Category: Thrifty Business Tips

Are you an avid camper and outdoors enthusiast that is tired of the corporate world?

In 2017, there is more opportunity than ever in the camping industry, especially in luxury camping, also known as “glamping”.The market for a camping company has vastly shifted towards younger generations, who love the idea of closeness to nature without sacrificing comfort or luxury.

There are many different companies emerging in this industry to serve the demand. To make matters more interesting, the U.S. is actually behind other countries in the availability of these opportunities for glampers.

So, what are you waiting for?

The benefits are enormous once this business is off the ground. You are the boss of your own company, and you get to meet people from all over the world.

Read on to learn how you can invest your love of camping into a profitable company.

The Market of the Camping Industry

In planning to enter the camping industry, it is important to research the existing market.

This step will depend on what your niche is, such as an app, product, or campground.

Regardless, the market is on the up, and it does not appear to be going anywhere.

The existing camping companies in the U.S. and other countries do usually have one commonality: they cater to a specific group.

This could be in the form of a church camp, flyfishing camp, fitness camp, wellness camp, or any other number of demands you can identify in the target market.

The statistics support the fact that this is a growing industry full of opportunity, with a 147 million dollar increase predicted for 2018.

No matter which niche your camping company decides on, follow the market trends as you form your business plan.

Different Types of Camping Companys

As mentioned, there are many different types of camping and outdoors companies that are emerging.

One key change in the industry with the influx of technology is the appearance of web-based platforms designed as middle-men for camping experiences, such as Campsited.

The market for apps of this nature is fairly saturated, but that does not mean that there isn’t the opportunity to come out with another platform that offers a different approach.

For example, Fluid Market is one app that has been wildly popular because it is part of the new sharing economy model.

As well, these apps can be utilized by your camping company to reach your target audience.

Additionally, some business models in the camping industry have thrived by doing camping differently.

Instead of traditional log cabins and primitive tent campsites, you could try renting out custom camping vans, yurts, teepees or other unique abodes.

Best yet, let’s not forget about the potential of a quality camping product. Outdoor enthusiasts love to purchase functional items to use during their adventures, from apparel to coolers to outdoor blankets.

Think big or thing small, the camping industry can suit it all.

How to Create a Camping Company Business Plan

So, you read about the basic market for camping as well as some business ideas. Now, you want to know how to start a business plan.

The next four steps include how to begin the plan, as well as making the business profitable.

1. Discover the Goal of the Business

This step may cause an existential crisis because it does require you to look within yourself and ask: “Who am I?”

Not to worry, because this question can be answered by what you like in the camping world.

If you regularly camp, and you are looking for an off-the-grid business, then a campground may be for you.

However, if you prefer the city life with the occasional adventure, considering other options involving technology or a product.

No matter what, this is obviously a crucial first step in the business planning process.

2. Decide on a Demographic

Once you determine the goal of the business, the next step is to decide who your target demographic will be.

This will be reflective of the type of interests and life situation you have. Examples of target demographics could include families, couples, international travelers, or fitness gurus.

You can further refine the target by catering to specific interests. A luxury campground could be eco-friendly, with local, organic foods or a spiritual one that is dedicated to those looking to be in touch with a higher power.

Regardless, it is better to try and be specific with your demographic, as this will make it easier to market and cater to them.

3.Take into Account Your Resources

In the beginning stages of planning, it is important to think about your current life situation and resources.

This includes how much money you may have to invest in the company, or the availability of land.

If you have a family member that owns a large bit of land that they are not using, now is the time to reach out to them about your idea.

This also applies to any outdoors-related idea. It can be difficult to know how to start a business without the means or knowledge of how to do so.

Therefore, explored your networks, as well as supplementing with internet research.

Location is everything in the event that you decide to invest in a campground, it cannot be overstated enough.

The best and most profitable campgrounds are often in an amazing area with an existing tourism industry.

4. Get the Business off the Ground

At first, as with any business, it can be a struggle to get started. There is a lot that goes into a camping business, and you should expect to dedicate time and money to this endeavor.

Remember that it’s the little things that can help your business stand out in a crowd. Cultivate a campground that people would know is different, somehow or someway.

Moreover, marketing is the best way to grow your business, especially online. Branch out and explore different advertisement options, and don’t forget the importance of SEO.

Follow Your Dreams

The truth is, most of us dream of escaping the monotony of the work world. Many people are unhappy with their careers, and yearn to follow their passions.

Better yet, no matter if your business is a camping company or something else, entrepreneurship is truly the only way to be your own boss.

So, if you are passionate about the outdoors, don’t let life hold you back. Explore your dreams, and be the master of your own destiny.

