Important Things to Know if You Want to Launch a Startup

Whether you work as a bartender and blog in the evening or you’re a teacher and you do pet photography on weekends, you already know just how cool having a passion project is. But what to do when you decide to put even more effort into your passion project and make a profitable business out of it? Listed below are five things you need to do if you want your side gig to become a huge brand everyone’s heard of. Love what you do The first and one of the most important things you need to do when turning your passion project into a profitable business is to make sure that you love what you do. Balancing your job and your part-time project isn’t easy and things get unbearable if you eat, breathe and sleep the project. Moreover, the last thing you want to do is quit your 9-to-5 job one day only to realize your project isn’t something you can do for the rest of your life. Only if you love what you do fearlessly can you expect to succeed. Learn how to barter Turning a side-project into a business isn’t easy and it’s definitely not inexpensive. If you can’t afford to spend a lot on building your business, you can try to come up with ways to barter with other local businesses . If there’s a company in Melbourne that could use your service and has something to offer you back, why not use it to your advantage? Also, try to avoid paying for stuff such as models for your website. Ask your friends and family members to do it instead. The more you manage to do on the cheap, the more you’ll be able to invest in your core operations. Build a strong brand In today’s business world, you can’t succeed without a powerful brand. Whether we’re talking about large corporations or passion projects turned into businesses, developing a brand is a must. It’s a medium you can use to show people what makes your business stand out and help them remember you. Of course, building a memorable brand is a lot easier said than done. Your safest bet is to work with local professionals who can design it for you. Luckily, finding a good branding agency in Melbourne you can turn to should be easy. Test the waters Just because you love something, it doesn’t mean it’s what people are looking for. This is why it’s a good idea to test the waters before you put any serious money into your passion project. For example, if you’ve always dreamed of planning events, don’t start a planning event business just yet. Do some one-off projects on weekends and see if it can work out. If people start calling you and asking for your service, it’s a sign that turning your project into a business can work out well. Don’t mix business and personal Just because it’s your passion project, it doesn’t mean the money your new business makes belongs with your own money. Keeping everything in the same bank account may sound tempting but it makes it more difficult to keep track of how well your company is doing. Not to mention that once you start paying taxes, you’ll struggle to get the job done. With that in mind, it makes sense to open a separate bank account for your passion project and keep all the money it makes there. Over to you Taking your passion project and making a business out if it is a great idea. You get to do what you truly love and make money by doing so. Do everything we mentioned in this post and you’ll be on the right track to build a business that’ll stick around long-term.

Everyone has those days in a month when a lot of work gets done, but the feeling of productiveness just isn’t there. It might be that you finish a lot of small tasks, but the large, important ones stay untouched, and that makes you dissatisfied. Your focus may not be aimed at your work, and you lose a sense of what you’ve accomplished so far, or what you’re trying to accomplish. That’s why you may feel disoriented, and lose track of your tasks. There are a few things that can help you stay focused, motivated, and productive in your workspace. Keep reading if you want to learn how to do more things in a day and be satisfied with that. Sort things out in your head It’s difficult to start working on something if you have a bunch of things wreaking chaos in your head. You can’t decide where to start, and it takes a lot of time to organize all of your thoughts with all the new ones adding up to the list. The traditional approach is the best one for this problem; write things down. Make a to-do list in your notebook, or use post-it notes. You can also write everything down on a whiteboard , and start from the most important and urgent tasks. Plan your whole day, add new tasks when you get them, tick them off when you complete them, and see for yourself how productive you’re being that day. Organize your space If the desk you’re working at is unorganized and messy, you probably won’t get much work done. It’s difficult to navigate through a mountain of papers and documents, and it takes a lot of time to find the things you need. Get rid of all of the unnecessary files that just take the space you need to do your work, and organize the rest by their importance. Use storage boxes or containers , as they will help you group your office items. When you get done with a document, immediately put it away into its designated place to keep the place clean and organized. Don’t forget to clean everything up before going home, as you don’t want to start your next day buried in papers. Make yourself comfortable You have to make sure that your workspace suits your body and personality. Adjust the computer screen to avoid any pain in your neck, back or potential headaches. Lighting also plays a big role in how productive you’ll be. Your office has to be well-lit, with as much natural light as possible. Try changing your ordinary lightbulbs for LED bulbs , which can set a better atmosphere, and help protect your eyes. If you need more light than your office allows for, then you can get a desk lamp and secure yourself as much light as needed. Also, pay attention to the room temperature, as that might impact your mood and productivity. Take frequent breaks Constant sitting at the desk for a long period of time might not be as productive as you think. You have to make a lot of decisions during your day, and that certainly wears you down. That’s why taking a five-minute break every hour will replenish your energy and reduce the negative effects of the constant sitting. Shorter, but more often, breaks refresh your mind, boost your productivity and creativity, and help you stay focused on the task when you get back to your seat. The important thing you have to note down is that you have to eliminate all distractions when taking a break, so you could allow your brain to really get some rest. Set a time limit It’s much easier to complete a task when you have a time limit. If you set the maximum time you want to spend on a certain task, you’ll get it done faster than usual, and you’ll have more time for something else. Consider the importance and difficulty of the task when setting the time limit, as some tasks need more of your attention than others. If it takes more than an hour, then split it into two parts, as you need your five-minute break to get refreshed. Everyone has their own modus operandi, their own personalities, and there isn’t a universal formula for a productive workspace. However, these tips will surely motivate you to think about what changes you can implement in your daily work habits that will help you be more productive.

