Save Your Business Ship From Sinking Into The Abyss

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy and Money, and Business and Entrepreneurship. Starting any business venture is like setting off on a voyage across the ocean or the sea. As such it’s critical to understand what provisions to load onto your ship, and what protocols to use in various circumstances. The following contributed post is thus titled; Save Your Business Ship From Sinking Into The Abyss.

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Over ninety percent of startups will fail within their first year. This means that many business owners won’t even get out the gates with their company. You have to be prepared for this possibility. You have to know how to right a sinking ship. Luckily, there are a few possible courses you can take here, and we’re going to check a few out right now.

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Manage What You Owe

If your business is starting to sink there’s a good chance, it’s being submerged in debt. When you start a business, you may have to borrow a lot of money, and you probably won’t be able to pay it all back at once. That leaves debt to build up more and more in different areas. The fact it’s in different areas can make it seem smaller and less significant when in reality, it’s eating away at your company. How do you handle this?

Well, you can think about consolidating your debt. Debt consolidation lenders are brilliant because they will provide you with the tools to put all the your debt into one sum that’s easier to pay off. You can start to treat it like another monthly bill. Be aware though, this is a loan, and you have to make sure that you understand the conditions before taking it on.

Alternatively, consider getting the help of an accountant. They’ll be able to make sure that you find out where the money is leaking out and whether you have unpaid invoices from clients. This can help shift some of the weight.

Cut The Costs Right Back

You might find that your company is struggling because it’s just too darn expensive. If that’s the case, it’s time to think about cutting the cost, bringing them in line with the level of demand you’re getting rather than what you hoped to claim when you entered on the market.

There are many ways to cut costs, but if you’re running your business from an office, that is definitely the place to start. Consider whether you can instead move towards a home business model with mobile workers who can come in and help when the needs arise. Or, just move to a smaller office and move most of your workers back to their own homes. This is possible with most company models thanks to the latest tech available on the market.

Go For Broke
Or, go in a completely different direction and push your costs right up, throwing most of the weight into new marketing campaigns. By doing this, you can give one last hit and try and get your audience to grow to the point you need it to be. Yes, this is definitely going to drive up the debt that you might already be facing. But if it’s successful, this could be the risk you had to take to save your company from doom. Make no mistake though, this is a seriously risky move, and it’s one that a lot of businesses won’t survive.

We hope this helps provide you with some choices of how to stop your business from sinking completely.

How To Grow Your One-Person Business

Two of the key focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy and Money, and Business and Entrepreneurship. Many people have business ideas and eventually become motivated to pursue their entrepreneurial idea. Some people create businesses that thrive while others eventually fold. What are the keys to success? The following contributed post is entitled; How To Grow Your One-Person Business.

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Anyone who has tried to get a business underway knows just how difficult it can be. There are a million and one tasks to take care, and new ones are being added to the list all the time. But in most cases, there’s a team of people around the CEO who are helping to lighten the load and make growing the business more manageable. When you’re running things completely by yourself, then it’s extra difficult. Below, we take a look at some tips that’ll make it easier to grow your company – even if you’re the only employee.

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Start Small

You might have grand plans for your business, but you’re not going to reach the end game of your empire overnight, or at least not with bags of luck. In any case, what’s the rush? Everything will run much smoother if you start small. You’ll feel more control if things aren’t moving beyond your reach. In time, you might want to step up, but you’ll know that when you do, you’re able to handle things yourself. If you take on too much work before you’re ready, you’ll just find that you’re drowning under the pressure. Swim easy!

Outsource Some Tasks

You might be technically a one-person business, but that doesn’t mean you have to do all of the tasks yourself. And you don’t have to hire an employee, either. Instead, look at working with other companies. There are companies who offer outsourced IT support, marketing, accounting, and much more. These can be time-consuming, complicated tasks, and by passing the responsibility onto someone else, you’ll be able to focus on your skills, and grow your business knowing that the important duties are being taken care of by professionals.

Be Committed

It’s possible to cut corners in certain areas of your business, but alas, there’s no substitute for hard work. If you want your business to be a success, you need to put the hours in! And that means being committed. There’ll be times when you have the choice between working on your business or, say, joining friends for a drink at the bar. Here’s where a little bit of discipline will go a long way. If you’re able to reject socializing and stay in to get some work done, you’ll be much more likely to have a successful business. It’s all about selecting deferred gratification over instant gratification. You might miss out on some fun now, but it’ll come back to you in good ways if you get down to work.

