Networking: Tools and Benefits

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Networking consists of the exchange of information between professionals and companies, which share common interests, and which can lead to a work benefit. You never know who will be the person who can give us a new opportunity that will make our professional life take a turn.

 

Having a networking strategy can be a great benefit to adapt our business to current times.online networking

 

This term is established not only among professionals, but also between institutions and companies that seek to build long-term relationships for mutual benefit.

 

In addition, the pandemic and the normalization of remote work have brought to the world of networking another tool that is working in many sectors: online workshops. Great professionals around the world offer online courses that are an opportunity to acquire new skills while being a great way to link professionally and meet professionals whom we could not approach otherwise.

 

Examples of some benefits of networking:

  • The establishment of a strategic alliance between two companies with the aim of increasing their chances of winning a public tender.
  • Partnering two or more consultants to increase their career opportunities.
  • Collaboration between influencers through social media to benefit from the respective networks of followers.
  • The exchange of contacts in various markets to expand the networks of influence of each company or self-employed worker.

 

 

Networking Tools

The first tool of all is LinkedIn, as it is one of the most important professional social networks in the world. When a company profile is created on LinkedIn and the type of company is selected, the algorithm puts us in touch with similar ones. It allows you to connect with new professionals, companies in the same sector and partners with whom to establish new collaborations. It also offers the possibility of announcing and discovering events in a certain sector.

 

Another platform is Sharp’s. This one is very similar to Tinder but in the business world. It consists of a system of detachable business cards that works as an identifier to match between users.

 

Another easy way to meet interesting people who add value to our sector are events. The face-to-face relationship provides better communication and closer treatment. These can be industry-specific events, panel discussions, work breakfasts, or after-hours events.

 

Finally, one of the best options is Coworking spaces. Going to work in an office with other professionals or freelancers is one of the most useful and easy ways to network.

 

We are Badalona’s Business Center, to give visibility and possibilities to your business. In Espai 114 together we form a team; we want to inspire you and accompany you.

How to take advantage of technology for remote work

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In recent years we have all taken a step towards remote work. For this reason we must make sure that this type of work gives us the same or better results than working in the office.

To do this, we need to create a distraction-free environment and choose the best remote work tools. Wherever you are, these tools will help you increase your potential and work performance.

Zoom

One of the most popular video conferencing platforms. With Zoom we can communicate with audio, HD quality video and share our screen with other people.

 

 

 

Teamviewer

This tool is a connectivity platform, to access, control, manage, monitor and repair devices remotely, from computers or mobile phones to industrial machines and robots.

 

 

Canva

With this tool, you can build your brand from scratch or improve it without investing resources in graphic services. In a matter of minutes you can create logos, brochures, presentations, advertisements or banners. It is very easy to use and has many plugins, templates and a large library of royalty free images that you can use in your designs.

 

 

Asana

This platform allows you to create and organize your projects and commercial jobs. Each project has a leader who can delegate individual jobs to team members. In addition, the whole team can add notes, comments and documents directly to the project.

 

Signaturit

This app offers a unique digital signature and certification service. It makes it much easier to track what team leaders sign. With this tool you can sign contracts, process new members, make payments, etc.

 

Google G-Suite

It is a set of applications provided by Google to help better organize your business. Includes email, Hangouts, calendar, documents, and a drive.

We hope that all these tools will help you in your day-to-day life, and that in this way you will develop remote work in an easier and faster way.

We are Badalona’s Business Center, to give visibility and possibilities to your business. In Espai 114 together we are a team; we want to inspire and accompany you.

 

Collaborative business: the keys to the collaborative economy

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Building an innovative, sustainable and lucrative company is not an easy job. But if we partner with other professionals, this can change! This is how the collaborative business model emerges, giving rise to organizations with divergent and convergent synergies that change the rules of the game.

 

But what is a collaborative business? It is one that offers services through collaborative platforms, creating an open market for the purchase of products or services normally offered by individuals. This method involves three agents: service providers, users and intermediaries. These participants connect through the platform and facilitate transactions between them.

From this idea we can extract the main characteristics of a collaborative business:

  • Exchanges of products or services.
  • Use of individuals’ resources.
  • Possession or temporary access of products or services, usually for a fee.
  • Better use and exploitation of little-used goods.
  • A digital platform that puts different parties in contact to link supply and demand.
  • The goods borrowed can be products, services, resources, knowledge, experience or time.
  • Distrust of traditional institutions or certain market sectors.
  • Environmental concern focused on the use of resources and the reduction of production.
  • Displacement of the company as a central figure to put people in their place.
  • Renewal of traditional offerings by providing new or complementary services.

