QA with Duane Jackson, Tech Entrepreneur KashFlow Founder

QA with Duane Jackson, Tech Entrepreneur KashFlow Founder QA with Duane Jackson, Tech Entrepreneur KashFlow Founder Image Source: Duane JacksonIn the UK, Duane Jackson is a businessman whose name is synonymous with transformation and achievement from inauspicious circumstances. Duane Jackson had a troubled childhood in care, and was expelled from school twice by the age of 15, before being imprisoned for drug smuggling.On release from Ford Prison in 2002, aged just 23, Duane Jackson’s job prospects were not good, but he had already resolved to turn his life around, after reps from The Prince’s Trust visited as part of their prison outreach and support work.After his release, he used  a Prince’s Trust grant to set up as a web developer  and then founded KashFlow, the first ‘software as a service’ (SaaS) business, which, 11 years later, he sold for a sum reportedly worth  â€œtens of millions“.This multi-millionaire is a winner of the high profile Pride of Britain award. He has been publicly applauded by Prince Charles himself as a shining example of “the ability of people whose lives h ave been so difficult, to achieve extraordinary things”. Throughout his KashFlow career he was mentored by Lord Young of Graffham, and Elon Musk is one of the people whom he has dined with in recent times.However, he has never forgotten where he has come from, and his main focus now is helping others in similar circumstances. When he sold KashFlow, one of his first acts was to given £100,000 to the Trust.Certainly, Duane Jackson  enjoys acting as informal advisor to a number of technology startups, and he has also a new product, Supdate.com, that helps company founders with the crucial task of keeping their shareholders up to date. But it’s clear from his blog  and the Code4000 project that helping young people in difficult circumstances or prisoners to turn their lives around remains a primary motivation. Indeed, he has even chronicled his own story up to the sale of KashFlow in a full book, Four Thousand Days: My Journey  From Prison To Business Success. Image Source: Amazon (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 11 Questions for Duane Jackson, Founder, KashflowDuane Jackson spoke to AGENT about his incredible  business and life story, the lessons he has learned along the way, and shares some of the most useful wisdom for entrepreneurs  who are just setting up in business today. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 1. How did you first get into business and what were your goals?I was released from prison at the end of 2002. I had a baby on the way and no prospect of getting a job. So self-employment felt like the only option open to me. I wasnt planning on making the millions of pounds that I eventually did. I just wanted to be able to provide for my new young family.2. What age were you when you realised you wanted to run your own business?It was at the age of 23, still in prison, that I realised I wanted to run my own business. Up until that point, I didnt realise it was something I could do. I didnt know anyone from where I grew up who  ran a business, and I think I naively assumed you needed some sort of qualification to do so. But volunteers from the Princes Trust visited the jail and explained how they helped people from disadvantaged backgrounds to start their own businesses. That was the pivotal moment for me. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 3. Who are your business icons and inspirations?My first business inspiration is probably a common one: Elon Musk. His vision is way beyond that of anyone else I can think of. Hes building businesses that really will shape the future of humanity. I was fortunate enough to have dinner with him last year, and I was pleased to see that, as I suspected, he really is totally passionate about what he does. Its not just about the money but the change he can bring.My second business inspiration is Luke Johnson. I admire his cerebral approach to business that has enabled him to succeed in fields as far apart as media, food and sporting goods.4. Wh at has been your biggest challenge in business, and how did you surmount it?I started in business as a web-developer. My biggest challenge then was the accounting side of things. The options at the time were Sage or Quickbooks. Both were cumbersome and not ideal for someone with no accounting training. So I built my own basic system.I soon realised that other small business owners were in the same situation so I changed my focus from selling my time as a web developer to improving my self-built accounting solution and selling that to other businesses. That became KashFlow, one of the first software as a service businesses, which I grew to 40 staff and 20,000 customers before selling the business in 2013.One of the biggest challenges I had whilst growing KashFlow was the time required to prepare useful monthly updates for my investors. If theyre rushed and not thought out, then theyre useless for the recipient. But to prepare something that was useful and consistent was too time-cons uming when I had a business to run.Eventually we worked out a process that made it a lot easier and since selling KashFlow I have set up supdate.com so that others in the same situation can easily manage their monthly reports. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 5. Work-Life Balance: is it possible? How do you achieve it?Im not sure it is possible when youre working on a startup. It feels like the business needs your every waking hour. So any time not spent on it feels negligent. But then, of course, your personal life suffers. If you dont have a partner or children then that might not be too much of a problem. Especially if you enjoy working on your business (if you dont, find something else to do!) But if you do have a family then it can be really tough on them. As long as you communicate with your other half and they understand, accept and support what you’re doing, and why you’re doing it, then youll get through it.6. What is the first thing you do every day? The first thing I do is check my emails, usually before Im even out of bed. We have people using Supdate from all over the world, so support requests can come in at any time of the day or night. I could employ someone to do this, and many of our customers are amazed that I dont. But were still at an early stage with the business so I think its vital that I have that direct connection with our users so I know first-hand what were getting right and what needs improving. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 7. What screen saver picture is currently on your phone?A picture of my youngest (of three) daughters from a holiday last year. Shes stuffing her face with cake. And because its a live photo I can see it animate. It always makes me smile.8. What is the most important app on your mobile phone, and why?Samsung’s SmartThings Mobile app. It controls just about everything in my house and I couldnt live without it. Although Im using it less now that I can control a lot of stuff just by talking to the Amazon Echo. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 9. What is the last thing you Googled?News about the share price of a public company that lost 30% of its value today. If you think youre clever, try stock trading. Youll soon realise youre not even half as smart as you thought.10. What item do you never leave the house without, and why?My electric cigarette. Its been about two years since I smoked a real cigarette but Ive not yet given up the electric variety. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 11. What advice would you give to your younger self starting out in business?“Just get on with it.” Too many people, myself included, feel like they need to wait until everything is in place before progressing with their business venture. But life doesnt work like that. If youre planning to drive from London to Manchester but refuse to leave until all of the traffic lights in between turn green, then youll never get there. Just jump in the car and start driving.Image Source: Duane Jackson

