Author: anwaryusef

Anwar Y. Dunbar is a Regulatory Scientist. Being a naturally curious person, he is also a student of all things. He earned his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Michigan and his Bachelor’s Degree in General Biology from Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU). Prior to starting the Big Words Blog Site, Anwar published and contributed to numerous research articles in competitive scientific journals reporting on his research from graduate school and postdoctoral years. After falling in love with writing, he contributed to the now defunct Examiner.com, and the Edvocate where he regularly wrote about: Education-related stories/topics, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Financial Literacy; as well as conducted interviews with notable individuals such as actor and author Hill Harper. Having many influences, one of his most notable heroes is author, intellectual and speaker, Malcolm Gladwell, author of books including Outliers and David and Goliath. Anwar has his hands in many, many activities. In addition to writing, Anwar actively mentors youth, works to spread awareness of STEM careers, serves on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the David M. Brown Arlington Planetarium, serves as Treasurer for the JCSU Washington, DC Alumni Chapter, and is active in the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace Ministry at the Alfred Street Baptist Church. He also tutors in the subjects of biology, chemistry and physics. Along with his multi-talented older brother Amahl Dunbar (designer of the Big Words logos, inventor and a plethora of other things), Anwar is a “Fanboy” and really enjoys Science-Fiction and Superhero movies including but not restricted to Captain America Civil War, Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Prometheus. He is a proud native of Buffalo, NY.

Breaking Down Your Business’ Barriers

Two key focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. A key aspect of any business is its communication – its marketing and its customer relations. In today’s digital world, it’s important to understand how to leverage all tools available to make sure this important component is working for you optimally. The following contributed post is entitled, Breaking Down Your Business’ Barriers.

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Is your business reaching the right people? If not, why not? It’s something that you should be thinking about in greater detail. Small companies can be at risk of staying stagnant and not reaching the growth that they’re capable of, and there could be some simple reasons to blame. Growing your business is all about breaking down those barriers to help you bring new clients and customers on board and start enhancing your profits. Here are some of the things you can do to help your business come out on top.

Image Credit: Unsplash under Creative Commons

Targeting the right customers

Is your business targeting the right customers? Some businesses can find that the demographics they think they should be targeting might not be the right groups for them after all. Conducting some thorough research is important to find out who is buying your products and services and how you can attract similar people to your business.

Social media is one of your most useful tools for targeting. With the right approach, you can focus your digital marketing activity so that it closely targets the people who are most likely to engage with your business. If you’re not using social media targeting yet, make it a priority to get started.

Making the most of your online presence

How is your website performing? If you’re struggling to attract visitors then you should think about changing your website to help make it more appealing. The load time to the layout of your website can have an impact on how long someone will stay on it. Therefore, if people are landing on your website, but their stay is short, you need to think about how your web content might be affecting their journey.

However, if the issue is that your page visits are low, you might need to think about creating a better promotion strategy for your website. SEO is one of the most important elements of getting your website seen, and seoexplode.com can help point you in the right direction. Improving the content and the visibility of your website is vital for getting results, so make it a priority to help you drive those sales.

Talk to your customers

How well do you know your customers? If you want to gain an insight into how they feel about your business, then you need to ask them. Polls and surveys can help you gain some interesting insights into your customers’ behavior, and could help you make some big improvements. Before making any significant changes such as your brand name or launching new products, try to get the opinions of your customers first. Asking for feedback at the end of a sale is another way to ensure that you continue to improve your services and give your customers more of what they want.

It can take years for businesses to experience growth, but using some of the methods above can help you accelerate the process. Identifying what your barriers are is the first step towards breaking them, so think about your business’ performance and build strategies that will ensure growth and take your business forward.

How Responsible Are You For Employee Health And Safety?

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success and two key focuses are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. A key concern for employers is employee safety. If not properly managed, a lack of safety for your employees can be very costly. The following contributed post is entitled, How Responsible Are You For Employee Health And Safety?

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Being an employer us something which most people don’t expect when they are going through school. The idea of having a team of people working for you will seem far-fetched, with the vast majority of the world working for someone else, rather than controlling their own destiny. This makes it very difficult to know what to do if you find yourself in the shoes of an employer, with the responsibilities you have for your team being confusing and often overwhelming. To help you out with this, this article will be exploring the most important of these, health and safety, to give you an idea of what can be done when you’re working to improve this side of your business.

