Archive for April, 2010

By Small Business Expert Roger Pierce, BizLaunch

Hard working entrepreneurs are notorious for skipping vacation time, fearing their small business will fall apart in their absence. Given most self-employed people work longer hours and endure more stress than their employed friends a vacation is very much needed.

Get your break and enjoy it too with these tips to keep your business afloat without you:

  • Hire a virtual assistant. Virtual Assistant services will handle things like incoming phone calls, emails, invoicing or pretty much any other operational chore. They will reasonably charge you for any work performed, allowing you to keep the “open for business” sign glowing. Search online for a VA near you and ask for a quote.
  • Buy a smartphone. If you don’t already have one, a smartphone will allow you to keep on top of your emails, calls and other important items while on vacation. To control communications, buy Caller ID and set emails to be retrieved manually.
  • Post a vacation alert. Ask your webmaster to post a vacation alert on your emails so customers know you’ll be unavailable for a short period of time. You’ll still receive emails to your inbox and be able to deal with them upon your return.

The most important asset to your small business is you. Entrepreneur burnout and stress contribute to the downfall of many start-ups, so be sure to invest in your self with a little well deserved time-off. Believe it or not, your business will survive for a few weeks without you. You will come back relaxed and ready to go.

 

clip_image002[5] ROGER PIERCE is passionate about helping entrepreneurs achieve success. Co-founder of Canada’s largest small business training company, BizLaunch.ca, he’s launched eleven small businesses of his own and personally experienced what he calls “the good, the bad and the ugly” sides of entrepreneurship.

BizLaunch advises thousands of Canadian startups through its popular how-to seminars and webinars delivered with partners such as STAPLES.

By Donna Marrin

Still have your Nurse Ratched shoes on? Good. Finish your coffee and let’s get at it.

Day 2, Step 1

1. Turn your attention toward the piles of “bonfire kindling” on the floor. (You might need another coffee at this point, but gulp fast. We have work to do.) Let’s start with the pile that was on your shelving. 

2. See all those old magazines, catalogues, newspapers, etc., that you forgot you had until now? Drop them all into your recycling bin. All of them. Victoria’s Secret included. The same goes for everything else in the pile that you know deep down in your gullet you’ll never look at again in this lifetime, since you barely have enough time to read your own advertising, much less everyone else’s. 

3. Knickknacks are dust collectors. Unless you’re certain that the pawn shop around the corner would give you lots of fast cash for them (in the event that you needed lots of fast cash) or little Johnny or Judy made them for you at school (priceless), they’re history. Get rid of them.

 4. Put all reference books and important manuals back up on your shelves—but not your J.R.R. Tolkien boxed set. Take that home, please. All loose-leaf reference materials may also be returned to your shelves, only after you have hole-punched and sorted the whole shebang into neatly labeled binders. 

Brief Pause

Expresso BeansYou might want to chew a big handful of those gourmet, chocolate-covered espresso beans right about now. Maybe even two handfuls.

 

Step 2

1. Face the pile of desk-drawer stuff on your floor. Sit down in front of it and get comfortable because you have to sort through all of it. (Might as well pull the garbage can over now too.) 

Desk Organizer2. Set aside your stapler, staple remover, box of staples, elastic bands, paper clips, scissors, box of pens/pencils/markers, letter opener, pushpins, highlighters, tape, post-it notes/notepad, correction tape and glue. If you don’t already have one of those divided trays that fit in your drawer, go to Staples2 and get one. (You’ve got exactly fifteen minutes—I’m timing you.)  

3. That was fast! Set the tray into your top drawer and sort all those supplies you set aside earlier into the little compartments. Now, doesn’t that look fab? You can find your scissors now without having to paw through old tissues and newspaper clippings and crushed packs of old soda crackers. 

Step 3

Keep the momentum going by turning immediately to the pile of paperwork you removed from your file drawer. (No more coffee beans, though; your foot tapping is really starting to get on my nerves.) 

