Taking cybersecurity for smart technology seriously is crucial beyond just installing antivirus software on your computer or laptop. It would be best to extend that protection to your smart devices. Here’s why.

Anything Connected To The Internet Can Be Hacked

Each smart device you have in your home is a potential vulnerability. Learning how to protect your devices is essential. If you are a landlord providing smart tech to your tenants, like smart locks and video doorbell systems, you must explain how they can protect those systems. Protecting smart tech from hackers isn’t hard, but it requires effort.

Unfortunately, any device you connect to the internet can be hacked. This includes laptops, computers, smartphones, tablets, and even your smart home devices. Anything that connects to the internet can be hacked, including:

• Refrigerators
• Coffee makers
• Speakers
• Virtual assistants
• Security systems
• Video surveillance
• Televisions
• Thermostats
• Locks
• Lights
• And more

There are countless examples of cybersecurity for smart technology with smart home tech vulnerabilities, like the flaw in Belkin’s smart plug that enabled hackers to control the lights in a house and access devices connected to the network. There was also a vulnerability discovered with the Ring Doorbell that broadcast an unprotected, unencrypted Wi-Fi signal that technically gave hackers the ability to capture all traffic, including your network password.

The good news is that neither of these vulnerabilities was exploited to anyone’s knowledge, but others have been extensively exploited. For example, in 2019, hackers accessed Ring home security cameras across four states and started talking to children, scaring them.

1. Always Set A Password For Your Wi-Fi

Having an open wireless network is always a bad idea. It doesn’t matter if you live out in the boonies – set a password for your Wi-Fi. Anyone who comes near your home within the range of your router or booster will be able to access your network, and that’s what you want to avoid. Not all hackers will try to attack you from the other side of the world. Sometimes, people nearby take opportunities when they see them.

Protecting your network with a password will also give you more cybersecurity for smart technology when guests are over. You don’t have to give them access to your network, but if you do, you can change the password when they leave. You also have the option of setting up a guest network, which will allow your guests to access the internet but not any other devices connected to the network.

2. Change The Username And Password For Each Device

If possible, change both the username and password for every smart device you own. At the very least, change the password. Smart devices will come with preset factory passwords that are easily accessible and known to hackers. That’s how they quickly round up thousands of devices for botnet attacks. They search for accessible devices and attempt to access them with known factory passwords. Most of the time, they’re successful because people never change the default credentials.

3. Limit The Number Of Devices You Use

You probably don’t need every single smart device ever invented. It sounds nice and might be convenient or even fun, but the more devices you have, the greater you are at risk.

Limit the number of smart home devices you use and stick with only what is essential or at least what you’re willing to accept. Weigh the pros and cons of every device. For instance, if you install a smart video surveillance system, you’ll have to accept that someone could hack it and watch you in your home.

4. Keep Your Firmware Updated

Firmware isn’t something most people are familiar with, but it needs to be updated just like software applications. Firmware is technically software that powers your router and any other IoT gadget you own.

Unfortunately, most firmware won’t automatically update; you must approve it yourself. This is beneficial because enabling automated updates can result in unauthorized third-party installations without your knowledge.

Smart Tech Has Vulnerabilities, Too

Any device that connects to the internet can potentially have vulnerabilities that will open the door for hackers. Whether it’s a smartwatch, a television, or your laptop, treat all your devices the same regarding cybersecurity for smart technology.

The post Why Cybersecurity for Smart Technology is Essential appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Adopting HaaS allows organizations to enhance production, reduce costs, improve efficiency, and stay competitive by leveraging the latest technology.

In this article, we will learn about HaaS, how it works, and how your organization can implement it into its development workflow.

What is HaaS?

Hardware as a Service, or HaaS, is an innovative method to purchase technology. This method gives organizations the freedom to obtain and use the newest equipment without the responsibility of ownership. Organizations that use Hardware as a Service can focus on their core strengths. While this is happening, the service provider manages and maintains the technical infrastructure.

Small or medium-sized firms can use the HaaS to provide their staff with cutting-edge technology at a low cost. HaaS differs from Infrastructure-as-a-Service and managed hosting procurement models, which keep the hardware at the MSP’s location.

How Does HaaS Work?

When organizations use HaaS, they can select what kind of hardware they want from a vendor and pay to use it. The provider then delivers the equipment and gadgets, installs them, resolves any difficulties that emerge, and provides continuing maintenance for as long as necessary.

They also dispose of and recycle the hardware when it is no longer required. This implies that organizations do not have to worry about the prices or time required to maintain it.

Implementing Hardware as a Service

Implementing Hardware as a Service (HaaS) in your organization requires a planned approach to guarantee that the transition is seamless, cost-effective, and in line with your firm’s goals. Here are the steps you can take to implement HaaS in your organization:

Assessing Your Needs

The first step in implementing hardware as a service (HaaS) in your organization is to thoroughly examine your individual hardware requirements. Start by determining what sorts of devices and technologies your organization will need, such as PCs, servers, networking equipment, or specialty devices. Evaluate your current infrastructure to identify what can be kept and what must be updated.

Financial Planning

Financial planning is an important part of implementing HaaS. Conduct a thorough cost analysis of the traditional hardware purchase strategy and compare it with the HaaS approach, including upfront costs, ongoing maintenance charges, and possible savings.