In The Workplace

There are a lot of strict rules in place which govern the way that employees have to be treated in the workplace, along with the sorts of environments they will be exposed to. No matter how hard you work to keep the office or warehouse tidy and safe, though, there will always be a cable or box in the way which could cause an accident. Training is one of the easiest ways to overcome something like this, with the skills you give to your team members protecting you if they ever get hurt by something like this. Along with this, though, it will also make sense to do some research about the laws you have to follow.

Using Machines & Tools

It’s rare to find a job in the modern world which doesn’t involve some sort of machine, with a lot of today’s roles relying heavily on computers to get work done. Of course, though, a PC isn’t really very dangerous, and it will be unlikely that these devices will cause injuries. Something like a tarmac roller or forklift, though, has far more potential to do harm, and you will be responsible for making sure that everyone is trained properly to use them. Along with this, you will also be in charge of maintaining your machines, though companies offering digger and roller hire will often handle this side of the job for you.

On The Commute/Breaks

It can be easy to feel responsible for your employees no matter where they are. During their commutes and breaks, though, they will be in charge of their own safety, and you can will have the chance to step back. If someone has an accident when they’re not on your property or working for you, they will be responsible for their own safety. Of course, though, this doesn’t mean that you can’t help out, with a lot of employees offering self-defense training to their team members to make sure that they are safe on their way to and from their workplace.

With all of this in mind, you should be feeling inspired to start working on this side of your business. There are a lot of people out there who worry about their employee’s health, but this is usually for good reason.

Can Your Small Store Get Noticed on a Busy High Street

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. With all the businesses out it can be tough to be noticed particularly if you have a small store. A key to your success will be getting it noticed and what helps is to situate your operations on a highly trafficked street. The following contributed post is entitled, Can Your Small Store Get Noticed on a Busy High Street.

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Small independent shops are a crucial element of our economy and culture. Small stores give consumers options away from global brands. They often offer unique items of high quality, ideal for those of us that don’t want to be exactly the same as everyone else. They are able to provide excellent customer service, something which unfortunately often gets overlooked by larger brands focused on driving sales. These small businesses build relationships with their customers and give people a reason to shop in person, instead of sitting at home and ordering their purchases online. Small stores have many advantages over large chains, and many people love shopping in them.

But, despite knowing all of this, and knowing that your community is keen to support local business, if you own a small store of your own, something that you may worry about is getting noticed. You might have considered moving into out of town locations, where competition is lower, and property is cheaper. But, doing this is a risk, there’s less passing footfall, and your store has to try harder to give customers a reason to travel. On the high street, people are already there. You just need to give them a reason to come inside. If you can get noticed.

Build a Reputation

One of the best ways to get people into your store, instead of through the doors of bigger businesses nearby is by building a great reputation. Use your interactions in store, but also your engagement online, to get to know your customers. Become known as a business that goes the extra mile for their customers, and even do some charity work to boost your reputation in the wider community. Make it so people want to come to the high street for your shop.

Stand Out from the Crowd

Just like everything else, store styles and layouts have trends and fashions. Things become popular and trendy, so every store jumps on the bandwagon. They all look the same. If you want your store to get noticed, be the one that doesn’t follow trends. Be the one that has a strong look, and rocks it. Look at awnings installation, and other colorful ideas to make a statement. Don’t be afraid to try new things and to take risks with your designs. You can always make further changes and tone things down if you need to.

Put Effort into Your Window Displays

Some shops, say Apple, don’t need to worry about what is in their windows. They might not even have window displays. Customers see their logo, and they know enough to decide whether they want to go inside or not. You don’t have this luxury. Your window displays speak for your business. Display your best products and key brand messages, but don’t overcrowd and overwhelm. Keep things simple and show off what is important.

Get Outdoors

There’s nothing to stop you pulling people in from outside. Send staff out to speak to people and give away free samples, set up a stall in your carpark or on the street, print adverts and flyers to let people know where you are. Don’t wait for people to come to you, go out and get them.

3 Business Ideas That Could Be Profitable And Exciting In 2019

Two key focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. While individuals are always coming up with new ideas and inventions to profit from, some there also tried and true methods for generating profits. This contributed post looks and three and is entitled, 3 Business Ideas That Could Be Profitable And Exciting In 2019.

