Office Space Archives - Page 5 of 40

Tips For Small Businesses To Appear Much Larger Than They Are!

By Ian Payton|2021-06-29T22:27:16-04:00September 22nd, 2016|Office Space, Virtual Office|

Having one address at a prestigious location can be good, but what about having multiple location addresses with a 800 number to 1 location? Your small business can saves money and appears like have multiple locations for less than the cost of 1 office space with the 1 800 number meaning you only need 1 phone + address account. So how is this done? You can have virtual office locations with several Alliance business centers that are located around the world in over 80 countries. With several virtual office locations and a 800 number, your client or prospect will call you and ask to speak to the location nearest them, but the call will be forwarded to where you are working or to your Toronto head office location. When your small business has a live receptionist answering your calls with your business name, your customers believe that you are bigger […]

How to Negotiate For Lower Business Expenses

By Ian Payton|2021-11-05T12:47:29-04:00September 15th, 2016|Growth & Innovation, Office Space, Virtual Office|

Every expense that your small business has, ends up adding to your overall cost of doing business and can eat away at your bottom line. What is the answer? Lower your re-occurring costs by negotiating discounts and lower rates with your vendors. While small businesses have been cutting back on their spending over the past number of years, according to one report, costs for goods and services togrther can be has high as 28 percent of your small business’ budget, making those costs the second largest expense after payroll. It is true that some fixed expenses such as rent, office equipment and utilities can be more difficult to negotiate, but with the right amount of knowledge, you might find some alternatives or ways to get these expenses fixed. Knowing what your big expenses will be each month will make it easier to budget and allow you to focus on negotiating […]

Getting Virtual Teams Right

By Ian Payton|2021-11-05T12:07:59-04:00September 8th, 2016|Boardrooms & Meeting Rooms, Growth & Innovation, Office Space|

First let’s talk about “Virtual Teams” as some people do not know what the term means. Basically, Virtual Teams are people that work together on various projects, but are located in different physical locations. This concept of people collaborating from various locations is one that is on the rise and has become easier as internet and telecommunication technology advances. These dispersed teams rely on shared work spaces, public WiFi, libraries and other places that they can connect to the Internet and communicate with their coworkers. Basically, they can work from almost anywhere and still be able to interact with other team members. We don’t need discuss the appeal of this type of work environment for employees, or their satisfaction in working in a flexible environment that speaks for itself. Most remote workers will tell you that they are happy to work alone, but they are most happy when they are […]

Where to locate your business

By Ian Payton|2021-11-05T16:48:52-04:00September 6th, 2016|Boardrooms & Meeting Rooms, Growth & Innovation, Office Space|

It is often said that the three most important factors in making sure a business is successful are ‘location, location, location.’ Even if your business is not retail and does not rely on walk-in traffic, your location is important to your customers and prospective clients. Yes, you prospective clients will often research your small business to find out if you are local and if you at a real business address. You may not need to maintain a physical presence near your customers, but your business address should be where your customers are – or where they expect you to be. You could have a head office location at a prestigious business address and have a majority of your production or staff working from another location that better suits the work that is being done – or where you are paying less rent. You want your customers to see your primary […]

Five Tips Every Small Business Owner Needs To Know

By Ian Payton|2021-06-29T23:02:55-04:00August 30th, 2016|Growth & Innovation, Office Space|

While there are plenty of tips all over the internet for small businesses, few are aimed at the business owner. As a business owner, sometimes you have take a step back and look at yourself in the mirror – and decide if you are making decisions for yourself or for your small business. Here are five proven strategies: Be unique. Have a unique product or service offering, or a point of view that your competition does not. Your offering must stand out and have its own point of view that is uniquely yours. If your potential customers cannot distinguish between your product or service and that of your competitor’s, as the new person in the marketplace you will probably not get the sale. Remember that consumer expectations today are heavily influenced by the larger players who have established a track record for what they are offering and how they deliver […]

Tips On Hiring And Managing Employees

By Ian Payton|2021-11-05T16:48:31-04:00August 25th, 2016|Growth & Innovation, Office Space|

As you get your small business off the ground, you will at some point need to hire employees to take care of the day-to-day functioning of your business. Before you start to look for employees, you need to define their job descriptions and what qualifications they should have to fill that position. You want to recruit the best and brightest, and create a workplace environment that they want to be a part of – and one that will retain them, so they do not get lost to your competitors. You also want a workplace environment that stimulates creativity and productivity at the same time. Just look at what Google, Bing, Apple and Yahoo have done. Yes, those are extreme examples, but there are many things they do that you can scale down to fit your own workplace. Happy and healthy employees are productive and will keep your business going strong. […]

Planning Your Business Is Like Going Back To School

By Ian Payton|2021-11-04T14:20:48-04:00August 16th, 2016|Office Space|

When you decide to start a business for the first time, it is important to know that creating a solid business plan is vital to your success. A good business plan will help you know where you are headed long before you get there. Writing your business plan requires doing your homework and making some decisions. The research and choices will have a great deal of influence on how your business is structured and in what direction your business should go. The first thing you need to do is to decide what type of business structure will work for you . You have to decide if you are opening your business as a sole proprietorship or other structure, such as a partnership or corporation. Your choice of business structure will have liability and tax implications, so you really need to do your research and find out what works best for […]

Characteristics To Look For In A Remote Worker

By Ian Payton|2021-11-07T13:10:24-05:00August 4th, 2016|Boardrooms & Meeting Rooms, Growth & Innovation, Office Space|

When you are looking for remote workers, you want people who have experience with little supervision (well, little in-person supervision) that are able to show results from the work that they are being asked to do. Your business has to be able to count on them, without you standing over their shoulder and making sure that they are getting the job done correctly and efficiently. Even though they are working remotely, they have to be team players. If an applicant does not demonstrate the ability to work with other team members or understand the concept of constant communication with head office and other team members, they might not be suited for your team. Because wherever your team members are located, holding daily meetings can keep them united and working towards one goal. You need a remote worker who can also check in with other team members a few times each […]

Office space versus a virtual office: Which is best for you?

By Ian Payton|2021-06-30T09:44:29-04:00July 12th, 2016|Office Space, Shared Office Space, Virtual Office|

There is no reason not to have an upscale professional business address. But you do not necessarily need to have a physical office at that particular location. Sometimes a physical office space is important to your business, but what if it is not? Let’s talk about the best options for your small business. There are a range of business address options to choose from, including traditional raw office space, serviced office space and virtual offices. But which one is the most flexible and cost-efficient fit for your small business? Many small businesses owners and entrepreneurs may not have the financial capacity to lease traditional physical office space and pay for the infrastructure that type of space requires. The cost of office furniture, telephone systems and other office equipment such as photocopiers adds up. This has caused serviced offices and virtual offices to increased in popularity, because small business owners want […]

U.S. start-ups should begin international expansion in Canada

By Ian Payton|2021-04-05T16:04:08-04:00June 23rd, 2016|Office Space|

Often when we think about start-ups, we think of technology start-ups. But in reality, every business that is starting out is a “start-up” – so it is not just technology companies we are referring to. It is any company in the early stages of growth. Every successful start-up reaches a point where all the advantages of being first to market with little competition are gone. Many start-ups will look to international expansion to maintain a rate of growth that maximizes resources that become redundant, without new accounts to service or more products to make for new customers. Many start-ups are overlooking Canada, preferring larger emerging markets. But start-ups in particular should be looking at Canada for the following reasons: Logistics enables the leveraging of U.S. assets Skilled workforce Increase online visibility Better understanding of the laws, language, culture, people and markets Canada and the USA have a long trade history […]

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