1. Sort everything into two piles: SHRED and DON’T SHRED. 

2. Let’s work with the DON’T SHRED pile first, just in case you realize later that you put that million-dollar contract you just signed last week into the SHRED pile by mistake. 

file folders3. Crack open the box of crisp, new file folders that you also picked up at Staples when you bought the desk drawer tray. Neatly label each one and file all your paperwork. Well lookee here—your file drawer’s so tidy, you’ve found clients you never knew you had! 

4. Now for the easy part. Pick up the SHRED pile, walk over to your shredder, and go to town. 

Step Five

We’re down to the final lap—the icing on the cupcake: a tidy desk top. 

1. Wipe down your telephone and place it—no, not inside your desk drawer!—within arm’s reach on your desk. 

2. Don’t even think about putting any of the trinkety doodads in the pile back on your desk. You know where to put them. So hop to it. 

3. You are permitted a framed photo or two of someone extra special (preferably, someone you are acquainted with). Better yet, hang them on the wall. The pictures. Hang the pictures on the wall. 

4. Make sure your computer monitor is placed at an eye-to-screen distance of at least 25” and the top of your monitor is slightly farther away from your eyes than the bottom. It’s important to protect yourself against eyestrain; your clients may get the wrong impression if you enter a meeting with your eyes crossed. 

5. Now there’s finally enough room for your daily planner/desk calendar—essential, otherwise, if you’re like me, you would never know which way you were coming or going on any given day. And, of course, the other office essential: your coffee mug (on a coaster, please). 

2The go-to place for the tools you need to keep you organized all 365 days!

 

Donna Marrin is a freelance Senior Writer/Editor specializing in corporate communications and advertising. She also founded and runs the Markham Village Writers. You can visit their website at www.markhamvillagewriters.com

By Donna Marrin

Is there anything more invigorating than working in an environment that you’ve clutter-busted? (Well, ok, yes, getting somebody else do the clutter-busting is a lot more invigorating, but that’s not our goal here. You’re on a budget, remember?)

Nurse Ratched

Nurse Ratched

If you’ve been avoiding the big cleanout like it’s an Ebola plague, then I’m your Nurse Ratched and I’m here to give you your booster shot. I challenge you right now to:

  1. Dig your calendar out from under the pile of refuse on your desk.
  2. Choose one afternoon and one morning in the very near future that you know you can commit to.
  3. Write Cleaning Day there in bold, black marker. 

(Keep in mind, you may need more than one afternoon and one morning, depending on your level of hoarding.) 

Got your new goal clear in your mind? Good. 

   4.   Now, get back to work.

***

Cleaning Day has arrived!

Hope you dressed comfortably—that means no seams that are pulling or stiletto heels1. …Ok. Enough stalling. Chug your coffee and let’s get to work.

Day 1

1. Transfer everything on top of your desk onto the floor. 

2. Empty your drawers (your desk drawers) and make another pile on the  floor. 

Office3. Make a third pile on the floor by removing everything that you’ve jammed into your wall or book shelves. (For obvious reasons, you are not permitted to set fire to the massive pile on the floor, even though it would be tempting to

4. Use a good cleaner to scrub down your entire desk and eliminate all the coffee rings, ink splotches and remnants of Bolognese sauce left over from dinner at your desk the other night. Clean your keyboard tray as well. 

5. Next, wipe all the chip and cookie crumbs from inside your desk drawers. While you’re at it, use a can of pressurized air to blow out all the snack bits you’ve dropped into your computer keyboard over the past year.

Clean Sweep6. Finally, sweep away the thick carpet of dust from your shelving (Wow! It’s not matte grey; it’s black acrylic!). No, you’re not done yet… Get a stepladder and do the ones at the top too, even though they’re eye level only to the NBA’s Yao Ming.

Ah, are you starting to smell the freshness? Spring is truly in the air! All right. That was the easy part. Go home and rest, and we’ll tackle the part you’ve been dreading in the morning…

  

Stay tuned for Part Two, Day Two tomorrow!

1Note the shoes Nurse Ratched wore in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s ShoeNest.  They are considered comfortable shoes when you need to clean or manage crazy people.

 

Donna Marrin is a freelance Senior Writer/Editor specializing in corporate communications and advertising. She also founded and runs the Markham Village Writers. You can visit their website at www.markhamvillagewriters.com

By Clare Kumar

Investing time in getting organized may sound like the last thing you need to add to your “to do” list. However, just as you need to spend money to make money, you need to spend time to make time. And who doesn’t need more of that?

