Tag Archives: Corporate Business Solutions

7 Tips to Help You Stay Focused at Work

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Do you struggle to stay focused at work? You’re not the only one. It can be difficult to stay focused while working, especially if you have a lot on your plate. The mind can easily wander to other thoughts you’ve had throughout the day. Next thing you know, 10 minutes have passed and there’s still much work to be done.

How do you stay focused at work so that you can achieve everything you planned for the day? Here at Corporate Business Solutions, we want offices to be as efficient as they can be. That is why we came up with a list of seven tips to help you stay focused throughout your workday.

Set Daily Goals

Having a physical to-do list or a sheet with goals for you to achieve will help keep you focused and determined. It’s easy to say that today is a new day and that you’ll be super efficient. However, without something to help keep you in check, you’ll soon start to notice your mind wandering again.

Put Away Distractions

We’re all guilty of it – leaving our phone on our desks or Facebook running in the background and then checking it from time to time. The thing is that when you are still connected to the outside world, those distractions will always be in the back of your mind. By getting rid of them, there’s no temptation to check in our social media accounts.

Work in Blocks

Trying to work for hours on end isn’t the answer to being focused and efficient. Your mind needs time to relax and reset. Otherwise, the tension continues to rise and it will become harder and harder to focus. Instead, work in blocks of roughly 60 to 90 minutes and then take a quick break to listen to music, take a walk, or close your eyes and take deep breathes.

Find a Reason in Everything You Do

If you cannot find a purpose or reason for doing something, it will be hard to stay motivated and focused at your task. When beginning a new task, ask yourself why you are doing this. That answer will help give you the push to stay focused to finish your job.

Get Comfortable

One distraction that is difficult to fight is discomfort. When you’re uncomfortable at work, whether it be due to the atmosphere or the chair you’re sitting at, your mind will keep wandering to that discomfort. Keep yourself comfortable at work to help release any tension and stay focused at the task at hand.

Drink More Water

We already know that water keeps us healthy. Did you also know that water can help you focus more? By drinking a glass of water throughout the day, it helps to refresh and revitalize you so that you can get back to work. So, keep a bottle of cold water at your desk as your reminder.

Stay Organized

If your desk is always disorganized, the clutter won’t help promote an atmosphere to focus well in. When there are so many things in your eyesight, it makes it difficult to keep your attention on one thing. By decluttering and staying organized, there will be fewer distractions for your mind to fight.

The Benefits of Making Mistakes in Business

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After reading the title, you may be wondering how making a mistake in the business world has many benefits. Wouldn’t you want to avoid making mistakes in the first place?

The truth is, every business is bound to make a mistake at some point or another. No matter how much planning and work you put in, there’s like a mishap that will catch you off guard.

Making mistakes is how we learn and grow. If you never take a risk, it’s hard to tell what truly will work for your business. By putting yourself and your business out there, even if it ends up backfiring, you learn more about your company and you as a leader.

With Corporate Business Solutions Consultants, we know the importance of growing a successful business, but also how a mistake can benefit that growth.

You Learn More

When you use a mistake as a learning opportunity, you can look at it as a good mistake then. However, this is only true if you genuinely use the mistake as a learning opportunity. If you ignore it and keep doing the same thing over and over, the mistake will no longer be beneficial.

When you see something gone wrong, take some time to investigate it. What happened and how did it happen? What could you do to prevent it from happening again? Was there any good that came out of it? How do you need to take your business so that this mistake doesn’t happen again?

You Can Try New Things

When mistakes are embraced, it allows people to experience new things. If you’re scared of mistakes and don’t take a risk, you will likely miss out on many opportunities that could benefit your business.

It’s not easy to be vulnerable. However, when you are, you start to experience more than what you usually would. These experiences allow you to take your business on new paths that could benefit you greatly.

Shows You’re Willing to Try

A mistake shows that you tried something new and daring, even if it ended up backfiring. For many, they see that as a positive trait. You’re willing to take risks needed to keep expanding your business.

It’s All on How You Handle It

In the end, if you or someone in your business makes a mistake and you handle it poorly, all of the positives that can come from it will be overshadowed. If you’re the leader in the office, handling a mistake calmly and professionally, all while being encouraging, that will go a long way.

The main takeaway is that it’s okay to make mistakes in the business world. It’s how you learn and how you grow. That isn’t to say you should go out and make as many mistakes as possible. However, it’s okay to put your company out there and let it be vulnerable. In the end, you learn more and can use that experience as you continue to push your company farther ahead.

