Written by: Erica Leary, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine These are unprecedented times! Some of you or your parents may have lived through wars most of us have only read about. Your grandparents may have lived through even worse. But in our times, the Corona Virus is one of the scariest, most unique, and life changing events that we have experienced as a whole. Do you have a new power routine to keep you happy right now? Some people may have had some military training or background; however, as a nation, no one, not a single person, has ever lived through something similar to what we are living through right now. And in a time of crisis, we have 2 choices, crumble or survive. If you are reading this, my guess is it is because you have chosen to survive. What does that look like in your home? All different types of stories have been flying around. Husband is insane because wife won’t stop ________ - (add any favorites here like talking or nagging) – you get the picture. Or wife is at her wits end because husband has forgotten how to groom himself! Or maybe it is parents are taking turns hiding because they are sick of having to break up the kids’ arguments. Or my all-time favorite so far, “kids” are flipping coins to see who is going to take the keys from their (elderly) parents to keep them from going out. Whatever it looks like in your house, more than likely it’s totally different than it was a few weeks ago. But by now we have had our adjustment time and people are getting into their groove. So I would like to share 4 of the best tips for routine that we have received so far. Create a routine He! He! Yes – the top one is to actually have a routine! The surefire way to crumble quick is by not having a routine. Maybe you don’t all need to follow the exact same routine, but everyone in the house should have a routine that they are living by right now. Believe it or not, but when your world feels like it is spinning out of control and we have next to zero power to change it, taking control of your own life definitely helps. Create family time Maybe you have always had dinner together – or maybe not. More and more nowadays, families aren’t even sitting down for even dinner together. It’s a great opportunity to change that. Get wild and crazy and actually have a conversation with your family over dinner. You may just find that you like each other! Take it a step further and play a game together. When was the last time you sat down as a family and really just laughed together? Again, you might just find that it’s something new that you love doing! Exercise It is easy to sit around in your pajamas when you know you aren’t going out today or maybe tomorrow or even the day after that. But don’t do it. Sitting around doing nothing can have bazillions of bad effects on you – depression, swollen limbs, bad mood, annoying others that have to watch you do nothing. You get the picture. On the other hand, you know all the great effects of exercising. But let’s look at this a different way. What else do you have to do? He! He! Right now, is probably the one time when you literally are 100% out of excuses. Everywhere I look on the TV, phone, computer, there is another “free” exercise routine for you to follow from home. No equipment needed. I have even seen dance lessons. If you are reading this, you have the internet; and therefore, zero excuses left. You can’t exactly use “I don’t have the time” anymore! So whether you had a routine before this or not, this could be our new normal for a while. Let’s make the most of it. Let’s take it a step further and come out on the other side better than when we went in! What is your routine? I would love to hear about your favorite way to beat the stress and boredom. Erica Leary, The Life by Design Architect, is a female entrepreneur coach who helps women over 50 (46+) find their passion, get clarity and combine it with their skill and knowledge to build a profitable online business so they can finally start living their dream lifestyle. Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, she has been designing her dream life in Panama City, Panama since 2007. You can start your journey to find your passion at https://go.ericaleary.com to get your free guide to Finding your Passion and Living the Life of Your Dreams. You can find Erica Leary on her website and LinkedIn Instagram @therealericaleary Facebook @therealericaleary Twitter @realericaleary

Written by: Belén Navarro, Contributor Brainz Magazine I live in Madrid, Spain and as you may know we are in complete lockdown, unable to get out of our house, not even to go for a little walk. We are staying home for the sake of everyone and in hopes that this way we will contain the virus. The situation is meant to be like this for at least 15 days but it’s likely that it will go on for longer. As you can imagine and many of you may be already experiencing staying home for such a long period of time is not something any of us looked forward to. Still, as weird as it may sound I’m finding this crisis to be completely eye opening to a lot of people and to me it seems like the universe or God or whomever is up there has put it here for a reason. We live such fast paced lives that we have forgotten about the things that truly matter, we have forgotten to live the True Human Experience and we have forgotten the reason we are all here for. We often go about life unaware that we are living, we work on autopilot and we don’t dare to stop and take control just in case we might catch a glimpse of something we don’t like. Since we are unable to willingly stop the universe has done it for us, it has pulled the brakes and it has made us find stillness within the space of our homes our sanctuaries. No matter your own situation there are always ways you can shift certain aspects of your life or that you can serve others even if it's simply sharing a few words. It must be addressed that I'm talking fully aware of my own privilege. I live in a world where I have a roof over my head, food on my table, access to healthcare and a community around me. I can not change the fact that I am privileged, what I can do though is try to add some value in the midst of this chaos. By no means I claim that a situation like this is necessary to get to a place where you appreciate the things you have, but since we are here and we can not change the crisis we are facing it let's do our best to instead change our mindset. No matter your own situation there are always ways you can shift certain aspects of your life or that you can serve others even if it's simply sharing a few words. It’s only been a few days but instead of finding people going mad because of the lockdown I’m seeing pure magic arise in my community: As parents we are spending time with our kids, time for real, caring, sharing experiences, giving our full attention to one another As couples we are having real conversations about how we are doing, where we want to go, we are learning to enjoy simple daily activities that usually are cause for arguments such as setting the table, preparing dinner or showing appreciation We are serving our grandparents as they have served us many times before, young people are offering their services to go grocery shopping or to care for them as the elderly are the most vulnerable of groups Adolescents being forced to stay home for so long are willing to put the phone down and open up to their families As neighbors we are coming together to the windows to talk to one another, to let the sun in and share a beer in the distance As a community we are putting our differences aside and we are embracing the tremendous effort the medical stuff is doing in this time of need As a country we are putting our fellow citizens above our own personal desires and needs As individuals we are finding comfort in being part of something greater than us As human beings we are having our faith restored Having this time be an illness or a blessing of sorts is up to each and every one of us. It’s a choice we actively make, here are some things to reflect and act on to make coronavirus a turning point in your life: Self reflect: use this time at home to really explore your thoughts and feelings: Are you happy with the life you are leading? Are you happy with the person you are? Do you like how you treat others? Do you like how you treat yourself? Connect: be open with your family and/or your partner. Share what you are feeling, be vulnerable, ask questions, get intimate. Create a space to have deep conversations to really see each other and to rediscover one another. It’s not like that you get to spend so much time alone together again, use it wisely and appreciate it. When was the last time you were curious about them? When was the last time you discovered something new about your partner? Can you fall in love again in 15 days? Can you put your family before work? Be grateful: for the home you get to live in, for the people you share it with, for the food in your plate, for the doctors, nurses and stuff fighting this virus, for the country you live in, for the opportunities to grow, for peace, for light. Create: do something for the sake of enjoying the process not because it is something to check off your list or because it serves a purpose. Make art, make a wonderful meal, make love, make a movie, take pictures, make a mess, make up stories, make up with