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The business world looks very different with every passing year. Thanks to the internet and modern technology, every industry seems to be experiencing rapid changes on an unprecedented scale. That’s why it can be so difficult to keep up with the market. It can also be hard to think of business ventures that might be worthwhile; you might feel as if every idea you have is already dated and irrelevant by the time you piece a plan together. But these are 3 business ideas that could be profitable and exciting in 2019. It’s time to get ahead of the market and make a name for yourself as an entrepreneur.

Copywriting.
Okay, copywriting is nothing new, but the medium has changed over the past couple of decades. Thanks to the internet, copywriters now have all the power. They can create their own businesses easily and sell their services to business clients and individuals online. It’s a great way to make money. If you have a talent and a passion for writing then this could be your calling. You could write adverts, email copy, and other forms of documents for big companies. There’s a growing market for such services – plenty of businesses are starting to outsource rather than hiring in-house writers. It’s smarter to start your own copywriting business than to search for employment in copywriting. You’ll make more money by taking out your own contracts and keeping all the profits anyway.

Betting.
Another business idea that could be profitable and exciting in 2019 is creating a betting empire. In particular, we’re talking about bookies. Again, much like copywriting, this is not a new type of business, but the industry has changed over recent years. Plenty of online bookies are starting to pop up because it’s an incredibly profitable line of business. You just need to make sure you read up on the industry and get all the necessary software to guarantee your success. You should look into pay-per-head 24/7 bookmaking services. This would give you the software necessary to manage your business. It’s important to keep your company well-structured, and software will allow you to manage everything sufficiently.

Marketing.
You could even consider starting a marketing business if you want to create a company that’s profitable and exciting in 2019. As mentioned in the earlier point about copywriting, plenty of businesses are looking to outsource when it comes to certain aspects of their operations. If you can create high-quality marketing services then you’ll have a skill which other companies want. You’ll have the opportunity to make a lot of money by helping other businesses make a lot of money. Obviously, you’ll need to make sure that you and your team know what you’re doing when it comes to the challenge of marketing a company successfully in the modern world. Once you’ve done that, you’ll have a very profitable business model. Just remember that you’ll need to put some of your own advice into practice. After all, you’ll have to market your business well so as to get the word out there.

The Difference Between Investing And Saving

A key focus of my blog is Financial Literacy/Money. A key aspect of this subject area is understanding the difference investing and saving. Both are very important terms which can actually complement the other. Understanding the two further can change lives. The following contributed post is entitled, The Difference Between Investing And Saving.

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Investing and saving are two fantastic options for anyone looking to be smart with their money. At a base level, they both serve the same purpose; you want to put money aside, with the aim of having more in the future.

But, some fundamental differences show both options have their own pros and cons.

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Investing is far more complex

It’s easy for anyone to open a savings account and start saving money. You don’t need much financial know-how at all, just a brief consultation with a financial advisor at your bank will give you everything you need to know. Essentially, you open an account, put as much money as you want in there, and the interest rate sees it grow year by year.

With investing, you have something far more complex. There are loads of different ways to invest, and each option also contains more choices as well. Take the stock market; you have loads of different things to invest in, from futures to options – and everything in between. Then, you have to look at things like option historical data, previous sales, current market trends, and so on. It’s so incredibly complex, making it hard for the average person to get involved. Typically, you need to take in a lot of knowledge to get to grips with stock market investing. Bear in mind, this is just one example, you also have property investment, forex – the list goes on and on. Saving is simple, but investing is definitely very complicated.

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Saving returns are restricted by interest rates

When you put money in a savings account, it will increase in value over time. This is due to interest rates, but the catch is that interest rates are usually horrible. In essence, this means you don’t get outstanding returns, and you have to keep your account open for many years before you see anything substantial.

So, saving returns are restricted by interest rates, but investment returns aren’t. Your return on investment varies depending on the market conditions. In some cases, you can earn colossal returns after just a few months – it depends on the investment. If you were to compare savings and investments with regards to their returns, then savings definitely come out second best.

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Investing carries more risk

The flip side of this is that investing carries more risks. With a savings account, you haven’t really got any risks at all. The money sits there collecting interest, and you don’t have to worry about anything.