The Wisdom of Sending Employees Somewhere Awful

The Wisdom of Sending Employees Somewhere Awful The Wisdom of Sending Employees Somewhere Awful Theres the expanding of points of view, the introduction to different societies and their experts, the energy of new settings and openings, new cooperative energies, brief looks at different methods of completing things and other learning encounters, even only the difference in scene, particularly to a colorful one also the appreciation and duty communicated by partaking businesses and workers the same: Great stuff! Strong thought. However, at that point I contemplated my present circumstance in a comparative, yet self-supported situation: Working out and about, abroad, first in Japan, presently in Taiwan. Undoubtedly, it has been and will keep on being an exceptionally positive expert improvement opportunity-unquestionably as far as giving subjects and setting to a portion of the articles I compose. My collaborations with local people have likewise uncovered shocking differences, e.g., between the stunning client care in Japan and the administration at the last spot at home we will ever shop at again. Indeed, that is all pleasant. In any case, theres one bend Id like to give the possibility of abroad expert advancement projects and trips, as a proposal: Send workers to terrible spots puts that are excessively hot, excessively chilly, excessively hazardous, excessively exhausting, excessively appalling, excessively dirtied, excessively uproarious, excessively swarmed, or too plagued with snakes, scorpions or bugs. Nearly anything horrendous will do. My Real Let me give only one clear, reality, individual guide to come to this meaningful conclusion: I am at present composing this in my incredibly agreeable and clean, though minimal and straightforward spending lodging in Tainan, Taiwan-this countrys most established city which highlights bunches of beguiling old stuff, including sanctuaries in abundance. What is and has been making it amazingly agreeable and charming is, notwithstanding the extraordinary arrangement I jumped on the space for about fourteen days, the dial on my divider that permits me to change my room temperature-descending, to the 16 degrees Celsius that I, and some other greater folks I know, flourish with. (That is 60.8 Fahrenheit unreasonably cold for most ladies, aside from channel swimmers and Polar Bear club swimmers.) Outside, it is practically August first and was blisteringly hot and sticky throughout the day. How hot and muggy? No joke-too hotmid to inhale (without observable strain). Presently, that is terrible. Anyway, whats so great about horrendous? The appropriate response is self-evident: Ill complete more work, which is all to the useful for both Recruiter.com and me. At the point when I state more work, I mean, for instance, work done progress of time, as a support against unanticipated interruptions, for example, smashed PCs (which has happened a great deal this previous year) or disturbance of Internet administration. No allurements of sweat-soaked touring, going out to meet and blend with local people, planting myself at some walkway bistro or noodle shop and watch the young ladies on or off bikes pass by. No tendency to return to must see spots to take better photographs, chase for deals in thin, hot and occupied roads or stand around the steaming wide stream that goes through the city. Not a chance. None of that-in this sort of warmth can rival preparing myself with two or three cooled cushions composing and thinking ceaselessly (normally in the opposite request) under a chilled shelter of molded air. Defending Awful with Scientific Principle The basic mental physiological rule that causes this to send them some place dreadful methodology magnificent is basic: Pleasure, in fact, extreme delight, can appear as alleviation from torment. Along these lines, send representatives some place that is in some sense agonizing to be and afterward switch off the agony. Once there and at long last, theyll thank you for it, on the off chance that you are the business, or revel in the alleviation, as one of the representatives. In brain science this is called negative fortification which must not, as it very ordinarily seems to be, be mistaken