Category: Business/Entrepreneurship

How Your Online Presence Could Make or Break Your Business

Two of the key focuses of my blog are Business and Entrepreneurship and Technology. With so much business being conducted online these days, every business must be aware of how their online presence impacts their ability to do business, and to continue to thrive. The following contributed post is thus entitled; How Your Online Presence Could Make or Break Your Business.

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Running a business isn’t simply about coming up with winning ideas and providing excellent services to your clients, you need to have a strong online presence in order to be noticed. Nowadays if you don’t have a killer website and stunning social media strategy you might as well leave your business at the door. Using social media correctly is so important to every business owner, so you need to brush up your skills right now and make sure your online presence doesn’t let your business down. There are many mistakes that you could be making on a regular basis which jeopardises your business, so be aware of these ups and downs.

Wasted Money on Advertising

If you aren’t quite sure of your advertising strategies then you mustn’t try to do it all yourself. You could waste a tonne of money on useless campaigns that will never attract any leads. Look into reputable advertising companies who can assist you with all of your marketing needs. You will be able to hone in on your target audience and discover exactly how you can bring them in. Discuss your options with an agency and you can be sure you won’t be wasting any money on your marketing methods.

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Unprofessional Social Media

You could deter somebody from your business straight away if your social media platforms aren’t up to scratch. You could have posted controversial content online which sparked a heated discussion or you might not be using the correct language to suit the demographic of your target audience. Make sure your spelling, grammar and facts are all thoroughly checked over otherwise you run the risk of giving off an unprofessional vibe. You want your potential customers to trust you and want to invest their money in you so give them every reason to.

Website Glitches

When a customer goes online and wants to buy one of your products or services, there is nothing more frustrating than being greeted with glitches in the system or slow loading times. Keep your website running smoothly and seamlessly so that your audience have no reason to click away from that checkout page. There are websites that will check the loading times of your individual pages; if you are waiting for more than three seconds, the chances are that your potential shopper will lose interest. Keep your images as small as possible and this will help to lessen the loading time.

Invisible to Search Engines

Improving your search engine ranking should be very high on your priority list. If you can’t be found online then you aren’t going to get many sales. Do everything you can to improve your SEO strategies so that you start ranking higher on popular search engines such as Google and Bing! This could involve tweaking your keywords, starting a blog and reassessing your website descriptions.

So pay close attention to your online presence, website and the way in which you operate your social media, as it could be the make or break element for your business.

What Henry Ford Can Teach Us About Being An Entrepreneur

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy and Money, and Business and Entrepreneurship. Henry Ford was one of the great ‘Industrial Titans’ whose visions laid the groundwork for the modern automobile industry and literally helped shape modern America. A lot can be learned from how he built is empire. The following contributed post is thus entitled; What Henry Ford Can Teach Us About Being An Entrepreneur.

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Everyone should know who Henry Ford is and why he’s famous. He was the mastermind behind the giant corporation Ford, and his legacy lives on to this day. But, what a lot of people don’t know is that his journey was extremely rough. It’s certainly not a story of some young buck having a bright idea and shooting to success right away.

No, Ford went through plenty of hard times, which is why he’s the perfect person to study as an upcoming entrepreneur. If you’re thinking of starting a business – or have started one that’s failed – then you should pay attention to Ford’s story. Here are a few things you can learn from what happened to him:

Persistence Is Key

Unbeknownst to many, but Ford actually failed twice before he managed to successfully launch his Ford Motor Company. The two previous times, he struggled with juggling finances and promoting the business. Both times, he ended up losing money and had to file for bankruptcy.

Did this stop him? No! He came back a third time and look at what happened. The moral of the story is that persistence is vital. If you have an idea that you believe in, then don’t give up. Don’t let your failings take over and make you feel like you can’t succeed. Try again, learn from your errors, and you may end up getting it right.

