Why You Can’t Afford to Ignore Technology in Your Business

Three focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. In 2021, technology has innervated every aspect of life and the business world is no different. Not taking advantage of the available technologies can put yourself at a tremendous competitive disadvantage. The following contributed post is entitled, Why You Can’t Afford to Ignore Technology in Your Business.

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As the world leans more on technology, businesses have to learn how to keep up with the inventions. Investing in technology can be costly at the start but ignoring it can put you out of business. Even when you can perform some or all the tasks manually, you may end up losing relevance, focus and burning out. Here are the reasons that make technology an essential part of today’s businesses.

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Customer Expectations

Today’s clients have high expectations because they have many options to choose from when shopping. They expect quality products, fast services and exceptional customer care. Clients know what they want, how they should be treated, and value their time and money. If you slack or offer substandard services, they will forget about you at the click of a button.

For instance, if you sell online products on amazon or eBay, your clients will be frustrated when they realize the goods are out of stock or the prices are too high. It’s tedious having to check the inventory manually, but you can install a system that notifies you when a particular product runs out of stock.

Invest in an inventory management system that not only alerts you when the products are out of stock but delists them from the online store. Check the inventory management systems at eigenrun.com. You’ll not have orders you cannot deliver on time or have to deal with disgruntled customers who can ruin your business reputation. Most importantly, you never have to run out of stock because the system notifies you on time.

Business Competition

Business competition is advantageous to the consumer because they have a variety to choose from, more accessible products and services, and competitive prices. However, to a business owner, increased competition means working harder to improve productivity and retain happy clients. Due to the high competition, a business can only thrive on repeat customers.

To achieve this, you have to offer unique services, mind your customers’ convenience and remain competitive. When you provide an online shopping experience, you are more likely to attract more clients than a physical store. Technology advancements have also made it easier to keep up with your clients, learn their tastes, preferences and check whether you offer quality services and meet their expectations.

You Become Efficient

Technology makes processes more accessible and faster. What could have taken you days to achieve can be quickened by investing in the right technology. When you are more efficient, your production increases, employees are happier and less overworked, and you can expand your business reach rather than concentrate all your energy on everyday tasks.

A business cannot thrive without proper communication, flawless production processes and seamless interactions with the clients and other stakeholders. Understand your organization’s technology needs, then invest accordingly.

Technology is here to stay; therefore, you’d better start making it an integral part of your business operations. Everyone is using technology, and as AI improves, you risk running out of business if you don’t keep up with the trends. Also, as you will learn, it’s not as expensive as you thought. You can start small as you focus on building a tech-supported business.

The Importance of Eco Friendly Technologies in Business

Three focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. There are a number of technologies that are on the horizon in the business sector. It’s important to consider how these technologies impact the environment. The following contributed is entitled, The Importance of Eco Friendly Technologies in Business.

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How we are impacting the earth’s resources has become a prominent issue within the last few years. So finding eco friendly alternatives for many companies is becoming a necessity in 2021 in order to save our planet from ruin, within the not too distant future.

When surveyed by the IBM and National Retail Federation in 2020, almost 70% of Americans stated that it is important to know whether the company they are purchasing goods from is following eco friendly practices. This demonstrates the importance of companies adhering to eco friendly ways to tempt the customer into buying their product and remaining a loyalty consumer.

How the US is Progressing in This Area

Many American companies are finding ways to keep up to date with the latest renewable energies. Iowa is a leading example of how one state can be at the forefront of US companies that are adopting renewable technology to run the majority of its businesses.

The US certainly is making progress in this area with Forbes citing the top 100 most energy efficient companies in the world in 2020, with the US and Canada featuring three times in the top 10, out of worldwide companies.

