the best management ideas ever

Burnout is currently at alarmingly high levels, and that can mean bad news for your workforce - and your bottom line. Burnout increases absenteeism, presenteeism, and attrition, resulting in lost productivity, brain drain, and weakened company culture. But by creating a workplace where connections and relationships are valued, you can ensure that your employees feel psychologically safe, valued, and supported.

Depending on where you're living, you might be tempted to think we're going back to business as usual. There are a lot of reasons for us to say this but if no one's told you yet, don't do it! 

Business as usual isn't around the corner and you don't want it to be. We've all been pushed in our businesses to stretch and grow our capability to adapt. There're so many things we've done of necessity that we now need to see what's actually innovative, providing opportunities for disruption. 

Just because you work virtually doesn’t mean you’re a robot. Nor are your coworkers... we hope! That means that social niceties like small talk and fun chit chat still apply, even when it’s through a Zoom call. The reality is that working virtually can be both challenging and lonely. We still need human connection.

Being quick on your feet is critical in life - and business. It takes creativity. You need to be able to figure out what's coming your way and come up with a smart and effective response. Sometimes the data will tell you what choice to make, but data is useless when you're facing something brand new. Because let's face it, sometimes there's no playbook you can refer to.

With vaccinations well underway, office-based working has become a reality once more. But in the past year, how we work has changed dramatically, and so has what we've come to expect from our workplaces. And business owners must adapt accordingly. Whether you're downsizing to meet the needs of a hybrid or reduced workforce, or you're updating an existing space in line with new social distancing and flexible work norms, here's what your post-Covid office space needs.

In business, flow matters. When your team, ideas, and goals are in sync, it's easy to build momentum. When all of those things are performing their own solos or playing in different time signatures, your organization is at risk of becoming discordant and all over the map. That might work for avant-garde jazz, but it's not great where profit margins and growth forecasts are involved.

According to Merriam-Webster, innovation is a ‘new idea, method, or device’ also defined as ‘the introduction of something new.’ 

In the creative world, being innovative is necessary to succeed. However, it’s not always the easiest thing to accomplish. Getting more focused isn’t always the cure, and neither is giving yourself more time or adding more teammates. So what does stimulate innovative thinking? 

As we start to resume our regular work-life programming, organizations and employees alike are weighing whether to return to the office, stick with remote working, or meet somewhere in the middle. While many employees are contemplating a perpetual remote working situation, companies have mixed feelings. Notably, the tech behemoths who told employees they could work from home indefinitely are now encouraging workers to return to the office - and they're not alone. 

To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the office's death are greatly exaggerated. Although there's been a ton of discussion this past year extolling the virtues of working from home - shorter commutes, less chit-chat, workday flexibility - a whopping 94% of people are itching to get back to the office in some form. 

Here's why workers want to get back to the office, and how we can help them get the most of it. 

Criticism is a part of professional work, and ultimately it helps us improve. However, it’s not always easy to accept, listen, or react to it. Some criticism is more constructive than others. But how do you know the difference? Below are some tips on how to gracefully accept criticism. The first step is to change your perspective on criticism and see it as a positive. By embracing and welcoming difficult conversations, we can become better professionals and creatives.

Kermit the Frog might be on the record saying it's not easy being green, but these days nothing is further from the truth. With 60% of people gravitating towards green-minded businesses and a whopping 80% saying they respect these companies, being green is both good for the planet and for business. 

So what does it mean to be a green leader, and how can you make it happen?

This past year has been a challenge for all business professionals. With lockdown and closures, we've seen our worlds become smaller, and our opportunities to engage with new ideas, explore new things, and seek out fresh experiences become fewer and less frequent. Unfortunately, without those stimuli, it's easy to find yourself bored and stuck in a rut creatively.

“Pets understand humans better than humans do.” said Ruchi Prabhu, Indian Author. One thing for sure, our pets will miss us when we return to the office, but somehow they will survive. Pet party! The humans are gone!

When the pandemic is over or almost over, in whatever form that takes, where will workers go work? Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said, in referring to the growing sentiment of working remotely, "I do think for a business like ours, which is an innovative, collaborative apprenticeship culture, this is not ideal for us. And it's not a new normal. It's an aberration that we're going to correct as soon as possible."

Success doesn't happen in a vacuum. No matter how smart, driven, and accomplished you are, you can only get so far on your own. Whether it's noodling on the guitar, learning a foreign language, working on your golf swing, or building an 8-figure business, you'll achieve more under the wing of a seasoned pro than by trying to figure it all out on your own. Warren Buffett might have experienced a very different trajectory without Benjamin Graham and Charlie Munger. (And, to take it full circle, the same goes for Bill Gates without Warren Buffett!)

It’s a dog-eat-dog world in the realm of business sometimes. Competition is fierce. While that can seem somewhat intimidating, it’s actually a good thing. Competition is what helps drive innovation and helps keep a business current and relevant. 

However, businesses that dive into their industry without fully knowing and understanding what their rivals are up to is a recipe for failure. Below are a few ways to use such intel to your advantage.

There are many crucial parts of being considered a great leader. In this day and age, it includes how you conduct yourself on everything from Zoom to emails to social media. It matters what you say in-person to a colleague through to how you address the entire company at a meeting. 

Actions may set the tone-- but words are just as (if not more) important. 

The one commodity you can never get back is time, and boy does it fly! It almost seems as though the older you get, the faster it moves. It seems like just yesterday your first boss was handing out management tips like Halloween candy.

In business, time is money. That’s why it’s vital to learn how to manage your time efficiently, not just for your bottom line but for true happiness and satisfaction. 

As a wise person once said, "the harder I work, the luckier I get." That's good news for the driven and industrious among us. With St Patrick's Day here, we've got luck on the mind, so let's look at how to channel hard work into luck - and make sure that your business is swimming in (four-leaf) clover.

Diversity in recruiting and in the workplace is extremely important. It’s a crucial part of building a more just and inclusive world. It’s not acceptable to only avoid discrimination; it’s necessary to have conscious policies in place that actively prioritize diversity and inclusion. 

Why do employees care about their jobs? What makes them loyal? What makes an employee engaged enough to go the extra mile? 

If your employees' only motivation to show up and do good work is the paycheck coming, you're doing it wrong. The good news here is the best thing you can do for your employees is also the best thing for your company. 

It's a long way to the top, so it's tempting to sit and rest on your laurels when you get there. But the thing that worked once won't always work. That's because the contexts we lead in are always changing. Industries shift, markets change, new research and best practices emerge, and customer and employee expectations are always on the move.

Let’s be real—the goal of running your own company is to create more freedom in your life, not less. No one wants to be chained to a desk day in and day out. 

Unfortunately, if you’re the type that struggles to let go of the reins, you’ll probably find yourself struggling to delegate in your business, too. After all, who can do it—whatever “it” is—better than you?

Everyone wins when a culture of workplace accountability is implemented properly. Staff are able to take control of their work, there are clear lines of report, and managers can trust their employees to work without constant oversight. A culture of positive accountability also has a positive impact on morale and commitment. That's because you're trusting and empowering your staff to perform their roles at a high level, rather than trying to take the old-school top-down punitive approach.

Business is all about balance. And by that, we mean the ratio between management and creative has to be 1:1. We've all shaken our heads at those artsy, creative brands that look great but have no real business model under the hood. But we do the same when we encounter those ultra-smart, innovative businesses whose marketing is so dry we don't even bother to engage. At StellaPop, we think of these brands as "right-brain" (the Warhol) or "left brain" (the Spock) brands. All have promise. They just need to balance things out a bit by walking that middle line and becoming a "bridge brain" brand (the Da Vinci). Here's how. 

Even if you've explored virtual events or virtual, hybrid events in the past, chances are you're still entering a brave new world where virtual events are your ONLY option. This means you may need to beef up your event planning team. Ensure you include those with the talents and skills capable of navigating all of the technical aspects of a high-level virtual event.

Leadership and management are inherently linked and often grouped together or confused as one, but understanding their differences is essential to grow and develop your company. 

2020 brought workplace challenges no one could have foreseen a year earlier, and HR departments responded accordingly. With the introduction of remote work, HR departments have met this year’s uncertainty with grace and dignity. And that’s worthwhile. The skills learned in 2020 will be valuable in the months and years to come. Here are 4 ways the future of work will look different in 2021 and beyond.

