Tag: Business

Successfully Manage Your Suppliers With These Tips

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Depending upon the type of business you’re running, you will be interfacing with suppliers which are critical to your operations. You further want to protect and manage your supply chains at all costs. The following contributed post is entitled, Successfully Manage Your Suppliers With These Tips.

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When you are running a successful business, you need to have positive, reliable and loyal suppliers working with you to get the best out of your business. Successful supplier relationships aren’t always easy to build, and there is communication and trust required to make it work. You have to treat your suppliers with respect, whether they are supplying packaging, IT services or equipment, and you have to respect the contract that you sign.

As a business owner, you need to consider that you want to get the best for your business to run smoothly. Assessing the suppliers out there will get you started, and managing your current supplier relationships is just as important. If you are looking for help in managing those same relationships, we’ve got all of the tips that you need below.

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1. Understand Cost & Value. The supply chain is one that needs to run as smoothly as possible for your business to work well. You need to understand every single cost that you are paying, how it affects the product or service that you deliver, and what value is provided to your customers. You need to know how your suppliers are offering you value, and a true partnership involves you both understanding the cost of the service and the value it provides at the same time.

2. Focus On What You Do For Your Supplier. Your printer and copier dealer is working for you to get you the best deal, provide you the best equipment and more. But what are you doing for your supplier? You have to realize that this relationship goes both ways and you have to be in charge of the way that you behave in this relationship. If someone is going out of their way to offer you an excellent deal, then you need to go out of your way to pay your bills on time and turn to your supplier when you need an upgrade.

3. Plan Efficiently. All businesses, including yours, have to plan properly with their suppliers. You have to accept accountability for your needs and order what you need in good time. Piling on the pressure on your supplier to deliver when you haven’t given them the correct time frames is not the way to go. If you need to push through emergency orders, you’re going to be managing your business in a sloppy way, which is not what you need. Lack of thinking on your part does not constitute an emergency for your supplier.

4. Establish Service Levels. It’s so important that you incorporate the right service levels into your relationship with your suppliers. You can’t just base a relationship on a handshake, so both parties need to talk about their expectations and agree on it all.

5. Agree Your Contracts. Before you sign anything with your suppliers, you would have agreed terms for all of you to stick to. You agree on your payment terms and you need to uphold those terms. Your suppliers will give you the best discounts and deals, but you should spend time ensuring that all sides of the contract are agreed in advance!

6. Communication Counts. If there is a problem with a supplier, you need to share that with them as early as possible. If there is any information that you need to share, you need to do so as early as possible so that they can fix the problem. If you contact your supplier to tell them something has broken down, do it the moment you know that there is a problem. By communicating a problem, you can also communicate the good things. This will keep your relationship steady and working well.

7. Keep Planning. You want to manage these relationships well, and that means planning for the exceptions and not always the rules. Emergencies happen and in complex supply chains, you need to let them know ahead of time how the emergencies will be handled. It’s up to you to analyze why they happen so that you can minimize the number of emergencies possible. Every single strategy with your supply chain takes planning, and you need to agree a solution for emergencies with your supplier. If a copier breaks down and you work in reprographics, it would help to know what you should do in those circumstances.

8. Expect Honesty. You can expect your supplier to be honest with you, so you should offer the same in return. Mutual respect is so important with your suppliers, so make this happen!

9. Make It Work. Your relationships with your suppliers have to be meaningful at all times. When you meet, make a grand gesture! When there are issues, talk about them. Make it work and offer respect!

Prevent Cybercrime In Your Business

Two focuses of my blog are Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. With so much business being conducted online, the potential for cybercrime has increased. It’s thus important for you to proactively take steps to prevent those cybercrimes for you and your customers. The following contributed post is entitled, Prevent Cybercrime In Your Business.

