April 23, 2021
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Cities Look To Coworking To Accelerate Return To Work, Downtown Recovery

By | Business

Shameless plug:  For access to your local co-working location which includes co-working, private offices, dedicated desks, and conference rooms … as well as long term parking, self-storage and warehouse units all in our business park (Imperial Business Park), visit www.businessesuites.com and www.imperialstoragesolutions.com.
Contact Colin Croteau (community manager) for a tour.  Colin can be reached at 281-862-3150

—- April 20, 2021 Jon Banister, Bisnow Washington, D.C

For more than a year, city governments encouraged people to stay home to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

But that message has shifted, and cities are now pushing to bring people back to offices to help revive their downtown areas, and they see coworking spaces as a way to accelerate that effort.

Over the last three months, Miami, New York and D.C. have announced partnerships with WeWork to offer discounts to companies bringing people back to the office. The coworking company finances the discounts without city subsidies, but the cities are using their promotion and marketing power to push people toward the WeWork spaces.

WeWork Head of Public Affairs and Communications Christina Ferzli told Bisnow she joined the company in January and immediately began pushing to grow WeWork’s relationships with local governments by meeting with officials and hearing their priorities, and that quickly turned into this new partnership model.

“‘How do we bring people back downtown to shop, buy lunch and coffee, and revitalize the economic prosperity in these cities?’ That was a key theme for most of the cities we spoke to,” said Ferzli, who had previously led corporate affairs and communications at juice giant Ocean Spray, according to her LinkedIn page. “We realized we could help with that post-pandemic recovery.”

WeWork is planning to expand the partnership model around the country and the globe, Ferzli said. She said it is preparing to announce three new partnerships in the coming months, but she didn’t disclose which cities.

She said the partnerships are aimed at helping businesses get back to the office quickly and affordably and helping cities revive activity in their downtown areas, and the new business also helps WeWork recover from the coronavirus pandemic. WeWork last month announced plans to go public through a special-purpose acquisition company merger valuing the company at $9B.

While coworking companies were the first to feel the pain when people stopped coming into the office, given the short-term nature of their leases, Ferzli said they can also be the first ones to benefit from the return to work.

“There’s never been a stronger moment for flexible office space, and WeWork is so uniquely situated in helping businesses adjust to this new normal and providing turnkey solutions to scale,” Ferzli said. “In helping cities with their economic recovery, we are looking to grow our member base with businesses that need help coming back.”

The New York partnership was announced on March 16, and it is structured as a partnership between WeWork and the chambers of commerce of the five boroughs, with a focus on small businesses. The D.C. partnership, announced March 24, is between WeWork and Mayor Muriel Bowser‘s administration. The Miami partnership, announced on Jan. 21, is with Mayor Francis Suarez‘s administration, and it is focused on technology companies.

Ferzli said she has seen a significant shift take place over the last month in which cities are now focused on promoting a return to the office, rather than telling people to stay home.

“Most cities are targeting the spring and summer for this as we continue to see positive trends in the pandemic itself,” Ferzli said. “Now through the fall is where we’re going to see that bigger push for a return to work.”

Google Maps

A WeWork office at 125 South 25th St. in the Flatiron District in New York.

Manhattan Chamber of Commerce President Jessica Walker said the ongoing rollout of the vaccines has given people confidence to start returning to the office, and the city is now encouraging that return. She said small businesses are likely to be the first to return to the office, as many large companies have already pushed their returns back to the fall or to next year.

“We’re all focused on trying [to] accelerate the city’s economic recovery, and for a lot of reasons, that means we need a large percentage of [the] workforce to begin coming back to the office,” Walker said. “We think it’s critical in the short-term to focus on small businesses and what we can do to get them fully engaged again.”

She said the WeWork partnership is particularly helpful in accelerating the return to work for small businesses, because companies can start with a small space and expand as they build momentum, and they aren’t saddled with upfront costs.

The New York partnership offers two months of free office space for companies that make a six-month commitment, three months for those that make a 12-month commitment. It also offers a one-month free trial and 12 months of 15% for WeWork All Access, a pass that allows members to use any WeWork location in the city.

“WeWork and these types of models are made for businesses that are going to come back with maybe two employees, and then they can move into a larger office in a month or two when they’re ready,” she said. “The specific deals WeWork is offering are steep discounts, so businesses are able to relaunch and not have to pay rent for the first three months of an annual lease, which is a big deal for businesses trying to get back. It gives them breathing room.”

