required steps to Login to Shopify using a desktop device:

1. First of all, visit the login page of Shopify with the help of your favorite browser. 
2. Then you will see an input field under which you have to enter the domain URL of your store and then hit the next button. 
3. Then you are required to put your email address and hit the continue button. 
4. Then, at last, you just need to enter the correct password of your account and click on the login button. 

One thing to take note of is that if you had previously logged in with the same device and browser then it might have stored the information about your store already. Therefore, in that case, you would not be required to enter the domain name of the store and can just continue with the email and password. 

iPhone steps

Here are the necessary steps that are required to be followed if you wish to log in to Shopify with the help of your IOS device: 

1. The process begins with the step of downloading the Shopify app. Once the app is downloaded you need to wait for it to be installed. Once it has been installed successfully, you can proceed to the next step. 
2. Once the application is installed successfully you are required to open it. To do it, just click on the icon of the app and then it will be opened. 
3. Now there are two options available for you. The first option is to sign up for an account and the second is to login to Shopify. If you don’t have an account already with Shopify then you are required to choose the option of sign up otherwise you may proceed to login to Shopify. Once you have an account and are on the login screen, just enter your email address and the password of your account. 
4. If you own more than one store in Shopify that too with the same email address then you will require entering the URL of your domain which ends with the sub-domain .myshopify.com. After you’ve entered it you may proceed to log in. 
5. Then just click on the login button and you will be inside your Shopify dashboard.

Note that if you don’t remember the password of your account then you just need to click on the forget password button so that you can reset it. 

How to login with more than one account?

Sometimes you are required to login to Shopify with different accounts on the same device. Here is how to do it: 

1. First of all click on the field that says store while being logged in the Shopify app. 
2. Then just enter the name of the account in the input field given at the top of the screen. 
3. Then tap on the option that says “log in to existing store”. 
4. Then you are required to enter the email address and the password of your account that you want to use to login to Shopify. 
5. Then you just need to tap on the login button. 

Now that you have followed all the steps, you will be redirected to the dashboard with the new account as the active one that you just logged in with. You can always switch accounts to check the information on another account. 

Conclusion

These were the methods of logging in to Shopify at cross platforms.  If you wish to learn more about Shopify then you should definitely check some amazing tutorials by LiquidBlox. 

In order to break down barriers and promote collaboration between each company’s department, open offices are becoming increasingly popular in recent years. However, they can also increase distractions at work, so that you’ll end up hearing the gossip and chit-chats of your colleagues a few desks away. Under this circumstance, you would be glad to have a pair of headphones, which are a really helpful companion at work. Here’s why bringing your headphones in the office is a pretty wise decision:

1.Get in Your Work Zone

Putting your headphones on can help you to create your own work zone amidst open office with low or no partitions. You may have seen your attention wander because of co-workers’ chats and other ordinary activities. A pair of noise canceling headphones can help you to screen out as much as three-fourths of office chaos soundtrack.

It can also be a perfect way to discourage others from interrupting you when you are on a roll with a task that requires concentration and deep thought. Some workers sometimes put their headphones on to prevent interruptions caused by listening to anything because it can release a signal that you don’t want your work zone to be broken into. Therefore, your colleagues will be (or they should be) less inclined to come over to talk with you unless absolutely necessary.

In some ways, headphones can improve your focus at work as well. When you turn off the noise of your open office and filter the unimportant interferences of your colleagues, the tasks that you are struggling to focus on will become a lot easier to knock out.

2. Make You Insanely Productive and Creative

There is an overwhelming amount of research out there prove that a pair of headphones with music on is helpful at work. It can positively impact your brain’s reactiveness and make your nine to five schedule more productive and creative. That’s because headphones with melodious sounds on will activate the release of dopamine in the reward area of your brain. So you will feel like tasting a delicious food or smelling a pleasant aroma.

The result of this stimulation can pump up your energy and give you a positive mood. If you’ re not in the right situation at work, you need a headphone like SOMIC headphones. Put it on with pleasing tunes, and it will break you out of just thinking one way and influence your productivity, specifically for the tasks that require a lot of creative thinking or problem-solving. Your ability to organize material and recognize letters is much faster in positive feelings; thus it can get easier for you to come up with better ideas and solutions to a problem.

When you are in a negative situation, you are more likely to make a decision hastily; you may close your mind to alternative suggestions. If your company is headphones friendly, put it on! Your task performance will increase significantly if you’re in a good mood, and you will perform better than those who sat in silence with headphones off.