Once you have a clear financial picture, allocate your funds to execute HaaS.

Researching and Selecting Providers

With a solid understanding of your hardware needs, the next step is to study and choose possible HaaS suppliers. Conduct market research to discover vendors who provide the essential hardware and have a solid industry reputation.

Compare their offers, with an emphasis on hardware alternatives, service level agreements (SLAs), and support services. Request comprehensive proposals and pricing from the selected vendors so that you can make an informed selection.

Implementation and Deployment

During the installation phase, begin with a pilot program to test the HaaS solution in a controlled setting. This helps uncover any difficulties before a full-scale implementation. Once the pilot is completed successfully, proceed with the organization-wide implementation, potentially in phases, to minimize interruption.

To avoid compatibility concerns, make sure the new hardware works flawlessly with your old systems and applications.

Best Practices for a Successful HaaS Model

Implementing a Hardware as a Service model in your organization may improve operational efficiency, save initial costs, and provide scalable solutions. To get a successful deployment of HaaS, you can consider the following best practices for your organization:

Monitoring and Optimization

Continuous monitoring and optimization are required to guarantee that the HaaS system satisfies the needs of your organization. Regularly monitor the hardware’s performance and get input from users and stakeholders. Use this input to make the required changes and improve the service.

Training and Support

Training and assistance are critical for a successful transition to HaaS. Provide extensive training to your employees on operating and maintaining the new hardware. Create clear support channels with your HaaS provider for troubleshooting and maintenance.

Effective training and support can ensure that your staff can get the full benefits of the new hardware while quickly resolving any technical issues that emerge.

Customizing Service Agreements

Customize your service agreements with the HaaS provider to get better pricing. Do negotiate conditions to customize the service agreement to your organization’s exact requirements, such as performance measures, response times, and penalties for noncompliance. Have your legal team analyze the contract to confirm that it meets your organization’s standards and regulatory obligations.

Conclusion

Hardware as a Service (HaaS) is an attractive alternative for organizations seeking access to cutting-edge technology without the cost of ownership. Successful HaaS marketing necessitates a thorough grasp of the concept, a comprehensive plan, and a constant commitment to adaptability and innovation.

By effectively leveraging the benefits of HaaS, identifying target clients, and selecting the relevant marketing channels, providers can leverage marketing to expedite development and success.

Overcoming frequent issues and staying ahead of emerging trends will enable HaaS providers to flourish and meet the changing expectations of businesses in the digital world.

The post Implementing Hardware as a Service: Step-by-Step Guide for Businesses appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Understanding Automated Business Models

Automated business models are intended to run with minimal human intervention, using systems and technologies to perform tasks. By automating business tasks, this type of model can significantly decrease time and effort spent maintaining it allowing owners to focus more on growing and optimizing their ventures.

Dropshipping as a Retail Strategy: An Affordable Solution

Dropshipping has quickly become one of the most sought-after automated business ideas, allowing entrepreneurs to sell products online without holding inventory or incurring storage fees. When customers make a purchase, their product is delivered directly from its supplier – eliminating warehousing costs while cutting upfront costs significantly. Shopify and Oberlo are two platforms that simplify starting such businesses by providing tools and integrations that streamline this process.

Print on Demand: Simplifying Custom Merchandise Creation

Print on demand (POD) is another automated business model that has been gaining popularity recently. Entrepreneurs using POD can design custom graphics for products like T-shirts, mugs, and phone cases with POD, then have these items printed and shipped out immediately after placing an order with services like Printful or Teespring to manage production and fulfillment for them so business owners can focus their energies on marketing and design instead of production and fulfillment logistics.

Affiliate Marketing: Harnessing Content to Generate Revenue

Affiliate marketing entails promoting products or services and earning a commission for every sale made via your referral link. This business model can be highly automated by creating content that attracts and converts visitors over time – such as blog posts, videos or social media updates that provide steady income streams for affiliate marketers. Tools like Google Analytics and affiliate networks help track performance while optimizing strategies for optimal results.

Subscription Services: Recurring Revenue Streams

Subscription services offer businesses a reliable and predictable source of income. Businesses in this category provide ongoing value to customers in exchange for a recurring fee, such as subscription boxes, software-as-a-service (SaaS), or membership sites. Automation tools can handle billing, customer management, content delivery, and billing, reducing the need for manual oversight and ensuring regular revenue while creating customer engagement over the long term. This model promotes regular revenue while cultivating long-term engagement between the service provider and the customer.

Online Courses and E-books for Monetizing Expertise: Exploiting Expertise for Profit

If you have expertise in an area, creating online courses or e-books can be a fantastic way to generate passive income. Once created, content can be sold repeatedly with minimal additional work needed – platforms such as Udemy, Teachable, and Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing provide platforms where this content can be sold repeatedly without incurring additional effort. Automation tools can assist in marketing enrollment distribution so you have more time to create additional content or work on other business ventures.

Real Estate Crowdfunding: Investing with Less Hassle

Real estate has long been seen as an effective means of creating passive income through investing. Traditional real estate investments, however, can take considerable time and capital, so real estate crowdfunding platforms such as Fundrise and RealtyMogul provide individuals an easier way to invest in projects with less money and direct involvement – these platforms manage properties and distributions for investors so that returns are earned without dealing with complex property management.

