Author: locobusiness

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Recycling at work

There are 4 ways in which you can kickstart a recycling trend in your work place. If a business wants to initiate a recycling campaign, it has more success of succeeding if it comes form the top. It should be seen as an overall policy that is actively encouraged by management. Highlight the benefits of recycling at work to your colleagues and bosses.

1)    Benefits to your business

  • It’s easy to set up and run
  • It saves space and can reduce clutter
  • It’s cost effective and can save your company money
  • It reduces waste going to landfill, saves energy and helps tackle climate change
  • People also like to be able to recycle at work as they can at home.

2)    Find a local recycling service provider

  • Find a local recycling service provider in your area and crate a list of companies who can fulfil your waste material needs

3)    Setting up a recycling scheme

To ensure that everyone is aware of the recycling scheme, you may want to consider:

  • Hosting a recycling day or event to launch the new recycling scheme to employees. For example, hold a desk recycling amnesty to encourage staff to recycle as much as they can from their desks.
  • Train staff to recognise and understand the different materials that can and cannot be included in your recycling collection
  • Put a list or poster above your recycling containers identifying what can be recycled to make sure that correct items are being recycled in the correct way.
  • Position containers in a convenient location to make it as easy to recycle items as it is to throw them away
  • For posters to promote your recycling scheme, visit www.recyclenowpartners.org.uk

4) What else can you do?

  • Save paper by only printing out what you really need. Also print double sided so less paper is wasted.
  • Re-use scrap paper for notes
  • Help charities by recycling a work. Many of them will be delighted to collect your old mobile phones, computer equipment, stamps and printer cartridges. These can all raise funds for charities.
  • If your company is interested in taking further environmental measures, visit the Carbon Trust website at http://www.carbontrust.co.uk/solutions/

Source: www.recyclenow.com

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Recycling facts!

UK households produced 30.5 million tonnes of waste in 2003/04, of which 17% was collected for recycling. (source: defra.gov.uk) This figure is still quite low compared to some of our neighbouring EU countries, some recycling over 50% of their waste. There is still a great deal of waste which could be recycled that ends up in landfill sites which is harmful to the environment.

Recycling is a tremendous way of conserving energy and helping the environment.
Some interesting facts that may make you change your waste disposal habits

Did you know that:

  • 1 recycled plastic bottle would save enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for 3 hours
  • 1 recycled tin can would save enough energy to power a television for 3 hours.
  • 70% less energy is required to recycle paper compared with making it from raw materials.
  • 1 recycled glass bottle would save enough energy to power a computer for 25 minutes.

Some Interesting Facts

  • Up to 60% of the rubbish that ends up in the dustbin could be recycled.
  • The unreleased energy contained in the average dustbin each year could power a television for 5,000 hours.
  • The largest lake in the Britain could be filled with rubbish from the UK in 8 months.
  • On average, 16% of the money you spend on a product pays for the packaging, which ultimately ends up as rubbish.
  • As much as 50% of waste in the average dustbin could be composted.
  • Up to 80% of a vehicle can be recycled.
  • 9 out of 10 people would recycle more if it were made easier.

For more information on recycling visit: http://www.recycling-guide.org.uk/facts.html. It’s a fantastic site full of useful and interesting information.

Source: www.recycling-guide.org.uk

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Tips for setting up your own business

So you’ve decided to take the plunge and embark on one the most challenging and rewarding adventures, you’ll ever experience! But you do know that no matter how much you think you’ve eliminated all the risks involved, inevitably something so fundamental wil escape all your careful planning and research. So Business Link have come up with 10 tips to overview the whole process to help ensure that all angles are covered so read on……………

1) Assess your skills
Coming up with a Bright Idea is probably the easiest part. You should ask yourself if you have all the essential skills & talent to run a thriving and profitable business. Being a go-getter goes without saying, but do you have the drive, resolve, initiative, enthusiasm and mental and physical energy and determination to start a business? You’ll need to be a good communicator ( it really helps to have the ability to delegate) and manager, as well as inventive and flexible – and more importantly –  work well under pressure.

2) Research the market
You choice of service or product may be a lifelong passion or pastime, but is there a market out there for and is it a viable business proposition?  Market research is crucial and you need to research thoroughly before taking the plunge or indeed look for investment / financial assistance. All research should be evaluated under the following three criteria:
Who and what are you competitors and what do they offer.
What size is your market base? Who are your customers?
What is the demand for your products and services?

