Avid Partners
3 Tips for Reacting to a Crisis
Whether it’s a snow storm or a power outage, disruptions to your company’s service can be devastating. Responding effectively can often be the difference between an interruption and a disaster. Next time you are faced with a crisis, try these three things: Figure out what happened. Too many leaders leap into action without assessing the situation .. read more
Mar
Let Your Employees Succeed by Letting Them Fail
Good management is somewhere between controlling and ignoring; your job as a manager is to figure out the right balance. When you see an employee making a mistake, you may want to intervene. But, people don’t learn by being told how to do something right. Stop yourself from interfering. Let your employee make the mistake .. read more
Mar
4 Things Your Employees Want from You
Figuring out what your people want can feel like an intricate puzzle, especially when different employees require different things. Here are four things most employees need to be successful: Role clarity: Tell your employees what their roles are, what you want them to achieve, and what the rules are for getting there. Autonomy: People want something interesting .. read more
Mar
Involve Frontline Employees in Creating Strategy
Even brilliant strategies fail if they aren’t executed well by frontline employees. Still, many leaders struggle to help their front line understand and buy into new ways of doing things. Next time you change your company’s direction, don’t relegate strategy creation to a handful of executives. Involve as many of your employees as possible, especially .. read more
Mar
Win the Sale by Winning Your Customer’s Heart
Customers are far more likely to purchase a product or service if they feel valued by the person selling it. Underappreciated customers will look elsewhere to make their purchase. Reach out to your customers and make sure they know how important they are to you. Give them the opportunity to meet as many of your .. read more
Mar
How to Handle Customer Complaints
All organizations depend on customer feedback to make their businesses better and increase customer satisfaction. Yet, customer complaints take up an inordinate amount of time and money, and the complainer doesn’t often get what he wants. Here are three tips for expediting the complaint process and keeping customers happy: Understand the full context - Try .. read more
3 Tips for Making a High-Stakes Decision
Even the most decisive manager can face despair when dealing with a high-stakes matter. Next time you’re up against a career-making decision, trying doing these three things: Trust, and challenge, your gut – In some cases, your first instinct may be right, but it’s probably not based on rational thought. It’s important to question .. read more
Mar
Put Yourself in Your Customers’ Shoes
If your company is looking to innovate, don’t waste time analyzing market research reports and delving into customer data. What customers say they will do is not necessarily what they end up doing. Instead, put yourself in your customers’ shoes. Observe them using products and watch for frustrations they may not even notice. Don’t delegate .. read more
Mar
Stop the Whining on Your Team
We’re all grown-ups here, right? Then why do teams still whine? It’s part of the human condition to complain, but it doesn’t have to derail your group. When people on your team get frustrated and need a sympathetic ear, do the following: Insist on accountability – Don’t allow people to present a problem without .. read more
Mar
Get Your Colleague’s Attention
To capture any audience’s attention, you must frame your message properly. Whether you’re making a presentation, composing an email, or talking with your boss, here’s how to convey your idea: Start with what you want – Busy colleagues don’t want to wait for the punch line. Provide the most important information up front. Explain the .. read more
Mar
3 Survival Lessons from Small Businesses
We hear daily reports of small businesses going bankrupt. But for every small business that goes belly up, there are dozens more that are thriving. Here are three lessons from them on how you can operate your business to survive even the deepest of downturns: Agility. Small businesses have a great advantage in a fast-changing world: .. read more
Mar
Removing Business Costs – Seven Deadly Sins to Avoid
Cost removal is just another form of change. Yet we see companies in every sector making the same mistakes time and again. So here are seven deadly sins of cost removal that it will pay you to avoid. Cutting costs across the board A flat rate budget cut typically does more damage to the high-value, .. read more
Feb
The Key to Business Survival in Tough Times
At Avid Partners Accountants & Business Advisers we know that times are tough and they are likely to remain challenging for many businesses. It’s always been the case that only when things are difficult does genuine quality rise to the surface. The prospect for the next few years is one in which the economy will .. read more
Feb
Clelands Supermarket
“I have hired Avid Partners Accountants & Business Advisers twice over the last 7 years. I currently use Avid Partners Accountants & Business Advisers for my own business. I am astounded by the quality of service and level of knowledge Jamie and his staff provide for me and my business. I have used many accountancy .. read more
Feb
Benchmarking and KPI’s
Benchmarking and Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) are both essential components of a performance management framework. Such a framework includes: determining what constitutes success determining how success can be measured planning activities to achieve success performing activities and measuring performance comparing performance against the success criteria establishing learning points and improving the process. Establish KPI’s which .. read more
The Jobs Plan 2012
Government Announces Plans for 200,000 Jobs THE Government Action Plan for Jobs includes two deadlines to create 100,000 jobs by 2016 and another 100,000 by 2020. All of the 15 Government departments and 36 State agencies involved will be subject to quarterly reviews to identify failings or problems and work to quickly resolve them. Main .. read more
Growing the Business – Do you have what it takes?
“A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts” Richard Branson – British Virgin Group Founder To succeed in business today, you need to be flexible and have good planning and organizational skills. Many people start a business thinking that they’ll turn on their computers .. read more
Tips for a Killer Marketing Campaign
TIPS FOR A KILLER MARKETING CAMPAIGN These are a just a few tips we have put together in assisting business owners and managers achieve success in a marketing campaign: Learn from the mistakes and successes of your competitors – Watch what your competitors are doing and learn from it. They may be advertising everywhere but .. read more
Feb
Outsourcing – Value for your Company
Outsourcing – Value for your Company More and more companies are choosing to outsource some or all of their key compliance and administrative activities. These include accounting; payroll; tax; and IT but also other functions such as human resources; research and development; and marketing. Of course there is nothing new in this, but it seems .. read more
Feb
Personal Insolvency Reform – 2012
In 2010 the Law Reform Commission launched its Report on Personal Debt Management and Debt enforcement, putting forward a large number of recommendations for consideration in relation to Insolvency and Bankruptcy reform. On 25th January 2012, Mr. Alan Shatter, Minister for Justice, Equality & Defence, delivered an outline of the proposed Personal Insolvency Bill to .. read more
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