someone, just make. Invest: everyone is worried about the future but worrying gets you nowhere, investing will. The only way to get closer to the future you want is to take action. Think of what you need, believe in your idea and put your money where your heart is. Invest in your personal development, in your growth, in your business, in your brand, in people you believe in. It’s the perfect time to make a plan and to plant the seed of the future you want for yourself. If you don’t like something, stop doing it and change it. It’s in you. Personally I'm using this time to continue to connect with others, to grow mentally and emotionally, to appreciate and strengthen my relationship, to turn weaknesses into strengths, to become a better human being. I’m spending quality time with my family, yesterday we played ping-pong and we talked for hours in our garden. I hired a coach a few weeks ago and I’m actively investing in my business and in my future. I’m also helping my peculiar clients to create wonderful brands so they can make a difference in the world. I’m connecting with incredible people and teaching them how to share their stories and live their truths. I'm vouching for having this be a time of change to invest in what you love and to create something you are proud of. I am choosing to making magic within four walls and I couldn’t be any more grateful for being able to despite everything appreciate the cards I've been dealt and make the most out of them. This is what I’M choosing what are YOU choosing? Lots of light to you all. Written by: Belén Navarro, Contributor Brainz Magazine Belén Navarro is a designer and coach specializing in helping peculiar entrepreneurs and small businesses to create their own brands. She wrote her final thesis in the healing powers of mindset and creation and she now applies her methodology in her 1:1 work. Her approach is completely based in human connection which makes working with her a mix between creativity and therapy. She is on a mission to help others to embrace the greatness that comes from owning being peculiar and unique in their businesses. As her studio’s motto goes “Believe in what you do, do what you believe, and do that only” her work aims to find alignment between the person behind the brand and the brand that represents them. Visit my website , follow me on Instagram , LinkedIn or join my Facebook community

Sometimes you have to set out to save the world yourself. Theresa Weber-Qvarfort saw the mediasphere move in a direction of polarisation and misinformation - away from the journalistic ideals of honesty, integrity and ethics. With the Ansofy news App , she wants to change the world of news consumption, using revolutionising AI technology to combat fake news and a truly innovative user experience. Here, she tells the story of where her journey began, and where it will take her. Access to objective and honest news shouldn’t be a luxury. But with paywalls popping up as a response to decreased income, newspapers everywhere are turning it into one. Additionally, fake news is becoming a real problem. Theresa’s idea for Ansofy came with a personal experience that almost every online news consumer today will recognise. In order to access an article she wanted to read, she had to sign up for a local newspaper subscription. She tried numerous strategies with the editor; offering to pay for the article itself, offering to pay for an entire hardcopy newspaper and postage, offering to pay for a time limited access solution. Unfortunately, the large media corporation the newspaper was part of had made it impossible to offer anything other than a monthly subscription for the digital content Theresa wanted to access. - It’s not just a matter of paywalls in and of themselves. It’s the larger societal challenge that boils down to information access. What’s going to happen if all well-written, independent, thoroughly researched journalism is locked up? And also, with the enormous amount of information that’s out there, how are readers going to avoid feeling overwhelmed? Parallel to this information challenge, Theresa was also aware of the issue of fake news-writing intended to misinform its readership - and its impact on the audiences that potentially can’t afford or don’t prioritise newspaper subscriptions. She needed to create something that solved both problems in one. A platform where users could access the information they wanted in the endless flow of publication sources across the globe. And a platform where the news enthusiasts could feel confident that what they were reading was objective and accurate. - The answer was quite simple, really. I would give power of readership back to the reader, and do it with transparency and honesty. So on one hand, Ansofy is an app that makes it possible for the user to build their own news feed, hand-picking sources from around the world in a single interface. And on the other, it’s an app that solves the issue of fake news and algorithmic filter bubbles, with AI technology . In addition to giving the user the possibility of reading international news from Asia, local news from Sweden, and financial news from the States - if you prefer them in that order - Ansofy also provides its own news feeds. These are AI-created, sourced from one of the most cutting edge providers on the market. The AI works as an observational journalist, surveilling a topic over the course of 24 hours. Once two or more sources begin writing about the same event, the AI extracts the facts, removes the emotion from the source material’s wording, and produces its own piece of unique content. As more sources pop up, the article is updated - and can even be branched out into several articles if the initial story begins to expand considerably. The results are news that are practically removed of human bias, and give an objective perspective on trending topics. Combined with access to news sources from the whole world, it makes Ansofy a powerful tool in pre-empting filter bubbles. - Online consumers have begun questioning why they’re shown the information they’re shown as they browse digital news and social media feeds. Do a little research, and you quickly learn that sophisticated algorithms are responsible for tracking your every online move, and so determine what will and won’t interest you. It’s called a filter bubble - and when it comes to objective reporting it’s actually a serious problem. "The only actual way to break the information filter-bubble is by accessing information from several sources reporting on the same event or topic." Filter bubbles occur when you as an online consumer only see a very small piece of the big picture. Paywalls are also a contributing factor to the phenomenon. Who’s going to subscribe to 10 different newspapers, with different political perspectives and geographical contexts, every month? More often than not, you’ll pick one, or maybe two, newspapers you’d be willing to actually pay for. No matter how serious these publications are, though, they still hold bias. The only actual way to break the information filter-bubble is by accessing information from several sources reporting on the same event or topic.   So how does Ansofy actually work? The app’s AI component is based on RSS feeds; compiling enough free information from different publications material and creating a coherent and comprehensive article on the subject matter. RSS-feeds are digital versions of a front page or news flyer - like the ones you can still see posted in newsstands today. On the other hand, Ansofy allows the user to pick and choose which sources they want to follow, organised by categories like Top news, Finance, Gossip and Public Service. The app does not take the user behind the paywall. Instead it provides a tool that essentially makes all other news apps superfluous. The combo gives the reader freedom of choice over their own information flow, and helps them navigate through the news-jungle in a clear way . - Our long-term goal is to give every person in the world fair access to reliable information -and the power to decide over which news they want to consume. Whether they live in an area of war, conflict or peace; whether they’re from a developing or industrial country; whether they’re male or female. It shouldn’t matter. Information is the foundation for understanding - a quality we sorely need today, whether it’s about climate change or the refugee crisis.  "Imagine a world where news consumption has been turned into such an attractive commodity that journalists can focus on in-depth reporting instead of sensationalist headlines." Long-term, Theresa wants to launch Ansofy on a global scale, and is particularly interested in how it can serve as a platform for readers and publications alike. Smaller magazines, sources and periodicals are suffering from the necessity for swift digitalisation. With Ansofy, they don’t need to build an expensive and user-friendly app, because the portal is already in place. Likewise, industries all over the globe are undergoing a shift towards journalistic investment; big businesses are starting to publish their own content. Theresa’s app can help them reach their customers as part of a massive information ecosystem, and eventually, Ansofy will serve as a symbiotic facilitator between publication and audience. - Imagine a world where news consumption has been turned into such an attractive commodity that journalists can focus on in-depth reporting instead of sensationalist headlines. Where we’ve essentially removed fake news from the equation. Where you have the full picture of what’s going on in the world at your fingertips. And you, the reader, are in charge of your news feed, so you can avoid filter bubbles and echo chambers. That’s what Ansofy is: News 2.0, for a better information and media future. Download Ansofy on App Store or Google Play

