First-Time Manager Tips for Entrepreneurs

First-Time Manager Tips for EntrepreneursFirst-Time Manager Tips for EntrepreneursFirst-Time Manager Tips for Entrepreneurs ChildersBack in 1989, Rebecca Congleton Boenigk and her mom, Jaye, launched Neutral Posture, a family geschftlicher umgang featuring a line of ergonomic chairs designed by Boenigks father, Dr. Jerome Congleton.Fast forward to today. The company now boasts 80 employees and recently expanded into the systems furniture business. Yet Boenigk still remembers her companys early days when she was learning how to manage a staff while also working to grow her business.In retrospect, I think the transition from entrepreneur to first-time manager would have been easier if I had tapped into a seasoned mentor, says Boenigk. She started the business from her familys garage in Texas and hired her first three employees a year later.Like many entrepreneurs, I thought I needed to do everything by myself, but over the years, Ive met many business owners who are willing to help fir st- time managers.Having a mentor is one way that first-time managers can learn how to grow and adopt managerial habits, says Melinda Emerson, the SmallBizLady on Twitter, and author of the bestselling book, Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months.Managing a staff can prove to be a challenge for many small business owners, says Emerson. It takes time for entrepreneurs to develop their own management style.If youre a small business owner looking to hone your staff management skills, here are some lessons to help you build a strong company, while also keeping your employees motivatedSet a Good Example. Its hard to demand professionalism from your staff if you dont model that same behavior.As a business owner, you set the tone for your small business and your employees will always look to you for advice, or how to handle situations, Emerson says. Do you pay vendors chronically late? Do you go off when a customer complains? Do you come in late every day? Do you openly favor certain employees? Everyone is watching you and they will treat your business just like you do or worse.Inspire and Motivate Staff. Good managers make koranvers they give their employees what they need to feel valued.Your employees are the most valuable business asset in your business, so youd better be good to them or your business will suffer, Emerson says.At Neutral Posture, Boenigk says her employees enjoy profit-sharing, flexible schedules, excellent benefits and extra perks such as a rewards program for employees who go above and beyond.Be a Great Communicator and Listener. Emerson says poor management communication is one of the biggest challenges she sees with first-time managers.Rather than hiding in your office, its important to engage your staff in brainstorming sessions, Emerson says. You need to have regular staff meetings to make sure everyone is kept in the loop and held accountable. Dont demand updates from everyone without offering the status of your own projects. It will help keep the lines of communication open with your team.Succeed as a Team. Take the time to understand the challenges and needs of your employees. Boenigk believes in creating a culture of innovation by soliciting regular feedback from staff members on areas where the company can make improvements.More formal strategic planning sessions are held on a regular basis to address strategies for things like increasing sales and product development.Learn to Delegate. As a small business owner it can be tempting to want to oversee all aspects of your business, but as your company grows thats usually not realistic.When Boenigk and her mother first started to hire managers, they looked for smart people who had skills that complemented their own, and were passionate about their work.In addition to delegating the right tasks to the right people, small business owners must take time to onboard new managers, Emerson says. Dont just throw them in the deep end and hope for the best invest in their employee training so that you can make sure that your customers and employees are being taken care of just like you would handle any situation.

