Dog Obedience Training: Why So Important

Your pet dog is no less than your own child at home; you love and care for it just as much. Shouldn’t it be trained the same way you teach your baby – all the basic manners and etiquettes of daily life? From eating right and potty training to obeying basic instructions, the rules pretty much apply the same to both a child and a domestic pet. There is one key difference though.

Your pet is still an animal, how much ever cute and cuddly it may feel to touch. Unlike your child who may be naughty but wouldn’t cross the limit, your pet dog might just bite an animal, human or even its own owner upon turning aggressive. This is why it’s extremely important to teach your pet obedience more than anything else. And the training must start right from day 1 of it becoming a part of your life.

How Dog Obedience Training Pays Off

There are several advantages of doing so, some of which include

1. Your pet learns to follow all commands

This is the prime objective as well as the gain from the obedience training for your dog. You want your pet to follow all instructions and commands that you give it – from sitting or standing to playing and not barking on strangers. Everybody loves a well-trained dog, after all. Obedience training can help your dog get to a stage where it politely obeys whatever you say and you too get comfortable taking it out in public places.

2. Ensure safety of your pet

Even though dogs are gifted with a unique sense which lets them know when there’s danger around, they may not always be able to respond well in those situations. For instance, if your pet happens to be on a busy road, it wouldn’t know when to wait for traffic to pass; for all you know, it might just run right across it. In such cases, your pet must know the meaning and consequential response of commands like ‘stays’ or ‘come’. Obedience training helps there.

3. Lays foundation for lifelong behaviour

If your dog learns to respond to commands, it’s become well-trained. This means that it’s learnt that you are the authoritative power in charge and it needs to follow all you say. But how about when you aren’t around (which may not always be possible)? You don’t just need your pet to be well-trained; you want it to be well-behaved, eventually, just like your own child.

This means that it needn’t wait for instructions from you to react in any particular situation. Regardless of whether you’re present or not, it should know how to deal with strangers (barring a few ‘danger signals’, of course) or to respond to commands from other family members, perhaps. Dog obedience training helps lay a strong foundation which would help define the behaviour of your dog for a lifetime.

Summary

From being well-trained (which any pet owner can achieve) to becoming well-behaved, dog obedience training helps fill the gap.

Atma-Nirbhar Bharat: Impact on The Real Estate

With the coronavirus pandemic going on, new trends are coming every day. With this came the new slogan given by our PM Modi, “Atma-Nirbhar Bharat”. But, this slogan faced a lot of criticism. Some said that self-sufficiency during the times of a pandemic is a hoax. While a few called it to be a publicity stunt. On the flip side, some people called it the need of the hour.

To put in simple words, the pandemic has led to the slowdown of the economy. Furthermore, the realty sector has been one of the worst-hit sectors with this slowdown. In fact, this segment faced tremendous hurdles as construction projects got delayed. Besides, expenses continued to rise and this created a tough situation for all the investors as well as the builders.

With these losses, came the beneficiary schemes of the government. The government announced a special liquidity scheme worth INR 30,000 crore for Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFC’s), Housing Finance Corporations (HFC’s) and Micro Finance Institutions (MFI’s). This helped these sectors in the best way possible. Furthermore, the Government of India made an amendment. By this COVID-19 disorder will be treated as force majeure. Besides an extension of 6 months/9 months to be provided for varied to completion timelines.

We noticed an impact on the real estate. Now let us look at the benefits people reaped out of these schemes.

Atma-Nirbhar Bharat: Impact on The Real Estate

Undeniably, the realty sector is the second biggest employer in the country. The government should have given out some money and empowered this sector with liquidity so that they could make the ends meet.

The Reserve Bank of India allowed an extension in the Date of Commencement for Commercial Operations (DCCO) for the loans for the next 365 days.

Loans given by the NBFCs to this sector also fall under the same relief measures. The aim was to reduce the financial burden.

And in the end, the additional offerings were made like guarantee and collateral-free loans, government procurement was made more efficient, funding was available through equity, e-market linkage and higher thresholds were introduced.

Atma-Nirbhar Bharat: Practical Implication

After all this, the practical implication of the same was imperfect. Besides, we need to analyse the pain point of this industry. This is the direct apportionment of cash and shortage of money for interests. Provisions for the same were either not passed or were not implemented in the best ways possible. Some other amendments should have been made for the Atma-Nirbhar Bharat Movement.

The home loan should have gone down. This would have attracted more and more investors in the home loan. It would have given a Suo-Moto push to the banking sector in unimaginable ways.

The long list of benefits which were thrown at the way of Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSME) should have been also given out to the realty sector. This would have enabled them in paying the fixed expenses.

Apart from this, it was important to consider the migrant labour crisis ahead of time. The most painful effects of the pandemic came from the migrant labourers. Hope. we could avoid this with proper planning.

To Sum up

The realty sector needs the actual push. This would help in implementation at a massive level throughout the country.

For more information on the real estate market, please visit 'Real Estate Smart Tips'.

Salon During the Times Of COVID-19: Basic Precautions to Stay Safe

The term lockdown has been replaced by unlocking and people are moving out of their houses more than ever. It seems as if the situation has come back to square one. In this phase, almost every service provider is allowed to run their shop to earn their bread and butter. Even the salons are wide open because of the devastating effect of Coronavirus in the salon industry.

What makes most of us elated is the news of opening up on salons and beauty centres across cities. We need to understand that the happiness one gets from finally shaving, shaping of eyebrows, waxing and many more comes with a huge cost. The reopening of salons does not indicate that the virus has died down. The reality is that the virus is stronger than ever.

We must keep ourselves safe while going out, especially to the salons because we are directly in contact with the other person in this environment. Coronavirus safety tips need to be followed with full force to sustain in today's time. COVID-19 safety and hygiene precautions must be ensured in all the salons. Let us look at a few risks that you expose yourself to when you go to the salons

Risks while going to the salons

• Person-To-Person Contact:   the virus is highly contagious and spreads from person to person, quite literally. Going to the beauty salons means coming in contact with outsiders. This can be a very tricky situation. We all know that the only way to come out of this situation of the pandemic is to remain scooped up in our houses. This is the major reason why going to the salons can increase your risk of getting infected. Also, one more revelation is that most of the cases now are asymptomatic. You never know who is infected. With tens of people visiting the salons every day, you never know who sat on the chair you are currently sitting on and getting your hair coloured on!
• Shared Spaces:   we all know that the virus needs a surface to breed. And when you go to the salons, it is essential to know that you would be in a space which has been used by various other people. The transmission is very fast when done through common spaces and surfaces. Make sure that the salon chair, scissors, and other tools are properly sanitised after every customer leaves.

Now we will look at a few safety tips and precautions you can follow while visiting your favourite salon!

A few safety tips and precautions:

1. Sanitise yourself: Once you enter the salon, sanitise your hands and any other exposed part of your body. Do not take any risks and also measure your body temperature. Ensure that the people working at the salon are also sanitised properly.
2. Wear a mask: Masks are our shields or this virus. A person who isn’t wearing a mask is like a soldier without ammunition. Make sure that you are wearing the right mask and everyone in the salon is also masked up properly.
3. Take a bath when you come back home: To avoid any illnesses and infections when you come back, take a bath, and sanitise yourself properly.