Written by: Karina Mikhli, CEO and Founder of Right-Size COO Do you remember when "failing" (or "failing fast") was what everyone in the startup world was talking about? I feel like "scaling" (and "growth hacking") took its place as the new thing every startup founder should aim for. In non-startup speak, "scaling" just means that you're growing but the key to scaling is to do it smart. Here are the top three things to consider before you begin to scale: Why are you scaling? What should you hire for and what should you outsource? What will your role continue to be? Why are you scaling? The first thing you need to decide—and know—is why you want to grow. Are you doing it because you have to fulfill customer demand or because your investors are breathing down your neck or because you were told it's what you should aim for? Unless you're doing it for the former (increased customer demand), I recommend you rethink doing it at all. Scaling is not easy to do nor to maintain, and if you don't have enough sales to warrant it, you're going to be fighting an uphill battle. It's also okay to grow slowly and organically, and to not want to grow past a certain point. As long as it supports your lifestyle—and you can pay your employees and bills—don't let anyone pressure you into aiming for more than you know you need or want. What should you hire for and what should you outsource? Assuming you're scaling for the right reasons, you need to get the resources to help you do more. This probably involves upgrading some of your systems and tools, but it also involves getting more human resources, which does not necessarily translate to more staff. Instead of going on a hiring spree, first decide what your core service and functions are and which ones are supportive. The core functions should be kept in-house but supporting and administrative ones are probably cheaper to outsource at first (you can read more about what to delegate via outsourcing  here ). Since technology has made remote work viable, there are more options for hiring both staff and freelancers. You should consider whether you need to hire onsite or offsite (which has its own potential cost-savings), and whether you need to hire full-time or can it start part-time. For freelancers/ consultants, I recommend hiring hourly and part-time, and if possible, remote unless having them onsite has advantages. "There is no one right answer nor will that answer remain the same through your company's journey." What will your role continue to be? The last thing to consider is your role. As a baby startup founder, you had to do it all but as your company scales, you will need to bring on (or outsource to) specialists. And given your strengths and weaknesses, it may or may not make sense for you to remain at the helm. It's better for you to figure this out and be honest with yourself, then to realize too late and/or have that decision taken away from you. This is also your opportunity to return to what you love to do. If you've hated running the business and dealing with everything but "x" (insert whatever function/role gives you joy and/or is your strength), this is your chance to focus on x again. So should you scale or not? There is no one right answer nor will that answer remain the same through your company's journey. But the wrong thing to do is to grow for the wrong reasons or poorly, which will lead to wasted money and alienating your current customers. You can always scale later but it's a lot harder to regain customer trust or recover from a bad first impression. Karina Mikhli, CEO and Founder of  Right-Size COO , started out as a teacher and then migrated to publishing. She spent much of her career managing content operations at various publishing houses, and the rest of it helping startups and nonprofits. Along the way she realized she had a knack for managing and optimizing operations and teams, streamlining processes, and setting up and automating efficient systems, which is something she realized many startup founders and small business owners had a need for. As Right-Size COO, she offers flexible and affordable packages so that everyone can afford the right COO for their current needs, regardless of the size of their business or budget. To learn more about Karina, you can visit her  LinkedIn page  or contact her at karina@rightsizecoo.com .

Written by: Carmen Benton, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Awareness is the most important piece in the success journey, yet the most common missing link among entrepreneurs. Awareness is so important, because it brings you not only attention to a situation in your business that you need to solve or fix, but also it is like literally shining a spotlight into anything you need to make better, and allow your inner and outer resources to focus on amending the situation. In other words, without awareness of where you are today, it is impossible to get where you want to be, because without a clear starting point your goals, your tactics, and strategy can’t be effective to get you where you want to go. Realization is how I like to call the act of being aware of the state of your business, and I invite you to fully realize or accept as a fact where you are in your business today and of course to realize where you want to be, and by becoming aware and fully realize the state, health and outcomes of your business, you will be then ready to start the journey towards success with the right foot. Many studies suggest that lack of awareness as a business owner has more implications and limitations in entrepreneurial success, than previously imagined. For example, believe it or not a lack of realization in your strategy will cost you the ability to acquire the talent that will help you move towards success, and that’s true regardless of the size of your company, even if you are a one person shop currently, the reality is that eventually you will have to hire people to scale your business, and the lack of realization will inhibit your ability to get the right people on your side, which will end up costing you time, clients and money. But closing this gap and finding the missing link of entrepreneurial success is not something sexy that famous people wake up one day and decide to chase, it is something you must do as an entrepreneur if you consider yourself a leader, because leadership is all about recognizing not only the areas of opportunity for your employees and your customers, but for yourself and your business, and that’s when you can leverage your inner and outer resources to ensure you perform at the best every time. Not just converting sales often, but keeping up a steady improvement using conversion rate optimization (CRO) to keep improving. After all, you are in business to guide your customers to a better destination, either with your products or your services, which inevitably means you are or at least want to be a leader in your area of expertise. In this article I want to share with you three techniques to leverage your inner resources, and when it comes to awareness and realization, these are tools that are surprisingly common, and that I know you are familiar with but perhaps not as an entrepreneur, and maybe you haven’t stopped to apply them in your business. The first tool is to do regular Brain Dumping sessions, which is not more than a complete transfer of your accessible knowledge about a particular subject from your brain to some other storage medium, such as paper or your computers hard drive. Then, the second tool you need to practice realization and awareness in your business is to create a categorization of that knowledge you got out of your brain and into a paper, so it’s easier to apply the third step which is creating an understanding of what is coming your way so you can be prepared. As you can see these three tools are simple, easy and free for you to start implementing, and they are the first step of what I like to call Time Hacking Blueprint. For the remaining steps on this process, stay tuned to my upcoming articles. For more details and other business strategies for success, follow me on Facebook or Instagram, join my Facebook Community or visit my website Carmen Benton,Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Carmen Benton is an International sought after Business Strategist, dedicated to help entrepreneurs around the world stop feeling overwhelmed and overworked, by showing them how to create a real growth strategy and powerful action that is proven to eliminate burnout from any business, including yours so that you can feel passionate about what you do again, and scale you business with ease.  Carmen is a Mechanical Industrial Engineer and she holds an MBA from a branch for Harvard Business School.  She has served in high management positions in large corporations in the US, and she also has helped companies of all shapes and sizes, create and established a concrete strategy that's actionable and profitable.

