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Manage a Small Business |
Top Productivity Apps for Self Employed
While your favorite apps might involve matching sets of candies, launching birds at unstable structures, or chasing around lovable pocket monsters, you don’t always have the luxury of playing the day away when you run your own business. Luckily, there’s another category of apps that are equally engaging—and can help you maximize productivity. We’ve assembled…
Manage a Small Business |
Networking Tips to Boost Small Business Growth
As an independent business owner, who you know can be equally important as what you know. To ensure a steady flow of projects, it’s important to build and maintain a strong circle of business contacts you can rely on for work and referrals. Below, Denise Thomas, owner of The Effective Communication Coach, gives her advice…
Manage a Small Business |
How to Build Collaborative Teams of Independent Professionals
Finding a way to grow as a small business owner can be a challenge. Teaming up with another independent professional is a great solution—a partnership can bring new skills to the table, help you manage your workload, or even land that big project you’ve had your eye on. Once you’ve decided to partner with another…
Market a Small Business |
10 Must-Have Marketing Tools for Small Business
Marketing your business is an essential part in creating a brand identity, driving a steady flow of projects, and spreading the word about your services. As an independent professional, not only do you have to do great work, but you have to find it as well. Keeping your brand visible and relevant in the marketplace…
Market a Small Business |
How to Develop a Website Strategy to Meet Your Goals
Five website strategy tips to gain real results from your personal site.
Start a Small Business |
How to Start a Small Business: 7 Basic Legal Requirements
Make sure your small business operates legally with all of the required licenses and permits.
Grow a Small Business |
How to Network with Your Peers
Networking with your peers may sound too easy to be good advice, but there are many advantages: hearing a new perspective, gaining industry advice, or obtaining an outside opinion about an idea you have, just to name a few. It can be easy to get caught up in the daily grind of running your own…
Manage a Small Business |
8 Ways to Keep Your Knowledge and Skills Current
Professional development is a great way you can stand out from the crowd in today’s competitive business world. Your knowledge and skills can be the difference between landing the clients you want and struggling to grow your business Having knowledge and skills above and beyond the basics of your field can give you a professional…
Manage a Small Business |
5 Things You MUST Do Before Logging Off On Friday
Meet MBO’s brilliant, exceptional employees. Each month we feature a new individual apart of our unique team and give you the story behind one of their greatest strengths in both their professional and personal life.
Market a Small Business |
How to Determine Your Target Clients as a Consultant
Getting consulting clients is a big part of your job when you run your own business. Identifying a target audience is a great strategy to help achieve this goal. Many independent consultants can benefit from revisiting their target clients. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to refocus the target market for your business, defining…
Grow a Small Business |
Independent Business Owner Advice Based On Your Enneagram
For more than 25 years, MBO has led the charge to keep the independent economy moving forward. And now we are thrilled to give you advice based specifically on your enneagram type. Unsure what your number is? Take the quiz from the Enneagram Institute and discover your strengths and weaknesses. As an Independent Business owner,…
Weekly Independent |
The Weekly Independent: April 25, 2022
Being a successful independent contractor or a Client of Choice isn’t just about doing the best work or having the best perks. It also means staying one step ahead of the curve. That’s why each week we bring you The Weekly Independent, a quick-hit digest of news of note from around the web. Kelly Beckner,…
Grow a Small Business |
9 Ways to Increase Productivity When You’re Self Employed
Staying productive can be tough as an independent contractor. Besides the usual distractions of a chirping inbox or the siren’s call of social media, there’s the added layer of working remotely— where there’s always something else vying for your attention. Minimizing distractions, lowering your stress levels, and staying organized will go far in boosting your…
Manage a Small Business |
5 Rights of Independent Contractors
It is important to understand your rights and how to protect your interests when you run your own business. As an independent contractor, you dictate when, where, and how you work. You can perform work for multiple clients, and have expertise in your particular industry. Some clients you work with will be familiar with independent…
Workforce Management |
Independent contractor vs employee: Which should your recruitment strategy include this year?
