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Ensuring employees are engaged is key in business, as it leads to higher company morale and improved quality of work. Further, a lack of engagement can be a telltale sign that something is wrong.  For companies finding that their employees aren’t engaged—whether it’s during meetings, feedback sessions or fun social outings—there are ways leaders can drive motivation. Below, 10 members of Young Entrepreneur Council discuss some simple things companies can do to get employees more engaged and involved.

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Members of Young Entrepreneur Council offer their best advice for moving your physical retail store online. As the popularity (and necessity) of online shopping continues to rise, many business owners are choosing to transition their brick-and-mortar stores to an e-commerce model. However, running a business online can differ dramatically from running a physical store, and it may require new approaches to and new mindsets about selling and advertising goods. To help make the transition easier, a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council experts share their best advice for moving into the e-commerce space. Follow their tips to get your online business up and running the right way — the first time.

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Members of Young Entrepreneur Council discuss the software or hardware that has helped them succeed while working from home. Many professionals know that having the right tools can really make a difference in your ability to get work done — and get it done well. The same is true while working from home. In addition to dealing with a different environment from a traditional office, working from home also means you may be contending with decreased focus or a lack of communication, so having the right tools in place can be paramount to your success. Below, a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council experts share some of their favorite tech tools that have helped them succeed every day while working from home and why they think others should take note.

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Many leaders grow and advance in their careers with the help of a mentor. Because of this, it’s natural to want to "pay it forward" by helping up-and-coming industry professionals find their way. Even if your company doesn't have a formal mentorship program in place, there are ways leaders can still act as mentors for their employees. Something as simple as having an open-door policy so employees can ask questions could help encourage an open environment and support growth. To discuss this and other methods of mentorship, nine Young Entrepreneur Council members recommended some key actions business leaders can take to act as mentors to their team members.

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Choosing the right software-as-a-service (SaaS) product is like choosing a new car or buying a new house — you want to make sure that it's high quality and meets all your wants and needs. However, if you're not used to shopping for software, it can be hard to know how to choose the best option for you. To help, a group of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) members answered the following question:

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Remote work arrangements used to be few and far between, but ever since the pandemic, more and more companies are operating fully remotely. Although those who adopted a remote model early on have likely fallen into a rhythm, those new or established businesses that are now deciding to go fully remote may still be struggling to adapt to and manage remote teams—especially if they operate on a global scale. Different time zones, varying employee locations and a lack of a centralized physical office space can be difficult to contend with, let alone all the other factors that come into play with remote work. To help business leaders get a better handle on things, a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council members share their best advice for companies working remotely with a global team.

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The new year always brings with it the desire to make changes and resolutions that will better both yourself and your company. It can be exciting to look back at all that you've achieved in a year and look ahead to what else you can do in the future. Maybe there are certain projects your team didn't get to that you hope to complete, or goals you didn't quite reach that seem even more achievable now. While "new year" projects are an exciting prospect, it can also be overwhelming to try to accomplish so many new goals and initiatives at once. Below, nine Young Entrepreneur Council members shared their best advice for prioritizing and planning during Q1.

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As a company leader, your email inbox is likely overflowing with unread or missed information on a daily basis.  Missing the wrong email could cause you to miss something time-sensitive or something from a high-priority client. However, finding the time to filter through the seemingly never-ending stream of unread emails can seem impossible with a busy schedule of meetings and strategic work. Below, eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council offered their best recommendations for how to tame your email inbox to prioritize responses and ensure you don’t miss out on important information.

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When you first started your business, you may have found a few trustworthy team members to back you up. As the business is growing, you may be noticing your original startup team isn't aligning with your overall vision or perhaps you've simply "outgrown" the need for the roles you hired them to do. This misalignment can ultimately lead to stagnation within all facets of your company as well as an unhappy workforce. So, how do you know when it's time to bring in fresh perspectives? Nine members of Young Entrepreneur Council offered some signs that may indicate your original startup team is no longer suitable for your current business direction.

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How do you incorporate a successful health and wellness regimen into a busy entrepreneurial lifestyle?

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Part of creating a successful team is getting them to buy in on your company’s mission, vision and goals. Those employees who do this are likely to develop an “ownership mindset” in which they feel that they have ownership over their responsibilities and outcomes and are more willing to do what is necessary to accomplish tasks. But getting every employee to feel this way can come with its own set of hurdles, so how can leaders encourage their team members to have an ownership mindset, no matter their job description? Below, nine members of Young Entrepreneur Council list some tips for leaders looking to achieve this very goal.

