Tips

Laying the foundation of a business is the most crucial stage of a business, whether in Sugar Land, TX, or elsewhere. With digitization in business and the growing popularity of home businesses, people are slowly venturing into these spaces for success. However, it becomes more complicated when you must relocate for business or personal reasons.

Have a working plan that will not interrupt your business schedule and goals. It takes adequate preparation and understanding of your business proposal to thrive in different locations, and Business E Suites shows you how to get started.

Finding a Good Place for Your Business

When choosing your business location in Sugar Land, Texas, you need to consider these factors:

• Type of business
• Target audience
• Workplace environment
• Business requirements
• Business and location culture
• Financial budget

Entrepreneurs need to consider what will make their business tick. Digitizing businesses is why most business owners are leaning towards home and remote businesses, but there are many options, including community workspaces. In fact, Business Suites offers a variety of options, from communal to private move-in-ready office spaces if you are looking for a consistent, but inexpensive, office option outside of your home. Whichever workplace you choose, ensure it suits your business strategy. If correctly used, securing a home location for your business can save you time and money.

Buying a Home When Moving

Shifting necessitates business changes. Most home businesses will require a calm setup and location within the house. Some people convert sections of their houses, such as garages, to create space for their business. The first step when moving is to choose a house that will fit your personal and business needs. Look for a home that gives you versatility and functionality. Then, consider which requirements you’ll need for the location setup before moving your business.

Ensure you make proper financial and moving arrangements. Terminate any current leases that you may be holding for your home. You can sell or lease the house, which will help you fund the move and purchase of the new home. Understand the various financing options, such as mortgages or loans. These options will help you work around a financial budget that doesn’t drain you. Survey the new location to exhaust your options. However, ensure you engage a housing expert to get the best deal.

You may find during this process that renting is a better fit for you at this time. Perhaps you need to build up your credit, or the stress of entrepreneurship and homeownership is just too much to balance at one time. No matter the reason, renting a home is a viable option if it meets your personal and professional needs. Spacious four-bedroom homes in Sugar Land go for between $2,000 and $2,500 per month, which would give you plenty of room to grow your business. You can also get a sense of the neighborhood and the amount of space you’ll need, which can be helpful information going into the home-buying process when you’re ready.

Launching a Home-Based Business

Setting up and launching a home-based business can be very doable if you have a detailed business plan. First, you need to write down your business plan. The business proposal is an excellent place to start if you want to have an elaborate strategy.

If you’re having trouble getting everything in order related to your business, don’t hesitate to reach out to professionals. For example, you can work with a formation service instead of completing your new business paperwork to make the process a lot more manageable. Formation services file the proper paperwork with the state, freeing up your time for other important tasks.

Next, itemize your requirements and how you expect to build a strategy for production. Get down to the finer details, like how you will brand, market, and sell your products. Also, include how you would like to structure your business. Look into which items you’ll need in your home office. Look into the type of staff and roles you would like to have. Finally, create a business culture that will set the mood and emphasize the business structure.

Getting the Right Software

Once you have your business plan in place, consider the finances you’ll need. Factor in every process and requirement as you draft an estimated budget. This way, you can easily prepare to launch your business once you are in your new place. Look for accounting software that will allow you to easily keep track of your invoices and expenses. You should also consider investing in a good CMS program, too, in order to keep track of your growing client base.

There are plenty of inexpensive and free marketing programs available, too. Social media platforms are free and easy to use, and other design programs can pair nicely with them for quick, easy, and professional-looking posts. You can use an online banner maker to create a beautiful banner that you can use across your digital marketing sites. Simply choose from the numerous templates, change the text, and update the font and colors to your branded ones, and you’re ready to post!

Final Thoughts

Don’t be in a rush for your move. Let the plans and your needs align before committing to it. And if you need to rent during this important moment in your entrepreneurial journey, then do it. If you find that you need more office space or that working from home simply isn’t a good fit for you, look into a communal or private pre-furnished office at Business Suites. It’s your journey. Do what fits your needs, and you won’t regret it.