Automated Trading Solutions: Capitalizing on Market Opportunities

Automated trading systems, or trading bots, can execute trades in financial markets according to predefined strategies. These automated bots analyze market data and make decisions without human interference – potentially capitalizing on opportunities 24/7. While this approach carries risks and requires careful planning, it can become a lucrative passive income source for those with an understanding of trading principles and investment principles. MetaTrader and TradingView both offer tools for developing and deploying automated trading strategies.

Conclusion

Exploring automated business ideas is an excellent way to create sustainable passive income streams. By harnessing technology and innovative business models, automated ventures allow for minimal day-to-day involvement while still producing substantial revenue.

The post Exploring Automated Business Ideas: Exploring Passive Income Sources appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

In this case, selecting a perfect Dynamics 365 development company that satisfies industry-specific needs is vital. Each sector necessitates a unique approach to execution, as generic solutions frequently fall short. This guide seeks to deconstruct these difficulties and provide a disciplined, step-by-step strategy to help businesses make sound decisions. By the end of this article, readers will know how to adapt their goals to the technical competence of a Dynamics 365 supplier.

Image Source: freepik.com

Understanding D365 and Its Importance for Industries

Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a cloud-based platform with customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) functionalities. This tool is adaptable. So, it is ready for customization to meet the needs of various industries:

• Retail Sector. A Dynamics 365 company allows retailers to improve customer engagement through personalized offers and targeted marketing. This is possible thanks to advanced analytics and deep customer insights.

• Manufacturing Sector. The platform offers improved production planning and inventory management. Moreover, it modifies products in real-time based on demand forecasts and supply chain conditions.

• Financial Services Sector. The platform assists financial institutions in risk management and compliance. In addition, it offers a comprehensive view of customer data to personalize financial services.

• Healthcare Sector. Medical professionals can integrate a new platform into electronic health records and patient management systems. It improves care coordination and patient outcomes by providing organized information.

Assessing Your Business Needs

First of all, companies should define their goals and identify areas for improvement. Check out the crucial steps to start smooth cooperation with a Microsoft Dynamics 365 expert.

• Consider the performance of your current module. Next, identify areas where you need to improve it. Thus, it may include CRM efficiency, supply chain processes, or finance procedures. For example, the latest research shows that setting specific and challenging goals can lead to higher performance 90 percent of the time.
• Explore your domain. Customize your strategies to meet the demands of your industry. It guarantees your Dynamics 365 implementation aligns with your goals and gives you the expected benefits.

Image Source: freepik.com

Criteria for Choosing a Dynamics 365 Development Company

Working with the Microsoft Dynamics 365 company significantly influences the implementation. You must pick it up carefully and investigate all available options before contracting, as your internal operations will totally depend on your choice. Check out several criteria to identify the best partner:

• Select a company with relevant experience. For example, a manufacturing developer must be fluent in supply chain and production management.
• The company you hire should be diverse in terms of the types and sizes of projects. It demonstrates the ability to work with various scales. Furthermore, the case studies should be considered. They disclose how the company deals with problems and demonstrate the impact of its solutions on client performance.
• Verify if the developer has the necessary Microsoft certifications. It is the best way to check their knowledge and dedication to upholding strict standards. In addition, experts with certifications are up-to-date with trends and modern techniques.
• Use customer testimonials and recommendations to check the trustworthiness and quality of the company’s products. Note any comments on the level of assistance provided.
• A Dynamics 365 specialist must have skills in creating effective setups for smooth integration. It is critical for smooth interactions among all tools.

With these factors in mind, choosing a team of Dynamics consultants will significantly improve your results.

Assess Integration and Customization Skills

Look into how the Dynamics 365 development company can integrate and modify the platform. The most important points on this topic are listed here.

Customization is essential to ensure that the platform meets your specific industry challenges. Here are some crucial questions to ask a potential development company.

• How do you handle customization projects?
• Can you give us examples of solutions you have created for other clients in our area?
• What obstacles have you faced in previous modification projects, and how did you overcome them?

A smooth integration of D365 with your existing systems is critical for productivity and error-free operation. Consider the following points:

• What are your methods for integrating a new module with existing software?
• Could you share case studies or examples where you have successfully integrated Dynamics 365 with other applications?
• What tools and technologies do you use to simplify integration?

Consultation and Support

Discussions and reliable support are keys to the project’s success when installing a complicated product like D365. Here we describe the factors to consider when assessing the level of support and training of a Microsoft Dynamics 365 developer.

To make the most of the consultation, consider the following tips:

• Before the meeting, compile all relevant business process documentation and identify your challenges.
• Focus on questions that clarify the approach to project management, their understanding of your area, and their solutions.
• Identify the firm’s culture and communication style to fit your organization.

In addition, the level of post-implementation training affects how effectively your team adopts the new system.

• Determine the types of support (e.g., 24/7, business hours) and the channels through which options are provided (e.g., phone, email, live chat).
• Check if the company provides comprehensive training materials, such as manuals, videos, and webinars.
• Look for assistance options, including regular updates and the availability of consultants for future modifications.

Making the Decision

Finally, selecting the Dynamics 365 development business requires considering many factors. Here are key tips for making the right choice.