Ferzli said 76% of the members WeWork is seeing return to the office are small and medium businesses, rather than its larger enterprise members.

“It’s small and medium-sized businesses that are coming back, they’re the ones taking advantage of the program at the moment,” Ferzli said. “We were expecting small and medium to be the first to come back because they’re a little more agile.”

In D.C., WeWork is offering the same discounts as in New York, but instead of the chambers of commerce, it is partnering with the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development.

Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development John Falcicchio told Bisnow the District is planning to kick off a new effort next month to encourage companies to return to the office.

“Now we have had a year of experience of how to keep people safe when they return to the office, we also know vaccination rates continue to rise around the region, so that builds our confidence that now is the time,” Falcicchio said.

He said he sees the partnership with WeWork as a way to support this return-to-work effort. He said WeWork was an ideal partner because of its footprint throughout the central business district, allowing people to pick the location that is best for their commutes.

“I think coworking will become more a part of the landscape than it was before the pandemic,” Falcicchio said. “Because we know people are looking at how they carry that overhead of a lease, and what coworking allows you to do is a more flexible way to get out of the house and focus on work.”

Falcicchio said D.C. is also in discussions with WorkChew, a D.C.-based startup that turns restaurant and hotel spaces into flexible workspaces during the hours when they are underutilized. He invited WorkChew to speak alongside WeWork on a DMPED event earlier this month to promote its offering, he said he is helping connect it with restaurant and hotel groups, and he said DMPED employees have begun to use WorkChew spaces.

“For businesses, it’s another way to capture revenue,” he said of WorkChew. “We want to highlight the concept and let the marketplace know it exists as people think about how they might return to work.”

Downtown D.C. Business Improvement District Director of Economic Development Gerry Widdicombe said he supports the WeWork partnership, but he doesn’t think it will make a huge dent in the return-to-work effort. He noted that coworking space only accounts for 1% to 2% of D.C.’s office market, so it will be more important to push major employers with large office footprints to bring back their workforces.

“As people tiptoe back into the office, WeWork and their promotions will be very important, but it’s important to put the whole coworking sector in the proper perspective,” Widdicombe said. “Is it a game-changer? I don’t think so, but it’s certainly a good step in the right direction.”

While WeWork has the largest coworking footprint in many major cities, its competitors also see their spaces as helping cities in their return-to-work efforts.

Industrious Chief Commercial Officer Anna Squires Levine, in emailed responses to Bisnow questions, said the company “definitely” sees partnering with cities as a potential opportunity to explore. She said most companies are still looking to open downtown offices to serve as a hub for employees and then supplementing that with neighborhood-based offices.

“It’s then a rising tide lifts all boats scenario where neighboring businesses feel the benefits of the resurgence in foot traffic from the workers now coming into the office,” she said in the email. “Those moments driven by office workers — Thursday happy hours at the beloved bar near the office, running out to grab lunch at the deli on the corner — will bring a boost to those businesses who have been really missing this audience throughout the pandemic.”

IWG CEO of the Americas Wayne Berger, whose company operates the Regus and Spaces brands, said he is seeing an increase in D.C. companies looking to return to the office, with month-over-month inquiries up 32% in March.

“There will always be a role for major city offices and the networking and cultural benefits they offer, and by offering employees flexible workspaces within these hubs, they become tools to facilitating the eventual return of these bustling business districts in an even more sustainable and livable way,” Berger wrote in an emailed statement.

Bringing people back to work is important to revive the downtown restaurant and retail sector, Widdicombe said, as many of these businesses rely on office traffic. He also said it would help the District’s budget, because downtown retail businesses wouldn’t have to continue relying on government support.

“We think it’s important from the city’s point of view, the sooner they bring people back they don’t have to do another bridge fund, so they can save $100M,” Widdicombe said. “We’d rather have people come back and create real demand for restaurants.”

Midtown Manhattan

In Midtown Manhattan, Walker said foot traffic is still down by more than 50%, and bringing workers back to offices will be critical to support retail and restaurants.

“Any time we can bring office workers back to those areas, that’s a huge multiplier effect that’s going to keep people employed as doormen, keep people employed at restaurants and shops,” Walker said. “It’s fundamentally important to the city’s ecosystem.”