Written by: Hanna Horner So far 2020 hasn’t impressed us business owners much. I’m sure none of us had “lockdowns” as a potential scenario when we sat down to make plans for the year. That doesn’t mean that you need to surrender your dreams, goals and visions for you future. This just means that it is even MORE important than ever before to remain in control of YOU, your own mindset, what you focus on and what you do with your time. You can either set off into the coming months with absolute confidence and the mindset of a winner - or you can curl up back up and watch from the sidelines as the brave ones take on new challenges and opportunities.  Think about what it is that you want to accomplish in 2020 and commit 100% to show up and work smart, while most people run away and hide. We all know that during economic downturns wealth can get redistributed very quickly - and you know you want to be on the receiving end of that. Rather than getting stuck in the collective victim role and look for support packages and bailouts (and I’m not saying those are BAD at all) grab the bull by the horns, accept the new reality, and more FORWARD. In times of social distancing, full on lock-downs and messages of “go home and stay home” the business owners that THRIVE have pivoted their businesses online. Gyms run home workout programs along with nutrition challenges, flower stores have stoppable Instagrams and deliver. All the big stores offer “pick up curbside” (or deliver), restaurants focus on take out, clothing stores make the most of their stories and entice people to shop from home. "We need to look for the good" Success, as you know, is 80% having the right mindset. To be successful entrepreneurs we need to be resilient, solution focused, have a high tolerance for ambiguity and be prepared to risk it all.  I have some “go-to” suggestions to thrive in these times: Get yourself a rock solid morning routine. This routine should involve 3 quick wins over that pesky, negative voice in your head that’s trying to get you to give up. This is how you can build up your mental resilience and toughness. Plan each day in as much detail as possible. Make sure you have clear deadlines and know exactly what to do at any given time. That way you don’t have to stop to think about what’s coming up next. It’s when we stop our momentum, that we open the floodgates to doubt, procrastination and fear. “An object in motion stays in motion." Get yourself an accountability partner. You’re 85% more likely to follow through on your plans, if you have an appointment with someone who cares. It’s smart to spend time on the things that help you maintain a winning mindset. Even as much as 80% of your time can have this as the sole focus. Trust me, your remaining 20% will be more than enough to get everything done WHEN you’re doing it from a feeling of personal power and ability to focus on the right things. Build an online following. Get to know your audience and let “social media” be just that: social. You’ll find that your new friends on social will bail you out and stay faithful to you and your brand, even in tougher times. Don’t try to “go it alone”. Get the support you need. Don’t DIY things you’re not good at. Focus on making MORE money, rather than “saving”. Delegate. Buy traffic online (ads). Reinvest in your business - and be sure to move as much as possible online. Surround yourself with people who also refuse to settle for less. It’s common knowledge that we become the average of the 5 people we spend the most time with. Who do you want to be? Get yourself that intentional success-team. To grow beyond wherever we are at today, won’t be comfortable. We’re used to how things are - for better of for worse. Anytime we decide to venture outside that comfort zone it WILL hurt. Be mentally prepared to rise up to the new challenges. Give it everything you’ve got. It’ll be worth it. We need to look for the good. The online and e-learning industry has proven to be somewhat more resistant to economic downturns than others in the past. It is projected that the e-learning industry will reach 325 billion a year by 2025. Right now is the perfect time to position yourself to be a part of that economy. In Italy, in March of this year, e-commerce went up buy 90% as compared to March last year. You can most definitely create an unshakable business. You can come out of this as a winner. In fact, you might be one of the few who CAN “win” in these times - and that’s exactly what we all need you to do. Someone needs to keep the wheels turning. Right now you are being called to step things up and give it your all. Hanna Horner works with driven and ambitious entrepreneurs who want to reach goals faster. Visit Hannas website and schedule a meeting!

Written by: Elena Seranova A lot of times when I discuss business, my scientific studies or my love life, people respond with "you must have been so lucky" or "sounds like an overnight success". I want to address the perspective of overnight success and how you can achieve it. I will talk about my first business, my interdisciplinary studies and my love life as an example. Business First things first. I'm sorry to ruin your dream but overnight success doesn't exist. In order to become successful in any aspect of your life, you have to create a system that works in the long term. After some time of executing the same boring stuff over and over again, you start seeing results. This is what people call overnight success. There are very few exceptions in this rule , and betting that you'll be one of them is not smart. If you put the work in, your chances of overnight success are much higher. My first well-being business went from 0 to 6 figures within 18 months. I was 23. I didn't even know what to do with so much money coming in every day. But how did it all start? After graduating with a major in psychology, I was wondering what to do next. One thing I knew for sure: becoming an employee was not an option. As an undergrad, I used to work night shifts as a DJ to pay my rent while my family's small business got bankrupt in 2008 due to the Greek financial crisis. I knew that I'm not comfortable with taking orders so I was searching for a quick way to set up a profitable business. That's why when I heard about a cool neurofeedback device that other health practitioners use for stress reduction I got interested. Why? Because there was no such device in the north Part of Greece, so I knew that if I import one I'd have a monopoly. I took a calculated risk (now that I look back at it, it resembles more of a leap of faith, but I'm so glad I took it), bought the device, took a few months' training and launched my well-being business. The first month, I only managed to land 2 customers. I went to my mom saying "I have to pay the office rent tomorrow and I didn't make enough money this month". She said she'll pay my rent tomorrow but I have one more month to figure out how to pay the next one. I had a printer at the office. I designed a brochure that would suffice in Word and printed some copies. Then, I went door to door in my building. And the next building. And the next one. I contacted a local radio station for a chance to be featured in one of the shows and they said yes. Customers and cash were rolling in every day and at the end of the month, I was so proud that I could pay my rent! Six months later I had a two weeks waiting list for an appointment because the product was great and I made sure to give my customers great experience each time they would come in. Science studies After being involved with patients suffering from various conditions, I got curious about the symptoms I was observing in my customers. I have previously taken some cognitive neuroscience classes at uni and decided to study the human brain a bit more. Call me an information junkie but I get a kick out of learning cool facts about stuff that interest me, which is mostly science and business. Five years into my business, after growing it into two branches in 2 different cities, I decided to step up my game. The financial situation in Greece was still not as prosperous as in the western European countries. I found a fascinating master's degree in neuroscience and genetics at an English university and ended up applying for it. And I got in! So I took another leap of faith, closed down my business and moved to the UK. I had enough savings from my business to not work for a year and be a self-funded student. This is where I got introduced to wet lab biology. To the actual research that scientists do wearing white lab coats and figuring out interactions between various proteins by setting up cool experiments. And my mind was completely blown. "My life has a purpose, and my research plays a great part in it." I fell in love with lab work and molecular biology. I loved it so much, I actually decided to pursue a PhD in this field as well. The master's degree' lab project was hard. It was harder for me than for most of my course mates because most of them had a biology background, while I was struggling to keep up with the course work and the novice