Seattle Small Business Blog

We all need to relax every now and then. Relaxation, stress relief and improved health go hand in hand, and we all want to be healthy and performing our best. However a massage or spa weekend or non-working vacation is not always something we can squeeze into our budgets, much less our busy schedules.

What if we want to find some simple ways to relax without breaking the bank? There are many of them out there and it’s easier than you think!

Here is a list of ideas for zero cost ways to relax:

1. Light Exercise. A great way to relax is getting some light exercise. This can mean going for a walk around the neighborhood or playing a low impact sport. Exercise has been known to help the body relax and engaging in non-intense exercise will help your mind to unwind as well.
2. Meditation. Taking up meditation is one of the most relaxing activities you can engage in for free. All you need to do is sit in silence and focus on your breath. When negative thoughts arise, acknowledge them, and then let them go. Try doing this for 5-20 minutes each day.
3. Take a Nap. Babies and toddlers aren’t the only ones that can benefit from a nap! You may even feel relaxed and rejuvenated after a simple 15-minute snooze. You don’t need to completely fall asleep to benefit from this activity.
4. Shoot the Breeze. Go to a friend’s house or talk to a friend on the phone. Chances are you have one of those friends that you can chat with as if no time has gone by since you last talked. Old friends usually provide great opportunities to talk about the good old days.
5. Listen to Music. Grab the MP3 player and chill out with some great tunes. Pick out a group of songs that you find especially relaxing or rejuvenating. Classical and other light songs usually work best for naps, while music you just got to dance to is great for replenishing your energy during a long day.
6. Read a Book. Go check out a new book from the local library and start reading. It may even be a fun activity to read one of your favorite books over again.
7. Take a Hot Bath. Take a hot bath or shower. If you’re taking a bath, add in bubble bath soap, play some music you enjoy, and remember to turn off your phone ringer. This is a simple way to have some peaceful time just for you.
8. Look at Old Photos. Bring out some old photos from your childhood or the photos from a fun trip you took. Remembering some of your treasured moments will make you smile and relax for sure.
9. Play Board Games. When was the last time you played your favorite board game? Dust off the old Monopoly or Scrabble, prepare some snacks, and play a few games with your family or partners. Incidentally this is also a great team building activity for you and your employees. It’ll be fun for all!
10. Daydream. Allow your mind to wander and dream. Escape to where you’d like to travel one day. Think about what your life will be like in the next 5, 10, or 15 years and write these thoughts down in a journal for you to read later.

Endless Possibilities

These are just 10 simple ideas when it comes to relaxing the zero cost way. Stay creative and remember that it’s okay (and healthy) to not be in motion every second of every. You can either hang around doing some self-reflection, or you can hang out with friends or family, whatever it is, do something fun!

Hiring subcontractors adds a new dimension to your business. Not only are your clients paying you, but you’re paying your subcontractors. While this does create a bit more work for you – or your bookkeeper – the increase in your productivity will more than pay for the extra work.

In order to make your system to work though, there are a few things you need to keep in mind.

Pay Per Hour or Per Project

First, you need to determine how you’re going to charge for a project. Are you going to charge your client an hourly rate or a per-project rate? You’ll also need to find out if your subcontractor is going to charge you hourly or by the project.

Second, you’ll need to find out how much your subcontractors charge for the work you need them to do. Once you have this information in hand, you can determine how much you charge for the services you provide (project management, client communication, editing). Add these two numbers together, along with any other necessary fees, and you’ll have the amount you need to quote the client (although I recommend adding a small contingency fee as well).

In any case, it’s important that you make sure you charge enough to cover your subcontractor’s fees, the time you have invested in the project and any overhead that might be associated with the project. Once you have your numbers in place, you’ll also need to make sure you sign a contract with the client and with the subcontractor before anyone begins any work. Check with your lawyer to find out what needs to go in the contract.

Sending Payment

Once the project is completed, some subcontractors invoice immediately. Other subcontractors invoice monthly or even weekly. You’ll need to speak with your subcontractor to find out what his/her policies are.

Also, some subcontractors may sell you a set number of hours or tasks per month and you pay a set amount. They work until you have used up your hours. This is a good arrangement if your subcontractor is completing tasks that aren’t directly related to specific clients or projects.

