As a small business owner, it’s safe to say that there’s a lot that you need to be aware of. When you’re trying to run your company, grow the business, and manage the day to day activities, you have a lot on your plate. But, if you want your business to be a success, you do also need to make sure that you’re concentrating on a few very important things.
Empathy
First of all, there’s empathy. And this matters because, unless you’re empathetic and you care about your customers, you may fail to market to them effectively. So get to know them, try to understand them and their needs, and you should find that your marketing activity gets results.
Privacy
Next up, there’s the idea of privacy. And no – not your privacy, but the privacy of your consumers. With GDPR launching, this is a hot topic. So you need to make sure that your privacy policy is compliant. If not, you could be in big trouble.
Security
Thirdly, there’s also security to be aware of. If, right now, you’re not really taking any measure to protect your small business, then you could be making a mistake. Sure, you think that you’re small and that nobody would want to target you. But that attitude could be why they do! So make sure that you take a look at the below infographic on cybersecurity and make sure that you become a little more knowledgeable about it.
Your social media accounts collectively form a trove of valuable information. All the data that you post on your social media accounts can be very useful if you understand how to use it. Moreover, you may not use the data if you do not have accurate copies of all the information about your activities on social media. Similarly, for you to leverage your social media presence for the benefit of your organization, you need to understand how to back up the information. Common data backup services such as ottomatik.io and others are suitable for backing up all manner of data. However, for you to use them properly, you must understand the basics of backing up your social media data.
Download your profile pages
The first step in the process of backing up your social media data is to download your data from the social media platforms. Facebook allows users to download all their data from the platform at any time. Although the process takes a few hours to be complete, it is worth waiting if you understand the importance of backing up your social media data. Similarly, you can download all your data from other social media platforms that allow you to do so. You may also consider just getting the basic information about your profile from all the platforms that may not necessarily allow users to access their detailed information easily.
Save copies of your videos
Nowadays, many people are using video and audio files as the primary forms of information on social media sites. It is common for people to upload videos on their social media pages as a way of staying in touch with their networks of friends. When it gets to back up your social media accounts, then the best starting point is to consider the videos that you upload on the various platforms. It is important to back up the videos on your device as a precautionary measure. Therefore, make sure that you keep copies of all your videos on your devices as a way of backing them up.
Capture testimonials using screenshots
Testimonials are important for your social media presence as an organization. They usually include the various things that people say about your products. If you are pleased with the feedback that you receive from your clients and the public on social media, then you may have to back up the information. You can start off the process by capturing the testimonials as screenshots. There are many apps that automatically take screenshots of specific pages on your device. Therefore, you can use such apps to effectively capture the information. Additionally, you can use an appropriate app to back up the screenshots for the future.
Use special backup tools
Special backup tools have been made to effectively identify all the important data on your social media pages, prepare and back it up securely. There are many advantages that are associated with using such automated processes. For example, using the tools saves you the time that you would have otherwise used to identify, sort and select the kind of information on your social media pages that you would like to back up. Moreover, the tools have the capacity to back up a lot of data; therefore, unlike other methods, when using special data backup tools to store your social media information, you can easily scale according to the way your organization grows.
Use cloud storage service provides
You can still use the common cloud storage service providers to effectively backup your social media data. As it is the case with using the other methods, public clouds provide you with safe storage of your data if your social media company suddenly gets out of business. Moreover, you need to keep tabs over the personal data that you upload on social media platforms whenever you use them. There is nothing complicated with using public cloud storage services to back up your social media data. If you understand the basic protocol of using the services, you can keep updated copies of your backed up social media data on the servers for as long as you need the services.
In summary, you can use any of these methods to back up your social media accounts and avoid the losses that are associated with losing the data. Besides, many people take their social media data for granted. However, it is important to keep the data safe always by using an effective data backup and retrieval method.
Ah, money. It seems like it’s always one step ahead of us. Staying in control of our finances can seem like it takes up a good portion of our week, and that’s just keeping everything ticking over well when things are going well. When a big problem arrives, it can seem like our finances have spun out of control. From nowhere, we can find ourselves in financial difficulties. However, it’s important to remember that there’s always a way to bounce back to financial health. We take a look at some of these issues below and offer solutions to overcome them.
