Author: Devin Johnson

5 Tips for Building a Winning Small Business Team

Posted on | by Devin Johnson

Small Business: 5 Tips For Building A Winning Business Team

There is a solid business team behind any successful small business owner you come across. Every member of a small business team plays a crucial role in making the business a success including the employees, attorneys, accountants and vendors. If one member drops the ball, it can cause the entire system to fail. Unfortunately, you might not realize there is something wrong until you notice it in your bottom line, which could be too late.

It is important you follow the steps below, provided in How To Build a Winning Small Business Team, if you want to surpass your competition and grow your business.

5 STEPS TO BUILD A BUSINESS TEAM

1. Understand Your Business Processes.
Determine the business steps you will need to take and define the individuals needed. For example, a restaurant owner may know the staff required in the kitchen and the servers, but you can’t forget about food suppliers, dishes, refrigeration, kitchen maintenance etc.

2. Determine The Vendors And Materials You Need To Complete Specific Tasks.

Once you understand your business processes, determine the specific vendors and materials you need to deliver the highest quality services and products to your customers. Make sure that the vendors know they will receive more business if they provide top-notch service at favorable pricing.

3. Retain A Contract Attorney. </strong >
Hiring a reputable attorney can really help your business prepare and review business contracts between vendors, customers, contractors and employees. If any legal disputes arise, the attorney can provide quick and reasonably-priced legal services.

4. Establish A Timeline For What Needs To Be Accomplished.

Each member of your business team needs to know the expected timing of what needs to be accomplished. The steps of the process should be prioritized in sequential order depending on time sensitivity and level of importance.

5. Learn How Your Competition Conducts Business.

Secretly learn how your competition conducts business and then conduct your business at a higher level. Send an unknown employee to a competitor’s store to see how the customers do business with the competitor. Compare their team’s abilities to your business team. Any of your competitor’s downfalls should be capitalized on.

ADVANTAGES TO HAVING A SUCCESSFUL SMALL BUSINESS TEAM

Building a strong team that works together can provide many entrepreneurial advantages:

More Time to Work on Growing and Improving Your Business
When your staff works well with your customers and vendors, you will be able to focus on developing your business strategically and not have to stress about daily operations.

Acquire Market Share
A strong team allows your business to operate more efficient than your competitors thus creating market advantage.

Always Improving
Work closely with your small business team to stay on top of your industry’s newest technology; continually focus on different ways to improve your services and products.

7 Steps to a Happy & Authentic Company Culture

Posted on | by Devin Johnson

Company Culture: 7 Steps To Creating A Happy & Authentic Culture

Many small businesses do not understand the concept of a company culture; they don’t tend to think it is something that applies to their business. According to 7 Steps To A Happy, Authentic Company Culture, creating a happy and authentic culture is actually an important concept for all businesses and it can provide a lot of positive value. Once you foster this type of company culture you will find that it makes working at your business both rewarding and fun for you and your employees. Not only will this boost company morale but it will also boost productivity; happy employees are more likely to work harder because they will want the business to succeed.

1. Make Your Company Culture Your Own

It is a huge mistake to create or embrace a culture that is not true to you. It’s important you understand yourself and do not try to replicate the culture at another company. For example, if you are a nerd at heart, then it is cool to be a nerd at your business; build your culture based on your ideals.

2. Do Not Hire Clones Of Yourself

Hiring a diverse group of employees can be extremely beneficial for your business and hiring only people who are like you can actually handicap you. Hire people of all different backgrounds, skill sets and personalities as long as they have similar business goals or end results in mind.

3. Avoid Cancerous Employees

Just because an employee is a top performer, does not mean you should keep them as an employee. You need to avoid employees who are cancerous to your culture or who do not act in your company’s best interest regardless of how much they produce. Cancerous employees should be let go and replaced with new employees who will embrace and reinforce your company’s culture.

4. If You Have To Fire An Employee, Do It Fast

You are not going to hire the perfect employees each time. If an employee is not going to work out, fire them quickly. Do not waste time deliberating if you know the employee is not a good fit for your company.