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In business, conflict is bound to be a daily occurrence. While no leader desires conflict, as entrepreneurs they often experience it on a day-to-day basis. Differing opinions, struggles with working relationships and team management issues can all lay the foundation for potential conflict, and not all leaders are equipped to handle it. In order to get more comfortable with conflict then, leaders must be proactive and develop a plan to overcome their fears. To help, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council shared 14 ways leaders can get more comfortable with conflict and be more successful as a result.

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Since the many layoffs, firings and career pivots of 2020, many professionals have turned their sights toward entrepreneurship. Alongside the attraction of working for oneself came the opportunity to start fresh in a new space and maybe even a new industry altogether. For women, who were disproportionately affected by the economic impact of the pandemic, that meant the chance to enter fields which have historically been lacking female voices. According to a panel of female entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council, the following seven business opportunities are areas which could strongly benefit from the involvement of other female professionals. If you’re a woman in business, consider making a difference in one or more of these sectors and lending your voice to the conversation.

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As the leader of a growing business, you might be tempted to set your goals high and hold your employees to meeting them. You and your team likely have a ton of great ideas and are eager to pursue each of them, but aiming too high can actually be detrimental to your business's growth and success. Rather than setting unattainable standards for yourself and your employees, take your time when developing your business and each worker's path to ensure sustainable, measured growth. Below, eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council shared ways to set realistic business goals that will still stretch limitations and build your team’s skills.

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Having a specific window in which people are asked to be “on” also means there isn’t an expectation to be “on” at all hours.

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Business leaders have a lot of responsibilities. They need to be concerned with operations, finances, company culture and the hiring process, just to name a few. But each leader prioritizes responsibilities differently and responsibilities change from company to company. Below, a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council members shared what they believe is their most important job as a business leader. Here are the tasks they prioritize and why each one is key to running a successful business.

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In the world of business, leaders aren’t only giving advice—they’re getting it too. Whether it’s tips from books, movies, friends, family or other leaders, leaders are often surrounded by others with well-intentioned advice on how they should run their businesses or how they can succeed in top leadership positions. However, not all of it is advice that should be followed. Below, eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council share some of the leadership advice they’ve heard throughout the years and why they strongly disagree with it. Consider their insights before applying any of this advice to your career.

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Working from home was gaining popularity in the years leading up to the Covid-19 pandemic. As most businesses were then forced to operate remotely during pandemic lockdowns, many people who may not have considered working remotely before got to have a taste of all its benefits. Now, many companies and organizations are choosing to keep operating with a hybrid workforce as a permanent solution. As leaders accept hybrid workforces as the new normal, they need to establish solid company cultures that revolve around working with in-office and remote teams simultaneously. Below, seven members of Young Entrepreneur Council share their thoughts on how to build a solid company culture with a hybrid workforce and talk about overcoming any challenges that leaders might face while doing so.

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No matter how organized and productive you normally are, there will be times when you'll feel overwhelmed with the amount of work you have to do. Feeling like you’re behind on your work can cause additional stress that can affect your output. It's important to recognize when you're feeling this way and take the proper measures to get back on track. To that end, eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council discussed the steps they take to reset their work and get back on track. Here’s how these strategies can help you establish a better overall plan for managing your workload.

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The process of hiring new employees can be both rewarding and difficult. Hiring managers or HR representatives need to make sure each candidate not only fits into the company culture and values, but also can do the job successfully. Some hiring decisions can be particularly hard to navigate, especially as a small business owner. Below, nine Young Entrepreneur Council members shared the biggest hiring challenges they've ever faced and the steps they took to overcome them. Read their advice to help you if you're struggling to recruit, hire or onboard new talent for your company.

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Members of Young Entrepreneur Council discuss some major issues with the e-commerce experience. In 2020 alone, e-commerce sales worldwide reached a total of nearly $4.3 trillion, and it continues to be one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. However, that doesn't mean consumers are always happy with their online shopping experience. From lack of product information on e-commerce websites to slow page speeds, customers have spotted holes in the e-commerce experience providers should be filling. To help e-commerce companies create better customer experiences, 12 members of Young Entrepreneur Council shared the biggest pain points customers face and potential solutions companies can implement.

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An individual who factors self-reflection into their everyday development is on their way to becoming a great leader. To advance, managers have to ask themselves regularly if their performance is in line with their leadership goals. The evidence can be in how well their team is performing and the results they have achieved. To that end, 10 Young Entrepreneur Council members each shared one question managers should ask themselves to ensure they’re becoming the best leaders they can be. Try to reflect on these questions yourself if you want to gauge your own performance and efficacy as a leader.

