9 Ways Tech Can Help Your Small Business

9 Ways Tech Can Help Your Small Business

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By Lina Martinez

When you run a small business, it can be very challenging to know exactly where you should be channelling your funds. After all, you want to invest in the best possible areas to help increase your chances of running a successful enterprise. However, technology is always going to be an area in which it is worth investing, no matter what kind of business you are running. Here are just a few of the most common tech-related areas that small companies choose to invest in.

A Great Website

In the modern age, every business needs a great website. As well as servicing your existing clients, this also sells your services to prospective customers. And if this is the first impression that people are getting of your company, it needs to be a strong one. A strong website is also the foundation of a high search engine ranking, which is what customers are increasingly using to find their goods and services.

Social Media

The great thing about social media is that it is a promotional tool which you don’t have to channel a huge amount of money towards. However, you do need to dedicate time so that you are getting the most out of your accounts. So, if you are running the accounts yourself, you can’t just sporadically post things in the hope that you will naturally acquire more followers. Instead, you need to have a very clear strategy that you are following to achieve success.

A Smartphone or Tablet

Though you are already likely to have a smartphone and tablet, it may be worth investing in a separate one dedicated to your business. This way, you can very clearly differentiate between your personal and business lives. Carry it with you at all times and you can always be ready to deal with any issues that happen while you are out and about.

Simplify Invoicing

If you run a business which requires you to provide invoices to your clients or track your expenses, an effective system is essential. And there are many different options out there these days which you can make the most of. Many of these systems are easy enough to learn, and they are also accessible from a range of computers or mobile devices.

Specialised Technology and Apps

Depending on the type of business that you run, there will be a host of specialised technologies and apps which will help you out. So, if you are managing a hedge fund, you could look into trading software for quantitative trading. Perhaps you are running a logistics business and an online scheduling app would come in handy. As advances in technology are being made all the time, it is always worth looking into anything which could benefit your business.

Offsite Storage

Many companies are now investing in cloud-based storage systems to ensure that all their important records or files are securely backed-up. As well as giving you peace of mind, they also allow you to access your files whenever you are and mean that you have less need of physical storage space.

Project Management/Calendar System

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When your small business starts to take off, you are likely to find that your time is very stretched indeed. So, keeping everything organised is an essential part of your company. A calendar system such as the one provided by Outlook or a project system like BaseCamp can be enormously beneficial. This way, you and everyone else in your team can access your schedules and documents, as well as being able to share updates as and when you need to.

Security

As real-life crime rates decrease, criminals are increasingly operating in the virtual world. Therefore, it is always going to be worth investing in technology that protects your company from attacks. First of all, your wireless networks need to be protected with a secure password. You should also have the latest anti-virus and malware programs installed and updated. And you also need to ensure that you have a company-wide policy of changing your passwords on a regular basis.

Streamline Payments

Managing your cash flow is one of the most crucial aspects of running a small business. After all, you won’t get very far without money coming in. Digitising your payment systems makes it easier for clients, and also helps you to keep track of your finances much more efficiently.

Keeping your business up to date with technology is essential, and these nine areas apply to most small businesses.    

 

What To Consider Legally If You’ve Been Hit By A Bike Rider As A Pedestrian

What To Consider Legally If You’ve Been Hit By A Bike Rider As A Pedestrian

By Irene Wall

Sometimes, people don’t necessarily need to be in vehicles when they’re travelling. As a pedestrian, there are certain perks and benefits of being able to walk to your destination. Not only does it count as a healthy option, but it’s also a good way to maintain fitness, and it can be a convenient way of traveling as it can save costs when your destinations are close. Unfortunately, paths you have to travel as a pedestrian are very close to where bikes are supposed to go, which means the odds of you being hit by a bike as a pedestrian aren’t impossibly low. It’s important then to consider what to do legally if you’ve been hit by a bike rider as a pedestrian.

Do remember however that because different areas have different traffic laws, it’s essential to understand that a basic idea of how traffic laws work in your area and the advice of a legal professional can blend together to give you a more thorough understanding of what to take note of when being hit by a bike as a pedestrian.