Here are 22 of the best day-to-day, time-saving tips to use now

Here are 22 of the best day-to-day, time-saving tips to use nowHere are 22 of the best day-to-day, time-saving tips to use nowIve been testing and adjusting various productivity techniques for the past five years, read lots of books (most of them repeating) and heres some of my findingsIts leid about time. Its about energyWe try to squeeze as many hours in one work day, to be productive, but in the end everything depends less on time, and more on your focus, motivation and overall well-being (all of them linked directly with energy levels).Looking for an inspiring way to start your day? Sign up forMorning MotivationIts our friendly Facebook ? that will send you a quick notenzeichen every weekday morning to help you start strong. Sign up here by clicking Get StartedIve recently talked about my productivity techniques obsessions in an internal presentation at Grapefruit, and the resulting presentation is on SlideshareProductivity pornSome of the key findingsDecide whats importantbecaus e in five years, 80% of what you do today will not turn into anything. Its just busywork, no useful outcome.Sleep, food and exercisecan help you triple your outcome, because they increase focus, motivation and energy levels.The 2-minute rule if you can do something (like replying to an email, or a house chore) in two minutes, do it now. Planning it for later, remembering it, doing it in the future will take 5 minutes or more.The 5-minute rule the biggest cure against procrastination is to set your goal not to finish a scary big hairy task, but to just work five minutes on it. Youll find out that most times it continues well beyond the five minutes, as you enter a flow state.Seinfelds productivity chain if you want to be good at something, do it every day. Including on Christmas, Easter and Judgement Day. No exceptions.Tiny habits(Tiny Habits w/ Dr. BJ Fogg), highly linked with the five-minute rule, helps you create good habits quickly. It works, I tested it.Your memory sucks. Get ev erything out of your head, even if youre a genius. Write it down in a notebook, put it in your todo-list app, on your phone, talk to Siri, I dont care.As few tools as possible. Ive tested most of the todo managers and finally stayed withCultured Codes Things app and Google Calendar (iCal is ok, but Google Calendar integrates well with Gmail, my default client). It doesnt matter what you use (pen paper are fine) if you understand the next rule.Routine beats tools. You need discipline, and this means for me two things I plan my day first thing in the morning, and I write a short daily log every day. This helps me stay sane, prioritize well, scrap useless tasks, and do what matters. This saves me hours.Pomodoros.Thats timeboxing- for 30 minutes do only the task at hand. Nothing else no phones, email, talking to people, Facebook, running out of the building in case of fire. Nothing else.Always wear your headphones. You dont have to listen to music, but it will discourage people to appr oach you.Email scheduling and inbox zero. Dont read your email first thing in the day, dont read it in the evening (it ruined many evenings for me), and try to do it only 3 times a day at 11am, 2pm and 5pm. And your email inbox is not a todo list. Clear it every message should be an actionable task (link it from the todo app), a reference document (send to Evernote or archive), or should be deleted now.Same thing for phone calls.Dont be always available. I always keep my phone on silent, and return calls in batches.Batch small tasks.Like mail, phones, Facebook etc.MI3. Most important three tasks (or the alternative one must three should five could). Start with the most important first thing in the morning.Willpower is limited. Dont think that willpower will help you when you get in trouble. Make important decisions in the morning and automate everything possible (delegate, batch etc.). US presidents dont have to choose their menu or suit color everyday- otherwise their willpower w ill be depleted at that late hour when they should push (or not push) the red button).The most powerful thing. Always ask yourself what is the most powerful thing you can do right now. Then apply rule 4.Ship often. Dont polish it too much- as they say in the startup world, if youre not ashamed of your product, youve launched too latePressure can do wonders. Use rewards or social commitment. Weve recently done this with the newGrapefruitwebsite. The previous one took two and a half years to launch. The new one took two and a half days and we did it over one hackathon weekend (+Monday).Scheduled procrastination.Your brain needs some rest, and sometimes that new episode fromArrowcan do wonders that the smartest TED talk wont.Delete. Say No. Ignore. Dont commit to schedules.I love the last one, its from Marc Andreessen, because it allows him to meet whomever he wants on the spot. A lot of people will hate you for this, but youll have time to do relevant stuff. Do you think youll regret that in 20 years, or doing something for someone you dont really care about, just to be superficially appreciated.Fake incompetence. Its a diplomatic way to apply the previous rule.Thats it for now. My procrastination break is over, Im going back to work.This article first appeared on Quora.com.