Check out our blog post on tips for hiking with kids if you love the outdoors, but aren’t quite ready to take the plunge into owning a business today.

As a mom, you’re always on the lookout for a way to work from home, grow your home-based business, or plotting your triumphant return to the workforce.

However, no matter what your next step is, you need to make sure to familiarize yourself with common practices in the workplace.

Doing this will help you know what to expect when you head into that interview. It will also ensure that, if you’re running your own business, you’re not missing out on anything important.

One of the most crucial things you should do as an employer and expect as an employee?

Pre-employment screenings are more commonly known as background checks. However, today’s screenings are a little more complicated — and thorough — than those of the past.

Read on to learn what pre-employment screening is, why you need it, and how to prepare for it.

What is Pre-Employment Screening?

Before we discuss just a few of the many benefits of pre-employment screening, let’s first make sure you’re clear on exactly what it is.

In a nutshell, it’s designed to help you to ensure that everything a potential employee has claimed on their application, resume, and even in their interview, is truthful.

Additionally, pre-employment screening may also help you to uncover things that candidates intentionally withheld from you — things like criminal records.

You might even uncover moral issues, inappropriate posts, or beliefs that are inconsistent with your company’s values.

This screening helps you to feel confident in your hiring decisions and means that you won’t be faced with any unpleasant surprises down the road.

Common types of screening include:

• Employment/Education Verification
• Contacting References
• DMV Record Checks
• Sex Offender Registry Checks
• Drug Testing
• Criminal Background Checks
• Skill Assessments

Now that you’re clear on what the process entails, let’s take a look at some of the main benefits it offers to employers.

1. You’ll Lower Your Employee Turnover Rate

A recent study found that 78% of businesses are especially concerned with the current high employee turnover rate.

They certainly have good reason to be.

After all, the average cost-per-hire is over $4,000.

In addition to the financial side of things, you’ll also lose valuable work time when you have to interview and train countless employees.

While you can’t always prevent employees from leaving, you can ensure you’re hiring ones who want to stay — and ones who you won’t have to let go.

Pre-employment screening also helps you to lower your average cost-per-hire. You can be certain that you’ve hired an employee that has the proper training, great productivity levels, and one that won’t cause an imbalance in your office environment.

2. It’s Often A Regulatory Requirement

Especially if you work in the financial, education, or home improvement industries, you’ll likely have strict regulatory requirements in place when it comes to screening potential employees.

If you disregard this rule, you risk heavy fines, potential loss of licenses, and most of all, a serious loss of trust when it comes to your relationship with your clients.

But even if conducting a pre-employment screening is a regulatory requirement in your industry, it’s still a wonderful idea. After all, it’s a great selling point when it comes to securing future clients.

It proves to your customers that you’ve done your due diligence throughout the hiring process. It also shows that you’re serious about keeping your clients — and their personal information — safe.

3. You’ll Keep Your Employees Safe

You do a lot to keep your home safe. But what about your workplace?

As a boss, you also have a responsibility when it comes to keeping your employees safe.

Especially with all the recent news regarding sexual harassment in the workforce, it’s up to you to make sure you’re not putting your employees at risk by hiring a sex offender, someone with a criminal record, or someone who was fired from their last job for inappropriate (and even illegal) behavior.

You also need to conduct drug and alcohol testing to ensure your workplace isn’t safe, but also free from temptations that won’t just ruin your office, but could potentially ruin lives.

Companies like Rapid Detect INC sell quick and easy saliva test strips that can offer you results in as little as two minutes. This means you can even test potential employees before they leave their interview.

4. You’ll Uncover Lies

Today’s workforce is an incredibly competitive place, with 118 applicants competing for a single position.

This means that, unfortunately, lying on a resume or even in an interview has become a far more common practice than it was in the past.

Luckily, pre-employment screening makes it easy to figure out who really has the goods, and who is making it all up out of thin air. Today, you can get in contact with universities and access attendance records online.

You can also contact previous bosses to confirm employment records. If an employee is unwilling to provide you with these references or records of employment, then it’s likely that they’re lying about them.

What Else Do You Need to Know?

If you’re a mom who is thinking about getting back into the workforce, or if you’re looking to hire employees for your own business, it’s time to seriously think about the importance of pre-employment screening.

If you’re in the process of filling out applications for yourself, you can be certain that potential employees will screen you. Google yourself, take a look at your current and past social media profiles and see what comes up.

If there’s anything remotely unsavory, it’s time to take it out.

Looking to learn more about today’s workforce? Looking for more tips and tricks on how you can save and earn money while you wait to get that dream job?

We’ve got you covered.

Spend some time on our website and blog to learn everything you need to know about scoring awesome deals, finding a side hustle, and much more.