Bankruptcy Offers A Second Chance

There’s a stigma surrounding the concept of bankruptcy, and it’s been around for years. Personally, I blame Monopoly! When you’re made bankrupt in that game, you lose all your money and are out of the game. So, we grow up assuming that this holds true for real life; file for bankruptcy, and that’s it, game over.

In reality, as Henry Ford has shown, bankruptcy can be helpful in some situations. As it explains on NY-Bankruptcy.com, it’s a debt solution to help you pay off creditors and get them off your back. Yes, there are plenty of hard times that come when you’re bankrupt. However, it doesn’t mean you’re left with no money and no home/job. A lot of the time, it can be used to give you a second chance. So, if your business ever fails and you’re made bankrupt, don’t take this to mean your chances of success are over in life!

Marketing A Business Is Essential

During his second attempt at starting a company, Ford had most things nailed down pretty well. He managed to balance the finances well, and the actual product was excellent. The issue was that people didn’t understand what it was, because he hadn’t marketed it correctly.

So, we need to learn from his mistakes and ensure we always market our businesses as effectively as possible. Ensure the consumer knows what you offer, and how it can benefit them. There is some handy advice on entrepreneur.com that can help you improve your marketing skills and promote your company.

The overall thing to take from Henry Ford’s success story is that good things don’t happen overnight. It will be a grind, and you may fail more than once. But, learn from your failures and don’t let them dictate your passage in life. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, and try again.

Guaranteeing Customers’ Security When They Shop Online With You

Two of the key focuses of my blog are Business and Entrepreneurship and Technology. With so much business being conducted online these days, it’s important to understand how to best to protect your customers during online transactions. The following contributed post is thus entitled; Guaranteeing Customers’ Security When They Shop Online With You.

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Online security used to only really apply to big-time businesses, as small businesses tended to operate through brick and mortar stores. They could simply accept cash payments and not worry about the technological world. But nowadays, increasing numbers of small business owners are taking to the web and operating online. No matter how small your business may be, if you are operating online, you really need to take customer safety seriously when it comes to taking payments. There are all sorts of individuals out there with bad intentions who would happily take a customer’s payment details and use them to purchase goods for themselves, or sell them on to others. However, if this is unfamiliar territory for you, you may feel a little bit lost when it comes to guaranteeing customer safety when processing sales and transactions online. But not to worry. Here are the basics that you need to know when it comes to protecting the individuals who choose to shop with you!

Using a Reliable Payment Gateway

One of the areas where customer information is most commonly leaked, or most commonly hacked into, is through a payment gateway. A payment gateway is a service that authorises credit and debit card payments, deducting funds from a customers’ account and depositing them into your account. In order to authorise this transaction, customers have to input their personal details (including name and address) and banking details (such as a card number, an expiry date, and a security number) into the payment gateway. By using a secure gateway, you can ensure that this information is safely collected without interference. Consider using a reliable service like BlueSnap. BlueSnap can work through both online and mobile devices, guaranteeing a positive experience for all of your customers. BlueSnap also keeps customers within your webpage when taking payments. This removes the need to redirect customers from your page to a separate payment page, reducing the risk of interference from cyber criminals along the way.

Accept Credit Card Payments

Many small businesses are reluctant to accept credit card payments, as you are likely to be charged more in order to process this transaction. This, of course, dips into your overall profits. However, many customers feel a lot more secure paying via credit card, as many credit companies offer to reverse charges for fraudulent transactions without a quibble. If you value making your customers feel safe and secure, it’s worth fronting the extra costs that come hand in hand with accepting credit card payments. Alternatively, you could pass the charge on to the customer (adding a set fee to credit card transactions). This means that you don’t make any loss, but the customer still has the choice to use this kind of payment method.

These are just a couple of different ways to guarantee your customers’ safety when they choose to shop online with you. Keep them at the forefront of your mind at all times and consider implementing them into your business plan in the near future!

3 Simple Methods Of Protecting Your Business

Two of the key focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy and Money, and Business and Entrepreneurship. Once your business is up and running there are several keys to keep it successfully afloat. The following contributed post is thus entitled; 3 Simple Methods Of Protecting Your Business.