A decision matrix is an effective tool for comparing and contrasting different Dynamics 365 development companies. Here’s how to construct and use one:

• Develop a list of important criteria based on the discussions and evaluations outlined in previous sections. It may include expertise, cost, integration capabilities, and experience.
• Give each criterion a weight based on its importance to your company. Using a uniform scale, rank each possible seller according to these standards.  (e.g., 1-5).
• Sum up each team’s scores to see which offers the best solution according to your priorities.

Image Source: venngage.com

While budgetary concerns are vital, it is also critical to balance costs, service quality, and possible return on investment. Think about the following:

• Evaluate the total cost of ownership, including the initial cost, maintenance, and upgrade expenses.
• Higher upfront expenses might be justified if a high-quality solution results in more productivity, fewer problems, and higher customer happiness over time.
• Don’t hesitate to negotiate terms with vendors. Often, there is room to adjust the scope, scale, or details of the service to fit your budget.

Conclusion

This tutorial has highlighted the key processes for picking a Dynamics 365 development company. Each step, which starts with a detailed study of your operational needs and goes through in-depth assessments of technical proficiency, operational experience, and potential partners’ support systems, is designed to help you make an informed and strategic decision.

By taking this strategy, you can select a Dynamics 365 development company that exceeds your expectations, thereby improving your operations and gaining a competitive advantage in your market. The collaboration will enable you to access all Dynamics 365 products and benefits.

The post A Practical Guide on How to Choose a Dynamics 365 Development Company for Your Industry-Specific Needs appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

With what’s currently happening, we can say that digital banking promises many opportunities for small businesses to grow in the future. These include streamlined transactions and advanced financial management tools.

Evolution of Digital Banking

Digital banking has come a long way. It evolved from basic online banking services to more comprehensive financial platforms catering to businesses’ diverse needs. Integrating mobile technology and data analytics revolutionized how your business can handle customer interactions and decision-making. Blockchain technology and AI are also used in dealing with financial management.

Mobile banking

When using smartphones became the norm of daily living, mobile banking became the cornerstone of digital banking. This development allows the smallest businesses to access their accounts, initiate transactions, and monitor financial transactions all online. As a business owner, you are assured of real-time visibility and control in managing your finances.

AI-powered insights

Using AI algorithms has transformed the way financial institutions look at data. These tools can now provide personalized insights into your business. You can capitalize on AI-driven analytics to gain an understanding of your cash flow, expenses, and customer behavior. Doing this enables you to come up with better decisions and strategies.

Blockchain technology

Blockchain has revolutionized financial transactions. You can explore blockchain-based solutions for your business. These include secure payments, smart contracts, and supply chain finance. Using this technology can reduce fraud risks and transaction costs.

Open banking

Your small business can now access a broader range of financial services and other innovative solutions through open banking. Initiatives under this type of banking can foster collaboration between financial institutions, fintechs, and third-party developers.

You can seamlessly integrate banking services with payment gateways through open application programming interfaces or APIs. You can also incorporate accounting and other business applications through them.

What Trends Affect the Future of Digital Banking?

Several trends have formed the future of digital banking. They are making changes that give you fresh ways to improve your small business.

Personalized banking experiences

Businesses today demand more personalized services. To meet the demand, digital banks use data analytics and AI to tailor banking experiences. They achieve that by basing it on customer preferences, behaviors, and financial goals.

Your small business can expect customized product offerings, targeted marketing campaigns, and proactive financial advice to meet its needs.

Embedded finance

This concept allows your business to access financial products seamlessly within its existing workflows. You can incorporate payment processing, lending, insurance, and investment services into its applications. This trend enhances customer experience and drives revenue growth.

Digital identity and security

Digital identity verification and cybersecurity have become vital due to the digitization of financial services. Biometric authentication and advanced encryption techniques have enhanced security measures.

These resources protect your small business from fraud and cyber threats.

Ecosystem partnerships

Digital banks have partnered with fintechs, technology providers, and industry platforms to create integrated ecosystems. These ecosystems offer comprehensive financial solutions.

Your small business can benefit greatly from these ecosystem partnerships since it gets access to services like cash management and payroll solutions.

Green banking initiatives

Sustainable finance and environmental responsibility have become quite popular in the banking sector. It has become so trendy that digital banks have launched green banking initiatives. These initiatives offer eco-friendly products and finance renewable energy projects.

Your small business can join these projects to decrease its carbon footprint and contribute to environmental conservation.

Innovations Empowering Small Businesses in Digital Banking

Digital banks have many innovative solutions and tools your small business could use. They can assist you in driving growth and streamlining operations.

Digital payment solutions

Digital banks offer many payment solutions, including mobile wallets and virtual cards. These solutions let your small business accept payments conveniently and securely. Digital payments enhance cash flow management and customer satisfaction with faster settlement times and lower transaction fees.

Automated accounting integration

Accounting software allows you to automate bookkeeping tasks and make financial reports without issue. Digital banks offer seamless connections with popular accounting platforms. This feature simplifies financial management and compliance.

Cash flow forecasting

Cash flow forecasting can help you foresee the movement of your funds. It can also help you find potential gaps and optimize liquidity. Real-time visibility into cash flow dynamics lets you proactively manage working capital and financial risks.

