Collaborative work spaces like these are breeding grounds for productivity. With so many like-minded individuals around, resources at their disposal and freedom from the daily distractions found at home, co-working spaces have fast become the go-to environment for everyone from freelancers to entrepreneurs, new business start-ups and distracted employees alike.

That’s if they’re done right, that is. The main purpose of a co-working space is to enhance collaborative working and make it easier for users to interact with their peers, so here’s a list of what you can do to make your own co-working space really effective.

A strategic layout

Image credit: Inc.

This means large, four-walled rooms without partitions and with plenty of space to move freely around furniture and other members. Not only do partitions create a sense of secrecy and feel a bit like a blockade, but they scream ‘corporate’. In a working environment that’s meant to be informal and unpressured they’re a big no-no.

Functional furniture

Image credit: Design Studio 210

The furniture in a co-working space is perhaps even more important than the furniture in a corporate office. As well as being comfortable enough to increase productivity and avoid becoming a distraction, it has to make it easier for people to collaborate with one another. The good news is that the office furniture sector has responded to the popularity of co-working by producing a whole host of great furniture. While traditional round tables and expanses of interconnected desks are popular, my favourite are the interconnected LeafDesks at the Barley Mow Club Workspace in London. As well as being able to fit more people around them, they can pivot to form the most convenient shape and are light enough to move to wherever you need them.

Technology

Image credit: Inc.

Where would a co-working space be without technology? Make things like printers and scanners available and check the WiFi connection is working to the very best of its ability – it needs to be able to handle your space’s maximum number of members! It’s also good practice to include a few PC’s for emergencies. While the large majority of people will bring in their own laptops, notebooks and tablets, you never know when something could go wrong or someone might forget their trusty workstation.

Elements that encourage community spirit

Image credit: Flickr

Part of the success of co-working spaces lies in the community spirit contained inside. They’re informal environments, free from the stresses that can stifle creativity and full of other people with the same kind of aims and ambitions in mind. It stands to reason then, that they’re also hubs for conversation and blossoming friendships, so why not incorporate design elements that encourage it? As well as actual working areas include somewhere members can make a coffee or cup of tea, grab a bite to eat and chat while they’re doing it, and create a space for ‘down time’ where people can take a break and chat. Include a television, selection of music and even something like a shelf full of inspirational books to spark conversation.

Natural light

Image credit: Pinterest

For all the design and technological technicalities involved in creating a co-working space, you mustn’t forget the importance of some good old fashioned natural light. While a dark and gloomy room makes for a dark and gloomy mood, natural light brings a refreshing atmosphere to co-working spaces that doesn’t just make it easier for members to see what they’re working on, but lifts the mood of everyone inside.

Simplicity

Image credit: PSFK

Simple work spaces are always the most effective. As well as being free from unnecessary distractions like too many accessories, decorative elements and garish colours, simple designs leave much more room for members to move around. If coupled with a neutral colour palette, they can even help the natural light mentioned above reflect around the space to make it appear more open and tranquil.

Focal points

Image credit: vreaumobila

While simplicity is stylish, that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for a few additional focal points. Buy in some nice plants and flowers to brighten up the space and add a sense of vitality, hang framed posters and prints or even artwork by local artists, buy a rug, create a feature wall or add pops of colour in the furniture. Don’t be afraid to get creative!

Co-working spaces are a godsend for those needing somewhere more laid back and informal to work, especially if they’re struggling to adapt to working at home among so many distractions. Although the pressure will be on to create a space that really enhances productivity, taking inspiration from this group of key design elements could, you never know, turn your co-working space into the birthplace of the next Mark Zuckerberg!

What do you think makes the perfect co-working space? Leave a comment below!

Victoria Crawcour graduated from Liverpool John Moores University with a 1st class degree in Interior Design. She can be found putting her degree to good use by designing corporate and commercial office refits at www.deskcentre.co.uk

Okay, background: American Express created Small Business Saturday in 2010 as a way for small businesses to get more exposure during one of the biggest shopping days of the year as well as to support those small businesses that help invigorate the economy. Over the past few years, the day has gained exposure and has recently gained support from well-known businesses like FedEx, Facebook, Twitter, Dell and Ace Hardware to name a few. There are no comparable sales data for previous years, but pre-holiday surveys estimated shoppers would spend $5.3 billion in 2012. In actuality, U.S. consumers spent $5.5 billion, according to the National Federation of Independent Business.