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What would you consider to be one of the most important, life-long activity a business can participate in? Raising profitability for shareholders? Exercising staff comfort and working satisfaction? Having a positive impact on the world? Valid answers all. However, there’s one essentially vital activity missing from this list, something that should be shouted from the rafters. A firm should desire to protect itself. It should know how to conduct security. Not only for its own preservation, but for the health and protection of its employees, customers, and general processes.

Protecting your business can be done, but it can feel dizzying to do, particularly if you’re a small firm. Thankfully, all you need to do is keep yourself updated and knowledgeable in modern requirements, and you’ll be golden. Consider these tips:

Forwarded Address

Sometimes, especially in small business, you aren’t interested in making your business address public. This might be because you haven’t any front-facing customer support and it would be functionally useless to offer your address online or on your contact firms, or because the business is the same residence as your home, and you’re keen on protecting the living space of your family. There may be more reasons than these that you wish to use an alternate address to pick up your mail, and they are all valid. Thankfully, it’s possible to make use of cheap mail forwarding addresses in countries across the world, and you can find that functionality at yourvirtualofficelondon.co.uk/mail-forwarding-address. Remember, sometimes privacy is key for the protection of business assets, and this can serve as a wise first step towards that goal.

Web Hosting

Using web hosting services with a solid track record of confidentiality, privacy, DDOS protection ability, and trustworthy technicians can help the flow of your online traffic stay sustained well in the early months, at least before you are able to structure your own website via an in-house professional timeline of development. Be sure to research testimonials and the business practices of the firms used before you give them your money, even those that seem to be dominating the industry – it’s a good habit to get into. This goes for VPN’s, email and business administrative suites also.

Staff Practices

Staff practices are important to consider when it comes to protecting your business. Staying ahead of the curve means training your staff in your best security policies, in the requirements of the legal bounds you find yourself in. It might be expertly training and qualifying your staff in the matters of food hygiene each year, or perhaps teaching your staff how to properly handle and confidentially transmit important business files to the correct end recipients. Of course, none of this will work without the ability to vet your staff, to ensure they wish to perform the best and most appropriate job possible. After all, you are nothing without your staff, and your staff are nothing without the training your firm provides (at least legally speaking.)

With these simple tips, protecting your business is sure to be a daily task managed well.

Ecommerce Mistakes That Most People Make In Their First Year

Two of the key focuses of my blog are Business and Entrepreneurship and Technology. With so much business being conducted online these days, its important to understand how to best to do business in our new digital world in terms of ecommerce. The following contributed post is thus entitled; Ecommerce Mistakes That Most People Make In Their First Year.

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If you are launching your own ecommerce store then you will know how exciting this can be. At times you may feel as though the world is your oyster and you may even feel as though there is just so much for you to try and do in the day as well. If you want your ecommerce store to succeed however then you have to make sure that you are putting the work in to understand your industry and you also have to make sure that you are trying not to make any mistakes along the way as well. If you want to find out more then you can take a look below.

Not Doing Any Market Research

When you first launch your store, you will probably have a few products that you plan on selling. You will probably be very optimistic about this and you may even have so much fun creating them as well. The main mistake that people make is that they get so excited about creating their product that they fail to do any reliable market research. This can make it very hard for you to generate a profit and it can also make it hard for you to know who you are trying to market to as well. If you want to get around this, you need to spend a few weeks trying to research your competition, what you plan on selling and even how you plan on importing or shipping them.

Trying to Handle Absolutely Everything Yourself

The last thing that you want to do is try and handle everything yourself. You may save money by doing this but it is not good for business at all. When you start your own online store, you need to try and do everything you can to find experts who can help you along the way and you also need to get their help when reaching your goals. If you don’t then you will never end up achieving as much as you’d like.