If you’ve been hit by a bike rider as a pedestrian, it’s important to remember a couple of things. According to Find Law, it’s relevant to be aware of how traffic law works in terms of riding bikes as injuries concerning them may follow different aspects of the law than what you might be used to. Car accidents and vehicular injuries are things of concern, but bikes also have their own category as there are different factors involved. Legal considerations when you’ve been hit by a bike rider as a pedestrian, however, tend to be similar.

Assess Safety, Surroundings

When you’re hit by a bike rider, check your safety first and assess the surroundings after you’ve been hit. Regardless of whether or not you’re injured, move to a safe space but don’t leave the scene of the accident.

  • This is important as your safety is your first and utmost priority. However, go to the hospital if you think you really are in need of immediate medical attention. If not, try to stay in the area to gather more information.

Assess Information, Documentation

If the driver is in the scene of the incident, ask him or her for their contact information. Get their name, contact number, and email address. If you’re unable to get this information, try asking someone else to do it for you. This is important as you need to be able to aware of all the information of the people involved in the incident.

  • In speaking of information, try to get contact details of witnesses in the area as well. Don’t be rude and aggressive, but instead try to be approachable. Get their names and contact details, as you may have to contact them in the future.
  • If there’s any way to capture the license plate of the bike, please do so. Take a photo of the bike, the scene of the place, and yourself if you’ve sustained injuries. This will help you build a stronger case when contacting your insurer, or should you have decided to file a case.
  • Try to get as many details of the incident as possible. Try to include what happened, conditions of the road and weather, and the specific time of the incident. Try to be as detailed as possible and keep a record of it on your person. You can send it to yourself in the phone, or as an email. If you feel anything after the incident such as pain in muscles or any parts of the body, record them as well.

Assess Communication, Support

There will be instances where the driver or biker may approach you and apologise for the incident. A lot of people unfortunately also tend to deny involvement in the matter. Don’t let the driver negotiate with you, and instead keep your part of the story factual and consistent with the things above.

  • Don’t immediately repair your bike, and don’t attempt to throw away any form of damaged equipment, or clean the clothes you’ve worn. Try to wait for the incident to be solved before you do anything else with the things on your person during the incident.
  • If the biker that hit you is in some way intoxicated, it might be a good idea to communicate with a lawyer such as those in this site in order to find a good course of action should you want to file a case for compensation.

Conclusion

It’s a bit perplexing as to how pedestrians can even be involved in accidents, especially when they’re hit by a bike and its rider. However, as these accidents do still happen, it’s important to understand just how it can affect you and what to consider legally if you’ve been hit by a bike rider as a pedestrian. Admittedly, it’s not going to be a walk in the park, and sometimes the tendency is to really panic, but trying to keep a cool head and approaching the issue with a bit of finesse can greatly help your situation.

 

Disclaimer: Please remember that this article shouldn’t be treated as any form of legal advice. It’s advised you speak with a lawyer or a legal counsel in order to learn about the specifics of the topic and how it can be applied to your situation.

 

Irene Wall

Irene Wall has been writing about law for more than a decade. She writes pieces on various law topics that she hopes could help the common reader with their concerns. She enjoys playing basketball with her sons during her free time

How To Help Your Mind Learning Piano Lessons

How To Help Your Mind Learning Piano Lessons

By Jordan Douglas

Learning piano lessons can be a fruitful activity in itself, but it’s not the easiest thing to do. However, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to learn. Sometimes it takes a bit of mental clarity in order to get the best approach to learning piano lessons the way you want to. What better way to achieve that mental readiness but to find ways to help your mind learn? The tips below on how to help your mind learning piano lessons can give you the kind of clarity you need in order to approach your piano lessons better.

Do remember that these tips take practice and time to learn, and they sometimes work best when paired with other methodologies as well. If you have personal learning methods, perhaps it’s a good idea to incorporate the tricks below with them. Remember, while music is a creative endeavor, similar to other forms of arts, you do still need to understand how the basics fully work in order for you to make masterpieces of your own.