3.Create Your Unique Working Atmosphere

You can create your unique working atmosphere with headphones on by choosing different kinds of music to listen to according to the task you are performing. If you are on tasks that require concentration, organization, and inspiration like writing, ideas-creating, you’d probably want to pick some soft, mellow music without lyrics. Such music can reduce distractions as well as help you to get your creative juices flowing and knock out your tasks that are hard to stay focused on. Conversely, you are recommended to choose video game music that can motivate you when you are doing tedious tasks. It has been proven that music like this is wonderful for getting through repetitive tasks more quickly than usual. More importantly, you should listen to any kind of music that can motivate you and provide a positive impact. Or even better, measure the performance of your task after listening to different types of music at work and choose the most helpful one that creates your own working atmosphere.

4. Make Tedious Tasks Seem Fun

Using noise-canceling headphones at work like the SOMIC noise-canceling gaming headset that can provide you with a powerful listening experience. Bursting you into the songs will take the boredom out of repetitive tasks and make your regular job seem fun. This happens not only because of the dopamine released by the music’s stimulation, but it also comes from the music rhythm. The danceable beets can provide good emotions for you to go through the working day full of energy and raise your job satisfaction. So it is really useful when you are gloomy on a Monday morning or suffering because of a job that is hard to accomplish.

In short, wearing your headphones and listening to something catchy can help you work more cheerfully and efficiently. If you are planning to get one, you should focus on its comfortability and sound quality.

There is a brand of headphones that combine these features at a reasonable price. SOMIC, a leading headphone, headsets, and earphones manufacturer, has achieved great success in developing the international market. Their products are sold in more than 200 countries and areas in the world since 1999. You can get a great pair of high-quality headphones and can even get good ones for under $50.

Take for example the SOMIC G951 noise canceling gaming headset, which has an attractive appearance and a powerful sound experience with surround stereo. And the SOMIC G936N Commander gaming headset, which provides a true 7.1 virtual experience, a flexible 3 sound effect mode switch, a 50mm sound generating unit, and skin-friendly mash earmuffs.

The coolest feature of these headphones? Noise cancellation, which can keep unwanted sounds out, and you can not only use it when you are working, but it also gives you excellent gaming experience.

What more could we be asking for?

The migration of an existing IT system to the cloud is steadily increasing. According to a research report from Gartner, IT spending of $111 billion has moved to the cloud from on-premises and will rise to $216 billion by 2020. Also, many IT firms nowadays adopt”cloud-first strategies” as a base to stay in a fast-paced world. CISCO report also reveals that the cloud traffic will increase to 262% and reach 14 Zettabytes (ZB) by 2020.

Cloud Computing consists of three mainstays: SaaS (Software as a Service), IaaS(Infrastructure as a Service) and PaaS (Platform as a Service). Out of all these categories,SaaS is one of the popular models among business organizations. Statista report says that Software as a Service market is expected to be worth USD 132.57 billion worldwide. SaaS market is vast and the opportunity is high for business operations.

What is SaaS?

SaaS is a centrally hosted software, provided to customers in the form of a subscribed service. Such applications run on the SaaS providers’ servers and users access them on browsers.

While using a SaaS application, a user does not need to buy it. Instead, they can pay rent that allows due to which they can use that software service for a specific time. Therefore, the significant benefit of SaaS is to reduce the usage cost. Also, users do not need to worry about technical issues as the SaaS provider has to manage it.

Though SaaS has been there for a long time, many businesses question whether SaaS is the right option for them or not. RightScale revealed in a survey that 32% of the companies lack knowledge about cloud computing. However, Microsoft generated 30% revenue from the cloud computing technology in the Q3 of 2016.

We will discuss various business benefits of SaaS application design here and how it can be used in a wide array of businesses.

Following are some of the business benefits of SaaS application development

● SaaS can be a money-saving approach

If the cost of the SaaS CRM model is compared to the cost of purchasing software, it might seem a little expensive. But, when you consider the money spent on the hardware to execute the SaaS software would cost cheaper as compared to the other option.

Therefore, SaaS can be a money saver for businesses.

● Expandable to foreign countries

Businesses don’t require any re-seller or marketer for the distribution of the SaaSbusiness model. Since the product will be an internet-based application, you will only be left with a choice to market it on the internet. Therefore, it can even reach to foreign countries.

● Scalability and Flexibility

A business needs to be flexible to achieve success. If you are an owner, you will sometimes need to adjust to changes in your business. SaaS applications allow you to select the delivery model and modify it when the business requirements change. It is easier to bring new users, turn on an extra set of components and integrate with other systems.

SaaS allows you to experiment in a less risky environment with a new project, user base or acquisition. With flexible subscription-based licensing, SaaS applications can scale quickly and easily.

● Updated features

Great features for your business apps can enhance productivity among employees and make work interesting. Businesses with traditional applications have to spend a lot of time for upgrades. Using SaaS, businesses get benefitted because upgrades are controlled by providers so that they could focus on new capabilities.

