Choosing the location of a business is a crucial step when starting a business. The most important factor when choosing a business location is the type of business and its operations. For example, the needs of an online-only business looking to expand are vastly different from the needs of an accounting business. A business location plan requires research, planning, and intensive vetting of all the possible options. There are several factors to consider when choosing a business location.

Budget

The location chosen must fit within the company’s budget. Various location-specific costs must be considered in addition to the monthly rent or purchase price. Different sites have different types of hidden costs associated with them that must be accounted for. Such hidden costs include renovations, taxes, minimum wage requirements, economic incentives, and utility upgrades. For instance, the water supply in some areas warrants the installation of a water softener system. This would need to be taken into consideration when working with the budget.

Market and Demographics

Demographics refer to the characteristics of a population. These include income, age, gender, spending power, or occupation. A firm understanding of a location’s current demographic profile and market statistics is fundamental in establishing the viability of a business. A company can apply this knowledge to predict the expected level of support from the community, the average income of the community, or their spending habits.

The study of specific community attributes helps to determine the profile of a community.

An example of such a feature is the average age of the community. Another characteristic is a community’s purchasing power and the extent of disposable income existing within the community. The most popular recreational activities and hobbies within a community can also be a good source of information.

Proximity to other establishments

A business set up close to other complementary companies can turn out to be a very profitable tactic. This involves choosing business locations with neighboring shops that complement the services and products offered by the business. For example, a women’s shoe store that is set up near a popular designer clothing shop could benefit from the traffic generated by the shop.

Numerous business opportunities can expose themselves by surveying an area to find out the establishments operating within it. For example, high-density areas with many establishments within them can be profitable locations for setting up a parking lot.

Safety

Businesses function more efficiently when the owners and employees feel protected and safe. The company’s onsite security is also essential if the business deals with valuable inventory that is susceptible to burglary and theft.

It’s essential to research the crime rate of an area before committing to a location. Security cameras and shutters are useful in protecting a business but will not guarantee employees’ safety in areas with high crime rates. Customers will also tend to avoid visiting a company if they are worried about crime. A location’s level of security can be found out by checking the local crime statistics.

Competition

Customer-facing businesses must have their competition in mind when choosing a business location. Rival companies located close to one another will find it more challenging to attract people to their establishment. A business situated in an area that has been untouched by similar businesses dramatically increases its chances of attracting customers.

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post 5 Things to Consider When Choosing a Business Location appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.

There are roughly 22 million businesses in the United States, ranging from small to mid-sized to large and spanning every industry in the world. While the general purpose of a business is to provide a product or service and generate revenue, there is also a range when it comes to what the business owner’s end game is. 

Some business owners are so passionate about their company that it is a lifelong project. Through the good times and the bad, they want to keep growing, make their quality consistent, and sustain a valuable relationship to customers and communities.

There are other business owners, however, who have a different kind of passion and that is to grow sustainable business models and then sell them to bigger entities. This is why you will hear of entrepreneurs who have owned dozens of companies. You wonder, how could they possibly run so many businesses at once? Well, usually, they are only actively running a few of those enterprises and the rest they’ve sold for profit. 

Some business owners will never sell their company. It’s part of their lives and they’re committed to keeping things a certain way. Others feel that at a certain point, they’ve done as much as they can do and decide it’s time to pass it off to be absorbed into a larger corporation. Depending on how valuable the company is at the time, this deal may afford the business owner with the funds needed to start a new business.

We’re seeing a streamlined, small-scale version of this with Amazon’s fulfillment program, which provides smaller business owners and sellers with the warehousing resources and ecommerce logistics needed to sustainably grow. On the other end of this pipeline, larger companies will buy Amazon FBA business models that have proven to be lucrative.

The question of whether a business owner or seller should sell their business is complex and personal. Sometimes it’s about more than just money. For example, a multi-generation, family-owned farm or agricultural company might be reluctant to hand over the keys of their ma and pop business to a giant corporation. On the other, Etsy sellers that have built red-hot ecommerce shops in volatile industries may decide to make a profit and get out while their valuation is high. 

Here are a few factors to consider if you’re deciding whether or not to sell your business.

• Do you have your next steps/projects lined up? What will you do after the sale? If you have another venture lined up, the sale revenue could propel you into a new phase of success. On the other hand, if you’re going to be sitting around wondering what to do, you might want to stick with what’s giving you purpose. 
• Will your finances work out in the years to come? How much will you make from the sale and will that be enough to sustain you and your family? You have to add up how much you were making annually from the business and compare that to the money earned from the sale. If it’s only a few year’s worth and you have no backup plan, you might be setting yourself up for a long-term mistake. 
• Are you emotionally ready to move on? If you are totally burnt out on your business and ready for a change, it’s probably best to sell for a profit if you can. On the other hand, if you’re still passionate about your company and are worried you may regret giving it up, you need to consider this, too. Ultimately, only the individual business owner knows how much fuel they have left in the tank. Running a company is brutal work and requires a deep reservoir of devotion. 
• Are you in a volatile industry or one that is lagging? Businesses can suddenly die and so too can entire industries. Just ask Blockbuster and the brick-and-mortar rental video industry. Part of knowing whether to sell your company is being able to forecast your long-term prospects. If it looks like your industry is volatile and in for tough times and you have a buyer ready now, selling could be the right move. On the other hand, if your industry is about to flourish due to new technology or market forces, you don’t want to sell too early. 

