Startup business owners need as much production as possible out of their employees. For employees who work an office job, there are things you can do to increase production. Here are some tips and tricks that can help:
Comfort
Invest in comfortable chairs. Provide amenities that make employees want to work. A happy worker is a productive worker.
Simplicity
Relieve stress by making everything as simple as possible. For example, you can provide food for your employees so that they don’t have to worry about where to go on their lunch break.
Technology
Utilize technology to keep all the members of your team in the loop. …read more

Before you jump into a startup, doing your homework first is always the smart move. Doing your homework might be boring and it might be time consuming, but it’s very important in each stage of your startup and allows you construct short-term and long-term goals.
When doing your homework, the easiest way to get answers is to go to potential customers for answers. Here are some questions you should ask:
Is the customer happy?
If you find that potential customers aren’t happy with the current product or service, this is a very good sign that a startup can succeed in this field.
What does …read more

It’s very possible to make money in these difficult economic times. However, customer retention is more important than ever. With fewer and fewer customers out on the market in nearly every market, retaining a customer is much easier and less expensive than trying to replace a customer.
For startups, the ability to retain customers is one of the most important things investors will look at when assessing the long-term viability of the company. For example, a startup could be making money but if their customers are constantly complaining and leaving, eventually those customers will run out. On the other hand, a …read more

In today’s business world, a successful online startup company without a blog presence is rare. Nearly every successful new online company has a blog associated with it in some form or fashion. Even a large percentage of brick and mortar startups have a blog.
If you have a startup company but you don’t have time to personally pen a blog, the next best idea is to hire a freelance blogger. With so many people claiming to be blogging experts these days, how do you find a blogger right for your startup? Here are a few tips for hiring a blogger:
1. Offer …read more

Customer service in any line of business is always extremely important. For a startup business, the quality of customer service oftentimes can mean the difference between success and failure. After interviewing many successful startup business owners, here are the top five customer service tips that were discussed the most:
5. Avoid form letters. It’s tempting to try to answer all the questions from customers by using form letters and canned responses. However, customers can see right through such tactics and it comes across as unprofessional.
4. Use phones. It is tempting, especially for internet startup businesses, to try to handle everything via …read more

Starting a business is exciting. There’s a ton to do – and a lot of it is truly enjoyable.
For me, I loved the creative and planning side: designing logos, creating the marketing systems, etc.
But while you’re in the thick of it, you might have forgotten one key element. (And many people, do by the way!) That element is getting customers.
This doesn’t mean creating cool websites or brochures, but actually picking up the phone or visiting potential customers and referrals.
Starting out – or even when times are tough for the established business, you should spend at least 50% of your time …read more

Tales and Tips from a Serial Entrepreneur
By Razor Suleman, Founder and CEO, I Love Rewards
As a serial entrepreneur, I have learned my share on what it takes to not only light that entrepreneurial flame within, but also take the business to the next stage, and the next, and the next.
I started my first business at the age of 15 when I decided to become a sports card dealer and flip Upper Deck Hockey cards for a profit. Since then I founded and now serve as CEO of I Love Rewards, a web-based marketing incentive firm that builds employee rewards …read more