1 Orsted A/S Denmark
2 Chr. Hansen Holding A/S Denmark
3 Neste Oyj Finland
4 Cisco Systems Inc United States
5 Autodesk Inc United States
6 Novozymes A/S Denmark
7 ING Groep NV Netherlands
8 Enel SpA Italy
9 Banco do Brasil SA Brazil
10 Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp Canada

If You Run a Business Instead

If you run your own business instead then you will want to ensure that your business is meeting current energy standards. Companies such as GFF Power are able to provide any necessary support and further information on how to optimise energy performance. So it is certainly worth knowing how they can assist if you are unsure.

Social Media Driving Forward This Change

Social media is having a significant impact with regards to whether companies adopt more eco friendly ways in their business. It has become much easier for customers to express their opinions online about the company’s ethos and any complaints they have with their progress and products they provide.

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How Companies Can Be Eco Friendly

Things to look out for when buying from an eco friendly company could be the following.

➢ Adopting a recycling plan in the workplace.
➢ Utilizing very little or no paper at all.
➢ Using biodegradable cleaning products.
➢ Installing technology to keep track of energy use.
➢ The use of electric or hybrid cars for company vehicles.
➢ Not leaving lights on unnecessarily in the office.
➢ Using sustainable suppliers when purchasing goods.
➢ Utilizing water, wind and solar power where possible.

Overall, in order to keep up to date with consumer expectations towards eco friendly practices, it would be prudent for companies to not ignore these requests otherwise they risk alienating their target audience.

Things to Consider When Buying an RV

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Technology. An RV can be a strong investment if you’re wise in purchasing it. The following contributed post is entitled, Things to Consider When Buying an RV.

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Are you ready to buy your first home on wheels?

Buying an RV is a perfect way to experience travel without having to book a hotel. RVs are more popular than ever with the Coronavirus pandemic in full swing. People are needing to escape but wanted to have the option of interacting with other people during their travels.

No doubt you are excited about making the purchase, but before you go ahead you need to know exactly what you should be looking out for to make the best purchase possible. Here is a look at what you need to bear in mind before purchasing an RV.

Visit a Lot of Dealerships

Going to several dealerships is one of the easiest ways to see exactly what is available to you. During these visits, you should review information about brands and make yourself more acquainted with exactly what you want in an RV.

Visiting many dealerships and looking at several models will also make you more aware of the layout and style of the various brands of RVs.

Create a Must-have List

After you’ve been to several dealerships you will know exactly what you want from an RV. Write down all the things that are essential to you.

Once you’ve created that list you can then decide which features you are willing to negotiate or compromise on.

In doing all of this you should have your budget in mind. You can admire all the RVs that you want, but if you don’t have enough funds to make the purchase then you will only end up being disappointed. Keep a close eye on your budget when making a list of your must-haves.

Consider Buying Your RV Used

It may have never crossed your mind that you should buy your vehicle used, but buying a used RV that is in good condition with all the features you want may be just within your budget.

Make sure that the engine is in proper condition and that things like valves, the oil pan, duramax head studs, spark plugs, and the crankshaft to name a few are in good working order.

The amenities should also be livable. Do a careful examination of the bathroom, kitchen, and sleeping areas before making your final decision.

If you check Craigslist regularly you will find people selling their RVs. You have to move fast though because if the RV is of good value it will be snapped up quickly.

You can also go on the Facebook marketplace to see what is available daily. Don’t rule out looking at an RV because it’s a few miles away. Remember, you have to look at all your options to make the right choice.

Hit the Road

Now that you know what to look for in a great RV, you are ready to make your final purchase and hit the road. When buying an RV make sure that you check out all the features you need while keeping within budget.

Finally, do not rule out buying the RV used, you may get a better deal than you thought possible.

Case Management Solutions: What are they and who needs them?

Three focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. Depending what type of business you’re in, case management solutions my be valuable to your operations. The following contributed post is entitled, Case Management Solutions: What are they and who needs them?

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Financial Literacy, Business and Entrepreneurship are common themes throughout the Big Words Space so let us delve into a phrase that has cropped up multiple times quite recently: Case Management Solutions. Is this something you really need to consider for your business? Let’s find out what it is all about and if it could be a beneficial solution for many organizations.