It takes less than 10 seconds for people to form an opinion of you. Can you afford to make a less-than-stellar impression in the place where you need it most – at work?

As a mother, working from home is probably your ideal situation. But if you count yourself among the almost 74 million moms that work outside the home, you know how important personal presentation is.

Here’s the big question – can you keep up with your kids and still stay stylish? Once you read our guide to office attire, your answer will be YES!

Suit Up

If there’s one thing every woman needs in her closet, it’s one great suit. The ensemble – a blazer and either suit pants or a skirt – seems easy enough, but there are ways to do it wrong.

First, splurge a little and make sure it’s good quality. You’ll pay a high price now but high-quality outfits last a long time.

Second, make sure it fits perfectly. You don’t want pants that are too long or a blazer that bunches in weird places. Getting it tailored makes a big difference.

The Perfect Ratio

You most likely will work for a place that has a “business casual” office attire policy. This allows you a bit more flexibility in your look.

With more formal offices, you will be stuck with stuffy button-downs and blouses. With business casual, you have more options.

Having more options, though, might make you feel overwhelmed. Don’t fret – there’s a formula for keeping your wardrobe in check.

Have a small set number of neutral bottoms and double that number for your tops. So if you have five pants and skirts, you’ll need 10 tops.

That way you can easily mix and match and create multiple outfit possibilities.

Sounds expensive? It doesn’t have to be. Keep this 6PM promo code handy and start building an amazing work wardrobe.

Office Attire Accessories

If you’re stuck in a conservative office, you can let your personality shine through accessories! Here’s a chance to get creative and add some sparkle to the workplace.

Have a certain passion or hobby? Consider a charm necklace with little symbols of what you love dangling off of it. Think how amazing a pair of bright pink heels would look peeking out from the hem of a charcoal suit.

While simple dangling earrings bring a bit of bling to your look, leave the giant hoop earrings for the weekend.

Bonus Tips

Don’t forget one of the working woman’s best friends – a fantastic attache or work bag. It should be neutral to go with all of your outfits and large enough to fit your work essentials.

As a busy mom who also brings home the bacon, it’s easy to forget to take care of yourself. Your skin will show your exhaustion – take a few minutes to lavish it with some simple TLC.

Love perfume? Not everyone does. You sometimes spend more time with coworkers than you do with family. Don’t overwhelm them with a super strong scent.

Do you have a surefire strategy for showing your best side at the office? We want to hear it! Leave a reply and start a conversation!

Are you looking to become a freelance medical writer?

Breaking into the medical niche is a bit challenging, but not impossible. It requires some level of experience and expertise, but also hard work and discipline.

The medical field is a broad one, so you’ll need to decide on a niche first. For example, you can write about new medical discoveries, studies, health care or cover medical news. Another option is to specialize as a dental writer and write for a specific set of clients.

Besides the experience, you should also have excellent grammar and language skills.

Keep reading to discover how you can become a medical writer and find your first client.

Get Some Experience

To become a freelance medical writer, you need to gain some experience in the field.

For example, if you’ve worked in the medical field or went to medical school, you’re already familiar with the industry terminology.

Next, find successful medical writers. Study their articles to see how they write and where they’re published.

Do not copy another writer’s style. To be in demand, you have to develop your own style and be unique.

Write Guest Posts

As a beginner freelance medical writer, you need a portfolio to display your writing to potential clients.

You can do this by writing a few samples and publishing them on your own website. Another way is to write guest posts for medical journals, publications or blogs.

This is a great way to gain exposure and have your article read by a lot of people.

Pitch Clients

After you’ve published a few guest posts, it’s time to find your first paid client.

You can do this by signing up for freelancing platforms or contacting the clients directly.

For example, if you’re a dental writer, go online and search for dental offices in your area or state.

Let’s say you land on the website verdepointedentalassociates.com. Find their contact form and send them a message. State your expertise and offer them your writing services. If you don’t get a reply within a few days, feel free to follow up.

Start a Blog

Any writer needs to improve their writing on a daily basis. The best way to do so is to start your own blog.

You can write medical articles, opinions, news, reviews or client-directed pieces. The content you publish must be of great quality if you want to gain a big audience and land good clients.

Remember to optimize your content for the search engines and use quality images.

Learn Every Day

No matter what medical niche you chose, you should strive to learn new things every day.

Find ways to improve your writing. Read as much as you can, and if necessary, take a few writing courses.

The industry is changing every day and if you want to have a steady flow of clients, you need to stay on top of the trends.

Now You Know How to Become a Freelance Medical Writer

You can earn a decent living as a professional medical writer if you follow our tips.