What are the benefits of setting up a collaborative business?

 

The first of all is that the company profits from the creation of a platform that largely supports the labor of third parties, this business model encourages the possibilities of entrepreneurship.

 

The second benefit is that the person who practices as a service provider benefits from the emergence of new business models. You can also manage your workload and work schedule and even take a second job to complement the first.

 

The third benefit is that the consumer has direct communication with the service provider and access to a greater supply of goods at a more attractive price, as well as the option of using a good without owning it.

And finally, another benefit is the business ideas that have emerged based on this idea favor sustainability, the use of resources and the amortization of products by extending their useful life, so the collaborative economy is also based on the conservation of the environment.

 

Did you know that two great examples of collaborative business are Aribnb and BlaBlaCar?

 

We are the Business Center of Badalona, to give visibility and possibilities to your business. In Espai 114 together we are a team; we want to inspire you and accompany you.

What is democratic leadership?

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Would you like to work in a team where everyone is heard and valued? This is what democratic leadership is all about, which we will explain below.

It is a modern and effective management style, in which leaders work in collaboration with their team to reach common goals.

It is a working method where the management style actively involves all team members, either to make a decision or to reach common goals. This method of working is ideal because it ensures that all opinions are considered and that all team members feel heard. This causes an increase in involvement with the company and also very high levels of proactivity.

 

 

Below we explain what their characteristics are.

  • Maintain healthy communication with all group members.
  • Great adaptation to changes. This flexibility allows them to respond more positively to both changes and challenges.
  • Promotion of a good working environment and good collaboration between the team.
  • Delegation of responsibilities. This is one of the most important, since by doing this the chances of the entire workload falling on a single person is minimal.

 

 

Finally, we explain some of the advantages of applying this leadership method:

  • We work to create a safe environment so that everyone can give their ideas.
  • All members of the group play an active role in decision-making and the achievement of goals.
  • Everyone will experience a greater sense of permanence.
  • An efficient team with a better ability to take advantage of opportunities is achieved.
  • Long-term workers show higher job satisfaction.
  • The team gains autonomy and they feel confident in their actions and decisions.

Now that you know democratic leadership and all its characteristics and advantages, are you encouraged to apply it?

We are Badalona’s Business Center, to give visibility and possibilities to your business. In Espai 114 together we are a team; we want to inspire and accompany you.

 

5 successful tips

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Here are a few tips to increase success when starting.

The first of all is not to get carried away by emotions. It is essential to touch your feet on the floor. That is why building a good business plan will help increase probabilities of success.

The second advice is to see mistakes as learning. In the face of obstacles, we must take control of the situation, without letting us control us. It is normal to feel shot down in the face of a slut, but this does not have to condition our performance or attitude.

 

 

Another important advice is to study the cases of other successful entrepreneurs. The beginnings are not easy. There are many successful businessmen who failed in their business origins and have been able to overcome this situation. Failure is a great opportunity to start better, more strongly and with valuable knowledge.

The fourth council is to be clear about the value that our product or service brings. Explore and correctly communicate what it offers to improve consumer life, it will work better than simply communicate the characteristics of the product or service.

 

Finally, but no less relevant, constant training must be maintained. What worked yesterday, tomorrow can be obsolete. We will need new knowledge and additional experiences to continue to progress.

These are just a few tips to increase the chances of success of a new company. We hope you are helping if you are starting the way to take.

We are Badalona’s Business Center, to give visibility and possibilities to your business. In Espai 114 together we are a team; we want to inspire and accompany you.

Mistakes entrepreneurs make

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Starting a business is an adventure, and like all adventures, it involves certain risks. Some of these are avoidable, but others can be mistakes that throw your effort overboard.

In this blog we will talk about the most common mistakes that tend to be made, whether due to lack of experience, ignorance of the business environment or bad business decisions.

Starting a business often involves many more steps and obligations than we could have imagined before we started.

The first time we start we will encounter obstacles to overcome and it is common to make mistakes. The recommendation is not to despair or let fear take hold of us. Find out as much as you can before starting your project, ask friends or acquaintances who have already created a company for advice. Leaning on professionals will be of great help and will prevent you from many headaches.