5. You Should Model Your Company’s Set Of Values

Once you have a set of company values that all employees agree to uphold, it is important that you model them as the business owner. You also need to make sure that your managers model your company values. This will cultivate a positive experience at your company and reinforce the importance of these values in your business.

6. Acquire Companies With Similar Values

If you decide to acquire another company, vet the acquisition based on the company values as well as their financials. If the company’s values are similar, the acquisition is probably a good idea. If they are completely different, you might lose value trying to combine the cultures.

7. Do Not Over-think Your Company Culture

Your company culture should not be over thought; it cannot be controlled in the same manner other aspects of your business can be controlled such as salaries or office locations. Let the culture unfold naturally by nurturing it and shaping it slowly. It will be worth all the effort you put into it.

Fleet Budget: Finding Your Lost Dollars

Fleet Budget: Finding Your Lost Dollars

Posted on | by Devin Johnson

Finding Your Lost Dollars In Your Fleet Budget

As a fleet manager or company owner, you probably spend a lot of time reviewing your fleet budget and expense categories to look for ways to save money. According to Automotive Fleet’s Finding Lost Dollars In Your Fleet Budget, fleet managers usually focus on fuel costs and depreciation. They often overlook the importance of spending a couple days a month looking in other areas to find additional saving opportunities. A great way to uncover lost dollars is to implement GoFleet’s GPS fleet management software.

Reduce Fuel Costs In Your Fleet Budget

There is more to reducing fuel costs in your fleet budget than just searching for the cheapest place to purchase fuel, such as calculating price per gallon and determining the best grade fuel for your vehicles. GoFleet’s fleet management solution helps you reduce fuel consumption by improving your drivers’ fuel wasting behaviors; this can include poor driving habits such as excessive idling, speeding and aggressive driving. Instant alerts can be set up to notify the fleet manager immediately when a driver is driving in a manner that is wasting fuel. This provides the opportunity to have the driver correct the behavior right away.

GoFleet’s fuel card integration allows you to monitor and control fuel purchases. You will be able to lock out any non-fuel purchases such as adding food, cigarettes or other items for personal consumption. GoFleet’s software can also indicate the location of the fleet vehicle when the fuel is purchased. This will prevent fraudulent gas purchases for personal vehicles. You can also control where your drivers fill-up so that they only purchase fuel at gas stations with the best prices or fuel card discounts.

Reduce Vehicle Maintenance Costs In Your Fleet Budget

Fleet managers have the ability to negotiate vehicle maintenance discounts and pricing based on volume. Once the maintenance price is negotiated, make sure the vehicles receive the necessary preventative maintenance. This will ensure the vehicles stay in good working condition and it reduces high costs associated with unnecessary vehicle breakdowns. GoFleet’s Maintenance Assistant easily organizes and reminds fleet managers of all upcoming preventative maintenance. Multiple triggers can be created for each vehicle for any type of preventive maintenance activity based on engine hours, time or mileage. Using GoFleet’s fleet maintenance management software will help you save money on your fleet budget, improve performance and help you follow the best fleet maintenance practices.

For more information about how GoFleet can help you find the lost dollars in your fleet budget, Contact Us.

Satellite Tracking Device: Indispensable Business Tool

Posted on | by Devin Johnson

The Indispensable Business Tool: Satellite Tracking Device

For many businesses, the satellite tracking device has become an indispensable tool for fleet management and asset tracking. Originally, Global Positioning System, also known as GPS, was developed for the US military by the Department of Defense. Currently, GPS is available for civilian use all over the world. Businesses are learning how to leverage this extremely powerful technology to improve the way they conduct business.

GoFleet’s satellite tracking device helps managers effectively manage their fleets. The easy-to-use internet-based fleet management software provides accurate location information, route history and driving data including drivers’ behaviors. It has been proven that using GoFleet’s satellite tracking device can increase a company’s bottom line, reduce overhead costs, increase productivity, improve driver safety, and reduce fuel consumption. Effective fleet management can also help improve overall customer satisfaction.

