“No, I didn’t get a whatsapp…wait, I’ll check my email…hold on, you sent it by DM?” This is what a lot of customer conversations sound like for a small business owner. With product development now moving quickly from idea to production, a smooth ordering process is not always priority –...
Read More
So, if you’re reading this blog post, you probably know a bit about us: we’re The Portal, a virtual workforce of intelligent, professional and dedicated administrative assistants, directed by experienced, strategic and process-driven managers. We provide executive-level administrative assistance, customer service support, back-end office management and project management to our...
Read More
Why is it so easy to push someone else’s agenda, and so hard to push yours? Why do we work ourselves to the bone in the pursuit of a company strategy, but find it hard to even get started on our goals? One of the reasons (among many I’m sure,...
Read More
Ah…holiday gifting…a phrase that strikes panic into the heart of many a small business owner. How do you show appreciation for your clients in a thoughtful, yet on-brand way? We all know no one needs one more ‘knick-knack’ on their desk, but branded elements are visual reminders of your business....
Read More
Here for us in Jamaica, summer means many things – the obvious heat, less traffic (school’s out!), mangoes, to name a few. As business people, there are other problems – vacation requests, increased absenteeism, seasonal changes in sales and our unique ‘EmanciPendence,’ situation. So, drop the temperature on the a/c...
Read More
I’m still waking up at 6am. Not by choice mind you, but that body clock is hard to change. My routine remains the same: 9am – 5pm. Well…almost the same, I get to the office about 45 minutes to an hour later than my last job. Moving into your own...
Read More
We’ve all seen those memes that have a really frustrated face and the copy, “When they call you, instead of just texting.” Over several years, with cell phone data plans and wifi becoming common-place, most of us have moved from phone calls to text-based (SMS, instant messaging, email etc.) communication....
Read More
While we WISH we could even contemplate uttering a statement like that, most entrepreneurs are not as in demand as Linda Evangelista was in her heyday in the 1990’s. The statement is extremely bombastic (cue the Shaggy, it's a real word), but sometimes that's how we need to think about how we value our time.
Read More