Simply answer the following questions to better organize your office space and boost productivity:

1. What exactly do you do?

Assess the activities you engage in and determine the office furniture and storage tools required to support them. Your processes may have changed since you first set up the space, or you may have inherited a space that worked for someone else. To be most productive, your office space should be designed so that you are comfortable while you work. If you spend a lot of time writing, make sure you have a space conducive to the task. If you hold in-person meetings, create a comfortable space for guests.

In my work as a professional organizer, I often see binders piled in filing cabinets, or papers piled on bookcases. Look in your office for “mismatched” systems that are often difficult, if not impossible, to use. To avoid information pile-up, know how you like to retrieve information and ensure your office storage systems reflect that.

Think about

  • furniture: desks, tables, chairs, stands for computer peripherals
  • storage pieces: drawers, filing cabinets, bookshelves, desktop file folders, lateral sorters
  • functional equipment: white boards, bulletin boards, coat racks, keyboard trays, footrests

2. What goes where?

Just as with regular real estate, office ‘real estate’ is all about location, location, location. Areas at arm’s length are considered prime space. Desk surfaces should be reserved for projects you are actively working on. Often-used office supplies should be close at hand, ideally in drawers that are part of or near your desk. Drawer organizers are effective at corralling smaller supplies, making them faster to retrieve.

Reference materials and seldom-used supplies can be stored farther away—in filing cabinets, on bookshelves or in storage cupboards. Archived items are used least and can therefore be stored in the most remote locations.

Peripherals such as fax machines, scanners, back-up hard drives, routers and cables should be stored and managed so as not to create a busy environment in your immediate working space. Cable management systems can help create visual order by reducing chaos and functional order by making it easy to identify each item. 

3. What about comfort?

A comfortable space is a productive space. It pays to be aware of proper ergonomics when selecting furniture and storage pieces. Ensuring desk surfaces and keyboards are at an ideal height can improve comfort and avoid repetitive strain injuries. Carpal tunnel sydrome and rotator cuff tendinitis are just two examples of injuries which can result from of poorly configured workstations. Not only will you suffer a loss in productivity, you could end up with permanent damage.

Chairs are not one-size-fits-all, so if you spend a lot of time sitting, it is worth understanding just how customizable they can be. Look for height and chair back adjustability, a seat pan that fits your body and arm rests that can be moved to best support you.

To make telephone use more comfortable, consider speakerphones or headsets. Locating printers a few steps away will encourage more mobility in your workday.

Your lighting should also be examined. You’ll want a mixture of ambient lighting and task lighting for focused work. Natural lighting cannot be over-rated. For every hour of focused work, whether it be writing or on the computer, take five minutes to look out a window. Your eyes will thank you.

Invest some time in getting organized. It’s a worthwhile investment that will pay you back, every day.

 

ClareClare Kumar is the founder and Chief Organizer at Streamlife, an organizing company. Clare works with business owners and employees to drive greater productivity and peace of mind through better organization at work and at home. An industry expert, Clare also creates new products to help people remove the ‘bumps’ from their day. If there’s something you do every day that’s slowing you down, she wants to hear from you.

Let’s be honest. You’re probably reading this post right now for one of two reasons:

A. You find the Staples How’s business? blog useful and insightful, in which case we thank you for stopping by.

B. You’re procrastinating.

The good news is, if you’re going to waste time, rather than simply flipping TV channels, you may as well use the time to visit a site like this where you can learn something.

It turns out, making more efficient use of your time is one of the greatest challenges entrepreneurs face, so you’re far from being alone.

Time management expert, Julie Morgenstern – dubbed the “queen of putting people’s lives in order” – says “Procrastination and inefficient use of time are mostly the result of two factors: trying to do too much at once and really not liking the task you’re doing.”

Julie Morgenstern

Julie Morgenstern

Conquering overly complex tasks: “Can you handle a half-hour task better than you can a four-hour task? Well, break your four-hour task into eight half-hour tasks and then just do one half-hour task at a time.”

