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The Process and Techniques Involved in Emergency Blocked Drain Service

Waking up to find your morning routine rudely interrupted by a stubbornly blocked drain is far from ideal. Your mind abuzz with questions – What has happened? Why now? Can it be fixed quickly? Yes, even the most well-designed homes can find themselves in the grips of unforeseen plumbing troubles. In this post, we delve deep into the world of emergency blocked drain service, taking you on a journey from understanding the reasons behind it, across the landscape of modern techniques used to combat it, to managing the aftermath and preventive measures. 

Drain blockages are less a question of if and more a question of when. Whether it’s because of accumulated hair and grease, a rogue toy or excessive tissue use, blockages are often a part and parcel of domestic life. However, when a significant blockage strikes and disrupts daily routine, knowing how to respond can be a lifesaver. 

Beyond the overly simplified plunger process pitched by DIY enthusiasts, the reality of effectively resolving a drain emergency can be complex. It involves a host of techniques and tools, coupled with the expertise of skilled professionals. Let’s demystify the process and techniques involved in emergency blocked drain service.

Identifying the Problem: Why Drains Block

Drains block for an array of reasons. It’s not always due to excesses of the human touch, like grease or hair down the sink – nature can lend a hand as well. Plants and tree roots, drawn to the water supply, can often intrude into pipelines.

In other instances, age and damage to the pipeline itself may lead to blockages. Old, deteriorated pipes often play host to encrustations that reduce pipe diameter and impede flow. Identifying the source of the blockage is half the battle won in the war against blocked drains.

Defining the Response: What is Emergency Blocked Drain Service?

At its core, the emergency blocked drain service constitutes an immediate response to a drain, sewer, or pipe blockage that is affecting daily routines or causing damage. Often available around the clock, these services employ professionally trained plumbers who possess the expertise and equipment to combat a variety of blockage situations.

These professionals navigate the maze of drains under your house, diagnosing the problem accurately and efficiently before crafting a suitable solution. It’s not always as simple as ‘remove blockage, restore flow’. The uniqueness of each blockage scenario demands a tailored response every time.

Deciphering the Techniques: How Are Blocked Drains Cleared?

There are myriad techniques at modern plumbers’ disposal, each designed for a specific type of blockage. From wielding the humble but effective plunger for a minor block, urging strong blasts of water via hydro jetting to displace stubborn obstacles, to utilizing state-of-the-art CCTV drain cameras to discover the exact location and nature of the blockage.

Drain rodding, often used for outdoor blockages caused by leaves or plant intrusions, involves the use of sturdy rods to physically break up the blockage. For significant blockages that deter all other techniques, pipe and drain replacements may be the only option.

Pros and Cons of Emergency Drain Services

With immediate response and round-the-clock availability, emergency blocked drain services are apparent saviors. They offer the advantage of professional expertise, protecting your drain system from untrained fiddling that might cause more harm than good.

However, it comes at a cost. Often having a heftier price tag than a regular plumber visit, emergency services may be a financial concern. Furthermore, rush jobs done out of hours can potentially compromise on the quality or longevity of the solution.

Preemptive Measures: Avoiding the Nightmare

Maintaining your drain regularly and responsibly can avert most drain emergencies. Regular pipe inspections, refraining from using the drain as a disposal site for unsuitable substances or objects, being vigilant about the first signs of a slow drain can avert a full-blown blockage. 

Remember to trim tree and plant roots around your outside drains regularly and ensure your pipeline system is in good physical condition. Prevention, most times, is better than the cure.

Conclusion: Navigating the Blocked Drain Labyrinth

Blocked drains can unleash chaos. But with a solid understanding of the reasons behind the blockage, and armed with knowledge of the variety of techniques employed by professional services, the ordeal becomes less daunting. 

While emergency blocked drain services offer a lifeline in times of need, it’s important to weigh the financial implications and to have a mind towards prevention. Above all, never underestimate the power of regular maintenance and a little care towards your home’s “veins”. Keep them free-flowing, and they keep your life undisturbed. In the end, the essence of home life is continuity and fluidity, just like our drains should be.

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E-commerce Security 2021: Alternative of Google reCaptcha

hCaptcha…. ummmmm….. sounds different right? Some might have heard about it but do not know what it is. In simple terms, hCaptcha is an E-commerce security software for bot and spam detection.

Now, you will be thinking you already have reCaptchas for bots and spammers. Well, in this article I will clear you out all about What is hCaptcha? How does it work? Is it safe? Is it better than reCaptcha?

E-commerce security is the major concern for online business owners. Spam and bots affect E-commerce websites adversely. They misuse your site data and hence, you lose the trust of your customers. E-commerce merchants are always in search of protecting their websites from these spammers.