Learn About Being Small Animal Veterinarian

Learn About Being Small Animal VeterinarianLearn About Being Small Animal VeterinarianMore than 68% of American households owned a pet in 2017, according to a report from the National Pet Owners Survey. Thats roughly 85 million families with a small pet - a figure that is expected to grow. With that growth, theres bound to be more demand for veterinarians. Small animal veterinarians are practitioners who specialize in the health management of dogs, cats, birds, exotics and other companion animals. Heres a look at whats you need to become a vet and the overall industry. Duties Small animal veterinarians are licensed animal health professionals who are qualified to diagnose and treat a variety of companion species. Small animal practitioners commonly treat dogs and cats as well as other small mammals, birds, and reptiles kept as pets. A small animal vet can work in a variety of environments, but will generally have routine interactions with patients and their owners by appointment in the clinics exam room.? The typical routine for a small animal vet includes performing wellness exams, giving routine vaccinations, drawing blood, prescribing medications, evaluating and suturing wounds, performing surgeries (such as spay/neuter procedures), performing post-surgical follow-up exams, and cleaning teeth. Other duties may include performing health exams on young animals, monitoring the reproductive health of breeding animals, assisting with problem births, using ultrasound machines and taking x-rays. It is common for veterinarians to work both day and evening hours, and they are often on call for potential emergencies that might arise on weekends and holidays. Some veterinary offices, especially small animal clinics, are open on Saturday for a half or full day, though most are closed on Sunday. A few small animal practitioners offer mobile veterinary clinic services, traveling to visit their patients in a specially modified van equipped with the necessary medical g ear. Career Options According to statistics from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), more than 66% of vets worked in private practice and catered exclusively to companion animals in 2017. While some vets choose to work exclusively on small, companion animals, others may operate mixed practices that also provide equine or other large animal veterinary services. Outside of private practice, vets also find work as college professors or educators, pharmaceutical sales representatives, military personnel, government inspectors, and researchers. Education and Training All small animal veterinarians graduate with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree, which is the culmination of a rigorous course of study involving both small and large animal species. According to the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC), there are 30 accredited colleges of veterinary medicine in the United States that offer a DVM degree to their graduates. Upon graduat ion, vets must also successfully complete the North American Veterinary Licensing Exam (NAVLE) to become professionally licensed. Approximately 3,000 veterinarians graduate, pass the NAVLE exam and enter the veterinary field each year. At the end of 2017, the most recent AVMA employment survey available, there were 110,531 practicing U.S. veterinarians. About 9% operated in small animal predominant practices. Professional Associations The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) is one of the most prominent veterinary organizations, representing over 91,000 practitioners. Another large veterinary organization is the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA), which is comprised of 105 member associations representing 200,000 small animal vets worldwide. Salary The median wage for veterinarians is approximately $90,420 according to the April 2018 BLS salary survey statistics.Earnings in the survey varied from under $53,980 for the lowest 10% of all veterinarians to more than $159,320 for the top 10% of all veterinarians. According to the AVMA, the average starting salary for a new veterinarian varied based on the type of practice. Small animal exclusive vets started out with the highest average salary of $71,462 in the first year. Alarge animal exclusive vet started at $68,933, while the starting salary for a mixed-practice vet (who practices both large- and small-animal medicine) welches $62,327.Equine vets started at the lowest first-year salary, with just $38,468. Veterinarians who are board certified in a particular specialty area (ophthalmology, oncology, surgery, etc) generally earn significantly higher salaries as a result of their advanced education and experience. As of 2017, AVMA data indicated there were 416 board certified canine and feline diplomates and 707 board certified small animal surgeons (nearly double the number of board-certified small animal surgeons since 2010). Some vets may hold both certifications. The total numb er of active board-certified diplomates as of the end of 2017 was 13,035. Job Outlook According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the veterinary profession will expand at a faster rate than the average for all professions surveyed, about 20% over the decade from 2016 to 2026.The limited number of graduates from vet programs will translate to excellent job prospects in the field. According to a 2017 report from the AVMA, 4,477 new veterinarians entered the profession at the end of 2016 after successfully passing the licensing exam. The AVMAs most recent employment survey (December 2017) found that there were 71,393? vets in private practice. Of that number, there were 47,545 vets in companion animal exclusive practicesand an additional 6,368 in companion animal predominant practices. With the steadily increasing numbers of animals kept as pets, as well as the steady increase in medical spending on those pets, the veterinary profession should continue to be a rewarding business over the next decade and beyond.