Set Monthly Targets

But of course, it’s all good and well sitting in front of a laptop, trying to grow your business, but the proof is in the pudding. To make sure you’re making progress from your efforts, have monthly targets in your sights. It’s much easier to work an extra hour in the evening if you know you have a target to reach.

Stay committed, work hard, and good things will come – for everything else, maybe you can draft in free labor from your friends and family

Everything a Small Business Owner Needs to Know About Tax

Two of the key focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy and Money, and Business and Entrepreneurship. No matter what your business idea is, navigating the tax laws is critical to give your enterprise every chance to thrive. Likewise not understanding this component of your business plan can make things harder. The following contributed post is thus entitled; Everything a Small Business Owner Needs to Know About Tax.

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Chances are that when you first set up your small business, you’ve never had to deal with taxes yourself before. The majority of people spend most of their lives in employed positions and their employer automatically deducts taxes from their pay and pays them to the government on their behalf. But when you are running a business and become self-employed, working for yourself, you gain a whole lot more responsibility. Now, as long as your business is making money, you’re going to have to pay a whole host of taxes – there’s’ no choice in the matter, as it is a legal requirement of you. So, it’s something that you’re going to have to get to grips with relatively quickly. Here are just a few sage pieces of advice to help you along the way!

What Are Your Taxes Used For?

Seeing as you’re paying taxes, you’re going to want to know exactly where they are going. Generally speaking, governments take taxes as a percentage out of all of their citizens’ pay. Most countries use a graded scale, so the more money you earn, the larger the percentage of tax that you pay. The money taken is then put towards improving the country, its services (such as healthcare systems, emergency services, and educational systems), its transport, its infrastructure, and its defence.

What Happens If You Don’t Pay?

As we have mentioned, paying taxes is a legal requirement. If you do not declare how much you are earning, and / or do not pay the percentage of tax required of you, you could be in for a whole lot of trouble. If you file your return late, you may be charged an extra five percent of your overall owed amount for every month that your return remains unsubmitted. If you fail to pay your taxes, you can face a failure to pay penalty, which amounts to an extra 0.5 percent of the money that you owe being added to your bill on a monthly basis until you have forked out the full figure.

In terms of corporation tax, you may also find yourself incurring:

● Delinquency fines
● Accuracy related penalties
● Information reporting fines
● Protestor, preparer, or promoter penalties

Paying Your Taxes

Using a Professional Accountant

Perhaps the easiest way to file your taxes correctly is to work hand in hand with professional accountants like Brown Smith & Wallace. Accountants have received extended educations and have trained for years specialising in all things related to tax. They know the system inside out, so will be certain of what you need to pay, what you don’t need to pay, and when you need to pay. This helps to minimise chances of errors and mistakes on your yearly fiscal report and prevents problems from developing down the line. This is generally recommended for any small business owner, as not only does filing the wrong sum of money, filing the wrong return, or filing the wrong receipts and other papers pose the potential of lumping you with fines or even jail time, but tax scandal can have an extremely detrimental effect on your business’ image to the public.

Doing It Yourself

While you will generally find yourself having a much easier time using professional services such as accountancy, you don’t necessarily have to engage with accountants and can complete and file your tax return yourself. If you have only just started out in business and are looking for an area to save money, cutting accountancy fees can be a good area to save. However, you do need to ensure that you know what you’re doing and that you follow the process properly.

● Take a short course – there are many short courses out there surrounding accountancy for small business owners. They are not as thorough as degree programmes which qualify you to become a fully chartered accountant, but they are extremely effective in endowing you with an understanding of the basics. They are also a lot cheaper and less time consuming than a full time degree. Consider enrolling on a course in your local area to get to grips with everything that you have to do in order to correctly file a tax return.

● Research deadlines – information regarding the deadlines for returns that you need to file are generally available through government help websites. Make sure to put these dates in your calendar and make sure to start filling in your return well in advance of the deadline. There will probably be too much work to do to get away with leaving filling things in until the day before the deadline.

● Follow instructions – most tax return forms come with a full list of instructions. So make use of them. Follow each step through and complete the return in the order that it is presented to you. This will help to simplify the process for you. If possible, complete the return online. This tends to make things easier, as you can generally click for further information if you feel that the questions asked of you are unclear.