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Many employees are familiar with receiving feedback from their managers. However, few are as familiar or comfortable with giving feedback to their managers. Whether it’s because, as an employee, you don’t feel like it’s your place to offer criticism or because you just aren’t sure how to go about doing it, approaching a superior with a critique can be a frightening prospect. But with the right attitude and strategies at your disposal, you can make the feedback process less intimidating and even helpful—for you, your manager and your relationship. Below, nine members of Young Entrepreneur Council each shared their best advice for how to offer feedback to your manager and do so in a way that will be well-received. Follow these tips to start building a more constructive culture at work.

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Most entrepreneurs set daily goals for themselves in order to move their businesses forward. Yet setting those goals and meeting them are two completely different things. Loss of motivation, fatigue, listlessness and a general lack of energy are common barriers to accomplishing goals, but they are also challenging to overcome without the right strategies. Pushing past fatigue and lack of motivation takes a unique investment in yourself in order to see your tasks through to the end. To offer some guidance, nine associates of Young Entrepreneur Council discuss their strategies for accomplishing their daily tasks even when they don’t feel motivated to do so.

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Obstacles will come up along the way, but fortitude and persistence are what make or break you.

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Many entrepreneurs will concede that their worst problem is overthinking complex decisions. The issue with overthinking is not only that it stifles creativity and innovation; it also erodes your confidence as an entrepreneur and can make you second-guess yourself. In the world of business, this lack of self-confidence could spell disaster. The best way to avoid overthinking is to focus on the problem at hand and recenter yourself, but doing so requires a bit of effort. To help, these 12 experts from Young Entrepreneur Council discuss a few practical ways to recenter yourself and avoid overthinking as an entrepreneur.

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Working for a startup is vastly different than working for an established company. Established companies have steady processes and defined operations, while startups often wade through a constant stream of pivots and unknowns. It makes sense, then, that startup employees require certain skills and attitudes to thrive in this type of workplace. We asked 10 members of Young Entrepreneur Council for one quality they believe all startup hires need to have. Here are the traits they deem essential and why each one helps when working in a startup environment.

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Keeping up with your employees on an individual level makes for good leadership. As you hire more and more people to your team, it can be difficult to maintain that one-on-one time with each employee. However, doing so is crucial to ensuring everyone is on the same page and performing their best. To help you, we asked the members of Young Entrepreneur Council to share some creative and effective ways to give regular performance feedback to your key team members. Follow their advice to stay connected to your team, even as your company grows.

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Business plans are more than just documents outlining your steps to launching and growing your startup. This plan acts as a map throughout the entire process, and helps you figure out what to do when you face roadblocks or wrong turns. While a business plan isn't required to start a business, it can be helpful in guiding you in the right direction and even securing proper funding for your business. However, writing a business plan is no easy task. To help you get started, a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council members shared their best tips and tricks.

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Your relationship with your customers shouldn’t exclusively be transactional. To build a bond that leads to customer loyalty, you have to thoughtfully connect with them and continue the conversation with them. To help with this important task, we asked members of Young Entrepreneur Council how they recommend keeping customer conversations productive and positive. Follow their tips to help you build strong, long-lasting relationships with your buyers.

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The culture of the modern workplace has changed drastically, and far more businesses are looking favorably at work-from-home arrangements. Industries that have traditionally depended on employees coming in no longer need to conform to the archaic principle of in-office work. The result is a lot more freedom for workers, as well as potentially increased productivity. However, that benefit only happens if teams manage to coordinate appropriately within the online space. Luckily, other groups have succeeded as remote teams before remote working became a necessity and can share their experiences. Eight contributors to Young Entrepreneur Council explain how companies or industries new to the remote working paradigm can ease the process of shifting into a non-office-based approach.

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In any work environment, new teammates or employees need to be picked with careful consideration as a wrong hire risks threatening office balance and even worse, affecting the entire team’s morale and productivity. After all, the temperament and emotional intelligence of each team member can be crucial to how efficient and effective the business is as a whole. As a young entrepreneur who does not have a wealth of experience weeding out potentially bad candidates, it’s essential to know what traits and skills to look for in order to identify the right fit for the team. To aid younger professionals, eight business owners from Young Entrepreneur Council explain the nonnegotiable traits they look for in their employees or teammates and why they are so important.