In addition to bringing employees from their apartments to their offices during the day, Walker said New York also needs to bring back the remote workers who left the city during the pandemic, and she thinks coworking space can play a role in that effort.

“A lot of remote workers have left the state, and so we have to think about all these things because it has an effect on local stores, shops taxes, and the feel of the city if we lose a ton of creative talent that makes New York City what it is,” Walker said. “We still have work to do to bring the workforce back.”

While New York seeks to bring its workforce back and revive its office districts, other states with less of an established office market are looking to draw remote workers to find a new home, and they are also using coworking as a tool in that effort.

West Virginia last week launched a program to attract remote workers with an incentive package that includes $12K in cash payments, free outdoor recreation and free coworking space. The program, funded by West Virginia native Brad D. Smith and his wife, Alys, is a partnership between the state’s tourism agency and West Virginia University.

Danny Twiley, the assistant dean for WVU’s Brad & Alys Smith Economic Development Collaborative, said the goal of the program is to keep people in West Virginia for the long term, and he sees the coworking offering as a critical part of that effort.

“We really want to retain these individuals, because we’re asking them to move to a new state, a new community they haven’t lived in before, and we want them to connect with new members of the community,” Twiley said. “If you’re working from home, that’s really hard to do unless you have an established community.”

The program launched last week and has received 5,000 applications, Twiley said. It plans to welcome its first cohort of about 50 people this summer. He said the coworking offering will launch in a space on WVU’s Morgantown Campus, and the program is planning to build out three new coworking spaces that the university will operate in Morgantown, Shepherdstown and Lewisburg.

Twiley said it hasn’t decided on the exact size of those new spaces, as it wants to see how much usage the first space receives, but he said it aims to put the spaces in busy locations where the workers can help revitalize the surrounding retail and restaurants.

“As we build out space, we want it to be in energy centers of communities,” he said. “We put it in those energy hubs so people will then say, ‘I want to go out to eat. Let’s get to know each other, go out to lunch, grab a cup of coffee or meet me after work.’ We’re trying to support the local communities and the businesses that are already there.”

Read the full article at www.Bisnow.com

April 12, 2021
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Office

Survey finds many workers would rather quit than return to office full time

By | Business, Industry
A recent survey by Menlo Park, California-based recruiting firm Robert Half found that more than 30% of people working from home as a result of the pandemic would look for a new job if required to be in the office full time.  This is where a hybrid workspace comes into play, and alternating between home and a coworking or move-in ready environment is optimal for employees to keep a work/life balance.

What Workers Want
Nearly half of all employees surveyed (48.5%) said they prefer a hybrid work arrangement, where they can divide time between the office and another location. Even if given the opportunity to be fully remote, professionals expressed the following concerns in doing so:

  1. Relationships with coworkers could suffer: 28%
  2. Decreased productivity while at home: 26%
  3. Fewer career advancement opportunities due to a lack of visibility: 20%

At the same time, workers may not be ready to return to the office, and employers may want to consider what could help ease their transition back on-site. Professionals said the top ways their company can support them include:

  1. Freedom to set preferred office hours
  2. A personal, distraction-free workspace
  3. Employer-paid commuting costs
  4. Relaxed dress code
  5. Employer-provided childcare

Source: Link  / and / Link

April 9, 2021
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The future of coworking spaces and landlords

By | Industry

By: Robert LaCoure  –  Principal, Lee & Associates – Houston

The coworking phenomenon has certainly disrupted the commercial real estate (CRE) market over the last few years, as well as changed the way we perceive office space. With a possible economic downturn looming around the corner, the question of how the coworking trend will be affected has become a common discussion among CRE professionals and office building landlords.

Over 70% of economists are predicting another recession by 2021

The coworking trend has been a quick solution for filling empty office spaces. Landlords have been satisfied with positive returns from long-term leases, especially after experiencing gaps in time without tenants. This sounds like a win-win situation until the coworking company can’t afford to maintain their business model. While they’ve grown at a rapid pace, various coworking companies are now facing financial problems that have been headlining in the media.

WeWork reported losses of over $1.6 billion last year

If economists are correct with their prediction of another recession, the CRE industry needs to be prepared to adapt to a new wave of coworking trends. This poses a big opportunity for landlords looking to take back their spaces from large, unstable, coworking companies and run a coworking facility of their own.

