Topics
Your Office
Books
401 Questions That Every Entrepreneur Should Ask
This book looks at the nitty-gritty of starting a business, in a Q&A format, and asks questions like "How will you stay on top of cash flow?" and "Do you have someone to take your place in case of an emergency?" Questions cover such issues as business organizational structure, locating your business, dealing with customers, risk management, time management, and use of technology.
James L. Silvester.
Career Press.
256.
Paperback.
Cost: $17.99
Change to Strange: Create a Great Organization by Building a Strange Workforce
Dr. Cable is a business professor at North Carolina University. His book focuses on how to build a diverse workforce of people from different walks of life and experiences, and looks at new ways of measuring their impact on business.
Daniel M. Cable.
Wharton School Publishing.
224 pages.
Hardcover.
Cost: $25.99
What No One Ever Tells You About Starting Your Own Business
The premise of this book is that it has asked successful entrepreneurs: "If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?" It emphasises the need to research markets and business opportunities carefully before commiting to a new business. It also covers such issues as creating a business plan, financing, management, marketing, and others. Checklists on locating a business and on necessary recordkeeping are also included.
Jan Norman.
Dearborn Trade Publishing.
222.
Paperback.
Cost: $18.95
Videos
Why Is Everyone Smiling? by Paul Spiegelman
Why is everyone smiling? That's the question Author and CEO, Paul Spiegelman, claims is most commonly asked when customers and clients visit his company, Beryl. He believes the reason behind the company's success is its special culture. Spiegelman joins us today to explain what it takes to keep everyone in your organization smiling.
Web Sites
Avoid Organizational Nightmares
It's Monday morning, and you're reviewing your calendar. You suddenly realize you've double-booked a client meeting and your daughter's piano recital. Not only that, Friday is a school holiday you didn't plan for. Another week, another organizational nightmare.
Business Startup Checklist
You've decided to start a business. This is both an exciting and demanding time. The checklist below is meant to help new business owners by providing a list of the most common startup steps. Depending on your particular industry, additional steps may be required for your business.
Central Perks
Women use unique benefits to show employee appreciation.
Coworking: How To Work Solo, But Not Alone
After months of searching for alternatives, Jones found Office Nomad, a shared workplace in Seattle that sells itself as "individuality without isolation." The studio plugs into a new and flourishing philosophy called "coworking."
David Glazer
The engineering director of Google explains how the company maintains its creative culture and innovative operations.
Engage in Conflict Now
You won't need boxing gloves, but you'll want to jump into conversations about conflict as soon as you can.
Escape from Cubicle Hell
From retirement-averse baby boomers to Gen Y-ers disillusioned with the corporate world, a growing number of people are starting businesses out of their homes in a wide range of industries.
Finding the Perfect Location
A restaurant's nationwide expansion offers entrepreneurs in other industries lessons on how to determine the right place for their own businesses.
Go Out and Play
Say "company retreat" at the office, and suddenly employees cringe imagining stuffy conference rooms and mind-numbing lectures. That's not a retreat; that's a meeting--and it's neither inspirational nor effective. If you want a new way to motivate a dream team, try "play" first and "work" second.
Guide to Finding Commercial Real Estate Listings
You probably know that the Internet has made it easier to research homes for sale, but the tech revolution also has hit the more specialized world of commercial real estate listings. A growing number of sites have information on commercial property for lease or sale, including offices, warehouses and retail space.
Hit the Highway
Create a mobile office and watch the bumps on the road to a working vacation disappear.
How to Build a Better Office
According to a recent survey by Gensler, the prominent corporate architecture firm, half of all employees say they would work an extra hour per day if they had a better workplace. So why do so many companies maintain dark, cramped, ugly, or poorly designed offices?
How To Hire Outside The Box
There's a reason many companies don't take risks when hiring new talent: Employees with traditional backgrounds and similar skill sets yield predictable results. Predictability is good on some level, but it can be limiting, too. A non-traditional hire with different perspectives can inject sorely needed energy and creativity into the mix.
Keeping Order
Rescuing offices in disarray is big business for professional organizers.
Magic Shop
Are your frontline employees going to save or kill your most important quarter? At Apple, nothing is left to chance.
Making Your Meetings Matter
In a perfect world, when you call a meeting, everyone shows up on time, comes prepared, is not distracted by their PDA or laptop, and stays alert and engaged. But it's not a perfect world. BNET talks to Bert Decker a communications expert, best selling author and entrepreneur, to find out how to make meetings more effective.
Recruiting Gen Y: Four Killer Tactics
A recent survey by Robert Half International says that nearly one out of every two business executives is concerned about the upcoming exodus of baby boomers from the workforce. Want to lose a little less sleep? Here's something you can do now: start recruiting the next big wave of workers, the millennial generation. They're hardworking and enthusiastic, but they won’t settle for just any job. Here's how McDonald's, Google, Harvard, and others hook today's best young talent.
The Dangers Of Working From Home
I have been working from home for almost five years now, and there are many benefits...but there are also many unseen dangers, today I am going to shed some light on a few of them.
The New Guy
The way you manage the first weeks with a new employee can boost someone's entire career. And if you're the new guy, there's no better time to make new relationships and start your career off in the right direction.
The Office: Do Not Disturb
I have met CEOs without vision. I have met CEOs without ethics. I have met CEOs without people skills, senses of humor, or a proper aversion to suspenders. But I have never met a CEO without an open-door policy. Live by the open-door policy, die by the open-door policy.
The Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide: What to Get Your Accountant
After reading figures all day, a nice book makes a great change of pace. This e-book reader can handle up to 8,000 pages without a recharge and has a daylight-readable screen, headphones, and USB connectivity...and many more great gift ideas!
Three New Designs for Optimizing Collaboration
Today's office environment needs to be as adaptable and collaborative as the people inside it. That means lowering cubicle walls to foster communication, delivering the "coffee shop" feel modern workers associate with productivity, and using materials that allow a workspace to be perpetually reconfigured. Here's how Microsoft and other large companies have reconfigured their offices for the way people work now.
What Enron Didn't Teach Us
Years after multibillion-dollar scandals rocked corporate America, more than half of employees at both public and private companies admit they have witnessed lying, ethical breaches, or criminal behavior on the job -- and most fail to report it, according to a new study.
When The Old And Young Collide At Work
If it is hard to get people from various generations to reach any agreement, it is even harder to do so within a corporation. Cristina Simon, professor at the Instituto de Empresa in Madrid, Spain, has identified and analyzed the four generations that currently make up the corporate workforce.
Workforce Millennials: A BNET Field Guide
The next generation of workers need not be a frightening species. Yes, they're different from boomers and Xers, but like most employees, they respond well to high expectations and accountability, consistent feedback, and a little understanding. We've mapped out five common millennial types you may encounter in the wilds of the workplace, along with care and feeding instructions to keep them happy (and productive) employees.
You won't find me in my office; I'm working
If you're looking for Bryan Judkins, you won't find him at his desk. "I use it as a coat rack," he said of his work space at Young & Laramore, an advertising agency in Indianapolis, where he is the associate creative director. "People see my coat and know I'm in the building."
Whitepapers
Your Location
Many entrepreneurs dream of having a terrific office or retail location designed by the finest architect, and hopefully you'll get your dream. Depending on what type of business you intend to start, this is also one of the first places you can cut corners in order to sell your way into business.