Among the many options available to protect your website from spam attacks, Captchas are one of them. Captchas help you to prevent spams and bots from entering your online store. Completely Automated Public Turing-test to tell Computers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHA) keeps spams and bots away from the website. CAPTCHA recognizes humans and stops spam bots from entering the website.

What is Google reCaptcha?

Initially, people used distorted images with alphabets and numbers on the registration form, checkout page, and login page to prevent spammers from entering the website. With the advancement in technology, spammers and bots got smarter and this technique would no longer prevent them.

Image Source: Nabtron

Later on, with “identify a thing”, the user has to solve the challenge, where it provides a grid of nine pictures and the user has to select appropriate images in order to move ahead.

Image source: Terence Eden

Then after Google bought the reCaptcha and offered a high level of security simplifying the process for users. The user just needs to tick the checkbox “I’m not a robot” without brainstorming to solve the questions. People liked it as the process became faster for them. Plus, it provided a greater level of security.

Image source: Google Developers

Google provides reCaptcha service for free in exchange for user data. Every time a user solves a puzzle, Google gets information about the user’s behavior, what site is being visited.

The latest version of Google reCaptcha is Invisible reCaptcha. With invisible reCaptcha, “I’m not a robot”, the dialog box was even removed and the user was not prompted with any question to solve or perform any task. It tracks user behavior without any user interaction.

What is hCaptcha?

hCaptcha is a complete alternative to Google reCaptcha, owned by Intuition Machines. It is basically the same as reCaptcha with some major benefits. hCaptcha is a blocking tool for bots and spammers to enter your E-commerce websites. hCaptcha offers a high level of security and protects websites from spam and bots. It accurately identifies what is safe and what is a risk for the website. It provides challenges that are difficult for bots to solve but easy for humans.

Image Source: MageComp

Benefits of hCaptcha

Along with, security hCaptcha offers other benefits for E-commerce websites. Let us figure out what hCaptcha has to offer

  • hCaptcha provides security from spam and bots to enter the website.
  • It provides privacy to the user’s personal information.
  • It allows earning money when a user solves a puzzle. The money is received in the virtual form known as Human Tokens which can be used for image classification or given as charity.
  • Users of your site will be able to see the charity work you are doing, increasing your site’s reputation. 
  • hCaptcha provides easy tasks to humans consuming less time.
  • They classify the images and sell back the image classification service to others without binding the personal information of the website visitors.

Is hCaptcha safe?

With hCaptcha, you need not worry about spam, bots, or malicious factors affecting your website. Your website visitors get more privacy if hCaptcha is running on your site. The service providers get an image classification service. You get an incentive with which you can buy services or donate to charities like Wikimedia Foundation. 

Moving from reCaptcha to hCaptcha is like a walk in the park. You simply need to perform 3 simple steps which will cost you less than even 30 minutes. Thus, migrating from reCaptcha to hCaptcha is a stress-free easy-peasy task. 

hCaptcha vs reCaptcha

reCaptcha is being used by millions of people around the world. But the major problem with reCaptcha is, it breaches privacy policies. This problem is solved with hCaptcha. The user’s personal information is safe with hCaptcha. Apart from security, hCaptcha benefits the user as well as the website owners. hCaptcha is not managed by an ad service, hence there is no violation of user information.

Is hCaptcha better than reCaptcha?

Google is becoming less effective in figuring out bots and spam. For this reason, it is better to find an alternative for it. hCaptcha is the new arrival in the spam-preventing area. hCaptcha classifies the images without selling the personal information of the users. hCaptcha provides a small incentive for image classification which the owners can donate as charity. Looking at the positive sides of hCaptcha, yes it is better than reCaptcha.

Final Words:

In a dilemma whether to switch to hCaptcha or not? I must say it’s a pretty good idea to switch to hCaptcha for preventing bots and spam. Integrate Magento 2 hCaptcha Extension and safeguard your store from bots and spammers by increasing the customer experience of the store.

Flipping from reCaptcha to hCaptcha is a matter of minutes by keeping the personal information of the users secure. hCaptcha offers straightforward, effortless, and authentic bot detection making it easy for humans.

Author Bio: Zoya Scoot is a Hubspot Certified Inbound Marketing Specialist and Content Marketer at MageComp. With her exceptional research work on Magento, she has helpes MageComp to grow in many ways. Some of her articles are featured on Google SERPs, which drives lots of visitors.

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Understanding an SPV Fund: How Do They Help Your Biz?

Nowadays, if you are in business, you need to know everything that will benefit it in one way or the other. This article will learn about SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) fund and how they help your biz. The whole thing might seem complicated if you have never worked in the financial field. You also might not be sure of how to make the best of SPVs.Read through the article, and you will know everything about the Special Purpose Vehicle fund.

What is an SPV?