6 Tips For Setting Up Your Home Office

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Having a home office has become a necessity in almost every household – especially if you work from home. In fact, for many self-employed entrepreneurs, a home office is necessary for the job. A small desk tucked into the corner of the living room won’t cut it anymore. When it comes to tax season, many entrepreneurs need to have a set office to have any tax exemptions.

On top of that, a home office helps you keep your work and personal life separate, just as you would if you traveled to your workplace. It helps keep you organized, as well as look and feel more professional.

If you’re in need of setting up a home office, Corporate Business Solutions Reviews has a few tips to help you get one set up.

Designate a Room

First, you need to have a room that you can call your office. Ideally, if you’re a working professional that needs somewhere to go every day, you want a place that is strictly your office. Sometimes you can get away with using a spare room as your office. However, it’s best to use an empty room that is meant to be your workplace.

Plan Out What You Need

Once you have your space, you’ll need to come up with a list of everything you need for work. Start with the obvious items like a desk, chair, computer, stationery supplies, and an internet connection. These would be all the things you have to have to do any work. Then move to other items that may not be a necessity, but they would help make your day to day tasks that much simpler.

Find Good Quality Supplies

More specifically, find a good quality desk and chair that is ergonomic. You’ll be spending a significant amount of time here, so you’ll want to make sure you’re comfortable. The last thing you need is to get distracted by pains in your neck and shoulders due to improper positioning while working. Spend the extra money to find a desk and chair that works right for you.

Remove Clutter & Organize

There’s no point of having more than what you need in your office. Having too much stuff that looks like clutter will only cause distractions. Staying organized is key for having a successful home office. So, go through your supplies and see what you can get rid of and what needs to find a home. Every item in your office should have a spot to help keep your desk and room free of clutter. If it doesn’t, ask yourself if you really need it.

Add a Personal Touch

No one says your home office has to be black and white with nothing but your work supplies. Many people decorate their desks at the workplace, so you should be able to do the same. If you want, add in any artwork pieces or color to your office to make it as comfortable for you as possible.

Set Working Office Hours

Lastly, it’s essential to have office hours. When working from home, it’s easy to get in the mindset of putting things off or having visitors over. If you’re at work, then you should be at work. Have designated office hours where you disconnect from your phone and social media, and refrain from having visitors or booking appointments during those times.

Life Changing Steps to Becoming Successful

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Becoming successful – it’s what so many of us strive for. Success is one of those things that comes in all shapes and sizes. It is not something saved for only the rich and famous. It’s not a fairy-tale or a dream that will never come true.

Success is attainable for everyone, as long as you’re willing to go after it.

That is the thing with success; it’s not something you can just hand over to someone. It comes from hard work not just on what you’re doing, but on who you are as a person.

If you’re looking for the key to success, consider some of the following tips for an overall successful life. CBS-CBS.com provides many tips for small businesses that will help you get on the success path for not just work, but for life.

Go Outside Your Comfort Zone

There’s a reason why it’s called the comfort zone. It’s where you are most comfortable and likely not very vulnerable. You know what is going on and what is likely to happen. It’s easy.

One key to success is to step outside of your comfort zone every so often. Take on a new challenge that may make you nervous. Once you step outside of your comfort zone, you start to learn new things about yourself and what you’re capable of doing.

Be Determined and Committed

Because success is not something that gets handed to you, determination and commitment are vital to being successful in life. There’s a difference between being interested in something, and being determined to know more. When you have that determination and commitment, you won’t let anything stand in your way of being successful.

Learn to Appreciate Failures

We often look at failures as the enemy, which is why we tend to stay in our comfort zone. Failures can be quite discouraging. They lead you to think that you can’t do something. However, if you learn to appreciate each failure as a stepping stone, you learn from those speed bumps and continue down the road to success.

Think of a child learning to walk. They don’t start walking right after the first step. Instead, they fall over and over again until they get the hang of walking. After that, good luck stopping them because they want to walk everywhere now.

A failure is when you stumble down after learning to take a step. Instead of giving up, continue with those steps until you’re past the point of failing. After that, you won’t want to stop.

Be Realistic

Most of these keys to success are about being daring and going after things. Another key that is different from those stated above is knowing when you need to be realistic. Setting too high of standards and going after unattainable goals is a way of setting yourself up for disappointment. That disappointment can quickly pull us down from the high of success and make us want to give up.

Instead, be realistic about what you can and cannot do. You can have big dreams, but set yourself realistic goals to get there.