Check with your subcontractor ahead of time about specific payment arrangements. Typically though, with online subcontractors, you’ll be able to pay via Paypal. In some cases, you may be able to pay via credit card, or the subcontractor may accept checks.

With a smaller subcontractor, you will most likely be expected to pay your invoice immediately. Some larger operations though may allow you to pay your invoices 10 to 30 days after receipt. Find out for sure what your subcontractor’s polices are.

What If the Client Doesn’t Pay?

If your subcontractor is charging you for a specific client-related project, and the client doesn’t pay, you may be tempted to ask the subcontractor to wait for her payment.

That said this issue is something that should be covered in your contract with the subcontractor. But even if it’s not, as the project manager, it’s your responsibility to make sure those working under you get paid, even if you don’t. It will also be your responsibility to seek payment from the client.

Take care of your subcontractors, pay them well and make sure you charge your clients enough and your business will be much more successful for it.

A common tip given to service providers who are growing their business is to outsource those things that you don’t like to do – like accounting or cleaning your house.

While that’s good advice, it’s often not going to be what grows your business. Instead, you need to look at hiring people whose skills are the same as yours or complement yours.

Hiring Service Providers Like You

Hiring a bookkeeper will free up your time – but there are still only so many hours in your day and you can only multi-task so much before your work starts to degrade.

Subcontracting out your work to someone who does the same work you do is as close as you’ll get to cloning yourself. You know the work like the back of your hand, so you’ll have a very specific idea of what you want done. This will help with communication and help insure consistent quality for your clients. And it will allow your company to take on more work.

For example, if you are an affiliate manager, you may have enough time to write 3 promotional articles, create two graphics and answer 200 questions in a week. Hire a subcontract who does the same things you do and suddenly, you can write 9 articles, create 6 graphics and assist in answering 20 questions in that week.  At the same time, your subcontractor is answering the rest of the questions and creating articles and graphics as well.

Add another subcontractor to the mix and you can see how much more work you can get done.

Hiring for Complementary Skills

On the other hand, what happens if you hire someone with complementary skills?

For example, if you’re a virtual assistant who specializes in website management, you might hire a subcontractor who is really good at writing. Presto! She writes the content, you add it to the website and your client is tickled pink.

You could even expand your services to email marketing, article marketing and other areas of website management and Internet marketing. Expanding your available skill set allows you to provide more services to your clients, who will then pay more for your work.

Hiring Process

Once you’ve decide what you are looking for in a subcontractor, you’ll need to find the right person. This includes:

1. Asking for recommendations from your colleagues
2. Reviewing portfolios of potential candidates
3. Interviewing subcontractors
4. Asking for and following up with referrals
5. Evaluating how your personality works with the candidate’s
6. Determining the subcontractor’s work ethic

After you’ve decided you want to hire someone, make sure you go through a trial period. Sometimes you don’t know how well someone will work out until you’ve actually worked with them.

Then make sure you both sign a contract. A contract is important because it spells out exactly what is expected from both parties. It also gives a professional and fair way for either party to exit the contract.

You can find several sample contracts online – but always make sure you have an attorney who specializes in contracts review it for you. Following these guidelines will help you make the right choice when hiring a subcontractor.

You’ve spent your blood, sweat, tears and time growing your fledgling service business into a successful, blossoming company. But you’re at that point where you’re going to have to make a hard decision – either scale back the growth, or bring in more people.

Deciding to go ahead and bring in subcontractors or hanging onto your “baby” for dear life is one of the hardest business decisions you’ll make. After all, you’ve poured yourself into the business and you really don’t want someone else messing it up.

But businesses are like kids. You can’t keep them in high chairs forever. Eventually, they’re going to go to school, get invited over for sleepovers and generally get taken care of by other people.

Likewise, you’ll need to learn to let go and let other people handle some of the tasks in your business, including some of your client work. Of course, that doesn’t mean you just drag over the first subcontractor you see and throw some work at them.