With a particular purpose vehicle, you can take risk projects like investments and acquisitions. An SPV serves as a separate legal entity that you create with the parent company.

In the US, for instance, it works as a private limited company. An SPV has its assets, balance sheets, and liabilities. Once you create an SPV, it will operate as a separate company.

Why would your business need an SPV fund?

SPVs come with their risks, just like any other trade. To avoid some of the risks from happening, you have to be as honest as possible with your balance sheet statements. Here are some of the reasons your business might need an SPV fund.

1. To reduce risks

Managing a business means you know how to handle the risks that come with the business. For instance, your creditors might find loopholes to take your business assets. If you have an SPV, it will operate as a separate company, which means your bad debts won’t affect it.

However, even as you cushion your business from risks, you must be candid with your SPV statements. Unless you do that, since it is also a company, it might cross the legal line. Your SPV might then get sued and collapse due to implications related to dishonesty.

2. Protection from bankruptcy

Your parent business may have other branches in different locations. Since they all operate as a single company, bankruptcy can cripple them if it strikes. To prevent that from happening, you should consider having an SPV.

A particular purpose vehicle keeps your business safe financially. The SPV runs as a separate entity. That means it will keep running even if some parts of your company are financially down. You will still be able to raise money to support and stabilize the parent business.

3. To expand your business

Every entrepreneur wants to expand their business at some point. If your company is doing well, the best you can do is expand the market to increase profits. However, such operations come with a range of risks that might affect your entire company.

To keep your company safe from the financial implications of expanding it, you will need to come up with an SPV. That way, even if the company fails in its operation, most of your assets will still be intact. You will still be able to run your business as you find better ways to expand your company in the future.

4. To enable investment

Did you know that you can create SPVs to secure loans? If you are short of funds to increase your investments, you might want to consider SPV funds. With the help of an expert, you can create special purpose vehicles to enhance inventory.

If you qualify for enough loans, you can start other branches to gain a strong market presence. Note that your financial expert will show you how to secure a loan with an SPV. Even if you manage to get the funds, you must repay your loan based on the terms stated in the contract. Unless you do that, your SPV might face legal action.

Closing thoughts

You are free to close the SPV at any time. But once you do that, your company will take back its assets, and they will be susceptible to risks. Also, closing the SPV will affect the balance sheet of your parent company.

If you are a less seasoned investor, you need to learn first and invest in the right company. Besides, know all the risks associated with opening an SPV and how to overcome them. Once you have decided that an SPV is the best option, seek help from an experienced individual. They will help you develop one at affordable rates and without putting your parent company at risk.

Would you like experts to help you with further understanding of SPVs? Then, contact us today, and we will ease the tension for you.

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Team Building Activities Your Employees Will Love

Having a strong and great relationship with coworkers is important if you wish to be more productive and achieve great results at work. Lots of employers out there like to organize team-building events to make sure their employees are actively working on creating a safe and healthy work environment and cultivating great interpersonal relationships. It’s not always easy to think about the perfect activity and trying to include everyone can sometimes turn out to be rather hard. That’s why some events are better than the others, and these truly are the perfect way to encourage your employees to have some fun while getting to know each other and working on creating the best bonds possible.

Pub trivia

This is something that can be organized in just a few minutes and carried out somewhere outside the office space – in a real pub, if possible! Also, this is an activity all your employees can enjoy, but also let the people from management have some fun at the same time as well. The main benefit of pub trivia games is not to show how smart an individual is, but to let the whole team work together in finding the right answers. Pubs are usually the places where people relax and have a good time, so it’s only natural to let your employees enjoy a fun night out in one of these. Let them organize the game and split up into several different groups on their own, and make sure you encourage them to be in a team with someone they don’t know that well – because that’s the point of pub trivia and team building activities in general.

Escape room

This idea has become really popular in the last couple of years and it allows people to work together and solve a problem that usually seems impossible to solve at first. It allows them to show their strength and knowledge, but also face their fears. Whether your team consists of people that have just started working together or coworkers that have known each other for years, being in this kind of situation will benefit their relationship whatsoever. They will learn how to communicate on a completely new level and figure out how to maximize everyone’s strength while solving the puzzle. They will also need to learn how to trust each other, and that’s something that will turn them into a better team in the future.

Camping in nature

Although this may not seem like an activity many employees would choose, more and more companies are starting to see the benefits of organizing a camping activity in the open This can be a good way to achieve a couple of things – from letting your employees build trust in their coworkers, to inspiring them to face their fears and realize their true strength. But, don’t forget to bring all the necessary equipment and gear with you, including stuff like tents, food and water, supplies, quality Tekto Gear knives, and a first aid kit. After an adventure like this one, everyone will be waiting for the next one and will already know what to expect!