lab nomenclature. In a new language! But I didn't care, it was so cool! I just kept going and applying for PhD positions. After about 20 rejections, it became clear that I'm not the ideal candidate for a wet lab biology PhD project. Or at least this is what my potential supervisors thought. Until one day, I got a positive reply. One positive reply was all I needed. And here we are, 3 years and 7 publications later, I am about to obtain my PhD in neurodegeneration, stem cell biology and drug discovery. Love Life Some may wonder whether I have any time to be dating at all with such a hefty schedule.The little time left for personal use, becomes very precious, meaning you want to make the best out of it. You want the best, most fascinating experience out of it. So how do you find a partner that will be a great match and will make you have the time of your life? That will be considerate, fun to be with, romantic, adventurous, loving... Those are all the wrong questions. Because what we currently describe here, is the top of the dating pool. So why do you think the ideal partner that you would choose over millions of others, would choose you? The answer is simple. Because you are one in a million. In other words, you need to make the offer so irresistible that any candidate you shortlist, will choose you over another woman, over and over again. And how do you do that? The answer to this question is slightly counter intuitive. You don't focus on dating. You focus on yourself. You improve yourself in every way possible. This is something that business taught me. If you have a mediocre product, there is no need to start advertising it before you hone it to the point that as soon as the customer will see the ad, the purchase will be a no-brainer. And then, you do the second counter intuitive thing. You start going on dates, but you keep on rejecting. Instead of looking for reasons to see a guy for a second time, you look for reasons to never see him again. Why? As you improve yourself in every aspect of your life (charm, intelligence, physical and mental health etc), you don't want to settle for the first person you'll go on a date with. You want to wait until you find someone that will tick all the boxes. That will be as caring, loving, attractive and intelligent as you deserve. I was single for over 2 years before I met my partner. We've been together for a year and it's been the best year of my life. Why? Because I kept on rejecting everyone else before I met him. There was always something missing and I was not willing to compromise. As a result, I found someone that has the same mindset and values with me, he is funny, smart, charming and we just admire each other. Lab members are jealous of my regular flower deliveries as I'm doing my experiments, weekends consist of surprise destination getaways and I never felt so emotionally safe and loved in my life. Was it all down to luck? Absolutely no. I just kept bettering myself and saying no until I found the One. Conclusion People tend to blame "bad luck" for their circumstances. And when they hear about other people's success, it hurts them less if they attribute it to "overnight success"; rather than to this individual's will power and consistency. That's what I implemented in business, in my studies and in my love life. There was no overnight success, I just kept on going until the results were achieved. I struggled a lot along the way, but I never gave up. I hope that from now on, you will do the same. Elena has a BSc in Psychology. Run a 6-figure wellness business and was a co-founder of a biotech start-up. Currently a PhD candidate and is the founder of the Guild of Growth, a female exclusive self development community focusing on mindset of success. Visit her website!

Ever wish you had an unlimited wardrobe? Feeling confused and restricted by sustainable fashion? Got a wardrobe full of clothes and nothing to wear? Garmie may have just found the solution to your problems. I’m Evie. The founder of Garmie – Hi! Last year I was a uni student with the perpetual problem of always having events to attend. Having nothing to wear. Spending my earnings on buying a new outfit to wear once and then hoarding it in my overflowing wardrobe of items I was ‘over’. Not good, I know. I couldn’t afford to keep up with this, and nor could the planet. Do you ever feel like, if you don’t have something you feel good about wearing, you don’t want to go out? I do. But if the only solution was to re-wear my same clothes all the time, then I was disheartened. There’s no shame in wanting to switch up your style! Imagine if I combined my wardrobe with my friends and their friends and theirs; if I could pay them a small amount to borrow their items, and they could do the same for mine. We’d have a huge wardrobe! That had cash flowing through it! And most of all, we could wear whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted, and know that it was the most sustainable item out there because it already exists. No more confusion, shame and restriction. We could be free. And so Garmie was born. Garmie is an exciting new app launching later this year where you can rent your clothes, shoes and accessories to other people to make continuous money, and you can rent from other people’s wardrobes for a fraction of the retail price. Win for your wardrobe. Win for your wallet. Win for the planet. Did you know that there’s £30bn worth of unworn clothes hanging in our UK wardrobes? The textile industry accounts for 1.2 billion tonnes of carbon emissions every year. 1/6 young people won’t re-wear an outfit they’ve posted it on social media. That’s a lot of waste. You can see how circulating the items we already have in our wardrobes makes sense in the big picture, but you’re wondering what’s in it for you? Here's a handy list of reasons why lending your wardrobe is actually everything you ever needed: Yes, selling your items second hand might make you a few quid. But isn’t it frustrating when you only earn a fraction of what you paid, and have to bid farewell to something you once treasured? What if you want to come back to it when the trend inevitably comes back around? Who doesn't love finding an old gem hidden in the wardrobe?! Lending, on the other hand, allows you to make that money multiple times over, continuously monetize those items in your wardrobe you never wear (which makes up at least 50% of your wardrobe!) and still have the chance to come back to them in the future, give them to your future kids or turn them into tablecloths. Totally up to you, because they’re still yours! Remember that planet we live in? Well, it's hurting. And you can fix it! Just by letting someone borrow your dress, or your suit, or your shoes, jacket, earrings and bow tie. Easy. If you lend one item to 10 other people, you'll reduce its carbon footprint by 400%! Now that's a bargain. "We want everyone to be able to access everything they’ve ever wanted to wear and be who they want to be." With Garmie, making easy cash and saving the planet literally takes as much effort as your morning coffee. Think of Garmie as your own unlimited vending machine of fashion, cash and planet saving fairy dust. 3 Keys to Learn on your Entrepreneurial Journey: Learn on the go - I love listening to podcasts when I’m walking, in the car, at the gym, on the tube… It feels like down time, but you’re still feeding your brain with things you didn’t even know you were looking for! My favourites at the moment are Dan Murray’s‘Secret Leaders’, Guy Raz’s‘How I Built This’and Elizabeth Day’s‘How to Fail’. No meeting is a waste of time - I’ve realised that meeting up face-to-face is always more worthwhile than anything else. I ask anyone and everyone for a coffee and some advice, even if they’re not directly related to what I want to do. They’ll always have something valuable to tell you, someone to introduce you to, or at the very least, you’ve spread a little awareness about your product. Get comfortable feeling uncomfortable - Starting a company is just one huge ‘no idea what I’m doing’ mood. Every single day you’re forced to learn something new, meet someone new, sell your idea or product; spend your time, energy and money on your passion, the outcome of which you have absolutely no certainty about. You’ll constantly play tennis between self-doubt and self-empowerment. But as they say, ‘the best way to predict the future is to create it. Our vision is for Garmie to make fashion dreams come true. We want everyone to be able to access everything they’ve ever wanted to wear and be who they want to be. We want fashion to be 100% sustainable without having to ditch the brands and items we love. We are creative, forward-thinking fashion sharers. A passionate community, who care about the planet as much as we do our style - and be assured that one need not compromise the other. Garmie is fashion freedom. So, join us in this rental revolution! The world is your wardrobe. If you have any questions about Garmie, chat to us! Sign up for early access to the app and follow us to stay in the loop. We can’t wait to share with you!