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post Deciding Whether Or Not To Sell Your Business appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.

Construction is one of the most dangerous lines of work, so it should be every business manager’s priority to keep their employees safe whilst they are on site. However, there are so many different factors to consider which can make keeping track of every safety check difficult. To help employers with this dilemma and ensure the workforce is protected, we have written this article which provides a helpful checklist of all the different things that they need to account for. 

If you are the leader of a construction company and want to keep your employees safe, then read on to find out more.

Gritting for Winter

Construction work can become significantly more dangerous during the wintertime as the ground becomes slick with black ice. This could put your employees at real risk because they might fall over whilst working up high. What’s more, your equipment could also slide on the ice, putting those around in harm’s way. Therefore, employers should hire road gritting contractors for their construction sites during the wintertime. 

Gritting companies will usually arrive at the premises in the early hours of the morning, before employees have arrived, and lay grit down on the ground. Gritting Works, for instance, keep an eye on the weather forecast and will grit the night before if you agree that it’s required. This will then melt away the ice and provide extra grip for the next day. 

Personal Protective Equipment

Employers should also supply their staff members with all the appropriate gear they need to stay safe whilst working the job. For starters, helmets are a must. These will protect your employees from severe head injuries that can be caused by falling over or construction materials. Ear protection is also very important. Pedestrians can hear construction work from miles away – imagine what damage this could be doing to your workers. Things like safety goggles, knee pads and high-visibility jackets are a requirement, too. The second these things become damaged; you need to replace them. Otherwise, you will be culpable if your worker hurts themselves on the job.

Health & Safety Training

You should never underestimate the importance of health and safety training. Whilst your employees might find this yawn-inducing, they need this education. If they don’t have the correct knowledge or understanding, they could easily put themselves and others at risk. We encourage employers to regularly put their staff through health and safety training. It’s also important to frequently review how well they are putting their training into practice.

Maintaining Equipment

One of the most dangerous things about working in construction is the equipment. That’s exactly why employers need to audit their equipment, making sure it is being properly maintained. This includes the scaffolding, tools and machines your workers will be using. We cannot overstate how dangerous a faulty piece of equipment is, so employers should make this a top priority to check.

These are some things that construction companies need to account for to keep their workers safe. Employers cannot be laissez-faire in this regard because they will be responsible for any harm that is done.

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post How Construction Companies Can Help to Keep Their Workers Safe appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.

If you run a business that is classed as essential during the UK national lockdown period, you’re probably experiencing a little bit of a boom in business right now. With non-essential stores closed down, shoppers have a smaller range of options when it comes to getting what they need. Your store will be able to remain open even if you have a range of non-essential products for sale, which could increase your customer base over the lockdown. Staying compliant with government guidelines and keeping your staff and customers safe as we get through this second wave of the pandemic has never been more important. 

Invest in More Hand Sanitising Stations

More customers to your store mean more supplies to keep everybody safe. Installing more hand sanitising stations is always better than not having enough. If you’re running out of hand sanitiser a lot, adding some more will ensure that everybody is able to keep their hands clean and reduce the risk of spreading the pandemic. You can place a hand sanitiser station at the entrance to your store and make sure that every customer uses it before they enter. Discount Displays offers a range of hand sanitiser stations that are ideal for any type of shop. You can find automatic hand sanitising stations at Discount Displays; a great idea for reducing touch and contact. 

Social Distancing Signs

While most of the pubic are trying to stick to social distancing guidelines, it can often be difficult to try and visualise what two metres looks like when you’re in a shop. To help customers stay apart and stay safe, you might want to consider investing in some social distancing signs that can be placed on the floor to show customers where to stand, especially when queuing. Floor stickers that act as a guideline for customers who are waiting in line at the checkout or are placed around displays to guide customers whilst they shop can help everybody uphold social distancing easily. 

Contactless Payments

Cash is already a major germ spreader so, in a pandemic, it’s no surprise that people are avoiding using it. The good news is that cash is already being wound down in most of society and it’s hard to find a business today that doesn’t accept credit and debit cards. Many businesses are currently not accepting payments of cash right now in order to reduce the spread of the pandemic by minimising the touching of coins and notes and the physical contact between people. It’s up to you whether you want to only accept card and contactless payments right now, or whether you’ll accept cash but only when a customer does not have any other way to pay. 

Make More Time for Cleaning

With many people looking for work right now as a result of the pandemic, it might be a good time to consider employing more cleaning staff for your store. During these times, it has never been more important for shops, in particular, to keep everything as clean as possible, and deep cleaning has now become something that should be done every day for everybody’s safety. Hiring a dedicated cleaner means that you can get on with serving your customers knowing that you’ve got an employee who’s dedicated to keeping everybody safe. 

Running an essentials shop during the lockdown means taking safety measures very seriously and doing everything that you can to keep your staff and customers safe.

This is an article provided by our partners’ network. It does not reflect the views or opinions of our editorial team and management.

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post Extra Safety Measures All Essential Stores Need This Lockdown appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.