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It’s not unusual to hear reports of the big businesses out there being hit with data breaches and cyberattacks. Bizarrely, it has become the norm to hear these in the news, but most small businesses are not aware that cyber attacks can affect them, too. Consumers always wonder how these attacks keep happening, especially as every company should be taking their business security as seriously as possible.

You have to realize that your business can be on the receiving end of a breach no matter what size it is. You need to do all that you can to prevent cybercrime that could damage your business and there are six solid ways you can do exactly that.

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1. Think about limiting the access that you have handed out to the most valuable data in your business. Every employee usually has access to all of the files in your business, so you need to pull this back a little and limit how many have those passwords of the most vulnerable information you hold. If you prevent as many people having that access, you can slow down how many people can pass off the info to outsiders.

2. Bringing in a team to help you with your cyber protection. You could look into a professional managed IT service provider to make sure that your business is covered 24/7. It’s one of the reasons that some companies are attacked online; they don’t have 24/7 security!

3. You are likely doing business with a wide range of vendors outside of your business. You need to know who these vendors are and how much access they will have to your information and you need to know personally the people who are working with you. If your delivery guy has had a previous record of theft, then it’s likely you won’t want to work with him!

4. Training is so important if you want to prevent cybercrime in your business. You need to make sure that you are not just leaving your employees to carry on and hope for the best. You need to take precautions and training and education are the best ways that you can do that.

5. Keep your software as updated as possible – this is another thing that IT managed services can do. You need to consider that an upgraded software base will keep your business safe. The more upgraded the software, the safer it’ll be.

6. Multi-factor authentication is important if you want to prevent people hacking into your systems. Your data has to be kept private, and if you have more than one layer of password protection, you can guarantee that it’s more private than usual. Cyber Breaches can often occur because there is not enough protection surrounding your online files. You don’t want people to steal your information, so have case-sensitive passwords as well as text authentication to make your business secure.

Cybercrime doesn’t have to be a problem in your company – with these tips, you can take the risk down as much as possible.

HR Mistakes That Will Cost You Big Time

Two focuses of my blog are Business/Entrepreneurship and Organizational and Management Discussions. Whether you’re running a business, a government agency or nonprofit organization, your human resources (HR) component is critical. No matter what your business is, it’s critical that you get the right personal in to optimize your operations. The following contributed post is entitled, HR Mistakes That Will Cost You Big Time.

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Out of all the different facets out of running a business, human resources is probably the one that most employers could happily live without. Not only does it involve a lot of bureaucracy and paperwork shuffling, but it’s also highly regulated, meaning a slip up can land you in some particularly hot water. Here, we’re going to look at the HR tasks that so many employers slip up with, and how to make sure it doesn’t happen to you.

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Not acting on employee reports
If you want to keep your employees happy, then you need to consider their needs and challenges in the workplace. However, if an employee formally files a report on an issue, investigating and acting on it is more than a case of keeping them happy. If they report an issue that infringes on their rights, such as rights to workplace safety or cases of harassment, you can not only increase the turmoil in the office and the risk of employee turnover, but you can be found negligent and have to pay if the issue turns into a legal case.

Not having an onboarding process
When you need new labor in the team, it’s understandable that you might want to get them in their role as soon as possible. However, if you don’t take the time to create a proper onboarding process, they can lack the preparation they need to be as productive as possible. On-the-job training is not as effective as taking the time to help new hires feel at home and learn the ropes in a more relaxed environment before testing them for real.

Forgetting unemployment claims
Employees that are fired or who resign have the opportunity to file for employment, which you have to pay for if it is granted. However, a lot of business owners forget that this is a possibility, and might forget to push through a claim, which can cost them literally thousands of dollars. Software like https://unemploymenttracker.com/software/ can make you much less likely to forget it. You’re still going to have to pay unemployment either way if it’s granted, so make sure you pay it promptly to avoid the additional fees.