Photo Credit: Shridhar Gupta via Unsplash

What exactly gives a person satisfaction at work? And what can make a person not only satisfied with work, but look forward to work each day? While there is no magic formula for making employees enjoy work, there are a few things that increase happiness in the workplace. People tend to stay at jobs where they feel comfortable, and you can consider these seven tips for making employees feel more at ease at work.

1. Gain a Relationship

There tends to be a stigma when it comes to power status within the workplace. Often, employees don’t have a great relationship with their boss. Sometimes when someone above you holds higher power, it can be easy to avoid them out of fear. Talking with a boss can be uncomfortable and forced if there isn’t a positive relationship established first. It’s possible and helpful to have friendly work relationships with employees and still establish your place of power.

2. Encourage Open Communication

Employees get easily frustrated when they feel their concerns and opinions don’t matter. Create a safe space where employees can voice things they think could be improved in the workplace. Also, if an employee talks to a manager confidentially about some issue, make sure the conversation remains private. There is no need to pit employees against each other by announcing when one employee has an issue with another. Instead, try to resolve conflicts without insinuating that anyone reported an issue.

3. Allow Casual Dress on Certain Days

One of the main advantages of working from home is that one can dress casually. While office dress is likely expected at your place of business, you can offer casual days open in a new tab. Every once in a while is something to look forward to. Consider letting your employees wear khakis and a polo at the end of the week, instead of a suit every single day. Little gestures like this can boost morale more than you know.

4. Make it Feel More Like Home

Your office doesn’t have to look like the main goal is strictly business. Employees likely spend more time at work than they do at home, so you should make the office feel as comfortable as possible within reason. For example, offer a break room with a few extra amenities. Make the lunch area feel more like an actual kitchen by making a few simple upgrades, like adding glass pantry doors. This is a great option for adding a touch of familiarity to the office, with the option of engraving your company’s logo or name into the glass. When you make the environment homier, workers will not have to dread coming to a cold, sterile environment.

5. Offer Some Privacy

While there is certainly a time and place for team bonding activities, there is also a need for privacy at times. Employees will likely not feel comfortable at work if they feel the look over their shoulders of a manager. While monitoring job performance is necessary, employees need to feel trusted. Giving employees private cubicles opens in a new tab to get work done can make them more efficient, because they will feel less pressure to impress the people watching them.

Although it’s a helpful suggestion, employees don’t need their cubicles to be productive. If that isn’t your style for running a company, use your own office as a place to monitor your employees from a distance. You can do this while your team works and operates in an open office layout. You should check up on things a few times throughout the day, but it’s best to show your employees that you trust them by letting them do their work on their own.

6. Host Team-Building Activities

During work hours, coworkers likely don’t have much time to talk and find out a lot about each other. Hosting team-building exercises regularly can be a good way to let everyone get to know each other better, with no pressure from work in the way. Try to think of fun group activities that promote bonding. This includes bowling, pottery painting, or even an escape room. Employees may find out they have more in common with each other than they thought, and this can create a better teamwork.

7. Allow Anonymous Suggestions for Improvement

Some employees may never be confrontational people. However, these employees may still have great ideas about how the company can be improved. Instead of putting employees on the spot and making them feel they must attach their name to any suggestions, consider allowing anonymous ones. For example, you can offer an end-of-the-year survey annually. In this questionnaire, you can ask workers to report things they do and do not like about their jobs. When you don’t make someone put their name on this type of survey, you will likely get a more honest and open report. This also helps to take pressure off your employees, because they won’t feel nervous or at risk of losing their job by anonymously stating how they feel.

8. Reward Good Work

If you want someone to feel comfortable with his or her job, make sure you don’t leave them guessing about work performance. When you see someone doing a good job, tell him or her that you appreciate his or her dedication and attention to detail. Offer incentives throughout the year to employees who demonstrate a strong work ethic. When workers feel appreciated, they are more likely to feel satisfied at work. A simple “good job” can go a long way in making workers feel comfortable at their job.

