4 Ways Corporate Retreats Boost Business

Sometimes it’s good to get the team out of the office and into a fresh, new environment. An environment, say, like Shepherd’s Pasture (https://shepherdspasture.com/), a multi-use retreat center (and yes, a corporate retreat center) in the magical East Texas town of Jefferson.

Check out these highlights from an article over at Chron Small Business (https://smallbusiness.chron.com/company-retreats-good-productivity-37136.html) about how corporate retreats can really boost your company morale and improve productivity.

1. Small business owners can improve productivity by investing in a company retreat. Simply getting away from the stressful atmosphere of the workplace can do a world of good. Your employees can work only so hard before cracking. When they return, their stress levels will be lower, meaning they’ll have the energy to work as hard as necessary without sacrificing quality.
2. Retreats that include team activities build camaraderie, training you and your workers to identify and incorporate the personal strengths of individuals to achieve group goals. The cooperative skills gained at a retreat will improve the performance of your workforce by showing employees how to work together effectively.
3. Company retreats remove workers from their typical contexts, revitalizing them and inspiring them to take pride in their work again.
4. When workers relax, they communicate better, both with you and each other. Opening lines of communication builds connections, spurring conversations that might not have happened otherwise, allowing employees to gain new perspectives on the business.

Now a little bit about Shepherd’s Pasture:

Shepherd’s Pasture is a Christian Retreat and Conference Center set on 24 beautiful acres of whispering piney woods, streams, trails and pasture land in East Texas.
We welcome Church Groups, Youth Groups, Individuals and our Military and their families and military supporters alike.

Concerning Woodlands Dog Boarding

If you live in The Woodlands, Spring, Shenandoah, or Conroe, and have dogs, you need our Woodlands Dog Daycare from time to time. It’s a simple fact of life. We all love to take our fur babies places, but they can’t go everywhere. And when they can’t, let us pamper and love on them while you do your thing.

Now, let’s see what Wikipedia says dog daycare is all about:

Dog daycare, often known as "doggy daycare", refers to a short-term daytime care for dogs. It fills a niche between multi-day kennel boarding and pet sitting, where the sitter comes to the pet's home. It shares many similarities with a regular daycare for children, with the exception being that a dog daycare is for canines. The two share the same philosophy. Parents, or in the case of the dog daycare, owners, have a busy schedule and the often prolonged hours at work drastically reduce the time that could be spent with their children or pets.

Connect with Woodlands Doggie Village (https://woodlandsdogboarding.com/) each time your precious pup needs Woodlands dog daycare or long-term Woodlands dog boarding. Your dog will give us five woofs out of five for sure!

Dallas Auto Injury Pain Management Tips

Thousands of car wrecks happen everyday. That’s not meant to alarm you, it’s just stating a fact. And while we’re talking about facts, it’s a fact that most accidents come with injuries, ranging from a little bit of pain to things that need full blown surgery. The constant commercials will tell you that you need to call an attorney when you get in a wreck. That’s wrong. You need to call a doctor first, then a lawyer. Health before money because you can’t spend that money if you’re laid up in a hospital bed because you chased paper before a physician.

And speaking of physicians, the Dallas pain management leaders at Pegasus Spine & Joint Institute (https://www.pegasuspain.com) have all the latest methods of pain relief therapy such as advanced PRP therapy in Dallas and minimally invasive steroid injections that your auto accident injuries may call for. Remember that your injury is unique and therefore your specific diagnosis and pain management will be as well. Consult with the doctors at Pegasus for more info about your injuries.

Meantime, let Wikipedia refresh everyone’s memory about what exactly “pain management” is:

Pain management, pain medicine, pain control or algiatry, is a branch of medicine employing an interdisciplinary approach for easing the suffering and improving the quality of life of those living with chronic pain. The typical pain management team includes medical practitioners, pharmacists, clinical psychologists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, physician assistants, nurses. The team may also include other mental health specialists and massage therapists. Pain sometimes resolves promptly once the underlying trauma or pathology has healed, and is treated by one practitioner, with drugs such as analgesics and (occasionally) anxiolytics. Effective management of chronic (long-term) pain, however, frequently requires the coordinated efforts of the pain management team. Effective pain management does not mean total eradication of all pain.