Failing to keep documents
Whether it’s documenting pay stubs, reported issues, past HR meetings, or otherwise, never underestimate the need to keep documents of every interaction between the team and the HR department (even if said department just consists of you right now.) Should there ever be a workplace dispute in how an HR matter was handled, you need to use document management software like https://www.quicksprout.com/best-document-management-software/ to be able to quickly locate the data you need to show what steps you have taken. Failing to have any records can mean not having any proof when you do act in accordance with best practices.

If your company is growing, then you need to think about investing in hiring people who are equipped to fully handle your HR needs. Otherwise, your chances of making mistakes can skyrocket, as can the resulting costs.

3 Sure Fire Ways To Save Your Business Cash

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. If you’re running a business, your goal is not only to generate cash, but also to save cash where you can so that you can generate as much profit as possible. The following contributed post is entitled, 3 Sure Fire Ways To Save Your Business Cash.

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As you enter the throes of a global pandemic, your business will undoubtedly suffer. Footfall in the high street is at an all-time low, you will find that your loyal customers are more hesitant to part with their cash, and your overheads are looking precarious. You need to think quickly to stem the outgoings and increase the income of your venture. This is difficult in a time of international crisis as you may need to shift business models swiftly. Follow this guide to discover three sure fire ways to save your business cash.

Supply Chain

If you are a venture that relies on importing components from other areas of the world, your supply chain may have been disrupted because of Covid-19. This could play to your advantage and give you the leverage to renegotiate a better deal financially for your imports. You need a reliable freight carrier that will ensure that you receive what you need on time to fill orders. Don’t simply opt for the cheapest supplier out there if the reviews are appalling. Consider the door to door services of an ocean freight carrier as seen at http://eplogistics.com/ocean_freight.html. These specialists will utilize their transport and logistics links to deliver your components direct to you from your supplier. Shipping container transport also allows you to buy in bulk to negate the potential disruptions your supply chain may face in the future.

Redundancies

While you may not wish to let any staff members go from your venture, this is often one of the only ways to ensure that your startup survives. While your orders remain low and you struggle to maintain a buoyant cash flow, you may need to make redundancies. This will save your business cash in the short term. However, you will also need to consider the hole that a staff member will leave. The work that they were responsible for will still need to be done and you will need to rely more on the staff members that you keep on payroll. This can result in low morale and a lack of motivation. Outsourcing is a possibility but you will need to be careful with your money to remain in the black.

Remote Working

More businesses than ever are having to resort to remote working as described at https://www.forbes.com/sites/amarhussaineurope/. This may lead to your heightened anxieties because you fear the lack of productivity from your staff when they have the option of watching Netflix shows all day. However, giving them the responsibility and freedom to work remotely can be empowering. Morale can increase and productivity can become more fruitful. Allowing working from home can also save you money as your largest overhead – the office lease – can be negated. By going wholly remote, you are welcoming in the future of twenty first century working. Google and Apple are already embracing this business model, so you should too in order to save your business cash.

A global pandemic is unprecedented in modern times. Follow this guide and save your business money to help your venture survive.

Curb Appeal Tricks For Your Business

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. If you have a ‘brick and mortar’ business, a key consideration is your curb appeal. New customers are more likely to wander in your business has a compelling appearance. The following contributed post is entitled, Curb Appeal Tricks For Your Business.

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The way that your business looks from the outside can make a lot of difference. Curb appeal is one of the many things you need to keep on top of as a business owner and can help to draw in potential customers. When customers or clients walk past or arrive at your business, an outside that looks tidy and smart makes a good impression before they even get inside.

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1. Clean the pavement. Pressure washing is the easiest to thoroughly clean the pavement, your car park, or any paved area outside your business. If the outside is clean, your business will look a lot more inviting.

2. Add some plants. Greenery and flowers are a simple way to add personality and color to the front of your businesses. Fill some planters and put them on either side of your front door. This looks welcoming and also gives visitors the impression that someone is looking after the premises.