If you are willing to take it a step further, offer incentives for hard work. A simple way to do this is to choose an employee of the month and let them pick out a gift card from their favorite restaurant. This will show your employees that their work doesn’t go unnoticed, and will motivate them to keep putting their best effort into what they do.

Most employees want their workers to be as happy as possible with their jobs. In many cases, coworkers become like a family to each other. Promoting an environment of honesty and open communication is essential in making employees feel comfortable in their positions. Don’t be afraid to ask them what could change to make their workplace a little better.

Companies provide technology to their employees, but it depends on the business activity, of course, the performed work, and the benefit that comes from using technology.

Here are 9 ways to take advantage of technology in your workplace:

Take care of your equipment

For many employees, the computer or laptop is their main work tool, so it’s important to try to make the best use of it.

Optimize your email

Many email providers have options to automatically archive the email you receive and save time searching for important emails by applying custom settings.

Fewer apps, better performance

Having multiple applications running at the same time on your computers can be the cause of slow performance. Focus on one activity at a time.

Throw out the garbage

Do you have documents, images, etc, that no longer serve? Make a folder with these files and compress it. You will save space in your computer’s memory, and it will work faster!

Ask Systems or IT

If you have doubts about installing a program or your equipment is failing, the Systems Manager is the right person to turn to. Remember, the computer is not yours, and even if you think you are a “computer expert”, an office computer is not always the same as a home computer. Ask first.

Protect mobile devices

Mobile devices are expensive, and some require specific care, such as avoiding sun exposure or immersing them in water. Prevent the company from charging you and protect them.

Restrict personal use

If you have free access to the internet in the office, you need to self-regulate on its use for personal matters, especially if it slows down your activities or distracts you too much.

Save yourself the negative comments

A negative message about your boss on social networks can reach him if you don’t know the terms of use of the platform. On the most popular social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, it’s possible to restrict your information and keep it private; do it and avoid problems, or better, don’t comment on work on social networks.

Protect confidentiality

Within companies, many employees have access to confidential or proprietary information, and companies often communicate to employees the rules that exist for sharing facts, figures, and other information. Much of it is found in our computer equipment, protect it! Regarding social networks, refrain from publishing confidential information; once again… social networks are not private, and an indiscreet act on the network cause problems.

For some, the home office is already a thing of the past, and for others, it’s still half a reality. The hybrid model is the new company strategy for employees to resume their place in the office only 1, 2, or 3 days a week.

Does it work to keep companies productive?

The definition of “hybrid” refers to a being or object made up of two or more elements of the same nature.

When we refer to work, the hybrid model is a combination of remote and face-to-face work that can be presented in different modalities.

These 4 tips will help you adapt to the hybrid work model:

Prioritize asynchronous communication

Asynchronous communication doesn’t occur in real-time. That is, participants are not connected in the same space of time.

This implies that, although communication with other members of your team isn’t instantaneous or immediate, remote meetings and conversations are better used, focused, and objective.

Make sure your messages are always clear and direct.

Plan time in the office

When combining face-to-face with remote work, it’s recommended that the activities of the greatest importance and require continuous interaction can be discussed and planned during face-to-face sessions.

Also, don’t forget to bring an agenda or to-do list, both at home and work, so you can plan your time and finish your pending tasks on time and without pressure.

Increase your digital skills

Take courses, ask your friends, or family experts, and research new tools to speed up your performance with the help of digital intelligence.

The important thing is to find new ways that make your work in the hybrid model stay organized and easier to carry.

Adapt your workspaces to both parts

The safety of your workspaces is a priority, so you must ensure and preserve the hygiene, distance, comfort, and happiness protocols you have been maintaining at home.

Don’t be alarmed! It can be a bit difficult at first, but just as we were able to adapt to working from home every day of the week for an emergency, we will also know how to handle the situation in the hybrid model.

Having the best office gadgets at your disposal transforms your personal space into a luxe working environment.
Working is rarely more enjoyable than free time, but the best office gadgets can make it significantly less of a drag.
They’re usually the kind of thing you don’t give much of a thought about when you’re in the office proper, but once you’re home and attempting to create your work area, you begin to notice their absence. The big items — a desk, a chair, a laptop — are obvious, but they’re just the starting point.