By shopping local, shoppers are directly putting money back into the community. For every $1.00 spent at a local business, 45 cents is reinvested locally, according to Think.

Shop. Buy. Stay Local!

When shopping non-locally, 15 cents at most go back to the community. Think about it: local businesses give back more to the community and more jobs stay in the community, as well. AMEX business credit card holders receive perks to shopping locally: 100,000 members were rewarded a $25.00 rebate for shopping at local, independent stores the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

It Really Works

Small businesses from all over the U.S. found significant increases in their end-of-day totals. A rare book company told Forbes that they saw sales increase by 400 percent. Distinctive Gardens, a small nursery in Dixon, Illinois increased their sales by 45 percent. And DJ Crater, a clothing boutique in Chatham, New Jersey increased sales by $10,000.

To keep your small business going strong all year, be proactive. Every small business should take advantage: From brick-and-mortar stores to restaurants or online-only businesses, there’s a lot you can do all year long to promote your business and prepare for the next Small Business Saturday.

Use Social Media

Over 3.2 million users of Facebook have “liked” the Small Business Saturday page and more than 213,000 tweets were sent in support of the day on Nov. 24. To promote your business, definitely think about starting a Facebook page or Twitter account if you haven’t already. One million websites have integrated with Facebook and 23 percent of all users check the site five or more times daily, according to Huffington Post.

Think About Your Customers

Before you announce a sale or brainstorm the next promotion, think about your customers … who exactly are you trying to sell to? New customers looking for deals or current customers that you can reward for loyalty?

Try Something New

If you’ve always wanted your business to venture into giving complimentary services or large discounts, try it out! You don’t have to offer these deals all year but using those promotions here or there will bring in new customers, increase your sales and bring traffic to your social media sites.

Working From Home

Due to the growing amount of ways we’re able to connect with anyone at any time, more and more business founders are choosing to begin their business from the comfort of their own home. 60 per cent of businesses are started at home, making it the most popular way to get going. Advancements in technology such as cloud computing, hosted telephony solutions and high-speed broadband connections allow your business to be based in your bedroom but connected to the rest of the world at the same time.
Running costs are significantly lower, as you’re not paying office OR travel expenses, as well as allowing yourself flexibility to your working hours. There’s no real thought going into the location factor here, the focus is solely on the set up of the business whilst still having access to customers and clients through the internet.

A national presence without moving

For those business owners who are working from home, it may be difficult to engage customers because of the geography of the office, but there are ways around this. There are ways to use technology to a business’ advantage letting location need not be a factor in building success. Businesses are able to appeal to thousands of customers across the UK by presenting a national presence without any significant costs in a number of ways.
Adopting a non-geographic number is one way to do this, a business using an NGN has been proven to be the first choice for consumers looking for a particular service rather than a business with a geographic number based miles away.
Building a strong web presence is another way. The number of people shopping online is constantly increasing, again showing less of a need for a good physical location, so having an appealing and functional website with a strong content strategy is an excellent way to get your business noticed without location playing a part.

Remote working

Location is also less of a factor when you consider the flexibility of places business owners and employees are able to work from. The ability to work on the move or from whatever location you’re in is now readily available, as smartphone, tablets and cloud data hosting allow for access to business data from anywhere.
Interaction with customers and clients need not suffer because of the lack of specific business location, because of the capabilities of communication technologies such as conference calling and SIP trunking which allow for numerous people to part of one singular call session so people can be connected to each other wherever they may be. Virtual meetings can easily replace physical ones, reducing the need for professional premises.

“We’ve noticed a continual increase in the amount of home-based business contacting us to expand their presence. Those that are using non-geographic numbers and have comprehensive broadband capabilities are finding it easier to work from anywhere, with the majority of people choosing not to have dedicated business premises,” says Adam Brett, 08Direct’s senior account manager.