In chess, you can play defense and try to keep the other player from pushing ahead, or you can go on the offensive and try to capture their pieces in a relentless pursuit of checkmate. In Netflix's smash, The Queen's Gambit, chess prodigy Beth Harmon was famously "all offense." And she sent every other player running as a result.

No matter how high or low you are in the workplace pecking order, there is no escaping difficult clients and customers. Unfortunately, they abound but don't tell anyone. Though dealing with one can be super frustrating, you do have a choice in making it an experience that’s a “pulling teeth” kind of painful, or… something a little less so. 

Operational inefficiencies can be costing your business 20-30% in revenues every year. If you've been struggling with complicated processes, hard-to-use systems, siloed information, or out-of-date tech, now's the time to seek out the problems and fix them before the losses add up. Here's how to find and deal with operational inefficiencies.

From hosting virtual family meals to dropping off presents on doorsteps, the holidays will look different this year. While the COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to rethink how we celebrate, that doesn't mean you can't make this season a special time for your team.

As we're coming into the last months of the year, it's an important time to take a look at your company and your teams and ask, "how are we thriving?"

Oh, what a year it's been! So many changes and disruptions that were definitely not on the radar when we rang in the New Year. While there has been a lot of devastating losses this year, there've also been new trends the business world can be grateful for.

From socially distanced desks to working outside, businesses have had no choice but to adapt to our new reality as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. But while working from home and virtual meetings can be quite successful, there are still occasions when a more personal touch is required.

Change is hard. It’s a challenge. That’s why so many people struggle with it. As humans, we all get stuck in ruts of comfort and resist change with all our might. This is especially true when the change feels big and scary, or you feel like things are “good enough” as is. Why change anything if it’s not broken, right?

2020 has been a year of shifts and changes. For too many brands it's also been a year of being on standby. We understand wanting to know where things are headed before diving back into doing business. There's risk in taking that leap. But there's also a risk in sitting out for too long - you don't want to be like those people who took their money out of the market after 2008 and missed out on the massive gains we've seen since then. If you try to wait until you have all the information, or until the uncertainty has passed, your brand will be left on the sidelines. 

The New Year is creeping up on it, making now the perfect time to turn over a new leaf and do away with any of those bad habits you've accumulated during this year. Whether you've been blindsided by the events of 2020 or you're still meeting your milestones, there's always room for improvement. To get ahead of the competition, try incorporating these trending business management concepts into your approach.

A vital step in improving product and client experience is identifying customers' pain points and fixing them. But while many companies are focused on enhancing the customer experience, they might ignore something just as critical: the employee experience.

Human resources are often overlooked when starting a business or working in a small business. HR tasks always seem to fall as extra work for management until it gets to be too much. But having a talented human resources team behind your business deserves attention. It can lead to growth opportunities and help you strategically expand and reach success. Let's discuss a solution that provides exceptional human resources without breaking the bank.

Over the last several months, we've been talking a lot about how to manage remote teams and communicate effectively while working entirely online. Even if you're back in the office now, it's still likely group collaborations are happening in a hybrid if not completely online.

As the economy begins to reopen, businesses are faced with a labor market with vastly different expectations. Flexibility, benefits, and work-life balance are still key draws. But the deciding factor for the current crop of job seekers is company culture. It's hardly surprising. With work-from-home life now the norm among almost half the nation, employees are worried about feeling isolated and out of the loop. A strong company culture gives them stability and community. Additionally, the events of 2020 have inspired many working professionals to re-examine their priorities. Where salary used to be the most important factor in taking a job, employees now want to feel that they're part of something meaningful and aligned with their goals and beliefs.

2020 has been a challenging year for most brands. Huge market shifts, dramatic changes in consumer behavior, ever-evolving rules and requirements, and belt-tightening across the board have upended our collective plans and projections. And we're not out of the water yet: there are plenty of unknowns to come! What this all means is that brands need to be resilient, adaptive, and transformative. This is where management consulting firms come in. Management consultants leverage extensive market and industry knowledge to help your brand move forward in a way that allows you to continue to meet your business goals - no matter what this year sends your way. 

If you've been venturing back out into the world in recent weeks and months, you've probably noticed an outdoorsy trend. Mindful of COVID-19 health and safety recommendations, businesses are increasingly taking their businesses to the streets. Why is this? Well, moving operations outdoors means better air circulation along with easier social distancing, allowing businesses to continue serving customers without expensive retrofits or profit-killing limitations on capacity. Let's take a look at some of the creative ways businesses are making the shift from inside to out.

Now, more than ever, online networking is necessary to maintain old relationships, build fledgling relationships, and seek out new relationships. That includes relationships between businesses and potential new hire candidates. It is estimated that 90+ percent of recruiters search daily to find potential candidates using the LinkedIn platform. Since it’s arguably the top networking tool for businesses worldwide, if you aren’t utilizing it effectively, you could be missing out on lucrative job offers and partnership opportunities.

From online ordering to phone banking, the contactless trend has been on the rise for years. But it's now more important than ever. Investing in contactless technologies can help customers feel safe and comfortable doing business with you while also reducing risks for your staff. Let's take a look at how and why contactless is taking the world by storm, and why your business needs to be part of the movement.

As more companies confirm that remote work isn’t going away anytime soon, and others are indefinitely allowing the option, we continue to deal with the difficulties and new territory it comes with. In regards to human resources, this means virtual interviews and a virtual onboarding process. It’s especially important that you analyze the difference between in-person processes and virtual processes as the first few weeks are crucial to new hires' success at the company. Below is a how-to on successfully onboarding new hires. 

Strong workplaces are all about communication. In fact, great communication is associated with increased morale, productivity, and engagement. But now that many of us have spent months working remotely, we realize just how hard it is to keep a team connected, looped in, and feeling heard. Here's how to leverage your hard-won communicative skills to their fullest extent.

If there’s one thing you can be sure of, industries are continually evolving. When you throw AI (artificial intelligence) into the mix, you can bet on some pretty major disruptions, impacting everything like transportation, medicine, software, consumer goods, and yes, even HR.

Successful businesses don't just happen. Just like the world's enduring architectural icons, they're constructed according to painstaking blueprints, with the end goal being to bring a particular creative vision to life. Every great business rests on solid, time-tested foundations, and enjoys structural integrity on the ground floor all the way to the top.

Here's how you can build a business that stands tall for years to come.

We've spent the past week with our eyes glued to Discovery's Shark Week extravaganza, during which time we've gleaned some invaluable insights about how these fearsome apex predators have made their way to the top of the food chain. One that we keep coming back to is how sharks have continuously adapted and evolved in order to keep their place at the top. Why has that resonated so much with us? Because adaptability is the new competitive advantage.

The Wrong Bait Never Catches the Right Fish.

Here's a story about Johnny. 

Johnny is trying to start his own personal training business. He needs to drum up some clients. He decides to send out an elevator pitch to men in his contacts list on social media as one of his tactics.

Discovery's Shark Week is once again closing in on us, and we've got sharks on the brain. Maybe it's all those vintage clips we've been watching to get us in the Shark Weed mood, but we can't help but feel that there's something shark-like about the way a star recruiter hunts down and reels in a top candidate. Here's how to channel your inner great white - and blow all your previous recruiting efforts out of the water.

They may be some of the most fearsome predators around, but even sharks have predators of their own: humans, killer whales, sperm whales, and other, larger sharks, just to name a few. The lesson for business owners? No matter how strong or standout your business is, there's always someone out there ready to take a bite out of it. In honor of Discovery's Shark Week, we've channeled our inner Jaws to give our thoughts on how to hunt down your competition - and ensure you keep your place at the top of the food chain.

It's a shark-eat-shark world out there. Every business wants to shore up its corner of the market by sinking its teeth into that perfect differentiator. But that's much more easily done when you're a big fish in a small pond versus one of many vying for supremacy in the same waters. While competition drives innovation, creativity, and customer-oriented approaches, it also puts a lot of pressure on brands to stand out and deliver serious value.

In honor of Discovery's Shark Week, here's how to channel your inner predator to carve out your niche in a competitive marketplace.