Scavenger hunt

Being able to do something fun with your colleagues is always a great way to spend your time and work on building relationships that will last. Not only can this game be played in teams, which will help you learn how to communicate with other members of your squad, but you can also practice working on yourself and stepping out of your comfort zone. Divide everyone into teams, but try to come up with teams consisting of people who don’t work or spend time together. This will allow everyone to learn something interesting about their colleagues and the result will be beneficial for the overall communication in the company.

Board games

Even though this may sound like a simple and old trick, this is the best way to create a relaxing atmosphere and include everyone in the dynamic process of playing different board games. The purpose of this activity isn’t making everyone feel competitive, but it’s all about spending time together and getting to know your coworkers on a deeper level. There are lots of games you can play, including Twister, Charades, and Jenga, so just pick everyone’s favorite games and have a great time!

Spending your free time with your coworkers might not seem like the best idea in the world, but it can actually become more enjoyable than you can imagine. In the end, you’ll all have so much fun and bond like never before – and that’s something all entrepreneurs want!

Infographic created by Team Bonding, an in person team building activities business

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Four Tips for Improving Employee Morale

It’s no secret that the past year has been fairly stressful for most of us. And with all of the uncertainty about the future, the need for good employee morale is higher than ever. With boosted morale also comes increased productivity, greater job satisfaction, and better workplace culture.

However, many employers tend to balk at the idea of trying to find ways to improve morale. After all, if you’ve invested in thorough DBS/employee background checks during the recruitment process, you should expect your hires to be a perfect fit. Isn’t the goal at the end of the day to secure a paycheck and nothing more? Fortunately, improving your staff’s morale doesn’t have to be an arduous undertaking. By implementing these four simple tips, you can improve your staff’s morale — without breaking the bank or falling short on your goals!

Prune Out the “Bad” Employees

This may seem counterintuitive, but hear us out. Yes, firing staff may seem like the absolute opposite of improving your team’s morale. Won’t the rest of the staff start to wonder if they’re next to go on the chopping block? No, and in fact, the opposite is true! Firing specific types of staff can actually be incredibly beneficial to your team.

The old saying about it taking only one bad apple to ruin a batch isn’t that far from the truth, especially when it comes to an already strained workplace environment. Indeed, the so-called “bad” employees can be one of the worst things for your company’s culture. By removing the toxic ones (such as the ones who don’t do their share or spread spiteful gossip), you can lift a burden off of the rest of the team’s back.

Ask for Feedback (And Actually Listen, Too)

One thing that many employers tend to overlook when trying to create a positive work environment is how their staff feel about working there. Fortunately, learning more about your team’s thoughts and feelings is easier than you’d think; all you need to do is simply ask them.

Yes, some may be a little bit hesitant to share their thoughts with you, but their candor can pay off in dividends if you actually take note and implement their suggestions. From suggestions on how to streamline workplace productivity to ideas on how to better manage lunch breaks, your employees are ready to share their thoughts with you… as long, of course, as you are willing to listen.

Implement a Mental Health Program

Statistics reveal that mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety, are on the rise. Unfortunately, many people who struggle with mental health issues tend to fall through the cracks, not getting the much-needed treatment they require to maintain good mental health.

As an employer, taking measures to help address these prevalent mental health issues can be one of the most compassionate and effective ways you can improve your team’s morale. Even better, many mental health facilities (such as SBtreatment.com, an outpatient behavioral health treatment program based in Southern California cities) are now offering remote telehealth treatment, ensuring everyone can get the care they need.

Recognize Your Team’s Hard Work

It’s far too easy to get caught up in the pressure of meeting deadlines and milestones and forgetting the effort that got you there in the first place. Your employees are your bread and butter, and they help keep your business running smoothly. Taking the time to single out especially hardworking staff, or even recognizing their collective efforts as a team, can be an amazing gift you can give them.

There are a number of ways you can show them that you appreciate them, too. While raises and increased vacation time are always well-received, you can also find other ways to do it. For example, an office party can be both fun and inspiring. Also, don’t underestimate the power of a kind word. Merely saying, “You did great, and I appreciate you,” can speak volumes to your employees and help them to feel valued.

A Happy Team is a Happy Employer

Ultimately, your goal as an employer is to improve your bottom line and be successful in your chosen industry. Sometimes you may wonder if your employees are doing their part to help you attain these goals, and it’s quite normal to ask these questions. However, you shouldn’t dwell exclusively on what your employees are doing for you. You also need to be mindful of what you’re doing for them in return, as well.

As their boss, your staff tends to turn to you for guidance. For all of their hard work, it’s only fair to find ways to compensate them for it. By introducing these four tips, you can help make sure your staff are both content and helping you achieve the success you deserve. And in doing so, you can help ensure your long-term success, too!