It would be naïve to say here that location is becoming less important for every type of business, some depend heavily on physical meetings with clients and a workforce working together under one roof. What is clear though; is that the emphasis on location is becoming less important when a business is starting up because of the ease of technology allowing a lot more flexibility within the working world.

Motivation

With so many distractions at home that can often seem far more appealing than getting on with the job, motivating yourself to work at home can sometimes be a challenge.
Set yourself tasks and deadlines just as you would have in any other work environment and make sure you stick to them.
Remember to allow yourself time away from your work space to allow yourself a break, but be sure to limit these breaks to no more than five minutes to prevent you from becoming distracted with other tasks around the house.

Space

Create a space in your house that is completely separate from your normal home life, and that contains no distractions that could pull you away from your work. If you are lucky enough to have a separate room as your home office this can be relatively easy to achieve. If not, a small dedicated space within a room of your house, where you can setup a desk and distance yourself from the other household activities will go a long way to getting you into a “work mode” and preventing you from being distracted.
If you plan on spending a lot of time working at home, it would be wise to invest in furniture for your dedicated workspace. Using your kitchen table, living room sofa or bed as your workplace is likely to make you feel far too relaxed to really be productive.

Finances

If you work from home and are self employed, or even in some cases if you are employed and have to work from home, you may be entitled to claim some of your home expenses on your tax return.
This is can either be a standard monthly flat fee based on the hours you spend at home, or it can be calculated as a percentage of the rates used at your house.
Be sure to check the HM Revenue & Customs website for the latest information about the amount you can claim, as the way you calculate your household expenses often changes from year to year.

Human Contact

The value of human interaction at work is often only realised when you begin working from home. If you do start to feel isolated from the world, set aside some time every day to call a friend or co-worker.
If you have other friends or co-workers who also work from home locally, arrange to occasionally meet up for lunch breaks or walks.

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Written by Claire McEvoy. Claire works as writer for Iconic Interiors who sell modern designer office furniture in the UK.

Streamline Your Processes

Your business may be ticking over perfectly, but things change rapidly in any industry and it’s up to you and your employees to continuously ensure that your procedures are as efficient as possible. You can either do this yourself or get outside accreditation, ISO 9001 is an industry-recognised standard; but either way you need to ensure suggestions for improvement are actively encouraged from your whole team.

Have Conversations

When you first had that eureka moment, you will have talked to just about anyone who would listen about your product. This is fantastic for validating your initial idea and helping to iron out any initial issues.

Just because your business is starting to thrive, don’t stop this process. Speak to your existing customer base – they are a hive of untapped information. This is vital in developing your start-up to suit your market and can result in some great suggestions you hadn’t even thought of. Even if all you receive back is positive feedback, it’s always great to hear you’re moving in the right direction and this should inspire you to keep plugging away.

Identify Your Procedures

If your business is starting to sky-rocket, you will probably soon need to hire your first employee. This is a very exciting time for any new company, but before you post the job vacancy, you need to be prepared.

Write down all of your procedures so your new staff member can get started straight away. Making sure the frequent tasks in your business have a how-to sheet (with plenty of screen-grabs) filed away will make sure new-starters can hit the ground running.

Decide on Your Marketing Plan

You may subscribe to the ‘build it and they will come’ ethos, but creating a great product or service is only half of the battle. Great marketing is a vital tool for even the most innovative start-up.

In the same way as you decide the framework for how your business will function, you also need to map out your marketing approach. Whether you will have the budget for an agency, or rely on in-house content marketing to begin with, this is an essential step in your business strategy.

Making yourself an authority in your sector is a fantastic place to start. Social media is free, so use it. If you don’t already have a blog, start one today. Make it relevant to your business, but not too sales orientated, ensure it contains valuable, original content for your audience and you will have a loyal readership and client base in no time.

This article has been written by Jennifer Acton, on behalf of QMS International who provide ISO 9001 certification to businesses of all sizes.

Quality Equipment

When you are working from home – especially if self-employed – the majority of the equipment you use in your everyday working life will be entirely your own. This is why you must invest in top quality equipment to maximise your productivity; from a computer with fast processing speeds to a reliable internet connection and comprehensive virus protection.
Another recommended component of your home office would be call screening or perhaps even an entirely separate business phone line. Working hours are working hours and personal calls would scarcely be allowed in office spaces, so are best avoided when working from home.