Wrapping up

Follow these basic tips that can actually save you from the deadly virus. Stay safe!

5 Ways to Make Your Business Thrive in Tough Economic Times

Times are hard. Agreed. The corona virus scare has toppled the world economy 360 degrees. Businesses – both small and big – have shut down, workers have either been laid off or forced to stay home. New job opportunities are equally dim with growing uncertainty over the future. How can any business hope to keep it going?

Patience and faith are the keys but there are other vital factors which can help you pass through the recession.

5 Ways to Make Your Business Thrive During Crisis

1. Maintain your versatility:

This is the time to try out all those things that you’ve been thinking about for long but could never get on to doing them. Include more versatile aspects into your business operations. This would keep you ahead of competition in this tough phase and also bring you more customers. For instance, if you weren’t online yet, now is the right time. More people are shopping from home now so open your online store. /

Offer more options to your consumers like flexible working hours, home deliveries, free shipping, etc. Think of making improvements in your current product line or incorporating more product ranges. You never know what would click with your audience right now.

2. Pay attention to technological evolution:

Technology is what will come to your aid even when the economy is receding. That is your biggest asset in any challenge. If your employees can’t work in your office premises, technology can enable them to work remotely and continue to work for you effectively. Of course, you’d need certain advanced software tools to manage remote work; a little attention to it will go a long way.

3. Build your employee asset:

They are your biggest strength through thick and thin. Invest your time and effort on maintaining a strong and friendly employee database to help you get through tough business phases. Remember that even during these times, your customers are going to interact with your employees – the vital point of contact – for all their needs. If your employees can assure your customers of continued and quality service regardless of challenges, it’s a battle half won.

4. Work on crisis management and business continuity planning:

To be a successful business, you must give priority to creating a business continuity plan as part of effective crisis management. For unprecedented times like these, it’d really help. Your plan would entail a list of the most important business operations which need to be restored ASAP when the crisis hits. It’d also include employee training to be prepared to work in emergency situations, even remotely, if required.

5. Protect your business repute:

Maintaining your brand presence is of utmost importance. Retaining your current customers and ensuring continual inflow of new ones should be prioritised. Keep your social media presence strong at this time. Send out reminder messages for your brand through these channels and keep the content strong.

Economic crisis is inevitable but careful preventive measures in advance can keep customer trust going and help you retain your market position.

Reasons Why School Management System is Important

Thanks to the evolution of technology by the day, schools are fast growing into ‘smart schools’. The education sector has succeeded in keeping pace with the times, embracing technology with open arms for its betterment. A classic example of this is the School Management System, an innovative software feature that brings immense benefits to schools, which we intend to highlight in this post.

Why Your Institution Needs the School Management System

This technology has simplified administrative and other numerous vital functions carried out in a school in a jiffy. It only makes sense for all schools today to adopt this unique technological feature in their best interests. Here’s why:

1. Reduced communication gap:

The prime challenge a school faces is the gap in information transmitted between the teachers, students and their parents. This three-way communication channel shouldrun smoothlyat all times. Parents should be well aware of their ward’s regular progress and this is what teachers appreciate too – parents sharing the load of child’s academic development.

The School Management System makes this possible by prompting an instant and spontaneous connect between these three significant players via mobile or web apps and SMS/chat bots. All urgent and important info can pass between these three channels immediately, maintaining transparency all along

2. Managing inventory becomes easier:

The school campus encompasses a host of vital inventory in way of library, transport service and hostel provision (if any). The software comes of great use in managing these assets efficiently. By providing for distinct modules for each of these services, the entire school inventory can be managed in just a few clicks. This helps reduce time and effort, thereby improving efficiency.

3. Maintaining attendance records is a piece of cake:

This is the most important task for every school and is perhaps the most challenging as well. Accuracy is the key here. With so many attendance records to handle for thousands of students, the task can be quite daunting for teachers and the admin staff. Not to forget, tons of papers gets used up in the process.

The School Management System brings in paperless attendance records of all students and the software ensures that the entire process is as fool-proof as can be.

4. Effective fee collection:

Collecting fees and maintaining records for every student is yet another challenge for the admin staff, just like attendance. This too gets streamlined with the new technology. Online payments become possible, relieving the parents of undue stress. All the money collected too can be effectively computed via the inbuilt accounting module, keeping track of defaulters too.

5. Simplifying admissions:

Every new academic year welcomes new admissions to the school in bulk. Bulk is the underlying word here because making data entries of all new entrants using the traditional system can be quite tiresome. With the school ERP software, human effort can be reduced; edits to the info can be made easily later on.

If you haven’t already, time to get the School Management System installed for better streamlining of school operations.

JIRA: An Overview of a Unique Project Management Tool

JIRA has gained immense popularity as a highly efficient project management tool that has streamlined several software projects in a jiffy. Here we present a detailed overview of this unique software –the leader in project management tools – its several benefits and how it has changed the face of project management in business organisations.

What is JIRA?

In simple words, JIRA refers to a centralised project management system that allows for customisation too. All projects in an organisation can be entered into a central database under the JIRA software system. Each project then undergoes several workflow processes (software development lifecycle). These workflows, guided by JIRA rules, help keep a check on the individual status of each project.

How Does JIRA Work?

The software works on the famous Agile methodology for development of software. There are two key principles guiding this project management system – user flexibility and easy customisation.

The project management workflows of JIRA represent the work processes in an organisation. JIRA allows for easy customisation of all workflows, including projects, issues/bugs, and other subtasks. Besides, any task or issue can be made part of a workflow. Each workflow is marked by different statuses and transitions. JIRA enables the user to keep easy track of a specific project, determining the exact stage at which the given project or task is currently at.

Why Use JIRA?

Though the tool was originally designed for software developers as a bug tracker, it soon developed into an excellent project management software that can come in handy for several teams/domains. Here are a few advantages of using JIRA in every organisation, irrespective of the nature of work:

Effective team organisation, within and outside:

Not only would you find it easy to manage your team inside the company but also those employees/freelancers who work remotely. JIRA’s team organisation and detailed reporting skills can be used in this case – to keep tab on the tasks assigned to each person.

Customisable workflows:

The best part about JIRA is its customisability. JIRA provides certain built-in workflows too but you can also design your own from scratch to suit your individual needs. For instance, approval requirements for certain tasks can be entered. Also, when the project transitions from one stage to another, certain functions can be set up to be automatically triggered.

Track bugs in time:

This is one of the best features originally intended for the tool – to track any issues in any project at any stage. This facilitates timely resolution of problems to prevent extensive damage. You can also use this project tracking software to track the time taken to work on specific tasks and projects integrated into the tool. This would allow the user to watch progress as it happens and even get accurate timesheets for the entire team working on the project. Project summaries and reports can be easily looked at too.

Conclusion

The emergence of JIRA project management tool has streamlined daily functions, allocating that time to other vital tasks in the organisation. If you haven’t already, time to switch to JIRA now!

How Small Businesses Need to Survive the Coronavirus Crisis

Corona virus continues to spread like wild fire in the whole world. Amid this scary scenario, the worst-scared are the small businesses. They just have one plea to make to their respective governments – save us from closing down.

