Category Archives: Corporate Business Solutions LLC Reviews

Ten Top Tips for Increasing Your Productivity

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The key to making your business more successful is to improve your productivity. Achieving more in less time is the best way to ensure higher revenue and greater profits. However, while it might sound simple to say “be more productive”, it isn’t always easy to know how to achieve that goal. Here are ten expert tips that should help you get started.

  1. Plan to Check Your Emails

Rather than leaving your email notifications on 24/7, try switching them off. Constantly having to stop the task you’re working on to respond to a notification makes it difficult to concentrate and delays your progress. Instead, try to schedule certain times of the day when you’ll check your emails and reply to any which need a response.

  1. Plan Your Day to Suit Your Working Style

You know best what works for you, so plan your day around your individual working style. For example, if you’re more focused in the morning, plan to do the hardest tasks before lunch. When you plan your schedule around your energy cycles and personality you can get more done in the most efficient way.

  1. Try Batching

Batching is a great productivity technique that helps you to maximize your concentration by focusing on similar tasks at the same time. For example, if you’re writing a newsletter, why not write them for the next few months as well to save you time in the long-run. If you’re already in the flow, it makes sense to stick with the task in hand.

  1. Establish A Routine

If you do certain activities at a regular time, it removes the time-consuming decision-making process which is involved with determining what you should do next and when you should fit in specific tasks.

  1. Outsource to An Expert

You can hugely increase your productivity by outsourcing tasks that you find time-consuming to those who specialize in them. Not every business owner is an expert in every field, so it makes sense to use professionals who offer those services and who can carry them out to the highest level. For example, check out our Corporate Business Solutions reviews to find out how outsourcing to experts can be extremely helpful to small and medium-sized businesses.

  1. Stop Checking Your Phone

Evidence shows that we check our phone an average of thirty times during a standard working day. That means that you’re losing up to two and a half hours of every business day, not to mention interrupting your flow and disturbing your concentration on the task in hand. Put down your phone in a drawer and leave it until you hear it ring!

  1. Try The “Pomodoro” Method

The Pomodoro method involves setting an alarm and focusing on a single task until the alarm sounds. Plan 25 minutes for each task and focus on it until you hear the alarm go off. This helps you to avoid getting distracted by other things you need to do and helps you to stay productive. Take a five-minute break in between each 25-minute session.

  1. Lot Your Activities on A Timesheet

It might sound ridiculous, but if you log your activities on a timesheet over the course of a week, you’ll be surprised to see exactly how you’re using your time. Once you know what you’re actually doing, you can make an informed decision about where optimizations can be made.

  1. Harness the Power of Technology

There are lots of helpful apps, pieces of software and technological solutions that can save you time, effort and energy when running your business. Identify your pain points then find an appropriate technological solution to improve your productivity.

  1. Improve Your Processes

Take the time to write down all your processes and the way in which you carry out certain tasks. Are you tackling things in the best way? Are you doing more than you need to? Could you automate any step of the process? Once you’ve carried out a review, you can see where improvements can be made and action them.

Is Size Important or Not?

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The importance of size obviously depends on the situation. For instance, a business benefits from having a larger customer base. In cases such as this, it’s important for a business to optimize the size of its assets.

One of the best ways to do this is to use analytics. Doing so helps businesses to see where improvements need to be made. The problem is that many businesses struggle to have the time and expertise to make the best use of analytics. If this applies to your business, you may find that getting help from Corporate Business Solutions Consultants is a good idea. Let’s take a closer look at why getting this type of help can be so important.

What is analytics?

Analytics has come to the forefront of the business world in recent years. It’s a field that makes use of data, IT, statistics and quantitative analysis in order to provide detailed information. This information is used by businesses in order to plan and strategize effectively.

Analytics can be applied in many different areas including customer relationship management, management of business finances, HR management and management of the supply chain.

Why is business analytics so important?

Considering the question of the size that was raised earlier in this article, you can start to see why analytics are so important to a business. For instance, how can your business understand the size of its customer base, or its revenue, if it does not have analytics in place? It’s important that your business has this information so that it can make decisions about improvements that need to be made.

The simple fact is that analytics can help your business grow the size of its share of the market and increase the number of customers that it has, and the resulting revenue. This means that your business can remain competitive and continue to grow. Obviously, these are important considerations for any business.

Different types of analytics

Most full analytics processes involve the use of three types of analytics; descriptive analytics, predictive analytics, and prescriptive analytics.

Descriptive analytics

This is the part of the analytics process that deals with the interpretation of historical data. It provides a business with information about what has happened in the business up to that point.