Working Environment

It can be all too easy to get distracted when you are working in your own, usual surroundings. Perhaps the laundry still needs doing or the neighbour has popped round for a chat but these are distractions that would not be permitted to interrupt a working day in an office environment and are the exact reasons why a separate working space within your home is paramount; somewhere you can go during your designated working hours to shut away any trivial day-to-day occurrences that are likely to tempt you away from your desk. The flexibility of working from home is great but there are still deadlines which must be met.

Transport

When you work from home, you may still need to venture out into the big, bad world from time-to-time. Home workers will often opt to meet clients at their offices or in a neutral space such as a restaurant, so having the means of getting from A to B when necessarily is a must. Though cars are not a cheap investment – particularly for those struggling to get a new business venture off the ground – car finance is more widely available than ever before to make getting hold of one a much more achievable feat.

Back-up Storage

Most businesses will back up all of their important data and files onto the likes of an external hard drive in case of viruses or damage to the computer system. With so much vital information and work contained within your computer, making sure you too have a back-up can be your saving grace in times of emergency.

Contacts

Working from home can perhaps at times feel isolating by removing you from the business loop. This makes networking with like-minded people more important than ever to ensure you retain the access to clients, suppliers and advisors your business will more than likely require for success.

About the Author

This post was written by Carfinance 24/7, a UK based company offering a wide range of financial solutions to help people get their dream car with as little stress and hassle as possible, no matter their background or circumstances.

Your plan should essentially take you from point A to point B in order to reach your objective. A lot of the time, we can jump the gun with our enthusiasm to start the project. Before diving in head first, you need to figure out the basics of how you’ll go about it. Follow these five tips to plan for success.

Get ready to mobilize

Part of the reason projects hit roadblocks is because you don’t have the right information or equipment to take action. During you planning stage and while you’re putting together you main plan, try and get things ready to go. It could be things like email templates and spreadsheets for accounting. Get preparing so that when you’re ready to go, actions can be mobilized quickly.

What are your milestones?

In order to reach your final goal, you’ll have a number of important milestones to reach along the way. These milestones will be events that are critical to the success of your project. Make sure that you figure out what these events are and when they need to occur.

Make a timeline

Figure out how long tasks are going to take you, then create a timeline of events that will take you from A to B. Factor in your important milestones and schedule in all the actions you need to take. During this stage, it can be a good idea to figure out who will be responsible for accomplishing the task (if working in a team.

Check your resources

Whether it’s information, skills or funds, make sure you have access to the right resources, when the time comes to kick off your project. The last thing you want is to be waiting around for something just so you can start your task. Making sure that everything is ready to go during the planning stage will keep your project on track.

Rely on technology

There are a bevy of software and apps available specifically for things like project planning that are really helpful and easy to use. These programs are usually web-based and include features like document sharing that are really useful if working in teams. It’s also a bonus being able to access your plan from your smartphone or laptop if you’re working remotely.

Starting a new project can be exciting but don’t let it fall flat because of bad planning. With these five tips, plan out your ideas for a successful result. For more helpful advice on planning and organization or to get a free trial of our software, visit us at ProjectManager.com and check out our resources section.

But if you really want to boost employee morale, a bit of training could be all it takes. Here are five reasons why:

1) It’s a break from the norm
Sitting in front of a computer for 40+ hours a week can really suck the life out of a person, and taking your employees out for a training day every so often is a good way of keeping them fresh and active-minded. Nothing will wake them up like taking them out of the office for a day and giving them something a little bit different to do!

2) It’s a self-esteem booster
A lack of confidence in one’s own abilities is never good for productivity. After all, why would anyone do their best if they were convinced that their best wasn’t good enough? Training is a tool for teaching people new skills and improving the skills they already possess, so if your staff are slightly unsure of themselves, the right training course could set them right in a jiffy. Self-improvement leads to improved self-esteem, and that’s great news for everyone – your employees will feel happier in their work, and you’ll get far more from them as a result.

