Whether you’re working on creating a new marketing campaign or getting ready to exhibit at a trade show, large scale projects can be a challenge. When things go right, having many people working on a project can help get things done faster. When things don’t, however, the friction between team members can bring progress to a halt. So, how can you keep things running smoothly?

1. Make Sure Everyone Knows the Plan
Nothing helps a project so much as keeping everyone on the same page, so make sure that everyone involved in your project knows on a high level what the plan looks like. That way everyone knows what their part is, what their deadlines are, and whose work might rely on theirs.

2. And Make Sure that Plan is Consistent
Have you ever been in a meeting and walked out of it with a strong game plan, only to have someone else get a completely different message from the meeting they attended? Not only does this make a plan hard to execute, but it can become frustrating for everyone working on the project. Instead, make sure the plan for your project is as consistent as possible and make sure that everyone is updated when changes do occur.

3. Give Updates When Needed
Take time to touch base often! Not only does this ensure that everyone knows how much progress you’ve made as a team, it also lets everyone know when one person’s task has hit a snag. For example, if one employee is researching the market before another employee can get started creating a marketing piece, it’s essential for both employees to know where the research has hit a snag.

One of the best ways to do this is to have periodic meetings. For big projects with a quick turnaround, scheduling 30 minutes every day to touch base can help keep things moving. For long term projects, a weekly, biweekly, or even monthly meeting could be the option you need to keep things moving.

4. Don’t Neglect the Social Aspect
While not a result of the project itself, social friction can also cause difficulties in your work day. Being short or grumpy while working on a project can easily stress everyone out.

That’s why it’s important not to neglect the social aspect of a project. When possible, give employees a chance to talk face-to-face about the project and its progress, because it can be easy to lose sight of the other people working on a project when we’re buried in our work. Consider ways to keep morale up when deadlines loom. Not only will this help employees keep their mood up individually, but it will help foster teamwork overall.

How do you ensure that projects keep moving? We’d love to see your suggestions in the comments below.

We know that sometimes your sales can slow in the summer, but that additional space in your schedule could give you the opportunity to build momentum that can continue through the end of the year! Here are just a few of the ways that you can keep your business moving during the summer months.

1. Take the Opportunity to Make a Personal Connection
When things are a bit slower, consider using that extra time in your schedule to contact customers directly. You could take a moment to give top customers a call to thank them for their business—and let them know about products that they might be interested in—or you could call customers whose sales have flagged to encourage them to come back to your business. Not only will this help encourage sales during a slower time of the year, but it will help make your customers feel more emotionally connected to your business at the same time.

2. Prepare for a Busier Season
Just like a more open schedule gives you the opportunity to connect with customers, it also gives you the chance to work ahead. Organize your financial information from the first half of the year so that your documentation is ready come tax season or prepare your emails for upcoming events. Go through your files and remove documents that you no longer need. The slower season is a chance to take those tasks off your plate before sales pick up again in the fall.

3. Take a Look At Your Goals
You made your goals early in the year, but you might not have spent much time looking at them since. After all, between winter weather and customer needs, you’ve had a lot on your plate. The summer slump is a great time to take a look at your goals, see how you’re doing on those goals, and readjust as needed.

4. Build New Habits
Is there something you want to do better in your business? Do you want to get better about building to-do lists or more diligent about sending updates on customer orders? Do you want to neaten up your desk at the end of every week or file documents more regularly at the end of a project? This is the time to build those habits! When business is slower, it’s easier to get into good habits and ensure that they’ll stick around during busier months.

5. Take a Break
Rest is important, and whether you’re a workaholic or tempted by the sunny days outside the window, taking a break can help you be more productive in your day-to-day work. When you take a break, you’ll come back rested, refreshed, and ready to work harder and smarter.

Do you have tips for staying productive during the summer season? We’d love to see your tips in the comments below.

Sometimes when you see another business fail, why they got there seems obvious. Other times, it can seem like a mystery. In many of those failures, what seems like a small detail can mean big problems for those businesses. Here are six of the reasons why some businesses fail while others succeed.

