Business Travel Set to Take Flight This Year

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We all know recent years have not exactly been stellar for the business community, especially many smaller companies who have had to fight tooth and nail to keep their heads above water.

That being said, a recent report from the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) indicates that spending for business travel, a portion of which is done through the airlines, is forecast to increase over the next 12 months.

According to the latest Business Travel Quarterly Outlook, spending on business travel is forecast to exceed $263 billion in 2012, a jump of 4.6 percent from a year ago. According to a GBTA spokesman, businesses nationwide have hit the reset button from where it was pre-recession. Essentially, businesses are back to the 2007 level when it comes to spending money for traveling.

Travel Expenses, Amount of Trips Prove Impactful

In breaking down the report a little closer, the bulk of the increase is forecast to be derived from growing travel expenses as opposed to an uptick in the number of trips undertaken. Even though the number of trips business travelers participated in last year was up 2.1 percent over the prior year, it is predicted they will post a small drop of 0.8 percent in 2012.

The big factor to remember is that business travelers are at or near the front of the bus when it comes to driving the U.S. economy. If business travel is substantially up, then it is rather safe to say that the health of the nation’s economy is doing pretty good overall.

According to research last fall from Deloitte LLP from 1,000 business travelers, more than 80 percent of them indicated they expected to take the same amount or even more business trips in 2012 as they did in 2011. In breaking down the numbers more closely, 16 percent of respondents ages 45 and older are planning additional trips in 2012, while 27 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 44 planned on traveling for work.

While it is not set in stone, it is genuinely a factor that as businesses start to witness signs of economic growth, they will feel better include to resume sending employees back out on the road.

Meantime, international outbound business travel is forecast to remain doing better than domestic trips.

Over recent quarters, international business travel has done better than domestic given the fact the cost of travel is higher and there has been a steady increase in the number of trips.

While there remains uncertainty about the economies at home and abroad, one thing is for sure. No business will dare give up the competitive advantage of in-person meetings, given the fact that all sales will become even more important.

So, is your business planning on increasing travel, keeping it at much the same level as of 2011, or decreasing such expenditures over the next 12 months?

Photo credit: latierraprometida.net

Dave Thomas, who covers among other items small business loans, writes extensively for Business.com, an online resource destination for businesses of all sizes to research, find, and compare the products and services they need to run their businesses.

How to Set Up Your First (Or Your Next) Office

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A Guest Post by
Rosemary O’Neill

Remember when you moved into your first apartment and you realized that toilet paper didn’t magically appear anymore? That’s what it’s like when you set up your first physical office as an entrepreneur.

If you’re ready to move from your kitchen table to some real corporate space, here are some basic tips that will smooth the transition.

Consider creative space sharing – there are incubators, shared spaces, and professional suites that come pre-furnished and ready to go. For a fee, some will include a receptionist or admin support. Regus.com is one company that provides meeting rooms and pre-configured offices around the world. You don’t necessarily have to start from scratch.
Bring-your-own computer policy – you may not have to make a capital outlay for computer equipment these days. Many employees prefer using their own laptop, and it facilitates occasionally working from home. Additional considerations include:
- Look at providing larger screens or keyboards as peripherals at the office; laptops are not great for ergonomics in extended use.
- Establish a written policy of how you will handle data storage and transfer, especially when an employee leaves the company.
- Consider what sort of upgrade or maintenance you will offer for employees who bring their own device.
You might not need an expensive phone system - similar to the computer scenario above, many companies are allowing employees to use their own smartphones for business calls, with a virtual phone system. Services like Google Voice and Grasshopper allow you to have a business telephone number that’s portable across devices.
Costco (or Sam’s Club) is your friend – paper clips, coffee filters, beverages, paper, pens, snacks, all these things can be bought in bulk. They will even deliver.
Legal signage – once you have employees, you need to ensure that you’ve posted the required Federal and State signage (which varies according to location and type of business). This will include safety information, workers comp, and minimum wage requirements (see examples here: http://www.laborlawcenter.com/c-3-state-only-labor-law-posters.aspx?gclid=CPbt_Pa3160CFcuP7Qod2i4jlA)
Decor – if you’ll be receiving clients at your new location, be sure to set up a welcoming entry with a couple of chairs and a small table for coffee. This can be overlooked as you focus on your employee work environment, and you want to create a nice first impression for visitors. This is also a good place to display a little personality!

Moving from the virtual office to a “bricks and mortar” office space can be challenging, but it’s also fun. Roll up your sleeves, keep the pointers above in mind, and create a space that inspires you and your team.

_____

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work for on the Internet . Check out their blog. You can find her on Twitter as @rhogroupee
_____

Thank you, Rosemary!

You’re irresistible!

ME “Liz” Strauss

Make Your Own Opportunities

Filed Under Business Life, Marketing, Successful Blog | Leave a Comment

A Guest Post by
Rosemary O’Neill

The only way to know for certain that you won’t win the Publisher’s Clearinghouse is to
not enter the sweepstakes.

The same principle applies to just about every opportunity out there. The successful
entrepreneurs, A-list bloggers, and business leaders all made it because of two things:
?rst, they had radar for opportunities, and second, they seized them.

Think about it. What might have passed you by in the last week or so because you
thought it was too dif?cult, you didn’t have time, you didn’t have the skills, or you just
plain thought “I’ll never make it.” Instead, you should be opportunistic in a good way.