● Use helplines – most governments also provide helplines that you can contact to speak to someone about any issues you are having with filing your return. If you feel confused, do not hesitate to call and ask for a little help.

● Consider expenses – if you have forked out for any tax deductible expenses, seek out receipts and add them to your return. This can help to minimise the amount of money that you owe, saving you a little extra money as you go along.

As you can see, there’s a whole to learn and bear in mind when it comes to completing your taxes at the end of each fiscal year. Sure, it’s a little dull. It may well be complex. Chances are there are a thousand other things you’d rather spend your time doing. But, it is a legal requirement of you and your business, so you might as well make the inevitable process as simple as possible for yourself. Hopefully, the above pieces of advice will help you to achieve this!

Finding The Financial Wiggle Room Your Business Needs

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“Success in business isn’t just about creating the product and service the market needs and selling it to them effectively. You have to make the best use of the resources available to you, money most of all.”

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Two of the key focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy and Money, and Business and Entrepreneurship. No matter what your business idea is, figuring out how run a surplus is critical. Likewise many new businesses don’t last due to the poor management of costs. The following contributed post is thus entitled, Finding The Financial Wiggle Room Your Business Needs.

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Are you feeling the costs starting to bite at your business? Are you risking your profits by letting your expenses go unchecked? Success in business isn’t just about creating the product and service the market needs and selling it to them effectively. You have to make the best use of the resources available to you, money most of all. To help give you more to make use of, we’re going to take a look at ways that you can cut the costs in your business.

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Consider relocating

Where does your business do its work? If you’re renting out office space, could it be more economical to downsize? Many teams are moving away from the traditional office space, entirely. For instance, a small team might be able to work just as effectively from home, connecting to one another via the internet in a remote working agreement. Otherwise, you might want to consider sharing your space to cut down in costs, too. Either you can look at the possibility of leasing out existing office space or moving your team into coworking spaces shared with other businesses, as well.

Be economic about your equipment

Every business has to invest in the right equipment to some degree. But you don’t always have to buy it at market value. When it comes to equipment like computers, monitors, printers, keyboards, speakers, and the like, you should look at the potential to lease that equipment. Buying might be more cost-effective in the long-term, but leasing can help you make immediate savings. If you want the best of both worlds, consider buying refurbished office equipment, as well. Second-hand has a bad reputation to some people but refurbished digital equipment is rigorously tested to ensure that it’s fit for purpose before purchase and often comes with a warranty. Otherwise, consider looking at second-hand office furniture, as well, to cut some of those costs.

Switch up your suppliers

Besides the one-time purchases you have to try and get a good deal on, like digital equipment and furniture, there is also the supply of goods that any office needs to keep running smoothly. In most cases, we’re talking about office materials like paper, stationery, printer supplies and the like. Your supplies may differ, but the strategy remains the same: don’t buy them at retail. Instead, getting cost-effective resources like cheap ink cartridges is all about finding the right supplier. You local printing store might be willing to negotiate a deal for a business account but if they’re not, you’re better at looking online and buying in bulk from industry suppliers.

Reduce transport costs

When it comes to using vehicles in your business, fuel costs can quickly add up. Choose fuel-efficient vehicles that will cost you less to run. You can also reduce fuel costs by adopting software that provides delivery route optimization. Such software can tell you the most economical routes to take so that you’re spending less money on gas. Outsourcing certain forms of transport and shipping could also save you money.

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Rethink your hiring

One of the easiest ways to see your costs climbing way too high is to hire a new member to the team without the necessary consideration. Besides their pay, every employee comes with a lot of added cost. If you get over fifteen employees, for instance, you will find that providing some benefits becomes mandatory. What’s more, too many business owners employ people without really having enough work to justify creating that role. Instead, look at the possibility of outsourcing some of your workload. You get the benefits of hiring a professional, without all the hassle of going through recruitment, and the added pressure on your HR system. What’s more, you can consider making existing roles more streamlined by systemizing processes using things like automating software so that you and your team can get more productive, eliminating the need for another hire in the first place.

Balance your marketing

Almost all businesses are marketing in the digital world these days. It’s undoubtedly the most effective way to reach the largest audience possible. However, it’s not always worth the money. In particular, digital advertising might not be the most cost-effective way to use your advertising budget. Look at the differences between inbound marketing and outbound marketing. Outbound marketing, like advertising, involves paying a lot of money for a lot of short-term gain. If you’re not running a special sale or a launch event, you shouldn’t spend on short-term gain. Rather, inbound marketing, such as content marketing and social media marketing, costs a lot less (it can be entirely free if you’re willing to put the time into it) and lasts a lot longer.

