Spring has sprung and the sun is shining (well, maybe not so much at our offices here in Seattle and San Francisco) we’re all making that yearly attempt at spring cleaning.

While we weed out old newspapers and those clothes that we thought would fit by now, we often forget that home isn’t the only part of our lives that requires a detox. Why not do a little tidying up in our professional lives? Read on for the top tips from around the web for spring cleaning at your business.

At the top of a long list of events and tradeshows in the Pacific Northwest, sits the biggest and most widely renowned of all, the Seattle Chamber Tradeshow. It is the place to be for business owners to meet, mingle and network with their peers.

As a business owner you face hard decisions every day, sometimes with little to no warning.  The more you know, the better off you will be; superior information leads to sounder decisions, providing both confidence and peace of mind.

Brian Solis is one such individual that constantly shares such superior information.  Through his research and teachings he helps people understand the evolution of technology and the impact it plays on both business and society.  With an arsenal of information and experience backing him up, it’s time you heard what he has to say.

Skimping on wages and not offering benefits doesn’t always equate to savings in the long run. Especially when you’re in the restaurant industry, which employs 14 million people or ten percent of the national workforce according to the National Restaurant Association.  With such a large pool to draw from, it pays to pay well, especially since the 2013 turnover ratio was 20% higher than the overall private sector average, a whopping 62.6% for the restaurant industry as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Save yourself the headache, time and money of replacing the valuable members on your team by paying them fairly and competitively.  Let’s take a look at just how that’s done, examining average salaries within the industry and what that turnover ratio is really costing you.

For a restaurant to thrive, it is imperative that a business engage directly with their patrons. It is no secret that owning a restaurant is difficult.  Cornell and the National Restaurant Association, found that 60% of restaurants fail in the first five years of operation. To keep business running, a restaurant owner must craft a compelling story around the experience offered instead of just promoting delectable entrees. Guests want to feel as though they are investing in something that benefits them as well as getting a steal of a deal. Today’s customer base struggles to remember a time before Google, restaurants are therefore forced to adapt to create different promotions encouraging guests through their doors.