How to Make the Perfect, Festive Gingerbread Cookies!

Seasonal Recipe

Whip up these gingerbread cookies for your festive eats.

Ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves… The season of spice is truly upon us. Now that we’ve finished our pumpkin lattes, we can look forward to peppermint bark and, of course, gingerbread cookies! Whether you make cookies, festive shapes, or a whole house, be sure to use this recipe to whip up the perfect gingerbread for your holiday season!

Ingredients (makes around 12 large cookies or 24 smaller cookies)

  • 1⅓ cups whole wheat flour
  • ¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
  • ½ tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tbsp cinnamon
  • 2 tsp ginger
  • ½ tsp nutmeg
  • ½ tsp cloves
  • ½ cup coconut oil, room temperature
  • ½ cup + 1 tbsp evaporated cane sugar
  • ¼ cup water
  • ½ cup molasses
  • ½ tsp vanilla

Instructions

  1. In a medium-sized bowl combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, cream together the coconut oil and the sugar. Beat for 1-2 minutes until the mixture is nice and light. Add the water, molasses, and vanilla, beat for another 30 seconds to mix thoroughly.
  3. Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed sugar mixture, beating to combine.
  4. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight (or for at least 2 hours).
  5. Before rolling, let the dough sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
  6. Preheat oven to 325F.
  7. Roll the dough directly onto parchment paper. The dough should be ¼” thick. Use cookie cutters to cut out the dough, use a flat spatula to remove the excess dough gently. Keep re-rolling and cutting out the dough until it’s all used up.
  8. Pop the unbaked cookies into the freezer to chill for 10 minutes.
  9. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the cookies are lightly browned around the edges and barely firm in the center.
  10. Let them cool completely before decorating. Store them in an airtight container for a perfectly soft chewy molasses cookie texture. Alternatively, you can store them with a little bit of air ventilation for a light, crisp, gingerbread cookie.

The team at All Nevada Insurance hopes that you enjoy your gingerbread cookies! For all of your personal and commercial insurance needs, visit us today.

Operation Knockout – Fight For Our Troops – Round: 8

Operation Knockout

We are excited to announce that our annual MMA/Grappling charity event that directly helps wounded soldiers and their families raised $54,000! This was our best year yet, and we couldn’t have done it without our planning committee;

Tuff-N-Uff and Norton National, our sponsors/donors, Sam’s Town, all the fighters, ISKA, and many other parties that were involved. We look forward to next year! Please stay tuned for more information on Operation Knockout – Fight For Our Troops – Round: 9!

Bringing Out the Best in Your Employees

Bringing Out the Best in Your Employees

Leadership tips that help your employees to shine.

Every business owner knows just how important team members are to business. However, it’s not just about hiring the perfect staff on paper, it’s about bringing out their best every day. Your organization might be missing out on a wealth of ideas that will promote growth simply because the right culture for creative thinking doesn’t exist.

Here are some sure-fire ways to bring out the best in your employees.

Communicate

Open communication is important for every single business, but unfortunately, it’s the one thing many companies struggle with the most. Talk to your team and show them that you’re approachable and ready to listen. As a result, they will communicate better with you and share their difficulties in their job.

Recognize Your Team

It’s unlikely that your team will be inspired if they feel that they are undervalued or replaceable. Ensure that you notice when your team or a certain individual does a good job – and comment on it. Praising your organization can help to boost morale and motivation, encouraging them to improve.

Find Balance

It’s natural for mistakes to be made in a business. Just because one employee missed a deadline doesn’t mean that it was due to irresponsibility. There should always be a balance between criticism and praise. If you constantly criticize your staff, they will feel as though nothing they do is good enough.

Make Their Jobs Easier

Employers should find ways to make their team’s jobs easier, not harder. Talk to your staff and find out what tools, training, or resources they need to do a better job every day. By streamlining processes and communications, you may even find an increase in productivity.

A workplace is a community, one that should be handled with care and consideration. It’s your job to optimize this place for your team to truly shine.

Whether you’re looking for an exciting franchise opportunity or need reliable business insurance for your growing company, All Nevada Insurance can help! Contact us today to find out more.

How to Deal with Customer Complaints

How to Deal with Customer Complaints

Here are the dos and don’ts of dealing with complaints from clients.

Although you do your best to keep customers happy, the fact that you, unfortunately, have to deal with a disgruntled patron every now and then is virtually unavoidable. But, even when someone is less than happy with your service or product that your business has provided, all hope is not lost. Often, there is still a chance that you can appease the unhappy customer, save your business’s reputation, and potentially even win back that person as a continuing customer. Here are some of the more important points of dealing with an unhappy customer.