6 Qualities to Look For When Hiring a New Employee

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When the time comes to hire employees, it can be difficult to determine who is the best fit for the position. Especially if you have many applications coming in, eventually you have to select one. Do you have a list of qualities you’re wanting from your new employee?

As send out a job posting, typically you want to hire the best and brightest person. Although your business will have its unique needs compared to others, there are some standard traits which employees should possess that work across all companies.

Corporate Business Solutions is here to help you out. As you begin your hiring process, pay attention to the following six traits to find the best employee for your company.

Dependability

You want someone whom you can depend on, not having to check in to ensure work is getting done. A dependable employee can be trusted with almost any task, and you know it will get done. If not, you can guarantee they will keep you informed or ask for help.

Commitment

When you hire an employee, you’re looking for someone that will stick with you for a long time, rather than walk out the door after the first month. Why? Because it can cost you more money having to hire and train new employees on a regular basis. Commitment is a significant quality to look for.

Good Work Ethic

A good employee is one that knows when it’s time to get to work and ignore distractions. The work ethic of an employee is another top trait to pay attention to. What would you rather have: an employee who clocks in, does the bare minimum, then heads home. Alternatively, would you instead prefer an employee who is willing to put in more than just the minimum, is willing to work extra hours if needed, and one whom you can rely on?

Positive Attitude

The attitude of the potential employee is another significant characteristic to look out for. Someone who comes into the office with a poor attitude day after day will bring down the whole team and create problems with the work environment. Instead, find an employee who can maintain a positive attitude at work, and can leave personal issues at the front door.

Team Member

Even though you want an employee who can work alone without supervision, you still want that employee to work well with the rest of the team (even if the team is just you). If your new worker continually buts heads with everyone around, it will be difficult to get high-quality work done.

Communicator

Ideal employees should know how important communication is in not just the workplace, but in life in general. Many issues can stem from improper communication and a lack of clarity. A good employee should be able to adequately communicate what he or she needs, is concerned about, or if he or she needs help.

On the other side of communication is listening skills. As important as it is for an employee to communicate, they must be able to listen when someone else is talking with them. Pay attention to their verbal and nonverbal communication during the interview process.

4 Steps You Should Take on Your Company’s Social Media Accounts

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By now, the whole world knows how vital it is to have an influential social media account for businesses. Whether it be on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or any other social media platforms available, those are the new driving forces to reach your audience. Without a strong social media presence, your business could be missing out on many new customers and clients.

Most of the time, people find businesses through their social media accounts. Even if they do a simple Google search of the company name, the business’s social media sites tend to pop up near the top of the search. If you want to be more successful in drawing more people to your company, you need to have a strong social media presence.

To help you out, Corporate Business Solutions Reviews has a few steps you should take to give your company’s social media accounts a boost.

Have a Strategy

One of the best ways to get your social media presence going is to have a strategy or a business plan. On the flip side, a quick way to lose the attention on your social media accounts is to have no strategy at all.

Your strategy should include who your target audience is, what the purpose is behind your accounts (are you showing off a certain aspect of your company, trying to draw in more clients, or keeping your current customers informed). Include a mission statement in your plan to help keep your strategy focused.

Be Authentic

Before social media became an essential aspect of businesses, it was easy to hide behind the computer screen and be whom you wanted to be but were too afraid to be in real life.

Nowadays, though, the authenticity of a social media account means everything. Staying true to who you are and what your business is, will be important to your current followers, and those you are trying to draw in.

Be Consistent

The lack of consistency is a sure way to lose your existing following and make it more difficult to gain new ones. The more you can be on your social media platforms, the more your customers and clients will see you.

If you have troubles making the time to post on your platforms, utilize one of the many tools available that allow you to schedule posts and link your accounts together. You can then plan ahead of time what you want to be posted and then continue with the rest of your day.

Connect With Your Audience

Now and then you may want to feature a post that is more on the selling side. However, if you do this too often, you’ll lose the attention of your customers.

Instead, inspire and empower your following. Most of the time that is why they are there. Make content that positively grabs their attention. Interact with them online to make those connections.

Having a successful social media presence doesn’t have to be difficult. The more we overthink it, the harder it becomes. Rather, spend some time researching what your audience is looking at and what they want to see. Remember, your social media is there to grab their attention, so you’ll want to make your content reflect that.

Finding Work-Life Balance as a Small Business Owner

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As a small business owner, it’s easy to get caught up in the everyday tasks of work and forget to make time for at home. For your small business, it’s quite likely that you are not just the owner, but also the employee, the maintenance staff, and the customer service. You are everything to your company.