1.reMarkable 2 digital Tablet

Despite the digitization of everything, there are sometimes it’s easier (and more satisfying) to simply jot something down in a notebook. The problem is when you must convert those analog notes into digital form, thus negating whatever efficiency advantage you gained in the first place. Enter the reMarkable, a tablet and stylus that mimics the feel of writing on paper with remarkable accuracy.

2. Stream Deck Mini

The typical knowledge worker has certain sites, documents, and apps they must access frequently enough to make them bookmarkable — or even just constantly open in a browser tab.
The Stream Deck Mini is an elegant, satisfying, and fun replacement for those methods. Originally designed for streamers who need to access many kinds of tools without breaking the flow of their show, the Stream Deck is a collection of hotkeys that does whatever you need it to do. Rather than hunt through folders for that client’s information or simply always leave Photoshop open, poke one of the Stream Deck’s chunky buttons to get what you need.

3. JCREN wireless charging mouse pad

Leaving your phone plugged in all day is a sure way to avoid the constant war with a draining battery, but it’s also very inconvenient. A charging pad is a more user-friendly option, but it’s tough to give precious desk or office space over to something that only serves one function, and only some of the time. Enter the phone charging mouse pad, which justifies its footprint by serving two ongoing needs. If your phone needs a boost, just drop it next to your mouse while you work.

4. CyberPower CP1000AVRLCD battery backup

A sudden power outage can destroy hours of work with one swift zap and depending on the nature of the outage, it can fry your equipment, too. You likely already have your electrical devices plugged into a surge protector of some sort (and if you don’t, you should) but taking that one step further with a backup battery gives you the protection you need to save everything before shutting down.

5. Fujitsu Happy Hacking Keyboard Classic

This entry could easily go either in productivity or comfort because a good keyboard provides both. Your computer came with a keyboard, of course, but a mechanical or semi-mechanical keyboard provides options you may not have realized exist. With customizable key mapping that works with either PC or Macs, keyboards like the Fujitsu HHKB ease pressure on key joints, placing high-usage keys and shortcuts within immediate reach.

The best office gadgets help define your workspace as being for work, while the rest of your home is for non-work. Maybe that’ll get you to stop checking your email at 10 pm (don’t do that, anymore please!).

Project management software is a force multiplier. You can organize your time and resource management, create reports about business and employee performance, and get a better idea of what’s working and what isn’t. Project management software can also make team collaboration easier and more seamless than ever before.

These three options can streamline your business workflow:

1.Monday

Is a flexible platform to manage all your team’s projects, processes, and workflows in one place. While the platform is intuitive and visually stunning, it’s robust enough for large organizations to manage all their work across departments.

• Easy, visual & intuitive dashboard
• Fully customizable—make it your own
• Get started in 5 simple steps
• Fits any size business
• Free 14-day trial

2. Smartsheet

Is the enterprise platform for dynamic work. A leading cloud-based platform for work management; Smartsheet empowers organizations and teams to dynamically plan, execute, and report on work at scale, resulting in more efficient processes, innovative solutions, and better business outcomes.

• End-to-end platform with myriad planning and tracking tools
• Choose between grid, card, Gantt, and calendar views
• Easy drag-and-drop dashboard
• Real-time status views and live data charts
• 30-day free trial

3. Asana

Is a project management software designed to help keep your business on track. The software makes it easy to break down projects into tasks, and then assign those tasks to individual team members. Asana offers lists, Kanban boards, and Gantt charts, which together, give employees and managers both a macro and micro view of the work that needs to be done.

• Multiple ways to view projects and tasks
• Integrates with 100+ business software platforms
• Orchestrates work across teams via projects
• Automates manual tasks and repeatable processes
• Powerful free plan

These programs shouldn’t take long for employees to master, and should have a straightforward, intuitive interface for carrying out tasks and communicating with teammates.