What to do when you hate the task: “I highly recommend that people ask themselves if [they’re procrastinating] because they’re not good at the task. The next question is, Can you get someone else to do it? If you can, you should, so you can free up your time for the things you’re good at.”

Entrepreneurship expert Donald F. Kuratko agrees. In his book, Entrepreneurship: Theory, Process and Practice, he says Entrepreneurs will never find the time but must instead make time. “In other words,” he says, “entrepreneurs should learn to use time as a resource and not allow time to use them.”

Kuratko offers four simple but critical steps to help perform daily managerial activities in the most time-efficient manner:

1. Assess: Analyze your activities and rank them in order of importance – on paper.

2. Prioritize: Divide and categorize the activities based on your ability to devote the necessary time to the task that day.

3. Create procedures: For repetitive daily activities, write down a set of instructions that can help you with the next and perhaps most important step.

4. Delegate: Recognizing that others can help you succeed and trusting them to do some of your work are critical skills entrepreneurs need to develop.

What’s your greatest time management obstacle? Please send it in and we’ll try address it in a future post.

By Small Business Expert Roger Pierce, BizLaunch

Everybody wins when your new small business helps to protect the environment. Unlike larger corporations which struggle with internal bureaucracy to implement “green” measures, your nimble small business can decide today to be environmentally conscious.

Here’s how you can turn your business green:

  • Practice the 3Rs. Embrace ways to reduce, reuse and recycle wherever possible. Go out today and buy some new blue bins for your business and make sure everyone on your team is using them. Appoint a “Green Officer” to champion your internal recycling efforts.
  • Go paperless. Businesses use a lot of paper, and much of it ends up in landfill. Today’s electronic world should help you to eliminate a lot of paper in your office, so get your employees, suppliers and customers to use electronic invoicing, online project management software and website banking.
  • Buy recycled products. Switch to recycled ink cartridges, recycled file folders and post-it notes to lessen the impact of your business on the environment. Remember to drop your old electronic devices such as cell phones at designated recycling bins.
  • Rent the video. Watch the Al Gore documentary An Inconvenient Truth to learn more about the dangerous condition of our planet. Get your entire small business team to watch it at work.

You can learn more about this and other how-to topics in a free STAPLES BizLaunch Webinar. To find one near you, please visit http://www.staples.ca/bizlaunch today.


clip_image002[5]

ROGER PIERCE is passionate about helping entrepreneurs achieve success. Co-founder of Canada’s largest small business training company, BizLaunch.ca, he’s launched eleven small businesses of his own and personally experienced what he calls “the good, the bad and the ugly” sides of entrepreneurship.

BizLaunch advises thousands of Canadian startups through its popular how-to seminars and webinars delivered with partners such as STAPLES.

By Donna Marrin

Ah, that glorious summer weather we enjoyed on Good Friday… I took full advantage with a hike in breathtaking Awenda Provincial Park near Midland, Ontario. As I stood barefoot in the sand on the Georgian Bay shore, I marveled at the fact that it was only the second day of April (There should still be snow on the ground! Ice on the lake!), and here I was in a t-shirt, jeans rolled up, dipping my toes into the cold but bearable water. “If this is global warming, then global warming ain’t half bad,” I announced to my spouse. Later, I punished myself for such a thought by staying inside to do some research in order to educate myself about the real impact of increasing temperatures on our environment. This is what I learned:

  1. The ten hottest years on record have all occurred since 1990.
  2. With polar ice caps melting faster than they are able to develop, sea levels are increasing. Which means that most of our busy seaboard cities are destined to follow in the footsteps of Atlantis. So long, New York. Hello extreme population inland.
  3. Our majestic polar bears are headed for extinction. Polar bears use ice floes to travel great distances in order to be able to hunt their main food sources. With Arctic ice melting at an alarming rate, many of these creatures aren’t able to access the food supply they need to keep them fueled through their hibernation period.
  4. In the summer of 2007, the Northwest Passage was ice-free for the first time in history.
  5. Global warming puts marine life as we know it in peril. Increasing water temperatures create ‘reef bleaching’—a process that causes algae to die. No more algae means no more coral. No more coral means extinction for many marine species.
  6. Increasing weather extremes—a byproduct of climate change—bring on natural disasters such as tornadoes, heat waves, droughts and floods, and we pay dearly with loss of life and property.
  7. Over Alberta’s mountain ranges, the glaciers and snowpacks that serve as ‘water towers’ for the Prairies are receding. Prairie water levels in ponds, lakes and dugouts are shrinking, which will eventually lead to less water for irrigating crops and maintaining livestock and drinking water in rural regions.
  8. Water levels in our Great Lakes are receding more each year and this process will accelerate as we evolve into a hotter, drier climate.
  9. Heat waves generate more smog in our breathing air, which results in more temperature-related illnesses and deaths. Infectious diseases such as malaria‚ dengue and yellow fever could work their way northward as insects carrying these diseases migrate with the warming climate.
  10. Expect more frequent and larger avalanches in our western mountain parks as temperatures increase.
  11. Warmer spring and fall temperatures will extend the melting season of glaciers by at least a month in the southern Rocky Mountains. Glaciers less than 100m thick could disappear over the next 20 years.
  12. Migratory birds are extremely vulnerable to climate change effects, since they depend on a variety of habitats and sites. A large numbers of birds could be at risk of extinction.
  13. In the past few decades, 125 Arctic lakes have vanished, due to the thawing of permafrost. When this deep, normally permanently frozen ground thaws, lake water seeps away into the soil, draining the lake. As these lakes disappear, so do the ecosystems they support.
  14. Imagine no more maple syrup? Maple syrup production requires specific conditions for tapping sugar maples for their sap: freezing nights and warm days. Traditionally, maple syrup season lasts for about a month. Research from the University of Vermont shows that compared to the 1970s, the average modern extraction season starts a week earlier, but ends 10 days earlier and so is three days shorter. And could continue to shorten over time.

I hate to rain on the sunshine parade, but there you have it. I do believe that any steps we take to help protect our environment, no matter how small, are steps in the right direction.

What’s your opinion?

Donna Marrin is a freelance Senior Writer/Editor specializing in corporate communications and advertising. She also founded and runs the Markham Village Writers. You can visit their website at www.markhamvillagewriters.com.

By Randy Tyrrell, Toronto Greenhouse

ecosweeplogo

Sean and Rula Norman

Sean and Rula Norman

Sean and Rula Norman founded EcoSweep after the birth of their first child. Concerned about toxins in the home and environmental impacts from chemicals used in household cleaning products, “We were really surprised to find that there were no real choices for hiring an all-natural maid service,” said Rula.

After trying numerous cleaning companies, they decided to establish their own enterprise that would serve like-minded clients interested in environmental sustainability. The Normans saw an opportunity to merge sustainability principles and cleaning to provide clients with a cost-neutral alternative to traditional cleaning that is safe, healthy and environmentally friendly. “This business has enabled us to take our passion for sustainability and healthy living and share it with others in a very simple way,“ says Rula. “The cleaning program you choose has such a big impact on both your indoor and outdoor environment, as well as your quality of living.“

Established in 2003, EcoSweep is the original and only all-natural and environmentally friendly green cleaning solution in the Greater Toronto Area. EcoSweep is also the only Canadian janitorial company that is LEED AP managed. Their commercial green cleaning program and purchasing protocol uses only green certified cleaning products, paper products, tools and equipment.

EcoSweep is unique in the janitorial industry in that they provide the full scope of services required to attain LEED certification, including project management facilitated by an onsite Project Manager. Their sustainability consulting includes custodial effectiveness assessments and audits as well as green cleaning training for custodial staff.

Rula and Sean go far beyond the janitorial service. Rula explains, “We have found that a lot of businesses approach us about switching to a green cleaning program and once they see the benefits, they often ask us to work with them on bigger sustainability goals.” The EcoSweep team assists clients in improving indoor air quality and help reduce their corporate footprint by providing staff workshops and training for occupants on how they can do their part to help improve indoor air quality, reduce energy and water use and improve recycling programs .

Clients now include office complexes, retail, institutional, sports complexes, condominium/residential buildings, real estate, amusement parks and homeowners.