Predictive analytics

Predictive analytics involves using techniques such as machine learning and predictive modeling to analyze the current and past situation with the business in order to predict future situations.

Prescriptive analytics

This is the stage in business analytics which involves the use of predictive and descriptive analytics to help make informed decisions for the business. This is done using mathematical and computational sciences.

The answer to the question about whether the size is important or not is that it certainly can be. Businesses need to concentrate on the size of their revenue and market share in order to thrive. Using business analytics helps them to do this. If you want to ensure that you use analytics for your business, as effectively as possible, it may be a good idea to seek professional assistance.

 

To Sell or Not To Sell – That is the Question

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You may not realize it, but selling your business does not have to be a solely financial decision. Although, you do need to make sure that any sale you make is as financially advantageous as possible.

This is why it often makes sense to get help from the experts at CBS-CBS.com when you are considering the prospect of a sale. They can help you with knowing the value of your business and understanding if selling is the right decision. The question is, why might you be considering the sale of your business? Here are three potential reasons for the sale of a business, not all of which are financially based.

The value of the business

Working with a professional partner is an excellent way of understanding the value of your business. Some of the main factors that contribute to the value of a business are:

  • Projected revenue.
  • Industry fluctuations.
  • Availability of businesses on the market.

If your business has a high value, and you can secure a substantial amount of liquidity, it may be time to sell. This is because it’s important to recognize that you may not always be in such a financially advantageous situation.

Lack of appetite for business risk

For many business owners, there comes a time when the risk of running a business is tiring rather than exhilarating. This can mean that they become risk-averse and are less willing to innovate and change. This means that business growth is likely to be stifled. It could even mean that the business begins to fail.

If you are a business owner who recognizes themselves in this description, it may be a good idea to sell your business. This is especially the case if your business is in a good position at present. If this is the case, you should be able to make a good sale and get out of the business before your risk aversion starts to have an adverse effect.

The chance of a new opportunity

Becoming tired of the risk of running a business, is almost the exact opposite of another potential reason for selling. Many entrepreneurs feel that they need a new challenge, even when their current business is successful.

This could be because they lack the motivation to continue to innovate in the same field, or because they simply want to experience something new and be challenged by mitigating new risks. If you are a business owner who feels as though they need the challenge of a completely new direction, it may be a good idea to sell. You can then use any profits that you make to help get your new enterprise off the ground.

Businesses are bought and sold every day; for many different reasons. If you are thinking of putting your business on the market, you will have your own personal reasons for doing so. Whatever the reason, it’s important to consider the sale carefully and seek assistance from the experts if you need help with valuing your business.

Why Business Taxes Do Not Need to be Taxing

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Taxes cause nightmares for many business owners. This is because they can be so complicated to understand. Completing taxes is also frustrating for many small business owners because it involves time spent away from other business-related activities.

If you are a small business owner who recognizes this situation, you may want to take a look at Corporate Business Solutions Reviews and find a professional who can help with your taxes. You may also want to take some time to get a better understanding of taxes yourself. Here is some basic information to get you started, and to help make completing your taxes less taxing.

Understanding business tax

Corporate or business tax is charged on the profits that a company makes. These taxes are due at different times of the year, depending on which type of tax is due. For instance, partnerships and S-corporations pay federal taxes which are due on March 15. In the case of Individual taxes and C-corporation taxes, they are due to be paid on April 15.

It’s possible to get a 6-month grace period which extends the deadline for these taxes. It’s also possible for taxes to be paid in installments, with an amount due every quarter.

Paying tax as a small business

It’s important to know that most small business owners pay tax at the personal tax rate, both personally and for the business. This is because around three-quarters of small businesses in the US are not corporations.

Another piece of information that small business owners should know is that they are entitled to a Qualified Business Income Deduction. This means that they are entitled to a 20% deduction of QBI which is the net amount of items of income, gain, deduction and loss that qualify.

Other taxes that a business needs to pay

There are other taxes that a business is responsible for paying. One of the main taxes is payroll tax which amounts to 7.65% of the gross payroll of a business. Other applicable taxes include:

  • Capital gains tax which is payable on business investments and the sale of assets.
  • Property tax which relates to buildings that are owned by the business.
  • Tax on dividends from business investments.

You can see that there are several different tax considerations that business owners need to be aware of.

The benefits of getting help with taxes

While getting a better understanding of taxes, is good for any business owner, it may still be a good idea to get help with taxes. This is because completing tax returns can take time away from other business activities.