First things first, what is a case management solution?

Case management solutions are applications or software systems that are designed to support a complex process and store a range of one’s data, consolidating this into a single database. Through using a system, case managers, whichever industry they may be concerned with, can regulate cases, allow for better record keeping and real-time updates, without the need for overwhelming amounts of spreadsheets and paper.

So, what are the benefits of a case management system?

As many companies move towards becoming paperless and reducing their carbon footprint, case management systems allow for a decrease in paperwork but ensuring that record-keeping is fully digital. By utilizing cloud-based storage systems, all content can be organized and managed via a single dashboard.

With many workers now working from home, along with many businesses being more global, there has never been a better time to have a remote system in place. All data can then be accessed securely by authorized persons, no matter where they are in the world.

Along with this, this is an ever-increasing need and desire to be able to access real-time and accurate information instantly. Therefore, using a case management solution with integrated cloud-based storage can be hugely beneficial to workers. In turn, this increases efficiency and accuracy across the workforce, potentially reducing the need to outsource.

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Combining the efficiency and accuracy of the cloud-based data, as opposed to plentiful paperwork or individual spreadsheets, resolutions can be met much more quickly and effectively through collaboration. With access being enabled for all relevant team members, individuals are able to access the relevant information and respond appropriately and speedily, communicating via a single interface. Seamless collaboration in this way also reduces the need for emails to be sent back and forth between various team members, saving confusion and time.

With this more concise communication and audit trail, there is increased transparency – one of the many benefits of digital record-keeping. All steps and communications in the process can be accessed and monitored, with risks being identified and problem areas being addressed. Transparency speeds up any reporting process or actions that need to follow and audit trails ensure that trends are able to be analyzed easily, with metrics and analytics being able to be retried easily.

Through the use of case management solutions, a personalized experience can be created for individual clients or consumers. Customer profiles are more streamlined, with all of the relevant information to hand, so responding to customer queries and questions is much more efficient and straightforward, expediting business productivity.

What Automation Can – And Can’t – Do For Us

A key focus of my blog is Technology. Automation has been gradually implemented into our industries and there’s more to come. Not many people think about it in their day to day lives but it’s important for all of us to consider. The following contributed post is entitled, What Automation Can – And Can’t – Do For Us.

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The very concept of automation is enough to spark a dozen conversations in which the questions range from a simple “good or bad?” to more complicated ones like “what does it mean for small business?”. There is no doubt that we are in a period of increasing technological involvement in our lives, both working and domestic. Opinions differ on what this says about where our future is going; it’s definitely a complicated issue.

Deciding how to feel about this rise in automation is tricky. On the one hand, it can depersonalize a workplace and lead to redundancies. On the other, automation can streamline working processes and keep things moving. There are arguments for and against, and below we’re going to look at a few of those in order to see if we’re ready for more automation in the working world.

Automated systems can work 24/7…

If you can successfully train a machine or code a program to do a job that is usually done by a person, then you have created a worker that never needs to eat or sleep. That means that you aren’t beholden to tight time frames that are dependent on shift workers whose performance will vary during the day as they get tired, hungry or distracted.

…but they can’t work off their own initiative

The flipside of these 24/7 workers that never eat or sleep is that they also can’t think. If a trained worker spots an anomaly in the work in front of them, they can alert someone to it. In many circumstances, they can fix the flaw themselves or devise a workaround. While much of the focus on automation looks at how it covers for human fallibility, that’s very much a two-way street and it’s why you need to have actual workers in the warehouse at all times.

Automated systems can replicate an instruction 100%…

Try, right now, to draw a perfectly straight line without a ruler. If you manage that, draw a perfect circle.

What you will notice is that you didn’t even get to step two, because a human being can’t physically do those things free-hand. There will always be a flaw. That’s what’s so exciting about smart manufacturing. It allows human vision to be made into something solid without the risk of flaws.