Spend your energy wisely

When is the last time you took a real good look at your utility bill? Besides switching up your internet or electricity suppliers, the most effective way to reduce those bills is to reduce how much energy and water you’re using in the business. If you can handle the short-term expense, consider hiring a team to perform an energy audit. It’s an immediate cost, but it can highlight all the ways that your business is wasting energy and the policies and practices you can put into place to reduce that waste. Besides hiring an energy audit, there’s plenty you can do to reduce energy use yourself, such as installing LED light bulbs, ensuring that all digital equipment is turned off, rather than on standby, at the end of the day and such.

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Take a chunk off your taxes

Most business owners don’t know the full range of tax deductions that they could be entitled to. You can deduct gross receipts tax, payroll tax, sales tax, gasoline tax, and much more. To be eligible for a deduction, expenses have to be solely for the business, however. For instance, a home business owner might not be able to deduct the full cost of a new PC if, for instance, they also use it to stream movies or have other personal uses for it. If you want to make the most deductions without getting the ire of the IRS, it’s recommended to work with a qualified accountant.

A careful balance has to be struck when it comes to cutting costs in the business. You want to free the money you need to reinvest and to grow the business, but if you end up cutting too much, it will impact your services and your customers could turn against you. Scale costs responsibly, starting by reducing instead of cutting and with the most unnecessary costs first.

The Importance Of Providing Your Staff With The Right Tools

The first principal of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success, and a key focus is Business and Entrepreneurship. A key to success in any business or organization is providing your staff with the proper tools. The following contributed post is thus entitled; The Importance Of Providing Your Staff With The Right Tools.

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You may have heard the phrase, ‘you are only as good as the tools you use’. It’s been around for some time and doesn’t just refer to the tools that YOU would use for a job, but also the tools that you provide your staff with. When you’re running a business, you need to be able to offer the right tools to your staff to enable them to perform to the best of their abilities. When it comes to staff motivation, you need to do what you can to help your people to feel equipped for the work. It doesn’t just help them to understand how to do their job efficiently, it allows your business to be as productive as possible.

Tools mean different things to different businesses. Sometimes, the word ‘tools’ refers to the physical tools that are required to complete a job, such as power drills and hammers. They can also mean the cranes and large vehicular tools such as the ones that you can find at www.servicetrucks.com as used by the construction industry. The tools to do the job right in an office would be the technology that is used to complete tasks on time – even the computers that are used every day. There are thousands of examples of tools out there and if you are running a successful business, then it’s up to you to ensure that you are providing the right ones so that your staff can work as effectively as possible.

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There are two kinds of tools: the physical ones that complete a project and then there are the tools that help your business to run its processes effectively. Having the tools for the job can enable your staff to work efficiently, giving them the chance to grab more opportunities at work. Tools that you provide your employees can make or break your business. Without the right ones, your people can’t get their job done, slowing down your business and minimising your level of profit that year. You can also inadvertently lower the morale of your employees when you don’t offer them that support and equipment that they need.

When you miss out on supplying the right equipment for your employees, you are shooting your business in the foot. There are many applications and services that you can implement into your workplace to keep tasks organised, make employees feel as if you are listening to them and help you to keep your internal business processes running smoothly. Without the right tools, inefficiency creeps into your business. A slowed workforce isn’t one that can make the right waves and can keep up with the changing times. Providing your employees with the right tools for the job is the only way to keep up with those changes. You should never allow the lack of correct tools to put your business behind; communicate effectively with your staff and you can work out what you need to provide.

Experts On Your Side: Three Business Pros You Can’t Live Without

Two of the key focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy and Money, and Business and Entrepreneurship. A major key creating a successful business is hiring knowledgeable and talented professionals in key areas. This contributed post is thus entitled; Experts On Your Side: Three Business Pros You Can’t Live Without.

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It’s tempting and potentially even inviting, isn’t it? The idea that you could run your company without any outside help. But it’s also dangerous. Without expert attention, your business could quickly run into issues that you may not be equipped to handle. An example of this would a problem with tax.