It’s a big achievement to get on the property ladder. People can save up money years, and when they’re finally homeowners, they’re rightly jubilant! But sometimes, a problem arises. Sometime later on down the line, when the novelty of having the keys to the home has worn off, they realize that making the payments each month is becoming a struggle. They’ve fallen into a classic error, one that is responsible for much “buyer’s remorse”; they’ve bought too much house. They didn’t set the budget correctly, and know they’re left paying more than they’d like for a property that, while nice, isn’t worth the penny-pinching.
Solution
Well, the “solution” to this problem involves being careful before you buy a home. It’s important to check that you can’t just meet the payments, but that you can meet them comfortably. While you might be willing to break your budget when you see a house that you’ve fallen in love with, remember that your enthusiasm for the property might fade…but the mortgage payments will remain. If you’ve already found yourself in this regrettable situation, then look at downsizing. You’ll take a financial hit, but it’ll be much less than holding on to a house that you can’t afford.
The End of a Marriage
In an ideal world, love would last forever. There’d be a 100% marriage success rate, and everything would be hunky dory. Alas, take a look at the divorce figures, and you’ll see that it is anything but an ideal world (though worth mentioning that divorce rates are lower than in the past). If you find yourself heading for divorce, then money will be the last thing on your mind, but it’s worth thinking about. Once you’re out there on your own, you may have to move home, get a new job, and other big things that affect the money in the bank.
Solution
You should hope for the best, prepare for the worst in all matters in life, and especially when it comes to marriage. While you should live like it’s going to last forever, there’s nothing with taking a few steps to ensure your life won’t be in tatters should divorce roll around. This means keeping some of your finances separate; you’ll have joint finances, but that doesn’t mean that all your money should be intertwined. Also, if you leave the workforce when you’re married, try to keep up with some aspect of work – be it studying or volunteering – so you can make yourself employable in case you need to find work.
Unexpected Losses
One day, everything can seem fine. The next, your world has been turned upside down. Sometimes, our jobs are terminated. Sometimes, our partner – and provider – are injured, or, worse, die. Sometimes we’re hit with an expensive medical problem. The thing about life is that anything can happen, and that means that sometimes bad things happen to us. When they do, it can shake the foundations of who we are as people – and also have a devastating effect on our finances.
Solution
We all want things to carry on as they’ve always been, but that can’t always happen. But it’s important to remember that no matter how much it might feel like you’re drowning, it’s always possible to swim. If you lose your partner, then it’s worthwhile looking into what is considered wrongful death; while it won’t ease your suffering, it may help to lighten the financial burden while you’re going through the recovery process. If you suffer from something less serious, such as losing your job, then the key is to be proactive and take action: sitting around feeling sorry for yourself won’t lead to anywhere good.
Having Another Child
If you have one child, then it won’t be long before you’re thinking about repeating the process all over again and bringing another life into the world. But there are some things that you’ll need to keep in mind. Raising a child can be expensive, and the costs are rising all the time. Also, be aware that you may need to juggle additional childcare, which can take up a big chunk of your finances.
Solution
Before you decide to have another child, it’s important that you get a realistic overview of your finances. Do you have the thousands you’ll need to raise your new child each year? You’ll have learned a lot from your first foray into parenthood, but you’ll have gained something else – plenty of baby-related gear! As such, you might be able to keep costs down just by reusing some of your first child’s belongings. In any case, it’s a good idea to have a period where you save money, so you have a cushion of cash to get you started.
Not Planning for the Future
There’s a growing problem in America: most people don’t know how much their retirement is going to cost, and that means that, in a few years, we’re going to have a lot of people who don’t have enough money to live on. The options for changing those circumstances will be limited, too.
Solution
Get saving! It’s never too late to get your retirement fund underway, even if it’s later than you’d like. Talk with a financial planner and talk about your options – they may be able to suggest ways you can raise more money, such as investing or selling assets.