The future of coworking could consist of working directly with landlords instead of through subleases at premium rates

In order to successfully compete, landlords will need to offer more flexible terms for this type of space. They will need to hire the right leasing and management team to offer this service and present higher commissions to get their leasing team interested in handling smaller deals. Similarly, Regus has offered a 10% commission to brokers for years and at one point, WeWork offered the entire first year’s rent as a commission. It doesn’t need to be that drastic but 6 to 10% shouldn’t be out of the question.

Read the full article: https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2019/11/05/the-future-of-coworking-spaces-and-landlords.html

April 1, 2021
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Banks

One of the World’s Biggest Banks Explains Why It’s Moving to a Hybrid Work Model.

By | Industry

By Bisnow.com

Everyone in the world of business and real estate is talking about the future of the office, hybrid work models and flexible office networks. How will companies and their staff use office space in future? Well, one of the world’s largest banks is pioneering a new hybrid work strategy and has given Bisnow an insight into its thinking and strategy. 

Standard Chartered Group Head of HR Tanuj Kapilashrami explained at Bisnow London’s recent Future of Office digital summit why the company has become one of the first major global firms to strike a deal with a flexible office provider that will allow a big chunk of its staff to work remotely for a big portion of their time. 

The answers lie in data, in thinking about productivity in a new way and about carefully measuring where people are working, rather than just guessing. 

 

The main message for the real estate industry is that in the post-COVID world, companies will be more willing to give people what helps them succeed, rather than imposing a way of working on them from above. 

“We’ve taken a data-led approach, so we’ve dialed up the listening with our colleagues significantly,” Kapilashrami said. “We ran three surveys last year, and the data was very clear. More than 75% of our colleagues globally wanted to work flexibly at least 50% of the time. That was very important, as it showed us we needed to design the future based around what our colleagues wanted, not our preferences.”

Standard Chartered has struck a deal with CO-WORKING SPACE OPERATORS GLOBALLY in which its more than 90,000 staff around the globe will be able to work from any of CO-WORKING SPACE OPERATORS GLOBALLY’s 3,500 global locations. It is a 12-month trial that began at the beginning of this year.

The bank is headquartered in London and has a major presence in Asian markets. In November, it told staff that it would roll out a phased move to hybrid working, with some people having the option to work from home or remotely more regularly starting this year, especially in its 10 largest markets, and more and more staff would be given the option through 2023. 

In a conversation with CO-WORKING SPACE OPERATORS GLOBALLY Chief Executive  Kapilashrami said a key driver for the initiative had been looking at the type of jobs Standard Chartered employees actually do and analyzing the best way of doing them.

“Our aim is not just about increasing home working or flexible working, it’s about redesigning jobs, so analyzing the different types of job-families our colleagues do and taking a view on how these jobs are going to be done in future,” she said. “And what we found was 80% of those jobs can be done more flexibly. This idea is about co-creating the future with our colleagues, not just 10-15 White men and women sitting in a boardroom.”

The analysis led to the conclusion that Standard Chartered needed to change the makeup of its existing offices, but also offer its employees flexibility to work elsewhere.  

“Our colleagues said 70-80% of our workspace is not based around task-based work, collaborative work,” she said. “Going forward, colleagues wanted the majority of the workplace to be designed around places where people could come together and collaborate. So we are redesigning our workplaces, but we also made it clear that flexible work is not just about home working. We absolutely recognize the value that our colleagues have in coming together, collaborating and working creatively, so we wanted to give them the optionality to come together and have somewhere to work near home.”

Kapilashrami’s team has done a lot of work mapping CO-WORKING SPACE OPERATORS GLOBALLY locations against the locations of colleagues to help them work out where colleagues can meet up within walking distance of home. 

There are practical concerns for an organization of the scale and type of Standard Chartered. A lot of that is around privacy and security so that client confidentiality and sensitive information are as well-protected at CO-WORKING SPACE OPERATORS GLOBALLY locations as they would be at one of the company’s offices. 

Dixon pointed out that companies have to work out the best way to manage who is in what building at what time, or working from home, to get the best of it. He compared it to getting used to other types of technology.