Online lending platforms

Online lending platforms provide your small business with access to financing. It helps fund growth initiatives, manage seasonal changes, and take market opportunities.

Financial planning and advisory services

Digital banks offer financial planning tools and advisory services. These devices help small businesses set goals, make budgets, and track metrics. Expert guidance helps your small business navigate complex financial challenges.

Retirement planning and investment options

Retirement planning and investment management are another benefit of digital banking innovations.

Your business can explore options like 401(k) rollover IRAs. Through this, you will provide your employees with retirement benefits.

Embrace the Future of Digital Banking

The future of digital banking holds potential for your small business. It offers many opportunities to

optimize your operations and drive your growth.

Embrace these trends and let your business thrive in an increasingly digital economy. Small businesses must stay agile and proactive in adopting solutions that align with their objectives.

The post The Future of Digital Banking: Trends and Innovations Small Businesses Should Embrace appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The reasoning behind this explosion is easy to understand. Launching a business is more accessible than ever before, and the remote-first business world is accommodating to enterprises of all sizes.

Getting a business off the ground may be easier than ever. But beating the bigger competition has become more difficult. Surviving and thriving against bigger, more established companies is particularly challenging.

If you have a successful small business, here are several tools, tactics, and strategies to equip your company to run with the big dogs.

1. Use Tech to Consolidate Your Work

Technology is powerful. Workflow platforms have made it easier to track a team’s activity. Artificial intelligence has made it possible to generate text and automate workflows.

The problem with a small business trying to utilize the endless stream of tech solutions is that it can quickly become as big of a burden as any other business activity. An out-of-control tech stack can be expensive and overwhelming to manage.

To combat this tendency, make sure to be targeted in your tech choices. Look for all-in-one solutions that integrate multiple tech needs into a single platform. Thryv, for instance, is a do-it-all small business tool that combines communication, business operations, and marketing into a single piece of software. This allows the tool to become a central hub for tech-based activity.

Don’t just invest in tech. Look for the tools that streamline and simplify your professional digital experience.

2. Always Specialize in Something

Remember, thriving in a big business world with bigger competition doesn’t mean you have to do everything a big business would do. On the contrary, as a small business owner, you have the luxury of focusing on details that are normally out of reach for a larger organization to address.

Chances are you’re already exceptional at something. That’s why you started your business, right? Consider what that is. The answer isn’t always obvious.

For instance, Walmart may be a gigantic retailer that focuses on product variety and low prices. But in its earliest days, the company’s strength was its sophisticated logistical systems. This legendary supply chain made it possible for Walmart to compete from the get-go.

What is it that your company does particularly well? Make sure to lean on that strength and let it set you apart.

3. Target Your Marketing Dollars

Marketing may be accessible. However, like tech tools, it can also become complex and expensive if you don’t have a plan.

Fortunately, the uniquely flexible element of digital marketing makes it easy to adapt to a marketing campaign of any size and scope. For instance, Nerdwallet recommends a variety of ways small businesses can effectively compete in the marketplace.

If you can’t afford a marketing budget at all, invest in some organic social media community building. You can also create clean, helpful, authoritative content that answers customer questions on your company blog.

If you find that you do have some money to spend, use it wisely. Pay-per-click ads, for example, are effective, but they are expensive. When they’re used on their own, they lead to limited results, too. Instead, invest in low-cost initiatives, like partnering with influencers or building and maintaining a curated email list.

As a small business, you should always target your marketing dollars. Remember that access doesn’t equal success. You need to spend every dollar and even every ounce of effort and energy wisely.

4. Focus on Retention

Retention is a big deal in any business. Retaining an existing company is famously more effective than investing in attracting new business.

Forbes Business Council member Saravana Kumar points out that the cost of getting a new customer can be as much as five times that of keeping one. To put it another way, just a 5% bump in retention can lead to as much as 95% greater profitability.

Larger companies can often ignore this principle. While they want to retain customers, their sheer size makes it easier to assume that their target demographics will gravitate toward them.

Not so with smaller businesses. If you’re a small business trying to compete with bigger competition, make sure to fight not just to get but to keep your customers. You can do this through personalization, better customer service, superior products — you name it. Just remember to fight for that precious customer loyalty. It’ll pay off.

Acting Like a Big Fish in a Big Pond

The modern business landscape is enormous. Whereas small businesses used to operate in geographically limited areas, the internet has created a global business landscape that even the smallest operations can access.

If you find that your company is getting crowded out by bigger competition, don’t give up. Regroup and strategize.

Use the tips above to perfect your offerings, consolidate your workflows, target your marketing, and increase brand loyalty. If you can do that, you can play the part of David as you square off against your industry’s Goliaths.

The post 4 Ways Your Small Business Can Run With the Big Dogs appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

1. SEO and Content Marketing Tools

Search engine optimization tools work to improve your site’s ranking on Google’s search engine results page using a variety of strategies. These tools can help you improve the quality of the content on your website as well. Since so many consumers turn to search engines to find new businesses, a high SERP ranking allows you to reach them more quickly. Ranking well on Google likewise conveys that your brand is a trusted authority and leader.

SEO tools will assist you in identifying keywords to include in your website’s landing pages, blog posts, and other content. With these keywords, you can build out your site’s content pillars and identify topics that are relevant to your target audience. These tools also help you monitor your site’s performance and compare your strategy to that of your competitors.