Psychology Today explains that while learning as adults may take a bit of time given their experiences and their current state of mind, it’s not totally impossible to achieve learning with the right tools. Perhaps a good way to achieving this isn’t to learn fast, but to learn smart.

Piano Lessions Begin With Mind Setting

None of the tips will work unless you remind yourself that it’s only within the proper frame of mind that the tips are able to improve your learning. If you’re prepared to try to follow the tips mentioned below, then you must be prepared to commit yourself to them. Commitment takes time, effort, patience, and most importantly the proper mindset.

  • This means when you do decide on taking up piano lessons, make sure you set aside time to reflect on your choice and the kind of impacts they will have in your life. Not only will these lessons help you learn, but they will take a significant amount of your time. You may opt to practice instead of eating out, watching television, playing games, or hanging out with friends. These are compromises you have to make, and these are things you have to consider.
  • If you’re a newbie, or a returning pianist, remember that learning how to play takes a lot of time and patience. Being able to move the keys the way a grandmaster does will not be done in seven days, and as such should be something you should consider. It’s only with persistent training are you going to be able to move your fingers the way you want to.

It Begins By Patience, Practice

Remember that learning anything takes time: it takes patience and practice on your end before you are going to be able to learn piano the way you want to. This means you have to be patient with the kind of things you want to be able to do. Aside from mind setting, you can start by creating a plan on the kind of things you want to learn and how you want to approach the learning process.

  • You don’t necessarily have to learn everything in a short span of time. You can always try to set reasonable objectives within certain time frames, so you can actually work on them slowly and at your own steady pace. This allows you to explore more opportunities that might help you be able to learn more.
  • Set a schedule that will allow you to deviate from your usual piano lesson routine and instead experiment. Sometimes it’s when you experiment and have fun that allows you to learn the kinds of techniques you need.
  • Start with the basics first. It’s important to explore the stuff you want to explore, but this is done best when you’ve actually learned the basics of what you need to learn when it comes to playing the piano.

It Begins By Forming A Network

When it’s said that one should form a network when pursuing a hobby, it’s not necessarily just a network of contacts. If you want to perform in a band, you might want to devote some time of your training to researching about how pianists fit in bands and what songs they play. Another consideration is to find  yourself with like minded people in order to motivate yourself to learn.

  • This process allows you to expand your reach and have other reasons to learn, which is in this case, to be with your own network and allow others to teach you and vice-versa.
  • If you’re looking into an accessible and convenient way to access comprehensive piano lessons with your peers, Playgroundsessions.com might be the service for you.

Conclusion

Piano lessons are great ways to expand your horizons when it comes to music, but they aren’t exactly easy to learn. They aren’t exactly impossible to digest, either. Perhaps appropriate mind setting and creative techniques can greatly help your mind learn piano lessons a bit easier, and can propel your way to an entirely new level of appreciating music.

 

Jordan Douglas

Jordan is a keen musician who enjoys playing gigs in his local town. He hopes to one day make it big as a musician and loves to teach those who want to learn about music. He recommends Playgroundsessions.com. In his spare time if he’s not strumming his guitar or playing the piano, he’s spending time with friends.

Legal Considerations If You’ve Had A Personal Injury In Public

Legal Considerations If You’ve Had A Personal Injury In Public

By Jean Clark

When it comes to injuries, there are factors outside the injury itself that have to be considered. How much will the treatment cost, what are the procedures, and how will it affect your life as a whole? As such, the massive implications of a personal injury to your life means there are particular legal implications that should be considered. These legal considerations are important factors to assess in order to know the kind of approach you may want to take should you experience a personal injury in public. With this being said, remember, you don’t have to go through something like this alone. There are many professionals out there can can assist and guide you through this process and take away a lot of the stress that we know suffering from any form of injury can cause. You can look into finding a personal injury lawyer in Melbourne or a lawyer in the UK, if this is where you are located. No matter where you live in the world, there are definitely people out there that can give you a helping hand.