3) Create a winning business plan
A good business plan is central to obtaining finance. It should include a description of your business and management team, information on your products/services, revenue projections and financial requirements, and marketing and operational plans.
For examples:http://www.teneric.co.uk/sample-business-plan.html

4) Take advice
Always seek advice, guidance and support in all aspects of your business – from the initial concept and business planning, to ongoing development and beyond. This will also help you to look at your business objectively, which can be difficult when you are so closely involved.

5) Know the law
Make sure you understand the legal particulars of starting and running a business, including VAT registration, the legal requirements for your type of business (e.g. sole trader, limited company, partnership), partnership contracts, health and safety, and employment law. This can be viewed as endless paperwork and doesn’t seem as exciting as the development of the product / service itself, but is important to keep it up to date so that it doesn’t become an even bigger headache down the line.

6) Examine your best finance options
Once you’ve calculated how much money you need to start and run your business, it’s time to decide where you are going to seek financial assistance from. This could be funds from business partners or investors, a bank loan or overdraft, or you may be able to borrow from friends and family. Work out what’s best and safest for you. If going down the bank route, check out all the financial institutions and shop around for the best deals.

7) Formulate a sales strategy
Again, this comes from identifying your target customer base and their wants and needs. How are you going to present your service / product and then decide on the most cost effective sales channels to reach your target market personal contact (e.g. direct selling, retail), telesales, direct mail or the internet? Look at what your competitors are doing and see what works for them

8) Keep on top of bookkeeping
The paper chase can be incredible when first starting out in business, but it pays to keep on top of it all. Many small business owners end up managing the accounts themselves, especially when first starting out. For this reason it’s essential that you find an accountant that you can trust, and who can advise you on the financial aspects of running a business.

9) Recruit the right staff
When you’re ready to recruit staff, identify the areas of the business where you’ll need help and expertise. Can you afford to employ staff with the relevant experience? Enhance your offering by drawing attention to the breadth of experience an employee will gain working for a start up, as well as opportunities to grow with the company.

10) Find the right location
The decision on where you base your business needs to be carefully considered, taking into account costs, competition and accessibility for staff and clients. Also consider the kind of image you wish to convey with your business premises. Do you need to attract passing trade in a busy area or is it more important to have cheaper or larger premises in a less prominent area?

Source: www.teneric.co.uk

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Guide to writing a business plan

1) If you want to raise money for your business you will need to have a well presented, carefully researched business plan to support your request.

2) Producing a business plan also helps you to keep control of your business by allowing you to look at how your actual performance differs from your forecast performance â” and forcing you to explain the differences.

3) Preparing the plan can help you clarify your thoughts about the success or failure of your business venture. It can also help highlight in your mind the important steps which need to be taken.

4) Consider whether one plan will suffice for outsiders and inside use, or if two plans will be more helpful to you.

5) Your plan must get across to readers what is interesting about your business. Stress your management ability and demonstrate carefully the market for your product.

6) An ideal format for your plan for outside use is to have between three and ten pages of text which draw out the important points, plus a series of financial figures. Excessive detail should be confined to appendices.

7) You can get help to produce the plan from an advice agency or an accountant. It is crucial to try out your plan on someone independent before you try it out on the financiers.

8) Use the Checklist: what should be in your business plan to help you decide what should be in your business plan.

9) Your plan should be typed and neatly presented in a folder.

10) Include cash flow forecasts, profit forecasts, and possibly a balance sheet forecast. The more money you wish to raise the more detail your forecasts need to have and the greater period they should cover.

Source: www.smallbusiness.co.uk

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Raising finance for your business idea

RAISING FINANCE
Here’s a quick lowdown on how what you can do to raise money for small to medium business startup.

BANK FINANCE
All banks say that they will lend you money. But they won’t lend on the back of just an idea.
You’ll need to have worked through your idea and how this will generate profits – enough profits to pay back the loan in perhaps a year or so.

You need to therefore prepare a business plan to discuss with your bank before you start raising finance.

Here’s a step by step process for approaching banks:

1) Sketch out a rough idea of your new business onto a couple of pages with rough finances and and idea on how much you’ll need.

2) Put together your own assets and loans you have outstanding

3) Approach your bank and make an initial appointment

4) Discuss the idea with your bank – this is a crucial meeting. You’ll be able to find out if your bank will support you. Also find out what type of information and in what format your bank needs to assess your application – this will include the format of your business plan

5) You’ll need to go back once you have formulated your plan and discuss further.

DO NOT TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER

If you get refused find out why – there may be many reasons.

1) Your sales and profits are to optimistic

2) The bank feels the risk is too high

3) Your idea is not robust

4) The market for your idea is limited

Find out why and you may be able to change your plan (say, to a more realistic plan) and get less finance but for a small business – to start with – you can build it up later but at least you have started.