Need more inspiration for starting a new career? Visit our blog for more business tips and useful articles.

Who wants to live the rest of their life making someone else rich? The only way out of this conundrum is to go into business for yourself.

And what better way to do so than by starting a home cleaning business? If you have experience as a housekeeper, maid or are really great at cleaning your own home, then this could be for you.

What’s great about this industry is that it’s very lucrative. After all, people will always need their homes cleaned and most lack the time to do it themselves. Plus, landlords require your services when tenants move out.

So there’s definitely a market for it.

Back in 2010, there were over 824,000 cleaning workers. The 50 largest cleaning companies made up about 30% of the revenue. Yet only 7% of cleaning workers were self-employed. So that means less competition for you in the small business sector.

Now, let’s review what you have to do to jump-start your home cleaning business.

Do Your Own Assessment of the Industry

There are many factors that play a part in determining whether starting a cleaning business is a good idea. For instance, the area you live in and your own skill set.

What makes this an attractive option is the low overhead required to start a home cleaning business. All that matters is that you and your employees work hard to maintain a happy customer base.

You’ll need to be in good physical condition, which means having the ability to stand, kneel, reach and bend repetitively. However, if you’re not fit, this doesn’t exclude you from being a business owner.

In this case, you can open up shop and then supervise employees who can handle the cleaning tasks.

What Office Skills Do You Have?

The more office skills you have, the fewer employees you’ll need to hire. For instance, you’ll need to know how to answer phones, schedule appointments, file paperwork and do your bookkeeping.

Then when tax season comes around, you’ll have to file accordingly. It’s also important to be very detailed, so you know exactly what your customers need to provide satisfactory cleaning.

Write Up a Business Plan for Your Home Cleaning Business

Once you’ve assessed the industry and your ability to run a cleaning business, it’s time to start planning. And the best way to do this is with a business plan.

This is mainly for your own use unless you need a loan to get equipment and vehicles to operate your company.

In your plan, go over details about the type of cleaning services you’ll offer, what demographics and locations you’ll target and whether you’ll have a niche. For instance, you can offer a “green” cleaning service for eco-friendly customers.

Next, go over your pricing plans – will you charge by the hour or per sq ft? Research what your competitors are charging and how, so you can gain a competitive edge.

Now, you don’t have to lower your rates to compete. You can offer greater quality or a different range of services to attract customers.

Set Up Your Accounting System

This has to be set up well before you begin operating. It’s important to keep track of all invoices, expenses, sales tax, payroll, and income.

Keep your business finances separate from your personal expenses. This will only muddle things when it comes time to file taxes for your company.

You can use an online software, such as Quickbooks to make things easier. Or you can work with an accountant. Either way, it’s good to keep track of your finances in the physical, so keep a record book on hand.

Apply for Insurance and Bonding

Customers like to work with businesses that are licensed, bonded, and insured. If you advertise this in your promotions, then it’ll help build trust.

There are different types of coverage you can seek. For instance, you’ll need liability insurance (depending on where you live). Options include yearly or quarterly payments, and bonds are readily available at local insurance companies.

Make sure to renew your bond annually. Do note that each employee you hire will hike up your insurance rates. So make sure you’re hiring people who are trustworthy and careful.

It’s also important to know that you can only cover employees under your insurance, not sub-contractors. However, you can check your policy to make sure.

Purchase the Supplies You Need

The products you purchase for your home cleaning business depends on the type of services you offer. For instance, if you boast eco-friendliness, then you need to acquire natural cleaning products.

It’s good to go with brands your customers heard of. This way, they already know and trust the products you have. Otherwise, you’ll have to educate them on why it’s healthy, good and reliable.

Make sure to ask whether the customer has specific cleaning supplies for certain appliances.

Then you’ll have to decide whether you want to use the customer’s vacuum or tote around your own.

Begin Advertising Your Services

Now, it’s time to get the word out about your new home cleaning business. You can easily do this with a mix of online and offline marketing. For instance, you can use social media, pay-per-click ads, fliers and feather flags.

Make sure the business logo, name, numbers, rates, and services are consistent on all your marketing collateral. You can choose to post your rates are only disclose it to prospects who call (to keep competition down).

Get Transportation and Uniforms

Presentation and consistency are everything in business. So you need professional cleaning uniforms and a reliable means of transportation.

You have to determine whether you want employees to use their own vehicles or supply them with one.

Continue Learning About Becoming an Entrepreneur

There’s a lot you can learn when you find the right online resources. At Thrifty Momma Ramblings, you can find tips and advice for running a thrifty business and living frugally.

If you’re looking to start your own home cleaning business, then browse through Thrifty Momma Ramblings blog for more thrifty business tips.