Written by: Kaja Travnik, personal trainer, Face Yoga teacher, nutritionist and mindset coach - Our health consists of more pillars. It’s how we fuel our body, how we take care of it and how we think. I called this connection Mind, Body, Spirit. Running from one errand to another, being busy and stressed out all the time, eventually leads to disease. I have been there. I used to be an international lawyer, lived in 5 different countries and working long hours. I was obsessed with my career and just wanted to be the best in everything I did. I never stopped, until my health said enough! At the age of 26, I was diagnosed with burnout and my body collapsed completely. I believe physical disease, starts first on a mental level. We are tired, weak, sleepy and we cannot get our head thinking straight, but we keep on pushing. We don’t listen, until our body has enough. So, in my opinion, everything happens for a reason. Being absolutely down, means fresh beginning and new start. Life gives you the opportunity to reprogram yourself. But where to begin? How to improve our lifestyle? Let’s return to the pillars now. You will need to change your mindset and how you take care of yourself: Start writing gratitude diary . Every day write 3 things you are grateful for. In one month, your life will start shifting. Meditate . Even 5 or 10 minutes per day is enough. Just close your eyes and breath in through your nose and breath out through your mouth. Eat healthy , nutritious food and take supplements . It is very important that you eat whole foods, which give your body energy and strength. I recommend you check your blood picture, from which you can see what your body is missing, and add that in a form of supplements and appropriate foods. Start with exercise . But don’t do trainings, which will exhaust your body even more. I recommend workout, which includes pilates, yoga, strength training with your own weight and interval training. Also walking and speed walking is very healthy. But don’t do running, cycling, lifting heavy weights and crazy workouts, which different fitness studios offer. Hiring a personal trainer, who you can tell your problems and he or she designs a special workout for you is great. Do Face Yoga . Face Yoga Exercises are through Chinese medicine connected to your inner organs. It helps with creating natural facelift, removing your wrinkles, double chin and dark circles. But with every exercise, you are improving your immune system too. Helps with concentration and lowering you stress level My name is Kaja and I am a passionate personal trainer, Face Yoga teacher, nutritionist and mindset coach. Going through my own experience, my mission is to teach people how to spot the negative effects of today’s lifestyle and how to improve it. You can read more about me on my website . Follow me on Instagram and Facebook .

Have you ever come across a fact that startles you? That makes you stop dead in your tracks and think how is this possible? Well this happened to us last year in different ways, both of us (Rut and Maria) spent last year learning more about the world of capital investing and entrepreneurship. Both of us starting from the point of aspiring female entrepreneurs, actually that’s how we met at a networking event for female entrepreneurs. 1.The eyebrow raising disparities in the world of VC funding What we learned on our individual journeys is that less than 2% of all venture capital funding goes to women. We were baffled by this very low number, because in our view we see so many more women being successful and visible in public arenas but still somehow, when it comes to seeking funding for ideas, women seem to be disproportionately disadvantaged. This made us curious to understand more about why this is the case. We know that in many ways there has never been a better time for women to be empowered and believe in their own ideas, we see the progress that we also enjoy in our own lives. But still when it comes to getting funding for our ideas, our innovations, our contributions to solving big problems we’re just getting a tiny fraction of the institutional support that is out there. 2.Female Empowerment X Intersectionality We both come from diverse backgrounds, from families that immigrated to the west from Africa and Central America for various reasons. So, naturally we became curious to see how Women of Color (or WomenX) as they say in the US are represented within the group of women who only get 2% of VC funding. The results were not unexpected, but still disturbing, LatinX women receive 0.32% and Black women receive 0.0006% of the VC dollars .This shows us that the mission to increase funding for more female entrepreneurs needs to be truly inter-sectional and embrace Women of Color and LGBTQ communities for it to be truly inclusive. To give some more context on what’s really happening within the world of female entrepreneurship despite the lack of funding, it's important to highlight these facts that tell a powerful and hopeful story of triumph and resilience despite the odds: ● Women owned businesses are growing 50% faster on average than all businesses nationwide in the US ● Businesses owned by Women of Color grew at more than double the rate of all women-owned businesses (US) ● Women owned businesses continue to trend above all businesses (US) Despite the disappointing statistics that show that female entrepreneurs really need access to capital, coaching and community in order to launch and grow their businesses, we’re seeing on a global scale, significant and meaningful growth of female enterprise through a high level of innovation and collaboration between women across all lines. 3.The start of a new era for women Despite the disparities in VC funding for women, one of the most exciting developments within the world of global investment is probably that increasingly more women are funding other women's entrepreneurship ideas than ever. We’re seeing growth for female led enterprise and innovation which is underpinned by women seeing each other, banding together and bankrolling other women's ideas. More than ever before, women are taking up space as decision-makers as they’re moving into the world of venture capital, this is starting to break the previous norm where predominantly men owned these spaces. A great example of this is more women moving into the role of Angel investors, which creates a potent opportunity for female Angel investors to apply their financial resources to female led projects that they care about to create a more equal world. An example of this is Wingpact, which is a global community of investors and entrepreneurs whose vision is to create a more gender inclusive world, co- founded by 6 women who are successful Angel investors. The 6 women behind Wingpact wrote a book called Impact With Wings to empower other women and improve the global culture around investment to become more inclusive (a very valuable book that we recommend any woman interested in this space to read). More women are stepping up to the challenge motivated by finding an alternative lifestyle and more empowered route to a fulfilling career. Co-working spaces dedicated to women only make this alternative lifestyle more realistic for a lot of women. The Wing with the co-working spaces, are a great example of this, their mission is the professional, civic, social and economic advancement of women through community. 4. Diversity is Queen, not king. We’re also seeing the growth of fundraising and in particular crowdfunding which encourages more people to realize their dreams while democratizing funding and giving more people (from diverse backgrounds) to tell their story (Source:Impact with Wings). A great example of this is iFundWomen of Color, which is a resource for diverse, early-stage entrepreneurs. iFundWomen exists to provide an option for women of color, which we know have an incredibly difficult time accessing funding. This platform provides incredible value to Women of color by helping their dreams come into reality through raising capital via crowdfunding and providing grants, coaching and connections needed to launch and grow successful businesses, that they would otherwise struggle to get. Another truly exciting development which capitalizes on the ubiquity of technology is the successful podcast by Arlan Hamilton called “Your First Million” which takes on a behind-the scenes perspective through interviewing successful investors and entrepreneurs and sharing their stories. Through this format, the listeners get a clearer understanding on what it takes to build a successful business and what the game of investment entails from multiple perspectives. Arlan Hamilton is the only black queer woman to have ever built a venture capital firm from scratch. She is the Founder and Managing Partner of Backstage Capital, a seed-stage investment fund that is dedicated to minimizing funding disparities in tech by investing in high-potential