In addition, SEO tools can assist you with off-page optimization strategies. This technology lets you monitor the performance of existing backlinks and find new prospects. On top of that, you can use these tools to keep up with algorithm changes and ensure that your site is structured well for SEO.

2. Email Automation

Email updates are an effective way to communicate directly with both leads and existing customers. Building your email marketing strategy manually is complex and time-consuming, however. Email automation technology enables you to build, monitor, and customize your campaigns faster.

There are a variety of email marketing tools on the market to choose from, some of them offered on a freemium basis. Many of these tools offer intuitive drag-and-drop email builders, list management, and campaign performance tracking.

Automated features take your campaigns a step further. Many email automation tools integrate directly with your online store to send follow-up emails to your leads and customers. Some of these tools can automatically segment customers based on their onsite and past purchasing behavior. Email segmentation lets you adjust your messages based on where customers are in their buyer’s journey.

3. Social Media Analytics

Social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok allow you to get creative with your marketing. Since many consumers spend time on social media every day, these platforms offer the opportunity to connect with your audience authentically. Social media analytics tools make it easy to build a campaign and track your performance.

These analytics tools will analyze the traffic for each new post, showing you the demographics of your viewers and how they’ve found your posts. With this information, you can optimize future content and improve its performance. Social media analytics tools will help you manage sponsored posts and track conversions, too.

While building your social media campaign, you can use social media tools to create and schedule posts ahead of time. Such features make it easy to post at optimal times of day for your audience. These tools also allow multiple team members to work on your social media campaign at the same time.

4. Chatbots

Automated chatbots enable you to approximate an in-store customer service experience when you’re selling online. They welcome visitors to your website and can answer a variety of questions. These chatbots are powered by artificial intelligence and work on websites and mobile apps.

Chatbots help customers find products and solve basic problems right away, and they’re available 24 hours per day. In most instances, there’s no need to wait for a human customer service representative. In cases where chatbots can’t solve a customer’s problem, they’ll forward the message to the correct person to follow up.

Many chatbots are available in multiple languages to cater to a wider audience. You can also create custom chatbot flows to reflect your business model. The most advanced chatbots will integrate with other marketing tools to capture leads and track analytics.

5. Webinar and Virtual Event Platforms

Video communication technology has improved drastically over the last decade. Indeed, during the COVID-19 pandemic, video calls rapidly became the new normal. As a result of this widespread familiarity with videoconferencing capabilities, webinar tools have become an excellent way to connect with customers around the world. They’ve become particularly popular among B2B brands, given that 91% of B2B professionals say webinars are their preferred type of content.

Webinar tools allow you to deliver high-quality video presentations and host online meetings with prospects. Text chats and breakout sessions let webinar attendees interact one-on-one. Many platforms also offer screen sharing, Q&A features, and surveys for a more enhanced experience.

With this technology, you have the option to record your webinars and repurpose them later. Webinars make excellent source material for YouTube and other social media platforms. Repurposing webinar content for other channels will help you build brand recognition and share your expertise with an even wider audience.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to building a successful marketing strategy, marketers have almost endless options — among them, robust tech solutions. Today, implementing advanced technology is essential to reach your target audience. With the technologies discussed above, you won’t just build brand awareness. You’ll learn about your customers’ preferences so you can customize your marketing strategy in ways that best resonate with them.

Featured image provided by Matheus Bertelli; Pexels; Thanks!

The post 5 Types of Tech to Help You Better Reach Your Audience appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

That’s why the small business failure rate remains so stubbornly high in good economic times and bad. It’s why people tend to self-select into entrepreneurship based on their propensity to take risks — and why many risk-averse people with legitimately great ideas put those on the back burner in favor of the relative security (and lower socioeconomic ceiling) of a regular old job.

If you’re reading this, you’ve already decided to take the leap into small business ownership. You’re well aware of the risks. Now, you’re trying to manage them and give your business every possible advantage. You want your little enterprise not only to survive but to thrive.

Your business needs to be as financially efficient as possible for that to happen. Scratch that — your business needs to be financially optimized.

Smart Strategies to Boost Financial Efficiency in Your Small Business

Most successful businesses focus on three vital strategies to improve financial efficiency: streamlining lending and borrowing processes, simplifying payment processing, and managing cash flow more effectively.

1. Streamlining Lending Processes

If you’re in the business of extending credit, streamlining your company’s lending processes is not a “nice to have” capability. It’s mission-critical.

Simply scaling your existing lending operation won’t cut it. Hiring more loan officers may help you make more loans, but it won’t make your loan origination team more efficient. By adding layers of bureaucracy, it could have the opposite effect.

Instead, equip your lending team with the best available tools for the job. Take an unsparing look at your existing technology stack and ask not what needs to go but what — if anything — is worth saving. All too often, the answer is “absolutely nothing.”

And then it’s time to rebuild. Comprehensive loan origination solutions like MeridianLink Consumer offer scalable, cross-channel capabilities for lenders that need to implement uniform processes and protocols at scale. From application to underwriting to closing, these solutions help your team work smarter, not harder.