10 Smart Ways to Subcontract

1. Understand that building a subcontractor relationship takes time. You need to get to know your subcontractor and they need to get to know you.Before you even consider hiring someone, ask your colleagues for recommendations.
2. A great recommendation will go a long way towards insuring that you’re hiring someone who is good at what you need them to do.
3. Hire the best subcontractor you can afford, not the cheapest one you can find. You may pay more than you think you can afford, but you’ll bank on a fine reputation instead of throwing money down the drain on a bad situation that could hurt your reputation.
4. Get references. And actually call those references. If the references all give glowing reviews, you’re ready for the next step. If the references are less than glowing, you may want to find out why.
5. Check the potential subcontractor’s portfolio and website. If their own site isn’t up to your standards, chances are, their work won’t be either.
6. Consider a trial project. Contract them to do one small project and see how they handle it. If you ask them to edit a 500 word article that you wrote and they take 3 weeks, you know they’re probably not going to be a good fit. If they return 30 minutes later and have truly made the article better, you’re golden.
7. Make sure you both sign a contract. Include how much they will be paid, allowances for increases in rates later on, a point at which the contract will be re-evaluated and specific instructions on what will happen if either one of you wants out of the contract. You’ll also need to include specific information on what happens if either one of you breaches the contract. You’ll also want to include a confidentiality clause. In any case, make sure you consult an attorney before signing any contract.
8. Communicate effectively. Make sure that you provide clear instructions and that your subcontractor understands what you are wanting. If a mistake does happen or there is a miscommunication, review the situation with your subcontractor so that both of you understand what went wrong.
9. Always review your subcontractor’s work. The only way you’ll be able to ensure your company’s quality is to review the work yourself (unless, of course, you’ve hired someone to serve as a project manager and that person knows exactly what you’re looking for).
10. In the event that a subcontractor doesn’t work out, follow the instructions in the contract for termination. Don’t take it personally, don’t tell them they stink, but do give constructive feedback if they want it. Also, don’t let one bad experience turn you away from subcontracting.

Follow these ten tips and you can grow your business from a solo entrepreneurship to a company run on teamwork that handles several clients and many projects with ease.

The relationship between you, as a service provider, and your subcontractors is beneficial on both sides. The fact that you’re making your clients happy and your subcontractors are getting work is just the tip of the iceberg.

Growing Your Business with a Team

One of the most important lessons you learn as a home business owner is that you can’t grow your business alone. If you’re working alone and you can’t outsource projects to others, than all you have is a job. If you get sick, have an accident or just want to go to Disney World, you’re stuck, because you’re the only one who can run your business.

Additionally, if you’re the only one doing the client work in your business, you’re not going to have enough time to do the marketing necessary to bring in more clients. You need more clients to replace those that move on and to continue to grow.

When you hire a subcontractor, you can hand off portions of your projects, or even the whole project and take a management role, freeing up your time to grow your business, while still maintaining quality and timeliness.

Increasing Profits and Capacity

As you become more comfortable working with subcontractors, you’ll be able to add more people to your team. The more you help your clients, the more services they will hire you for and the more income you’ll be able to bring in.

Not to mention, you won’t be tied down by the number of hours you can work in a week. You may be able to only work 60 hours a week, but if you hire three subcontractors and each of them works 20 hours a week for you, you’ll be able to complete 120 hours of work per week.

Because more than one person is working on the project and each person is focusing on what he/she is good at, the project quality is better and the deadlines are easier to meet.

As your business grows, you can serve clients that you would have had to turn away if you were working by yourself and your subcontractors will have more opportunities to grow their businesses under your tutelage. A win-win for everyone.

Whether it involves talking with your teen about sex or drugs, your spouse about finances or housework, or your employee about attendance or performance issues, the prospect of initiating a difficult discussion is daunting to many, if not most, people. Mix in the tendency to procrastinate tackling unpleasant tasks, then feeling guilty about putting something so important off, and you can wind up feeling even more miserable and anxious about the impending conversation. You might even lose sleep over it.

Initiating such a discussion doesn’t have to be nearly so painful. With the proper mindset and some preparation, you can learn to handle even the most difficult topic with ease and confidence. The following tips will enable you to do just that.

1. Realize that by having the discussion, your goal is to benefit others as well as yourself. Whether or not he shows it, your teen will most likely appreciate that you care enough to talk to him about things that concern or matter to you. In the case of the employee with the performance issue, she will have an opportunity to correct or improve on it, or face consequences. In either event, the other members on your team will certainly appreciate that you took steps to address the situation, because they will see the poor performer either stepping up to the plate or terminated.

2. Focus on the possible positive outcomes of having the discussion sooner rather than later. The employee’s performance could most certainly improve. Or you may have the opportunity to replace a poor performer with someone more willing and able to do the work and follow company or departmental policies. Either way, the performance of your team as a whole will benefit, which will be a positive reflection on your own performance.