It’s true. Most small businesses operate literally paycheck to paycheck. They have minimal or no savings at times. Their business thrives only temporarily, sometimes seasonally. They primarily sustain on daily cash inflow which means daily incoming customers. In the current times, the number of customers has dwindled and as more people prefer to stay home, most small businesses have entirely shut down.

This isn’t good news at all because the longer the situation continues, these businesses could literally collapse. In the wake of this looming scare, is there anything to pick them up?

What to Do in Small Business Financial Crisis

We’re well aware of the situation now. Small shops and businesses like bars, restaurants, beauty salons, and the like depend on daily cashflow to meet their expenses. Whatever they make gets expended on paying bills, salaries, inventory, etc. In tough times, they fail to meet up even these expenses too, let alone save or enjoy any profits at all.

To make matters worse is another cruel reality – small businesses face greater credit constraints than large, successful enterprises. With lower loan repayment ability, they even find it difficult to secure loan help from banks/other credit institutions. So the big question: what do they do now. Economic experts suggest the following measures to be taken immediately to prevent upcoming small business financial crisis.

Apply for SBA loans:

Small Business Administration (SBA) loans are meant to aid small businesses in financing their essential business needs. It’s partially guaranteed by the government and therefore frees the credit lender somewhat of the risk involved. Experts say this is the time to apply for these loans in addition to the disaster relief already being provided by state governments.

Be creative in your marketing:

It wouldn’t have mattered so much earlier but your presence online would make a hell of a difference now. If you aren’t already on social media, come today. Interact with your existing permanent customers, assure them of your resumption of services soon. If you can, look for alternative productive ways of resuming service – home delivery, home services, gate pick-ups, etc. Just anything that can help you keep reaching your customers in this difficult time.

Stick together:

If you have employees, make sure you keep them comfortable. Laying them off isn’t the solution, remind them that you’re in it together and this shall pass. Make short-term meaningful decisions, subject to uninformed change. Take one step one day at a time.

Appeal for extensions:

Ask the landlord to extend rent-payment time and likewise, other businesses you interact with for your daily operations. Assure them that when you have access to cash, you’d pay them all.

It’s difficult but not impossible. Right steps at the right time can help you pick yourself up and move on.

6 Keto-Friendly Snacks That Satisfy Cravings

Who said that just because you chose to go Keto in your diet, you’re going to be deprived of the pleasure of snacking? Or, that you can’t quieten up your inner cravings now that you’re committed to eating healthy? It’s all a myth, my friend. As much as you deserve to be congratulated on taking a bold and healthy step towards eating Keto, you also deserve to satisfy your cravings just as before. The only tiny change you need to bring in though is eat Keto-friendly snacks. And the good news is, there’s no dearth of them out there.

Here we bring to you 6 of the best Keto snacks that you can comfortably munch on in-between meals to satisfy those hunger pangs. Feel free to try your own variations to these the way you like them.

6 Best Keto-Friendly Snacks to Go Crazy

Keto diet is all about low carbs. Keeping that in mind, we’ve selected these top snack options for you:

1. Hard-boiled eggs:

We all love them and we love to have them our own way – scrambled, fried, half-boiled or full-boiled. Well, if you’re now on Keto, better stick to the hard-boiled version. Plus, because they’re nearly always readily available in your fridge, just grab two, boil them to hard and take a big bite when hungry. You can season them as you like to spice them up a bit.

2. Coconut chips:

Fresh and healthy, they’re a great alternative to munching on fried and unhealthy store-bought crisps. Not only do they bring in the goodness of coconut, the mild sweetness in them would also satisfy your craving for something sweet in between a Keto-based meal.

3. Dark chocolate:

We all love chocolate (healthy or not healthy; we just crave for it some time of the day). Keto-lovers can now satisfy their craving for chocolate by opting for its dark version which contains at least 78% cacao (seemingly healthier than normal chocolate). You can simply take a bite as it is or melt and use it as fondue or dip sauce with your favourite evening fruit snack.

4. Keto chocolate shake:

Yes, you can continue to enjoy your favourite summer drink – the chocolate shake – by adding non-dairy coconut milk to it. Sprinkle some cinnamon and a few drops of vanilla extract as well to create a beautiful chocolaty-white colour for your delicious Keto snack.

5. Keto nuts:

They’re perfect to keep in your purse/bag when at work, on the go or just sitting at home. Just pop a few in your mouth each time you feel a hunger pang hitting against your belly and you’re set for a while. Macademias, hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans and brazil nuts are the top Keto choices.

6. Veggie sticks and low-carb dip:

An easy and nutritious Keto snack any time of the day. Carrot, cucumber or celery sticks dipped freely into cream cheese or sour cream is an unbeatable combination.

Feel free to add to these snack options and let us know below. Munch Keto, stay healthy.

Tips to Choose Home Decor Accessories to Create a Picture-Perfect Look

Your home is your heaven – your very own refuge you long to come back to after a long day out. It’s also the mirror of who you are as a person, reflecting your tastes and choices in living. It’s only natural you’d want it to be perfect so as to impart an exact impression of your very own personality to the outside world. But do you know that creating a picture-perfect look for your home isn’t as daunting a task as it may seem. It’s neither time-consuming nor has to be heavy on the pocket

Just by tastefully choosing a few home décor accessories can make a world of difference to your little heaven on earth. Here are a few home decorating tips & ideas on choosing the best home décor stuff so that your guests feel that they’ve entered a magical world.

Home Décor Ideas for Picture-Perfect Homes

Remember whatever you choose needn’t be too complex or costly. It can be simple, everyday stuff you can pick right up at a home store. The trick lies in using those items to create magic.

Choose a picture-perfect rug first:

Start your home décor with the most basic and highly important accessory – the rug. It can be stylish, colourful, bold or elegant, but a rug can really add character and life to the room. It’s the foundation on which you can build up other decoration work.

Put more picture frames around you:

You may not even realise but picture frames and wall art are one of the best décor accessories to spruce up your home. They can bring life into any room where they’re placed almost instantly.

Besides that, placing them in unique ways can actually change the entire look of your room. Place your picture frames horizontally to make the room look wider. If you place portrait photographs, the room looks taller in height.

Mirrors can work magic too:

Of course you need them for a vital reason – to look at yourself every morning before heading out. But using them as a decorative feature on walls is the best way to create illusionary space in any room.

Try placing them on the empty wall adjacent to the one where you hung your picture frames/wall art. Not only would the mirror reflect the image, it’d also make the room look wider. Also, hanging mirrors near the windows will add more natural light to the room. This style tip works best for low-lit or dark living spaces.

Use light fixtures for more light and style

Another basic element of every home but you can use varied light fixtures to create different lighting to suit varying moods. If you want to focus on wall art, accent light fittings can do the job. Soft wall-fitted lights or designer table lamps can create an ideal romantic setting.

Whatever decorative items and accessories you use and how you beautify your house with them, it’d be a direct reflection of what you think and like. Try and be instinctive as much as possible.

Digital Payment: A Way to Reduce Social Contact

Social distancing is the current norm that every citizen of the world is following religiously. Well, simply because each of us realises its immense importance now than ever before. It’s only in the benefit of us (individually) and of the entire world that we’re a part of. And every step towards the achievement of this common goal counts. One such important measure is digital banking.

The RBI has strongly appealed to and encouraged the entire world through several means of communication to accept and follow digital payment method. It is being looked at as a powerful way to reduce social contact as well maintaining the need of the hour – social distancing.