Do:

  • Stay Calm

No matter how rude or aggressive the customer is, it’s vital that you keep your cool and remain polite at all times. If you end up losing your temper, you could lose the client for good and steer a few more people away from the company. Try to remember that the client’s frustration is not directed at you personally, and attempt to diffuse their anger by staying calm and trying your best to understand their situation.

  • Offer a Solution

The customer is complaining to you because they want to know how to resolve their problem. It’s important that you offer a couple of different solutions so that they feel they have some control over their situation. For example, offering them a partial refund or discount on their next purchase can ensure a mutual resolution.

  • Follow Up

Even though the situation has reached an agreement, the resolution still isn’t over. Make sure that you re-contact the customer in the near future to ensure your solution was satisfactory. This follow-up is important, as it reinforces to the customer that you value him or her.

Don’t:

  • Make Promises You Can’t Keep

In the heat of the moment, it’s easy just to say anything that you think will appease the customer then and there. While this is often an efficient way to reach a resolution, it can also have the opposite effect if you aren’t able to follow through on your promises. Only make offers that you are willing to keep, otherwise you risk damaging the relationship between your business and the customer even more.

  • Argue

Even if the customer made a mistake or is in the wrong, arguing against them only stands to exacerbate the situation. This doesn’t mean you need to pander to their every whim, but you should remember to suggest alternatives tactfully, rather than directly confront.

As a small business or new franchise owner, find out how All Nevada Insurance can help protect your business. For more information about an exciting franchise opportunity, visit us today.

Are you a motivated individual?

Are You a Motivated Individual?

Are you someone that is motivated, loves creating an income that will offer you more time with your family or enjoys working with the community? You may be qualified to fit our franchise model with All Nevada Insurance.  You do not have to have insurance experience to become a broker with us.  You just have to be willing to learn and be aggressive with your marketing efforts to achieve the income you wish to create.  We will coach you to become a successful business owner.  Check us out: www.ANIfranchise.com.

How Much Money Can I Make From Franchising?

Money Can I Make From Franchising

Should you take your financial leap of faith in the franchising industry?

Most people who look into franchising a company will undoubtedly ask, “Will I make money?” As with anything in business, and in life, there is no one answer. It’s well worth developing a detailed plan before committing to a franchise system and taking a look at the factors that affect how and when you make money. Buying and running a business involves a lot of hard work, and ownership isn’t much fun if you aren’t making any money. While it’s true that franchising is a more structured and transparent way to becoming an entrepreneur, it still can be complicated and confusing to navigate the process on your own.

Do Your Due Diligence

Before buying a franchise, it’s important to learn what your experience will be like as a business owner. Those who skip this crucial step often fail as business owners as they end up with a franchise that isn’t a good fit for them. If you’ve never run a business before, your natural instinct might be to focus on the bottom line. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work to ask about the profit and income when you’re researching a potential franchise.

Look Beyond the Bottom Line

As a business owner, your take-home pay at day’s end isn’t normally a good indicator of the business’ full financial benefit. Look over a franchisee’s profit and loss statement (P&L) to assess if the business appears to make very little profit. Many businesses expenses may make the company’s bottom line appear lower than what it actually is.

Figuring out your earning potential as a franchise owner is much more complicated than simply asking a salaried employee how much they make. Take your time to assess your needs, wants, and find the right fit for you. It’s a venture that should be enjoyed by handled carefully.

Are you ready to find the right franchise opportunityVisit All Nevada Insurance today for more information!

Unexpected Skills You Should Teach Your Teen Driver

Unexpected Skills You Should Teach Your Teen Driver

Tricks to help your teen become a better and safer driver.  

Do you have a teen driver in the house? If you do, you probably put them behind the wheel whenever you can, and that is a great way to gain crucial driving skills and confidence on the road. The only downside to this is that the driver can quickly get familiar with the same routes and the same challenges, whether it’s a drive towards the grocery store or driving back from sports practice. When your teen has to drive somewhere out of the ordinary or encounters a new challenge, they develop new skills and stronger confidence.

Here are a few tricky skills that you probably haven’t practiced with your teen (but should!).

Different Stoplights

One-way streets, unprotected left turns, flashing yellow lights, busy crosswalks… There are plenty of different stoplights to learn. Even though certain intersections can be trickier than others, practicing them will help your teen driver to learn about staying aware of pedestrians, turning vehicles, and gauging when they can make a turn.