Curiosity killed the cat.

If ever there was a saying that shouldn't EVER become your life motto, this is it.

At some point, someone somewhere thought it was prime advice to tell someone not to ask any questions. Curiosity in this cliche is a road you don't want to go on. 

Virtual meetings have been gaining momentum for years now, but it's only been over the past few months we've really come to appreciate their value. However, with business travel way down and remote work becoming an indefinite prospect for many, virtual meetings are here to stay. Here's why virtual meetings have taken such a stronghold in our imaginations - and how to make the most of them.

There's so much that goes into being a successful, well-rounded business leader. From drive and discipline to flexibility and empathy, it seems leaders need to have it all. But one must-have quality of a good leader is decisiveness. 

According to a Harvard Business Review study, the ability to make decisions with speed and conviction is one of the four things that set successful CEOs apart. 

As the days warm up, our motivation to work often cools off. It's hard to stay on task when the sunshine is calling - especially when we've spent the past few months cooped up inside. But since a sabbatical isn't on the cards for most of us, we need to find ways to stay focused and productive even when we'd rather be at the beach or by the pool. Here are a couple of ideas to try.

It's no secret that when employees feel safe, confident, and supported at work, they're more likely to let their best selves shine. But the seemingly endless challenges of 2020 have brought home just how vital it is for employers to ensure that their workers are given what they need to feel comfortable themselves at work. Here's how you can foster an environment of psychological safety - and create space for excellence at work.

Meetings have always had a bad rap. According to a Clarizen survey, 35% of employees think they're a waste of time, and 46% would prefer to do anything instead, including going to the DMV. But now that most of us are working remotely, meetings have taken on all-new importance. They're an opportunity to catch up, talk to other humans, get on the same page about work, and connect as colleagues.

At StellaPop, we don't think it's meetings that are the problem per se, but rather how they're run. Here are our tips for making meetings something we can all look forward to.

In our constant push for convenience, optimization, and productivity gains, it's easy to lose sight of one of the most important factors in workplace success: being human. Sure, it may be faster to assign a task in Asana than it is to talk to someone, and knocking back a protein shake may be more convenient than having lunch with coworkers. Still, both of those choices mean missing out on an opportunity to interact, share, and empathize with others.

Just as it takes two to tango, it takes two to realize a successful recruitment effort. As the nation slowly reopens for business and organizations look to bolster their staff rosters, both recruiters and job-seekers are hard at work looking for that perfect fit.

Let's take a look at what a winning recruitment effort looks like from both sides of the interview table.

Who in your leadership is an expert on the impacts of global trauma, stress, and anxiety? Whose your specialist in pandemic response?

Do you have someone or a team that can assess and predict the effects of stress on consumer behavior? Who in your C-suite has the authority to make decisions based on market scenario planning? Whose your expert futurist?

Do they have the tools to find patterns and shifts quickly and accurately? 

The terrifying boss who shouts commands and berates subordinates may make for good TV, but not so much for a good leader. In fact, it turns out that bosses who have mastered the "soft" skills - i.e., the people-centric skills - are the ones who get top marks in today's workplaces. Unlike the organizations of old, where hierarchies reigned, and workers simply followed orders, today's workplaces are built around adaptiveness, collaboration, and flat leadership structures.

Over the past few months, COVID-19 has completely reshaped how we live and work. As the nation gradually reopens for business, we will see even more changes in how we go about our days. While measures like wearing masks and maintaining social distancing are the visible face of our new normal, there are plenty more underway - many of them designed to make life better, easier, and more equitable for today's workers. Here are some of the workplace shifts we hope to see in the coming months. 

Good habits are all about routine, and with so much of our lives up in the air right now, it's easy for those habits to go out the window. Maybe you're sleeping in, slacking on deadlines, or spending too much time scrolling Twitter. Now's the time to stop and take stock before those new behaviors become your new habits.

The changing times mean that those who can are working from home. Where possible, all of our daily responsibilities have shifted online, including the interview and hiring process. While virtual interviews aren't new, it's only with the coronavirus that they've become the norm across the board. Since lockdown, organizations ranging from universities to tech giants have started conducting interviews online or over the phone. 

Performing at your peak during uncertain times is no easy task. When what worked before won't necessarily work going forward, and when no one knows what tomorrow will bring, decisive action and decision-making is an all-new frontier. But although COVID-19 may have thrown a wrench in your business plans, it doesn't have to mess with your management style.

With most of the world under lockdown, our entertainment options are limited to whatever we can pick up or plugin at home. Unsurprisingly, video games are seeing a huge surge in interest - and we're not just talking about Animal Crossing, the simulation game that's taking your social media feeds by storm. But if you're feeling guilty about all those hours spent trading turnips or battling strangers in a PvP matchup, don't. Gaming is not just an escape. It can also be a valuable way to level up your workplace skills. Here's how.

We've all had that awkward experience where we've zoned out during a conversation, only realizing we've done it when we're asked a question we can't answer. Our attention spans are short enough, to begin with - and the stresses and challenges of remote working during a global pandemic definitely aren't helping matters.

Being great at our jobs is all about continuous improvement across every dimension. But the coronavirus lockdown means that many of our usual professional development avenues are closed off to us. But it's not all bad news. Even when we're sheltering in place, most of the world's knowledge is just a Google search or app download away.

Here are some tips for building your on-the-job skills and smarts while out of the office.

Remote working has long been the dream for many. But until the coronavirus turned life as we know it upside down, most of us spent our 9-5 in a face-to-face environment. Believe it not, only about 3.5% of the US workforce worked from home more than half the time. 

Working from home can be a catch-22. On one hand, freedom! It’s freeing not to have to commute to work each day, to be able to set your own schedule, and to work from your bed in your pajamas if you want. However, there are costs to working from home too. One of those costs is burnout. With the current COVID crisis, many are forced to work from home and have no idea how to do that in a healthy way.

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the world as we know it. The global economy is on pause, with entire industries halted. While things may start back up again in May or June, we probably won't see a return to "normal" until 2021.

Remote employees are on the rise. For some, this might be a temporary change in response to the Novel Coronavirus. Other's the increase in remote workers is an ongoing shift in direction, reaching for the advantages of a remote team.

Regardless of your reason to utilize remote teams, you'll need to prepare for the challenges that come with managing a remote team.

Tom is frustrated that he's not further in life. Tom feels like there is never enough time. Tom spends his days banging his head against the wall and then asking why his head hurts. 

Bob has a lot of goals set out in front of him but feels content in life. Bob has developed habits that allow him to make the most of his time, spending it purposefully. Bob starts and ends his day refreshed. 

As the Coronavirus spreads across America, businesses are feeling the pinch of self-isolation practices, curfews, and mandatory closures. But even though these are tough times, they don't have to spell disaster for your brand. 

Here's how to make the most of a bad situation, and come out ahead.

The words "fail" and "failure" can have many connotations. There seem to be two schools of thought when it comes on the approach to understanding failure.

The first is failure means you didn't do whatever you set out to do and you never will. It's a period at the end of a sentence.

The second is its proof you're working towards a goal that's worth achieving.

The hiring process can be equated to a thorn in your side. That’s not how hiring has to go and if it is, you’re not alone. Many people don’t know where to begin with hiring and find themselves unsure of how to attract the right talent for their needs.

Right now, it’s an applicant's market. The demand for qualified, hard-working candidates is well outweighing the supply. This means if you want to attract and retain the best available talent you can’t afford to wing it.

To that end, let’s talk about the, how in successful hiring.

Your marketing and sales teams have the same goal: to generate leads, close deals and make you money. When they're in sync, it's good news: marketing and sales alignment can boost sales by 67%. However, it's all too common for these teams to be working independently, or even at odds with each other. This can impact your marketing ROI, sales productivity and top-line growth.

It seems like a simple question: Would you rather continually improve or hold yourself back from success? That may sound like a biased comparison, but that's essentially what's happening when you have a growth mindset vs. a fixed mindset. Let's explore how that impacts your employees and business.

With nearly 19,000 coworking spaces and more than 3 million coworkers globally in 2019, the shared workspace model is more popular than ever before. It's grown a lot, especially in recent years, and is showing no signs of slowing down. So what can we expect out of coworking spaces in the years to come? We have a few predictions.