With investing, there are so many variables. A market crash can make your investment plummet in value – or the company you’ve invested shares in could close down. Companies are always at risk of closing, and even if you think you are hedging your bets by checking the Caterpillar shares prices, a company as big as Caterpillar is not immune from any adverse conditions. There is always the notion of risk when you are investing. It’s always worth bearing this in mind, and if you plan on investing in a business, you may want to invest in a company with more sway and notoriety, but this is by no means a “sure thing”. If you invest in property and the property market experiences a dip, then you’re in trouble. The point is that you may get better returns, but you’re taking a bigger risk.

Ultimately, either option is an effective way of using your money. They’re both far better than reckless spending! The best way to summarize the differences is that investing is riskier, more complicated, but can grant higher rewards. Generally speaking, it’s a smart idea to try both ideas if you want to do more with your money.

Creating A Functional Working Environment For Your Staff

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success and two key focuses are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. A key to your organization excelling creating optimal conditions for your functions. Doing so will ensure your organization’s survival. The following contributed post is entitled, Creating A Functional Working Environment For Your Staff.

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Your staff are an important asset to the business, they keep everything ticking over and hopefully, they work on improving the financial success and reputation of the company. So it’s important to create a functional working environment and here is how to do just that.

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Encourage Organized Spaces

The place in which your staff work in is highly important because they’re probably in it for the majority of their day. So it has to be an inviting space that staff enjoy working in, rather than one that they dread. One of the ways you can do this is by encouraging your staff to be more organized with their spaces. Set some rules about desk areas and what should be on the desk and what shouldn’t. Give your staff the ability to buy some storage units and other accessories for their working areas so that files and other documents and equipment can be stored away securely and out of sight. A clean and tidy environment will also help with improving the workplace productivity.

Bring In Light & Nature

Two of the most mood-boosting features that you can have in your workspace is natural light and nature. Natural light can transform the look and feel of a space, so get as much of it in as possible. Clear windows from anything that could block out the light and get blinds that allow light to shine through, rather than blocking it out completely. Think of the lighting in your office too, as a bright white light can be quite clinical.

Indoor plants are becoming increasingly popular both in households and businesses, and they create a cleaner atmosphere that you and your staff will be breathing in. Put them in all of the communal areas and encourage your staff to buy for themselves some desk plants to boost their own happiness for their work area.

Keep Communal Areas Pristine

Communal areas are going to get messy, so it’s important to hire in the right cleaners to keep the place in top condition. You should also think about the decor and furnishings that you put into your office. Get some comfortable sofas in the breakout space and some art up on the wall to add colour. Ensure your kitchens are stocked with all the crockery and cutlery need and make sure your bathrooms are regularly checked and maintained. For communal bathrooms, restroom mats are useful to have in order to reduce odours and keep everything hygienic.

Invest In Technology

Technology is certainly an important tool that many businesses need and so it’s beneficial that as a company you are investing in the right technology for your staff to be able to complete tasks as best as they can. And sometimes, lacking certain programmes or work stations can cause problems and there’s even a chance it can hinder the workplace progress overall.

Creating a functional working environment should always be prioritised. Keep those communal areas clean and promote an organized and tidy workspace that everyone can enjoy.

Important considerations when buying a Condominium Unit revisited part one

I’m republishing my series regarding considerations for buying condominium units. I originally published it in March of 2015 on the Examiner. I’d lived in my condominium community for six years, and within that time there were quite a few surprises which I wanted to warn first-time home buyers about.

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Some of my earlier pieces discussed my experiences with Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University (FPU). Recently at the Alfred Street Baptist Church our class went over module number nine which dealt with real estate and mortgages. In the module, Ramsey and one of his teachers, Chris Hogan discussed several dos and don’ts regarding mortgages and purchasing homes. Some of their key points were:

• Don’t rush into owning if you’re not ready as it can have long-term ramifications if not properly prepared for;
• Make sure you have enough money saved up for the down payment and for maintenance;
• Make sure the mortgage payment doesn’t exceed 25% of your monthly income and;
• Don’t agree to adjustable rate mortgages, interest only mortgages, or 3% or less down mortgages.

Watching the video was humbling for me as my own path to ownership involved some of the very things they said not to do, such as agreeing to a 3% down mortgage – something I did out of ignorance. Just briefly, agreeing to something like a 3% down mortgage is bad because the buyer is ‘over-leveraging’, and it usually creates two loans to payback. This will be discussed in greater detail in a separate piece.