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Not Focusing on your Business Development

The best part of running a business is being able to turn any ideas that you have into a service or product. If you enjoy what you do then you may end up focusing on a single aspect of your business, such as getting new products in or even choosing colour variations. This is all very well, but if you are not careful then you may find that you spend so much time trying to market your products and your business without really taking the time to know if you are in a position to fulfil the orders when you receive them. You need to focus on developing your business as much as you do developing your products, and this is a very important factor for you to take into
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So there are many ways that you can avoid making these top eCommerce mistakes, and when
you do, you will experience way more success than ever before.

Keywords: 3 Essentials For Online Entrepreneurs

Two of the key focuses of my blog are Business and Entrepreneurship and Technology. With so much business being conducted online these days, an important consideration is how potential customers will you find your business and your products. The following contributed post is thus entitled; Keywords: 3 Essentials For Online Entrepreneurs.

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It is impossible to say that there is a magic formula when it comes to business. Some businesses appear, on the surface, to break all the established rules of what constitutes a “good” business – but they seem to succeed anyway. Other companies seemingly do everything right and make all the smart decisions, but for some reason, the business never quite thrives.

However, there are some aspects of business that greatly lend themselves towards success, and enjoy a far higher level of importance than other areas. While these elements alone cannot guarantee success, it could certainly be said that the absence of these elements can make success incredibly difficult to achieve.

Keywords are a business element that fit this description to a T; while your business could succeed without understanding and utilizing keywords effectively, it’s going to be a very tough road without their assistance. In an effort to enhance your understanding of this element – and particularly how their usage has changed over recent years – we’ve put together three simple facts that all business owners should know about keywords.

#1 – Keyword stuffing is obsolete (and potentially harmful)

SEO is a young industry, but even in its short time as a factor for businesses, it has changed hugely. Perhaps the biggest change has happened to a technique known as “keyword stuffing”. Where keyword stuffing was once the way to get your business noticed online, it’s now more likely to earn a violation from Google – from an essential tactic to a substantial detriment, keyword stuffing is a technique that burned bright and fell fast.

Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs don’t quite seem to have gotten the memo, and keyword stuffing is still found across a variety of business websites. If you’re still using this technique, it’s time for a change.

#2 – Keywords are changing due to voice search

Long tail keywords are nothing new, but they are becoming far more important due to the advent of voice search. When people use voice search on mobile devices or smart speakers, they tend to phrase their search as a question, for example: “what are the best restaurants in New York?”. This is very different to how people search when typing – which would usually be more along the lines of “best restaurants New York” – and has opened up a new form of keyword usage that focuses more on natural speech patterns rather than the more abbreviated short tail keywords that have reigned supreme for the last 10 years.

#3 – The power of keywords extends far beyond SEO

Thus far, as is common, we’ve talked about keywords in relation to SEO, but keywords have an importance far beyond appearing in search terms. From using tools such as WordTree to ensure your products appear high in results on Amazon, to keyword research helping to shape social media posts, a modern business owner has to appreciate the importance of keywords across almost every area of their business’ online presence.

In conclusion

Keywords may have changed somewhat over the 20+ years the internet has been a force for businesses, but their importance cannot be overlooked. By using keywords correctly, and avoiding outdated techniques, you can be sure to benefit from their incredible power, and your business should hugely benefit as a result.

Everything You Need to Know About Taxes

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy and Money, and Business and Entrepreneurship. Whether it’s your personal finances or a business venture, understanding taxes is critical. Furthermore, having a tax-strategy can be a critical component to building wealth. The following contributed post is thus entitled; Everything You Need To Know About Taxes.

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As the old saying goes, the only certainties in life are death and paying taxes. All working citizens pay a percentage of their earnings to the government in order to contribute to the functioning of the country. The government spends these taxes on maintaining and improving the country, investing in technology and education, as well as purchasing products that benefit citizens in general. Main areas of expenditure include Major Health Programs (including Medicare and Medicaid), social security, and defense and security for the country as a whole. Tax payments are also used on transport and infrastructure. But it’s not so much how taxes are spent that you need to worry about personally. It’s how much tax you have to pay the government and how to make sure that you cough up the correct amounts on time. So, to help you along the way, here’s everything that you need to know on the subject!