“It’s like when you’re young and you take your first flight, you don’t quite know the system, but when you’ve done it once you get the hang of it. And in two or three years’ time, not adopting hybrid working will be like not adopting email 20 years ago. If you understand and manage the technology well, it can be a huge boost to people’s productivity.”

This point about productivity is key. Kapilashrami said Standard Chartered will be measuring how and when people use the offices in the CO-WORKING SPACE OPERATORS GLOBALLY remote network and gauging the impact on their productivity. The first step is getting over an old fallacy. 

“A lot of critics of flexible working have said that productivity is going to come down, and my challenge to them is, productivity has been used interchangeably with presenteeism,” Kapilashrami said. “We believe that by leveraging technology well we can enhance productivity.”

She drilled down into how the company will be measuring the impact of the new way of working.

“What we’re doing, as people start using the booking system, we’re going to monitor the usage to give more guidance to our colleagues about how does it work most optimally? I think that’s important, because we are all learning this together,” she said. “We are spending a huge amount of time thinking about measurement, not just on this collaboration. So we are building an exhaustive measurement framework that has three aspects.” 

The first is employee sentiment, which is very important, Kapilashrami said. How do colleagues feel? Do they think they are able to bring their best selves to work? 

The second aspect is business results. She said Standard Chartered already measures lots of business outcomes — client contact, financial performance and client satisfaction — and will continue to measure this in the new working structure. 

The third leg, traditionally not measured, is behavioral insights. How do people behave or collaborate differently? What networks are created within the company? Who do people reach out to when they need to do a piece of work? 

“So the measurement approach we are putting together will look at the employee sentiment but also the behavioral changes that we see in how work gets done and how that impacts outcomes. There are some really cool tools out there around network analysis, how work gets done, who collaborates. So we will be bringing these things together and seeing how it impacts productivity.”

Kapilashrami was coy about whether these changes would lead to Standard Chartered reducing its footprint of fixed real estate. But as alluded to in the need for more collaboration space, that fixed real estate will definitely change. 

“The idea of offices being rows and rows of desks with a photocopier at the end, I struggle to see how we go back to that,” she said. “When we did our survey, a very low single digit number of people said they want to work from home 100% of the time. They want greater flexibility, but they do want to come together to collaborate, innovate, meet clients. And let’s face it, we have a large proportion of our workforce who are millennials, and workspaces are also places of inclusion, social engagement and interaction. So our workspaces will continue to have a role. We need to do some real thinking about how much space do we need and also what it looks like.”

April 1, 2021
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Ozeal

Member Feature – Ozeal Debastos

By | Business

Ozeal Debastos is the founder and owner of Ozeal Media. A nationwide podcasting and podcast consulting brand based here in Sugar Land, Texas. Ozeal has been a CoWorking Member here at Business E Suites since October of 2020 and has been influential in helping build the sense of community that makes Business E Suites feel like home to the 50+ small businesses based here.

Ozeal has always loved podcasts and podcasting, and as it continues to grow there are many people who want to get involved but don’t know how to get started. That is where Ozeal Media comes in; they help businesses and individuals get their own podcasts up and running by showing them the right equipment, optimizing their content, and finding the right channels to distribute the podcast and market their brand.

One of Ozeal’s main goals in his consulting is to help businesses humanize their leadership through podcasting. Podcasts allow brands and individuals to connect and communicate with customers and deliver their message to them in a direct and personal way.

The ideal customer for Ozeal Media is someone with a heart for service, who wants a new way to build and market their brand and utilize voice marketing to connect with their customers in a new and inspiring way. Ozeal believes voice marketing is more powerful than ever and provides a way for people to speak directly to their followers and cut through all the noise on social media.

So, what brought Ozeal to Business E Suites? Community. A friend told him about a great new CoWorking place in Sugar Land close to him. He needed a place to get away from distractions and focus, but also to be able to host consulting sessions and record his podcasts. BES offered everything he needed, and he loved the vibe and sense of community. Being around a community of small business owners like at BES has inspired Ozeal to up his game and improve his skills. That support and encouragement are invaluable to any entrepreneur because there will always be times when you get discouraged or don’t know how to handle a problem and the community is there to motivate you and help you in any way they can.