My first home purchase was a condominium unit. It was purchased in 2009, just as the damage and after effects of the Great Recession started settling. It was also just in time to benefit from the $8,500 “Obama Tax Credit”. My unit was particularly close to Washington, DC’s metro system (WMATA) which appealed to me since my car was on its last leg. Being so close to the metro, the unit fell in line with the “Location, Location, Location” rule about real estate.

After getting approved for the financing, and closing on the unit, it seemed to be victory. I jumped from being a renter to an owner and good times seemed to be on the horizon. While the purchase of my condominium unit seemed to be a ‘slam dunk’, and all my years of schooling seemed to be paying off, a great deal of heartache and hardship were on the way.

Neither of my parents were familiar with condominium units. They both owned duplexes in Upstate New York (~2000 square feet total for each house) with front and back yards, and garages. Both their homes were ironically valued less than my condominium unit (~950 square feet). Both of their homes had two separate units under one mortgage, something you can’t find in the Washington, DC area, probably due to local laws and ordinances.

Just briefly a condominium is a building or complex of buildings containing several individually owned apartments units. When you buy a condominium unit, you’re not just buying your unit, you’re also buying into a community with a “Homeowner’s Association”, a “Board of Directors”, and more importantly, common financial interests, costs and destinies. The board is charged with maintaining the complex and taking care of repairs to common areas (walls out), while the unit owners are responsible for the maintenance of their own units (walls in).

This short series on condominium units will discuss:

• Why it’s important to ask the right questions when purchasing a condominium unit;
• As a unit owner, why it’s important to plan to keep extra money parked one’s savings and on hand for emergencies;
• What happens when condominium associations don’t plan for routine maintenance and how that catches up with unit owners in the long run and;
• What happens when the board of directors and unit owners are split on issues concerning their condominium community.

As will be described in part two of this article, there are unique issues to buying into condominium communities. Specifically, the importance of doing one’s due diligence and what condominium communities do when money needs to be raised within the community for emergencies and special projects will be discussed.

Thank you for taking the time out to read this blog post. You might also enjoy:

• Are you getting your Matching Contribution? A discussion on saving for retirement
• A look at the Law of Compounding Interest and why you should care
• Your Net Worth, your Gross Salary, and what they mean
• Is there power in budgeting your money?
• I still don’t have a car in 2018: A story about playing financial chess
• We should’ve bought Facebook and Bitcoin stock: An investing story

If you’ve found value here and think it would benefit others, please share it and or leave comments. To receive all of the most up to date content from the Big Words Blog Site, subscribe using the box in the right-hand column in this post and throughout the site, or add the link to my RSS feed to your feedreader. Please visit my YouTube channel entitled, Big Discussions76. Lastly follow me on Twitter at @BWArePowerful, on the Big Words Blog Site Facebook page, and on Instagram at @anwaryusef76. While my main areas of focus are Education, STEM, and Financial Literacy, there other blogs/sites I endorse which found on that particular page of my site.

An Introduction To Business Continuity

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Something to consider when starting a business is the continuing of your operations. Even if you don’t think about it at the beginning, you will want to eventually. The following contributed post is entitled, An Introduction To Business Continuity.

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Business continuity is a subject that few business owners consider. In many ways, this reluctance is understandable; entrepreneurs tend to be optimistic people, who always look for, anticipate, and then plan for the best case scenario – so focusing on business continuity goes against their instincts.

However, as an entrepreneur, one of your foremost concerns should be that your business is always able to continue to operate. In fact, it could be argued that business continuity is perhaps the most essential concern.

Why is business continuity so important?

To put it simply: if your business cannot operate, then you don’t have a business. While it is vital to spend time strategizing to improve your company’s SEO performance, capture the attention of new customers, design your office layout effectively, and all of the similar ways that business owners seek to improve their business, these efforts can only bear fruit if the company can fully operate.

Due to the above, it is helpful to see a focus on continuity as the underlying structure of your business. With good continuity, you can think about the future, seek to improve performance and strive for success – because you can always be confident that the company can be relied on to survive.

How should you begin focusing on business continuity?