It’s also worth remembering that accountants and tax professionals have high levels of experience and expertise. This means they can ensure that a business gets the benefits of any potential tax advantages.

If you are a small business owner, you should be able to see the advantage of this. You should also remember that the best way of making tax less taxing is to get an expert to help you with it.

What Do You Want, Do You Really, Really Want?

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As the owner of a small to medium business, it can be tempting to try and do everything in -house. In fact, many small business owners take it one step further and try to complete many tasks themselves.

The problem with this is that no-one can be an expert in every aspect of running a business. There is also a chance that tasks will not be completed effectively when a business tries to do everything itself. This is why it often makes sense to seek professional help with

CBS-CBS.com. Doing so can help a business get the expert assistance it needs when dealing with complex issues such as analytics or tax issues.

Knowing what help you want

If you are running a business, and decide that seeking professional assistance is a good idea, you need to understand what help you want. In order to get this understanding, you need to examine your current business structure. This helps you to determine what expertise you have in-house.

You also need to be critical about which areas of the business are not being addressed as they should. For instance, you may not be making the most of tax opportunities. You may also be missing out on marketing opportunities because you are not paying enough attention to your analytics. There are many areas where seeking professional expertise can be useful for a business. Here are three of them.

Tax and accountancy

Tax rules can be complicated for business owners to understand. This means that they serve as a distraction from other business-related tasks such as creating a marketing strategy.

Likewise, business finance decisions can also be complicated and difficult to negotiate. This is why working with a partner that can provide accountancy services is a good way of optimizing your tax position and ensuring that your business finances are managed efficiently.

Analytics

No business can operate to its full potential, without measuring its performance. There is usually an array of data that businesses can use to inform their operational decisions. The problem is that not all businesses have personnel who have the time and/or knowledge to use analytics effectively.

If this applies to your business, it’s a good idea to work with professionals who can provide you with analytics solutions. This is because you get accurate and transparent information that you need in order to make the best decisions for your business.

Human resources

This is actually one of the most important aspects of running a business. However, it’s also one that is often neglected. This is because business owners and managers tend to concentrate their efforts on the numbers when it comes to productivity and profits.

However, without a good HR system in place, it’s impossible to manage one of the most important resources of a business; its workforce. This is why many businesses work with professional partners in order to get the HR solution that they need.

You can see why you should stop and think about what assistance you need to make your business run more efficiently. Then you need to find a reliable and reputable partner to provide this assistance.

Why Good Succession Planning is Essential for Your Business

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In order for a business to continue being successful, it needs to be prepared for any future gaps in personnel. This applies from ground level to senior management. To have this level of preparation, effective succession planning needs to take place.

This planning helps a business to establish vacancies that may occur. They can then make decisions about how to fill these vacancies. This involves planning aspects such as identifying internal skills and potential, training and external recruitment requirements. Businesses can make use of Corporate Business Solutions Consultants to help with this planning, which provides several vital benefits.

Identifying potential within the business

Succession planning enables a business to identify potential talent within. It helps a business to determine who are the future leaders within the workforce. These people can then be developed with a view to filling gaps that are likely to occur, higher up the ladder.

Making important savings

It’s a lot more expensive to recruit externally than it is to train and support gifted people that are already employed within the business. This means that succession planning helps to save money which the business can allocate to meet other essential expenses.

Identifying potential future weaknesses

While succession planning is a useful tool for identifying potential talent and training requirements; it also has another important role in business planning. It can help to identify future potential weaknesses in the business.

It does this by predicting the loss of essential personnel. For instance, the head of sales could be looking to move on. If this happened, and there was a delay in filling the role, there could be a negative impact on sales. Having this information in advance enables a business to mitigate the potential risks. This helps to preserve the performance and profits of a business.

Establishing if there is a competency gap

Succession planning is not just about filling gaps that may be created by vacancies. It’s also about establishing if there is a gap in competencies required for the current and ongoing success of the business.

For instance, there may be a lack of knowledge at ground level that will enable people to progress to a higher level in the business. There may also be a lack of awareness of skills and expertise that will be needed to meet technical or industry developments.

Identifying these competency gaps means that a business can act accordingly. It can ensure that the gaps are addressed so that the business continues to operate successfully.

In summary

Effective succession planning is a vital tool for any business that wants to maintain its level of success. It enables the business to ensure that any potential personnel or skills gaps are identified and addressed.

This type of planning can help a business to save money by ensuring that it makes the best use of its current workforce. Members of this workforce can be trained and developed so that the business becomes self-sufficient in filling vacancies and does not have the expense of external recruitment.