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How to Build an Award-Winning Sales Team

There’s little doubt that most of us, at some point, have experienced that uncomfortable feeling of being “pressured” by an overly aggressive salesperson into buying a product or service.

Most often, we usually thank them and abruptly walk away, even though we may have initially been interested in the product or service being offered. All too often, it’s a simple matter of timing, allowing the customer to reach their own “comfort zone” by allowing them the time to assess the product or service.

Moreover, knowing when to engage the buyer and hopefully close the sale, and that’s where teaching the basic skills needed to sell becomes essential in keeping and maintaining a viable customer base within an ever-changing high-tech environment.

However, where do we begin in developing a sales team?    

Today the landscape has changed dramatically. Businesses more than ever need to rely on targeted sales training programs specifically designed to the company’s individual needs.

Nevertheless, you may choose to “go it alone,” perhaps thinking it’s no big deal in assembling a sales team, and perhaps that was true a decade or so ago. However, the marketplace has changed dramatically.

Within the retail industry alone, online sales this holiday season skyrocketed to over 50% in global online sales, to over $1.1 trillion dollars, with over 58% coming just a week before Christmas.  

Moreover, total U.S. online sales reached $236 billion, compared to $165 billion in 2019. This trend will no doubt continue well into the future.

The competition from online sales where customers simply log on to their favorite website and push a button presents a real challenge; the question is, how do we navigate forward when the salesperson is taken out of the equation?

“Going it alone” shouldn’t be an option, rather recruit a professional sales training firm, one that provides a total sales methodology, one that benefits every salesperson, no matter how experienced they are within your company.

Moreover, recruit a firm that utilizes core sales training techniques such as:

In-Person Workshops

This allows for invaluable person-to-person interaction between individuals, which in turn builds a dedicated sales force.  

Online Courses

This is an excellent way of sharing sales training techniques with others on the team and a great way of keeping track of their progress.

Internal Team Testing

This is another great way of calculating the strength and weakness of your sales force by reviewing past sales cycles.

Do your due diligence in choosing a sales training company. Also, make sure you do your due diligence before you contract a sales training company, check their success rate, their client base, and most importantly, can they meet your specific needs? 

Trial and Error

Moreover, the most important aspect of any sales training program is what occurs in the field. In that, most sales techniques are developed by trial and error. Feedback by the client thus becomes extremely important within the development of any sales force.

However, perhaps just as important in crafting a successful sales training program is how the buyer preserves the salesperson who is tasked with the “art-of-persuasion” in which he or she must put themselves in the buyer’s shoes. The salesperson should be able to understand and, more importantly, solve any problem that might arise.

A Well-Defined Script

Crafting a well-defined script is also an essential part of sales and should become second nature when speaking with a customer; it should sound natural, not rehearsed.

Most likely, if you’ve never spoken in public, this can be a daunting task. However, with practice, the fear factor will slowly diminish. That’s not to suggest that you won’t feel a bit uneasy during the first few encounters. However, as you become more comfortable with yourself along with the product or service you’re selling, you’ll develop a certain cadence to your presentation, you’ll be able to emphasize certain aspects of the product or service, perhaps highlighting a special feature.

If you’re selling in-person to a customer and not on the phone, it’s a good idea to practice your presentation standing in front of a mirror; remember, this is a performance. The more comfortable you are with yourself, the easier the sale.

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5 Best Sick-Leave Practices During the Pandemic

As this year draws to a close, we are hoping to greet 2021 with a brighter outlook and more opportunities to rebuild the economy, as well as our everyday lives. Every company has been affected by the pandemic. Many have had to let go a number of employees, entire businesses have switched to working remotely, and others have had to make sure that, if office-based work is necessary, their teams are as safe as possible. 

In addition to following the government-prescribed rules on social distancing and hygiene, brands are also trying to make it easier for them to spot potential risks and prevent spreading the virus at the office. However, when it does happen, and someone gets sick, companies have also had to adjust their approach to sick leave. The listed ideas on managing your sick leave policies will allow you to keep your teams safe, manage their office time more efficiently, and of course, run your business more seamlessly as a whole. 

Empower transparency in your business

If employees are afraid that they’ll lose their job when they get sick, they might feel reluctant to share that they’re not feeling that well. Then again, if they’ve seen people at the office exhibiting coronavirus symptoms, and they don’t report the situation – they might be causing more harm than they know.

Make sure to communicate your sick leave policy and all of its changes to your employees. Ask them how they feel, check up on them for updates, and always remind them that their wellbeing comes first. Only with such a mindset and a culture based on transparency can you expect your teams to work together to ensure a safe office environment while you adapt your sick leave to match their needs.

Manage office time and schedules with ease

One common challenge for companies during the pandemic is handling office schedules, tracking attendance, and overall task management. To help ensure that employees are working remotely when needed and to have an overview of employees away on sick leave, find the best rostering software for your needs to simplify attendance and time management.