3) It shows that you value their contribution
Organising a training session for your employees is a great way of letting them know that you care. That might sound cheesy, but it’s true! Training your existing employees shows those employees that you’re keen to hang on to them (why waste time and money training somebody who’s soon for the sack?) and that’s sure to make them feel better about their job. The more highly-trained they are, the harder they’ll be to replace!

4) It can increase their independence
Lots of people are choosing to start their own business nowadays, and it’s often because they crave the independence that comes from being one’s own boss. Of course, you don’t want them to start their own business (you want them to stick with yours!), so allowing for a little more independence could mean the difference between keeping them and losing them. Many training courses are specifically intended to increase employee independence; this could mean teaching them a few new skills, or helping them to feel a little more motivated, but either way, they’ll be far happier about their job by the end of the session.

5) It’s fun!
This last point obviously depends on the content of the course, as well as on the person delivering it, but a good training session should be as enjoyable as it is educational. Ideally, your staff should view the training session as a fun day out – not necessarily a day off (they’ll get more from the training session if they apply themselves), but an enjoyable change of pace at the very least.

There are plenty of other reasons to train your staff, but those five should be enough to show you that highly-trained employees are happy employees. If the people you manage could use a bit of a morale boost, a training day could be all it takes!

This article was provided by Olive Strachan Resources, a Manchester-based training consultancy that delivers enjoyable, high-quality training courses to clients around the country.

I have read many articles which suggest that all small business owners should hold accounts with each of the major social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. These articles recommend that you should post useful information to each of these accounts on a daily basis to help keep your audience engaged and tuned in to your brand. However from experience I do not believe that this is the best approach to adopt and what I call the “scattergun” approach can be very time consuming and is likely to yield very little in terms of new customers or clients for your business.

I started my online business from scratch and the only promotion technique I use is promotion via social media. Like most other small business owners I began with the scattergun approach and attempted to publicise my services to as many people as possible but I soon began to realise that all of this effort was producing very few new customers and I was considering giving up. I persisted and by luck I stumbled upon an approach which is very simple and not at all time consuming and best of all actually works when attempting to attract large numbers of new customers. So what is my approach I hear you asking!

I do not use Facebook and I do not use LinkedIn. I have used both of these websites for business promotion purposes but I consider both sites a waste of time. By all means continue to use both sites for your personal enjoyment but when it comes to business there is only one social media platform that really delivers the results you and your business can thrive from. The key to my success and the one platform that I use and recommend you use is Twitter. Twitter has provided me with a very significant number of customers and is the single most important element of my business promotion efforts and has contributed towards my business growth and profitability above anything else.

There is a specific technique that I use to attract new customers on Twitter and I will conclude this article by explaining my approach and what works so well for me. My strategy is to follow as many small business users as possible in an attempt to gain a reciprocal follow from these users. This increases my follower count and my perceived popularity and also allows me to engage with my target market for the services I provide. I actively seek business community hashtags (#) and include my favourite hashtag after the majority of my tweets. A particular hashtag which has yielded excellent results is #bizitalk. I also re-tweet the tweets of the #bizitalk community and in turn I more often than not receive a re-tweet from the community in return which extends my reach to other Twitter users.

I now have more than 11,000 followers and I simply maintain my account by tweeting daily business news articles every weekday morning. I don’t put in much effort to engage directly with other Twitter users and I don’t tweet about what I had for breakfast. My strategy here is to simply post tweets that link to business articles which people may find interesting and most importantly of all I ensure that I am seen within the news feed of all of those who follow me. This is the way in which I ensure my follows keep seeing my business and my brand and ensure that they contact me when they need my services. I now spend five or ten minutes a day promoting my business on Twitter as I’ve explained above and the customers keep on rolling in.

About the Author
Emma Simpson is the owner of a firm of Cheap Accountants who have gained a reputation across the UK for providing quality yet affordable accountancy services to small businesses.

There are several areas of the law which can affect the design of both your website and business processes and, therefore, should be addressed before you start trading on-line. Time spent up front ensuring you comply with the law could save you time, stress and money later on and enhance your on-line presence from day one.

