“You can tell a lot about a person by the way they handle three things: a rainy day, lost luggage and tangled Christmas tree lights.” (Maya Angelou) December holidays are a time for winding down, recharging your batteries and sharing some quality family time. But it can also be stressful. There’s a reason we often talk about the “Silly Season”. Don’t let the pressure get to you! Relax, take a deep breath, and read “10 tips to reduce festive season...
Website of the Month: Turn Customer Complaints into Compliments with the HEART System
No matter how good your product and your service levels, the hard reality in business is that customer issues will arise. Perhaps they will be genuine problems or perhaps they are just misperceptions, but either way you need to act quickly and effectively to resolve them. Particularly in these times of online reviews making or breaking reputations so quickly and easily. Here’s a tried and tested method to boost customer satisfaction generally, to change...
Website of the Month: Four Key Areas in Your Strategic Planning
“Strategy is the art of carefully selecting where a business applies its focus and resources in order to achieve its ultimate aim. A large part of the work is in selecting what not to do rather than what’s to be added.” Strategic planning is an essential part of optimising your business for success. Without it you will drift rudderless, unfocused and wasting effort and resources with no clear destination in mind. Jon Cherry’s article “The Four...
Website of the Month: Seven Steps to Becoming a Successful Landlord
“Landlords grow rich in their sleep” (John Stuart Mill) Earning passive income as a landlord is an attractive proposition which can generate substantial wealth, but before you rush into anything be sure to know exactly what you are doing. “From homeowner to landlord: how to make it work” on Tech4Law shares six important steps on ensuring that you get the most out of your new venture. We’ll add a seventh (critical) step – the earlier on in the...
Website of the Month: Solar Power and the Insurance Risk
With our loadshedding woes unlikely to go anywhere soon, more and more property owners are looking to solar power as an alternative to relying on Eskom. Just be careful that you don’t fall foul of your insurers in the process. “Rules homeowners should know before installing solar power” on MyBroadband lists four technical regulations to be particularly aware of. For some practical advice on deciding whether or not to go the solar route in the first...
Website of the Month: Don’t Let Hybrid Work Break Your Company Culture!
As pandemic restrictions ease around the world, many businesses forced by lockdown to “go remote” are torn between returning to office and keeping everyone working remotely. An increasing number are opting for one or other hybrid model, which can come with major benefits but also major challenges. One of those challenges is the risk of losing a cohesive company culture built up over years and perhaps decades of in-office teamwork. Have a read of PwC’s “Three...