● Time Management and Performance

The time to deploy a cloud solution is comparatively less than on-premise systems. To avoid the cost related to rollouts, you can host a cloud-based system across various regions. Since you will not need additional hardware, time will not be wasted in obtaining and installing IT infrastructure and VPN access across multiple sites. It allows you to add as many users as you want without worrying about improving the hardware.

Companies using cloud-based applications with the SaaS business model are increasing with each passing day. SaaS allows numerous users to work simultaneously under a similar software suite. The ability of rapid deployment on time tracking software with less investment risk enables business owners to prefer SaaS application development over any other model.

If you still have doubts about how SaaS application development can contribute to the growth of your business, consult the best SaaS development Company and get started with a SaaS-based product idea.

Creating your own company/startup can be an exciting endeavor. However, there is a 90% chance that your startup will fail according to Forbes. 

That’s why proper planning and avoiding the traps that so many new businesses fall prey to is critical to your success.

Today, I want to address five reasons that your startup will fail (and what you can do to avoid failure).

1. You Know It All

Know-it-alls can be a pain in the …

Not only will business know-it-alls refuse to listen to advice, they also think they can do everything. If you fall into this category, we wish you the best. 

No one is great at everything, no matter how much you may believe you are. 

We all have weaknesses somewhere, and acknowledging your shortcomings and finding people who are strong where you are weak is critical to building a successful business.

Do not try to run a startup with a know-it-all attitude. Instead, try to figure out where you are weak at and bring can help to strengthen your company. Yes, it will cost you money, but it will be worth. If you do not want your startup to fail, get past the idea that you were the only one who can make this company succeed.

2. No Marketing Plan

Another reason most startups fail is the lack of a true marketing plan. 

While Facebook is a good advertising platform to work with, just saying “We’ll advertise on Facebook” is not a marketing plan. It’s a marketing idea.

The fact is that some startups believe in just “winging it” and their plan is to figure things out as they go. 

I’ll bet most of those are in the 90% failure pile. 

If you do not have a solid, well-planned marketing strategy, stop reading this article right now and work on a marketing plan for your business (Hubspot has some free templates you can use). Once you have a marketing plan in place, come back and finish this article.

Customer service, customer experience, and brand identity is where so many startups focus, but if you don’t get boots in the door that’s all for nothing.

3. Lack Of Customer Service

Contrary to what you’ve heard, your customer may be wrong. 

Still, it’s important to give them professional customer service. You cannot let a bad day cost you potential customers (including friends of a bad customer).

If you are unwilling to go the extra mile for ANY customer, then there is no chance your startup will succeed. Businesses do not make money shunning customers; they make money selling products and/or services. Never let a bad customer cost you future business (and they can).

If you have bad customer service, you will not succeed.

4. You Do Not Look Professional

I’m not talking about how you dress day-to-day here (though that does matter). 

Instead, I’m talking about putting your best foot forward from a business standpoint. If you don’t present in a professional manner on:

• Your website, 
• Your marketing materials, and 
• Your communication channels,

then you’re basically dead in the water

Your website MUST be free of grammatical errors and unprofessional statements, your marketing presentation should be clean and concise without a lot of technical jargon used to inflate your company, and your communication channels have to be business-oriented. 

By business-oriented, we mean your email address should end with an @yourdomain.com instead of @yahoo.com, @gmail.com or @hotmail.com. According to Suitebriar, you can get professional Gmail for as little as $6/month with no annual contract, so go do that before you start emailing clients.

While we are at it, you should also consider getting an 800-number rather than a local number … unless your business is exclusively local. 

5. No Money

Without money, it will be almost impossible to market your product/company effectively, provide proper customer service and/or products, and look like you know what you are doing.

We are not saying that you have to have a TON of money, but you need to know how to manage your funds and use the money you do have effectively. In fact, you should spend the majority of your funds on looking professional and competitive. After that, should focus on your marketing plan and customer acquisitions. As you grow you can get your lean office better equipped and reward those employees who were there to help build your business from nothing.

When the money runs out, so will your startup.

Wrap Up

If you want to get past the startup phase, then you should pay attention to the factors I’ve covered today. While these points of failure for startups are somewhat common, they tend to get repeated a lot … so it’s worth taking the time to read, and re-read these common mistakes that cause startups to fail. 

Success only comes when you do what others could not … so start winning!

Validate Your Idea

It doesn’t matter what kind of software product you are interested in creating, everything starts with an initial idea. It is always a bonus to be original. However, the success of your Saas business will mainly depend on the quality level of your software system as well as the market need for the product you want to develop. After all, insufficient consumer interest in a product is the main reason why 42 percent of all startup businesses fail.