Medicine treats injuries and diseases to support and speed healing, and it treats distressing symptoms such as pain to relieve suffering during treatment, healing, and dying. When a painful injury or pathology is resistant to treatment and persists, when pain persists after the injury or pathology has healed, and when medical science cannot identify the cause of pain, the task of medicine is to relieve suffering. Treatment approaches to chronic pain include pharmacological measures, such as analgesics, antidepressants and anticonvulsants, interventional procedures, physical therapy, physical exercise, application of ice and/or heat, and psychological measures, such as biofeedback and cognitive behavioral therapy.

So there you have it. Now that we’re all caught up on what pain management is, it’s time to move forward with your pain management treatment. Discuss great alternative treatments for pain relief such as the Dallas regenerative medicine options Pegasus Joint and Spine Institute has when you connect with them.

Add Appeal To Your House With These Home Upgrades

Proper exterior house painting boosts curb appeal.

Performing home improvement doesn’t need to be a daunting task. Improving your home can be fun and easy, and make your home environment much more enjoyable. Make-over the areas you like and make them into areas you love. Follow the tips below and you will be able to turn your home into your dream home.

Ceiling Fans

Install ceiling fans to circulate the air in your home. During summer the fan can be adjusted to blow down, and during the winter it can adjusted to draw the air up. This increases the efficiency of the utilities in your home so that you pay less in heating and cooling costs and save energy.

Driveway Upgrade

The outside of your home also makes an excellent spot for a home improvement project. Staining your driveway adds a beautiful touch to the front of your residence. Also, look to see if you need to fill any cracks or re-tar the driveway. Sometimes, the front of your home can be forgotten as you make improvements, but these projects can really add a lot to the aesthetic value of your property.

Interior House Painting

If you’re looking to add variety to your rooms with paint you can do it very quickly and cost effectively. Paint one wall a different striking color in your room that doesn’t match the other wall colors. This will create a new focal point in your room and make your space feel like it just had a real update.

If you are unable to pick a paint color because you are not sure how the colors will look in your desired room, purchase a small amount of paint in different colors to test out on the wall. Having a larger color swatch to look at and evaluate in your room’s lighting can help you to make a decision.

When you paint interior rooms during a home improvement project, allow extra drying time if your house is new. Newer homes are usually built with extremely effective (nearly air-tight) separation between the interior and exterior. While this is an advantage for you as a homeowner in most situations, when you paint inside, your paint will take longer to dry than the paint manufacturer might claim.

Exterior House Painting and Brickwork

Painting the exterior of your home is a great way to boost curb appeal and give your home a fresh, appealing look. In addition to doing this by finding a local house painter, you can add visual distinction and aesthetic interest to brickwork installed in your home improvement projects, make use of more exotic bonds. “Bond” is the technical term for the pattern that bricks are laid in. With a little research, you will find there are many options available besides the traditional stretcher bond. Many bonds add beautiful decoration to brickwork with little additional cost.

As you can see, home improvement can be very easy. With the tips above, you can accomplish the task of turning your home into your private sanctuary, a place you are proud to call home. What are you waiting for? Go ahead and start that home improvement project you’ve been thinking about.

Helpful Travel Advice for Those About to Take Off

What are you planning? A ski trip in the mountains? Get a heavy coat and some trusty skis. A beach vacation? Stock up on suntan lotion. An adventurous surfing expedition? Get your surfboard, surfboard leashes, surfboard bags, and everything else "surf" from a reputable surf shop online to forego any hassle.

No matter where you're going, traveling can encompass a lot of different things depending upon whom you ask or talk to about it. We all know that it can be fun to travel to a new location, but you should still have a plan so that you do not waste money. Try using the tips below to create a better plan.

• When flying, be sure to wear loose fitting clothes and slip-on shoes. This will ensure that your flight is comfortable. Not only that, it won't take as long to get through security if you can quickly take your shoes on and off. Loose clothing will allow for any short term swelling that you may experience due to air pressure in the plane's cabin.
• If you rent a car while traveling, request an extra key. In a new place, in a new car, your mind is bound to be occupied with other things. For people who already have a bad time of locking their keys in their vehicle, keeping a spare set on you at all times is a great idea.
• If you want to visit Walt Disney World in Orlando on a budget, consider going around the beginning of December. Fees to the park do not go down, but this is when hotels in the area cut their prices and run promotions to attract local visitors. In addition, the park is less crowded, so you do not have to wait in line as long for your favorite attractions.
• When packing luggage for your trip, store your socks in shoes. If you are packing more than one pair of shoes for your trip, save space back packing your socks and pantyhose inside them. Socks and pantyhose can take up a surprisingly large amount of space in your suitcase if packed separately.
• On your next flight, chew gum to keep your ears from popping on take off. The pressure changes during a flight can pop your ears. This is not particularly painful. It is, however, rather annoying. Before take off, start chewing a stick of gum. This will often prevent your ears from popping or at least, ease the pressure.