When you have a situation of these proportions, you need a structured, organized system to know who among your staff is at the office and who is on sick leave. This will also help with your accounting and HR processes to make sure employees on sick leave get what they need in terms of healthcare, guidance, information, and office updates while they’re away from the office.

Keep sick leave of appropriate length 

Although consistency in granting sick leave to your employees is essential to make sure you don’t spread the virus at the office, you still need to make sure your policy is flexible. Many employers worry that their business productivity and overall collaboration might suffer as a result of the pandemic and granting sick leave at every turn. 

The simple truth is, all companies are strongly encouraged to provide enough time for their employees to recover before going back to the office. Risking an office-wide outbreak fearing a lack of productivity is no basis for such an irresponsible decision. Most companies are granting at least 14 days of sick leave to give their employees enough time to recover and for any symptoms to disappear. Otherwise, remote work is recommended.

Testing and other health screenings

Some companies have introduced the requirement for their employees to get tested for COVID-19 in order to be deemed ready to go back to work. Depending on the situation in your country, you are also obligated by law to provide leave for employees who get sick, as the situation requires consistent sick leave implementation across the board. 

Keep in mind that symptoms aren’t the full picture 

Although we all know what to do when we get a fever and start coughing, there’s been some confusion around symptom-free infections. The core issue here is that many people remain undiagnosed as a result of the lack of symptoms, which may increase the risk of spreading the virus at the office. If a member of one of your employee’s family gets sick, you will most likely be under the obligation to send that employee home. 

However, this doesn’t warrant sick leave per se. If that employee feels well and their capacity to work is in no way diminished, you can enable them to work remotely until their family recovers completely. If it’s possible for them to get tested and confirm whether or not they are infected, that is always a great precaution, but bear in mind that many will get a false negative result – hence the need for remote work. 

The same goes for employees who get sick but are negative to the virus – even though their infection might not be officially confirmed, you need to approve their sick leave for at least two weeks, or until they get better.

Responding to the coronavirus pandemic has pushed companies to change how they operate, as well as their office policies that will remain in effect for as long as there’s risk of COVID-19 infections. With that in mind, your sick leave policy should reflect these circumstances, the changing needs of your employees, and the elevated mindfulness of employee wellbeing and health. Make sure that you factor in the listed ideas in your policy for sick leave and always keep your employees informed on what they should do in case they get sick. 

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5 Essential Branding Tips For At-Home Entrepreneurs

The traditional career path is a road less traveled in today’s digital age. The rise of entrepreneurs and the COVID pandemic has changed how professionals view business. Having a marketable idea and launching a business may prove more profitable, and stable, than the normal 9-to-5 grind.

 

However, starting an at-home business and becoming a successful entrepreneur is a bit more challenging than it may seem. One of the most important elements to a successful business is branding.

 

Branding covers the must-haves in business, especially for entrepreneurs launching a business idea from the kitchen table or home office. Your business’ name, logo, colors, vision, mission, and marketing message are all part of strong branding.

 

From ecommerce to mobile apps, branding is all about how to start online business from home. To help, we compiled a few essential branding tips at-home entrepreneurs may find valuable. Let’s dive in!

1. Ensure Your Brand Has A Market

Brands are only as strong as their target market. This means that you will need to identify your target market and ensure the market will want to purchase your product and/or service.

 

Did you know that the top reason startups fail is no market need? You may have a great business idea, but if there is no market to sell to, it doesn’t matter. How do you identify your market? Here are a few questions to consider:

 

  • What solutions similar to mine are already on the market?
  • Who will buy my product and/or service (buyer personas)?
  • Where does my target market live?
  • Where does my target market live online?
  • How much will my target market be willing to pay?

 

The above questions will get you started. Always think about the market or niche you want to sell to during brand building. This can help shape other aspects of your business.

2. Have Exceptional Brand Positioning In Your Market

Positioning your brand is the next essential branding tip for at-home entrepreneurs. During your target market research, you should have identified your brand’s competition. This is important, and you need to know as much about competitors as possible.

 

What do they offer? What sets your brand apart from the competitors? Why is your brand unique in the market? Find the openings and focus on them. For example, Amazon and Walmart continue to reshape their shipping policies in order to fill gaps and do more business.

3. What’s Your Brand’s Value Proposition

The term “value proposition” may seem antiquated in many ways. But make no mistake, you absolutely need to have a strong value proposition for your brand. What is a value proposition?

 

The value proposition is the value you bring to the customer or end-user. The product and/or service you have probably solves a problem. The problem and the solution to the problem is part of your value proposition. Find it and use it.