Here is an overview of some key aspects of the law to consider:

The Data Protection Act 1988

If you collect personal information such as name, address, telephone number etc. from visitors to your website then you are required (amongst other things) to:

• Register with the Information Commissioner (as a data controller)
• Clearly tell website visitors what information you collect and how you use the information
• Not transmit the data outside the European Economic Area (unless the country provides an adequate level of protection)
• Keep the data securely and disclose, reveal and delete it if so requested by the data subject.

Most websites meet their obligation to inform visitors of what information they collect and how it is used by linking to an appropriate Privacy and Cookies Policy section within the website.
If your website is hosted outside the EEA or you use a payment gateway that is hosted outside the EEA then you will be transmitting data outside the EEA. This may be ok so long as the recipient country is on the Information Commissioner’s list of countries providing adequate safeguards (e.g. Canada, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Israel, New Zealand, Switzerland) or, if the recipient is in the USA, has signed up to the Safe Harbour Scheme.

You can find out more about data protection at the Information Commissioner’s website http://ico.org.uk/for_organisations/data_protection/the_guide.

The ‘Cookie Law’

The EU e-Privacy Directive, more commonly known as the ‘Cookie Law’ requires that websites obtain informed consent before creating cookies or similar (e.g. Local Shared Objects) on a website visitor’s computer.

You do not need to obtain consent for cookies that are essential to the functioning of the website e.g. session cookies used to implement a shopping basket. You do, however need consent for other forms of cookies such as those created by website metrics services (e.g. Google Analytics) and 3rd party advertising. Implied consent is acceptable for analytics-style cookies but other, more intrusive, cookies such as 3rd party tracking cookies require explicit consent.

You should clearly explain, on your website, what cookies you create and their purpose. A good place for this information is on your website’s Privacy and Cookie Policy page. An easy and free approach to implement the correct level of consent is to use the cookie control widget from CIVIC at http://www.civic.com.

Consumer Protection (Distance Selling)

The Distance Selling Regulations apply to business to consumer transactions when there is no face-to-face contact between the buyer and seller – so it covers both internet and brick and mortar retailers. This legislation gives the consumer a statutory cooling-off period and a right to cancel for many types of purchase of both goods and services, although there are exemptions.

The key points of the Distance Selling Regulations are:
• Customers must be given clear, up-front information about the goods and services before buying (including their right to cancel).
• Goods must be delivered within 30 days unless stated elsewhere e.g. as part of the terms and conditions of sale displayed on your website.
• The buyer has a 7 (working) day cooling-off period during which they can cancel the contract for any reason.
• If the buyer exercises they right to cancel (by notifying the seller of such by email or other ‘durable’ medium) then the seller must refund all monies paid within 30 days.
So, your website must be designed to ensure that the customer is told of their right to cancel prior to purchase and that your back-end processes cater for refunds and accepting returned goods.

E-Commerce Regulations

The Electronic Commerce Regulations 2002 are aimed improving customer confidence when buying on-line.

For on-line businesses in the UK you must show on your website:
• The full name of your business, geographic address and contact details (including an email address)
• Details of any trade association to which your business belongs e.g. Federation of Master Builders
• Details of any authorisation scheme
• Details of any professional bodies, with qualifications recognised across Europe, to which your business belongs e.g. the Institute of Chartered Accountants
• Your VAT number if you are VAT registered
• Clear information, prior to purchase, on price, tax and delivery costs.
• Clear Terms and Conditions of sale, provided in a way such that the customer can store and reproduced (print) the text.
You must also:
• Acknowledge orders promptly by email
• Allow the customer to see details of the order and correct any errors before placing the order.

Much of the information the E-Commerce Regulations requires can be included in your website’s ‘About Us’ or ‘Contact Us’ page. Your terms and conditions of sale would be best included on another web page with links from appropriate points during the purchase process.

Most shopping cart software will generate automatic email confirmation of orders and will allow orders to be amended before the order is finalised.

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Joanne Tucker is the Technical Director of www.clickdocs.co.uk, one of the UK’s leading suppliers of online legal document templates.

Image courtesy of sheelamohan http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/