Nanxi Liu

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Slack pings, calendar reminders, text messages or phone calls and those pesky notifications—the work world can often be incredibly distracting. And for the work-from-home crowd, there can sometimes be additional layers of distraction, like a ringing doorbell, family and friends, a load of laundry or the constant urge to clean up the space around you. But whether in the office or at home, work sometimes takes the back burner to these distractions, leaving you unproductive and stressed out about how you’re going to get it all done.  According to the members of Young Entrepreneur Council, the solution is to strive for uninterrupted focus. Being intentional with both your environment and your processes can help set you up for a much more productive day. Here, eight members share their top methods for achieving that uninterrupted focus when you most need it and why these tips work so well.

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Whether it's starting her own tech company or taking on her first tech role as a professional, a woman entering the tech industry can face unique challenges in this traditionally male-dominated field. Not being heard or taken seriously paired with a lack of other women to connect with or look up to can feed into feelings of self-doubt or encourage imposter syndrome—which can ultimately lead women to leaving tech altogether.  In order to succeed, it’s important to stay confident in yourself and your abilities. Below, several women business leaders from Young Entrepreneur Council draw on their own experiences facing adversity to share the advice they'd give to any young woman beginning her career in tech and why.

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Converting a potential customer takes more than just rattling off the facts about your product or service. It often requires a personalized approach based on a genuine understanding of the customer's needs. To gain this understanding, you'll need to ask the right questions during the sales process. Below, the business leaders of Young Entrepreneur Council share the eight most insightful questions you can ask a potential customer as well as how they will help you land that coveted sale.

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While email marketing remains a popular and viable way to reach customers, it also has the potential to cause annoyance or get flat out ignored if not handled in the right way. Emails frequently hitting customers’ inboxes that follow the same stale format or provide little or no value often won’t inspire readers to click through—if they even open the email at all. So what should email marketers do? Here, the experts of Young Entrepreneur Council discuss some of the strategies businesses can use to breathe new life into their email marketing efforts and keep their emails from being sent directly to “Trash.”

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Many people dream of starting their own business, being their own boss and taking charge of their work life. However, while there are plenty of benefits to going it alone, becoming a solopreneur can also feel very lonely or isolating as you navigate the ups and downs of getting a business off the ground. For this reason, many aspiring business owners choose to seek out a co-founder to help them on their journey. From giving your business more credibility to acting as a soundboard for your creative ideas, opting to enter into such a partnership may just be the perfect solution for you. Here, the business leaders of Young Entrepreneur Council explore these benefits and more as they outline 10 reasons why someone may want to find a co-founder rather than go it alone as a solopreneur.

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Starting your business with a limited budget can be difficult, as everything from creating your product to building your website seems to have some sort of cost associated with it. However, there’s one area of business that doesn’t necessarily have to cost any money: press.  Getting your company’s name out into the public and in front of potential customers by generating free press is one of the most cost-effective steps you can take to market your business. From writing guest posts on industry blogs to applying for business awards, there are numerous strategies you can use to get your company noticed. Here, 11 members of Young Entrepreneur Council discuss just some of those methods and why they’re so effective at helping you positively grow your business.

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One of the most critical factors that determines how successful any business can be is its pricing structure. A model that both earns high profits and satisfies customers’ needs is one that will support a business for a long time to come. But a model that fails in any way could spell disaster for a growing company. In this way, it’s important to check in on your pricing strategy from time to time to evaluate how it’s performing and what you can do to improve it. To get you started, nine members of Young Entrepreneur Council list some of the signs you may notice when it’s time to reevaluate your pricing structure, as well as discuss what your first step should be upon noticing them.

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When you’re an entrepreneur, time management and productivity are key to lasting success. However, finding the time to get everything done can seem overwhelming, especially with the packed to-do lists that come with running a business. Fortunately, in today's technology-forward landscape, many apps are available to help busy entrepreneurs make the most of their (limited) time. Below, Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) leaders share their answers to the following question:

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It should come as no surprise that a healthy and happy employee is a more productive one. This is why many employers are looking to employee wellness programs to help their team members build healthier habits to improve both their physical and mental health. However, getting employees interested in taking advantage of these benefits means considering their needs and what gets them excited to participate. For a list of perks, policies and initiatives that might spark the interest of your team members, consider the following suggestions from the business leaders of Young Entrepreneur Council. Here, they recommend ideas they themselves have implemented or have seen succeed in the workplace and discuss why they believe employees are so excited to take advantage of these benefits.