3. Give your signage a refresh. If your signage has seen better days or has become faded, it shows that the business isn’t being looked after and this gives a bad impression. Repair any signage that needs to be fixed, and repaint anything that has faded or looks like it would benefit from a refresh. Show off your branding.

4. Sweep outside every day. The outside of your business can easily start to look scruffy, with litter, dead leaves, and cigarette ends gathering. Someone needs to sweep out front every day to clear away this unsightly litter. Before you open for the day, sweep outside so your frontage looks cared for, clean, and ready to entice people in as they arrive.

5. Change your window displays frequently. If your business has a window at the front, make the most of your space for window displays. Show off different ranges of products, and change these displays on a regular basis. If you change the displays, people who walk past the store frequently, such as on the way to work, will notice that there is something different in the window to look at and they could notice something in the window that encourages them to come inside and find out more.

6. Make it obvious what your business actually does. Anyone walking or driving by your premises should be able to tell at a quick glance what your business does. Make sure that your signage makes this very clear.

7. Make sure your parking area is well lit and well sign-posted. If your customers can park at your business, clearly signpost where the parking spaces are so people can find them. Make sure any parking restrictions are also very obvious. Customers will be put off if think they can park, but then get hit with a parking ticket. Make your parking safe with well-maintained parking lot paving and plenty of lights. If people come to your business when it’s dark, they’ll benefit from the lights to help them feel safe. It’s also a useful addition for your staff when they leave at the end of the day.

How Future-Proofing Your Office Can Save Your Business Money

Three focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. If you’re using an office to conduct your business and operations, you may want to consider future-proofing your office to ensure its continued operations. The following contributed post is entitled, How Future-Proofing Your Office Can Save Your Business Money.

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If you run your business from an office, you’ll likely also employ many staff to take care of the daily running of things. As you can appreciate, today’s modern offices require a lot of equipment and technology to operate at optimum efficiency.

The trouble is, some business leaders don’t invest much time or money into modernizing their working areas. As a result, it takes longer to do things due to outdated or faulty systems. And that ultimately means a lower annual turnover and reduced profit.

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The good news is that all is not lost. You can take several steps to future-proof your office and ensure that your business is a market leader. Here’s what you can do to bring your company into the 21st century:

Install fiber optic cabling

One of the first things you need to look at is how your business interacts with the outside world internally. All modern business offices have network cabling that allows computers and electronic devices to communicate internally and across the Internet.

But, if you have a large office or your business is spread across several different offices, you could easily face the limitations of CAT5 and CAT6 network cabling. To overcome those challenges, it makes sense to use fiber optic cabling for trunk communications.

You might need fiber optic cable installers to install the cabling for you. But, any person competent in IT communications can install and set up fiber equipment such as switches and routers to utilize fiber optic cabling.

Upgrade to high-speed Internet access

You should also upgrade your office’s Internet access to complement your new fiber optic cabling. The shocking truth about many business locations is they only have basic broadband speeds – completely inadequate for the needs of today’s modern business.

Did you know that fiber optic Internet access is very affordable these days, even for small businesses? It makes sense to upgrade to such Internet connection technology. Plus, as your business grows, you can upgrade to higher speeds in the future with ease.

Upgrade to a unified communications model

It goes without saying that all businesses need telephone systems, whether they are landline-based or mobile. But, one of the challenges that face all companies is tying together the various communication methods they use each day.

Thankfully, it’s now possible to upgrade to a unified communications model in your business. What does that mean exactly? In layman’s terms, you can unify your telephone, voicemail, fax, and email systems into one single setup.

For example, you can receive voicemail messages and faxes in your email inbox. And you can easily divert your phone number to any location around the world, making it easy to work from home or abroad.

Final thoughts

The above is just a few of many ways that you can future-proof your office – and your business. In an extremely competitive market, it makes sense to do everything in your power to stay ahead of the competition.

Future-proofing your office is one of the biggest ways to achieve that goal, yet it’s also one of the least thought of methods.