When you’re running your business, you probably think very little about the amount you pay in tax, until that dreaded time of year. At that point, you handle your books as quickly and accurately as you possibly can and more or less hope for the best. Sound familiar? But what happens if a few months later or potentially even a few years, you get a letter from the IRS. There’s something wrong with your records, and they are eager to complete an investigation. Now, you’re in trouble, and if they find a serious issue, you could be hit with a massive fine.

This could have been avoided if you hired an accountant to handle your taxes. Remember, a chartered accountant is an expert so they won’t make any mistakes with your taxes. More importantly, they’ll know how to save you a lot of money, without needing to enter any legally grey areas.

That’s not the only way an accountant could help you out either. But let’s move on and explore two other pros that your business really does need.

The IT Expert

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You do want to make sure that you have an IT professional to handle the computer and technical side of your company. Why is this? A lot of people think that IT pros are there to handle issues when they develop, but this isn’t true. If you use the right service or an IT consulting company for your business, you’ll find you never actually need to handle a disaster. That’s because they’ll focus on preventing them in your business before they could possibly arise. While they can’t predict the future, IT experts can spot when issues are about to develop and get to work on a quick fix.

The Legal Pro

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You probably think that you’ll never fall on the wrong side of the law with your company. But we’ve already given you an example of how this can happen, purely by accident. It’s certainly not the only legal problem you could run into with your business either. You might have dealings with companies in Europe, and if so, it will be impossible to escape the ramifications of the GDPR. Data regulations are actually nothing new though and no matter where you are in the world, you will need to remain compliant with them for your business to stay on the right side of the law.

That’s where a legal pro can help. They can make sure that you are up to date with the latest changes and regulations. They can also help you adapt to ensure that there are no legal issues in your business model. Data protection is just one area where a legal pro can help. There’s also employee management, hiring practices and business to business contracts.

As you can see then, these experts can be all you need to prevent massive disasters in your business model.

Why Is The IOT Important To Your Business?

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“Being part of the IoT evolution will also imply relying on equipment and devices that are fully designed to handle the machine-to-machine network connection.”

Buffer

Two of the key focuses of my blog are Business and Entrepreneurship and Technology. As we move forward, understanding new technologies will be critical to conducting business. This will involve understanding new applications for the internet and how devices can become smarter and more connected. The following contributed post is thus entitled, Why Is The IoT Important To Your Business?

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Along with entering the digital era, a lot of people are starting to feel like the world has entered an age of abbreviations. When you work in business, it’s especially hard to escape this reality, with practically every buzzword and phrase being shortened in an effort to make it easier to digest, and you don’t know your system on chip from your circuit board. Of course, though, this doesn’t always work. As a great example of this, there has been a lot of confusion around the field of IoT in recent years, with a lot of businesses having no idea what this side of technology actually is. To help you out with this, while also showing you the importance of IoT to your business, this post will be showing you what it means.

What is IoT?

When broken down into the words which its letters stand for, the Internet of Things sounds like something from a sci-fi universe aimed at children. In reality, though, this area of technology is becoming one of the biggest around, with areas like automation, manufacturing, and computer networking all heavily relying on it to keep working. This phrase simply refers to networks of devices which go further than computers being connected to one another. In the future, it’s not inconceivable that every piece of electronics in a building will be working together, but this will rely on developing in the IoT field to be able to advance.

What is IoT Used for?

Currently, this side of technology is in relatively early stages of existence. Up until recently, a lot of businesses have worked hard to keep their devices from being too well connected to each other, helping to prevent issues like cybercrime. As time has gone on, though, the value in having things like lights, machinery, and even basic office logistics being handled by connected devices is becoming more apparent. Companies like Cisco are working very hard to make this sort of technology work, with research into areas like intuitive networking being a priority for their vast teams.

Getting Started with IoT

As with many emerging tech trends, it can be hard to know where a field like the IoT will go over the next few years. If you’re running a business which could benefit from this sort of infrastructure, though, it will be worth taking the time to learn more here. As time goes on, being part of an evolution like this could save you a lot of time and money, especially as practices like this become standardised. Of course, though, if you’re unsure, it could be worth waiting a few years before you get stuck in, while keeping the idea of connecting your business together in the back of your mind for another day.