Do remember however that perhaps a legal professional such as ones here are persons to consult regarding your personal injury, as there might be special considerations to be seen in your particular circumstance. Having their opinion can give you the kind of insight you need in order to know what to do in the situation. If this is something that you agree with and you would like to get a lawyer involved then you can check out a website like https://www.stewartlawoffices.net/charlotte-personal-injury-lawyer/ to help you with your case.

According to the American Bar Association, claims normally have two criterion, whether it’s because of strict liability (no need to prove negligence) or intentional wrongs (such as battery or assault). This means you have to ask whether or not the defendant is actually liable for the injury or damages you’ve actually sustained. If you think they are, what are the extent and nature of your damages? Proving these two should be able to convince the justice system to provide you with some form of compensation.

Identify all the possible plaintiffs you might include. When you file for litigation, try to consider if there should be a lot of plaintiffs since negligence that has caused lasting damage on your part can cause a chain reaction of events that can worsen your condition.

  • Where direct injury could be obvious, try to assess your body if there were any indirect injuries on your end. Assess the kind of damage you’ve experienced since the incident and try to check whether or not you should file the case depending on the results of the tests.

How much information are you willing to provide? You and your family or people involved should be willing to educate the proper authorities on the injuries you have sustained. If you get an attorney, your information will direct them to approach the right kind of people for your concerns. This is especially helpful when deciding on the direction you want your case to proceed in.

  • For instance, it’s important to get the information straight as the full extent of the injuries aren’t seen immediately. Trauma other forms of psychological conditions, or latent physical trauma, may manifest for years following the incident. If you don’t inform any of these possibilities to your attorney, the odds of lasting damage might increase.

Get the right attorney. This is perhaps one of the most important elements of what to do if you’ve suffered a personal injury in public. In deciding whether to initiate or settle a personal injury case, an attorney with experience in personal injury litigation can greatly help in your problem. Select someone who can help you be more knowledgeable and aware of what you need and what is best for you depending on your situation. Look for someone who:

  • Understands the scope of the injury you’ve experienced and how it has affected you since the injury.
  • Is willing to communicate with the proper people in order to have a full scope of your options and is able to adequately present them to you.
  • Is able to consider the kind of impact the settlement and the trial will have on you.

Consider the Benefits, Compensation

If you do get the kind of attorney you like, you have to talk about the kind of outcome you need. What sort of benefits or compensation do you need? Sometimes, settlements can work but only on conditions you and your lawyer think can work for your favor. Sometimes, compensation and benefits aren’t necessarily money, but can be insurance, and other forms of benefits, especially if you’ve sustained significant physical injuries since the incident.

  • Understanding legal considerations like the above is essential, especially if you go through them with an attorney, as they are the ones in the field who may be able to explain what you are getting into and how these legal options can be of use to you and to your family.

Conclusion

Having a personal injury is something to worry about all on its own, but having a personal injury in public has its own share of elements that you have to consider before being able to fully focus on healing and treatment. Due to the number of variables involved in personal injuries in public, legal considerations can inevitably enter the fray. This makes understanding how personal injury in public works all the more important for you to consider. Remember, being prepared matters and knowing what to do in certain situations can greatly aid you when you have to make decisions with your legal counsel.

Disclaimer: Please remember that this article shouldn’t be treated as any form of legal advice. It’s advised you speak with a lawyer or a legal counsel in order to learn about the specifics of your personal injury and how you should proceed.

Jean Clark

Jean Clark is a professional writer and loves anything to do with law in business or in the public. She is family oriented, and she loves spending her free time with her family.

Legal Malpractice: What You Should Do About It If You’ve Experienced It

Legal Malpractice: What You Should Do About It If You’ve Experienced It

By Timothy Gerret

Legal malpractice is something to avoid when it comes to interacting with legal professionals, but it’s not entirely something you can avoid all the time. As such, it’s important to know just what legal malpractice is, and what you should do about it if you’ve experienced it. It’s important to have a basic idea on how legal malpractice works and how it can affect you so you can have a good idea on how to approach the subject.