The fleet management software gathers and organizes the driving data so that fleet managers can improve their operational efficiencies. Customizable reports and alerts can be set up to notify fleet managers of drivers’ behaviors such as speeding, excessive idling, aggressive driving, route deviation, unauthorized vehicle use and seat belt usage. Reminders can also be set for upcoming preventative maintenance based on vehicle mileage, engine hours or time.

In addition to fleet management, GoFleet’s SmartOne Sat can also be used to track a company’s assets such as equipment, containers or trailers. It is not enough to have a list of important company assets. Not keeping track of valuable company assets can lead to huge financial losses. It is critical for companies to know where their assets are located at all times. The SmartOne Satellite Tracking Device can be easily synchronized with GoFleet’s fleet management software for easy location.

GoFleet has other satellite device tracking options and add-ons such as Spot Tracker, vehicle cameras, tire monitoring, wireless gas detection, trailer temperature monitoring, Man Down System, and much more. For more information about GoFleet’s satellite tracking device or other fleet management tools, Contact Us.

Fleet Management Tips

Posted on | by Devin Johnson

Effective Fleet Management Tips

When you are managing a fleet of vehicles there are many factors to consider. Your fleet’s overall success is affected by everything from your drivers’ skill level to your inventory status. The larger the fleet, the more complicated it can be to manage the logistics. It is possible for important things to slip through the cracks, costing your business money, valuable time and causing unnecessary frustration. There are several fleet management tips that can help improve your fleet’s performance.

The following fleet management tips can help you manage your fleet effectively:

Develop A Fleet Management Policy

Establish a policy for fleet management including how company vehicles will be provided, required preventive maintenance and replacement life. In addition, create a policy for drivers including hours of use, driver safety, what you expect from drivers, required level of customer service, etc.

Establish Processes

Develop proper processes to support your policies that will deliver the outcomes that you require. This includes the method your vehicles will obtain fuel, arrangements for your drivers to access the maintenance and servicing facilities, and reporting processes for each driver.

Measure Your Drivers’ Performance

One of the most important fleet management tips is to identify areas that need to be accurately monitored and measured. These could include mileage, speeding, idling times, aggressive behavior or other fuel-wasting or unsafe driving behaviors. Constantly measuring and sharing drivers’ performance will play a huge role in increasing productivity, improving driver safety and reducing unnecessary costs.

Communication

When you are managing a fleet of vehicles, it is extremely important to communicate with the drivers and managers. It is critical that each member of your team is fully briefed about the part they play in the fleet. Your drivers need to have a clear understanding of what they are supposed to do each day.

As a fleet manager, you also need to perfect your ability to lead and motivate your team. As you are expected to do more with less resources, it is important that you are able to keep your drivers motivated in order to increase productivity.

Every fleet is different; however, the core goals are usually the same. Most fleet managers are trying to increase productivity, reduce costs, improve safety and improve efficiency. When you are determining which fleet management tips will work best for your fleet, make sure you consider what will deliver the most value to your company and help you achieve your desired outcomes.

Vehicle Tracking Solutions Are Not All Created Equal

Posted on | by Devin Johnson

Vehicle Tracking Solutions Are Not All The Same

In general, most vehicle tracking solutions have the same basic components including a GPS device installed in the vehicles and a user interface that gathers, organizes and displays information. Even though they have the same basic components, all vehicle tracking solutions are not created equal.

Effective vehicle tracking solutions must provide more information than just vehicle locations and route histories. GPS fleet management systems have limitless business-enhancing potential for fleet management that require more than tracking dots on a map. After using the system regularly, most users uncover the full impact of vehicle tracking solutions.

Unfortunately, many providers only set up basic tracking capabilities and they do not commit to helping their customer leverage this extremely powerful technology to transform the way they conduct business. When you are evaluating vehicle tracking solutions providers, it is critical you determine how much interest the providers are showing in understanding your business, specific goals and requirements.

It is important to understand that while the technology is important, it is not the most important criteria when choosing your vehicle tracking solutions provider. The value truly lies in the relationship with your provider and level of support you receive once your system is implemented.

You also need to make sure that the vehicle tracking solution you choose will help you reach your fleet management goals. You need to make sure that the software is easy to use, the equipment is easy to install and the system capable of measuring and reporting your drivers’ performance, driver safety and fuel consumption.