for discipline, since it is in truth the inverse: it is the end of discipline or an aversive improvement, as a prize for conduct (for this situation, a compensation for stopping to do whatever else however work, once there). On the off chance that you envision that workers will disdain what might be seen as hustle, simply consider what a definitive switch is: to something charming a pleasant, possibly exquisite lodging suite (ideally at a tasteful inn without a pool). How might anyone dislike that-particularly if the organization is paying for the switch? Without a doubt, some will have had their misinformed hearts set on observing the vaunted nearby sights and locales, however except if the business purposely distorts the district and its conditions, at long last, the representatives can just censure themselves for not having done their due constancy in inquiring about the goal before consenting to go there. One Caveat for Employers and HR Managers Consequently, it is basic for businesses and HR chiefs to abstain from promising any undeliverables. Simply let nature-and misconception follow through to its logical end. One great factor, obviously, is human instinct explicitly, apathy as a quality, obstruction and hindrance to due ingenuity. On the off chance that businesses cannot depend on it, at any rate they can seek after it. Obviously, there are cutoff points to adequate terrible. Be that as it may, despite the fact that level of terribleness might be hard to check, it is sufficiently simple to distinguish the most horrendous abroad expert advancement regions. Wherever from which workers wont willfully return particularly one from which they wont return alive.

ASCII Resume Preferred Format of Most Employers

ASCII Resume Preferred Format of Most Employers Have you seen any job listing on the Internet? What have you noticed? Did it give an instruction to submit your resume in ASCII format?If you don’t know what an ASCII resume is, then you’re on the right page. Read on to find out the exact type of resume that you need to submit to a hiring manager.ASCII Resume DefinedASCII stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange. It is the “alphabet” used by most of the computers to talk and understand each other. In short, ASCII is the numerical equivalent of every letter or symbol you use in conversational English.Does the given definition confuse you? Don’t worry. You don’t need to talk and think like a robot to write one. When companies instruct you to send your resume in ASCII format, they simply want you to submit a text-only or unformatted version of your piece. It means your summary should not contain tabs, bullets, italics, special fonts, lines, graphics, or any formatting styles.Why ASCII Resume?So why do ma ny recruiters and even applicants prefer a resume in ASCII format? Here are the top four reasons:1. It prevents compatibility issues.Sending your document in ASCII can avoid issues related to compatibility. You do not have to worry about the MS Word version that your hiring manager is using. If you present one in ASCII format, then, it will be viewable to any type of word processing software.2. It is ideal for job posting sites.While some job sites allow you to attach formatted resumes online, others limit the files you can upload to simple texts. So, if you want to maximize these job online portals and have your document seen by hundreds of employers, then you should prepare a plain-text version of your career profile now.3. It is easy to send via e-mail and post online.An ASCII resume is easier to embed in an e-mail message. You do not need to attach and save a copy of it. Also, you can easily cut and paste it into online forms.4. It helps improve your market value.Sending your do cument in a text-only form is a good way for you to inform employers that you are computer savvy.Ideally, you need to have a plain text version of your resume to meet the technical needs of various firms and industries. You need it to succeed in your online job search.If you want to know more about ASCII resumes, you may seek help from our expert writers. We offer resume writing services  that will surely take your career goals to the next level. For more info, contact us now!Photo by Kaboompics .com from Pexels

