The Talkroute Blog

Managing a remote team is tough. It’s even tougher if you’re used to everybody working in the office where you can manage by walking around, pop by people’s desks for informal checkups, and keep your finger on the pulse of your team. But when the whole staff has gone into work-from-home mode, you miss out on that valuable water cooler effect. In a remote setting, business owners carry two burdens — their own work and their team’s performance. It can be overwhelming trying to figure out how to navigate the remote working environment when you are taking on both responsibilities in a new setting. If some of your team members have never worked from home before, they may not know how to stay focused, manage their time, or communicate with others. That’s why you have to be intentional when managing a remote team. You’ll need to make sure your employees …

  Tax season can be a stressful time for business owners.. and even more so if you don’t have any help to pull all of your information together. Probably the most important point is to make sure you have all your ‘ducks in a row’ as early in the year as possible. There are many things you should keep in mind this year, as the pandemic has posed many challenges for some. Things such as PPP loans that were offered or certain loses you incurred, all are specifics to give thought to. No business owner is obviously particularly thrilled about tax season. It’s just an unfortunate part of the job that has to get done one way or another, hopefully with the help of an accountant, if you can afford one. We find it can be helpful to have a light list of points to remember during tax season. So …

  When we speak about the term customer acquisition, we need to understand the importance of multiple kinds of approaches that get us new customers who will buy our products & remain loyal to our brand. Attracting new customers to a small business is always a challenging task. If you don’t plan a proper strategy, there’s a high possibility that it will eat up a lot of your capital. But with implementations of the best customer acquisition techniques, we can significantly increase our CA rate while we rank high among other competitors.   Here are the best customer acquisition methods to gain new customers and remain present in the market:   1. Define Your Target Audience If you have selected the right niche, your main goal is to attract the exact type of audience that will resonate with your brand. This can be done in multiple ways, but one of …

Working remotely has become a necessity for business owners around the world. Lockdowns have shuttered the doors to millions of businesses, forcing many to adopt teleworking policies. While telecommuting offers many advantages, from flexible scheduling to increased productivity, it also comes with many challenges. Maintaining communication & work relations becomes more of a chore outside of the office. You may even notice a loss of work culture. As the pandemic continues to impact the way we live and work, every business owner should take the time to review their telecommuting policies. Use the following guide to address the challenges of working remotely and reap the benefits!   Set a Work Schedule   The most important rule for working from home is to set a work schedule. Without a schedule, it becomes much easier to put off work for an hour or two in the morning or at any point during …

  So you’ve launched a company of one? You can truly call yourself a freelancer, a solopreneur, or an entrepreneur. Whatever label you choose, you are now a small business owner who is running the business solo. While there’s no big bad boss hanging over you anymore, neither is there anyone to whom you can turn for advice, help, or even just a different perspective. In your lap alone sit sales, marketing, customer service, financial management, product delivery, and research and development. Maybe you can empathize with President Harry Truman who famously put a sign on his desk in the Oval Office that read: The buck stops here. His sign served as a reminder that the president’s job is to make decisions and accept the consequences of those decisions. As a small business owner, that’s your job, too, which is enough to scare many would-be entrepreneurs back into the corporate …

  Obviously, I think we all can agree that 2020 was a bizarre, difficult & uncertain year in countless ways. The pandemic has changed the way we live, how we think and especially how we work. As challenging as it may be to maintain motivation during these times.. It’s important we move forward and choose to focus on positivity. Entrepreneurs and small business owners CAN progress with the right mindset even while navigating difficulties. So how can you ensure that 2021 is a year of success and growth for your business? Here are 15 ways to position your company for business growth in 2021:     1. Reinvent the Wheel (then do it again) Conventional wisdom says “Don’t reinvent the wheel.” It’s a good thing that Michelin, Goodyear, Bridgestone, and every other tire company in the world didn’t listen to conventional wisdom. The wheel needed reinventing so we could run …