All posts by R.C. Liley

I'm an ex-mutual fund accountant who left the cubicle world to be a stay-at-home dad to my beautiful little girl, Avery, who entered our life on 11/15/13 and handsome little boy, Wes, who joined our family on 11/19/17. Also happily married to my wife, Kelley, as of 8/17/07. Sorry ladies... :) Fitness and nutrition is of the utmost importance in our family and we strive to reflect this in our daily life. I always prepare our meals at home and only go out if it's a special occasion, and even then I tend to not get much. Food should be fun and a joy to eat, not something quickly consumed from a fast food chain or scarf down before the next meeting. I have come from strictly logging high miles to train for the next marathon to keeping exercise varied and focusing more on strength. I still enjoy going for a run when I can, but nothing crazy, and I prefer hill sprints while pushing my daughter, Avery in the stroller. She loves it and I get a great workout! I want to show the world how to appreciate their body and feed it real, wholesome food while moving more throughout the day. In doing so, everyone would be healthier, happier, and we'd all live in a better place as a result. I blog mainly about my life as a stay-at-home dad and frequently include reviews, participate in campaigns, and share my thoughts on fitness and nutrition. If you ever have any questions or thoughts to share, please reach out as I'm always open to listening or helping others however possible. That is, when I have free time since Avery is and my wife are the number one priorities!

5 Factors To Consider When Establishing A Delivery Service

Delivery services have taken the market by storm. To provide their clients comfort and convenience, several businesses need the expertise of delivery services to accomplish this. This is evident in the statistics and information that show that the annual growth of couriers and delivery services increased by 6.9% in 2022. Therefore offering delivery services is a great idea if you are considering starting a business. However, to ensure that you are on the right track and avoid any issues, you must implement and consider various aspects. Below are a few. 

  1.  Define your niche
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The first and most important step to take when starting any business is to crave and define your niche. This is no different when creating a delivery services business. Your niche is the segmented area of the market that you have selected to produce a particular good or service for. The niche doesn’t just look at your target audience. It also defines the type of service you are focusing on rendering. There are several sides to delivery services. For example, you can choose to offer domestic, inter-cities and international. After you have picked your area of operations, you can look into implementing programs like this last mile delivery software, which can identify the quickest and most efficient routes to your delivery destinations. Once you have done that, you can proceed to draw out your target audience. These are your potential customers, who would help make your company a success. To effectively define your niche, it is advisable to draw up a business plan. Here, you would create the roadmap for your business.

  1. Be conversant with compliance issues

Like any other business, compliance issues would definitely arise when starting a delivery business. For example, you may need various licenses, permits, and other documentation prescribed by the law of the state you live in. Therefore, when establishing a delivery service, you should consider educating yourself on the compliance issues that could affect the very operations of your business. Be sure to read through the existing laws to know what is expected of you to avoid expensive legal issues in the future. If you plan on growing your business, it’s vital to have controls like VAT risk management in place as well. Although being conversant is a good idea, it is not one you can do on your own especially if you lack legal knowledge. Consulting an attorney on these matters is a better idea. With the help of an attorney, you can better understand the requirements under the law and ensure your business is legally covered. Beyond that, your lawyer can give you sound and trusted advice on the right steps to take with regards to protecting your business legally. For instance, with the help of a car accident lawyer, you can get the legal advice on the next steps to take should your company vehicle be involved in an accident. 

  1. Purchase business insurance

The protection and security of your business is important. Each day, dispatch riders and drivers are at risk of injuring themselves doing the job. Additionally other components of the business such as your vehicles, play an important role in the smooth running of its operations. This is why business insurance coverage is important. For one, it protects your business from financial loss, in some cases legal issues, and several other risks. 

  1. Invest in branding

The truth is, you are not the only courier service available on the market. In fact, according to IBIS World, there are 456,508 delivery and courier services in America. This staggering figure is also indicative of how large your competition is. This is where branding and marketing strategies come in. In order to secure the success of your delivery business, you must invest in these two components. To begin creating the business’s brand, you must start with a business name and logo. It is important to remember that your business’s name should be unique and catchy. The logo should accurately capture the message of your brand, bold and different. 

  1. Marketing

Once branding is sorted, you can proceed with marketing. To implement the right marketing strategies, you must ensure that you have clearly identified your target market. The last thing you want is to invest in marketing your services to the wrong people. You should also note which form of marketing you should consider to ensure efficient marketing. For instance, would you want to use social media platforms? Or would it be better to market the brand using the company’s website. 

Starting a delivery service company is a great idea. Many customers want convenience and businesses are making a significant effort to achieve that. Your delivery service is significant part of this. Fortunately with these factors at the back on your mind, you can turn a handsome profit and successful, growing business.

You Should Do Whatever It Takes To Keep Your Health On Track

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Keeping your health on track might not be at the forefront of your mind, but it should be. Your health is the most important thing that you can do for yourself, and you deserve the effort that you have to put in here. We know that there are going to be times where it’s tough, but that doesn’t mean that you can just let your health slide to the point where you’re causing yourself health problems. If you want to know how you can make changes and keep your health on the right track, then you’re in the right place. If you’re not interested, then you need to rethink your priorities. 