 

RandyRandy Tyrrell is the Founder and Managing Director of Toronto Greenhouse, a business forum for “green companies” and friends of the environment. Toronto Greenhouse hosts a monthly networking event with topical speakers and offers environmentally sustainable business consulting services. Visit here for more information.

By Rachel Swiednicki

You’ve cleaned out your office and home and you’re not sure what to do with your unwanted electronics. STAPLES Canada is now an official Ontario Electronic Stewardship drop-off depot.

STAPLES Canada recently expanded their requirements for recyclable electronic waste collection at stores, as the retailer enters phase II of their Ontario Electronic Stewardship (OES). Effective as of April 1, STAPLES stores in Ontario will enter the second phase of their recycling program by accepting items such as televisions, desktop and laptop computers, telephones and answering machines, projectors, digital cameras and speakers.

Steve Matyas and Leigh Pearson

Steve Matyas and Leigh Pearson

“We are trying to create the easiest eco-solution for customers. They now have a place where they can drop off even more unwanted electronic items. We want customers to think of us during spring cleaning and know that there’s an easily accessible location available to handle their recycling needs,” says Leigh Pearson, facilities and environmental services manager for STAPLES Canada.

STAPLES Canada has undertaken a number of major sustainable initiatives: reducing energy consumption by reducing light bulb wattage at all locations, expansion of recycling programs, and more. STAPLES Canada continues to seek ways to improve sustainability. “Phase two of our recycling plan includes accepting everything from speakers to desktop printers. We also are a depot for waste recycling in several other provinces, as well,” continued Pearson.

For more information, please visit staples.ca/environment.

Rachel

Rachel Swiednicki is a professional communicator, with ten years of experience in the communications industry. Eight of those years were spent as a journalist before moving into a career in public relations/corporate communications.

By Randy Cooray

So what do you look for in a company when you plan to give your credit card a workout? Are you only concerned about the price? Do you only look at the item’s quality? Perhaps you’re all about the label and nothing is better than Versace, Nike or Dell. While many consumers have a wide range of reasons to purchase an item, a company’s reputation is also a quality reason; which can be good or bad depending on the issue.

What can be determined is that more of us are looking at the environment, and how efforts to keep our surroundings greener are growing so rapidly. From a smoke-free environment at the local pub, to private compost heaps at homes, people and companies are making the effort to preserve our earth.

So what are we ripping apart when we take our new calculator home? How many chemicals are in that packaging of printer paper? It’s quite possible that it’s more of a threat than we are led to believe. Some companies – like STAPLES are taking actions to reduce the amount of packaging and PVC in its packaging and products.

One company however is changing that process.

As we come closer to recognizing Earth Day, Staples is once again proud to highlight a very successful campaign of environmentally favourable initiatives. With their partnership of such recycling programs like Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and e-Cycle Solutions, Staples has resurrected millions of metric tonnes that was headed for the junkyard. Here are some numbers regarding Staples’ drive for a cleaner society:

  • Over 2,100 metric tonnes of electronics recycled from Ontario, Quebec and Alberta alone
  • Over 4,400 metric tonnes of corrugated cardboard was saved
  • Over 7,700 pounds of batteries recycled in 2009 – a near 40% increase from 2008
  • Over 2,000 products with environmentally friendlier ingredients on their shelves

With all that and much more, their biggest pat-on-the-back could be their ink and toner recycling program. The company collected 1.3 million last year surpassing their goal of collecting one million cartridges – and this year they have a goal of collecting two million cartridges.

“We want to educate our customers on how they can do their part to help the earth,” says Pete Gibel, Chair of STAPLES Canada Environmental Committee. “We also want to re-assure our eco-conscious customers that we are committed to operating our company and retail locations in a sustainable manner so that they can feel good about shopping in our stores.”

For more information on STAPLES Soul, and ways you can make a difference please visit http://www.staples.ca/community.

Marisa's Wedding Shower 07-12-09 432

Randy Cooray has been on both sides of the media spectrum working in the Public Relations field after five years in Journalism. From one-on-one interviews with professional athletes, to collaborating on breaking news stories. Randy is now a part of the corporate communications industry.