Being part of the IoT evolution will also imply relying on equipment and devices that are fully designed to handle the machine-to-machine network connection. An important aspect of IoT is the interconnectivity of devices, but not at the cost of security. Interconnectivity within an IoT network will require specialist tools and solutions, ranging from IoT SIM cards to enhanced encryption and monitoring systems, and of course, if you have a poor connection, it will be vital to look into the best internet for rural areas or your area, for example. In other words, we can expect a future where IoT technology will be the standard of network interconnectivity and data automation.

Hopefully, this post will give you everything you need to assess whether or not you could use a system like IoT to run your company. As time goes on, this is only going to become more prevalent in society, especially as more and more people start to use smartphones and other devices which can connect to the internet.

What’s The Best Way To Fund Your Start Up?

Two of the key focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy and Money, and Business and Entrepreneurship. No matter what your business idea is, figuring out how fund its startup is key. Likewise many new businesses don’t successfully get off the ground do to difficulties securing startup capital. The following contributed post is thus entitled; What’s The Best Way To Fund Your Start Up?

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Starting a business can be expensive. Whilst some companies can started from home with nothing more than a computer and a phone, others require specialist equipment, licensing, inventory, insurance, work premises and a team of employees. The right type of funding for you depends on your circumstances and the type of business you’ve got planned. Here are just three of the main options available when funding your startup.

Take out a loan

For most people with expensive startup costs, a loan is the best option. This can give you instant access to the funds you need, allowing you to get your business set up straight away. It pays to have a good credit score – this will allow you access to lower interest loans. Banks and peer-to-peer lending sites offer some of the cheapest interest rates. For some people, there may be specialist loans available such as these personal loans of veterans at https://personalloan.co/personal-loans-for-veterans/. Other options could include an equity release or accessing your 401(k) early. Borrowing money is the best option for those that want to get started as soon as possible – you’ll soon be paying off monthly loan repayments, so you want to be putting this loaned money into action quickly so that you’re making an income to pay off this loan.

Seek investment

An alternative option to borrowing money is to seek investment. This involves finding someone willing to give you the funds you need in exchange for shares in future business profits. Seeking out investment can be a longer process than taking out a loan, however unlike a loan in which you have to start paying back interest straight away, you won’t have to start paying shares to investors until your company is up and running making a profit giving you a little more time. You could seek out an individual investor or investment company willing to give you the entire amount you need or you could look into crowdfunding which involves raising the funds from lots of different people. The latter option is most popular and there are sites such as https://www.indiegogo.com/ for doing this. Encouraging investors to fund your business involves having a good business plan – you may want to hire a financial advisor to help you generate projected costs. Having business experience behind you can also help your cause.

Save up

The final option is to save up the funds yourself. By using your own savings, you won’t have to pay any interest fees or shares in the long run. It is however the longest way of raising funds and not ideal for people that want to get their businesses started straight away (it’s probably only best for startups that require a small amount of funding, otherwise you could be saving up for years). There are business savings accounts out there that can collect interest and allow you to build up funds more quickly – it’s shopping around at sites such as https://www.businesscomparison.com/bank-accounts to find the best account for you. Bonds and CDs can also be a good option.

How You Can Start Allowing Your Staff More Flexibility Today

Some of the key focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy and Money, and both Business and Entrepreneurship. A major key to running any business or organization is recruitment and retention of talent. A major part of talent retention is creating an optimal work environment. This contributed post is thus entitled; How You Can Start Allowing Your Staff More Flexibility Today.

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Allowing your staff more flexibility can be a fantastic way to build a better company reputation, make it more enjoyable for your staff to come to work, get a higher quality of work, and much more. It’s far more modern to allow your staff to work flexibly these days, as we all lead busy lives and may have appointments to keep up with, or may want to work from home for whatever reason.

Flexible working doesn’t just mean working from home. It can mean making the most of the commute and working from there, coming in a little later and making the time up later on in the day, doing some work in a cafe, and much more. Working flexibly can mean different things for different people. It won’t suit all businesses, but it can definitely help a huge number of businesses to move forward and get better results. Below is a quick rundown of what flexibility can mean for different businesses:

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• Flexible arrival and departure times
• Full-time work from home or location independence
• Choice and control in work shifts
• Part-time work from home
• Compressed shifts or workweek
• Opportunity for sabbaticals or career breaks (e.g., extended time off)
• Unlimited paid time off
• Caregiving leave

Staff who can work flexibly tend to take less sick days, feel happier and more productive at work, and become advocates for your business. They also feel more loyal to you and you should find you improve employee retention. Below are some ideas to help you implement more flexibility today:

Speak To Your Employees
Speak to your employees and see what they think about working flexibly. How do they think it could help and how would they like to do it? Getting their opinion will give you an insight into what they really want.