Business continuity is a wide-ranging concept, and considerations as to how you can keep your business operational should apply company-wide. However, there are two particular areas that should be focused on first: your companies’ IT and network and your premises. Both of these are essential to your business being able to stay afloat; most businesses rely on their IT systems for everything, from managing finances to customer communications; while your physical premises hold your stock, are where you meet with clients, and – in some cases – a retail space. If you can protect these two areas, then you can be assured of excellent continuity.

How can you ensure continuity in these areas?

● When it comes to your business’ IT, network, and data, planning and backups are crucial. It is best to contract a professional service for this purpose; you can learn more about the benefits of doing so, research companies, and then choose a provider who specializes in ensuring continuity in the most important areas.
● Protecting your premises encompasses many different considerations, but perhaps the most important is building maintenance. With proper maintenance, you can be confident that your business’ property can survive rain, shine, and everything in between. In addition, it’s also advisable to look for a good commercial property insurance policy that covers the costs of everything that might be lost in scenarios such as fire and flooding.

How can you address continuity in other areas of your business?

With the most important aspects covered, you can move to examine other aspects of your business in terms of continuity. By and large, the simplest way to do this is to examine an area of your company and ask “what can I do if…?”, for example:

● What can I do if… one of our suppliers goes out of business?
● What can I do if… one of our clients goes into liquidation and cannot pay invoices owed?
● What could I do if… multiple employees were to fall ill at the same time?
● What could I do if… the company receives an unexpected tax bill?

There are no answers to these questions that fit all businesses; most are subjective, depending on your cash flow and other resources. However, by asking these questions – all of which genuinely could happen, and would be hugely detrimental to your business – you can begin to formulate a way to prevent these problems, or how they could be overcome if prevention is not possible.

In conclusion

With a focus on business continuity, you can protect your business against the worst case scenarios, and ensure that your company is able to thrive for many years to come.

The Top Cyberthreats That Could bring Down Your Business In 2019

Three of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. No matter what type of business you are running, a key consideration is cybersecurity as there are a lot of elements at work that are looking to infiltrate and take down everyone’s operations. It’s important to be aware of these threats. The following contributed post is entitled, The Top Cyberthreats That Could bring Down Your Business In 2019.

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Cyber threats are continually evolving. In the past, companies had to worry about things like DDoS attacking and phishing, but in 2019, things are changing again, and there are new threats on the horizon. Businesses need to be careful. Not only can interruptions to their IT infrastructure cause issues operationally, but the regulatory environment is becoming increasingly unfriendly. Companies that admit data breaches risk significant fines and years of sunken profitability.

Check out the top cyberthreat of 2019 that could bring down your company.

AI-Based Attacks

DoD – Defense.gov

With artificial intelligence becoming open source and widespread, it won’t be long before hackers start using it to infiltrate companies and trick them into handing over data. AI-based attacks could automatically sweep company communications and create new emails that appear to be legitimate but which aren’t.

Cyptomining Malware

Cryptocurrencies require a lot of processing power to “mine.” Miners need to use hundreds of processors to crunch the data in the hope of discovering a new and valuable coin. The temptation, however, is to get somebody else to do it for them.

This is where crypto malware comes in. Crypto malware gets installed on another person’s machine without them knowing, and then starts performing calculations that benefit the miner. It’s not a direct attack in the traditional sense of the word, but it can undermine a business’s compute capacity as well as cost it more in terms of energy. The mining means that the companies processors are active, diverting them from other business-relevant tasks.

Botnet Attacks

InrsITe points out that companies need to do more to protect their data. But without adequate protection, it’s likely that many will fall prey to the predations of hackers. More than 70 percent of companies operating today will see a botnet attack that involves machine learning or artificial intelligence. Not all will be affected (because many will be protected by good software), but many will suffer and lose profitability as a result.

State-Sponsored Attacks

With the business world becoming so important, we often forget about the role of the state – a human organization which seems more redundant every year. States still hold all the weapons and still jostle for power. It’s likely that 2019 will see public institutions attacking private companies associated with particular rival governments. Granted, this probably won’t affect the average small business, but it may be an issue at larger firms.

Password Logging

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The majority of businesses still rely on single-factor password authentication to grant colleagues access to their networks and data. In short, all most companies do to protect themselves is require that when an employee gets to the office, they log in with their name and passcode.

Unfortunately, this form of security is hopelessly outdated in 2019. It’s often easy for hackers to install keyloggers on work machines remotely and then wait until the employee taps in their password. Once they have it, nothing is stopping them from accessing all the company’s data.