Some aspects must be developed or learned to make the business trajectory turn out as planned.

Whoever runs a company must be able to inspire and persuade the people around them and communicate their passion and vision. Being an effective communicator isn’t just about how eloquent you are, although that’s important; it’s also about how well you connect with people and the relationships you’re able to form.

Being a people person doesn’t come naturally to many entrepreneurs, and attracting the right people can’t be easy either. Fortunately, “being good to people” is a skill that you can learn (and is necessary) if you want to be successful.

Here are some of the interpersonal skills you probably need to improve:

Effective listening

Maybe our ideas, goals, visions, and enthusiasm are the topics we talk about all the time without having listened in the same proportion.
Listening to customers or associates in charge of customer service can indicate what works. From that, it’s possible to modify strategies and systems.
Poor listeners focus on the response they plan to give, rather than what the other person is expressing. Being a good listener is striving to fully understand a message instead of reacting immediately. They are not interrupting the speaker or doing other things while someone is speaking. Rather, they focus their attention on what the other person is saying.
This type of listening requires patience and time, but in turn, is a satisfying practice.

Relationship building

When we put ourselves in the shoes of another person and let them see that we understand them, it marks the beginning of a good relationship. This aspect of negotiation is staying “on the same side” as the other person.
A good relationship with collaborators and suppliers translates into an understanding of strengths, weaknesses, and needs, since everyone is working towards a common goal and in search of the same results.
The beginning is listening well. Then it’s advisable to enter the world of the other person subtly. As a result, you’ll feel comfortable seeing the similarity between the two of you, and you will develop trust.

Assume the best

Studies have shown that if you have low expectations of someone, they will perform poorly. On the contrary, if expectations are high, performance will be better.
If we assume the best of our collaborators, they’ll be motivated to give their best. By assuming the sincerity of those around us, we can be useful if they need our support for any reason; It’s a way of offering respect and being respected.

These skills can be applied to everyone around us: family, partners, clients, and work teams.

If we practice these skills in all areas of life, everyone around us will be eager to support us on the road to success.

Most remote workers choose to work while listening to music, as it’s proven to help focus and create a pleasant sensation in the brain. We suggest three of each options:

1. Music to activate the week!

On Mondays, it’s hard to get up, no matter how much coffee you drink. For this reason, music becomes an essential companion on those days when it is necessary to lift your spirits or even lacks a little help to wake up:

• Can´t stop the feeling! Justin Timberlake
• Sugar – Maroon 5
• Heart Attack – Demi Lovato

2. Music to get inspired and be more creative

One of the main concerns of remote workers is being creative enough in their specialties, be it writing, designing, or programming. Therefore, they need music that keeps them entertained and at the same time serves as an inspiration to be more efficient and successful:

• Coming over – James Hersey
• Love is all I got – Feed Me
• Beaches – Gone in the sun

3. Music to be more productive

Although it depends on each personality, in general, remote workers are more productive and creative with music that is functional, upbeat, and fun, but not too loud:

• Happy – Pharrell Williams
• Here comes the sun – Abbey Road
• You can´t hurry love – Phil Collins

4. Music that will make you dance

Few activities are as relaxing and happy as dancing. So why not combine it with working from home? Pure Latin American rhythm to help you keep moving!

• Vivir mi vida – Marc Anthony
• Suavemente – Elvis Crespo
• Hips don’t lie – Shakira

5. Music to work and enjoy your day

Music is not only a companion to have in the background. Music is more enjoyable when it’s felt, when it’s enjoyed, and even when it’s understood. Of course, all while the remote worker gets inspired by instrumental jazz:

• I fall to pieces
• Heartbreak hotel
• Please release me

6. Music to sing to while working

Although instrumental music is usually very relaxing and ideal for concentration, many times, and depending on the mood, those songs that bring out the deepest part of our heart are needed. Those that are sung loudly! To work and sing at the same time:

• Humanos a Marte – Chayanne
• Caraluna – Bacilos
• Corazón partío – Alejandro Sanz