Imagine that you want to launch a beacon proximity marketing platform for medium- and small-sized retail businesses. What is your plan for it? The first thing you should consider is a feature set that can help you stand out from your competitors (which includes some high-profile vendors including Beaconstack, Swirl, Moca, and Google) and get multiple use cases created for your product. The second thing you should do is determine the number of companies that actually use beacons and figure out what their pain points are (being unable to measure customer satisfaction and engagement, high volumes of sensor data, and the high cost of getting a dedicated mobile app developed, etc.). 

You should also address the concerns of shoppers: 64 percent of consumers choose not to opt into in-store tracking due to potential infringement of their privacy and message overload. You probably realize at this point that it is simply a dead-end to get hung up with proximity marketing. Is your product able to address needs such as monetization of beacon-generated information and smart asset management? Does it make sense for you to have a dedicated app created that supports your analytics platform (and try to challenge giants such as RetailMeNot)? Find it is a good idea to develop an MVP, gather feedback from customers, read our guide on SaaS KPIs, and adapt the scope if necessary. 

Develop Your Monetization Strategy

Although a majority of Saas companies prefer giving their product away for free to get a solid user base established, more forward-thinking SaaS entrepreneurs like Chris Savage (Wistia) and Tom Kuzler (Aweber) recommend that you start out using a paid plan, and then study consumer behavior, get your product polished, and then proceed to offer a freemium without running into the risk of underpricing your SaaS product. Having a small amount of paying customers (and lots of time to spend on your customer service) is an excellent way to keep advancing your business, get your product tailored to the needs of your customers and retain users.

Develop a Strong Tech Team

Let’s return to the beacon analytics platform: There are other similar Saas offerings (the joint project by Swirl and Mist, for example) that incorporate innovative technology such as virtual beacons, machine learning algorithms for analyzing sensor data, GPS tracking solutions, mobile SDKs that allow customers to connect current mobile applications with the system, and Cloud-based business intelligence apps.

Therefore, you need to develop a strong and skilled in-house team (six to eight senior and middle developers) for handling software development as well as ongoing maintenance for several months in a row – and it may take years for trails to be converted into paying customers. To eliminate or reduce insurance costs and office space and obtain access to new pools of talent, EU and US SaaS entrepreneurs frequently hire overseas software developers (with Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe heading the list of the most popular destinations for outsourcing). Also, going offshore is an excellent way to lower your software development costs (which can be an issue for startup companies that are on a shoestring budget). That said, your team needs to have a CTO – otherwise, you may have a difficult time raising enough VC capital for your business.

Keep UX In Mind When Creating High-Performance Software

Be careful with Fixed Price contract. You will most likely need to make changes to the scope of your project. The only that you can ensure cost-effectiveness and flexibility is to choose the Time and Material pricing model.

Second, it is a good idea to partner up with a leading Drupal/WordPress/IoT/mobile development services company with an impressive portfolio and then stay hands-on with the entire project. Don’t underestimate a UI design’s power: a few years ago there were three experienced nurses who failed to determine how to set a medication reminder set up properly and as a result, a patient was dehydrated to death. Your customers are non-technical people who expect user-training videos, short registration forms, clear calls to action, and contextual menus. As long as your customers are able to solve setup-related issues without having to speak with a customer support specialist, then that means you have done a great job.

Market Your Product Correctly

You should actually start to market your SaaS solution well before your product goes live. Get a good explainer video and landing page created. Launch a Facebook or Google AdWords campaign to drive traffic over to your website. Another good idea is to get several informative articles published on your corporate website as well as reputable third-party websites that highly the benefits that your product offers. It also can help to get involved with startup events and get press coverage from some leading IT portals. Spread the word as much as possible and you will be successful.   

How Can You Start a Successful SaaS Business?

You are probably thinking that it’s going to cost you a fortune to get a decent SaaS product developed and years to recover your marketing and software development expenses.

Before giving up on your SaaS business, you should read this incredible Kissmetric posts written by Ryan Shank who was able to develop a SaaS business (analytics and call tracking software) for under $40,000. In particular, I want to compliment the decision made by Mr. Shan to contract a company employed developer (instead of freelance software engineers who don’t always have the necessary PM skills and expertise to ensure your project is delivered in a smooth manner).

Then there is Dropbox. This multi-billion company took a non-traditional approach to MVP development. They created an inexpensive but highly informative and creative explainer video which helped the company grow its beta waiting list overnight from 5,000 up to 75,000 users.

As long as you are able to come up with a fresh concept, develop your software project requirements that are based on feedback from customers, and get a reliable vendor contracted for creating an MVP, then you should be able to get angle funding to raise money via Kickstarter. Then follow up using the tips provided above!