The business world is locked in a constant battle to keep up with the increasing rate of globalisation. Whether you’re a start-up serving your local community or a large-scale organisation working across multiple countries, you’ll need to have some understanding of foreign policies. You may be dealing with an international audience, have stock being imported from abroad, or be working with foreign audiences whilst running your business in your home country.

Whichever way you operate, a diverse and multilingual workforce is one of the best ways to ensure your business’ success, giving your business the chance to communicate effectively with foreign clients and suppliers. It also helps you to effectively market to a foreign audience without worrying about any potential culture clashes.

However, it can be difficult to know exactly how to best start investing in a multilingual workforce. Thankfully, you don’t need to rework your budget to make it happen.

Invest in staff training

Employing someone new, who may be multilingual, is expensive. The real living wage in London starts at £19,201, but adding on the cost of Employer’s NI plus a pension leaves you looking at an annual salary of over £21,000—and that’s the absolute minimum. You obviously want to offer a higher salary in order to attract the talent you want and need for your business. It will also be important to spend time interviewing potential candidates, which can take a great deal of time out of your working schedule, and therefore affect your profit margins.

However, offering language training programmes is a much cheaper option, allowing you to demonstrate to your current workforce that you are invested in their development by teaching them a new transferable skill. And with the looming uncertainty of how Brexit will affect British businesses abroad, it would be worth learning a European language in order to effectively close deals with foreign clients. French, in particular, is spoken in a huge number of countries, including Canada and Congo, and French organisations typically prefer to do business with those who can speak the language. It’s also one of the easiest languages to learn, and offers a strong base for picking up other Romance languages, such as Italian, Spanish, and Romanian.

You could pay for private language tutors for the whole team, or even invest in online language courses which can let employees to progress at their own pace. Online courses can be a good option for staff members who already have an understanding of the language, giving them a chance to refresh their skills, and progress at a quicker rate than the rest of the team for a fraction of the cost of a new hire.

Look for recent graduates

Setting your sights on recent graduates lets you save money by offering internships, while giving you a pool of fresh talent to pick from. There are many benefits of graduate schemes, most obviously the chance to offer a lower pay grade while testing different candidates for the role. This then allows you to offer the best performers a more permanent position. Graduates also tend to be much faster learners, as they don’t have any preexisting bad habits learned from previous roles, and are still used to being in a learning environment. This means you can train them in a manner which will be most beneficial to your business, rather than dealing with any of the steep learning curves that come with hiring experienced staff.

On top of this, hiring international students will quickly increase the language diversity within your own company. University job fairs provide an easy way to reach these students, who will have both the language and technical skills you’re searching for.

Targeted online searches

When posting your job adverts, it’s recommended that you make them as targeted as possible in order to attract the candidates you want. If having a multilingual candidate is absolutely essential, you may choose to post a translated job advert in order to reach out to the widest audience you can attract. Some job boards even let you specify your required languages when posting the job. LinkedIn, for example, gives you the option to select a language under its advanced search function when searching for potential candidates.

In some cases, you may choose to test candidates on their language skills to ensure that they are up to scratch. Whether you do this by conducting an interview in both languages, or providing a written test for them to complete, it’s important to carefully choose the right employee for your team. This may even require you to hire a translator if you don’t hold the language skills yourself. Just keep in mind—when it comes to hiring the right new employees, you can be as picky as you need to be.

We’ve all fantasised about working for ourselves at least once, right? On those Wednesday afternoons when the week isn’t going quite quickly enough, the weekend still seems a million miles away and your boss is cracking down hard on you, it’s easy to sit and think about how much easier it would be if you could choose your own working hours, and be your own boss. Well, what if someone told you that that was a possibility? If you’re seriously thinking about starting your own business, and think you have the right experience and credentials in a certain field to do so, then here are some of the reasons why starting your own business could be a great idea.

You Get to Be Your Own Boss

Whether your big business idea is becoming a freelance makeup artist, or you’re more likely to start a We Buy Any House company, it really doesn’t matter – one of the most appealing things about it is you get to be your own boss.

Now, sometimes we’re lucky enough to get a good boss. A boss who encourages and rewards us, and doesn’t look down on us simply as their subordinate. However, all too often, you come across these people who have been promoted to being in charge, and have therefore let all of the power go to their head. These are the bosses who have us wishing all too often that we worked for ourselves.