 

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A common mistake is ignorance of the market where we want to enter This is a very determining factor in the success or failure of your business. Jumping into an unknown market without analyzing the competition and customers is very dangerous and could kill our plans in a few months.

 

undertake

 

The next mistake that entrepreneurs make is the poor choice of partners. The fact of choosing wrongly who accompanies us in our project can end in absolute failure and even you having to give up your company.

It must be taken into account that knowing a person in a certain environment is not a guarantee that the relationship as partners will be successful. A great friend or trusted family member can be a bad professional, and vice versa.

 

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Another mistake is not giving importance to our team. The safest way to choose your employees is to define the professional profile you want for each position in the company.

By investing a little more time and care in the selection process, you will avoid potential problems or inconveniences.

It is also a mistake when starting a business to leave aside the legal aspects and the procedures. Every company is subject to a large number of laws and regulations that regulate its operation. Knowing all these obligations is practically impossible for a single person. If the company does not have everything in order, it is exposed to fines and sanctions.

Again, we recommend leaving it in the hands of professionals who will help and guide you throughout the process.

 

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The last mistake that entrepreneurs make is to bear very high fixed costs. The workforce, services, premises leases are some of the fixed costs we will have. Accounts must be made so that they do not exceed the income.

A good way to reduce the cost of location is, for example, to work in a coworking space. You’ll save while having access to everything you need.

Now that you know what the most common mistakes are when starting a business, are you ready to create your project?

We are the Badalona’s Business Center, to give visibility and possibilities to your business.

In Espai 114 together we are a team; we want to inspire and accompany you.

Strategies to prioritize your tasks at work

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If it is difficult for you to prioritize your tasks at work with the intention of being more productive and you do not know how to put it into practice, we will tell you a few strategies to achieve it.

 

The first thing you should do is identify what is important according to your goals. That is, you must understand why you are working and this will help you identify the priority tasks for these future results.

 

Divide the largest and most general objectives into smaller ones, and establish for them the time you have to meet them. In this way, step by step, it will be easier for you to reach your final goal.

 

The next step is to prioritize according to importance and urgency. It is essential to know which tasks are fastest or most relevant and we must classify and prioritize them accordingly.

 

To ensure that these priorities are clear, we can create a list of schedules and write down all the tasks we need to do during the day and the time slot that corresponds to each one.

 

Another point to consider is effort. What do we mean by that? Once you’ve clarified your to-do list, you’ll need to evaluate which ones require the most dedication. With this in mind, we recommend starting with the simplest ones that take up less time and you won’t get tired so easily.

 

We also advise you to highlight urgent work. It provides clear visibility into priorities and deadlines. Use colors and schemes to make it more visual. This way you will easily identify which tasks need to be completed earlier and plan ahead according to deadlines.

 

When the tasks you’re working on aren’t difficult it’s very easy to manage them, but as the difficulty increases, people have more difficulty prioritizing a single goal.

 

Finally, one tactic to stay focused on each task is to identify possible distractions and avoid them throughout the day.

Having said all this, try applying these tactics to better manage your time and more easily achieve your goals.

 

We are the Badalona’s Business Center, to give visibility and possibilities to your business. In Espai 114 together we form a team; we want to inspire you and accompany you.

5 apps to organize your schedule

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Having good organization within your work environment is very important. That’s why we show you different tools that will make you more productive in your coworker routine.

There are several applications that can help you organize your daily work with the aim of reaching your goals. Below we detail the five most useful and simple applications:

 

 

  • Evernote

 

It’s a tool that can help you capture and organize your ideas. Its main purpose is the organization of personal information through the filing of notes.

All notes, photos, documents, audio files and web pages saved in Evernote will automatically sync with the other devices the user uses. Other functions of this application are: the integration of a personal calendar through e-mail, a scanner of information, documents and business cards or direct annotations through PDF.

 

 

 

  • Do It Tomorrow

 

It is one of the simplest tools to note pending jobs and organize them by days, topics and priorities. Basically, it’s a digital diary that mimics the physical appearance of a paper diary.

The best thing about this app is that it is free and ad-free, simple and minimalistic. It has customization and widget options. You can find it available for iOS and Android and has an extension capability with Google Chrome.

 

 

 

  • Todoist

 

It is a multi-platform job and project management. It helps record pending activities and responsibilities that a work team or individual user must attend to within a specific time limit or order of priority.

It’s a good way to follow the process of your professional projects, make lists, collaborate with other jobs and keep track of the responsibilities of your workers or colleagues. One of the most productive functions is the possibility of integration with other basic work tools.