3. Prepare for any possible reaction to the discussion. Have contingency plans for handling any behavior or response to what you have to say, whether it be anger, denial, silence or disbelief. Knowing in advance exactly how you will deal with any of these will give you the confidence you need to proceed. Understand that you cannot control a person’s reaction, and in many cases you cannot predict it either. But you can always prepare for any possibility.

4. If the topic for discussion is an especially difficult one for you, have a reward planned for yourself when you complete it. Take a half day off to do something you enjoy, or treat yourself to something you ordinarily would not. After all, you just accomplished something that doesn’t come easily for you. You deserve something special.

Following these tips will not make handling difficult discussions any more fun, by any means, but doing so when the necessity arises will make you a better and more competent communicator, manager, parent and/or spouse. And who wouldn’t benefit from that?

Creating a positive work environment is crucial to the success of any organization. In the current challenging times, less people need to do more or the same amount of work for the organization to stay ahead. What are the strategies that an organization can apply to create a positive work environment?

1. Plan Effectively
While it is important to do a lot of research and study reports for planning purposes, effective planning should include the people involved in implementing the plan.

There are things that these people are aware of that can make a difference to the plan. Aside from that, there will be a better understanding of the plan and a sense of ownership when it is time to act on the plan.

2. Change Where Change Is Needed
Change is something that cannot be avoided. Either you change with the times or you get left behind.

It is necessary to be aware of customer needs, changes in the economy and trends in the industry to be aware of the changes. However, make changes where it is needed and not just for the sake of changing.

3. Groom Your People
Your people are crucial to the success of your business.

Groom your people to develop skills as well as attitudes and behavior required to take your business from where it is to where you want it to be.

4. Encourage Dissent
Do not be afraid of dissent. If all your employees agreed with everything, you may not become aware of changes that are happening to your customer base or in the industry. Focus will be narrow and based on conventional ideas.

Allow dissent that will generate new ideas and actions that will enhance your business.

5. Foster Leadership
You need more than management personnel to run the business. Thinking like a leader is a mindset that needs to be developed in every employee.

Every single person be it from sales, support or administration can also contribute creativity and responsibility to the roles they play.

6. Move Quickly
Change is happening so fast that it is necessary to make your move quickly. While it is important to think through your decisions, there are changes to which response has to be fast to stay ahead of competition.

7. Be Customer Oriented
Ultimately, it is your customers who keep you in business.

Be aware of your customers’ needs and wants. When they provide feedback on your products and services or require support, listen and take appropriate action.

If there are complaints, handle them. Be glad that they remain your customers despite the complaint. A complaint well-handled will get you a happier customer.

8. Take Action
While having ideas and strategies are great, a difference is made only when action is taken.

It is necessary to study and research whatever decisions you make. However, remember that often you may not get all the information you would like to have to make the decision.

Make your best judgment call and take the required action to make the decisions work out well.

Creating a positive work environment may be about environment and comfort. More importantly, it is the passion that you create within the organization by bringing people together to deliver a vision.

Keeping your employees motivated with high morale is the most important function of a supervisor. This article provides a list of actions that can be taken to keep employees producing for the success of the organization.

The first three suggestions are related to the physical characteristics of the work place:

1. Make sure that the work place is clean and well-lighted.

2. Give employees the proper equipment (furniture, computers, machinery) to perform their jobs efficiently and comfortably.

3. Design the work flow such that there are few bottle-necks and downtime.

The following are suggestions for keeping employees’ morale high:

1. Reward employees with the highest rank and status justified by their aptitude, performance, and contribution to the success of the organization.

2. Provide salary and wages based on the employees’ performance and value to your organization.

3. Provide a meaningful annual review which includes recognition for work accomplishments and an honest assessment of areas where the employee could improve.

4. Give employees effective feedback on their work, including giving reasons for work assignments, the assignments contribution to the organization, and how the assignment contributes to the success of the organization.

5. Delegate as much authority to employees as they can handle effectively.
6. Provide positive incentives rather than negative incentives.

Consider the following actions related to communicating effectively with your employees:

1. Listen to employees–really listen.

2. Allow employees to air their grievances–even if they reflect on your perceptions of your own performance.

3. Give credit for actions, ideas, and suggestions for improvement to operations. (Never take credit for actions or ideas of your employees.)