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Your company mission is the North Star of your business, guiding each and every decision you make. Writing one, therefore, isn’t just about creating a clever slogan or summarizing your goals; it’s about getting to the heart of your business and laying out the true driving force behind your company and all those who work within it. And while you may have an idea of the main “why” behind your business, writing a clear, well-thought-out mission statement may require some deeper reflection. To help, 11 members of Young Entrepreneur Council offer a few questions you can ask yourself to spark a more detailed, thorough or meaningful statement for your company mission that will stand the test of time.

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When you start a business as a female entrepreneur, one of your greatest assets is the fact that you are a woman-owned business. Statistics have shown that nearly a third of the general population prioritizes shopping from women-owned businesses consistently. Making the fact that you are a woman-owned business a powerful part of your brand identity not only will help you grow a loyal customer base, but it will also help you connect with your customers on the very issues and causes they care most about. But how can you make this part of your story stand out? Is an “About Me” page on your website enough? Here to share their insights, eight female entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council offer their best tips for making your “woman-owned” status a powerful part of your brand and the actions you can take to communicate your story with the business world at large.

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Bringing on a business advisor can be a great way to get you or your business out of a rut, both financially and creatively. Not only can they help you rework any failing processes or initiatives, but they can also provide inspiration and insights into what might be the “next big thing” for your growing business. However, like with any new hire you make, you’ll want to be thoughtful about your choice and avoid rushing into a decision based on desperation. To help you find the best fit for you and your business, nine members of Young Entrepreneur Council each discuss one factor entrepreneurs should keep in mind before seeking out a business advisor and why.

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When you run a business and hire employees, it’s essential your new staff members feel like they are valued members of the team. Your efforts should begin on day one with an onboarding process that will help new employees feel welcome, and that will set them up for success as they start their work. To learn their best advice on how to onboard new employees successfully, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council answered the following question:

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A strong daily routine can make all the difference in a team's productivity. Things like creating a to-do list at the start of each day and blocking off time for "deep thinking" work often help people get organized and feel more focused throughout the workday. There are plenty of small habits like these that can help you be more efficient at work, but they're easy to forget when you're caught up in the daily grind. That's why we asked members of Young Entrepreneur Council what habits managers should instill in their team to help them become more productive and focused. Read on for their best responses, and why you should encourage these daily habits among your team.

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Customer complaints are a necessary part of a business, but it can be discouraging to deal with them. A good leader knows how to look at customer complaints and extract the positives out of those disparaging comments. A skilled leader can take these complaints and turn them into a power to motivate and direct the business's positive growth. The truly gifted among us can turn these negative experiences on their heads, and use them to develop positive experiences for future customers. Below, seven professionals from Young Entrepreneur Council talk about how leaders can grow and improve their businesses by constructively using customer complaints.

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Time management is one of the most challenging parts of being an entrepreneur. When you're a business owner, you don't have the luxury of getting all your tasks laid out for you. You have to formulate those tasks, assign importance to them, and schedule them so that they can get done in a reasonable window, all while finding ways to keep the entire business running and growing. For an entrepreneur to maximize their productivity, they need to set strategies in place to help them manage their time effectively. To help, eight contributors to Young Entrepreneur Council share their most effective strategies for putting a clear framework in place to maximize productivity during a work day.

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Building a solid team is one of the best ways to ensure success and longevity for your business. However, finding the right people isn’t always easy. Small business hiring can be an especially daunting process, since you’re seeking qualified team members who are also aligned with your business’ vision and growth goals. That's why we asked, nine Young Entrepreneur Council members how you can be sure you’re hiring those who are going to help take your business to new heights. Read on for their best advice.

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End-of-year reviews are useful surveys because they help a business better understand its strengths and weaknesses. However, the analysis doesn't have any set way of being done. Different companies conduct their end-of-year surveys in unique ways, tailored to the needs of the business. Regardless, at the heart of every year-end study is the data collected. Analyzing this data can offer an enterprise essential insights into what it could be doing better, and what it excelled at over the previous year. In developing an end-of-year review technique, it's vital to cover the essentials to get a proper feel for the business's operation. To this end, seven members of Young Entrepreneur Council share their insight into what they do within their own companies for the end-of-year review, and how any business can get started on developing its own technique.

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From installing a "Surprise Committee" to buying a few beanbag chairs, there are plenty of inexpensive and fun ways to reinvigorate your office vibe.

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Searching for the perfect co-founder isn't a science, but sometimes, you know the right partner the moment you meet.