Two-factor authentication gets around this. With two-factor, the hacker must prove that they are an employee via a second method (such as tapping in a code that comes through to their phone).

Small Changes Towards A Big Business

Two key focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. As you grow your business, it’s important to know what changes you can make along the way to boost your performance. Sometimes small changes can make a big difference. The following contributed post is entitled, Small Changes Towards A Big Business.

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Sometimes it’s the subtle things in life that make the biggest difference for us. You don’t have to be someone who is always shouting about, making crazy big business moves, and actually regretting them. Because the thing about these big business moves that you could make, is that they carry a hell of a lot of risk. So you could have all of these big plans, and expect them to turn out a certain way, and you could invest a ton of money into the idea… for it to only backfire in your face. But the small changes that you can make are such a low risk and low investment move, that it really won’t do you much harm by trying them. After all, you should always be looking for the next best thing for your business, and that means making little changes along the way, adjusting and adapting to the situations around you. You have to be able to adapt to survive with your business, and the vision or dream that you had in the beginning will most likely not be what the outcome is! So if you know you need to make a few little changes, hopefully this article will inspire you to make a few of them! Keep on reading to find out more!

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Small Changes Inside The Office

So the office is most likely where you’re going to spend all of your time, and we just know that the majority of you will have an online based business in some way, and the time you spend in the office can be so consuming. So much so, that you’ll probably have the long standing joke that you might as well move into the office. Well all of the time you’re spending there could be made so much more simple, you just have to look for the solutions that you might have been missing out on. One example we have, is with the phone systems you’ve got. The phone will no doubt ring a million times a day, and having a complicated system to manage this through is only going to make things more difficult. But changing your phones and systems is no doubt something you’ve never thought of before. A small business phone system is going to be so much better with technology like VoIP, which is renowned for making communications so much easier. It’s little solutions like this that your business is missing out on, and you never know, this one might actually get you away from the office. A VoIP system would allow you to connect your calls and messages from work to your mobile phone, meaning that even if you feel like you can’t let your business go, you can at least take it out of the office with you!

Small Changes Outside The Office

You shouldn’t always be thinking about what’s going on in the office, you have to be able to pull yourself away from it, and think about the changes you can make on the outside, that will greatly improve the inside. One thing we recommend you taking a look at, because we know you won’t have made any chances since starting up your business, is your brand and your website. The two link really closely together, because you can’t have a good website without a good brand, and you can’t have a good website without having the brand to back. So in terms of your brand, you only want to think about the small changes you need to make. So it could just be touching up your logo, making better use of colours. When you first designed it, it might have been done in a rush or without much consideration at all, meaning a sub par quality was created. But simply sprucing up your logo can make a big difference to your brand, with it looking so much more professional. The same goes for your website. It might just be that you need to touch a few things up, make the layout a little better, and iron out any bugs that might be giving your website a bad reputation! There will be plenty of web developers out there who would be able to go through the whole process with you, making sure that you have the best possible outcome!

Small Changes To Your Marketing

Marketing is something you’ve either grasped by now, or it’s something that you’re just totally winging and hoping that it goes right. If you’re the latter, then there definitely are a few changes that you can make to improve your marketing and how you’re making use of it. So if you only really stick to the easy marketing techniques, it’s time to get a little bit creative, and really make changes to your marketing. One technique you can use, which many chose not to for reasons unknown, is billboard marketing. It’s literally plastering your business for the eye to see, and if you get a good location, many eyes are going to see this one. But that’s just it, you really do have to have a good location, even if it means paying slightly more for it! Another technique you should try, which although it’s not as fast acting, it’s still incredibly good, is SEO. This aims to improve your ranking within search engines, through techniques such as link building. It might be one of the more costly marketing options, but it’s subtle improvements like this that you really need to be making!

Small Changes To Your Finances

The way that you use your business finances is so important, and if you’re not using them at all, then you really are missing out. All you need to think about, is things like investments, and you’ll be in the right track. As soon as you’re making enough money, this is what you should be doing. Although you’ll always be bringing money in, you want to make sure that you’re building on it, and putting it in the right places so it isn’t just sitting in the bank. There are so many investment options for you to choose from, just check out articles like this and you’ll see!