 

 

 

  • Trello

 

It allows you to manage teams of any type of project, as well as supervise jobs. You can include files, checklists or even automations. It is a very complete and powerful tool, but very easy to use.

The main benefits of Trello are avoiding communication breakdowns, as all tasks are clearly specified in the main entry, saving time and optimizing work quality, facilitating remote work, automation of work and, finally, it has compatibility with various platforms.

 

 

 

  • Google Calendar

 

It is perhaps the best known. An electronic agenda and calendar developed by Google that allows you to sync with your Gmail contacts to share different events with them.

One of the features that this application offers are different views, both weekly and monthly or daily.

After going through all these organization apps, we hope you find them useful for your day-to-day work. We are the Badalona’s Business Center, to give visibility and possibilities to your business. In Espai 114 together we form a team; we want to inspire you and accompany you.

What is the perfect work environment for a programmer?

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The environment in which we work determines much of our performance at work. Si això passa amb la majoria dels treballs, encara més amb els programadors, que requereixen una gran capacitat de concentració.

 

Below we explain what you should take into account as a programmer to find your ideal workspace.

programmer workspace

TEMPERATURE

The temperature in which you develop your work must be correct. Spending many hours sitting in one place requires a space that is at a comfortable temperature for you. The air conditioning is important to avoid the cold in winter and the heat in summer.

 

DESK

You have to have the necessary space to comfortably display your work tools without being overcrowded. The table must be large enough to accommodate it completely and you must have the necessary plugs nearby.

 

COMFORT

The chair is one of the most relevant points. It should adapt to you and help you achieve an optimal posture.

 

ILUMINATION

The best is natural lighting, not only for visual health reasons but also for the stimulus it provides when it comes to motivating you.

 

CONNECTION

And last but not least, have a good, fast and stable Internet connection. In our center we have a fiber optic connection.

programmer

Our coworking in the center of Badalona can provide everything you need. It is a local on the ground floor, bright, open and with direct access from the street. It has capacity for 12 users, with individual tables for exclusive use. It is characterized by being a dynamic and efficient workspace, designed for entrepreneurs, freelance workers and independent professionals.

 

And, if you need more privacy, we also offer offices for rent in the same building. Ideal for those professionals who need an intimate space to work and who, in turn, are willing to network and foster synergies with other entrepreneurs and professionals.

 

We are the Badalona’s Business Center, to give visibility and possibilities to your business. In Espai 114 together we form a team; we want to inspire you and accompany you.

 

Digital Nomad, what is it and how does it work?

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Digital media and current technology are increasingly providing us with more facilities to reconcile personal life with work. Thanks to the new ways of understanding work, we have given way to the figure of the digital nomad.

If you are not yet familiar with the term digital nomad, you may be interested in this post.

A digital nomad is, basically, that person who only requires the internet to work, whether as a freelancer or as an employee in a company. This fact makes it possible for him to carry out his work while traveling or moving to different places.

 

 

A digital nomad only needs a good internet connection to be able to do his work around the world. This figure decides to break with the routine of going to the office every day and works enjoying time and geographical flexibility.

More and more people decide to join this trend by becoming digital mixers. Following this trend you can achieve the same success as working from a physical company.

In our Espai114 Business Center we have digital nomads hosted continuously. Will you be next?

Being a digital nomad can provide you with great advantages:

  1. Travel and see amazing places without the need to ask for holidays from work.
  2. Enjoy flexible hours, since you organize yourself to be able to deliver or do your work on time.
  3. Increase productivity.
  4. Enjoying this lifestyle will make you more creative.

 

 

How to be a digital nomad?

It is true that not all companies are open to implementing this trend. But, if you want to start this adventure, you just need to have a few things clear:

First of all, this concept is a way of life. If you like to travel and change location every so often, this is the best option to reconcile both aspects.

In addition, you will not need many resources, just a laptop or tablet and a good internet connection.

You will also have to adapt your travel habits. This way of living does not give you the freedom to be out all day, but you will have to organize yourself to be able to combine it with work.

And, finally, you will have to be very organized to dedicate the necessary time to planning your work, setting goals and deadlines.

 

 

If everything we have explained fits you and your work, and you really value becoming a digital nomad, at Espai 114 we give you the possibility to domicile your company at our Business Center in Badalona.

We are the Badalona’s Business Center, to give visibility and possibilities to your business. In Espai 114 together we are a team; we want to inspire and accompany you.