Part Time Working: Friend or Foe?

A part time working model can be a great asset for companies and businesses to adopt, over the next few weeks we will be running a series of blogs examining the world of part time working. This first blog will examine structures and formats that we found helpful when looking into hiring part time staff and adapting our working model.

There are many reasons why people chose to work part time, at Office Loro our reasons range from family commitments, suitability of fewer hours, or coming to work with us as a way to top up a pension. According to a TUC report, during the years 2008 – 2014, 26 out of every 40 jobs were being filled by part time workers, only one in every 40 jobs were considered full time.

Advanced Online Marketing Avenues For Your Business

Digital marketing is one of the best ways to get your brand noticed by potential customers. In the first part of this series we talked about the basic platforms for your business. In this addition, we are going to discuss some of the more advanced options and what they could offer your business.

How To Collect Debts Owed To Your Business

Being in business is not always easy. There will be times when your business struggles to collect payments from clients and customers. These can be a minor nuisance or they could be a threat to your business’ survival.

Therefore, you need to know how to effectively collect debts owed to you. Here is our quick guide on the best practices.

The Basic Digital Marketing Avenues For Your Business Examined

As the world moves into the digital age, old style advertising is becoming ineffective. 89% of consumers are now using Google as part of their purchasing decision. This means that having a digital marketing platform is critical for your long term success.

However, there are numerous digital marketing platforms that businesses can use and some of these aren’t applicable to everyone. So what are the options and which are best for your business?

The Worst Acquisitions And Mergers In History

Businesses are always merging and buying others in order to provide themselves with a stronger market position. In theory, a strong merger or acquisition can offer business’ significant benefits. For example, you could gain greater purchasing power and a more efficient use of resources.

How To Raise The Prices Of Your Products

There are always going to be times when you will need to raise the prices of your products. Yet many business owners struggle with the concept of raising prices and how they are going to communicate this to their loyal customers without making them angry.

Here is our quick guide on how to avoid that worry and raise prices in confidence.

How To Deal With No-Show Clients

If you run a consultation service or have times when you book appointments with clients, then you are going to find that sometimes you will have no-shows. In the NHS these are known as DNAs (Did Not Attend) and are a massive plague on Doctor’s time and hospital outpatient departments.

For a business they can be just as troublesome. A DNA, while it may seem a relief, is actually an expense for your business. You have spent time preparing for the meeting, telling other clients they can’t have that time and stopped work for a bit, waiting for them to show up.

This is a cost to your business and if it happens too frequently it can seriously reduce your revenue.

So what can you do with no show clients?

Signs Your Business May Be In Trouble!

Some months in business are not as good as others. This is a fact that business owners have to contend with on a daily basis. When you have a few months in a row that have not gone as planned you can have a serious difficulties. The problem is, most business owners bury their heads in the sand or don’t realise the warning signs that there might be a problem.

Realising when trouble is coming your way can help you save your business. Remember it’s not just about the business, those working for you rely on a good, strong employer to help them and their families survive. Therefore, knowing when you need to take action and then being proactive is critical.

Here is our guide to some of the most important warning signs that you need to watch out for.

Is The Customer Always Right? Perhaps Not!

Recently we wrote a post about how to handle difficult customers. It talked about communications, listening and putting forth solutions to settle a dispute. We also discussed how, by following our advice, you can convert an unhappy customer into a loyal brand advocate.

The problem is – this isn’t always the case.

We’ve all come across the term, “The customer is always right.” It was first used by Harry Selfridges when he opened his store in 1909. However, this saying, while it has good merits, is far from the truth. There are times when the customer is wrong and this can be a danger to your other customers, your staff and your business.

Free Online Tools That Can Help You Run Your Business

The internet has allowed for an explosion of online tools that can help with the running of many aspects of your business. These free tools can help lessen the time it takes to perform certain actions, giving you extra time to produce more work or perform other tasks to grow your business.

Here is a list of some of the best free online tools.