This entire past decade has been about the foregrounding of experience. Experience is key to how we interact with brands of all types, from these we shop with to those we work for. Brands that recognize the value of experience give us something to align ourselves with and something to get behind. They don't just have customers or employees: they have fans. Those that don't? They risk being relegated into the dustbin of "businesses" instead. 

Here's what will separate the brands from the businesses in 2020.

When a position needs to be filled, you recruit somebody to fill it. And when somebody leaves your organization, you recruit somebody to replace them. But you’d never stop selling once you hit your goals. So, don’t stop recruiting either.

It’s a competitive marketplace out there. And new talent needs a home. When you don’t nab the best people for the job, your competitors will. Today, I’m going to reveal to you how and why you should always be recruiting.

It's probably a safe bet to say that most business leaders want to be the best they can be — at the top of their game. Of course, that's easier said than done. Becoming a master at what you do can be intimidating. It takes time, patience, drive, and so much more.

But there are some strategies and tricks that can help you in your quest to become one of the best in the business.

With a new decade, brings a new wave of tech and I bet you are wondering what’s in store for 2020. On the rise is a wide range of tech that will affect businesses and consumers. We advise always staying updated on tech trends as they can help accelerate your business past your competitors.

Here’s a shortlist of what we think you should look out for in 2020.

Age gracefully. What on earth does it mean when someone tells you to age gracefully? 

Everything in popular media tells us to freeze aging– stop it in its tracks while you can. But, time moves. Technology transforms everything from customer needs to business models. Everything Ages. 

The thing to remember, however, is that to age gracefully isn't to go quietly into the night. It's not getting stuck in "old ways" and it's not taking on everything new for the sake of it being new.

Owning and/or managing a successful franchise requires you to stay on your toes and be constantly willing to learn, tweak, and re-evaluate processes to refine what works and eliminate what doesn’t. Not only are you managing your staff, but you’re also managing your franchisees. Obviously you want to do your best to help them succeed because their success is ultimately your success. Growing your franchise means implementing strategies that not only serve your customers well but also attract new franchisees for expansion.

These days, there are several core key areas every HR department should be in charge of in order for a business to be effective and successful. Without an HR department that knows what it’s doing, roles like recruitment, on-boarding, and managing compensation packages will fall on your managers, taking them away from their day-to-day operations and essentially hobbling your company’s ability to grow.

Transparency in the workplace is a tricky matter. As Glassdoor CEO Robert Hohman nicely stated, "it comes with tremendous responsibility, but also an enormous opportunity." This responsibility and opportunity lie mostly in the hands of management and human resources. It’s up to them how much information is shared with employees and in what manner. So what are the best ways to be transparent within your business? Are you doing enough? How can you foster an open work environment that drives everyone forward?

Your employee handbook is the cornerstone of your HR program. It’s the one fundamental requirement to keep your program sound. And it should have an impact. Take your time to build the right employee handbook for your company. Today, we’ll discuss what this looks like.

People are hardwired to connect with stories. Storytelling gets attention, creates empathy and fosters a sense of belonging and alignment. And importantly for brands, it's humanizing.

If your business is doing well but no one really knows your story, now is the time to change that. Storytelling is the secret sauce that can take you from good to great.

Here's how to use storytelling to drive brand success.

Your business, no matter the industry, is about problem-solving at its core. Your product or service answers a need; it solves a problem. Your company started because it saw a problem or need and wanted to fill that void.

You should approach every “problem” in your business with that same thinking. Strategic analysis is critical, though often skipped, step for every decision made in your business.

The rise of the gig economy and our societal shift towards entrepreneurialism has proven big business for the coworking world. Just last year more than 1000 coworking spaces opened across the US, and those figures show no sign of petering out.

With more than 3.9 million Americans spending at least some time working from home, there's still a huge market opportunity for those interested in moving into the coworking space. As coworking consultants, we've helped plenty of such companies go to market and capitalize on the market.

Thomas Jefferson was known for his philosophy that learning doesn’t stop after graduation. At The University of Virginia, students are known as ‘first years’ rather than freshman, ‘second years’ rather than sophomores, and so on, in honor of this idea— that learning never stops. TJ has made a great point. Learning does not stop, even when we grow up and become adults. But how does this apply to the modern workplace? Do you have policies in place that embrace this idea?

Difficult employees can slow down business and suck colleagues into a negative vortex. They often seem to have a dark cloud above their heads in the office and even the best professionals, managers, execs, or CEOs spend valuable time worrying about what to do and how to manage them. While being on top of hiring can prevent this issue, it’s somewhat unavoidable. Problems arise in employee’s lives, business processes change, personalities clash, the possibilities are endless. 

Here we have some tips to follow when you are faced with this challenge in your own office.

The end of the year is fast approaching, and with it, estimations on what the future has in store for businesses everywhere. While some trends are already fading out, there are plenty of new trends on the rise.

We foresee shifts in thinking, shifts in creativity, and shifts in public discussions just beyond the horizon.

Businesses that want to stay competitive will have to keep an eye on the evolving landscape and become early adopters of new ideas and technology. A little risk today can lead to big rewards tomorrow.

In 1958 the average lifespan of a business was 61 years. Today, the average lifespan is around 18 years, according to a study by McKinsey.

As we walked (and then ran) into the digital age, how, when and where we do business has completely transformed. In its wake, the business graveyard has grown and not many are pausing to mourn the losses of Blockbuster, Blackberry, Yahoo, or any other ghosts of businesses' pasts.

Innovation. It's a term all too often used to describe the latest technology, as if it's synonymous with invention. But, in reality, invention is only ever one aspect of innovation in the business world. 

Business innovation is all about finding new, disruptive and more effective methods in the name of boosting the bottom line. It's implementing new ideas, products, processes and more in order to increase revenue.

So you’ve successfully bootstrapped your way to a real company with great offerings and you’re starting to see some real growth. Congrats! Hopefully, people are spreading the word and the trajectory is trending nicely upward for the foreseeable future. Up next on the leadership todo list: Scaling your operations to handle this growing amount of work.

First, let's get this out of the way. Growth and scaling are two different goals, growth is about adding incremental growth percentages as a factor of turnover whereas scale is a process-driven approach to growth. Growth and scale require different management styles, below we’ll run through a few important questions you should be asking yourself before you start the process of scaling.

When interviewing potential employees, we don’t merely ask them to list their strengths for us. Often, we’ll ask them to tell us what their weaknesses are as well. This helps us get to know them better. And it reveals where we might be able to assist them if we bring them onto our team. Our businesses could use this same type of insight.

Knowing your company’s weaknesses will only make your organization stronger. It’ll reveal two things:

1. Where your organization still needs to improve
2. How to reposition your company’s weaknesses as strengths

Company values are a collection of ideas and guidelines that establish your company culture and drive your employees to daily success.

These values are essential to a company overall, but in many cases, they are only found written on the office walls or inside employee handbooks. They aren’t being talked about daily or living and breathing within the company. So how do we transform values from plain text into a way of life?

Hiring is an expensive and time-consuming endeavor. According to the SHRM, it costs an average of $4129 to hire an employee, and takes an average of 42 days to do so. These figures increase exponentially the more senior-level the hire.

Given the time and expense involved, executives and decision-makers need to make the right decision the first time. Hiring well can be a great investment for the company, as high-quality talent quickly pays for itself in terms of knowledge, efficiency and leadership potential.

There's nothing more frustrating than car trouble, it doesn't matter if it's flat tire on the way to work or the dreaded dead engine. Workplace culture is a lot like taking care of your car, invest a little early and it can pay big dividends later.

Workplace culture is the buzzword of the business world in 2019. It's catching on reflects the fact that consistent and positive workplace culture is essential to business success.

A workplace's culture is the sum of the company values, superior to inferior dynamics, norms, and goals from the top down.

Just like in life, everything in business is a tradeoff. Every decision that you make has an opportunity cost - basically, by taking one route, you're giving up the opportunity to take another route. Some of these tradeoffs are small, and others are major; some are simple, and some are extraordinarily complex.