…but they can’t spot a logical flaw in an instruction

If you tell a machine to 3D-print a hairbrush that is 9” in length, it will do just that, and you’ll have a perfectly reasonable, nine-inch long hairbrush. If you get confused and tell the same machine to print a 9’ hairbrush, it’s going to try and print a nine-foot long hairbrush – and if it has the materials to do so, that’s what you’ll get. That’s what it’s been told to do, and the product will be flawless. Details like that, obvious to most experienced engineers, are why humans are a necessary part of the process.

Automation as a concept certainly has its upsides, and its incorporation into the world of work could solve a lot of problems. As long as this is done alongside a recognition of the essential part human ingenuity plays, it can end up being good for all of us.

Preventing Cyberattacks At Work: What You Could Be Doing?

Three focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. With so much business being conducted online, there is an increased likelihood for cyberattacks. As such you have to think about how to defend you operations against them. The following contributed post entitled, Preventing Cyberattacks At Work: What You Could Be Doing?

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It’s not always simple to protect your business from a cyberattack. Not only do you need to consider your IT security and hire the right agencies to make sure that your firewalls remain in place, you need to ensure that you train your staff properly in what to see in a cyberattack. You need to train every single person working in your business to know what to look for – and that gets tougher as technology evolves.

The more we bring in new security measures and technology, the harder it gets to ensure that the business is protected. Why? Well, as technology becomes more sophisticated, cyber hackers and attackers get more sophisticated! You need to know that you can handle training on physical theft, phishing simulations, how to recognize spam for scams – it’s vital. Your employees need to be educated in cyber security and all that comes with it so that they can alert your IT team when things crop up. So, how can you do more for your business and protect it properly?

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● Offer Dedicated Training. Your business emails are a gateway for attackers and business email compromise attacks are some of the most sophisticated around. Hackers can extract information from your business when you don’t have the right phishing simulations and spam training invested in for your staff. Someone would see an email and think it’s legit, only to forward it on and further impact your business. With the right training provider, you can ensure that employees know what these scams look like, and they won’t be tricked into sending these emails.
● Put Policies In Place. Your business may be a flexible, “down with the kids” type business, but that doesn’t mean that you should allow your staff free reign over the internet. Company devices should be connected only for professional reasons, but you can still be flexible with personal devices at work. Teach your staff which files they can download and from which websites. If they know which networks are issued by you and are safe to use, they’ll be able to lower the risk of being scammed. Keep those policies in place and reestablish them as you need to. Don’t let it go, either, as you want to ensure that everyone is on the same wavelength with regard to security policies.
● Add Password Training. Your IT team may hand out passwords to staff, but that doesn’t mean that your staff shouldn’t know how to change them as needed. It should be that you all change your passwords every couple of months and they must remain case-sensitive and hard to break.
● Educate On Reporting Procedures. Lastly, train your staff to know where to report any scam issues they come across. It’s so important that they know to whom they should raise the alarm and how to ensure that the right people know straight away so that precautionary measures can be taken. Mistakes will happen – it’s human – but it’s easier to fix those mistakes if everyone knows what to do.

How Remote Work is Changing Home Safety

Two focuses of my blog are Technology and Workplace Discussions. The implementation of the technologies that we now have, have significantly changed the workplace so that remote working is increasingly the norm. The following contributed post is entitled, How Remote Work is Changing Home Safety.

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It’s official – we’re living in the age of the remote working shift. Admittedly, this change has been bubbling away under the business surface for a while now but, with many companies having to shut shop, more of us than ever have found ourselves in home offices overnight. And, according to around 74% of firms, this is a change that’s set to stay.

After all, remote workers are famously more productive, while a reduction in office hours can mean reduced costs in everything from bills through to rental costs. The only trouble is that, as the ways in which we use our homes change, so too do the security risks we face. While theft avoidance has always been a priority of sorts, the majority of us have been relatively relaxed with safety measures. Now, home safety becomes a must as thieves from all sides take advantage of this home office phenomenon.