The workforce of many companies today consist of a mix of full-time and contract workers. When considering whether your recruitment strategy should include independent contractors or employees, there are many rules and regulations to take into account as well as practical applications. Employees vs. Independent Contractors Employees work for a single employer, who can dictate…
Workforce Management |
How to Attract and Retain Great Independent Talent
Five tips for leveraging and engaging top independent talent for your business.
Workforce Management |
What to Include in an Independent Contractor Agreement
An independent contractor agreement or contract is an important part of engaging contingent talent. While your company and the contractors you work with want to get started quickly, skipping a contract can lead to a lot of future problems. Why Do You Need an Independent Contractor Agreement? Legal protection: A written contract provides legal protection…
Misclassification & Compliance |
What is Co-Employment? 4 Ways to Avoid Co-Employment Risk
Co-employment is an arrangement where two companies both have rights and obligations as an employer. Learn the complex risks and benefits of co-employment and best practices independent contractor engagement.
Workforce Management |
What is Contractor vs Employee vs Temp
When to consider engaging an independent contractor versus hiring a temporary or full-time employee.
Workforce Management |
Onboarding Independent Contractors: 7 Steps you can take to make onboarding easier and get work started
The onboarding process can often make or break the experience of working with your company. Independent workers want to get to work quickly, and often that’s what you want too. A strong onboarding program can help create a good first impression and lasting relationship with your independent talent. Here are seven tips for creating a…
Weekly Independent |
The Weekly Independent: April 25, 2022
Being a successful independent contractor or a Client of Choice isn’t just about doing the best work or having the best perks. It also means staying one step ahead of the curve. That’s why each week we bring you The Weekly Independent, a quick-hit digest of news of note from around the web. Kelly Beckner,…
Misclassification & Compliance |
3 Strategies to Reduce Contractor Misclassification Risk
Worker misclassification is important to keep in mind if your business is currently using or considering using independent contractors. Managing contingent workers is quite different from maintaining a workforce of traditional employees. Specific rules, laws, and tests apply. Treating an independent contractor as an employee can result in costly legal consequences. Knowing how to reduce…
Weekly Independent |
The Weekly Independent: April 18, 2022
Being a successful independent contractor or a Client of Choice isn’t just about doing the best work or having the best perks. It also means staying one step ahead of the curve. That’s why each week we bring you The Weekly Independent, a quick-hit digest of news of note from around the web. The Tony…
Workforce Management |
Barriers to Building an Effective Independent Workforce Engagement Program
Independent contractors provide businesses today with needed skills, specialized expertise, and on-demand talent. Building a centralized program that is designed to manage the engagement and compliance processes for independent contractors is an important part of incorporating contingent workers. An independent contractor engagement program helps minimize a company’s exposure to misclassification liability, and provides processes for…
Workforce Management |
How to Build Strong Relationships When Managing Remote Workers
Remote work is common for most independent professionals—it’s part of the appeal of pursuing an independent career. But managing remote workers isn’t always easy to do. Tracking deliverables, building teams, and forming relationships online can be complicated. It’s hard to get to know coworkers on a meaningful level through a screen or a phone call….
Workforce Management |
3 Key Workforce Planning Best Practices For Scaling Your Hiring
Developing a workforce planning model is an important part of building a high-functioning blended workforce. In today’s fast-moving, technology-driven world, a strategic workforce composed of both contingent and full-time talent is key to remaining both competitive and productive. This type of flexible workforce lets you respond quickly to project demands, meet budget constraints, and stay…
Weekly Independent |
The Weekly Independent: April 11, 2022
Being a successful independent contractor or a Client of Choice isn’t just about doing the best work or having the best perks. It also means staying one step ahead of the curve. That’s why each week we bring you The Weekly Independent, a quick-hit digest of news of note from around the web. Given the…
MBO Partners |
Staff Spotlight: Ben Bazian, Director, Information Systems
Meet MBO’s brilliant, exceptional employees. This month we feature Ben Bazian, one of our unique team members and give you the story behind one of his greatest strengths in his professional and personal life.
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