When asked what his biggest challenge has been so far as a small business owner, Ozeal said it must be what he calls Superman Syndrome, trying to do everything on your own and not asking for help. That can easily lead to burnout and overextending yourself. Focus on what you are good at and what you can control. Building a top brand won’t happen overnight, so you have to pace yourself and stay consistent. Once you can start expanding, find other people with strengths that cover your weaknesses. That is when you really start to see your business grow.

We asked Ozeal what advice he would give to other business owners starting out. He said simply, “Be patient.” Building a brand and starting your own company takes time. It won’t all come together right away and there will be many challenges, but you just have to keep working through it and trust in yourself and the vision you have. Find a community that supports and inspires you along the way during those tough times. The struggles make your victories taste so much sweeter.

 

April 1, 2021
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David_SEOSeminar

Tips to Optimize Your Ranking in Google

By | Business, Tips

Tips to Optimize Your Ranking in Google by Ahava Marketing.

You may think you need to be an engineer or an expert in web development to optimize your Google Ranking, but, I have good news for you. There are simple adjustments that will help the search engines rank your site higher.

Find the right keywords
The first thing you need to know is what keywords you would like to use to rank in Google, which means in what searches you will like your site to appear. Make sure you think the same way the users do, don’t be too technical. Try to use common sense keywords, for example; if your business is a restaurant for Mexican food in Sugar Land, do not try to use phrases like authentic Mexican food in Sugar Land, but use instead best Mexican food in Sugar, that’s how the users will look for the product or service.

Use the right Titles
When developing a section for your site make sure you use the right title for each page, for example, instead of using the title About Us you can use About Business E Suites, giving branding to the page and context to the search engine.

Name your Keywords in the first paragraph
Your home page’s first phrase should be used with the H1 title and using the keywords you are using to rank, for example; Best Mexican Food in Sugar Land or Indoor Pool Installation in Houston. This tire is the most important part doe the search engines use H1 and H2 formats
Make sure you use the right format for each part, do not abuse the use of H1 titles, instead use H2 or H3 and paragraphs <p> for long content.

Use good Content 
A simple phrase is not enough for search engines to understand your website, be aware that Google understands full paragraphs, use long sentences and use the keywords in the content.“Come and join us at Escalante’s to enjoy the best Mexican food in Sugar Land, we offer a wide menu and great prices” This paragraph provides users great context, great information and includes relevant keywords and words like prices and menu, therefore, it’s related to the food industry.

Create a Site Map
Make sure you create a site map, an XML file that can be read by the search engine robots, once you have it, go into Google Search Console and submit it to them and your site will be ready to rank higher. SEO requires time and dedication and is not something that reflects results immediately. Make sure you check monthly your rank by searching those meet words and phrases to check the progress.

 

If you have any questions or need a free consultation – reach out at www.ahavamarketing.com

March 31, 2021
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houston-downtown-sunset-skyscrapers-texas_79295-8319

Texas is Re-Opening at 100%, is Your Business Ready?

By | Industry, Tips

As the weather gets warmer and Summer approaches quickly, Texas businesses are opening back up at a rapid pace. Consumers have been cautiously saving their money for the past year, but now cash is starting to flow back into the community as people begin to travel and spend discretionary income once again.

Is your business ready for an influx of new customers? Many owners have had to trim back staff and inventory due to decreased capacity and spending throughout much of 2020. Consumer spending has started to rebound though, with multiple states opening. Consumer Spending in the United States increased to 12999.10 USD Billion in the fourth quarter of 2020 from 12924.72 USD Billion in the third quarter of 2020 (source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis).

If you traveled for Spring Break this year, then you may have seen some of the signs of rising spending: full flights at the airports, long lines at retail stores, longer waits for restaurant seating, and the return of a vibrant nightlife scene with packed bars and clubs.

You might have also noticed that some of these businesses were not prepared to handle the influx of customers, having to turn them away or due to being understaffed or out of stock of certain items. At a time when small businesses are struggling, nobody can afford to turn away customers. Make sure you are prepared to handle any sudden surges.  Do not go overboard and buy too much inventory or hire lots of new full-time staff, but make sure you have plans in place should the need arise. Here are some helpful tips for preparing for a busy summer as Texas opens back up completely.