Write your business plan with http://www.teneric.co.uk/sample-business-plan.html

Source: www.teneric.co.uk

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What are the must-have office stationery supplies?

As much discussion as there has been in recent years about the ‘paperless desk’, the reality is that, as almost anybody who has ever walked into an office will be able to vouch for, the average office is showing no sign of living up to that ideal any time soon!

And besides, why would you necessarily even want to have an office that was devoid of paper? After all, even the most IT-dominated office environment can be made more functional and efficient with the help of some well-chosen simple stationery, and here at Loco (http://www.loco.ie), we can point you towards the right stuff to buy.

Why? Well, because we’re a renowned source of all kinds of office supplies in Ireland, with our stationery selection being particularly enviable. But of course, especially when you are moving into an office for the first time – perhaps as a result of a new business start-up – you’ll want to know what stationery you are best advised to purchase.

The truth is that there’s much more to choosing the right office stationery than merely investing in some staples and paperclips, and even suddenly finding yourself short of something as simple as some binders or printer paper can hamper your productivity to a surprisingly great extent.

Of all the office stationary items that are available to buy, paper is surely the most obvious. It’s this stuff that you’ll need to have plenty of in your printer when there’s that vital business document that needs to be printed off. Or you may use paper to make random notes, among many other possible functions. The Loco online store is a fine source of a comprehensive range of paper supplies, including printer paper and copier paper.

Alternatively, you may be in need of items with which to write, such as ball pens, fountain pens, markers and highlighters and of course, many of these are useless without certain associated accessories such as a whiteboard or two.

Once you’ve purchased those, in such a deadline-dominated environment as an office, you’ll probably then want to consider those business supplies that are so invaluable in helping office employees to keep to their schedules, such as diaries and calendars.

Other must-have stationery items for your office include files and folders, which are invaluable for storing everything from legal documents to employee records. In this category, we stock everything from lever arch files and ring binders to plastic wallets and box files.

And of course, there are so many other examples of office stationery that you may or may not also be required to purchase, including everything from small desk calculators for the rapid working out of vital sums, to envelopes in which to send those all-important documents. With Loco (http://www.loco.ie), you are assured of a generous selection of must-have office supplies.

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So you think cheap office chairs are ok?

You sit on your sofa for a couple of hours a night; you sit on your office chair for a minimum of 8 hours a day…yet you are willing to spend thousands on a sofa and bark at a chair that costs more than €50.00…

We came across this story online… http://alturl.com/wqje6 it explains how a 14 year old boy was killed because the gas action in the office chair exploded and killed the poor young boy….

This, in itself, should be motivation enough for you to invest in quality office chairs. In all walks of life, we come across cheap alternatives that are poor quality and the office furniture and office chairs market in Ireland is no different.

Did you know that all office seats have a gas cylinder in them? Yes you are sitting on a gas cylinder every time you go to work. The gas action allows the chair to go up and down when you fiddle with the lever under the chair. The cylinder is full of nitrogen…..yes you sit on a canister of nitrogen every time you go to work.

Obviously, accidents and explosions of office chairs in Ireland are very rare. However, with the race of main stream office furniture manufacturers to supply the cheapest chair possible, it is evitable that corners will be cut and accidents may happen as a result of poor manufacturing.

So our advice is simple. If you value your staff, if you want higher productivity and if you want to comply with health & safety regulations than you should not consider buying an office chair for less than €100. Better again, you should not buy an operators chair that has not gone through the rigorous BS testing procedures.

Incidentally, when you are disposing of old office chairs you should be very careful where you put them. The gas cylinder needs to be disposed of in an safe and environmentally friendly manner.

That’s the lecture for today over. Trust me…spend the extra few bob on a decent office chair or executive office chair and you will not regret it.

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Stacking Chairs Ireland

Stacking chairs are one of our most popular categories of products. Plastic chairs  are used in a variety of organisations. Primarily we see them used in Community Centres, Church Halls, School Halls and Colleges. Many companies also use stacking chairs for canteen areas and large meeting spaces when alot of seats are required.

Stackable chairs are an economical solution for meetings and get togethers, so whether it is school exams or an AGM for a golf club, traditional plastic chairs can solve a multitude of seating issues. Although stacking chairs are not the most attractive piece of office furniture, they are improving in design. The traditional old type school plastic chair is no longer as ugly and uncomfortable as we all remember. We can all remember doing those exams and coming out with a numb bum. We don’t like to refer to any of our office chairs as cheap chairs, but the fact of the matter is that stackable chairs in Ireland are very affordable. Many resellers will sell their plastics chairs at a starting price of €17.00 or so.