GoFleet is an experienced and reputable provider that works with fleet managers to implement a GPS fleet management system seamlessly in fleet vehicles. The system interprets driving data so that it can be applied to improve a business’ operational efficiencies. The GoFleet team provides knowledgeable and easily accessible sales and technical support for their customers to cover all service issues. For more information, Contact Us.

Pizza Delivery Software Keeps Customers Happy with Hot Pizza

Pizza Delivery Software Keeps Customers Happy with Hot Pizza

Posted on | by Devin Johnson

Keep Customers Happy With Hot Pizzas Using Pizza Delivery Software

Pizza delivery companies are using pizza delivery software to keep their customers happy; the software helps them to deliver pizza quickly to ensure the food is as fresh and hot as possible.

Boston Pizza, one of Canada’s largest casual Italian dining restaurants, knew there had to be a better way to manage food deliveries. The franchise owner, Jim Mercier, wanted to ensure his customers always received the ultimate freshness. His interest for a pizza delivery software was sparked. After shopping around, Jim tested out some different fleet management systems but he was unable to find one that met his needs, until he found GoFleet.

Jim was looking for a pizza delivery software that was simple to install and easy to manage; he did not want a complicated installation or confusing software. He was also looking for software that could improve safety as there were often concerns about their drivers speeding. GoFleet’s pizza delivery software was the perfect fleet management system for his business.

Easy To Install And Use

GoFleet’s pizza delivery software is easy for pizza delivery companies to install on their own. Companies can avoid costly installation fees or hardwiring issues that could damage the vehicles. Jim from Boston Pizza stated: “Installation could not have been any easier…even the most technically challenged individual could do it.”

Deliver Hot & Fresh Pizza

The main objectives of pizza delivery software is to streamline deliveries and to ensure the freshness of the food for the customers. The software can be installed on a computer or mobile device near the delivery computer. That way the order taker can view the deliveries placed by the customers and the delivery vehicle locations simultaneously. This will ensure the food is not sitting around for a long period of time waiting for a delivery driver to pick it up.

Using pizza delivery software and developing a system to make sure each order is fresh out of the oven when the delivery driver is ready to make the next delivery are the keys to keeping your customers happy and delivering hot food every time. When talking about GoFleet’s pizza delivery software, Jim said “If you spend a day on our delivery line using this system, you would have it in your restaurant tomorrow.”

For more information about GoFleet’s pizza delivery software, Contact Us.

Ambulance GPS Tracking Increases Response Time

Posted on | by Devin Johnson

Increase Response Time With Ambulance GPS Tracking

For emergency calls, one minute might mean the difference between life and death. That means each minute between the emergency call and the time the ambulance arrives on the scene is critical. The dispatchers must determine the closest ambulance to a location and send it out immediately. With ambulance GPS tracking, dispatchers will not have to guess which vehicle is the closest anymore. The ambulance GPS tracking software will quickly provide the closest ambulance to the emergency location so not even a moment of vital time is wasted.

With ambulance tracker, the paramedics will not have to rely on their memory to figure out the fastest route to the emergency site. The ambulance GPS tracking device will find it for them. The GPS will determine the fastest and most efficient route to the emergency so the paramedics only have to focus on getting there. This also prevents the paramedics from getting lost on the way to an emergency. Turn-by-turn directions will get them to the emergency quickly, even when it is in a remote location.

GoFleet’s ambulance GPS tracking systems monitors the ambulance drivers and keeps track of their locations. With a 3 second refresh rate, response time is cut down and more lives can be saved. The GoFleet system also has the ability to monitor when ambulance sirens go on and off. Dispatchers are able to monitor the ambulances in real-time and when an emergency call comes in, it only takes a second for the ambulance GPS tracking system to locate the closest vehicle. With siren monitoring, dispatchers can tell which ambulances are in-route to an emergency and which ambulances are available.

Reducing the emergency response time is critical to saving lives. When the ambulance is equipped with an ambulance GPS tracking device, dispatchers can locate vehicles faster so they can arrive on scene within minutes.