It's true that traveling can be a lot of fun. That said, you still need to plan to save money and for emergencies. You can always refine your traveling plans to accommodate these things and more. Hopefully, these tips gave you some useful advice on how to create a better travel plan.

How to Own Owning Your Own Business

Making a success of any business venture takes time, dedication and helpful information. If you take the time to learn the best moves to make in starting your own business, you have a greater chance at making your investment pay off for you. Reading this information is a great first-step to success!

• When making the decision of starting a business, it is important for you to pick a subject that you are familiar with. Remember, you own the business, so you do not want to have the responsibility of having to deal with customers' problems and not knowing what to do about these problems.
• A major difference between running your own business and being employed by someone else, is that you will have to learn to manage your own time. Organization and setting goals is very important. If you are not goal oriented, you can easily find yourself spending a lot of time doing a lot of nothing. Remember to create and set weekly and daily goals for yourself. You can then organize around these goals just like you would at any other job.
• Pimp out your office. Nice desks, comfy chairs, Sharp copiers, a powerful computer, a nice rug, some artwork - make the place have an aura of success and that will not only boost your morale, but also impress your future customers.
• Use an online credit card acceptance company while you are getting your business off the ground. Propay allows you $1,000 per month of credit card transactions for a low per-transaction price and minimal setup. Paypal and 2Checkout both allow you to accept credit cards on your website with no setup or monthly fees. As your business grows, you can move to a bank-provided merchant account if necessary.
• Always know what your products cost you to make. This is important for many reasons, but if someone should unexpectedly show interest in retailing your products, you will need to know off the top of your head what your cost is, and where you want to set your wholesale price. As a rule of thumb, the retail price is about two times your wholesale price. The wholesale price is your costs plus a fair profit margin for you.

Apply the information that you have read in this article to your business plan and you are sure to notice a tremendous improvement in the way business is going. Work hard, learn as much as you can and dedicate the necessary time to your business, then your profits are soon to come.

Improve Your Home With These Top Tips

How experienced are you in home improvement? A beginner? You aren't the only one if you have no idea what tools to use or how to begin. Many people experience this, but you'll find some helpful hints here. The tips below can help you get those home improvement projects started.

1. Keep tabs on how much you spend on your home improvements. It is really easy to nickel and dime yourself with small details and not realize how much you have totaled. A simple spreadsheet or budgeting tool will help you keep track of all this information. It will be much easier at tax time too, to be able to get all of the deductions you deserve.
2. Stay true to the property and the neighborhood when you take on major renovations. If you live on a street of suburb ranch style homes, then putting in a colonial mansion is not going to get you the desired result you're after. It will be out of place and not something anyone else will be willing to pay for later. Keep this is mind when painting the exterior of your home. You don't want any funky colors to clash with the neighbors. In fact, exterior home painting is such a vital job, you may want to call in the pros for this one. Simply Google "home painters near me" to get started.
3. A good way to get things done in your house is to ask for help from friends and family. You might want to ask close friends and family members to help you repaint your kitchen. You can pay them off by buying them lunch or taking them out to dinner, it's probably cheaper than hiring someone to do the job for you.
4. Make sure that you and your contractor are on the same page regarding your budget for the project. Be honest with your contractor regarding the amount of money you have to spend, don't hide the wiggle room that you built into the budget. Many homeowners fear that they will get taken advantage of, but if you are not honest, you may find yourself having received inferior materials or workmanship because the contractor was trying to cut the costs to fit your budget.
5. Adding window blinds to your windows is a great way to accomplish a sense of privacy. Many people don't use curtains or blinds because they want to let in natural lighting. However, don't forget that you can see outside, but whoever is outside, can also see inside. Window blinds can add to your privacy and come in different styles to choose from. You don't have to go with the cheap plastic factory blinds. You can find some really nice wooden or bamboo shades, that do the job, just as well.

Tackling home improvement tasks doesn't have to be as complicated as they are sometimes portrayed. It can be very hard, but it does not have to be that way. There are smaller projects that can be tackled too. Now that you have a better understanding of what it takes, it's time to get started.