Help – You Need Somebody

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Owning and running a business can be an exhilarating experience. However, it also comes with many challenges, one of which is recognizing potential problems. As a business owner, who is invested in wanting their business to succeed, it’s easy to miss signs that your business is not doing as well as it should.

The problem with this is that issues can get out of hand if they are not dealt with. This is why it’s so important for you to recognize that your business has problems to solve and get the help that you need from experts like the team at CBS-CBS.com. So how do you know when your business needs help, what assistance can you get and how can it benefit your business?

How to tell if you need help

It’s easy to become complacent when you are running a business, but this is a trap that you should attempt to avoid. There are some signs that you should look out for which might indicate that there is a problem including:

  • A lack of customer interest. If your customer base is stagnant this is likely to lead to a decrease in sales and profits. It can also affect your marketing is word of mouth recommendations are likely to decrease.
  • Mistakes have not been rectified. You can tell if mistakes are being repeated by using business analytics and by paying attention to customer feedback. If you identify this type of repetition, it may mean that you need assistance with improving your business processes.
  • Employees leave on a regular basis. A high level of staff turnover is a sure sign that there are issues with the business that you may need assistance to resolve.
  • Bills and other payments are not being addressed on time. This is an obvious sign that the cash flow of the business is not as it should be and that changes need to be made.
  • There is no innovation in the business. When a business fails to innovate, it’s likely to fall behind its competitors. This is why you may need help from experts if your business practices have not changed over the years.

What expert help can you get?

If you notice signs that your business is having problems, it’s often a good idea to seek help from experts who can give you an unbiased view of the current state of your business, as well as providing you with advice and support.

The help that you can get includes:

  • Data collection and analysis.
  • Customer satisfaction analysis.
  • Business and financial reporting support.
  • Business strategy and planning support.

How this help can be beneficial

The most obvious advantage of getting professional help to resolve business issues is that this assistance is independent and is therefore not hampered by pre-existing assumptions.

This advantage leads to others that can result from the information and advice that is provided, including improved employee satisfaction and retention, enhanced customer engagement and improved strategic planning.

Help is not something that a business owner should be ashamed of asking for. It should always be seen as an effective business tool that can help to improve practices and increase profits.

Choosing the Right Corporate Business Solutions Consultant for Your Business

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Any business owner knows the value that working with a consultant can have. It provides an independent perspective on the processes and practices of a business and provides potential solutions and improvements.

However, if you are looking to enlist help with corporate business solutions, you need to make sure that you choose the right Corporate Business Solutions Consultants for your needs. Here are some of the most important factors to consider.

Know what you are looking for

Before you set about enlisting the services of consultants, you have to understand the needs of your business. This means that you need to have a clear view of what specific help is required.

This enables you to find consultants who have experience in providing the required services. It also means that you can have a more informed conversation with consultancy providers. You can explain exactly what needs to be done and they can tell you precisely what help they can provide.

Speak to the companies you are considering

It’s not a good idea to select a business consultancy provider based simply on what you have read, or recommendations you have received. You need to speak to the provider in order to determine whether they are the right fit for your needs.

Reputable consultants incorporate business solutions should be able to provide you with clear and concise information when you speak to them. You can then use this information when choosing the best options for your business.

Check reviews and recommendations

While you should not make your decision entirely based on reviews of a consultancy provider, you should take them into account. This is because these reviews have been provided by people who have experience of working with the consultants. You can learn about how the consultants can have a positive effect on the performance of your business and you can identify any less than positive aspects.

Understand the culture of your business

It’s important to understand how consultants are likely to fit with the ethos and culture of your business. In order to do this, you need to have an in-depth understanding of your business culture. You should use this information when you are making decisions about how well the ethos and provisions of a consultancy provider will match with this culture.

In summary

Any business can benefit from expert help with corporate business solutions. Seeking this type of help is a way of establishing the current health of a business and identifying means of improvement. However, it’s important that the consultancy provider is the right fit to work with a business.

To establish whether this is the case, a business owner needs to understand the needs of the business, check for reviews of prospective consultancy providers, have a conversation with providers and consider the culture of the business before making any final decisions. If the correct choice is made, the business and provider can work together in order to optimize the performance and profitability of the business. This is a benefit that is invaluable to any business owner.

 

 

An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away – Does This Work for Employees?

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You have probably heard the apple a day saying. Originating from a Welsh proverb, and reworded by Benjamin Franklin, it’s been around for almost two centuries. So, is there any truth in it and can it work for your employees?