The Importance of Paying Taxes

Besides the importance of paying taxes in regards to keeping the country ticking over, it’s also extremely important that you pay taxes in order to avoid huge fines and potential jail time. Here are some of the potential consequences of paying late or not paying at all.

● Late returns – if you file your return late, you will be charged five percent of your unpaid taxes for every month that your tax return is late on top of the total that you owed anyway.

● Failure to pay – if you file your return, but fail to pay the amount that you owe, you will be charged a failure-to-pay penalty. This amounts to 0.5 percent of the taxes that you owe per month you fail to pay. You will also begin to accrue interest rates on your unpaid tax.

Making the Process as Simple as Possible

As we have established, it’s extremely important that you not only file your tax assessment on time, but that you also make a payment on time. The percentages that you are charged may sound relatively small, but when you keep in mind the amount that you earn in an entire fiscal year, this sum can become pretty large and it can mount up over the months. But not to worry. There are steps that you can take to seriously simplify your tax paying process. The first step that you can take is to hire an accountant. This individual will take all of your financial information for the tax year and determine exactly how much you owe out in taxes. They may also be able to minimize this figure by deducting any work-related expenses that you may have incurred. Another option is to use tax software yourself. This is specially designed software that will help you to complete your return as quickly and conveniently as possible. If this sounds good to you, take a look at this Professional Tax Software Comparison Chart to determine which software will best suit your needs.

Corporation Taxes

Now, we have dealt with personal taxes, let’s take a moment to focus on corporate taxes. If you own a corporation, you’re going to have to pay corporate tax from your business’ profits. You can generally choose your own tax year, so you choose two dates within the year that you operate within – this makes paying taxes better suited to your professional schedule. If you know you have a particularly busy time of year where you’re run off your feet, you can arrange your fiscal year to guarantee that you won’t be focused on filing returns at this given time. Instead, you can schedule your tax file to fall during a quieter period. It is generally stated that we have the highest corporation tax in the world. While stated levels of tax may well be the highest amongst the world’s major economies, when you factor in deductions and other expenditures, corporation tax isn’t actually all too high.

Paying Corporation Tax

Almost all corporations are expected to pay the full sum of corporation tax that they owe over four set dates. Payments generally tend to be due on the 15th April, 15th June, 15th September, and 15th December. Paying smaller sums throughout the year lightens the load on businesses, rather than implementing the pressure of one huge payment date. It is highly unlikely that you will be granted an extension on this payment date, so make sure that you have the funds ready and waiting to be paid. If you fail to pay the full sum of your corporation taxes, you may find that civil and criminal penalties may be imposed upon you. These tend to be divided into four categories:

● Delinquency penalties
● Accuracy-related penalties
● Information reporting penalties
● Preparer, promotor, and protestor penalties

While most individual and corporate taxes are reliant on a mere self-assessment, many large and mid-sized businesses are monitored by the IRS and tax state authorities. If you are turning over a lot of money, you may find that you undergo regular audits to ensure that you are complying with the law and sticking to tax rules.

Hopefully, this has helped you out with a whole lot of information that you need to keep in mind when it comes to filing both personal tax and corporation tax. These are by no means minor issues, as failing to comply with tax law can see you receive serious fines and perhaps even face legal action. So, make sure that you are always complicit!

Running a Successful Non-Profit Organization

Two of the principles of my blog are Creating Ecosystems of Success and Long-Term Thought. When starting a nonprofit organization, there are certain key steps and considerations to be mindful of. The following contributed post is thus entitled; Running a Successful Non-Profit Organization.

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If you are someone that loves to champion the things and causes that you are passionate about, then founding a nonprofit organization can be a great way to help and contribute. In order for it to do well, though, you need to make sure that it is adhering to a few guidelines, as well as running efficiently so that the goals that you have for it can be achieved. Here are some steps to help you to make that all happen; is there anything else that you would add to the list?