7. Music for maximum concentration

There are times or certain types of work that require the strictest concentration, because an error could cause everything achieved so far, to be lost. This is very calming music, by artists from all over the world and mostly instrumental songs, so as not to lose sight of any detail of your work:

• Next – Emily Rubye
• At last, sunrise – Maree Docia
• Borrowed Peace – Peter Sandberg

8. Music for ‘rocking’ remote workers

Rock is the perfect injection of energy to start remote workdays and add extra points to your productivity:

• Highway to hell – AC/DC
• Sex on fire – Kings of Leon
• Whole lotta love – Led Zeppelin

9. Music for all moods

You can have a bad day, and that affects the work we do. Other times, you want to be alone and focused on your task with music that gives you a little bit of everything: rhythm, artists from all over the world, slow songs, and other more cheerful ones, for those situations in which work calls for it. These options condense all those factors:

• Amici – Sean Oban
• Once upon a time – Fredrik Lundberg
• River running free – Miriam Raye

Enjoy!

The increase in remote work has made millions of people around the world adopt this modality to carry out their work and maintain productivity. However, the emotional and mental effects of a home office can cause stress, anxiety, and depression, which have also been on the rise.

Here are 11 ways to reduce anxiety when remote work is taking a toll on us physically and mentally:

• Monitor your sleeping hours. Establish fixed times for sleeping and waking up, resting between seven and nine hours.
• Do not use your bed for anything other than to rest. It is recommended not to work, watch television, eat, or read in your sleeping space.
• Sunlight. Go out and get exposure, “sunbathe” or mentally clear yourself outside for at least 20 minutes a day. It also synchronizes our biological rhythms.
• Avoid using screens or stimulating activities one hour before bedtime.
• Establish fixed times for eating and physical activity.
• Set fixed hours for work and family life. It includes placing limits on the interaction of messages on social networks (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp).
• Have your own space to rest and clear your mind alone.
• Have a stipulated space to work and use it only for that. If possible, the work area should be organized in a similar way to your office.
• Use an ergonomic chair or comfortable office chair when sitting for long periods.
• Complete work and take rest cycles during the working day. They can start with cycles of 20 minutes of work and three to five minutes of rest and extend them to average periods of 50 minutes of work and 10 minutes of rest.
• Don’t avoid doing jobs that are “lazy” or uncomfortable. This can help you avoid procrastination or leaving everything to the very end.

Gradually and with discipline, your anxiety will begin to decrease, and will become a much more tolerable inconvenience.

Work routines have changed significantly, if not radically, over the past 2 years. That happened with numerous companies in all fields and places, and there was no other option but to adapt.

From this new way of working, we can highlight 6 advantages:

1. Talent loyalty.

Remote work has become a benefit that company collaborators appreciate. Their working conditions allow them to maintain both their employment and their attention to personal detail, which is fundamental. This benefit generates a sense of belonging and strengthens ties with the company they work for.

2. Staff training.

The advantages of virtuality have been put to the test and demonstrated with the maximum use of collaborators’ optimization of time, offering them tools for the best performance for their activities. This is learning without the obligation to move to a specific place, something comfortable and convenient.

3. Opening of job opportunities.

Companies can have “elements” located hundreds or thousands of kilometers away on their teams with this new way of working. On the part of collaborators, it is easier to have a profile that “fits” in the position offered in a distant place, but that represents professional growth.

4. Optimization of resources.

The demands in many businesses have changed, and getting the most out of resources by optimizing time and space is a factor that fosters and promotes productivity. Try it!

5. Flexibility and harmony.

The new schemes avoid time-wasting and encourage the search or approach of results. With remote work, collaborators feel somewhat autonomous and more productive. This small-big change promotes a balance between work and personal life that translates into better well-being.

6. Care for the economy.

Operating costs for companies (in many cases) have been reduced and have generated more convenient options. The impact on your finances is less when working from places designed for it.

Business E Suites allows you to enhance remote work. In addition, it offers what is necessary for the operation of your company with the new trends and facilities.