Employees who work the standard 40-hour week spend a large portion of their time in the office. The problem is, most jobs require all their effort and strength. You may not be able to decrease the workload of your staff members, but what you can do is create a positive environment for them to work in. Get the design right and your employees will show up for work happy and ready to get more work done. It’s a win-win situation for both you and your employees. Listed below are a few upgrades you can bring to your workspace to boost your employee productivity. Get office plants Including some leafy friends in your workspace is a cost-effective way to brighten up everyone’s workday and ensure they perform at their best. Office plants are known to help employees stay healthy, reducing the number of sick days. The biggest reason is that greenery keeps the air in the office clean and reduces the stress that so many employees suffer from. Moreover, studies have shown that adding just a few potted plants in the office helps employees engage better in their surroundings and focus on their work. Last but not least, plants absorb background noise, especially if your office has hard surfaces like concrete walls and floors. Design a break room Taking regular breaks is a big part of staying productive. However, you can’t expect your employees to benefit from taking breaks if they spend them scrolling through their social media feeds or checking sports scores on the web. Getting out of their office chair and socializing is the best way for them to recharge their batteries. If you want to encourage spending time with co-workers during breaks, designing a break room is something you just can’t go wrong with. Bring in some comfy furniture, a video game console or even a ping pong table and you can be ensured everyone will have fun during breaks and get back to work ready to put in as much effort as possible. Help everyone stay hydrated Another important thing your employees have to do while at the office is stay hydrated. Busy workloads often cause people to forget about hydration and it’s your job to make sure that doesn’t happen to your employees. And we’re not talking about drinking sugary drinks, which so many people love these days. A few glasses of water and a cup of coffee are guaranteed to help your employees get energized for work and finish working without feeling tired. To encourage hydration, think about getting a water cooler for every level in your office and find the right spots to make them more accessible. Getting a few coffee makers for your office can help everyone improve their short-term memory and problem-solving. Let in natural light Sun deprivation can lead to depression and disturbed sleep, which only makes your employees less productive. With most modern jobs requiring employees to spend their entire workday in the office, there’s nothing you can do about it, except letting in more natural light in the office. To begin, consider where your light is coming from and arrange desks in the office to receive as much of it as possible. If there’s enough space, you can also think about installing a few extra windows on your walls. Just make sure that sunlight doesn’t create overwhelming glare and cast shadows on workstations. When it comes to artificial lighting, sticking to LED bulbs is recommended. Invest quality headphones Making sure there’s a pair of headphones for every workstation in your office is a great idea. Not everyone enjoys working with music but some employees come up with their work-friendly playlists and prefer listening to them while working. Investing in quality headphones allows your employees to decide what works for them the best. If you decide to go for noise-cancelling headphones, you can be assured your employees will be able to get in the zone no matter what’s going on around them. Having headphones on is also a clear sign that you’re working, meaning that employees who need to focus on their work will get interrupted less often. Over to you Make any of these five upgrades in your office and you’ll boost both company productivity and morale. An uptick in production will help everyone in your team set up for success and allow your company to grow.