Do remember however that perhaps the best person to teach you about legal malpractice and the options for you if you’ve experienced it is a legal professional, as they have their own sets of rules and obligations to follow.

According to Nolo, should you plan to sue your lawyer due to legal malpractice, it’s important to remember that the process isn’t exactly a walk in the park. This is because malpractice means having to prove that the lawyer in question has failed to use the care and skill ordinarily used by other lawyers when tackling a problem or case that is similar to yours. This means you can’t exactly sue your lawyer just because they lost a particular case.

Things to Consider

In order to win a case on legal malpractice, there are four basic things to prove on your part:

  • You should prove that the attorney has not acted upon his/her duty accordingly.
  • You should be able to prove that there has been a breach in the terms of the duty they should’ve acted upon. This can be in the form of negligence, making mistakes, or not doing the agreed upon task.
  • You need to prove that the said conduct has given you financial hassle and you’ve suffered some financial losses as a result.

Proving Legal Malpractice

There should be a few considerations that you should make in terms of proving legal malpractice really did occur:

  • Was there an attorney-client relationship that was established? If you don’t have an attorney-client relationship, then the lawyer isn’t bound by duty to do something on your behalf.
  • Was there a standard of care established in terms of the lawyer legally representing you? For instance, if a lawyer has stolen money they are holding in trust for their client, then the attorney has breached their duty. However, it’s important to determine that a “standard of care” was established, and that this violation has occurred.
  • Has an injury been caused? It is important to demonstrate that the plaintiff has actually suffered injuries because of the negligence of the lawyer, as detailed above.
  • Lastly, the plaintiff should be able to establish that damages were actually suffered due to this negligence. The amount and the nature of said damages should be established clearly. This is important as if the damages caused weren’t elaborated upon properly, then the lawyer in question may be dismissed from the case.

Consult Now More Than Ever

When you do experience legal malpractice, don’t completely lose faith in lawyers. Do try to consult with one, as it’s now more than ever. For many, legal malpractice is in itself an entirely new thing to deal with, and having legal support on your side is helpful. It’s not something you can easily read up and comprehend, as there are multiple factors involved. If you feel as though an attorney has done any sort of misconduct that can be classified as legal malpractice, you may communicate with the local bar authority, or a lawyer you might know, in order to get basic advice.

  • It doesn’t necessarily have to be immediate consultation. Getting the right kind of nudge as to where to get a proper consultation would greatly help, as different areas may have different approaches to legal malpractice. Understanding how it works is the first step in knowing what to do about it, so you ought to find the right source first.
  • When you get pointed to the person you need to approach, this can be the appropriate time for you to share your sentiments and concerns. This can greatly be aided if you have documents you can share with them or pieces of correspondence that could help you explain your situation to them better, in order for them to have a better grasp of what you’ve experienced.
  • The above point can be explained better if you have an idea as to the case you think the lawyer in question has failed that proves the malpractice. If for instance the case had something to do with a car accident, you may confer with a lawyer here in order to get a more detailed background on the subject and compare their recommended actions to how the lawyer who had done the malpractice performed.

Conclusion

The unfortunate reality is that sometimes even those that you trust can be the ones who can do something bad to you, but that doesn’t mean you should simply let that happen. When professionals like lawyers commit error or fraud, or in this case legal malpractice, it’s easy to feel confused as you may not be familiar with legal malpractice and what you should do about it if you’ve experienced it. However, having a general grasp of your options in these situations can at least relieve you of some of the tension you’ve experienced, and these tips can help you focus on finding solutions to your current predicament.

Disclaimer: Please remember that this article doesn’t serve as official legal advice. It’s advised you speak with a lawyer in order to learn about the specifics of legal malpractice and what to do in your situation.

Timothy Garret 

Timothy is a budding law writer who enjoys all aspect of the law industry. He’s currently studying to become a lawyer and is applying his law knowledge into what he writes about. He spends time with his friends and swimming in his spare time.

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