Why are Currency Notes Deemed Unsafe?

According to research, the corona virus has the potential to stay active on several physical surfaces including metal, cardboard and paper. This includes currency notes too, which are currently deemed as the highest risk transmitters of the virus. The UK, Australia and Canada have already made the switch to polymer notes. In other nations, until this possibility can be looked into, digital payments are a safe and more convenient alternative.

Why is Digital Payment Crucial at This Hour?

Currency notes have contributed quite a bit in the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 in the entire world. This is because these notes involve hand-to-hand touch, an extremely risky means of spreading the virus from one person to another within seconds. With a view to reduce such physical and social contact among people and to further curtail the spread of the virus, governments in several parts of the world followed a state or nation-wide shutdown policy.

This entailed shutting down of stores, malls, theatres, and the like. However, it can’t be denied that exchange of currency and making/receiving payments even at this critical hour is inevitable. We need money for everything – from buying essentials in the wake of this unprecedented crisis to paying employees working from home. To keep this currency flow going, the RBI, with support from local governments the world over, is encouraging respective citizens to adopt, rather completely switch to, digital banking wherever possible.

How does it help? It drastically removes the possibility of any physical touch and also reduces the chances of social contact. People don’t need to use or distribute currency notes anymore for their vital needs. They can easily and safely accept and make payments via numerous digital payment channels available at their disposal –internet banking, mobile banking, UPI, PayPal, mobile digital wallets, etc.

These channels can be easily installed on every phone or portable device in the form of internet or mobile apps. Just one click and you’re all sorted to pay bills, groceries, fees and whatever else you’d been paying via currency notes earlier. It’s that simple.

To Sum Up

The corona virus impact has crippled several economies. While its aftereffect still needs to be seen once it wades off, to keep the economy going strong and not cause turbulence, digital payment is being looked at as the best substitute.

How the Coronavirus Outbreak Will Affect Your Job Search

The coronavirus pandemic has tightly gripped the whole world in its claws, bringing about life-changing consequences almost overnight. While the corona scare has succeeded in threatening people the world over, there are a few sections of the society that have been the worst affected. The job-seekers, for example.Where the corona scare is keeping businesses shut down and people shut in at homes, those who’ve lost their jobs are finding it extremely difficult to cope up.

How the Coronavirus Outbreak Has Affected Job Search Internationally?

According to a report by The Economic Policy Institute, the virus outbreak is likely to remove 3 million jobs in the US by summer. Furthermore, the UN prediction presents an equally grim picture. The international body fears at least 25 million jobs getting eradicated all over the world.

The reason – most businesses have closed down, resulting in massive loss of revenue. The problem aggravates because we don’t know yet until when the situation would last. The longer these businesses keep shut, the employees are uncertain of their futures at their jobs. To worsen the problem, a large number of organisations the world over have laid off their employees, again owing to revenue loss.

In such a situation, these poor employees are standing at crucial crossroads, not knowing what to do or where to go. Considering the highly uncertain global situation, adding to it the equally ugly job market at the moment, lots of job seekers are low on hope. And it’s not entirely baseless either. Employees are being laid off, jobs are uncertain (because of uncertainty over businesses reopening) and even if jobs are there, searching for a job is daunting.

There’s little or no room for salary negotiations. This means that even if there are few new jobs on offer, candidates may just have to be content with what’s on offer. Besides, underemployment is also likely to considerably increase amid the coronavirus outbreak. With businesses having closed down, lots of employees working from home find it difficult to get enough work to sustain both themselves and generate enough revenue for the company too.

How a Prolonged Shutdown Might Affect the Job Market

We’ve evaluated above the corona impact on job search since the pandemic broke out. Now imagine if this entire situation were to prolong for a while more – 15 days, a month, a few months, a year? It’s hard and scary both to imagine so. Put it this way. All of the above ramifications we’ve discussed so far multiplied by two! This is how this virus is going to have game-changing effects on the global economy, particularly the job sector.

If business organisations continue to remain shut for a prolonged period, more lay-offs may hit employees, for revenue loss. These job seekers may not find enough jobs too for there won’t be just enough work left in the market for long. Underemployment may continue to be on the rise as well.

We can only adopt a wait-and-watch policy for now and hope for things to get better, well, soon.

Staffing & Recruiting: Do They Have Common Goals?

These two terms are often interchangeably used, and for this reason, they’re often confused too – one with the other. While it’s easy to assume that staffing and recruiting are two sides of the same coin, the reality is far from so. The two words may sound to mean the same, but they’re actually different. Here we attempt to explain whether staffing and recruitment goals are common or are they two different processes.

Staffing and Recruiting – Common Goals They Share

These two processes indeed have some common objectives. Here’s what they share in common:

• The common purpose both these processes intend to achieve is finding a suitable candidate to fill a specific role in the organisation.
• Both these services come to the applying candidates free of cost; the fee is charged by the concerned companies in search for prospective employees.
• Both these processes are targeted at addressing common problems faced by the business or the HR. These include difficulty in hiring the right talent, employee retention or low employee productivity.

Now that we’ve discussed the common objectives of recruitment and staffing in any organisation, let’s look at some of the key differences between the two. You’d then know that these two terms aren’t really interchangeable.

How Staffing and Recruiting are Different from Each Other

1. Staffing agencies hired by most businesses aim at hiring candidates to fill short-term job positions. People for these roles are intended as temporary hires and appointed on contractual or project basis.
   Recruitment companies are asked to provide candidates to companies for full-time, permanent roles.
2. Staffing agencies can be really good at expediting the search-and-hire process for a company. They’re generally preferred over recruitment firms for urgent position-filling.
3. Staffing firms generally maintain a well-researched database of candidates. This helps them scan through those immediately available with the desired specific skill sets in case of urgent requirement by a company..
   Recruitment firms, on the other hand, may work both with candidates actively looking for jobs and those who aren’t.
4. Companies generally hire staffing agencies to fill an urgent requirement. They’d therefore provide specific information regarding skill sets requirement. As such, the agency wouldn’t need to be too involved in candidate screening and interviews.
   Recruitment firms would first flash the requirement for a suitable candidate, screen relevant resumes, organise interviews with shortlisted candidates and finally select the ones that best suit the job requirement in hand.
5. The staffing process is actively involved in the complete life cycle of employment of a particular candidate. This includes appraisal, promotion, retention policies and exit interview of the employee.
   A recruitment company, as explained above, is more involved in the actual selection and hiring process of a candidate. It’s therefore less concerned in the latter’s entire employment cycle.

Summing Up

Now we understand that even though staffing and recruitment do share a common goal of finding the right candidate for the company to fill a role, they do have their fair set of differences. It doesn’t seem appropriate to use them inversely then.

Improve Your Immunity with Diet and Lifestyle Changes

Let’s put it this way. Your immunity is your bodyguard, literally. It’s your body’s natural defence mechanism to prevent the entry of any foreign entity into the system. This means whenever there’s common cold or flu doing the rounds in the neighbourhood, your body immunity can still help you stay safe. Well, there’s only one condition though.

Your immunity has to be strong enough at all times to efficiently serve its role of a robust bodyguard. Only then can it help you stay healthy and free of sicknesses. Can this really be done? Is there any way to boost your immunity so that it can help you in critical times? Of course there it is and it’s not too difficult either. With a simple, doable change in your lifestyle, you can hope to stay healthy for longer.

