Entrepreneurs who work from a home office are caught in a funny place between personal and professional responsibility. On one hand, you are at home—so you can see that there is housework to be done and errands to run and a leaky faucet to fix and appointments that need to be made during “business hours.” […]
Organization
Startup and Organization Costs
When starting a business, the owners are likely to incur two classes of costs that are not normally encountered in the ongoing operations of the business and should not be included as operating expenses. These are startup expenditures and organization costs. Each of these are specifically defined and receive special tax treatment. Startup expenditures are […]
3 Pillars of All Successful Organizations
I like ideas that are easy to remember. That is one key reason why I often use memory hooks—something that helps me remember more complicated ideas. One memory hook that is always popular is the 3-legged stool. When one leg is weak, uneven—or worse, missing—the stool loses its ability to perform effectively. The 3-legged stool […]
Creativity and Clutter: Friends or Enemies?
Does clutter affect creativity? I can give you quotes that say it does, and research that says it doesn’t. There’s lots of anecdotal evidence for either side. What do you think? My own experience goes either way. So I decided to look into this question on the web. Some Research Shows Creativity and Clutter Go […]
How Long Should You Keep Your Records?
As tax time approaches, we’ll find ourselves gathering paperwork and typing in the numbers. Once sent, it’s likely we’ll stash them away amongst stacks of taxes from years and years ago. And some years, we look at that stack and think, it’s time to clean up. Before you busy yourself with the paper shredder, it’s […]
Organized Options: How to Become a More Effective Employee
Back in 2008, America’s financial crisis left hundreds of thousands of people scrambling for work. It also forced many workers to reevaluate their worth in the workplace and what they had to offer. One of the most sobering thoughts is that anyone can lose their job at any time without warning. However, the best job […]
9 Smart Yet Simple Ways to Organize Your Office
Nothing can derail a workday faster than misplacing a critical document right before a big meeting. And here’s the sour cherry on top of that frustrating work moment: messy offices provoke more than short-term stresses. Studies find a disorganized office space can negatively impact both productivity and motivation. That’s partly because for most people, clutter makes it harder […]
An ERP Solution Can Empower and Grow Your Business
Business is advancing and evolving at a rate never before experienced, and an ERP system (Enterprise Resource Planning Solution) has become a key element to business survival. An ERP solution centralizes, integrates and automates all of your core business processes, such as tracking inventory, regulating finances and taking orders; although it does not stop there. […]
How Post-It Note Flowcharts Can Help Business Planning
Flowcharts are useful collaboration tools that are widely used in business. In the most basic terms, a flowchart is a diagram of the flow of a process or algorithm from start to finish. Essentially, each step of a process—including the start/end points, actions and decisions—is added to the chart, with arrows connecting the various steps. […]
How Lean Construction Empowers the Front Line for Better Teamwork
A command-and-control hierarchy used to be the only way to get things done before the 21st century. Your superior gave you a command, and you said “Yes, sir”—or paid the price. But what if the command didn’t make sense in practice? What if it was outdated or inappropriate? You still had to obey. Things are […]