Here, we’re going to look at what exactly those risks look like, and how you can protect against them.

Soaring cybersecurity breaches

Perhaps the most notable security change has occurred in the cyber-sphere, where there’s been a 400% increase in attacks over the last twelve months. This isn’t altogether surprising considering that businesses are operating almost solely online right now. With malware in the right places, hackers can quite literally access entire infrastructures.

The good news is that businesses are responding with in-house cybersecurity efforts including cloud computing and end-point networks. Still, there’s nothing to stop attackers accessing your personal network. Hence, now is the time to arm yourself, not only with knowledge but also that anti-virus software that you’ve never felt the need to get around to until now.

More valuables than ever before

Many of us also now have a whole lot more valuables at home. At the very least, we’ve had to bring work computers into home offices. Not to mention that our cars are sitting on the driveway for longer. All of this means that thieves are guaranteed to get away with more.

Now could, therefore, be the ideal time for increased home security. At the very least, CCTV alarm systems could keep your vehicles safe. Meanwhile, in-house protections like floor safes can ensure that no one gets away with your all-important work valuables. That way, you can save yourself money in replacements and lost working hours!

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The risk of complacency

Alongside these risks is one that proves equally problematic – complacency. After all, we’re each home a lot more now, and you may assume your presence alone is enough of a protection. Sadly, someone is home in around 266,560 of household burglaries. Separate home offices in the garden are especially problematic, as thieves who keep a close eye will be able to gain access the moment you head off for your lunch break.

To avoid this eventuality and the shock that it can bring, remember that you are not an island. Rather, you need security measures in place to keep you safe, even when your back is turned!

5 Best Cybersecurity Tips For Small Businesses

“It is a big mistake to think that owning a small business reduces your risks of a cyber attack. And this erroneous mindset can cause budding entrepreneurs to compromise their cybersecurity practices.”

Three focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. With more business being conducted in cyberspace, the need for effective cybersecurity is of the utmost importance. The following contributed post is entitled, 5 Best Cybersecurity Tips For Small Businesses.

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It is a big mistake to think that owning a small business reduces your risks of a cyber attack. And this erroneous mindset can cause budding entrepreneurs to compromise their cybersecurity practices. In fact, the United States’ Congressional Small Business Committee discovered that 71% of cyber attacks were targeted at businesses with fewer than 100 employees.

Learning Cybersecurity Basics can help you run your business smoothly despite the rampant cyber threats seen in the current season of the pandemic. With the correct SIEM management services, you can ensure that your business is on the right track where cybersecurity is concerned. As a small business, cybersecurity should be on the forefront of your mind, especially when your business isn’t as big as the huge enterprises out there. Just because your business is small, doesn’t mean that it isn’t mighty, so protection is a must. On that note, here are five of some of the best cybersecurity tips for small businesses.

1. Use a firewall

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A firewall may act as one of the first security layers on your business. According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), all SMBs need to set up firewalls to create strong barriers between their organizational data and cyber-criminals. It’s also necessary to add an internal firewall, even if you have a standard external firewall. Ensure that your employees who are now working from home due to the Covid-19 pandemic use firewalls on their home networks. In general, firewall software can greatly improve your business’ network security.

2. Document your cybersecurity policies

Revamping your organization’s cybersecurity culture starts with documenting your cybersecurity protocols. The SBA’s portal provides tons of useful information on how small business owners can protect their online businesses. Consider taking part in the C3 voluntary program for small businesses, as it offers a detailed toolkit for the best cybersecurity protocols and practices.

3. Develop a mobile device action plan

As much as they account for a large portion of web traffic, mobile devices may also create significant security challenges. That’s if they contain personal information or gain access to corporate networks. Management needs to configure systems requiring all users to password-protect their devices. You may also want to ask your team to install security apps and to encrypt their data. These can bar cyber-criminals from breaching employees’ mobile devices when they are connected to public networks. Create a mobile device action plan by laying down reporting procedures for stolen or missing equipment.