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Clear Vision and Mission Statement

If you haven’t got a clear vision as a nonprofit, then you won’t have a clear focus of what you are trying to achieve. So before you start out, you need to have a clear vision of what you want to do. From there you can make plans and then work the plan that you have set. It can simply be a to-do style list of all that you want to achieve, and then you can have a focus and make plans of what you will do and when, as well as the measures so that you can check how things are going.

Work Backwards

Along similar lines, it is a really good idea if you can work backwards from what you are trying to achieve. If you set your goal, then you might struggle to know where to start with it. So instead, work backwards from the goal to see what steps you need to get there. In simple terms, it helps you to make sure that you get there, rather than having to start over and over.

Tech and Programs Can Help

While your nonprofit is going to reinvest the money that it generates, you can also put some of that back into what you are doing, so that it is made easier and easier. There is so much tech out there that could help to streamline processes, as well as help you to achieve your goals. There are systems and solutions in place like eBECS that can be used to benefit your nonprofit too. They can help to improve membership management, give easier access to data, and automate processes so that expenses can be reduced.

Be a Leader

Being a leader of a team can be a skill that is hard to learn, as it is more than just being in charge. You need to make sure that you are delegating your time evenly, as well as doing the jobs that will best highlight or showcase your skills. When you’re the one in charge it can be tempting to just take on the tasks that you enjoy or are more fun. But as a leader, you need to make sure that you are taking on a variety of tasks, as well as sharing the vision of the organization with your team.

No matter how many hours you are working, work should be an enjoyable place to be. Smile, work hard, and have fun as you see your dreams and goals being achieved.

This Is How To Choose Business Software

Two key focuses of my blog are Business and Entrepreneurship, and Technology. A critical aspect to successfully running a business today is choosing the right software for your purposes. The following contributed post is thus entitled; This Is How To Choose Business Software.

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Getting the right software for your business can change your operations completely. You could be more productive and efficient when you have the best tools for your business. Unfortunately, finding the apps that work for you isn’t as easy as you might like it to be. There are lots of things to consider, from the features that the software offers to how much you’ll be paying. You need to think about what you need new software for, and how it’s going to benefit your business. It can be a long process, but it’s best not to rush it if you want to make the best decision.

Identify Your Needs

Before you can find the right apps for your business, you need to identify your requirements. What do you want the software to help you with? You might have a specific need, like a tool to help with accounting. However, you could have a more open goal, such as improving productivity for your company. It’s best if you can be as specific as possible by identifying the problems that you want to solve. This will help you to search for the best software to meet your needs. You can compare software types and features against your requirements.

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Research Solutions

Once you know what your needs are, you can start researching a few different solutions. You won’t necessarily be looking at specific tools just yet. You just need to see what sort of apps are available to meet your needs. For example, if you need something to make invoices more manageable, you might be looking at accounting tools, document management software or perhaps productivity tools. You can find a few different options that could potentially help you with your issue. Start looking at prices too so that you can get an idea of how much you might need to spend.

Create a Software Budget

Once you’ve started looking at possible options and prices, you should create a budget for how much you want to spend. Many apps are now subscription-based, which can help you to save money compared to more traditional software options. You can find you’ll pay a monthly amount based on features and the number of users who will using the app. While you can find cheaper options, make sure you’re not trying too hard to save money. It’s worth investing a bit more in the apps you choose to make sure you get the features that you need.

Choose Software for Your Industry

It’s a good idea to see if there are any software options that are tailored to your industry. If there are, they’re likely to have plenty of features specific to your needs. Some industries in particular can benefit from this, like the hospitality industry. Using custom hotel software will allow you to manage bookings, maintenance and many other things involved in running a hotel. Ecommerce software can help you to manage your sales and orders, as well as your warehouse or inventory. These apps can help you meet a huge number of needs that your business might have, all in one package.

Find Apps You Can Customize

Even though you can find lots of tools that meet your needs, you can make them even better if you’re able to customize them. Plenty of software solutions can be customized, and it doesn’t have to be too expensive. You can work with someone who will help to develop an app just for you so that it meets all of your needs. It also helps you make sure that you’re not wasting money on features that you don’t need and won’t use.