Long Distances

Clearly, you’re not going to want to turn your new driver loose on a road trip, however, if their longest drive has been to the mall and back, they might not be prepared for what driving long distances feels like. It’s often wise to give them some practice free-range driving, such as driving out to the country or catching a college game. Dealing with new roads, extended periods of focusing, and more drivers will ultimately help them become confident once they are loose behind the wheel.

Nighttime Driving

Many teens only drive during the day, so when they get behind the wheel at night once they’ve passed their test, they struggle. Driving at night has its dangers, from decreased visibility to drowsiness. It’s smart to take your teen out driving on a quiet weekday night to get them familiar and comfortable with driving around at night. Talk to your teens about the dangers and remind them to always have their headlights on.

Keep your teenage driver safe on the roads by helping them to develop smart skills. Additionally, secure auto insurance that can help. Visit the team at All Nevada Insurance for your custom car insurance policy in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Tips to Avoid Entrepreneurial Burnout

Tips to Avoid Entrepreneurial Burnout

Easy steps to avoid burnout as you get started on your business.  

Being an entrepreneur has a long list of advantages. When you swap the lifestyle that comes with having a traditional job for the lifestyle that comes with building your own business, you have a lot on your plate. Even with the many benefits of starting your own business, stress isn’t always so easy to ditch. Entrepreneurial burnout is real and it can come in subtle shapes and forms that may take you a while to realize.

Here’s how to take preemptive action to avoid burning yourself out while building your own brand.

Take Regular Breaks

It’s easy to associate breaks with slacking, but in reality, taking breaks from work is scientifically proven to improve productivity. While it’s great to test your boundaries to see how much work you can do, take this to the extreme and you can burn yourself out. Ensure that you schedule time for yourself to exercise, relax, and enjoy time with friends and family.

Mix Up Your Environment

If you’re working in the same spot every day, every week, are you really taking advantage of your position? Switch it up by working at coffee shops, libraries, airports, and anywhere else with free Wi-Fi. The change of scenery could even spark new ideas while helping you to avoid getting stuck in the same routine.

Quit Multitasking

You might think of multitasking as a desirable skill, but it’s actually a practice that flies in the face of productivity. When you take on a few tasks all at once, it means that none of them are receiving your full focus. Your brain skips from one task to another, forcing it to pause and re-think its approach more times than it needs to. Try to get into the habit of finishing one task before moving onto the next.

Stay Protected

Building your brand is an exciting time for every entrepreneur. You may be focused on boosting business, but are you covered for accidents, disasters, and unforeseen circumstances? Securing the right business insurance can help your company stay protected, and it allows you the time to focus on your brand.

Whether you have an idea in mind or are ready to get started on an exciting franchising opportunity, stay protected and avoid burnout. For more information, visit All Nevada Insurance, serving Las Vegas in Nevada.

Protecting Your Home Through Thanksgiving Festivities

Protecting Your Home Through Thanksgiving Festivities

Hosting this year? Read up on Thanksgiving home safety essentials.

Thanksgiving is full of love and warmth of friendship. What happens when the warmth of the holidays becomes more literal, and a fire burns your holiday cheer? Thanksgiving Day is one of the top days for homeowners to turn their house into a burning inferno. During the midst of cooking, don’t let safety fall by the wayside! With a few Thanksgiving home safety tips, you’re able to keep your festivities in check.

If you’re hosting and cooking this Thanksgiving, be sure to review these safety tips to avoid a smoking dish, a kitchen on fire, or a child burning their finger!

  • Cooks – Don’t wear any loose clothing or dangling sleeves. Wear an apron to protect your clothing.
  • Keep children away from the kitchen during the day.
  • Place anything that can catch fire – potholders, oven mitts, wooden utensils, away from the stove and oven.
  • Clean cooking surfaces regularly throughout the day to avoid grease build-up.
  • Purchase a fire extinguisher to keep in the kitchen.
  • Always check the kitchen before going to bed or leaving home.
  • Install smoke alarms near the kitchen, on each level of the home, and near sleeping areas. Use the test button to check it each month.
  • Keep children and pets away from candles.
  • Keep the floor clean, so you don’t trip over toys, pocketbooks, and bags!
  • Keep cooked food and raw food separate.

Thanksgiving dinner can turn into a threat for your home if an accident occurs. Take extra care this holiday to keep your friends, family, food, and home safe. For help finding the right insurance policies for your needs, visit All Nevada Insurance at one of our Nevada locations!