For more information about ambulance GPS tracking, Contact Us.

Make Customers Even Happier With Taxi Fleet Management

Posted on | by Devin Johnson

Taxi Fleet Management Makes Customers Even Happier

Many taxi cab companies are discovering the use of taxi fleet management not only reduces costs and improves taxi management, it makes their customers even happier. Fleet managers get a better insight into their drivers’ behavior while they are on the road allowing them to better manage their fleet. Improved routing and dispatching improves efficiency and GPS taxi cab location information solves customer disputes ultimately improving the service they provide to their customers.

When Bell City Cabs implemented GoFleet’s taxi fleet management system, they reduced fuel costs, saved on vehicle maintenance and improved customer service within the first month. The taxi management software is used to keep their customers happy and increases their repeat business.

Improved Driver Behavior

With taxi fleet management, fleet managers can improve their drivers’ behavior. Customized reports and alerts can be set up to inform managers when their drivers speed, drive aggressively, drive out of the authorized area, and idle excessively. It is important for taxi cab companies to monitor their drivers because they need to ensure their customers are having a safe ride to their destination. Customers appreciate knowing when they call your company they will feel safe during their travel.

Efficient Routing And Dispatching

Taxi dispatch system provides more efficient routing and dispatching. Taxi cab companies can provide their customers with an accurate estimated time of arrival. In addition, dispatchers can send the closest taxi to the customer. This improved routing and dispatching makes customers happy because they will not be stuck waiting for the taxi cab for a long time. Once they call your taxi cab company, they can rest easy knowing the taxi cab will be there to pick them up shortly.

Quick Customer Dispute Resolution

GPS taxi location information from taxi fleet management allows fleet managers to quickly resolve any customer disputes. If a customer calls in with a compliant that they were charged too much, the fleet manager can easily determine the length and time of the trip. Using this information, they can determine if the customer was in fact overcharged. The taxi fleet management system can also be used to resolve customer disputes regarding routing, arrival times, pick up and drop off locations. Having a reliable taxi cab history available at the fleet manager’s fingertips will make customers happy because disputes can be resolved quickly.

Taxi cab companies are finding the best way to grow their business is to utilize a taxi fleet management system to make their customers happy. Improving your driver’s behaviors, efficient routing and dispatching and quick customer dispute resolutions will keep your customers happy and increase your repeat business. Also, new customers will be attracted to your taxi cab company when they hear about the great service you provide.

For more information about how GoFleet’s taxi fleet management can make your customer’s happy, Contact Us.

GPS Tracking Assets: Protect What’s Important

Posted on | by Devin Johnson

Protect What’s Important by GPS Tracking Assets

You might be surprised to hear that not only do we offer GPS locating services for vehicles, we also offer the SmartOne Satellite device to track your assets as well. Real-time GPS tracking assets allows you to know where every single piece of equipment is precisely located.

Many businesses do not keep track of their valuable assets which can lead to huge financial losses. Having a list of company assets and their value is simply not enough. Fortunately, this problem can be resolved with GPS tracking assets from GoFleet. The SmartOne LP is a military grade satellite tracking device specifically designed to track trailers and containers.

If your business uses trailers or containers to transport products for your customers, you realize that often times the items in those units can be worth a lot more than the vehicle transporting them. It is imperative that you know where your assets are located at all times. Our powerful device created for GPS tracking assets was built for years of satellite-managed, maintenance-free tracking.

The SmartOne device can be synchronized with GoFleet’s GPS fleet management software for easy asset location. If the assets are not in motion, you will receive daily notifications letting you know where your asset is located. When the asset is in continuous motion, you will get a notification every six hours. If you require more or less notifications of where your assets are located we can set that up as well.

Our device for GPS tracking assets installs easily and quickly using either industrial adhesive, screw mounts or brackets. There is no need for complicated installations, external antennas or external power. The SmartOne Satellite uses a long-lasting battery pack that performs well even under the most extreme weather conditions. If the battery gets low, you will be notified well in advance so you will always be tracking your assets.

For more information about our SmartOne device and other device options for GPS tracking assets, Contact Us today.