Start Using The Cloud
Using the cloud means your employees will be able to access data any time, anywhere. If you’re not currently using it, you’re already behind! What would you do if you lost important data, or there was a natural disaster? Cloud Migration Services can help with this, whether your employees want to start work on the commute or whether they’d like to do it from home.

Make Everybody Play By The Same Rules
Having flexibility in the workplace is great, but it can’t be one rule for one person and one rule for another. For example, you’ll find in many workplaces parents are allowed to leave early to pick up their kids, go to a school play, or take time off and have benefits for other family related things. Single people and those without kids should not be treated any differently! Have the same rules in place for everybody.

Allow More Flexibility Within The Workplace
Don’t have the mindset of ‘employees must be at their desks from the hours of 9-5’. Let them take breaks. Let them play games. Let them talk. Heck, even let them take naps. Make the workplace fun and flexible and you’ll seriously benefit.

Make A Gradual Transition
Do these things gradually so it’s not a shock to the system. What can you implement today to make the workplace more flexible?

Unexpected Disasters: Preventative Measures For Your Business

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy and Money, and Business and Entrepreneurship. A key aspect of running any business is putting preventative measures in place to protect against unforeseen disasters and issues. The following contributed post is thus entitled; Unexpected Disasters: Preventative Measures For Your Business.

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Picture by Tim Gouw

Business owners tend to spend a lot of time creating an enterprise, however only a small portion of this planning to protect the business they have built. The examples to follow feature likely disasters that could occur when you least expect it, accompanied with solutions on how to avert these eventualities.

Power Cut

The lights cut out, pitch black fills the office, the familiar whirring noise from your PC’s slows down to a halt, complete silence ensues, you’re experiencing a power cut. What do you do now? The right answer is to prevent this situation from happening in the first place. Power cuts are destructive to a business’s livelihood. Hours of no power for your PC’s, lighting and equipment could prevent several of your employees securing sales deal, contacting new customers, submitting new stock orders, etc. Without power, your business is disconnected from a world that thrives on remaining connected by technology. Attempting to rectify this scenario without a plan in place is highly stressful for you and damaging for your company.

Prevent your business practices coming to a halt when the likely event of a power cut takes over. Instead, think about purchasing a backup power outlet to provide your company with a few hours of electric to keep your business running smoothly. In addition to this, hire a technology company who are experts in situations such as these, giving you an additional safety net when the lights go out.

Cyber Crime

Cybercriminals may wreck the progress and reputation of your business, steal your customer’s bank details and personal data, take private company information or just choose to cause havoc on your system. Protecting confidential information with a password is no longer a sufficient defense mechanism for shielding your business’s intel online. You owe it to yourself and your customers to avoid a cyber attack at all costs and maintain the relationships and integrity amongst customers you’ve worked so hard to gain. Although some business owners feel the event of an attack is unlikely because they’ve only just set up their business online recently, statistically, 30,000 websites are hacked every day. Some of which by using sophisticated software to assess the webs most vulnerable sites. This is one of the reasons why you need to seek adequate protection to suit an ever-changing cybersphere. A company such as Red Key Solutions can help to identify and defend your company from a cyber attack.

Natural Disaster

In consideration of yourself and your employees first and foremost, this affects more than your business livelihood, it affects lives. The safety and security of your employees is your duty as an owner and manager to ensure health and safety regulations are met.

Never assume your plan for a natural disaster is adequate. Consistently invest in improving your program by practicing your safety regime for different emergencies and strive to educate employees of any new policies or procedures to follow in the name of safety.

After the safety of your employees, your business is at stake. For instance, if a fire were to occur, how would your recover burnt documents? If there was a flood, how would you plan to fix a waterlogged server? If you’re unsure of the answers to these questions, there may be gaps in your disaster recovery plan. Consider options for backup servers located away from the building, storing information in cyberspace to protect your data. You could also apply for business insurance which includes safeguarding your business in the event of a natural disaster.

Extensive preparation for a likely catastrophe is just as necessary as the time and effort you invest in your business’s growth. Failing to prepare for the unexpected events could leave you without a company altogether, which is why it’s detrimental to implement a strategy to save your business from future harm.