Want an Immunity Boost? Eat and Live Healthy

Here’s how minor changes in your diet and daily living can bring about significant improvement in your immunity levels:

Include a rainbow of colours in your daily meals

And you though rainbows are only in the sky? Well, you can now bring them to your plate by including vegetables and fruits of varied shades in your everyday diet. You need lots of fresh greens, no doubt, but also oranges, red, green and yellow peppers, kiwifruits, strawberries, carrots, papaya, and whatnots.

Vegetables and fruits of different colours are all rich in antioxidants. They help fight attack by free radicals and molecules that can harm body cells.

Go for lots of natural herbs too

Grow them in your garden or get them from the natural foods store near you. They’re loaded with all the good stuff for your health and immunity. Basil, coriander, mint, curry leaves, and oregano are few examples.

Keep smoke and alcohol at bay

They’re fine occasionally, if followed that way religiously. For, tobacco smoking, chewing and alcohol are all known to undermine immunity levels. Socialise and celebrate but not at the cost of your health.

Avoid over stressing

All stress isn’t totally bad. Some of it is vital to keep your mind and body prepared for each day’s challenges. But don’t overdo it. Stressing too much over seemingly petty issues in everyday life can weaken your defences. Find ways to unwind every day and stay calm in the mind.

Nurture your relationships

It’s easy to get lost in everyday schedules and find it as a convenient excuse to not socialise. Even if you find it hard to go out and make new friends, value the ones you have. Spend time with them. Nurture your bond and relive the good ol’ days. It helps.

Look for positive in everything, consciously

Hard times come but they also pass off. Each challenge comes with an opportunity to learn and grow. Make a conscious effort to look at the glass as half full.

They aren’t too difficult, are they? A slight shift in mental approach and eating habits can go a long way in strengthening your immunity and keeping you sick-free.

How do Parents’ Financial Decisions Affect Child Behaviour?

You may not really realise it when you’re a parent to your little one(s), but whatever you say or do – everything literally tends to impact them – positively or negatively, in small ways or big.

This holds true for all things that matter to you at that stage of parenthood; of particular concern is finances. When the responsibility of parenting falls over your shoulders, you start thinking about money matters more than ever.

And little do we realise then how our financial decisions at the time affect the way our children think about or deal with money as they grow older. This is why we attempt here to explain the long-lasting effect of our financial decisions on our kids’ financial attitude later in life.

How Parents’ Financial Decisions Shape Child Behaviour

Before we begin this analysis, it’s important to note here that as parents, we of course make decisions which deem “appropriate” at the time in light of our children’s future. However, we all are humans and we can’t be “right” all the time.

1. You stay on a very tight budget, always:

The result: you unconsciously end up refusing your child each time they approach you with a demand – small or big – toys, clothes, school trips, etc.

As they grow older, they start getting the impression that they’d be denied of whatever they ask for, and therefore they stop demanding. This can prove unfavourable to their own interests at times, especially in terms of career choices. They may hesitate or not even ask for financial support while choosing a professional course, which may leave a huge impact on their career prospect.

Always let your child know the reason when you deny any of their demands. They need to know why something they’re asking can’t be approved of at the time. Follow a cause-and-effectrule with them from a very early age. Most important, refrain from accepting all demands but never let them feel deprived.

2. You tend to overspend because you don’t want to sadden your child:

This is again a potentially harmful condition. Now overspending as a parent could also sometimes be a fallout of you not having gotten all you asked for in your childhood and this is why you don’t want your children to be “deprived” of anything at all.

Unknowingly, you tend to make your child feel at luxury all the time. They get the impression that everything they want and ask for comes super easy to them, almost like on a silver platter. When they grow older, they may not always experience financial stability and comfort at all times and this is when adjusting to newer challenges might get difficult. Besides, they may never learn to “earn” things through hard work.

Teach your child to earn what they feel they’re due or worth getting. It may be as small an item as an expensive pen in the market but tell them that nothing comes easy.

3. You give out in charity way too much:

You may be doing the right thing, no doubt, and also passing on the right message to the next generation. What you need to remember though is to refrain from the practice if it gets unaffordable. Don’t do it out of obligation and teach the same to your kids too. They need to understand the true spirit behind it.

Conclusion

It’s like walking a tight rope and the key is to maintain a fine line of balance between restricting and overspending. Remember what you do today would reflect years later and can either make their future or sadly even spoil it.

How You Can Enjoy Your Vacation Without Having To Leave Your Pet Behind

For those of you who have pets at home would agree that they’re no less than family to us. They eat meals with us, go to parks with us, play with us, and even sleep with us (some of them in the same bed even!) It’s difficult to imagine staying away from them for long; we both are so used to each other. So when it comes to contemplating going on a short holiday, it’s only natural that the first worry that comes to mind is what would become of them behind us? /

What if we say you don’t have to leave them behind! Yes, it’s indeed possible to vacation with your complete family, even your pet member. You just need a bit of careful and advance planning and complete preparation which we intend to help you with through this post.

Quick Tips on How to Vacation with Your Pet Along

1. Try not to forget any of your pet’s belongings:

It’s similar to packing up for your child; you want to make sure that you carry everything that’s needed to keep him/her comfortable during the trip. Likewise, you’d want to carry all that your pet would need all along – its meal bowl, some waste bags to clean it up after, its favourite toys, pet food, a blanket to keep it warm on cold nights, and a leash if it’s a dog/cat.

2. Ensure its safety first:

Your pet needs to be safe especially if you’re travelling with a pet by road. Find out all vet clinics en route so that in case of any emergency, you know where to head to. Also, check with your own vet if the pet is fit to travel and research on the specific airline pet policy if you’re going by flight. Most important, keep a safety harness with you at all times to keep your pet in control.

3. Choose pet-friendly accommodation:

It’s important to check with your hotel if they allow pets and also if they’re chargeable. Also check if the place of stay has any restrictions on the breed or weight of the pet you take along.

4. Stick to their daily diet routine:

Traveling can easily be an excuse to skip or change your pet’s dietary pattern. Avoid that from happening. Any changes in its regular diet may upset its digestion. If you aren’t sure of getting the same brand of food that your pet eats, it’s a good idea to stock up on that brand food so as to avoid causing discomfort to your pet.

5. Make special preparations for aged pets:

If your pet’s a senior or disabled, you need to take extra care remembering to keep their medications, supplements, or wheelchair, if your pet dog uses one.

Conclusion

The best judge of what your pet needs or doesn’t is only you. Let that guide you while traveling with them. Rest, follow these pet travel tips and have a great time together!

5 Must-Follow Tips to Protect Your Skin and Hair from Colours in Holi

It’s March and the Holi fever has begun in full swing. As much as there’s thrill and excitement surrounding the festival, there’s a sense of concern and caution among people too. The festival of colours brings with it an inherent fear of toxic and harmful chemical-laden colours impacting the hair and skin in particular. The concern has risen over the last few years more with growing awareness over the composition of colours used in Holi.

This is no way implies that you should restrict yourself from celebrating the fervour of Holi. You just need to follow these 5 simple skin and hair care tips pre-Holi and enjoy the day to the fullest.