Stacking chairs for sale in Ireland are generally one of two colours, blue and black……so if you are choosing some church chairs why not add a splash of colour. Red, Green, Purple and even pink stacking chairs are now available from most suppliers. All be it, there may be a lead time but if you can wait you should always add a splash of colour.

Many people ask us about the durability of stackable plastic chairs. The key to the durability are the legs. If the legs are manufactured to a high standard they will last forever. The plastic part of the stacking chair, will be, by nature extremely durable and will stand up to alot of abuse. The legs on the other hand will buckle if they are made from cheap steel or moulded plastic.

So in short, if you need to put a large number of bums on seats, a selection of plastic chairs will do the trick. One small tip. If you really want spruce up your office, church hall or community centre why not go for a mixture of colours. Buy some blue, red and yellow stacking chairs. They splash of colour will certainly raise the spirits of all those who sit in them.

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Which office products are the unsung heroes of your office?

As you would expect from the home of great value office products, here at Loco (http://www.Loco.ie) we’re a fan of all sorts of office supplies. However, we think there are some that work harder than others; office products that most of us just couldn’t do without but which are not necessarily seen to be as ubiquitous as computers or office desks, for example. Here are some office products which we think are the unsung heroes of the office.

Plants – you may not think of plants as office supplies but we think that an office without a plant or two is a sad place indeed. That’s why we’ve included a good range of artificial plants in our range of office products. Yes, real plants have the added benefits of creating oxygen in the room, but only as long as they’re alive and for that they need regular watering! Choose our artificial plants and you don’t have to worry about upkeep but they will still give your office an attractive look and pleasant, calming feel, just from having some greenery around. They’re also great when used as room dividers and for providing privacy.

White boards – in an increasingly touch screen world, a world where the keyboard is king and pens will one day be obsolete, we’re here to sing the praises of the humble white board. They may seem old school to some, but white boards are a fantastic way to share ideas, to display thought processes and plans of action, and they really help to brainstorm. What’s more, white boards are way cheaper than iPads and much bigger!

Screens – such a simple piece of office equipment, but we think they give great bang for their buck. Screens help you maximise the potential of your office floor space by delineating areas, and because they provide privacy you can actually fit more desks in. They also cut down on noise and provide a secluded place to work and an area which employees can make they’re own by adding a plant or putting up a picture of a loved one, without cluttering up the whole office.

The kettle – we think this is the unsung hero of any office. After all, who could get through the average working day without a strong coffee to kick off their morning and an afternoon cuppa to get them through that afternoon lull? We stock everything from a budget kettle through to the most sophisticated, state-of-the-art coffee machines, so why not treat yourself and upgrade your kettle when you make your next stationery order?

That’s our list of the office products which we think are the unsung heroes of the office – what are yours? Check out our huge range of office supplies at http://www.Loco.ie and get inspired!

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Your messy office desk may help you think more clearly!

As you’d expect from an office supplies company, here at Loco (http://www.Loco.ie) we’ve always been proponents of clean, de-cluttered office desks and workstations. After all, we stock thousands upon thousands of office products which are designed to organise your desktop stationery and paper supplies so you can work more effectively. However, new research indicates that messy office desks could in fact help employees to think more clearly!

Scientists from the University of Groningen in Germany found that people who worked on messy office desks (as well as from messy shop fronts), thought more clearly than those with organised, mess-free work areas. It is thought that working among chaos makes the brain seek order and therefore organise thoughts in a clear and concise way.

The researchers behind the study say, “Messy desks may not be as detrimental as they appear to be, as the problem-solving approaches they seem to cause can boost work efficiency or enhance employees’ creativity in problem solving. Business and government managers often promote ‘clean desk’ policies to avoid disorganised offices and messy desks, for the purpose of boosting work efficiency and productivity. This practice is based on the conventional wisdom that a disorganised and messy environment can clutter one’s mind and complicate one’s judgements. However, not all evidence supports this conventional link between a messy environment and a messy mind.”

Those who still believe that tidy office desks lead to tidy minds can take comfort in the fact that the study revealed that not all people found their mind was ordered if their desks were not, however. Strangely, while conservatives among the study group did think more clearly when using messy office desks, political liberals weren’t particularly concerned about the state of their desk to begin with and so it had little effect on their thinking or productivity.

So why not use this new research to explain to your boss why your desk is piled high with files, old, opened envelopes and various office products – you’re not being messy, you’re being productive!

For those of you who can’t stand the thought of working in chaos, however, take a look through all of our office products which will help you de-clutter your desk at http://www.Loco.ie