Say you want to purchase a computer. If your only requirement is that it meets a certain price point, the decision is easy. If, on the other hand, it needs to be a certain size, have a certain amount of processing power, a touch screen, and four USB ports, chances are you're going to have to make some tradeoffs.

There are plenty of reasons why companies hire from within. It's cheaper, offers natural progression for candidates, and shows that as a company, you nurture and develop the people who are already doing a great job - but is this always the right choice for success?

Not always. It's vital to assess the company's specific needs and goals when hiring, but if you are looking for a strong leader, new ideas, the right experience, or a fresh set of eyes on things, hiring outside your company could be the right direction. While managing change in business can be difficult, there are actually lots of benefits to external hires, especially when it comes to leadership positions.

Most of us today can readily admit we’re suffering from data overload. Information comes at us from all directions, even when we aren’t necessarily looking for it. When you’re trying to run a business, it can feel as though there is an endless tide of data and analytics to wade through, information that sometimes feels tough to make head or tails of.

Though measuring certain things is definitely beneficial to the growth and success of your business, it can be easy for the most important data to be lost amid all the noise. The only way to combat this is to stick to measuring what matters. Don’t just focus on the nitty-gritty, make sure you assess the big picture too. 

If you were to remove your work from your personal brand, what would others say about you? For many leaders, the answer is not much. But to be a great leader, you need to stand for more than just your work. Just as high schoolers strive to be seen as "well-rounded" on their college applications, business leaders should aim to live multi-dimensional lives. Being about more than your job helps you connect with people, expand your interests and skills, and identify new opportunities. In short, effective leadership is about integrating and leveraging the many aspects of being an interesting, engaged human being.

Everyone has a fantasy of who they want to be. And that often differs from who they are in reality. Companies aren't any different. We all have a vision of where we want our company to be. But to get there, we must know where we are. This is the purpose of gap analysis.

Gap analysis reveals the difference between your company’s goals and your present reality. It’s a valuable tool regardless of whether your company is currently succeeding, failing or treading water.

To each their own. To the same beat as Mitch Albom's The 5 People You Meet in Heaven – here are the 3 clients you'll meet in your career.

Every client comes with a different personality. Taking the time to recognize the type of client that you’re dealing with can put you ahead of the competition and make your life easier. Creating a strategic plan while keeping in mind who you're dealing with will eliminate problems down the line. Listed below are a few of the most common client personalities. We’ll go through how to spot them, the challenges they can bring, and some helpful tips on how to manage.

Being able to deliver a pitch that lands just right is a valuable skill to have in your arsenal. Pitching might sound daunting, but it's something we do all the time as part of our daily lives. We pitch ideas, stories, business strategies, and even dinner menus. The aim is to sell someone on something, whether it's a concept, a service or a product.  

Here's how to take that innate pitching ability and hone it to get the results you want.

Are you a Kepner or a Yang? In T.V.'s longest-running medical drama, Grey's Anatomy April Kepner and Christina Yang clash constantly as they approach their work very differently. 

Do you find a system of processes to be a valuable asset to effective work or do you see it as a hindrance? Either way, you're right and you're wrong. 

A Balance of Method and Action

Building a system of processes for your business is an essential aspect of good business management.

Systematizing has serious benefits.

At StellaPop we pride ourselves on being on the pulse of what's next. Which is why we've been following the coworking movement since the beginning. Since those early days, coworking has leaped from the niche to the mainstream, now spanning some 22,000 locations and 2.2 million coworking users worldwide. With 2019 growth estimated at a fifth on last year's levels, there's plenty of opportunity in the market.

That's why we decided it was time to pool our expertise and put together an ebook for enterprising business owners wanting to launch their own coworking space.

So you’ve spent time creating the best product on the market, it has everything your customers want, and now it’s time to get out there and sell it. Naturally, you want to create content and shout to the world about the product’s amazing features. 

It makes sense. Product features are tangible, quantifiable, and create value for your customers—that’s what they want … isn’t it?

Not exactly.

Eureka! You've been trying to figure out the answer to a problem at work that seems to have no solution.

And then, you're drinking your morning coffee running your to-do list through your head and BOOM.

The sun hits the window seal and it's like that light bulb clicked on in your head and you know exactly what to do.

What's the first word you think when someone brings up the business Blockbuster Video? 

Out-of-business? Obsolete? Old school? Wasn't that in the Captain Marvel movie?

What if we were to tell you Blockbuster Video was ahead of its time? Really, it's too bad they couldn't have innovated to keep up with the technological shifts because, in terms of the trajectory of consumer behavior, Blockbuster Video was a trailblazer. 

You see, Blockbuster Video figured out something that many businesses are just now realizing: consumers are willing to pay for access to a product instead of ownership of it.

Since about 2010 we've been seeing articles about the increasing trend of mobile workforces and remote workers. More and more companies are offering remote work days. Some are moving towards hiring more contractors who work entirely from home, sometimes even from the other side of the country. Then we also have a fading away from restrictions on sick days or personal time. 

All of this relies on the idea that your employees are adults who get their work done and can handle their business. 

We're no longer seeing a new trend or expecting mobile workforces to become popular. It's here.

Have you ever thought about the path that someone takes to become a customer? From the moment someone comes into contact with your brand – whether it's through a banner ad or a Twitter post – they're starting a journey. Once a potential customer is aware of your company, the hope is that they will seek out more information via things like your website, social channels, or online reviews. 

But ask yourself this: What does their experience look like? One of the best ways to figure this out is to understand and map your customers' potential paths of engagement with your company, otherwise known as their customer journeys.

If Samuel L. Jackson and Jennifer Garner recommend Capital One, are people more likely to consider it? Or if George Clooney tells you to drink Nespresso, will you? It's very possible.

Advertising that uses celebrities to endorse their products or services are part of what's called influencer marketing – and it's quite effective. In fact, influencer marketing is currently the fastest growing consumer acquisition strategy.

Networking isn't easy. It can be awkward and exhausting – and you might walk away feeling like you didn't represent yourself or your business the best you could. But never fear! There's a tool you can use to make your next networking experience a success: storytelling.

Storytelling is a powerful thing. It's leveraged in journalism, marketing, comedy, and so much more. We all love a good story, so why not use it to make a deeper connection with someone and potentially start a new business relationship?

Keywords are a hot topic when it comes to creating strategic content that is loved by people and search engines alike. Unfortunately, there is a prevalent myth that content should maintain certain levels of “keyword density” in order to rank well in search engines. Some believe this to be true, while others believe it to be pure baloney. It’s telling, however, that current legal patents held by search engines don’t mention keyword density as an important metric for search engine ranking.

So, what’s the deal?

As a leader, speaking is part of the job, or at the very least should be. But giving a talk can be daunting, even for those who have done it many times before. Here are our tips for delivering a speech that keeps audiences enthralled, while communicating everything you need to.

You Talkin' To Me?

Your audience is a key factor in what you're presenting, and how. Presenting to a room of subject matter experts requires a different approach from presenting to marketers or career hopefuls. When you know who you're targeting, you can shape the length, style, and tone of your presentation accordingly.

What's the vision of your company? Can you see it? Can you explain it? 

Having a clear vision for your company is crucial to not only its success, but it's basic survival. Operating a business without one is like walking blindfolded through a forest, hoping that by just moving your feet you'll get to the other side. 

Your vision should be succinct; a vocalization of your purpose; and a mark to aim your efforts. 

If you’ve ever tried to get multiple people to understand and implement new processes, you already know that it can be akin to herding cats. The cats only grow in size when you're trying to change the way your business operates. 

It's important for all team members to be on the same page because as your business grows, this only becomes harder. So, how can you begin to overcome this hurdle?

It’s no secret that change is hard. Times change, people change, and your business will definitely change.

There's this little saying among parents, "the days are long, but the years are short." It's often used to remind each other that while the tantrums can be draining, life moves and changes quickly. 

Whether you have kids or not, the sentiment that time passes and life changes quickly are relatable to anyone. It's probably even more poignant to business owners. 

As a company, your brand reflects what you stand for. A mission statement is the core piece of branding that the rest of your brand identity hangs on, so getting it right is critical. You want to make sure it aligns with your company's goals, beliefs, audience, and purpose.