5 Holi Skin and Hair Tips

1. Apply ice:

Did you know that applying ice over your face for about 10 minutes can close the open skin pores? Yes, before you set out to throw and receive the colour shower over you, just massage your face with ice cubes and then apply organic oil or sunscreen lotion. This will further help prevent acne, a general occurrence after Holi.

2. Massage almond oil all over:

Before you set foot outside home, remember to do a full body massage with almond oil considered the best for skin care since it’s rich in vitamin E. The oil thus nourishes the skin and also serves as a layer of protection between your skin and the colours, preventing the latter from sticking to the skin.

3. Don’t forget sunscreen:

Chances are you’re going to be out of home in the sun for longer than usual today. This would increase the risk of tanning too. Applying waterproof sunscreen moisturiser on the face and body can lend immense protection along with minimising tanning effects.

4. Massage hair with coconut oil:

Coconut oil is always considered the best for hair care and Holi is no exception to the rule. Remember to wash your hair the previous day (before Holi) and then massage the hair and roots gently with coconut oil. It would prevent the hair from getting dry and frizzy when you wash your hair again after playing Holi.

5. Use petroleum jelly:

Your lips require special care today as well because colour’s going to be all over you! And lips are considered sensitive so regular lip balms may not be able to offer much protection today.

Instead, consider applying petroleum jelly on your lips. It’s thick in texture and would therefore last longer than other counterparts. You can also put some on your neck, back of the ears, and between the fingers – all those easily-forgotten areas that are prone to colour harm nonetheless.

To Sum Up

We’ve all been through this – enjoying Holi to the core and then looking at our skin and hair thereafter, wishing we could save them from such after-effects. Now you have some simple skin and hair care tips to brace yourself before the festival itself so you can enjoy your favourite day of the year with no regrets. Have a safe and colourful Holi!

Artificial Intelligence – Boon or Bane for Mankind?

A man’s brain is considered the most precious; do you know why? Well, man has a unique quality when compared to other living beings – ability to analyse and solve problems. In fact, it can so be said that a man’s brain is totally matchless when it comes to this.

Interestingly, technology has tried innumerably to imitate man’s nature in certain respects. And a seemingly successful attempt can be seen in the form of Artificial Intelligence, famously referred to as AI all around us. It has become almost omnipresent today – such is outreach and popularity among humans. For, it can literally imitate man and perform basic functions just like the human race.

Some common examples include Siri, Google Assistant, or Alexa – all of which come pre-installed in nearly all portable devices today. We too have started heavily relying on these technological gifts almost blindly. Ever stopped to wonder are these really as much a boon as they seem to be at the outset? Let’s find out together.

Artificial Intelligence – Boon or Bane?

It’s actually a bit of both and here we take a peek into both its sides.

Benefits of AI to humans:

1.Expands human knowledge base:

One great thing that AI tools like Siri or Alexa brought about is the highly expansive treasure of knowledge. These tools have answers to almost everything under the sky! And you can actually avail this know-how to your benefit by getting to learn about a variety of topics – math, English, computer science, geography, or science.

2. Makes life easier:

Well, who doesn’t want that? Particularly in light of our busy schedules and hectic lifestyles. One command and our AI apps are willing to do tough mathematic calculations, book tickets for a trip next week (before you forget), or to research online for a presentation to be submitted by month-end.

3. Can be used by anyone:

Now technology advancements don’t generally seem to go down well with the older generations. They often complain of not being able to understand computers. But AI devices are so user-friendly, they can be used by anyone of any age group – a 3-year-old or a 73-year-old!

Let’s look at some not-so-favourable aspects of Artificial Intelligence:

1. Can do away with the need for humans:

Imagine a world ridden by automated technology where all basic and menial tasks can be done by AI-driven software tools and there’s really no need for humans? After all, why invest in labour force when the same tasks can be performed by AI-driven technology at much lesser costs?

2. Can be misused:

Since AI doesn’t involve human intervention, there’s a high possibility of the technology being misused by ill-intentioned people to serve their malicious interests. And the worst is that it may never be known who’s behind it all.

Conclusion

Artificial Intelligence may have been embraced with open arms all over because of the unique benefits it brings along but the technology still needs extreme caution in use so that it can serve its intended use.

Data Cleansing with AI/ML

We all know about the new-age data analytics organisations the core function of which is to thoroughly analyse different types of data flowing in from a variety of sources. But what we don’t know is that firms end up spending only about 20% of their total work time in data analysis. What do they do the remaining 80% of the time? Well, they involuntarily spend it on cleaning all the “dirty data” and prepping it up for deep analysis.

Now practices like these inevitably lower man productivity in any company, not to mention increase costs of labour and result in time wastage too. This is why a large number of business enterprises, especially the data analytic firms, are now considering better and more efficient options for data cleansing, namely AI or ML-driven data-cleaning techniques.

What Exactly is Data Cleansing?

Before we proceed any further, let’s clarify this first. The data recorded and stored in an organisation is usually never error-free. It’s always cluttered and filled with anomalies. The reason: data entries are done by humans in these enterprises and humans are bound to make errors.

However, the problem arises and comes to the fore when these large amounts of discrepancy-laden data start seeping down to the basic level, affecting the entire data analysis process. As a result, analysts need to spend huge amounts of time, effort, and money to clean up all this “bad data” before they can get on to analysing it for application in specific streams.

How Can ML and AI Data Cleanser Help?

AI stands for Artificial Intelligence and its subset Machine Learning (ML) both have crept into various business industries rather rapidly. Their potential scope in effectively carrying out data-cleaning processes in organisations is now gradually being explored.

Now, data cleaning would require two important steps:

• Identifying errors and inaccuracies in data
• Fixing data discrepancies for better analysis

If machine algorithms can be trained to carry out these two steps efficiently, it’s a win-win situation for data enterprises because they can save up huge bucks and manpower invested into these tasks.

The AI/ML-driven software can be used to first identify the exact error and the various multiple sources where it exists. The machine algorithm then needs to work on replacing the inaccurate data values with correct and updated data, while also ensuring consistency in pattern across all the various sources of data present.

Besides this, the machines would also need to be trained to auto-detect and auto-update data as and when needed to ensure that there is no bad data existing in the system at any point in time and that your customers always have access to refreshed or updated data.

To Sum Up

The very reason for the existence of bad data is human error, which is a natural phenomenon considering that human mind isn’t perfect. It’s only a machine that can be nearly perfect in whatever it does (depending on how well it’s been trained). If data cleaning with AI is implemented right, it can help solve a huge data problem.

Choosing a Logistic Service Provider: Things to Consider

Increasing competition and growing expectations on efficiency, speed, and cost-effectiveness have given birth to the concept of a logistics service provider. Today, multiple companies engage the services of a third-party logistic company(3PL) which can take care of possibly all the various functions involved in the supply chain –from shipping and warehouse stocking to inventory management and cargo, these service providers handle it all.

However, choosing a reliable logistic service provider is of utmost importance here. For, the repute and success rate of your brand depends to a large extent on how reliable the logistic service provider is in the performance of its role. To simplify things for you, we guide you here on how to choose one for your business.