4. Use complex passwords and multiple-factor authentication

Ask your employees to avoid costly password mistakes. For example, encourage your employees not to reuse their passwords but instead to use strong and unique passwords. You can also consider implementing multi-factor authentication codes such as 2FA; these will demand extra information beyond passwords when unauthorized users attempt to log in to your systems. Find out from vendors who handle sensitive information if they can help you set up multi-factor verification codes for your business accounts.

5. Train employees on cybersecurity principles

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Finally, outline basic cybersecurity principles and practices for your workers to observe. Establish an effective internet usage guideline, and spell out the penalties associated with workers who violate your company’s cybersecurity principles. Management can create rules of behaviors detailing how the business protects customers’ valuable information. But it should also be about encouraging the smaller changes (something that’s probably the easiest to integrate). For example, get your team to use VPNs both on their phones (if they check work-related emails on their phones) and on their computers too.

Backup your essential business data along the line as you implement all effective cybersecurity measures. Automatic backups can safeguard your financial files, word documents, and other critical databases.

3 Mobile Marketing Strategies to Help Make Your Sales Figures Soar

Three focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. In 2021 it’s critical to have a mobile marketing strategy to propel your business and your sales figures. The following guest post is entitled, 3 Mobile Marketing Strategies to Help Make Your Sales Figures Soar.

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Mobile phone usage is increasingly quickly across the globe. According to a report from Pew Research, over five billion individuals have mobile devices.

If your small business isn’t marketing to smartphone users, now is the time to start. Marketing your business to mobile phone users can bump up your brand awareness. What’s more, it can help boost your bottom line. The right marketing strategy will help mobile users find information about your products and services, which can help convert them to customers.

Take your business to the next level by adopting these mobile marketing tactics:

1. Optimize for Voice Search

Some mobile customers depend on voice search to complete everyday tasks, such as order food and find grocery stores near their area. They call on Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant and other voice-controlled personal assistants to help them with requests. If you have potential customers using voice search on their mobile phones, you’ll need to refine your marketing strategies to help your business become more visible to these people.

Not sure how to optimize your website for voice search?

Here are a few suggestions:

• Keep your business information up to date. You want to make sure that on-the-go voice search users can easily find the location and contact details of your business when they visit your area.
• Add long-tail keywords into your website content phrased in the way mobile users speak instead of the way they type. When people do voice search, the words they use tend to be long-winded statements or phrases compared to typed searches.
• Use your website to answer common queries. Find popular or frequently asked questions in your niche and provide answers to them in your site content.

2. Make Your Website Mobile-Friendly

When you use mobile marketing to reach a wide audience, you want to capitalize on it. An effective way to make this happen is to have a mobile-friendly business website.

Many companies have a website, but not all have a responsive site design that’s suitable for mobile phones. So, take this opportunity to get your website optimized for mobile users. If you need help with this, look for digital marketing agencies that include mobile site optimization in their website design and SEO packages. By having a mobile-friendly website, you can deliver a better browsing experience for your visitors and further improve your online visibility.

3. Spice up Customer Engagement with Augmented Reality

Concepts, such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), are relatively new. Some marketers don’t completely understand how they can apply these tech trends in their promotional strategy.

AR involves projecting virtual images and other elements in a real-world environment. VR, on the other hand, is an immersive and simulated experience wherein an individual wears a headset that places them in a virtual environment, such as outer space.

Although VR marketing tools can get expensive, you can use AR components to your mobile marketing campaigns. Tools, such as Blippar and ZapWorks, let you integrate AR into your campaigns.

Employ these mobile marketing tactics to help boost the bottom line of your business. Remember to personalize your mobile marketing efforts because personalization can contribute to higher sales.