Why dressing like a CEO no matter your job level will prime you for career success

Why dressing like a CEO regardless of your activity level will prime you for profession achievement Why dressing like a CEO regardless of your activity level will prime you for vocation achievement Consider taking on the appearance of one of your keys to profession success.In actuality, examines recommend that workers who need to establish a connection may very well need a wardrobe makeover. For example, a 2014 research venture found a gathering of understudies wearing Superman T-shirts rated themselves as truly more grounded and more likable.Another study indicated that representatives of differing salary levels and foundations who wore suits and overcoats were more profitable at work: Individuals who wear that sort of apparel feel all the more remarkable, study co-creator Michael L. Slepian told The Wall Street Journal. At the point when you feel all the more remarkable, you don't need to concentrate on the details.Follow Ladders on Flipboard!Follow Ladders' magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and more!For understudies and individuals hoping to excel in their professions, sprucing up turns out to be particularly significant . Specialists caution dressing down is one of the most crucial mistakes you can make while networking or when making an initial introduction at another organization. With respect to understudies, vocation mentor Ryan Kahn told Business Insider it's smarter to be the best-dressed assistant than to be known as the person who is too casual.Yet making sense of what to wear to the workplace isn't generally as simple as it sounds. Understudies or passage level workers hoping to make an impression aren't acquiring as much as CEOs, making their business-formal shopping alternatives progressively restricted. To make the most out of a strict financial plan, attempt purchasing just a couple of value items instead of a lot of minimal effort garments. Different specialists propose you spend 5 to 7% of your pay on clothes.Work-suitable styles don't change a lot of year to year, Lauren Bowling, a supervisor at the Financial Best Life told Business Insider in 2018. Along these lines, if you stay ar ound a similar size, putting now in certain essentials can continue your closet for a considerable length of time to come.Yet making sense of what to wear to the workplace isn't generally as simple as it sounds. Understudies or passage level representatives hoping to make an impression aren't procuring as much as CEOs, making their business-formal shopping alternatives increasingly restricted. To make the most out of a limited spending plan, attempt purchasing just a couple of value items instead of a lot of minimal effort garments. Different specialists recommend you spend 5 to 7% of your pay on clothes.Work-proper styles don't change a lot of year to year, Lauren Bowling, a proofreader at the Financial Best Life told Business Insider in 2018. Along these lines, if you stay around a similar size, putting now in certain fundamentals can support your closet for quite a long time to come.This article originally showed up on Business Insider. You may likewise appreciate… New neuroscience uncovers 4 ceremonies that will fulfill you Outsiders know your social class in the initial seven words you state, study finds 10 exercises from Benjamin Franklin's every day plan that will twofold your profitability The most noticeably awful missteps you can make in a meeting, as per 12 CEOs 10 propensities for intellectually tough individuals