The problem, though, is finding a healthy balance between work and life. You don’t want to spend every waking minute of the day thinking about work or being at the office. However, you also need to dedicate a lot of your time for the business to succeed. How do you find a balance between the two?

Corporate Business Solutions Consultants understand the difficulties of maintaining a balance between the office and the home. We have four tips that will help you find that balance.

Ask for Help at Work

One of the first things you can do is to ask for some help around work. Whether that means giving a trusted employer more responsibility or hiring more staff, lightening up your workload will free up some time at home.

Some of the tasks that you could hand to someone else would be running the social media accounts and website, dealing with customer support, filing, bank deposits, or cleaning up the office.

Ask for Help at Home

If you cannot afford to hire additional employees at work, then ask for more help around the house. Many working families still have other tasks they need to complete once they get home. By asking for more help around the house, it will free up more time for you when you get home to do the things that matter the most to you and your family.

Some of the tasks that you could get help from family members include general housecleaning, grocery shopping, maintaining the yard, taking care of the family pet, or starting laundry.

Set Boundaries for Yourself

Setting boundaries for yourself not only will help you free up time for at home, but it will also prevent you from overworking yourself too. You could make a rule that after a certain time in the evening, work must stop. It could be as simple as keeping your personal phone number private from work.

Brainstorm boundaries that would prevent you from being at home. Include your family in this as well to have a different perspective. Once you have your list, keep it visible as a reminder.

Be Consistent

Once you become okay with asking for help around the office and at home, as well as setting those boundaries that stop you from working too much, you then need to be consistent with them. All of these steps will only do so much if you don’t maintain it.

If you have that trusted employee taking care of some additional work, don’t micro-manage them and get involved. You’ll just be putting yourself back to square one. The same goes for at home too. You need to trust the people you asked that they will get the job done.

As for your boundaries, if you are not consistently following them, they will never become a habit. Once it’s become second nature to put the phone or computer down at a certain point, you’re less likely to forget about it. Also, if an emergency comes up that requires your time at work that breaks your boundary, you know that it is an okay exception.

4 Traits That Signal Bad Leadership

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If your employees avoid you at all costs, don’t make eye contact with you when talking, and you can see how nervous they are when you come around the corner, chances are there’s an issue with your leadership style.

Poor leadership quickly can be the downfall of any business, no matter the size. If your team does not respect you as their leader and manager, it will be difficult to not only keep them on board with your plans but to keep them employed altogether. Poor leadership is noted as one of the top reasons employees quit their job.

If you want to avoid this scenario or fix it if this sounds like your office already, you’ll need to evaluate your leadership style and see if anything needs changing. Corporate Business Solutions (CBS-CBS.com) has some of the top traits that signal bad leadership.

Poor Listening Skills

If you never listen to your employees, how do you expect to gain their respect? A good leader will take the time to listen to all of the employees he or she has. Not only will this help improve the employer to employee relationship, but you may also find that they have ideas that could benefit the company.

No Honesty

A quick way to turn into a bad boss is by lying to your staff members. The lack of transparency from management will ultimately lead to the lack of trust and respect from the staff in your company.

Being transparent as much as possible with employees helps develop a positive and trustworthy relationship. It shows that you care enough to include them in what affects them. Transparency brings everyone onto the same page, which will help foster a strong team.

Ego Gets in the Way

Ask yourself this – how often do you take responsibility if an issue arises, or do you often find yourself asking someone else why this problem occurred? A visible sign of poor leadership is when the manager won’t take responsibility and lets his or her ego get in the way.

When there is good leadership in the office, the manager knows when to take responsibility for issues that are out of their employee’s controls. If he or she makes a mistake, they own it, learn from it, and move forward. Also, a good manager knows when it’s time to recognize his or her employees so that the spotlight isn’t always on them.

Lack of Understanding

Proper leadership knows there needs to be a balance between empathy and being understanding, and knowing when you need to be stricter. If you don’t have compassion towards what your team goes through on a daily basis, as well as any challenges they face outside of the office, you’ll likely notice a negative atmosphere in the office.

Empathy is essential in management. Quite often the word empathy correlates soft management. However, the lack of empathy actually corresponds to harsh management in the employee’s eyes. Showing a bit of understanding towards your employees will help foster a sense of trust and that you care, which will help grow your relationship with your employees.

Consider these four traits and compare them to your leadership style. Can you confidently say, and know your employees would agree, that you listen to them, are honest with them, takes responsibility when needed, and shows empathy? If not, it may be time to re-evaluate your leadership style.