Imagine that illusive mentor character that comes in at the right moment and says that little line, that's kind of cliche, but also totally drives the point across.

It might be your grandma. It might be Dumbledore. Either way. Get their voice in your head. 

Ready?

"A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link."

"Great leaders don't blame the tools they are given. They sharpen them." -Simon Sinek

"The only thing worse than training employees and losing them, is to not train them and keep them." - Zig Ziglar

"Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don't want to." - Richard Brown

It happens to the best of us. It can derail high-level projects in the best companies. When scope creep shows its ugly head, we are forced to navigate those dreaded and turbulent waters. "Creep" can create a massive ripple effect that is real, that can extend way beyond that one project. It can have a domino effect on timelines, pipelines, and possibly a whole client base. 

Do you let business come to you naturally or are you constantly nurturing prospects? Trick question - you should be doing both. If you're good at what you do and you invest in ongoing marketing efforts then business will come to you naturally. But, it's also important to do some business development nurturing. 

It's like when you're decorating your house. You invest in a houseplant, but then you fail to invest in taking care of that houseplant. It needs nurturing care. Sometimes specialized care. Or it won't last. 

Meetings can be contentious things. Done poorly, they take time away from working hours and make participants feel as though their time isn't valued. Worryingly, some 67% of meetings a considered a failure - with these collectively costing the economy $37b a year. 

However, managed well, meetings can be a high-value endeavor. They can be a great way to share ideas, make progress on projects, oversee decision making, and bring the team together. With middle management spending some 35% of their time in meetings and upper management a huge 50%, leading effective meetings is a must for productivity and profitability.

Here's how. 

CEOs earn their positions for a reason: They have the right mix of leadership, drive, personality, discipline, and skill. You know, The Right Stuff. If you're looking to climb the ranks and become a business leader of any kind, you'll want to adopt some key CEO habits. Below are some tips for becoming one of those rockstar employees who have CEO written all over them. The tried and true tricks of the trade.

Your unique selling proposition (USP) is what sets your product apart from your competitors. It's a way of positioning your product, service or even yourself for market success, and it's critical for building a viable business that drives customer loyalty.

Do you know?

You might have numbers running through your mind about how much you're spending on a social media campaign, or how much it costs to maintain an active blog on your website - but this is a different question altogether.

Let's say you got up this morning to see a new sale from a brand new customer. A lead turned into a customer - huzzah! Now, how much did it cost you to convert that lead into a customer? And then convert them into a loyal customer? 

When it's qualified.

Your sales funnel is working the way it should, and leads are coming through. But not all leads are created equally. We all know that you're going to have to kiss a lot of frogs. For every person who'll ultimately buy your product or service, there are the tire kickers, the preliminary shoppers and those who can't or won't buy what you're selling. In fact, only about 25% of leads end up converting into actual sales. Every business needs to create marketing (three touchpoints is a good standard) touchpoints that lead people through their funnel.

As a high-level executive, your days are bound to be extremely busy. But no matter how hectic your schedule is, it's critical to take time to build up the individuals who will become the future leaders of your company. Grooming someone to excel in a leadership role takes time, effort and resources - and it's best done by someone with on-the-ground insights into your company's culture, goals, and aspirations.

Do you dream of starting your own company? Itching to build your own business and be the boss? While it is possible to succeed as an entrepreneur with a single great idea, more often than not, successful entrepreneurs come from seasoned backgrounds in their industry.

Ever asked a colleague about an email or task, only to get sidetracked talking about something else entirely? At StellaPop we call these moments "squirrel time," after Doug the notoriously distractible dog in the film Up.

Not all squirrel time is bad. We all need a break every now and then, and sometimes squirrel time can result in valuable discussions or insights about a client, a task or a process. But how do you control squirrel time so that you don't go nuts?

Here's how we ensure that we stay on task and meet our deadlines - while still allowing for occasional office chit chat and discussion. 

Every new project starts first with conception. Conception is when the germ of an idea is born. That idea is then brought to fruition by creativity, sweat, and a healthy dose of humility if you’re doing it right. You have to be humble because the path from first iterations to final approval is a dark road littered with twists and turns and peppered with umpteen revisions.

Ever since we are little, we are conditioned to think about what we want to be when we grow up (which really means what we want to do for work). As a kid, we start out dreaming big. We want to be a firefighter and face danger; we want to be a doctor and save lives; we want to help people. As we get older though, money often comes into the picture. Your career path may change based on salary, but if you're lucky it doesn't have to. 

Whether you’re dealing with wall-to-wall cubicles, an open layout, or a combination of both, here are four ways to help boost office morale and improve employee productivity.

1. Keep meetings to a minimum

One of the biggest traps most workplaces fall into is the habit of scheduling too many meetings a week. To help solve this issue, some offices have started designating specific timeframes for meetings (say, between 10 AM and noon), while others simply schedule one meeting a week and cover as many topics as they can. A weekly office gathering can often help cover most of the upcoming issues in one setting, as well as offer a little insight into what everyone has planned for the week.

As a leader, your team looks to you for answers and support. Being able to deliver clear, actionable feedback is a critical leadership skill - one that's both good for your team and good for your standing as a leader.

Here's how to deliver feedback that everyone can use to improve.

The beginning of the year is often flooded with goal setting. Goals are wonderful. They're motivating. They're often a way of tracking your success. Goals are great. 

But let's get one thing straight. A strategy isn't the same thing as a goal. A strategy is the how and the why. It's choosing what to do and what not to do. 

And a business without a sound strategy fueling its actions is sunk no matter how good you're at setting goals. 

Almost all business leaders want to take their company to the next level — whether that means innovating product or service development, growing their consumer base, or becoming a household name. But what about really making waves? If you're looking to shake the very foundation of your space and take control, you're looking to disrupt your industry.

You may have heard this catchphrase before, but what does it really mean to disrupt an industry? It's about more than just developing innovative products or services — it's forcing deep changes to the way the industry operates. And because of the disruption, other companies are required to change to the new way of doing things in order to stay relevant.

You've had a brilliant idea, one you think could turn into a rare "unicorn". But before you dive headlong into launching a business, first take the time to validate your idea. This will help ensure that there's room in the market for your idea - along with potential customers. It can also save you from doubling up on something that already exists, or attempting to shoehorn yourself into an overcrowded vertical.

Here's how to figure out whether your idea has legs.

The business startup scene is one of the most ruthless sectors in the world. With a 90% failure rate, it’s obvious most startups don’t make the cut. Sure, some of the blame can be placed on market saturation, but the bitter truth is that most startups simply don’t know how to, well, start.

Having a great idea is one thing; seeing that idea to fruition is a whole different story. Grit, gumption, tenacity -- these are the traits you need to survive in the industry.

If you’re looking to test your mettle in the startup world, here are four tips to help you start moving.

The word resilient has two definitions in general use. The first refers to a person or entity that's able to withstand and recover from difficult situations. The second reference an object with the ability to spring back into shape after bending, stretching, or being compressed. 

It’s that time of year again. The time where we look back and assess where we’re at and what we’ve done. Evaluate what worked and what didn’t and make plans to do even better moving forward. With that said, the end of 2018 is closing in fast. Did you accomplish all of your business goals for the year? Achieve all of your business dreams? Or do you feel you’ve fallen short?

Put the power back into your businesses hands.

Having your own website and social media profiles is a must in this day in age, but only a handful of companies actually have control over it. In fact, if you paid an outside contractor to build your site and set up your pages, chances are someone else owns it. This means your logins, hosting capabilities and more could be caught up in someone else’s hands. Sure, it may be convenient to hire an outside contractor to do the “dirty work,” but the associated legal risk is often more headache than it’s worth.

King Arthur ruled over Camelot, bringing it security and prosperity. How? By utilizing his best people - the knights of the roundtable - to get the job done. King Arthur didn't manage each and every farmer, blacksmith, and soldier individually. That would have been impossible- and possibly insane. King Arthur had a strong middle management team that executed his vision.

Productivity doesn't just happen - it's planned. And with our collective productivity increasing some 80% since the 70s, all of that planning is clearly working. Need some tips for squeezing a little more out of your day? Here are some of our failsafe ways to ensure that you're using your time as effectively as possible.