 

“A value proposition tells prospects why they should do business with you rather than your competitors, and makes the benefits of your products or services crystal clear from the outset,” Dan Shewan of Wordstream explained.

4. Build Out Core Brand Elements

Having the ground work in place, it is time to build out your brand’s core elements. These are the parts of your brand that customers will see, hear, and read. Brand elements include:

 

  • Brand Perception. Your brand perception is how customers see the brand. And how customers will describe your brand to others. Think about Starbucks. Their brand perception is quality, comfort, hip, community, and sustainable.

 

  • Color Scheme. Colors are very important when it comes to branding. There is actually color psychology that would be worthwhile to look at. Choose your colors wisely.

 

  • You should know the message, colors, and perception you want your customers to have and experience. Take those elements and put them into a well-designed logo. It is critical not to rush this, because it may be your logo for a very long time.

 

  • Brand Tagline. This is an essential branding tip many at-home entrepreneurs forget to employ. Your brand tagline is a short tag that represents your business, and is used for various marketing campaigns. It should be short and clever, like Nike’s “Just Do It.”

5. Maximize Your Online Presence And Optimize

Once you have all of the above sorted out, it is time to maximize your online presence. Develop a website that leverages all your top keywords. Create pages for keywords as well for your website.

 

You should also be blogging and posting on social media daily as a new business. But don’t be spammy. Offer up value and actionable content to entice consumers to check out your brand and evaluate it. Then optimize everything always.

In Conclusion . . .

The above essential branding tips for at-home entrepreneurs is just the tip of the iceberg. However, these tips will get your entrepreneurial journey off to the right start. Create a powerful revenue stream from home and stay in control of your professional future.

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6 Ways Internal Communications Can Impact Your Organization

Are you experiencing problems with employee productivity, engagement, and collaboration in your organization? You have tried everything you could think of, but nothing seems to work. Have you thought about improving your internal communication? Many organizations have been in the same position as you. Rarely anyone think about this aspect’s great importance in the business world. Still, as soon as they enhanced their internal communications, the organizations were back on the right track. Don’t make the same mistake and underestimate the power of effective internal communication. Here is a breakdown of six ways this aspect impacts your organization.

Crisis Management

In a crisis such as the ongoing pandemic, careful and timely communication with employees is essential for keeping things under control. Throughout the crisis, the management and team leaders should communicate regularly with employees and provide updates. Announcing the latest decisions, notifying employees about the newly introduced policies, and sharing relevant information keeps everyone calm in a stressful situation. No matter whether your employees work from an office or home, you can use intranet systems to communicate and manage the crisis. When you communicate with employees, you actually have the power to steer their perception in a positive direction. You keep them informed thus they are prepared for whatever might come. On the other hand, when they are kept in the dark, they easily lose trust, start feeling frustrated, and the whole situation might escalate.

Source: Pexels

Transparency

It’s easy to start a rumor mill in an organization, especially a large one. If employees hear it and start believing in it, their dissatisfaction will grow negatively affecting their productivity and relationship with the management. Nonetheless, you can rely on good internal communication and keep things as transparent as possible. This doesn’t mean you should share every little thing with your employees. Share only matters and information that concern them. Laying your cards on the table right from the start shows integrity, which employees value the most in an employer. It also helps you build a strong and honest relationship with your employees and puts an end to any workplace rumors.

Employee Retention

Employee turnover is a growing problem for organizations all around the US. Employees leave their jobs because they look for flexible working hours, growth opportunities, or better payment, among other things. Every time an employee quits, it leaves serious consequences on the staff and business. Managers have to go through a demanding recruitment process, while employees feel discouraged. To increase employee retention in the company, you should give and receive feedback, assign challenging tasks, offer training, and increase engagement in the workplace. The easiest way to decrease employee turnover rates is through internal communications. Make an effort, get to know your employees, and let them know you and the company. When you know each other well, it is easier for the company not only to retain the existing staff but also to attract new employees.

Source: Pexels

Middle Management

Most organizations follow a top to bottom hierarchy when passing information and communicating. Often, that information gets stuck in the middle among managers. Because of that, there are delays, breakdowns in communication, and problems with feedback. In such a large chain, employees have to depend on themselves and their coworkers for information. Enhancing middle management and using various communication channels allows an ongoing and effective flow of information. It’s also a great opportunity for training and promoting employees into managers. Apart from distributing messages efficiently, employees learn how to manage teams, negotiate, persuade, and solve conflicts. Allowing your employees to learn and develop also helps with their retention.

Arming yourself with important data such as project management statistics can help you supervise this important part of the company.