Keep On Top Of Every Little Thing When You Run A Business

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Depending upon the type of business that you’re trying to grow and running, it can be a gargantuan task. That said missing and or neglecting some of the details can be costly. The following contributed post is entitled, Keep On Top Of Every Little Thing When You Run A Business.

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Running a business is no easy task, as we’re sure that you are aware. It requires a lot of effort and commitment from you to even be able to think about seeing success. You need to keep on top of every single thing that is going on in your business, even though you have other people to oversee the departments. At the end of the day, it’s your company, which means you need to have your fingers in all the different pies. In this article, we’re going to look at some of the departments you’ve especially got to be on top of, so keep reading if you want to know what they are.

Finances

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The first thing that we want you to think about is finances. Finances are really difficult to manage, which is why you’ve probably got an accountant doing it for you. Even though this is the case, you need to look over what they are doing every now and then to make sure that they are on top of everything. We’re sure that they are, but it’s always important to check so that there are no surprises. Make sure that they’ve got everything that they need to complete their job effectively, such as crypto tax software, if this is necessary, and other software to make their job easier. Ask them what they need, and then learn how to use whatever they use as best you can so that you know everything is going well.

Marketing

Marketing is massively important to your business, even if some companies have got it into their heads that it isn’t. How else are potential clients going to know who you are, what you can do, and what you can offer them? The short answer is that they won’t. You’ve got to know exactly what marketing campaigns are being used for your company, who is being featured in your ads, what marketing techniques you’re making use of, and so on. You never know, you might have some ideas to improve it, such as posting more varied content on social media. If you don’t know what’s going on, something could be missed!

Customer Service

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Lastly, your customers are essential to your business because without them, you don’t exist. It’s for this reason that you need to make sure your employees are providing the highest standard of customer service possible to each and every customer. You want a reputation for doing everything in your power to fix any mistakes you’ve made and doing everything to make your customers happy. Send your employees on training courses periodically if that is what it takes, but your reputation for customer service must be good if you want to stay afloat.

We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now see why you need to keep on top of every little thing when you run a business. It’s essential that you don’t let anything distract you from having the information that you need, or your company is the one that will suffer. Good luck.

In Case You Missed It: My Interview With Dennis Wilson Jr. Regarding Business/Entrepreneurship And Branding

As many of you know, I’ve branched out from the Big Words Blog Site into YouTube where I now have four channels. My original channel is Big Discussions76 where I now discuss general topics. One of my recent guests is fellow Buffalonian Dennis Wilson Jr. (see the video at the bottom of this post). Being in the same peer group, Dennis and I played basketball in Buffalo’s “Yale Cup” high school basketball league around the same time in the early 1990s. After launching a career in education, Dennis started and has steadily built his own business empire. In addition to owning one of the more popular restaurants in Buffalo, the Oakk Room, Dennis further hosts high quality and sophisticated events and has also started his own clothing line.

In this interview, I asked Dennis about his background, his educational path, how he launched in the business world, and finally what he foresees going forward. Links to Dennis’ business websites are in the description box below the video. If you want to read more about business topics of all kinds including branding, select the “Business/Entrepreneurship” category from the list of topics in the drop-down menu in the left-hand margin my blogging platform. Thank you for watching, and if anything in our discussion resonates with you, please like, share and subscribe to my channel.

Improving Your Business Travel Experience

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Many businesses involve some sort of travel. While it’s necessary in business, it doesn’t have to be an altogether unpleasant experience. The following contributed post is entitled, Improving Your Business Travel Experience.

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Whenever you have to travel for business reasons, whether it’s just for a couple of days or even several years, it can often be an experience that you simply dread. The chaos of airport security, cold lifeless accommodation, a considerable distance between you and family or friends and a general sense of an uncomfortable countdown slowly grudging by are just a few of the side effects that many professionals fear, but it needn’t be like this for much longer. There are so many tips and tricks that you can make the most of to ensure you have the best time possible, no matter where you might be, and it couldn’t be easier to begin planning your journey today. So, if you would like to find out more, then read on to uncover some of the greatest steps that you can follow now to improve your business travel experience in no time at all.