Tips on Choosing a Logistics Service Provider

1. Gauge their abilities:

Agreed, a logistic company has a specific role to follow and certain specific goals to meet. But you still need to carefully assess that the abilities they possess are sufficient to meet both your short-term and long-term goals. Having said that, you must be able to figure out whether a logistic company promises to deliver all that you ask for without having any specific set of competencies.

2. Check for their promptness in service:

Efficient customer service is the next criteria by which you can test an ideal service provider. And how to test that? Speak to the old or existing customers of the logistic company and get reviews about their service – how prompt and responsive are they to customer problems and their eagerness to contribute to problem solving.

3. Look for one with a good safety record:

The safety of your goods being carried is of prime importance. These goods belong to the customers and eventually need to reach them safe and sound. It’s therefore important to choose a carrier that can prove an impressive safety record.

4. Partner with someone who’s stable:

Hiring the services of an efficient logistics service provider for your business is an investment in itself. As such, you need to be doubly sure about whom you’re partnering with. Try and settle for a company which has a strong stability record in the past and doesn’t bend in too easily whenever problems strike.

5. Compare pricing:

In the face of strong competition among similar players, logistic companies too are focusing on bringing their service costs down so as to expand their business. The same should work in your favour too because you’re going to pay the service provider in the end. Do your homework well and look up a few choices, asking to give their quote before zeroing in one.

To Sum Up

To provide ease of convenience and better and efficient service to the customer, the need for logistic service providers can be strongly felt by most businesses today, big or small. However, it’s also important to choose the right service because it puts your brand credibility at stake too in the long run.

Why Should You Invest in Software Testing?

IT companies are forever busy in the race of developing new and unheard-of software. This is primarily owing to the tough competitive market that keeps propelling the development of new software technologies. And, just developing isn’t enough. They even need to carefully time the software release way ahead of competition. In all this rush-rush, it’s fairly easy to miss out on one very important step that falls between software development and release – testing!

What is Software Testing?

In very simple words, testing software means evaluating it thoroughly once it has completed its development cycle to check for any potential missed gaps between what was expected of the software and what has been finally delivered.

Testing the software before formally launching or releasing it in the market is a good idea to know of any discrepancies or even errors made during its development. This allows the organisation to make necessary amends before its release.

This and many more such advantages are on offer by including a simple step in the process of software development – software testing. Let’s look at more such benefits ahead in this post.

Why it’s Worth Investing in a Software Testing Process

Here are some of the most noteworthy reasons why:

1. You end up saving more:

If you’ve been pulling yourself back from the process in fear of expending more money, it’s time to redo the math. Launching new software in the market always involves the implicit risk of customer approval and acceptance. A lot is at stake besides your money, the most important being your repute.

If you end up releasing a flawed product, it can cost you your market image and turn away potential and even existing customers. On the contrary, testing beforehand can help detect and resolve all bugs in time, allowing you to save time and money both, which might prove difficult and expensive both at later stages.

2. You get to enjoy amazing UX:

What’s the USP of your product launch? The User Experience (UX) it promises to offer to its audience – it’s the key to make any product a success or failure. A software product which has been tested for accuracy and is devoid of any glitches is bound to lend an amazing UX to the customer, and satisfied customers mean more profit and growth for your company.

3. It results in higher productivity too:

This is obvious, right? You first spend a certain amount of time and money in developing a software product and after launch (without testing), you discover bugs and flaws. You literally end up spending an equal (or even higher) amount of time, effort, and money all into resolving those issues.

Now, this isn’t very good news for either the company in question (in terms of resource management), nor for the client (in case they’ve outsourced software development). Instead, waiting a while to test the product before launch can make work faster and more efficient too.

Think no more – investing in a software testing cycle today is only going to reap you profits tomorrow.

3 Creative Themes for Your Little Daughter’s Bedroom

Little did you realise when and how soon your tiny bundle of joy has grown into a beautiful little girl. And she sure is growing by the hour, day, month, and year. Each time you celebrate her birthday, a gentle reminder strikes you that she’s growing up and older. Her needs, tastes, and preferences are all changing rapidly, and it’s important to keep pace with them.

So where do we begin? Let’s start with the place where she feels comfortable the most; enjoys the most. Her own little bedroom! You may have painted it all pink upon her arrival into your life. But now as she’s fast-growing into a gorgeous little girl before your eyes, you may want to change the tone of her room a bit.

3 Creative Kids’ Room Ideas that are a Must Try

An important thing to note here is that room interiors cost money and while you may be thinking of your little girl’s room idea for a makeover, you may not be touching it anytime sooner. So you want a theme design that can grow with your daughter and stay age-appropriate with her even as she reaches teenage. Here are some creative ideas on a budget:

1. Play with shapes:

Your little daughter is perhaps at the age where she loves shapes, numbers, and everything to do with patterns and designs. Introduce a playful world of geometry around her in the kids’ bedroom so that she gets a feel of kindergarten learning.

Think of a headboard in the shape of a house complete with a bright-coloured square and a triangle sitting on the top. Lay a hopscotch mat on the floor for her to play on alone or with friends.

2. Introduce a hobby:

This is the age when your little one needs guidance from you on pursuing some interest which would soon turn into her all-time favourite. What better way than to bring it up via her own room? You want her to learn dance?Ballet, for instance. Get large posters of ballet dance poses on the walls, or soften the hues on the walls and tiles to match with the gentleness of the dance form.

Or, if you want her to pursue art/craft, stick around crafty stuff; make it all colourful and fun.Sit with her in the room and encourage her to try out newer stuff to add to the existing collection of decorating ideas.

3. Innovate bunks:

Bunk beds are a great idea to already create shared space for the second one or make room for your daughter’s ‘friend sleepover’ wish as she grows older. Create a three-sided closed look to give the feel of a closed cabinet – instead of the all-open sided ones – your daughter’s very own cosy space she’d need later.

Conclusion

Decorating your kids’ room is always a challenge; you never know how their taste changes as they grow older. But it’s worth taking a risk for the future because their present joy is invaluable.

Home Business Startups – Achieve Financial Independence From The Comfort Of Home

The concept of home business is fast picking up as people begin to realise the amazing benefits of working from the comfort of their homes and still make decent earning for themselves! Besides, the growing trend of nuclear families and added responsibility of managing the household along with working has further propelled the idea of small investment business from home.

Here are some of the top benefits of starting your business setup at home, if you haven’t already.

How Home Business Start Ups Can Prove Beneficial To You

1. You gain a sense of financial independence

Working for your own gain is always different from working for or under others. While it used to be difficult earlier to possibly think of making this a reality, it isn’t that hard anymore. Lots of men, and even women, are looking for newer and lucrative ways of starting home businesses with an intent to enjoy that indisputable feeling of financial independence.

2. You get to enjoy the comfort of your own house

This has to be the best advantage of all. Today people are juggling multiple responsibilities to be able to somehow strike a balance between their work life and home life. The added pressure does create a lot of undue stress as well, which can take the shape of manifold problems later on.

With running your own business at home, you’re your own boss. You can plan things better to suit your convenience and also skip the long and unnecessary commuting hours to work. Needless to say, those hours can be put to more productive use at home to make higher business gains.

3. You’re free to scale up or down as the need arises

You are the best judge of the success scale of your business and you should be able to upsize or downsize it as and when you feel right. This may not always be possible with operating your business in a fixed rented space. Expansion may be a challenge due to space constraints and downscaling too may be difficult, considering that you’ve a signed lease contract.