  1. Start posting job openings online and around town – You don’t have to hire anyone right away, but start building a network of quality candidates that you can call on when the time comes for you to increase your staff. You want to avoid being desperate for help and having to settle for subpar employees. As other businesses are re-opening too, the talent pool will dry up quickly. So, get your name out there and start lining up candidates now and stay ahead of the competition.
  2. Begin selectively increasing inventory – Gas prices are rising which means transportation costs for good will be increasing. Now is a good time to start strategically stocking up on non-perishable products that you know will have a high demand as we get into the summer months. Look into securing additional storage or warehouse space so that you won’t be scrambling to find room once demand increases. If you deal in perishables, see if there is affordable refrigerated or freezer storage in the area. Even if you do not need it right now, be prepared should the need arise quickly.
  3. Ramp up marketing campaigns – Marketing expenses are often one of the first areas that owners and managers will cut back when times are lean. As consumers start looking to spend their cash, make sure your company is at the forefront of their consciousness. Digital marketing such as Google or Facebook ads are an easy way to advertise with any size budget. Start small and target certain groups of consumers, then widen your net as you start to see an uptick in interactions. Make sure everyone knows that you are open for business!

Just by following these small tips, you can make a world of difference for your small business and ensure that you are ready as Texas opens and businesses start to see increased traffic.

If you found this article helpful, then we think you would love being a part of our community at Business E Suites. We are home to over 50 local businesses in the Sugar Land area, and we hold regular events and workshops that help entrepreneurs develop the skills necessary to succeed. Come and see us and learn how we can help take your business to new heights!

 

March 31, 2021
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Picture1

Work From Everywhere: Here’s How to Succeed as a Digital Nomad

By | Industry, Tips

This article is brought to you by Business E Suites.

Once upon a time, hopeful travelers had to choose between exploring the world and maintaining a career. These days, however, remote work has made life as a digital nomad possible —  meaning, you can do the work you love and travel where you’d like all at once. This is a phenomenal way to live life on your own terms, but it’s one that requires some serious forethought. Here are some tips for how to make this lifestyle work for you:

Market Yourself as a Business

Finding a staff position at a company that allows for the digital nomad lifestyle is far from impossible, but it will be challenging. That’s why many people who go this route prefer to work as contract employees. This puts you in charge of your own schedule and workload, which can make it far easier to enjoy the places you visit on your travels. Moreover, it can make moving from place to place simpler since you won’t have to negotiate time off every time you want to wander.

That said, if you go this route, it’s important to treat yourself as a small business. Depending on what kind of work you’re doing, you may be taking on legal and financial risks if you work as a sole proprietor. Forming a limited liability company, or LLC, creates a legal barrier between your personal and professional assets. This kind of protection can offer invaluable peace of mind.

Stay Organized

One of the biggest challenges facing digital nomads is keeping their work organized. This is hard enough to manage for self-employed people and remote workers in general, but add the inherent instability of travel into the mix, and it gets a whole lot trickier. That’s why it’s so important to foster a reliable organizational method you can use to keep your work on track.

There are several approaches you can take to this. For example, there are many different types of task-management programs that can sync between several devices. This can make keeping track of tasks and deadlines possible when you’re frequently transitioning between your phone and laptop while on the go. You can also use a physical planner or bullet journal system to keep your tasks organized. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution here, so try out several approaches until you find one that’s best for you.

Where to Work?

Life as a digital nomad means you can take your work on the go, but this does mean you have to keep your itinerary filled with destinations with a reliable internet connection. Many hotels and vacation rentals come with WiFi — be sure to check the booking information thoroughly to make sure you know if internet access is included in the price.

If your temporary home doesn’t have internet access, you can often find restaurants and coffee shops that do. It’s important to follow etiquette when using these kinds of establishments as workspaces, however. Be sure to pick up a drink or food item, tip well, and avoid lingering during busy times whenever possible.

Finally, you may be able to find coworking spaces on your journey. A coworking space can be especially useful if you’re spending a month or more in a single area. Business E Suites offers memberships that you can use throughout your whole stay. Coworking spaces don’t just offer internet access — they also give you access to a desk, a quiet space, and amenities that can make your workday substantially more pleasant.

Although this work style isn’t right for everyone, it can make exploring the world feasible for people who don’t already have the funds to sustain long-term travel — or who aren’t willing to sacrifice their careers along the way. We hope this article helps you to figure out whether or not you’d like to dive into the digital nomad life and, if so, how to make it happen.

