1. Communication in business.

Exporter enjoys the fruits of learning foreign languages Trying to export potatoes to the land of pasta would seem crazy to some people, yet one small company was successful after it had taught its staff lo speak foreign languages. A&C Lx ports has seen its annual export sales rise by 40% since it improved its foreign language skills. When the company first targeted Italy it used an interpreter, but this was very frustrating. A middleman, however fluent, can't hope to establish relationships in the way a committed member of the company can. A&C also takes great care to respond to the cultural requirements of its customers, for example by choosing the right colour for packaging. This approach has doubled sales to Germany. Karen Burdett, a language specialist who joined A&C eighteen months ago, is the key to the firm's export success. When Burden was

appointed, she spoke Spanish and French fluently, but her knowledge of Italian was limited. In the four weeks before she took up her new post, she set about improving it. She listened lo Italian while she was driving, cooking, dusting, and sleeping. She watched Italian videos. She read newspapers, magazines, pizza packets, shampoo bottles, and jars of pasta sauce. Her reward came with her first phone call to Italy. 'I explained that I was learning their language, and asked our clients to be patient with me if I made mistakes. Far from being critical, they were delighted, and from then on a strong relationship was established,' she says. Burdett is teaching Spanish to senior staff, and she says she's going to have a working knowledge of German by Christmas. More importantly, staff at all levels can now handle simple telephone enquiries in French, Spanish, and Italian. Now they are all quite confident that export sales will continue to rise.

2. Advantages Of Being Self Employed

1 You can utilize your time as per your wishes. Your work timings will be flexible and you will be able to choose the breaks you take, manage your own leaves and decide your own cut. Impressive? Moreover, you can work at a stretch and then take a long leave too. Since the quality of your work will not be judged by someone else, you would have no additional pressure. All you need to do is put in your best and rate yourself as per the performance parameter.

2 Remember that guy who kept nudging around, making life hell for you and taking out his personal frustrations on you. Well, you do not have to see that guy around anymore, because you practically become that guy now! Jokes apart, being your own boss can be real fun. The feeling of being in total control of what is going on is sure to give you an adrenaline rush every morning. So, if you are not the one who enjoy being pushed around or being made to feel incompetent, being self employed is the way to go.

3 There is nothing that beats the feeling of sweet satisfaction for oneself. You will start feeling better when you realize that you are responsible for all the good things happening in your life. Just like choosing the kind of work, you will also be able to choose your own targets. These targets may be difficult, but will mostly be achievable and the sheer satisfaction that you get in achieving these will add to the overall ‘feel good’ factor.

Have Fun At Work

Take a survey and you would fine more than 50% of the people not satisfied with their work. The feeling of dissatisfaction in the minds of the employees is one of the major nuances that are donning almost every workplace. It is here that self employment takes a big edge. Self employment gives you a liberty to choose your career. Choosing a profession would mean that you love your work and enjoy doing it. This would also mean that your are having fun at work, something that is not at all necessary with other jobs or offices. Having fun at work is extremely important in professional life, as boring work life can really affect your career negatively.

Profits

It is a universally known fact that corporations and bigger companies do not really provide employees with their fair share of profits. From a single employee’s work, the company may be makings thousands of dollars a month, but the person would only be paid low salaries which are fixed. This is albeit working at your full potential on your designated position. In contrast to this, self employment gives you an opportunity to reap the benefits of your work. Since you know that all the profit gained would be your own, you would be working harder than usual. Not only would your personal performance rise, but the company would also do well.

Disadvantages Of Being Self Employed

Responsibilities

When you head a business venture, you naturally have more responsibilities to take care of. The level of stress and tension is comparatively way too high in self employment. This becomes all the more evident in case of one-man show, wherein everything which happens is that person’s responsibility. This can make you feel a bit burdened and weighed down. Ideally, self employment is not for ones who can’t handle their own work and responsibilities.

Timing Conflicts

We had mentioned the freedom that you may possess in choosing your own work schedule and timings. But will it really come into effect, if your clients are working on fixed schedules or you are behind schedules? Putting in extra hours without getting any overtime can really be messy and stressful. It will hurt more if you have a family, which you can’t give much time or if you have best of buddies who might think you are ditching them.

Illusion OfControl.In some cases, getting the total control of the business reduces to just an illusion. You may have loaned the capital or may be your venture started off with a financer’s help. Now, for better output from their investment, these people would try to maintain a vigil on your advances and interfere in company control.

Taking The Fall.The biggest and most fearsome risk is failure. If your venture fails, you must be ready to take the fall. The company can decide the course of your career and in some really bad cases, even your future. Some financiers can really strangle you and some business failures can literally leave you bankrupt. Whatever is the case, you must always be ready for failure. Do not expect failure at all times, but be ready to accept failure any time.