The Top 5 Things I Learned in my Internship - TheJobNetwork

The Top 5 Things I Learned in my Internship - TheJobNetwork Being an understudy is a preliminary run for the field you think you need to work in. In 90 days or so your preliminary is up. Be that as it may, at that point what? Did you really get the hang of something that relates to your expected major? Is it something you see yourself accomplishing for quite a long time to come? googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-promotion 1467144145037-0'); }); In school, make the most of entry level position openings. Trust me. You can never begin too soon in your vocation to pick up understanding, and there is nothing of the sort as an excess of entry level position understanding. From sophomore year in school, I began interning at various organizations. As an undergrad, I needed to realize what my qualities and shortcomings were and what I really needed to do with my life after I earned my degree. As a showcasing major, my field was expansive, so interning was such an incredible hands-on understanding. Interning with various organ izations in various showcasing jobs helped me tight down what I really appreciated doing.Here are a few hints I have learned all through my experiences.Source: [GIPHY]Step out of your solace zone.An entry level position is your chance to attempt new things and surprise yourself. Evaluating new open doors helped me challenge myself. Regardless of whether I had no idea on the most proficient method to do a specific venture, I would in any case take it on. It was the ideal time for me to learn and develop. Regardless of whether before the finish of it I detested a specific errand, I would at present feel accomplished.Always ask questions.Don't be hesitant to approach inquiries or for exhortation. Individuals love to offer guidance. Regardless of whether it is counsel about your field, criticism on execution, or even profession moves, they are normally glad to help. Approaching inquiries is an extraordinary icebreaker for your colleagues to find out about you, and no one can really tell what you may realize over some espresso and a conversation.Get required inside the company.Understand the organization you are interning for; go past what the site says and truly plunge into it. Organization culture is something imperative to focus on. How does the organization you are interning for treat its workers? Additionally, interning is an incredible systems administration opportunityâ€"while youre there, become acquainted with about the various divisions and what they do. What's more, consistently offer to loan some assistance on a portion of their undertakings if at any point needed.Shine through your work.Go well beyond in your work. Try not to be a good-for-nothing. Make yourself essential for the organizationâ€"no one can tell whenever openings may ascend for what's to come. Your hard working attitude is significant. It's the easily overlooked details you do that make you stand separated from the rest. Step up and obligation and complete undertakings precisely and in a convenient way. On the off chance that there is no set cutoff time, make your own, consider yourself responsible, and dont delay. This isn't school where you can leave things for the absolute last minute.Send a note to say thanks toward the finish of the internship.Handwritten notes/cards are one thing that will never become datedâ€"theyll consistently put a grin on someones face. When composing your card notice what you gained from the temporary job. Thank your primary contact for allowing you a chance to pick up understanding and learn. Go that additional mile and give back some appreciation.Source: [GIPHY]

What the In-Crowd Wont Tell You About Chemist Resume Writing

<h1> What the In-Crowd Won't Tell You About Chemist Resume Writing</h1> <h2>What the In-Crowd Won't Tell You About Chemist Resume Writing </h2> <p>If you're keen on various regions like ecological Chemist, you should take up extra courses. As a Chemist, you must be conscientious. Our Chemist continue test will guarantee it is more straightforward for you to form a decent application. Your Chemist resume ought to have the perfect fixings. </p> <h2>Things You Won't Like About Chemist Resume Writing and Things You Will </h2> <p>In your goal proclamation, be sure to consolidate the particular experience and aptitudes you have to show planned businesses what you're prepared to do. The Chronological fills in as it shows your current level of aptitude and experience. In them, you'll find various work in the science business which can assist you with fitting your own resume as per a specific position you're chasing. Luckily our group comp rises of expert journalists which have the capacity to make surprising substance for you. </p> <h2> The New Fuss About Chemist Resume Writing</h2> <p>Previously alluded to as trendy expressions, watchwords are normally things (anyway may likewise incorporate action words), and are typically organized into necessary and invaluable classifications to spot urgent capacities and experience required in a competitor. You're ready to effectively rely upon us to discover article help as we tend to help and guide the understudies with the guide of our expert specialists. </p> <p>Job development during the following decade is anticipated to be more slow than normal for all occupations. You wouldn't require all your difficult work to end up on fire. What's more, you can search for physicist employments on Monster. Making sure about a vocation for a physicist can be tremendously serious. </p>

Creating a Disruptive Business Model to Stay Competitive

Making a Disruptive Business Model to Stay Competitive In a savagely serious business scene where half of new organizations flop in the initial five years of being open, independent companies are tested with thinking of imaginative approaches to remain above water. Utilizing a creative problematic plan of action may very well be the answer for new organizations. To keep current clients cheerful, most settled organizations center around making ceaseless steady enhancements for existing items or administrations, which is called continuing development. Then again, organizations that attention on troublesome developments look to make an altogether new or diverse item or method of getting things done, which serves to meet clients' future needs better. Organizations that make troublesome plans of action split existing ideal models and wind up making new markets or reshaping existing ones, at last dislodging once-settled market pioneers (think, the accomplishment of Netflix versus the disappointment of Blockbuster, for instance). So how does an exceptional (or even settled) business approach establishing another, troublesome plan of action? The key isn't being reluctant to self-upset, regardless of whether it implies getting rid of a present plan of action for another methodology. Organizations hoping to stay serious ought to likewise act rapidly, as organizations that are first-movers in interruption regularly charge better than 'copycat' disruptors.For more tips on setting your business up to be problematic, see the infographic from Fundera