1. Ignoring Customer Needs
Every business will tell you that the customer is the most important thing, but many businesses don’t deliver on that promise. What are your customers telling you? Have you been listening to the feedback you’ve received? How can you make that feedback a part of your business plan? These are important questions for all businesses to ask and answer.

2. Not Learning From Failure
Not every project or plan will be a success. However, it’s important to learn from that failure. If a business isn’t learning from their mistakes, they may repeat them.

3. Growing Too Fast
Whether it’s investing in a new piece of equipment before they’re ready or rushing into a larger building or move to a new location, growing too fast can be a big challenge for businesses if your customer base doesn’t match that growth.

This is part of why Navitor offers you such a wide selection of products—you can offer your customers more without having to make the investment to produce those products in house!

4. Not Identifying What Makes Them Different
Some businesses pay too close attention to what their competition is doing and don’t take the time to highlight what makes them different. While looking to the competition can be a great way to know what works for customers, doing too much of the same can make their business unmemorable. Instead, successful businesses figure out what makes them different and highlight the things that set them apart from their competition.

5. Leadership That Doesn’t Grow
While employees need to continue growing and improving throughout their careers, sometimes businesses don’t realize that the members of their leadership team also need to grow and change in order to keep things working. Businesses with leadership that doesn’t work to improve might see those challenges impacting all levels of the business.

Leadership improvement doesn’t have to be difficult, though. It can be as simple as identifying a problem and working to improve one aspect of their leadership skills at a time.

6. Relying on Enthusiasm Rather Than a Strong Plan
It can be easy see the drive of an employee or team and expect it to keep a business going. However, without a plan to guide growth, even the most driven business can easily misplace employee efforts and find itself going in entirely the wrong direction.

When you see other businesses fail, what reasons can you see for that failure? We’d love to see you join the conversation in the comments below.

Bad advice is everywhere. Have you ever had someone give you a recipe that simply didn’t work? Or have you followed the instructions on a tutorial only to have it turn into a complete disaster? We get bad advice regularly in our lives—and business advice is no different! Here are five pieces of the worst business advice we’ve ever heard.

1. “Don’t Make Friends”
We definitely understand where this one comes from—after all, sometimes friends don’t make great colleagues and vice-versa! However, it’s essential to cultivate positive relationships with customers and coworkers alike to keep your business going strong.

2. “Stick to Your Plan”
Plans are great, but if your plan isn’t working then you need to have given yourself another option. Whether you have a backup plan at the ready or take a moment to form a new plan, it’s important to be flexible enough to redirect when needed.

3. “Cast the Largest Net Possible”
For some businesses, doing business with everyone possible is a great way to expand their network. However, this isn’t necessarily a good approach for every business. Instead, you might want to focus on the market or markets that suit you best. Not only does this targeted approach allow you to sell more effectively, it will quickly build up market-specific examples and experience.

Want to focus in on a particular market? Navitor is here to help with our vertical market kits. These kits are stocked with the products you need to focus on a niche market and are absolutely free to Navitor resellers—contact us today to request yours!

4. “It’s Okay to Fudge the Facts”
It’s important to be confident when you walk into a sales meeting. However, fudging the facts can lead to problems in the future. For example, don’t tell your customers that you offer a product that you haven’t yet found a source for. Making that promise without a caveat can lead to losing the sale and making the customer unhappy in the process. Instead, offer to look into the answers to your customers’ questions and check back when you know more.

5. “If You Want Something Done Right, You Have to Do It Yourself”
Being confident in your own abilities is great, but it’s essential to acknowledge when someone else could lend a hand. Whether it’s letting someone else take a phone call when you’re busy or boosting your product offering by partnering with a wholesale company like Navitor, teaming up allows you to rely on the skills of others to make your business stronger.

What’s the worst business advice you’ve ever heard? Join in the conversation below to share your examples and what you would suggest instead.