4 Reasons Why You Should Start Saving for Retirement Today

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Are you contributing to your retirement fund? If not, ask yourself why not? There are many reasons why someone holds off on saving for retirement – they have debts to pay off first or don’t make enough money right now, or want to treat themselves while they are young.

It’s easy to come up with an excuse to not put money aside for decades down the road. The truth is, though, you should start saving for retirement as soon as possible. The earlier you start saving, the more money you will have when you need it the most.

Corporate Business Solutions Reviews has heard many reasons why people wait to save for retirement. However, we want to give you a few reasons why you should start saving today.

Live Life Financially Free

When it’s time to retire, you should be able to walk out the doors of your job and not have to worry about money ever again. You’ve worked hard for the majority of your life to get to that point. Imagine, though, that you couldn’t pay the bills, travel to see your grandkids, or have to move in with your children.

Your retirement years should be the chance for you to do the things you’ve always wanted to do, and spend time with those you love. However, if you do not have the money for it, you won’t have a very happy retirement. So, start putting aside money today so that your future self can have that financial freedom you’re likely dreaming of already.

Start Earning Interest

Depending on where you are putting your retirement money, you could earn a large amount of interest by the time you retire. Each year you have money in a retirement account you’ll have a return on your investment. Although it may be small at the start, over the years, your annual return will continue to grow along with your retirement fund.

Reach Retirement Sooner

Wouldn’t it be lovely to retire sooner rather than later? If you start saving for retirement as soon as possible, you increase your chances of being able to retire at a younger age. The more money you have in your retirement fund, it allows you the option to choose when you want to retire, and not have to continue working longer than planned.

Won’t Need to Work

How often do you hear someone say that he or she cannot afford to retire yet, even though he or she’s at the average retirement age? Chances are, if they would have started saving earlier on in life, they may have been able to retire when they wanted.

If you can start saving money now and build up a large retirement fund, you also won’t have to go back to work. Many retirees go back to work because they have to. Instead, have a well-funded retirement account in which you would get another job only because you want to.

The bottom line is that the sooner you start to save for your retirement, the better off you will be at that time. You’ll have worked hard to get to the point of retirement. Don’t let it be shadowed over with the fear of not being able to afford retirement.

Why Your Business Needs Teamwork to Succeed

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Running a business is great and all, but if you don’t have a solid team behind you, it will be hard to take that business forward. A successful company has not just good management and a concrete business plan, but it also has a handful of team members that are fully supporting the idea.

As a leader, there is only so much you can do on your own. As the company grows, there will be more tasks to accomplish in one day. If you spread yourself too thin, you may achieve everything but not to the best of your ability. However, if you bring on a team, they can take over some of the load, and everyone will excel at his or her assigned job.

Corporate Business Solutions knows just how essential a team is to their company. Here are four reasons to emphasize the importance of teamwork.

Teamwork Brings New Perspectives to the Table

How often do you find yourself staring at the computer screen with a blank mind? Maybe there is a challenging task that you cannot figure out the best way to approach it. Running out of ideas can happen to the best of leaders.

Having that team provides new perspectives to not just the challenging parts of running a business, but to the simple everyday tasks as well. One member may have done one job a different way beforehand that was very successful while another member may find what a more efficient solution to what you’re currently doing.

A solid team can brainstorm off of each other to come up with new and innovative ideas that sometimes cannot happen on your own.

Teamwork Provides a Support System

When you have a team that can work together and enjoys each other’s company, you develop a support system that everyone can rely on. These relationships allow members to lean on each other when they need it the most.

The support system from a team is also an excellent motivator. The cooperation between everyone can help drive one another to push themselves a little harder than if they were by themselves. Some teams even excel from friendly competition that only comes from having a group.

Teamwork Improves Productivity

Early we mentioned how trying to do everything on your own will spread yourself too thin. Well, by having that team, you can delegate tasks to everyone which allows you to focus on the things that matter most to you – running the company.

When you delegate tasks to members who have the best skills for the job, you’ll start to see an increase in productivity. More people can do more things than one person alone. Especially when they all work together, the team turns into a well-run machine that can continue to accomplish everything asked of them.

Teamwork Provides Learning Opportunities

When you bring together a group of people to work side-by-side, it will turn into learning opportunities in two ways. The first is by brainstorming different ideas that other people may not have thought about.

The other learning opportunity is through errors. Mistakes are inevitable. However, if dealt with properly, the team can someone’s mistake as a way to avoid them in the future.