Set Yourself Realistic Goals

It’s important that to see success you are setting yourself realistic goals that you can work towards. This is one of the toughest parts of the whole process, as it forces you to look at what you want from this whole journey. The best thing that we can recommend is that you set yourself an end goal, which is the thing that you want to achieve from your health and fitness journey. Once you have set your end goal, you can then set smaller goals that will help you on your way. These will provide you with the motivation that you need, as every time you reach a goal, you’re going to feel a burst of pride, rather than disappointment that you are not at the end of the journey. 

Understand Why You’re Doing This

In order to see success, you also want to make sure that you understand why you are supposed to look after your health properly. Educate yourself on what could happen if you don’t, and what the long term impacts are of not taking care of yourself. You can either speak to a personal trainer, a medical professional, or whoever you think is going to be able to help you improve your knowledge. Or, you can just look it up online.

Speak To Someone If You’re Struggling

Finally, if you are struggling to look after your health and keep it on the right track, then you can speak to someone to get the help that you need. For example, you may want to speak to someone who specializes in men’s health issues, or you may want to speak to someone who specializes in back pain, or even nutrition. The important thing is that you are willing to ask for the help that you need, and move your health in the right direction going forward.

While keeping your health on track might seem like one of the most difficult things in the world some days, it’s worth every single second of effort that you are willing to put in. Each of the things that we have talked about in this article have had a specific purpose, and it’s time that you started putting a little bit of effort in here. We wish you the best of luck, and hope that you see results soon.

Simple But Effective Ways to Enjoy Life More

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Some people find it hard to enjoy life more than others. But you might be glad to know that it isn’t too challenging to turn your frown upside down and carve out a little piece of happiness for yourself. From addressing your health issues to adjusting what you do, here are some tips.

Get to Grips with Your Health

You won’t be happy if your health is bad. Sure, you can paint on a smile and pretend everything’s OK, but that won’t work forever. Your general health is the key to being happy because it affects everything about you, such as your ability to get outside, how much you can work (and earn), and even your mood. Being in pain or having health issues such as being overweight is common, but you can always, always do something about it if you try.

Address Mental Health to Enjoy Life More

On a more serious note, mental health is no laughing matter. Severe mental health issues can have a negative impact on your life and your ability to enjoy it. The good news, though, is that mental health issues are being more widely recognized than they once were, especially in the workplace. Slowly but surely, the stigmas of certain mental health problems are fading away as we work towards a more inclusive and tolerant social, medical, and professional environment.

Feel Good About the Positives in Life

One of the worst things you can do is dwell on the negative things that happen. This never works out well and gradually drags you down. The trick is to completely disregard the bad things and accentuate the good things. Maybe you are running low on cash this week, but you will get paid soon, and you have friends and family. Be grateful for that. Of course, you may not have friends and family, but there is always something to be grateful for in your life if you look.

Be Professional but Not Too Serious

Professionalism and seriousness are not mutually exclusive. Sure, be professional at work; in fact, it’s encouraged. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have a joke, goof around a little and have fun every now and then. But never at someone else’s expense. Here’s how to have fun at work:

  • Get everyone involved in health activities such as work yoga or a sports team.
  • Suggest a game room or recreational area be placed in the office.
  • Have an open vision board where fun meets professionalism.
  • Be the guy who comes in with a safe-for-work joke every morning.
  • Socialize with your colleagues as you may be close to a lifelong friend.

You don’t have to be the clown at work, but you also don’t have to be the one people avoid. Even as a boss, you can stay professional and be approachable and fun at the same time. 

Sleep as Much as You Need

You have probably heard that you need eight hours a night of sleep. Well, this isn’t entirely accurate. Sleep experts these days agree that while this is a good general guideline, it is different for everyone. Some need eight, others ten, and there are people who can spring out of bed after just four hours of sleep. The trick is finding your optimal sleep habits and adjusting your life around them. And these changes could be drastic depending on how much you need.

Enjoy Life More by Adjusting Your Habits

Further to adjusting your life, make sure your life works for you. Most of us get up, do the nine-to-five, and come home. But what if you have genuine trouble functioning in the morning? You aren’t alone, and you may even be a night person. Making these kinds of changes can mean completely readjusting your entire lifestyle, even to the point of getting a new job. But you will never be happy if your life begins living you rather than you begin to live your life.

Surround Yourself with Positive People

Toxic people are everywhere, and you need to look out for them. Is there a specific someone who puts you down, makes you feel intimidated, or even casually suggests you are inadequate? Toxic relationships can be with a perceived best friend, a colleague, and even your partner. These relationships must be addressed and worked on. If you can’t find a resolution, then slowly move away from them and surround yourself with people who care about and appreciate you.

Summary

Addressing physical and mental health is a great first step to enjoying life more. It also helps to have some fun now and then, even at work, and work at removing toxic people from your life.