Working from home is fantastic. There is no boss to look over your shoulder and no strict deadlines. Come to think about it, there is no motivation either. There are too many distractions teamed with a pretty basic working environment. Not to say your home office is unwelcoming, but you spend the majority of the day in the living room. There is nothing wrong with that if you are productive, yet the chances are you’re wasting time. How can you not when the TV is blasting?
What you need is an office which actually wants to make you buckle down and be industrious. These are the things to consider.
Pin It On Pinterest
The hardest thing to do is to start a task. Once you’re in the middle of it, the inspiration comes as if it is being passed down by God. In the beginning, there’s plenty of sitting around and racking your brains for an idea. Well, there is no need to hurt your head in this day and age thanks to Pinterest. A social media site, the platform specializes in bringing together plans and designs from other people. Type in “home office” and see what comes up. Then, use the pins to add your personality and character.
But Be Responsible
Obviously, there will be things on the site which are too difficult or expensive. It all depends on the space and your budget. So, use your common sense and recognize when a renovation is out of the question. For example, this rustic design is difficult to replicate because you need the room.
However, the shipping container office below is entirely possible with a CONEX box for sale. It might seem the harder of the two yet it’s less hassle because there is a ton of space and the exterior already has the wow factor.
Let There Be Light
It’s summertime so there is no need to shun the sunshine. All it does is make you moody and irritable. It doesn’t take a clinical psychologist to tell you this will impact your work ethic. Embracing natural light isn’t tricky, either. The key is to remove the blockages from the windows so that the rays can flood the room. You can start by replacing curtains with blinds as the latter aren’t as thick or bulky. Also, move the desk close to the window to get the full benefits. This also allows you to enjoy the sights every now and again.
Add Greens
Not the color but the plants. If you’ve ever worked in a stuffy office, you know about how uncomfortable it is. People don’t focus on working but letting their mind wander. The atmosphere is so stale that it’s impossible to bother about anything. Plants can help because they absorb carbon dioxide and expel oxygen. Consequently, the O2 levels will be high and the brain will stay fresh. There’s a reason plants are linked to happiness.
Do these tips sound like they will help create the sort of office you’ll love?
Choosing the right tools can help you to make your business more efficient and productive. Managing your employees is a big task, but by selecting software that works for you, you can make it a lot easier. There are several different aspects of employee management to consider, from scheduling and pay to create workflows. While you might find a tool that rolls all tasks into one, many people prefer to choose separate software that does each job exceptionally well. You can usually integrate different tools so that you can see all that you need to in one place, without having to keep switching between windows.
Manage Payroll
Payroll is one of the most important things to manage for your staff. You need to make sure that everyone gets paid on time and receives the correct amount, plus manage any benefits or taxes that might come out their pay. Ideally, you might have dedicated payroll staff, but some small businesses rely on an office manager of general administration employee to handle payroll. The right software can be helpful to anyone, whether the business is big or small. Payroll software should make it simple to pay everyone on time, and some tools, like Gusto, even feature benefits administration too. Being able to manage both pay and benefits at the same time is handy.
Every business has its own policies and procedures that they need their employees to follow. If you don’t, you should. Some of them might be based on government and industry regulations and standards. Others could be unique to your business and based on the standards that you want to set. Either way, policy management software makes it easier to implement and manage them. You can review and test your policies to ensure compliance across the board using more efficient methods. Keeping your written policies separate from your other documents helps you keep everything in order.
Schedule Shifts and Time Off
Making sure that you know who will be working and when is vital to your business. Whether you manage shift workers or you just need to know when people are going to be on vacation, you need to have the right tools to manage people. Scheduling software can help you to schedule everyone’s shifts without any clashes and make sure that all working hours are covered. You can use general HR software for managing vacation time and other time off, but scheduling software offers this function too. Choose a tool that allows access to employees so they can manage their own time.
Managing everyone’s workflow gets trickier as your organization gets bigger. A tool like Kissflow can help you to automate everything so that you can keep everything organized. You can roll lots of tasks into one, with human resources, sales, finance and several other areas of your business all available to oversee in one place. Cloud-based software can make everything easier too.
Manage your employees and their time and money when you have the right software. The right tool can make a big difference.
Recent Comments