Here are some tips:

Recognize your little voice – when it starts telling you why you can’t grasp that chance, don’t listen. Tell it to take a break while you submit that guest post inquiry.
Train yourself to see opportunities – you need ?nely tuned opportunity radar. Notice the call for speaker submissions and recognize it as a chance for you to shine.
Remember that if you don’t ask, you don’t get – the only reason I am blogging here right now is because I summoned up the guts to ask. Take a deep breath and do it.
Don’t get discouraged – the other differentiator for successful people is that they use every rejection as a springboard to the next opportunity. They move on quickly to the next one until they are successful.
Always have “lines in the ocean” – you can add so much excitement to your life if you have several things out there, waiting for a response. Will you get accepted to that course? Will your panel proposal be accepted for the conference? Will your photograph win the contest? How much fun to go through life waiting for exciting news!

How about an assignment this week? Go right now and ?nd an opportunity, then just go for it without fear. Tell them Rosemary and Liz sent you.
_____

Thank you, Rosemary!

You’re irresistible!

ME “Liz” Strauss

Company Meetings Cutting in on Productivity?

Filed Under Business Life | 1 Comment

Company meetings serve a wide array of purposes. That being said, can too many meetings be a bad thing?

Having worked at several companies now over a 23-year period, I have seen a variety of approaches to this subject.

Some companies have had a normal approach to in-house meetings, some have had too few meetings, while others have gone overboard and seem to be meeting on an almost hourly basis, whether through onsite meetings or teleconferencing.

I’ve always tended to believe that falling somewhere in the middle of the above-mentioned descriptions is best.

On the one hand, it is important for your team to know what one another are doing; without occasional meetings that is hard to achieve. On the other hand, meeting too often always leads me to wonder how any work is getting done. Too many meetings can lead to micromanaging and a feeling among employees that their every move is being scripted and watched.

If you’re not sure how often your company employees should be meeting to talk strategy, keep these things in mind:

What are you trying to accomplish with the meetings in the first place? – Are they held to share strategies, ideas, ask questions of where projects are going? If the answer is yes to any of those things, then by all means meet. If the answer is no to one or more of those things, then you need to rethink why you’re getting staff together;
Where does real productivity rank in your company? – While meetings can certainly be productive, they also pull employees away from the tasks they were hired to do in the first place. If you’re team is having to get together on a daily basis to meet even for half an hour, think about the loss of actual productivity time that half hour means to you and your business. I once worked for a company that required its writing team to meet on a daily basis. In lots of the meetings, we repeated what we said the previous day as far as updating our status on projects. In the meantime, I and some others sat there and thought about the wasted time going by when we could have been producing another article, conducting interviews, reaching out to new clients on the phone etc.;
Are we getting the same message over and over again? – Another risk factor with having too many meetings is that you will turn off some of your brighter employees. Going over the same message over and over again begins to lead to some tuning out both the message and the messenger. Let’s be honest, some company folks like to hear themselves talk. While that may be great for them, those listening are sitting there thinking about all the real work they could be getting done while listening to something they heard just a week ago. Constructive meetings are one thing, sitting there listening to lectures over and over again are another;
Are we stifling openness among employees? – If you’re having too many meetings, you may not even know it. In most offices, employees are not going to raise their hands when polled to respond yes if the company is meeting too often. For most employees, such a move in their minds would rock the boat, painting them as an uncaring employee. In reality, a good office culture is one where openness and the ability to speak one’s mind should be promoted. Without the ability to speak one’s mind in a professional and courteous manner, you are fostering a dictatorship at work, where one and only one voice is heard. Be bold and ask your entire team if they feel the company meets too often. If the answer is yes, take the time to think about how less meeting time can translate into more production time.

At the end of the day, each company and its management must decide what is in its best interests.

In my 20+ years of employment nationwide, I have yet to see the perfect meeting environment.

In the meantime, I’m going to meet with myself and see if I can come up with some solutions for this issue.

Photo credit: Markdenham.com

Dave Thomas, who covers topics such as starting a small business, writes extensively for Business.com, an online resource destination for businesses of all sizes to research, find, and compare the products and services they need to run their businesses.

Ideas & Infographics: So You Thought Your Mobile Habits Were Harmless?

Filed Under Business Life, Successful Blog | Leave a Comment

by Mihaela Lica

Getting Smart about Smart Devices

These days, if you are not heavily heeled with smart devices and wired into the social web, your business is probably suffering. This is no big secret. However, the habits and devices you use may have adverse affects on you that are seldom publicized. Does your neck ache? Ever get blurry vision? Read on.

Have you ever thought about just how your body is positioned while using your iPad or other smart device. Probably not, that is unless your eyeballs get so red from bad positioning your friends think you have a hangover. The infographic below reflects on how smartphone or device use can mimic the improper wearing of eyeglasses.

[Click the image to see the isolated infograph and again to see it full size.]

[Created by Mezzmer Eyeglasses]

The advances in mobile technologies and the ever increasing adaptation of them by us poses not only huge benefits, but sometimes very bad consequences. Smart devices, like any tool designed to accelerate or enhance our abilities, should be used properly.

If you are a habitual smartphone or pad user, maybe you should consider refining your habits? Or, maybe a pain in the neck is your cup of tea?

—-

Author’s Bio:

Mihaela “Mig” Lica founded Pamil Visions in 2005 where she uses her hard won journalistic, SEO and public relations skills toward helping small companies navigate the digital realm with influence and success.

You can find Mig on Twitter as @PamilVisions

Thanks, Mig! Thank you also to Mezzmer.com!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
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A Guest Post by
Rosemary O’Neill

A Guest Post by
Rosemary O’Neill