founders who are people of color, women and/or LGBTQ. Backstage Capital sees these underrepresented groups as the biggest opportunity in investment, that has also invested in female entrepreneurs in Sweden who are WomenX. Backstage has now raised more than $7 million and invested in more than 130 startup companies led by underestimated founders. Just by its sheer existence, Backstage capital that only invests in high-potential founders from underrepresented groups shows us how much the landscape has changed. With Backstage’s intentional investments and their clever media presence, this venture fund is giving the often invisible entrepreneurs a voice and a chance to be seen. 5 The boys club is out and the women's club is the new in! There is an undeniable chain reaction that sparks when we see female empowerment networks and groups coming together, to help each other, to increase the knowledge of how to take more risk and to be in control of your own financial status. The question of equality is being drawn to the surface but we still have a lot of work that needs to be done in the VC and entrepreneur scene. There are still many WomenX that are not being recognized for the hard work and grit that they are putting in to make their company work. Even though we see a significantly increased level of collaboration between women and different spaces are being created for women to come together, empower and sharpen each other. There are role models who have taken their own path and made it and have created their own platform to lift other WomenX in their channels and network, for example the female led networks HON and Feminvest in Sweden. However, as a global society we need to do more to inspire more women to take the chance and start a business. We need to increase the diversity in c-level positions that are mainly man dominated industries like tech, science and finance. Overall, we need to lift and celebrate diversity in tech across all lines to capitalize on the innovation coming from all groups of society 6. Women have each other’s back! These days there are slack groups where women are sharing their wages with each other so they can minimize the gap between their male counterparts for the same role. We are all in this together. The technology has provided us with the information to search and find more women in powerful positions that are using their roles to empower more women. Women are strengthening and guiding each other in how to take a seat at the table. The old paradigm of women needing to act like men and stepping on bodies to be successful is dying out! Women are increasingly becoming more successful than ever through being feminine, through embracing all sides of womanhood (mother, partner, individual) and companies and big corporations that recognize this factor are becoming more appealing in their recruitment process. More women are starting to define themselves and being true to themselves outside of societal expectations, taking more risks and chances. The shift that is happening is unbelievable and even though we would like it to happen faster, we can actually share some great news, that last year women in minorities groups started more businesses and took more risk than past years. We spoke to two successful female leaders here in the Nordics about the recent exciting developments in the world of startups and entrepreneurship. We asked them about how we can encourage more women to this sector and highlight the diverse women that are in these careers, like themselves. Here’s what they had to say: “We live in a click-bait era so most of us continue to do the work behind the scenes because our names don't provide interest from the industry. I truly believe that by putting the focus on business cases that we’re working on, and addressing our great strengths that come from being underestimated and undervalued we might find the right narrative. Unfortunately each time we get access to business-oriented platforms we get addressed as a ”CSR" case and not seen for the value we bring in business.” - Nora Bavey is the CEO and founder of UNITECH an Edtech company and streaming service of IT talents in the Nordics. “Acknowledge them. They do exist. Yes they do exist! and they will exist whether you acknowledge them or not. They are not a minority globally speaking, yes maybe they are where YOU live for now. But as an entrepreneur or any other cooperate to stay relevant you must look more broadly, meaning include those amazing ideas and innovation that’s happening around you. Reach out, learn and invest in them meaning don’t make them another project, when actually they are game changers in the society that we live in. But also start early with the youth. They are the future! Include them to help shape a sustainable planet.” - Maryam Ari, Founder & CEO of Emms technology, a non profit movement and a platform where Women of Color can learn more about IT-development, participate in events and workshops about technology and engineering. 8. How to create impact together! We think that there’s really never been a better time for women to invest, believe in their ideas, take risks and take a shot at fulfilling their entrepreneurship dreams. There are a lot of women out there that are really active within this space, despite not getting the support that they deserve from the VC community, but they are still thriving through a high level of collaboration and through building necessary structures to educate and empower other women financially. Not only are women building communities but also building up capital to be able to promote other womens ideas through investments, truly powerful and game changing. Women are succeeding through being truly more of who they are, and this shows in the type of work cultures that they are creating, and the type of ventures that they invest in, shedding archaic notions from the corporate world. Internationalization is key in this area, we must leave no woman behind, hence why we are happy to see more WomenX specific accelerator programs, VC funds, Angel investors coming up. We are thrilled to see that more women are proving to be successful through investing in the often bypassed WomenX and LGBTQ communities. We need to tell more of these stories because women in general, WomenX, LQBTQ-women are out there innovating, creating, building, connecting and making money despite only receiving 2 % of all the VC dollars out there. We need to make more noise and to build more community on and offline so that we can keep empowering each other and #ChangeTheRatio 9. Paying it Forward Below are some resources from us that we want to pay it forward to anyone reading this article that wants to deep dive into the exciting space of female entrepreneurship: Books - Impact with Wings Podcasts - Your First Million; Feminivest Accelerator Programs - IFundWomen, Invest Stockholm, Founder Gym Influencers within this space – Isthar Toulait, Dawn Dickson, Michaela Berglund, Nora Bavey, Maryam Ari Networks to join – HON download their app. Read report from Ownershift, Join the conversation using the hashtag #ChangeTheRatioNordic Written by: Maria Villanueva Co founder & CEO BeautyQlick Rut Semere - Digital Media Strategist, Self Leadership Coach and Entrepreneur

Written by: Carmen Benton, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Now more than ever is extremely important that you find a way to differentiate your business from the competition to be able to succeed, but being different isn’t enough anymore. Now, more than ever, what you need to maximize your results is the power of leverage. Leverage is an advantage you obtain from being in a unique position because you utilize the resources available to you in a different and wise way. There are 5 things you need to learn to leverage so you can get ahead of your competition once and for all, and I will cover them in this article for you: People and Connections Leveraging people and connections has nothing to do with manipulation, on the contrary, it has everything to do with exercising what we need the most today, which is building true, sincere and honest relationships with the people you meet. When you offer your expertise to others, and solve problems without expecting always something in return, you build a solid relationship with people. As a business owner, there will be the time when being able to leverage those relationships could mean many thousands of dollars, and frustrations saved; for example getting to a key business partner may require you to go through a key assistant that serves as a gatekeeper with the power to help you or make you wait. However, having a trust-based relationship with that person might mean the difference between growing your business or not. Skills The second thing you want to learn to leverage are your skills, but also the acknowledgement of the things you are not skilled at. As I mentioned in past publications in social media, as a business owner