4. Organize your operations so that everyone can make a contribution by offering suggestions for improvement. Consider all suggestions seriously. If you find that the suggestion can’t be implemented, give a full reason for not adopting it.

5. Show a genuine interest in each employee without becoming a bore.

Now that you’ve been presented with a series of actions that you can take to improve the morale and motivation of your employees, here’s one more important point to remember:

Each supervisor comes into the job with a set of attitudes and behaviors that have developed over a period of years. In most cases a new supervisor needs to take stock of his or her attitudes and behaviors that might not be effective as a supervisor.

Most new supervisor don’t take the time (or even realize that they need) to assess their skills related to being an effective supervisor.

Let the list above serve as a checklist of areas where you need to make improvements to be successful as a supervisor.

It may appear that all great managers know the secret to improving an employees performance. But what these managers know is no secret at all: everything you ever needed to know about enhancing the productivity of your employees is actually contained in a few simple techniques that are guaranteed to increase the efficiency of your business.

5 Things That Every Great Manager Knows

These five things are not profit margin, gains, losses, tax deductions, or assets – but instead are the human factors of management.

You cannot put a price or value on the factors that drive an employees performance. This is because most people remain with an employer because of the quality and satisfaction derived from a rewarding and balanced workplace.

Great managers recognize and respect this “x factor” of the business world and work to improve it with these simple tips.

1. Motivation – Every employee is unique; therefore the motivation to perform better will be different for each person. Identify the motivator for each employee and provide opportunities that encourage their interest and performance.

2. Setting Goals – Make sure you have a vision for how you want your business to operate now and in the future. Communicate your vision to your employees so that they are directing their energies toward a common goal. They will feel like they are a part of the business and this will enhance performance.

3. Praise – Take advantage of big and small opportunities to praise your employees for work well done. Your recognition of their performance means a lot and it is important that you acknowledge their efforts.

4. Feedback – Be lavish with praise but selfish with criticisms -but do offer kind words of constructive feedback that makes your employees feel respected and valued.

5. Management – Be available as a resource to your employees. They should feel comfortable to approach you with questions and concerns and not feel as if they are imposing on your time. They should be able to depend upon you for guidance and as a model of what excellent performance is all about.

A Last Word…

As you can see, there is no one secret to improving the performance level of employees. You can start today with these simple tips that are easy to implement into the everyday workings of your business. After all, your employees and business deserve anything and everything that will help them flourish and continue to grow.

How many people do you know that say they hate their job or their boss? Well, it’s called “work” and not “fun” for a reason. However, a work environment doesn’t have to be dull and oppressive. Employees don’t have to feel like they are chained to their desks all day. With some creative management techniques, you can enhance employee motivation and maybe even increase your employee retention.

One of the biggest morale boosters you can provide your employees is to give them a voice in some of the company’s operations. That doesn’t mean they should set the stock price or decide on a hostile takeover. Those are decisions correctly left to upper management and the board of directors. However, there are little things that affect the employees directly.

Managers should not try to fake this method. Listening to your employees’ input but implementing what you had already decided will only grow resentment. After all, employees can quickly figure out that none of their suggestions were chosen, even though those suggestions were the majority! Let your employees decide their own fates every once in a while and you will make them happier.

One office function that employees dread is the office party. For many companies this occurs during December’s holiday season. If your employees don’t like being at work with you, they certainly won’t want to spend their free time with you at a party. Employees also feel obligated to attend such parties; for fear that they will not be seen as a team player.

There is an easy solution to the office party problem. Let the employees vote on whether or not to have one! If the company is having a bad year, yet management throws an expensive holiday party, what kind of message does that send to the employees?

Have the employees vote on whether to have a big party, or to simply take the party money and divide it evenly among themselves. If the money would be spent anyway, shouldn’t it go directly to the employees that helped the company earn it?

If you think hard about similar functions that you “make” your employees do, you can probably imagine other ways to empower them. Perhaps a randomly chosen employee gets a paid Friday afternoon off once per month. Little things like allowing radios in offices or flexible work hours can make big differences in employee morale.

Show your employees that you really are listening to them, and give them a few extra benefits. You might just find yourself with a more loyal work force that stays longer with the company.