Not in the lending business? You almost certainly rely on some form of business credit to keep the lights on and the leads coming in. Knowing what you know now, you’d be remiss not to quiz your current lender(s) and any alternatives you’re considering about the back-end tools they use to get the job done. When minutes (and hundredths of a percentage point) matter, the old way of doing things is unacceptable.

2. Simplifying Payment Processing

The old saying, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,” gets at a fundamental truth every business owner learns sooner or later. That is, it’s better to have a dollar today than two dollars at some point in the future.

Okay, maybe that’s taking things too far. A 50% discount rate is way too steep on any timetable that matters to a growing business. But every business is willing to accept a haircut if it means actually getting paid on time.

In the simplest terms, that haircut represents the amount you’re willing to pay for a more efficient payment processing solution, plus the unavoidable costs (person-hours, bookkeeping software, and so on) of managing accounts receivable and integrating payments into your company’s cash flow. The same principle applies to accounts payable, including payroll, especially if your business works with many independent contractors or small vendors willing to use your preferred payment processing solution to send bills and accept payment.

Your ideal approach depends on how your business earns its money and how (and to whom) it pays for the products and services it requires. The key variable is transaction volume — not just today, but expected volume in two, three, or five years. Payment processing solutions that are perfectly adequate for a comparative trickle of transactions may fall short when growth takes off.

So, look for a scalable payment processing tool that can grow with your business. For example, Dwolla specializes in high-volume account-to-account (A2A) transfers, often for users averaging just a few dollars per transaction. If your product involves bidirectional cash transfers (say, it’s a rewards app or has a built-in incentive structure), that’s precisely the capability you need.

3. Managing Cash Flow More Effectively

Your business possibly makes consumer or business loans. It may send or receive (or both) digital payments in high volumes and at high frequency.

But it definitely makes and spends money somehow. Which means it stands to benefit from more effective cash flow management.

You know this already, or you wouldn’t still be in business. What you might not (yet) know is how to get from “state the problem” to “implement the solution yesterday.”

The truth is, there’s no catch-all solution to the cash flow management problem. Different businesses solve it in different ways. There’s a lot to consider here, which is why you’ll find (and maybe have already read) encyclopedia-length books on the subject.

With the understanding that we’re only just scratching the surface here, let’s take a look at three aspects of cash flow management that nearly every business has to face at some point: efficient invoicing, intelligent expense management, and inventory optimization.

Financial Efficiency in Invoicing

If your business sends out more than a few invoices each month, it needs a scalable invoicing solution that cuts down the time cost of invoicing itself and helps your accounts receivable team stay on top of unpaid bills.

Unless you’re already off to the races, this solution needn’t be enterprise-grade or even close. Off-the-shelf software like Intuit QuickBooks is fully capable of juggling all those invoicing balls: onboarding new vendors, creating and sending invoices, receiving invoices generated through the API, and — of course — sending and receiving payments.

Intelligent Expense Management

Spreadsheet-based expense management and two-dimensional P&L templates work until they don’t. Before your business reaches that point, deploy a more robust solution to track, understand, and attack your expenses.

You don’t need an overly complicated enterprise solution here, either. In fact, QuickBooks works for millions of SMBs. It’s “smart” enough to tell you that, for example, you’re spending 25% more on inputs than the typical peer business, and its outputs are detailed enough to help you pinpoint opportunities to tame that overage.

Inventory Optimization

Like your expenses, your inventory gets complicated quickly as your business grows. It’s a nonlinear process that can quickly overwhelm your logistical capabilities and pose an existential risk.

Unlike invoicing and expense management, inventory optimization does require a truly robust solution, even at a relatively small scale. Once you’re past a few dozen SKUs, you’re competing against better-resourced businesses whose supply chain management budgets dwarf your gross revenue (for now, at least). You can skimp elsewhere — not here.

Your Small Business Can Do Better

Don’t take that personally. It applies not just to your small business and countless others like it but to some of the world’s biggest, best-run companies.

The iconic businesspeople behind some of the most successful companies in the world all know that they can do better. They ask themselves the same question at the start of each day: what can I do today to make my team just a tiny bit more efficient, effective, or productive?

Then they execute. And iterate. And debrief.

And do it all again tomorrow.

This is how great companies are built, not by leaps and bounds but by slow, sometimes painful trial and error.

Feature image provided by Pixabay; Pexels; Thanks!

The post Boosting Financial Efficiency: Smart Strategies for Small Businesses appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Using Contractors That Don’t Report Credit Activity

With all the advances in online technology, software, and web development, it’s never been easier for vendors to report credit activity when a small business makes a payment or does a transaction.

However, if you open a credit line with a vendor that doesn’t regularly report credit activity to the credit bureaus, you aren’t building credit the way you should. It’s important when researching contractors and vendors that you only do business with ones that will report your on-time transactions to major credit bureaus.

Not Using Business Credit

Some small business owners are so risk-averse, that they may not want to even use business credit. But getting business credit cards and taking out business lines of credit can be an effective means to scale the company and make more money.

If the small business never uses credit, it’s more difficult to expand your organization. Don’t make the mistake of never taking out business credit.

Business owners who are wary of having debt might just start small and get one business credit cards. Use it every month and pay it off. That way, you can slowly build business credit and not carry much if any debt.