Diversity in the workforce is a hot button topic. But studies have shown that diversity isn't only good for your company culture - it's good for your bottom line. Having a team that represents different cultures, genders, socioeconomic background, ages and even ways of thinking is a plus for your business. It helps you see beyond your own perspective - and it helps you get into the heads of your consumers. 

You may be puzzled by the title of this post. You might ask yourself, "Why should I want to mirror a startup culture? My company is established and thriving." While that may be true, there are many positive things to be gleaned from a startup mindset that can improve any size business. 

When you think about a startup culture, visions of air hockey tables, modern furniture, brightly colored walls, and an all-fun mentality may come to mind. But in reality, a startup culture is so much more.

Here are a few common tenants of startup culture that could benefit your business and everyone in it.

It’s not easy being a solo entrepreneur. But that's showbiz baby. 

Since you’re ridin' solo, you are forced to wear many hats which can be both exhilarating and exhausting, depending on the day. Thankfully, technology and the era of internet has made working alone easier than ever. 

There are tools and apps and goodies galore to help you make the most of your day, get “all the things” done, and even do them on a budget. Keep reading for some our best “gotta have ‘em” tools to help make your solo venture successful.

Savvy consumers are moving away from single-use products - and so are savvy businesses. After all, the easiest way to ensure customer retention is to build it into your business model. So how are they doing it? With the subscription model.

Gone are the days when subscriptions were only associated with newspapers and magazines. In 2018, 29% of the value of the top 100 brands is in subscriptions - up from 18% in 2009.  If you shop via Amazon Prime, watch TV through Netflix, cook using Blue Apron and pay for an annual Microsoft Office license, you're buying into the subscription economy. 

So why are subscriptions so great, and why should you build them into your business?

The vision many people have when they dream about running a business is often a far cry from the day-to-day reality. The freedom, flexibility and fine dining lunches don't necessarily materialize. In their place, many small business owners struggle with long days, stress and cash flow.

Though common, those issues don't need to be part of the experience. Often, they arise when small business owners need a stronger grounding in the basics of business operations and process.

Here's what you need to know to ensure that your business ticks along like a dream.

Planning an office move is one of the most stressful tasks there is. Studies show that 80% of people who have the responsibility of moving a company leave their job within three years after the move is complete.  That’s a pretty startling statement, but it’s not surprising. So, if you're assigned the role of the chief mover, this one goes out to you. 

No matter how far the move or how big the organization, planning is critical. To help you get the most out of your move, here are six tips to help keep you calm, cool, and collected. That way, you can move your entire business without having to break a sweat.

Businesses today have to move and think fast to keep up with the ever-changing landscapes of their industry. Without the agile mindset, staying competitive is almost impossible. By encouraging and developing a culture of creative collaboration, you give your business a competitive advantage. A huge leg up on your competition!

Cross-functional (leadership, accounting, marketing, production, development, customer service, etc.) teams can meet in a collaborative environment and bring different skill sets, perspectives, and functional expertise to the table to solve a common problem or achieve a common goal. It can be easy for cross-functional teams to fall into competition with each other, but thoughtful cooperation and guidance is the name of the game. Remember, you’re all supposed to be working toward the same goal - success!

What is a Fractional COO?

A fractional COO is a Chief Operating Officer (COO) that an organization brings on a part-time basis or as-needed basis.

They are there to provide guidance, expertise, and executive-level leadership to help businesses and organizations avoid roadblocks in their business model and ensure they are on the right strategic and operational track for maximum growth. 

Fractional COO’s offer these services at a fraction of the cost of a full-time COO, which makes them an attractive success tool for smaller to medium-sized companies and organizations that are just starting out and don’t yet have the budget for a full-time COO.

Did you know that the average person spends about one-third of their life at work? Long gone are the days where employees were willing to work strict hours in one location that offered little to no perks. A one-pot coffee maker and water cooler will no longer fit the bill. Today, workers expect to have a more optimal workplace filled with amenities that promote wellness, happiness, and satisfaction.

Did you know Mark Wahlberg starts his day at 2:30 am?

That means that by the time the average college freshman rolls out at 10:00 am for class, he's already put in eight hours.  2:30 am might be a tad excessive, but then again Mark Wahlberg commands a net worth of roughly $225 million. So, maybe we all should be taking note. 

So you have a brilliant new product, idea or message. But getting the word out to encourage widespread awareness and adoption is more easily said than done - unless you understand exactly how ideas spread.

Strategic planning is used to define your company's priorities, direction and goals to ensure that everyone is working together towards the same outcomes. Done well, it gives you a roadmap of the actions you need to take to reach your goals - and a way of measuring success. 

There are many different frameworks and approaches for strategic planning. Our preferred approach involves 8 key steps across 4 phases:  

If there is one imperative for every business, it’s a stellar elevator pitch. You might want to consider developing one or re-thinking the current one, otherwise, it may be a sign you don't understand your brand, as well as you, think you do.

If you can’t communicate your message clearly and concisely in three minutes or less, then your messaging may need to be reevaluated.

There is, however, an art to creating your elevator pitch. Here are a few of our best tips to help you craft and deliver yours with panache and flair the next time someone asks you about your business. 

Employee health and wellbeing is critical to your business. But where corporate wellness initiatives began with efforts such as quitting smoking or weight loss, they've since shifted to something that affects all employees: the environment that they work in.

Meet the millennial Goldie Locks. She's got the cliche gold curls, and a master's degree that says she knows what she's doing. Her portfolio and resume look fantastic. During her interview, you could tell she'll be the perfect fit. 

Miss Locks is the best new talent in the business, and she's the one you want to hire. 

We're all familiar with the "fail fast, fail often" mantra. With it comes a new approach to dealing with setbacks and challenges. It's no longer verboten to miss out on a job opportunity, fail to land a contract or throw everything you have into an idea that doesn't work out. But that doesn't mean that failure is any easier to handle when you're the one succumbing to it.

It seems simple: The more technology continues to dominate our lives, the more it should be used to our advantage everywhere — including the workplace. But according to Capital One's Work Environment Survey, "82% of office professionals believe companies can't encourage innovation unless their workplace environment is innovative, and 63% feel innovation isn't reflected at all in their current workplace's design."

Many of us subscribe to the idea that, "If you want something done right, do it yourself." We all have a specific picture of how we want things done, and sometimes it's hard to sit back and watch other people try and bring our vision to life.

Almost the entire population has a digital footprint - that includes 92% of toddlers. No matter who you are, the world can Google a picture of you, read your tweets or see your educational accomplishments. Together, all of these things become your "personal brand."

Consumers are more fragmented than ever. Sure, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms have made it easier to interact with your audience, but at the same time it feels like connecting with them has never been harder.  

Strategic thinking involves looking at how today will inform tomorrow - and making decisions accordingly. Where conventional thinking is reactive, short-term and cautious, strategic thinking is all about looking for and anticipating new ideas, opportunities and plans.

Do you feel like every time you have a handle on your marketing, something new comes along? You're not alone. Marketing trends and technology are constantly changing — forcing business leaders to jump on board or get left behind. So how do you stay ahead of the game this year? Here are seven marketing challenges you might face in 2018 and how to tackle them.

When it comes to branding, today’s companies are thinking even bigger than ever. Environmental branding is becoming a trend as businesses realize that even their office space says something.

Stuff isn't just placed in an office just to fill space, it's there to tell a unique story, on a large and unique canvas.

But why would anyone even bother branding an office? The short answer is because it works. Branding your office space can have a significant impact on the success of your business.

If you spy on your neighbors, it's considered creepy. However, if you keep tabs on your competition, it's just smart. To make sure you're not being left behind in your industry, it's important to know what your competitors — both known and yet to be discovered — are up to.  So channel your inner Gladys Kravitz and try out these seven tools to keep an eye on your peers.

Coworking spaces are by their very nature fast-paced, ever-changing spaces. It's essential to seek out and adapt to feedback, market shifts and new trends sooner rather than later.

Here's how to ensure your space is a success going forward.

The culture of your coworking space isn't innate. It's set and cultivated by your leadership and your supporting team. One of your most crucial responsibilities is in helping create a culture that's empowering, positive and community-minded.