Look for Apps You Can Integrate

If you already have some useful tools that you don’t want to stop using or you’re looking for some a selection of different tools, make sure you can integrate the new apps that you choose. Integration will allow you to connect all of your favorite apps so they can work together. For example, you might have an inventory management tool that works together with your accounting software. Many software providers have an API that make it easy to connect different tools so you can continue to use existing ones that work for you.

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Speak to Your Team

When you introduce new tools to your business, you need to make sure that the people who will be using them are happy with your choice. You should talk to your employees to get their opinion and find out what their needs are. What are the problems that they most want to be solved? What frustrations do they come up against when using software? You should think about what training might be available too. Are there existing training programs or perhaps even trainers provided by the software service?

Start with a Shortlist

Now that you’re a bit more familiar with your options and what you need, you can start making a shortlist of potential tools to use. Make a note of some of the possibilities that you’re considering and how they could help you, as well as how much they cost. You should have a good idea of what sort of tools you’re looking for, and what problems they’ll be solving. Try to keep your shortlist to a maximum of five options so you don’t have to compare too many.

Evaluate Available Features

With your shortlist at hand, you can start comparing the available features to see which tools are going to meet your needs. In addition to looking at which functions you have, you might want to look at things such as customer service and support, as well as the price. If you choose a SaaS (software as a service) solution, you can get everything that you need in one package, including the help and support you require. Don’t forget to check testimonials and reviews too, so you can see what other people have thought of the tools and service.

There’s lots to consider to get the right software for your business. Choose carefully if you want to use your time and money wisely.

Exploring The Key Issues With “The Cloud”

Two key focuses of my blog is Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), and Business and Entrepreneurship. Many businesses and organizations are moving towards cloud-based storage systems for increased efficiency of operations, but what are the issues with this new technology? The following contributed post is thus entitled; Exploring The Key Issues With “The Cloud”.

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Over the last few years, a lot of companies have been touting their cloud data services. Offering the chance to have all of your work, emails, and other important information stored on servers across the world, these businesses promise to be able to make it much easier to access and use these important parts of your work. Of course, though, like any new technology, the cloud isn’t all fun and games, and there are some serious issues with some of the services which can be found out there. To help you to see these problems, this post will be exploring some of the most prominent.

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Getting There: Data migrations are a notoriously challenging part of enterprise computing. Moving all of your on-premises information to servers isn’t an easy process, and most people will need the help of a cloud migration solutions company to help them. While this makes it much easier to get information where it needs to go, it will also cost some money, and this is rarely factored into the quotes which will be given out when you are approached by a cloud service.

Downtime: While a lot of work has been done to make sure that the servers hosting your data are able to run all the time, with plenty of redundant power and storage space, along with multiple networks in case one fails, a cloud company can’t control your internet connection. If you find yourself without this for a day or two, you could be left completely unable to do your work. These issues often come by surprise, making it impossible to save the data you’ll need as a precaution.

Security: Along with keeping servers running all the time, most cloud companies invest a small fortune into their cyber security. You will probably be accessing your data wirelessly at some stage, though, and this puts everything at risk. Of course, data breaches have become commonplace in the modern world, too. If this were your business’s information, you could be left to deal with some very unhappy clients or customers as a result.

Training: Finally, as the last area to consider, not a lot of people feel confident to use systems like this. When you have everything online, the process of accessing data can be a lot more complicated than what users are experienced with. This means having to train any employees you have to make sure that they can use the cloud securely and without wasting any time. There are loads of companies out there which can provide this to you, but it is something a lot of businesses would rather not have to pay for.

With all of this in mind, you should have the chance to think a little more deeply about the choice you have to make when it comes from moving from your own servers to the cloud. Of course, it isn’t all bad, the benefits it can provide can be huge, but it might not quite be the right time to make the switch if you’re worried about it.