with a strategy, you need to know what things your are meant to be doing as the expert you are, and what things you are going to outsource to other experts that I like to call the brokers. In plain English what I mean here is that you need to decide what things you are going to do in and for your business, and what things you are going to delegate to someone that has more skills than you on the topic. Education and Accomplishments Believe it or not the idea of leveraging your education and accomplishments may come as a new idea for many business owners. For once, if you have accomplished anything good, I want to let you know that you are entitled to brag about it, as long as there is a purpose with that. "Leveraging your accomplishments could be the difference between landing that next big client or not." For example, when I mention in my bio that I’m a Mechanical Industrial Engineer with an MBA from a branch from Harvard, it’s not because the long title suits me, but because I want to ease your fears by sharing with you the fact that I’ve gone through a lot of difficult tasks, yet I figured out a way to be a successful woman, therefore someone that can help you get there too. Leveraging your accomplishments could be the difference between landing that next big client or not. Fears This is one of my favorite things to teach entrepreneurs, how to leverage their fears. Most people tell you to conquer and overcome your fears, but I want to tell you today, that this actually doesn’t work. Fears are feelings our bodies are designed to experience. Fear is an impulse created by our brain to help with the survival of the species, therefore what makes you think you’ll be able to live free of fear. On the other hand, if you embrace your fears, and understand what they are trying to tell you and then leverage that information you will be ahead of your competitors without a doubt, because they are stuck trying to conquer their fears, which we have established is impossible, while you will be on march to conquer the thing that creates the emotion of fear itself. In many cases, this is as simple as acquiring new skills or guidance from a mentor like me. I love this topic so much that I created a whole process dedicated to leverage one’s fears, and the results from my clients have been incredible. Time And of course, this list can’t be completed without the idea of leveraging time. Time leverage or time hacking as I like to call it is another of those areas where I specialize, because my approach to this topic is to go back to basic and re-engineer your thinking, your habits, your process and your systems. When you look at these four areas, you can then create on demand consistent extra hour each week, as you need them or want them. As you can see now, leverage these five things, so accessible to all of us, presents an extraordinary advantage for your business, and even if you only take and apply one of these tips today you would be 100% much better than before. Now imagine if you do apply them all. For more details about how to get ahead with the power of leverage and other business strategies for success, follow me on Facebook or Instagram, join my Facebook Community or visit my website Carmen Benton, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Carmen Benton is an International sought after Business Strategist, dedicated to help entrepreneurs around the world stop feeling overwhelmed and overworked, by showing them how to create a real growth strategy and powerful action that is proven to eliminate burnout from any business, including yours so that you can feel passionate about what you do again, and scale you business with ease.  Carmen is a Mechanical Industrial Engineer and she holds an MBA from a branch for Harvard Business School.  She has served in high management positions in large corporations in the US, and she also has helped companies of all shapes and sizes, create and established a concrete strategy that's actionable and profitable.

Written by: Stephanie Parris, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Considering the current global pandemic of COVID-19 many businesses are faced with trying to find solutions to keep their workforce in place and keeping the revenues generating. Many industries are unable to outsource or enable remote working for their employees due to the nature of their services. As of March 15, 2020, the United States government is working on an aid package to support businesses and individuals impacted by the need to prevent further spread of this disease. While the United States has been slow to respond and develop a plan of action, other countries have already enacted such measures. Many small and mid- sized businesses are unaware of services available to allow continuity of business during times like these. Rather than these businesses going bankrupt due to the nature of this disease, they should consider some options. Below are a list of resources and tools available to help keep things smooth and going forward. These items are used in my firm daily to conduct business across the United States. These tools can assist your business and hopefully keep from feeling a detrimental financial impact. Avoid in person meetings. Resources are available such as Skype, Zoom and GoToMeeting for virtual meeting rooms. I recommend Zoom or GoToMeeting. Zoom and GoToMeeting are preferred for my firm and when anyone is joining from outside the United States. In avoiding in person meetings, don’t be afraid to use your webcam. Often, people stress over being on camera, but once they have done it a time or two, they generally adapt. Nobody looks amazing 100% of the time on camera. Being on camera allows folks to connect with being able to see your facial expressions and body language. For secure collaboration portals (more secure than standard email) use items such as SmartSheet where you can create a shared space and exchange documents back and forth. Trello is another good resource to allow shared activity. My firm prefers SmartSheet due to the automation tools and ease of use. Allow your staff to work remotely when possible. There are virtual cubicle resources such as Microsoft Teams, Sneek, Slack, and many others to allow users to collaborate in real time and not have that isolation concern. My team uses Sneek daily. While it has been known to have a glitch now and then it does provide for instant access if needed but also allows us to see who is working and who is available. Setup your accounting to be remote. If you need a regular accounting staff, allow them to work remotely. With resources like VPN, remote desktop, cloud- based services, and many others there are endless possibilities for remote access. Our firm utilizes cloud- based services and remote desktop services for numerous clients with great success. Many of these can be setup in a relatively short amount of time to keep business moving forward. If you are coming into the office just to sign checks, enroll in Bill.com or a similar service. It allows for the entry and sync of data between your QuickBooks and the service. They mail the checks or send the ACH, they collect your receivables and forward the funds to your bank account. They can cut out the middleman and allow you to be more efficient and work from literally anywhere. Lastly, take care of one another. Ensure you are practicing proper hand washing, keeping your workspace clean and sanitized, staying home when feeling under the weather, SANITIZE your phone and keyboards, and look out for those that may be more prone to illness. "This pandemic is expected to be around for the coming months, these steps can be the difference between staying in business and going bankrupt." These are simple steps to take in order to continue your business and to protect the people you ultimately serve. If you need help with any of these, or need contacts let me know. Do check with your IT folks or accountant to be sure you are not paying retail or paying in excess for any of these services during this time. This pandemic is expected to be around for the coming months, these steps can be the difference between staying in business and going bankrupt. Feel free to follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram, and visit my website Stephanie Parris, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Stephanie Parris has a Masters’ Degree, in Accounting and Financial Management. She writes about accounting and business for today’s world. She has extensive knowledge of the non-profit, construction, real estate and service industries which she serves. Stephanie has become a leading expert in QuickBooks as well as outsourced accounting services. Stephanie lives in Missouri and volunteers and cooks for her local rescue mission, serves with Made to Serve as well as Race for Rett, mentors local female high school students, has a passion for wine and cooking, and loves spending time with her family and close friends.