Everyone likes a party, and a launch event is a great way to get people into your space. Anybody who comes through your doors is a potential tenant, so the more the merrier - for both your guests and your bottom line. 

Here's how to bring the crowds with a coworking launch worthy of the lifestyle pages. 

If you're the head coach of a college or high school basketball team, it's safe to bet that you've probably had a few years coaching experience at a variety of levels. This is a true communication and leadership success story.
 
It all begins with one of the most successful college coaches who started as a newcomer to college coaching. He had never coached a national powerhouse high school team or a star-studded AAU program before he was hired to resurrect a storied D3 college basketball program. He will tell you about a coach doing it all. Scheduling games, running practices, mapping out strength and conditioning programs, arranging travel – private school coaches roll many responsibilities into one demanding job.

A healthy subscriber base is crucial for the success of your coworking space. Ideally, you'll already have a solid roster of tenants signed up before you open. This will help reduce risk on the business side of things and will also create buzz for potential new tenants.

Here's how to market your offering so that you can launch with a splash.

Today’s world is vastly different from the world even 10 or 15 years ago. And nothing has changed and continues to change faster than the ever-evolving job market.

Businesses that want to not just survive, but thrive, have to move fast, think fast, step outside the box, and be willing to go the extra mile to attract top talent to their team. 

Culture is your coworking space's main differentiator. And your staff are the ones who shape that culture. In a traditional office space, a single company dictates culture and brand. In coworking, it's you as the "host" who molds the culture. Welcoming clients, visitors, and prospects into your coworking space is a bit like welcoming people into your home. As the host, you set the tone and expectations around behavior and service.

It's no secret that the U.S. is the most overworked country in the world. A staggering percentage of us (85.8% of men and 66.5% of women) work more than 40 hours a week. Let's face it: We're run ragged and stressed out with coffee pulsing through our veins. We need about four more hours of sleep a night and three extra days in a week just to get it all done.

You've signed your lease or purchased your building, and now it's time to start planning out the look and feel of your coworking space.  Getting this right is critical — it will shape how your tenants can use your space, and what future growth will look like.

You've found the perfect spot for your coworking space, and now it's time to handle the financial side of things. Let's take a look at some of the leasing and financing options available to you and what to consider when negotiating the deal.

It's all about location, location, location.

You've researched the market and gauged the local competition. There's no doubt about it —freelancers, startups, and entrepreneurs are clamoring for coworking space. So how exactly do you go about selecting the space itself? 

Thinking big picture is the process of stretching, extending your thinking far beyond the immediate day-to-day needs your business. It's moving outside the box, looking for an edge, and striving for something farther off than you may assume possible. It's establishing a vision for your company that doesn't include merely wanting to make money. 

The most workable ideas are ones that have been validated by the market. And the best money (and time) you can spend on your coworking space is on market research. Before spending a dollar on tech, equipment or space, spend some time figuring out the local coworking landscape — and whether conditions are right for another coworking space. 

We all do it: Sitting there, nodding our heads, still making eye contact, but waiting for the person we're having a conversation with to finish their sentence so we can talk. As soon as they finish, we jump in with our counterpoints — which now may not even be in direct response to what they just said.

A good coach would never send players onto the field without a strategy. And as a business leader, neither should you. It's your job to develop a game plan that sets you and your team up for success. But as many coaches know, you might have the perfect plan on paper, but it's worthless if it's not properly executed. Below are some tips for creating — and sticking to — a solid game plan that will push you to victory.

The competition for talent is the fiercest its been in decades. With the unemployment rate dropping below 4 percent for the first time since 2000, the job market is making it difficult to attract and hire the best talent.

Outsourcing has become a trend that doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. With technology advancements come progress and change, and many companies are deciding that one of those changes is a move to outsource more of their business needs, instead of hiring in-house.

Today, spec suites are the new darlings in luring tenants. But for building owners and commercial brokers, it can be a cautionary tale. The challenge is tenant expectations of “Move-In Ready” versus “Business-Ready.” Like fraternal twins, the terms are related but distinctively different.

It's easy for business leaders to get bogged down by the day-to-day grind and demands of the job. Between flying from one meeting to another and staying up late to finish your budget, you're seriously tapped out at the end of the day. But there are two things you can focus on to pull you out of the weeds and motivate your team at the same time: passion and vision.

Running a business is a lot like sticking to a workout routine: you need dedication, focus, and grit. There may be times when you don't even know where to begin or how you'll ever reach your goals, but fear not! Our easy, one-of-a-kind management routine focuses on five critical business fundamentals to get your company in shape and fit to thrive in no time. 

Maybe it’s Not a Science Yet – But Progress is Being Made to Discover the Secret Formula …

Success is something that’s not handed out to just anyone — or any company.  Even if you come up with a ‘laundry list’ of elements, and all your ducks are in a row, this won’t necessarily equal success.

Everything you ever wanted to know about opening and managing a coworking space

There are almost 29 million small businesses in the US, 22 million of which are sole proprietor organizations with no employees other than the owner. And when you consider that 52% of these small businesses are run from home, there's a clear and growing market opportunity.

In today's world, the recruiting and hiring process is being forced to adapt to rapid changes in the workforce, as well as in the way we use technology.

Finding the right candidate for the job in an increasingly competitive realm is difficult, and businesses are looking for ways to streamline their efforts and uncover the diamonds in the rough in a way that is efficient and effective.

The only thing worse than design by committee is decision making by committee. Business isn't jury duty: not every single person in the company has to be unequivocally on board with a decision. What you do need is a clear vision, a clear decision-making process and a clear chain of command.

When asked recently to name the one attribute CEOs will need most to succeed in the turbulent times ahead, Michael Dell, the chief executive of Dell, Inc., replied, “I would place my bet on curiosity.”

If you do nothing else as a business leader, support a culture of curiosity.  Curiosity is a big driver of innovation. Find a way to allow your team time to roam and explore the vast ocean of opportunity ensconced in problem-solving and innovation. 

It happens. We lose confidence in ourselves, in our abilities. We wonder if we've got what it takes to really do this entrepreneurial thing. 

Doubt attacks even the best of the best, especially if you've been out of the game for awhile. After a hiatus, it can be easy to deceive yourself into believing that you're no longer up to snuff, that you haven't got what it takes.

 The world of office space has seen a whirlwind of change over the past 15 years. I’ve been at the executive-level of the shared office space industry, so I’ve seen a thing or two — and learned a thing or two. One key lesson I’ve taken away is the importance of striking a balance between staying ahead of the curve and continuing to observe tried-and-true business practices.

In today's digital age, just about anyone and everyone has a LinkedIn profile. The truth is, some of them are awesome, and some of them are...well...not so awesome. 

Often, a LinkedIn profile falls flat because one of the prime pieces of real estate in a LinkedIn profile (the summary) falls flat.  

Every company’s greatest untapped resource is the unused data in its client database. If managed correctly, this knowledge can transform your business, making it smarter and more profitable. Today’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools can lead the way, turning data into answers and insights. By tracking and storing all your customer interactions – email, phone, website, live chat, etc. – they create a highly organized, central database.

The Rise of Mobile …where the UX must be accessible and visible

The number of mobile Internet users equaled its desktop user counterparts around 2014 and has since passed it. Also, the variety of mobile devices, especially the Android, is increasing.

Customer Experience, or CX, is quickly becoming a major source of attention for companies in recent years. The customer experience is the overall interaction a person has with a brand — good, bad, or indifferent. 

It’s Sunday night. Do you know where your employees are? 

Well, not physically. They’re likely watching Game of Thrones, still recovering from the past two days, and questioning why they did those things, to begin with. (Though, to be fair, they seemed like good ideas at the time.)

By the year 2020, over 50 percent of the population will be made up of Generation Y, commonly referred to as "Millennials." Millennials are individuals born in the late 1980s through the 1990s. And the way they approach work is different than any generation before them. It is no longer a generation you can ignore or side eye. You have to adapt, change, and learn how to manage these individuals; however, this group has received a bum rap with how the media portrays them— truly!

In 2018, CEOs face a myriad of dramatic challenges on every front: rising cyber security threats, costly healthcare, capital funding, the new administration’s evolving regulations, ever-more demanding customer expectations and the economy.