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Book Your Own Accomodation

More often than not, your employer will be the one who chooses, books and pays for your accommodation. This means that you’re probably going to end up with the easiest, most affordable option, whether you like it or not. However, rather than suffering through a 1 star hotel, it may be possible for you to approach your boss and request a new method of handling the situation – simply ask them to set a budget, and request that they allow you to find and arrange your own suitable accommodation. Hosting sites such as Airbnb can be a great place to find excellent accommodation in the centre of every city or town, and the fact that your host is likely a local will be of real benefit to your trip too! There are so many ways to find affordable accommodation, and gaining the opportunity to pick and choose based on your own personal preferences can make your travel experience feel less lonely.

Research & Organise Transportation

There’s nothing worse than arriving at your location to find no taxis, public transport or car hire as far as the eye can see. Organising the right transportation is such a key aspect of your trip, as you need to have the freedom and capacity to visit any location you wish to. Business travel does provide some down time, and it’s such a bad idea to simply sit inside your accommodation and watch the hours crawl by when you could be out on the road experiencing all of the sights and sounds. Whether you arrange accommodation close to a regular bus route or train station, hire a vehicle straight from the airport, or even use a site like https://carsrelo.com/ to transport your own car from your hometown for ultimate comfort, there are just so many different options that you can explore. Why stay isolated inside when you can just get outside and experience the culture of the area surrounding you?

Improving your business travel experience has never been so simple when you are able to utilise the tips and tricks detailed above.

3 Things You Have To Remember When You’re Launching A New Business

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Launching a new business can be a daunting task if you’ve never done it before. It can be exponentially easier if you understand some of the basic concepts. The following contributed post is entitled, 3 Things You Have To Remember When You’re Launching A New Business.

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These days you need to make the right decisions at the right times, and moving forward in the right way is so important. When you are launching a business it is vitally important that you take steps to focus on what you can do to launch the business in a more successful way. There are so many factors that you need to make the most of right now, and this is something that plays a massive part in this.

Here are some of the ideas you are going to need to work on right now, and there are a lot of things that you need to keep an eye on when it comes to launching a new business. This is something that you need to work on to help make this as successful as possible. You are going to have to factor in what you need to launch the best possible business right now.

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1. A Business Plan is Vital

There are a lot of ideas you are going to need to work on doing as much as you can to work on improving your business plan as much as possible. A strong and detailed business plan is something that you need to try to work on when you are trying to move forward. The business plan is the most important part of the process when it comes to the initial phase of developing and executing a successful business for the future. The business plan is the blueprint for taking your company forward in the best possible way, and this is something you need to work on right now.

2. You Need to Do Your Research

Doing your research is really important and this is something that you need to make sure you keep in mind right now. There are so many factors that you need to keep in mind when it comes to making the right business decisions, and research is absolutely essential for this. Make sure you factor in the best ways of being able to do this moving forward, and there are a lot of things you need to know about. For instance, you should be researching the cosmetics industry if you’re looking to launch a beauty business, and check out the trends and things to look out for. The more you can do to get this right the better the decisions you will be able to make in the future.

3. Reputation Matters

Remember, you only get one chance to make a first impression, and this is something that you need to try to make the most of right now. There are a lot of ideas that play a role in this, and it is important to make sure you focus on doing what you can to take things to the next level. There are so many things you need to get right here, and you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. So this means you need to work on making a good first impression as much as possible, and this is something you have to try to make the most of as much as possible moving forward.

As you can see, these are a few of the key things you need to keep in mind when you are looking to make the right decisions for your new business. It is important that you come up with ideas that you can use to take things to the next level right now. Here are some of the key elements you need to make right now, and getting this right is important moving forward.