Remote Staff

Managing a remote staff isn’t an easy task. There are many challenges to overcome. For instance, various time zones, teamwork, team spirit, cultural and language obstacles, etc. Every challenge you face while managing remote staff can easily be overcome through internal communications. If you have to coordinate various time zones, consult your employees and find an overlap that suits everyone. For maintaining team spirit and collaborating, employees simply have to communicate effectively. If your remote team is also a diverse one, then encourage them to get to know each other. This way, cultural and language obstacles will no longer be an issue.

Source: Pexels

Employee Performance

Most employees believe internal communication is crucial for their performance in the workplace. They need to have all the relevant details regarding an assignment or a project, along with superior’s expectations. Such details and upfront expectations help them stay focused and deliver their best work. If some details are missing, such as deadlines, or client’s information, they will have difficulties with their performance at that particular assignment. Similarly, they like to have easy access to information. Therefore, communicate with your employees if you want them to perform well.

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Tips For Recovering From Injury And Getting Back To Work

Did you know that a workplace injury occurs about every 7 seconds during the workday? That amounts to almost 3 million workplace injuries each year.

If you’re ever injured while on the job, it’s going to be very important for you to take the right steps before getting back to work. Recovering from injury is going to be key and will ensure that you’re ready to do your job to the best of your ability moving forward.

There are some people who try to rush through the process of returning to work from being injured—and they often pay the price for doing it. Many times, they end up getting hurt again or continuing to deal with the pain associated with their original work injury.

You can avoid finding yourself in this situation after sustaining injuries that put you out of work. Check out some tips that will help you get healthy and get back to work.

Start by Reporting Your Injury to Your Employer

The first thing that you should do before you even begin to think about trying to recover from an injury sustained at work is report the injury to your employer. They need to know about it, especially if it’s something that’s going to keep you off your feet for a few days, a few weeks, or even a few months.

Your employer should put together a full report on your injury. They should talk with you and others about what happened, what kind of injury you sustained as a result of it, and more.

Don’t jumpstart the process of recovering from injury prior to talking to your employer about it. Otherwise, you could end up not getting paid for however long you’re out of work. You could also have trouble getting back to work later on.

Arrange to Have Your Injury Looked at by a Doctor

In addition to talking to your employer about your work injury, you should also meet with a doctor about it. Even if you don’t think the injury is all that serious, it’s always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to workplace injuries.

You should take a trip to the emergency room or schedule an appointment with your primary doctor so that they can evaluate you and tell you what kind of injury you sustained. Once you know what’s wrong with you, you should then go back and tell your employer about it.

Do Whatever Your Doctor Tells You to Do to Heal Your Injury

After your doctor has figured out what’s wrong with you, they’ll come up with a plan of action as far as your recovery is concerned. They’ll give you some advice on how you should go about getting your injury to heal.

In some cases, the only thing that you might have to do is take some Advil and get some rest. But in other instances, your doctor might recommend that you go to physical therapy or even have surgery to correct whatever health issues you’re having due to your injury.

Follow your doctor’s recommendations so that you can heal up quickly. If you put off doing physical therapy or having surgery, it could result in your injury getting worse.

Speak With a Lawyer About Potentially Taking Legal Action

If your work injury knocks you off your feet and forces you out of work for an extended period of time, it could lead to you missing out on paychecks before long. This could put you in a financial bind and force you to try and go back to work sooner than your doctor might like.

Instead of doing this, why not see if you might be entitled to workers’ compensation? You can request legal help from a workers’ comp lawyer and get the money that you deserve in the aftermath of your injury.

Make Sure You’re 100% Healed Before Going Back to Work

Recovering from injury isn’t something that’s a whole lot of fun for most people. They’re often in a rush to get back to work as soon as they can.

While you should try your best to heal up so that you can work again, you shouldn’t get back to work until you’re 100% ready to do it. Your work injury needs to be completely healed before you even think of clocking back in at work.

If you go back to work too soon, you could aggravate your injury and put yourself right back on the sidelines. You could also put others at risk if you’re not up for the challenges associated with your job.

Return to Your Doctor If You Experience Any Pain After Returning to Work

Once you return to work after recovering from injury, you might be under the impression that you’re in the clear. But this isn’t always the case.

You might still have some pain from your work injury that lingers. If this turns out to be the case, you should make a return visit to your doctor to talk to them about it. They can tell you what you’re going to have to do to get that pain to go away.

You should also keep in touch with your employer about your injury and the pain that continues to come along with it. They might be able to find you a new role that won’t be quite as intense as your old one. 

Recovering From Injury Can Be a Long, Hard Process for Some People

Recovering from injury isn’t always something that you can do overnight or even over the course of a few days. You might have to spend weeks and even months working at recovering from an injury.

Use the tips found here to speed up your recovery process slightly. They should provide you with a chance to get back to work sooner rather than later.

Interested in finding out more about the workers’ compensation you may be entitled to following a work injury? Read through some of the other articles on our blog to learn all about it.