To avoid any such inconvenience, it’s best to consider setting up a business in your own home space where you have the freedom to hire more or less people depending on how well your business is doing.

4. You get tax benefits too

Your home business may even qualify for a deduction in their home costs, such as mortgage interest, property tax, utilities, or repairs and maintenance against the income earned from your business. Of course, this is only possible when you can prove that your home is your primary place of business. Also, only the home expenses directly related to your business can be deducted. It’s still worth it!

Conclusion

Home businesses surely lend a breather from the otherwise stressful work schedules of going out and lending your services. Besides, who knows you may even end up earning higher from your small business ideas than your last/current job.

Why Travelling Makes Us More Creative

Travelling is always fun. In fact, the very idea of stepping out of home for a few days on a vacation is enough to bring joy to the heart and energise you with new-found bliss. This is the power a simple word travel holds. But did you know that it has the potential to increase your creative juices too?

Sounds a bit out of the ordinary? Hey! but it’s true. And it’s not we saying it alone; substantial research has been done on the matter to prove that travelling can make a person more creative. Here we explore the creative benefits of travelling.

How Travelling Helps Increase Creativity

There are various ways how but the most important fact that helps is the very experience of creating a physical distance between the current place you’re in and yourself. Often times, sitting at the same place all day (as in the case of homemakers) and carrying out the same monotonous chores all along can make the mind dull and inactive. The result: we start feeling bored, angry, negative, and even depressed.

At such a time, the best thing possible that can come to our rescue is a short break or holiday away from home. This can bring in a whole new and fresh approach to doing the same things or carrying out the same routine chores. This is because after a vacation, the mind gets freshened up and gains strength to look at things from a happier perspective than keep brooding over them.

This is how innovation and creativity set in to deal with things around us. Let’s understand a bit more the relationship between travel and being creative:

• You get innovative at finding better solutions to the same old problems. When you go to new places and meet new people, make new friends, you get a better insight into each individual’s set of problems. This lends a whole new perspective to looking at life which is currently restricted to only focusing on ourselves. We get better ideas at dealing with our own problems from the point of view of how others are possibly handling them.
• You become more self-confident going to different places, especially if you’re travelling all by yourself. It gives you the strength to handle different situations on your own and you get creative at finding better ways of doing things your way. When you’re filled with self-confidence, it automatically gives a kick to the way you do things in your day-to-day life.
• Travel gives you a peek into new things around you. This immediately provides new ideas to the mind.You become more open-minded and adaptive to others’ beliefs and lifestyles as you see them around you and somewhere you try and incorporate the same in your life too; perhaps alter them more creatively to suit your specific situation.

Summing Up

Creativity is essential to feeling good about oneself and having confidence in one’s abilities. It doesn’t happen sitting in one corner of the earth. Travel bolsters this skill instantly.

6 Reasons to Choose Disposable Cups & Plates for Events

Planning an event can be quite cumbersome; there’s so much to arrange for your guests to make them comfortable. And then there’s always the additional pressure of making an impression in terms of the décor and the way the overall event turns out. All this is bound to involve a huge sum, of course, but with event costs spiraling up of late, people are now resorting to more affordable events that exude the same elegance nonetheless.

One of the things where it’s possible to scale back a little is dishware used at events. Renting out fancy crockery and cutlery to make an impression the guests can be quite costly indeed. Instead, perhaps the best option to resort to is disposable flatware. Now, we aren’t really referring to the paper cups and plates that you may be using for home parties or picnics (because that could raise eyebrows at the mention of disposable paper plates for big events like wedding or receptions).

The whole arena of disposable tableware has immensely evolved over the years, from where it used to be restricted to plain white and flimsy cups and plates. Today the variety to look out and opt for is enormous – all at affordable prices to suit every budget and event need, and absolutely sophisticated-looking at the same time too.

Here we present a range of benefits that you can derive from choosing disposable dishes at a large event, which you may have chosen to overlook for some reason.

Top 6 Benefits to Go For Disposable Cups and Plates at Events

1. Extremely hygienic:

Now that’s the first concern most of your guests (if not all) would have while using the dishes at your party. Lot of people feel uncomfortable using dishes at large events on the premise that the same dishes would have been used by a million others either at the same or a different event.

But disposable dishware can put that apprehension to rest. These dishes are used by only one person at a time and thrown away immediately after use. Therefore, they guarantee improved levels of hygiene over other crockery.

2. Highly affordable:

Hosting a large event is anyway a very pricey affair. And when it comes to saving costs somewhere, you’d like to give your tableware a thought because here you can choose to opt for disposables that are easy on the pocket.

You neither want to purchase dishes for a single event nor rent them out because it’s quite expensive to do so. You can actually buy paper cups in bulk at much lesser price – you may even bargain for special discounts at certain wholesale stores.

3. Easy availability in unlimited numbers:

When throwing large events for a huge gathering, you’d be expecting a large quantity of dishware at the disposal of your guests. It’s hard to keep a strict check on the number of dishes being used for every single guest (some may use more than once too). In this case, renting out dishware can be risky because you might end up falling short of dishes (if you didn’t do the count right or more guests turned up than expected). Go for disposable paper plates, which you can always purchase a few extra (as they’re cost-effective) and even return to the store for a refund if they remain unused.

4. Uniform look:

This is a very important point to consider when choosing dishware for your event. All your tableware that includes meal plates, dessert plates, cups, glasses, spoons, forks, and knives should ideally be consistent in design, color and pattern. Only then they look gorgeous placed neatly on the table. Now with rented dishware this could be a problem sometimes, especially if you need to get a few extra at the last moment to accommodate more guests.

Disposable dishware can be purchased extra even in the beginning at a reasonable price and from a wholesale store where you’d get unlimited stocks in the same design and pattern. Therefore, you needn’t worry about they not being uniform for all the guests.

5. Safe for kids:

Your event would have a satisfactory gathering of younger guests as well, i.e., kids of all age groups. It’s good to be prepared in advance for hosting these special invitees as well. Your regular dishware – china crockery or sharp-edged steel forksmay not be suitable for very young children who can be at risk of harming either themselves or damaging the dishes if left unattended.

This could mean a loss to you if the rented dishes get broken accidentally or if the child gets harmed again unknowingly. Disposable dishes that way are much safer to handle and use for all age groups – especially the children and the elderly. They are unbreakable and you wouldn’t even have to worry about running out of dishes because kids generally tend to waste more sometimes simply out of fun.

6. Appealing to taste:

Your dishware shouldn’t just be utile; it should even look attractive and appealing laiddown at the table. Your guests should feel prompted to pick it up and start using it. A lot of people choose not to go for disposables considering that they aren’t very tasteful, especially for special events like weddings, receptions, and the like.

Quite on the contrary, disposable dishware has undergone enormous change since its first inception. We’ve been so used to buying and using white paper cups and plates that we aren’t able to think beyond. Well, the good news is that you just need to step into a store and ask – they’ll show you a plethora of options that are enough to get confused.

There’s even a disposable variety that looks so authentic that neither you nor your guests would be able to discern the difference. Some of them even look closely similar to china dishes!

To Conclude

Events are a lot of work anyway. Don’t let the worry of renting dishware bog you down. Choose disposables and save effort and money to clean up after.