Well the good news is, if you’re starting up your own business, then you don’t have anybody else to answer to at all. You’re completely in charge of your own decisions, and furthermore get to work on your own time constraints. Although it’s more responsibility, the freedom is ultimately worth it.

You Can do What You Love

Whatever your business idea might be, it’s likely to be something you’re either really interested in, or are passionate about. Even if you don’t love it, at least it’ll be something you like.

One of the worst things is working a job you hate and get no satisfaction from whatsoever. By starting your own business, you’ll probably never have to do this again. Doing something that interests you is likely to make you work harder, feel more motivated, and be happier in your day to day life. There’s nothing better than job satisfaction.

You Get to Give Your Own Deadlines

Sometimes, the stress of deadlines can get a little too much for us. Well, if you’re working for yourself on your own business, then it’s you who actually gets to decide when those deadlines are. Of course, if you’re working with other companies on business deals then you’ll have to come to an agreement, but ultimately, you’ll have a lot more say on the deadlines themselves. You can even choose your own clock in and clock out times. This can be dangerous when getting the balance right, because you don’t want to under work, but also you also don’t want to overwork yourself. Get this just right, and you’ll have a happy work-life balance going in no time.

You Get to Be Creative

If you’re a creative person who’s ever worked a tedious nine ‘til five job, then you’ll know how much it can quash your inspiration. However, if you have your own business, you’re likely to feel more inspired than ever.

Whether it be logos, advertising, innovative ideas or actually just conducting business itself, you have free reign to be as creative as you like when you own your own company. There’s little more satisfying than being able to be totally creative day in-day out, so enjoy it! Not everyone gets to do it, but you very possibly could.

It Can be Profitable

Last but not least, you could end up earning some serious money from owning your own business.

In the early days, it’s right to be prepared for things to take a little time. You’re likely to start off as a small company with a few clients, but with hard work, determination and the right attitude and contacts, who knows where this could take you?

Think of the most successful companies in the world – Apple for example. They began as a small start up company, and look at them now. If you have the ambition and the dedication to make it work, who knows? Your small business originally ran out of your spare bedroom turned office could eventually become its own global empire. Dare to dream!

We’re living in the era of the “side hustle”, aka part-time freelance work carried out to supplement an individual’s regular income. According to a 2017 Bankrate study, 44 million Americans claim to have a side gig – and unsurprisingly, many of these are Millennials. 

The average side-gigger spends around 11 hours a week on their secondary work, and earns $12,609 per year (based on an average of $25 per hour) according to research by The Hustle.

It’s easy to see why part-time home businesses are so popular. They’re often centered around something the person is passionate about and they provide that extra bit of cash for luxuries like holidays or long term investments like buying a house. 

Inevitably many side giggers get to the point where they decide to take the leap and transform their work-from-home endeavor into a fully fledged business. 

If you’re one of these people, here are a few tips to help you do it. 

When is the best time to do it?

Whether you’re running a small graphic design business on the side or brokering real estate, one thing’s for certain: you need to make sure you’re financially ready before taking the plunge. That means having a couple of months’ rent in the bank as a safety net.

Many people decide to ditch their main job to focus on turning their home business into big business once their work starts gaining recognition. If you’re getting more inquiries and clients than you can handle outside of usual work, you know it’s probably time to scale. 

Starting out – the basics

Understanding the basics of running the business is important, otherwise it’s at risk of falling apart pretty quickly. First off, think about whether you want to be a sole proprietor or if it’d be better to register your business as an LLC or corporation. Research is key.

Map out what your overheads will be so that you can prepare financially. Price your product or service accordingly, and be careful not to undervalue yourself (this is easy to do in the early days of running a business). Remember to keep track of all income and expenditure.

Be aware of some of the common mistakes new business owners make, including:

• Skipping the planning phase
• Choosing the wrong business type
• Not investing time in online activities, i.e. website
• Failing to research market trends

Growing your business leanly

If you’re operating on a relatively lean budget but need to compete with other businesses in your field, you’ve got to be savvy when it comes to things like marketing and office space. Thanks to technology, this is a lot easier than it used to be. 

Once you’ve got your business off the ground, look into the following:

Freelancers

In the early days of your business it’s likely that you’ll juggle everything yourself, which is great because it enables you to learn new skills and have a thorough understanding of your business’s inner workings. However  in order to really grow you’ll have to delegate.