Looking for a great workspace in Sugar Land, TX for your remote role? Check out Business E Suites today!

Photo Credit: Pexels

Article By: Lance Cody-Valdez

March 4, 2021
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A Sanity-Saving Guide to Working From Home With Young Children

By | Tips

As a mother with young children, working from home is both a blessing and a curse. You can spend more time with your little ones, avoid the daily commute to and from work, and save money on childcare, but you’re also faced with constant interruptions and distractions that make working seem close to impossible. And due to COVID-19 concerns, you may not feel comfortable hiring a babysitter or sending your little ones to child care — even when you’re desperate for a break.

To help you juggle it all, the team at Business E Suites is here to share some sanity-saving tips and strategies to make working from home with young kids much more feasible. Read on to get started!

Work While the Little Ones Sleep

If you’re a sleep-deprived mother of a newborn, you may be tempted to catch up on some sleep whenever your baby goes down for a morning or afternoon nap. However, nap times are the perfect opportunities to power through your important work tasks — even if you only have 20- to- 40 minutes to yourself. The same goes for napping toddlers and young children!

In addition to working while your little ones nap, you’ll accomplish more if you aim to work when your children are at their calmest. For most children, this usually means immediately after waking from a nap or eating a meal.

Share Responsibilities

If you and your partner are both working remotely during the pandemic, try splitting your parenting duties between the two of you, and scheduling childcare shifts throughout the workday. If your partner has deadlines, phone calls, and meetings in the morning, you could care for your little ones in the morning and your partner could take the afternoon shift. If each workday looks a bit different, however, you’ll want to sit down with your partner every evening to plan out the following day’s activities.

Try Virtual Babysitting Services

To keep young children entertained so you can focus on your work, you could turn to online games and activities — or you could enlist the help of a virtual babysitter. To find a virtual babysitter to engage with your little ones via Zoom, Skype, or FaceTime, Kelsey Hurwitz of Woman’s Day recommends:

  • Obtaining referrals from friends and family.
  • Visiting websites such as SitterCity and Care.com.
  • Asking for recommendations on Facebook.
  • Looking for virtual sitters on NextDoor and other neighborhood platforms.

As another option, you could check with your friends and relatives to see if they might be interested in a virtual visit with your little ones. Grandma and grandpa, for instance, can read stories to your young children, draw and color with them, and play fun virtual games like I-Spy and Mad Libs.

Preserve Your Sanity

When you’re at home with your young kids all week long, some days may test your sanity — and you may start to feel as if you’re on the verge of losing your mind. However, this is where self-care comes in. Even as a busy work-from-home mom, self-care is a must!

Here are some simple self-care strategies to keep you happy, healthy, and sane:

  • Try a coworking space. One day a week away from home could be a boon for your productivity. If you can work it out with your partner, plan to use a coworking space for a whole workday. You may be able to work ahead to lighten up the rest of your week.
  • Dress comfortably. Skip the tight jeans and business clothes and opt for comfortable yet stylish leggings, tanks and joggers. When you’re chasing toddlers and young children around all day, comfortable clothing is a must.
  • Remember to breathe. Try a meditation app like Insight Timer, Calm, or Omvana — even if you only have a few minutes to spare.
  • Drink plenty of water. Nourish your body and mind by sipping on water throughout the day, and aim to drink at least eight glasses of water daily. If you’re breastfeeding, however, you’ll need to increase your water intake by about four glasses.
  • Do something for yourself. Extra time at home may have sealed the deal for you on future plans. For example, if you aspire to become an entrepreneur or finally want to get your MBA, you can join a program that fits your busy schedule but allows you to advance your career. You owe it to yourself.

The Bottom Line

Whether you’ve been working from home for years or you’re still adjusting to remote work amidst COVID-19, the challenges of being a work-from-home mom are vast — especially when you’ve got young children to feed and care for. However, focusing on the many advantages of working from home with your children will help to keep your sanity and remind you of how fortunate you really are to be given this opportunity.

Some days will certainly be tougher than others, but in time, you’ll fall into a routine that works for you and your little ones. Before you know it, working from home with a baby or toddler (or both!) won’t seem so impossible after all.

Are you looking for an affordable office space away from home? Look to Business E Suites for a monthly membership that allows you the opportunity to work in a professional environment so you can be more productive.

Image via Pexels

Article by: Janice Russell