The truth is that there is no medical evidence to suggest that an apple a day results in fewer visits to the doctor. However, eating fruit can form part of a healthy diet which can, in turn, lead to healthier employees. Ask any expert in

Corporate Business Solutions and they will tell you that a healthy workforce is a valuable asset to any business.

Why is a healthy workforce important?

So why is it so important to have healthy employees? There are actually several benefits to be had.

Reduction in sick absence 

An obvious advantage of having employees who are healthy is that they are less likely to be absent due to sickness. This means that if you promote the health of your employees, they are likely to be in work more often, thereby protecting the productivity levels of your business.

Enhanced business performance 

Just because people are in work does not mean that they have an optimum level of health. They could be overtired or suffering from stress. This has an adverse effect on their performance levels. Therefore, taking action to improve the overall health of your workforce helps to improve personal performance and the performance of the business as a whole.

Improved employee engagement 

When people see that their employer is interested in their health and well-being they feel as though they are valued. This means that if you pay attention to the health of the people who work for you, they are more likely to engage with you and be motivated to work towards the ongoing success of the business.

How to keep your workforce healthy

While there is no way to guarantee that your employees will remain healthy, there are things that you can do which make it more likely to happen.

  • Make healthy food available to all employees. Many businesses provide vending machines which contain snacks such as candy and chips. Employees may get a short-term energy boost from eating these items, but they are not healthy in the long term. It makes sense to provide easy access to a selection of fruit instead. While apples may not keep the doctor away, they can help.
  • Encourage employees to exercise. This is an essential aspect of helping to protect the health of your workforce. Employees should be encouraged to move their limbs regularly while seated at their desks. They should also be encouraged to move away from their desks during their lunch break and go for a walk or a run.
  • Provide furniture that is supportive. This type of furniture helps to protect the joints and muscles of employees, making chronic pain issues less likely.

You can see that while giving your employees an apple a day may not keep the doctor away, providing a healthy workplace can make a real difference.

Using SMART Goals to Help Your Business Grow

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Making goals for business growth can, at times, feel challenging. You may have a vision of what your business’ future success looks like, but you may not have a business plan in place to help your team reach that productive end-point. You’ll need to set goals in order to incrementally pave the way towards success, so why not be SMART about it.

SMART goals are a specialized system of breaking down your business or personal goals into easy-to-evaluate criteria. Through these five components, you’ll be able to create goals that will sow confidence and accountability into your entire team.

Should you need further support, though, the consulting experts at Corporate Business Solutions can help to create customized goals to meet your business’ financial and productivity needs.

Specific

First, your goal must be as specific as possible. While it’s easy to set a broad goal, your business will see more success if your goals are carefully tailored to meet specific end-points. Team members, in particular, will benefit from specificity because it will help them align their role on the team towards your vision for the company’s success.

If you’re struggling to specificity your business’ goals, consider using the traditional “6 W’s” (Who, What, Where, When, Which, and Why) approach to verbalizing your goals. You can then use these keywords to create a fully-fledged statement of your goal’s purpose and structure from the outset.

Measurable

Measuring the degree of success in meeting specified business goals is crucial, plain and simple. Without a metric for measuring your business’ success in meeting a goal, your progress will remain largely intangible and difficult to track from quarter to quarter. Measurable criteria can come in several forms, with everything from “dollars” to “number of new clients” included.

One of the best ways to determine if your goal is measurable is to evaluate if it can be broken down into tangible milestones. These waypoints can help guide business operations in the short-term in order to make the larger long-term goal more manageable for each team member.

Attainable

Attainability primarily evaluates the structural changes that may need to take place in order to make your goal into a reality. These changes need not be earth-shaking; in fact, they are often as simple as determining which tools and skills your team will need to acquire to make this goal a reality. Make sure that your evaluation of attainability is focused on motivation (IE “we can attain this goal!) or else your team may not have the drive to overcome potential obstacles.

Relevant

Evaluating relevance can be crucial to ensuring that your individual goals align efficiently with your larger business-wide goals. A relevant goal is able to set a course for a distinct end-point while still optimizing existing resources to enhance the goal’s eventual impact. Often, the best way to evaluate relevance is by meeting with all key team members and breaking down how your new goal aligns with (or potentially breaks free from) their existing goals and objectives.

Timely

Finally, your goal should have a built-in time table in order to keep your fresh objectives on a clear course towards fulfillment. You’ll know your goal is timely when you can continuously evaluate its efficiency based upon how much time has elapsed since its initiation. Such a time table should also be realistic and informed by relevant research into the norms for similar goals within your industry.