Employing permanent staff members certainly has its benefits, but it can be financially and logistically unviable for many startups. Hiring freelancers allows for more flexibility and is a great option if you don’t need someone full-time just yet. 

Virtual office 

Working from home also has its perks, but having access to an office space will create a better impression on clients and could make you more productive. Yet leasing an office is expensive and risky, especially for businesses who need to be agile.

Unlike a traditional office, a virtual office provides the ultimate flexibility. Memberships are tiered and can include a business address, telephone number, mail handling and forwarding, meeting room access and hot desking options. 

Marketing tools

Unless you’re marketing-minded, this aspect of the business can feel like a burden – but it needn’t be. There are plenty of easy-to-use online tools that make tasks like social media scheduling and blogging easier for small business owners. 

Transforming your side gig into a successful big business is no easy feat; it requires bucketloads of planning, hard work and persistence. But remember, the fact that you’ve managed to establish a home business means you’ve already got a head start!

A recent study conducted by LinkedIn ranked finance among top five highest paying industries in the world. With over 80K dollars as the median annual wage (including bonuses), it has every reason to be lucrative and enticing. Moreover, it has a promising future ahead, as the Bureau of Labour Statistics has estimated that finance related jobs are expected to grow by 19 percent between 2016 and 2016—faster than the average of many other occupations.

The high profitability in finance industry comes with a cut-throat competition; and one really has to put strenuous and dedicated efforts to climb up to the top of the career ladder. However, effort alone cannot promise you a successful career ahead. The right career choice and the pertinent platform to make something out of that career are equally important decisions to be made. If you never heard about Jooble yet, give it a try. It is a great platform to find jobs, and there are plenty of Finance industry jobs on Jooble.

If you have a knack for a particular field in finance industry, it should be your top priority nonetheless the financial gain at the start. A number of studies have confirmed that people are more likely to get successful if they turn their passion into profession. And yet, if money is your only inspiration, you should choose one of the following occupations to make it happen.

1.    Investment Banker

It is beyond doubt that investment banking is one of the top rewarding jobs in terms of financial gains, but that only fact also makes it more demanding and extremely daunting career choice. Having an inherent talent to be good at making decision is one thing, making them in a challenging and almost gruelling situation is a different thing altogether. It demands working long hours and being consistently productive with your time, but at the top of it, one needs to be tenacious in his approach to become a top-notch investment banker. A part of the job is to raise funds for your clients by purchasing and selling shares frequently in a way that the overall profit surpass the money lost. Also, the investment bankers has to advise clients on emerging opportunities and effective strategies to tap their full potential.

2.    Equity or financial Analyst:

Equity or Financial Analyst’s are sometimes treated as different professionals, but their job is essentially the same: to make a thorough analysis of an equity’s worth. They both usually rely on quantitative analysis as a mean to the end, but the qualitative analysis of the financial data is not entirely overlooked in the process. A good example in this case is to go through the financial data of a company, peruse its public record, and follow recent news that have direct bearing on it. It is by the virtue of these elements, a potent financial analyst comes to a decision that actually make money for his employer, and of course for himself in the end.

Financial and brokerage firms hire these experts to analyse the potential worth of a company’s stocks, and then act on their educated guess about the prospects of these stocks. A successful financial analyst has to be sharp with his senses, good with numbers, and a thorough researcher to the core.

3.    Internal auditor

While most of you are familiar with the job of an accountant, which is a good money-making job in its own right, the auditor has a somewhat similar job to do but a special situation warrant their need.

The internal auditors are hired to perform a rigorous evaluation of a company’s accounts and to finalise report on any discrepancy if found. Companies usually hire them in special situation of suspected fraud, but their role is not limited to that. It is evident that their foremost job is to do analysis operations, but they also have to check reviews compliance, recommend controls, and assure safeguard for the firms.

4.    Managing Director:

Being the most senior role in any company, the Managing Director (MD) involves sharing the ultimate responsibility, along with other stakeholders, for the performance of a company. The job requires someone to implement the company’s policy, and make any changes to it—if needed. Furthermore, it also includes navigating company’s direction to successful trajectory, and to take effective steps to counter any misadventure. One powerful essential element of this job is good communication, as one has to convene a Board of Directors meeting every once in a while; plus, to break deadlock among stake holders on important decisions.