Applying For Personal Credit Cards

One thing many small business professionals don’t know is that ‘business credit card’ you read about online is tied to your personal credit history. Many small businesses don’t have enough credit history to get approved based on their business, so the credit card company may use your personal credit profile to approve you.

You should read the fine print of any credit card you apply for to make sure that the credit line is based on your business and not your personal credit.

Putting Personal Property At Risk

When starting your business, it’s important to use the right legal entity to protect your personal assets from business creditors. That’s why you should never put your personal property or assets at risk when getting credit for your company.

It’s also usually unwise to be a sole proprietor and get business credit. You can do it, but you are personally liable for all debts of the business if something goes wrong. Also, as a sole proprietor, you don’t have a corporate tax ID; everything is based on your social security number and this leaves you legally exposed.

Selecting The Wrong Business Credit Card

Before applying, you should determine the kind of business credit card you want:

• Want to get rewards for purchasing office supplies? Apply for a cash back business credit card.
• Planning to take business trips to find new clients? Get a travel business credit card with air travel points.
• If you are just getting the company rolling, try to get a 0% interest card.

Mixing Business And Personal Expenses

So you got a business credit card to build credit and track your business expenses. But it’s easy to fall into the trap of mixing personal and business expenses, which can make it a lot harder to track your expenses when it’s tax time.

Also, you may lose the ability to deduct credit card and loan interest on your business taxes if you don’t use them only for your various business costs.

It also can be more challenging to maintain legal protections for your organization if you don’t separate your personal and business expenses.

There are many things to consider when building business credit for your small business. By following these simple principles, you’re more likely to build good business credit. And you’ll do so without mixing personal and business expenses or putting your personal credit on the line.

Featured image provided by Pixaby; Pexels; Thanks!

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Conversational AI is a blend of voice and digital messaging that empowers customers to resolve various issues without speaking to a live agent. The technology is positively impacting the efficiency of customer service departments, tech support domains, and sales teams that employ it in the form of chatbots, virtual assistants, and intelligent virtual agents (IVAs).

The beauty of conversational AI lies in its ability to facilitate two-way, humanlike interactions with customers, using a blend of natural language processing (NLP), machine learning (ML), deep learning, and contextual awareness. These two-way, humanlike interactions are central to what’s known as conversational CX. Conversational CX goes beyond transactional exchanges and provides customers with more personalized, convenient, and engaging experiences.

For example, some solutions utilize generative AI to take interactions between brands and customers to the next level. Mosaicx Expert, for instance, uses generative AI to understand customers’ questions and respond in a conversational manner with voice or chat.

Conversational CX can play a vital role in helping companies keep up with today’s competitive landscape. Here are four ways conversational CX can give your business a competitive edge:

No. 1: Deliver Self-service Capabilities

Conversational CX offers fast, seamless customer interactions through IVAs, empowering customers to resolve issues with self-service options. The evidence shows that a large share of customers—as much as 81% of them across all industries—prefer resolving certain problems rather than waiting on hold to speak to a live agent.

IVAs allow customers to receive instant, accurate responses to their inquiries any time of the day or night; no more waiting in long support queues or dealing with delayed responses. By catering to their needs promptly and naturally, conversational AI helps customers help themselves.

Delivering the self-service options customers crave can foster customer loyalty and advocacy because customers feel heard and valued. Loyal customers lead to higher lifetime value because they spend more, repeat their purchases and refer others to the brand. By cultivating a strong bond with customers through conversational CX, businesses build a formidable defense against the constant churn of the competitive market.

No. 2: Save Costs with Proactive Communications

Businesses can use conversational AI tools to deliver automated reminders to customers who have items in their online shopping cart but have yet to complete a purchase. These reminders can cut down cart abandonment rates, thereby directly increasing sales. It’s also important to note that organizations can brand these reminders to align with their voice and personalize them to be unique to the customer. After a set amount of time has passed, IVAs deliver cart abandonment reminders via text, email, or automated calls. To sweeten the deal, reminders can include a special offer alongside a link to the customer’s cart.

No. 3: Personalize Support

One of the most significant advantages of conversational CX is its focus on providing personalized support to customers. Oneway conversational CX delivers personalized support is through tools such as IVAs. IVAs have extensive datasets from previous interactions. Data might include:

• Customer preferences (e.g., language, channel, etc.)
• Pain points
• Behavior patterns (e.g., requesting support at a particular time of day)
• Purchase histories.

Virtual agents can analyze this data to personalize customer service, fostering a deeper and more meaningful relationship between the brand and the customer.

No. 4: Boost Employee Satisfaction

Happiness at work sells. In today’s complex labor market, top talent pays attention to various factors, not least whether employees say they like where they work. By enhancing the efficiency of day-to-day processes and reducing the demand for live agents to perform repetitive, high-volume tasks, conversational AI offers improved employee satisfaction and retention.

Strive for Conversational CX to Stand Out from the Pack

The versatility of conversational AI is evident across industries, from healthcare and finance to tourism and retail. Tools like IVAs can schedule appointments, offer tips, resolve queries, send outage alerts, and even help customers find special offers on the products they’re looking for. Offering customers seamless and natural interactions through conversational CX is a key differentiator in today’s crowded marketplace. Conversational CX is helping reshape the customer journey landscape while simultaneously elevating efficiency for customer service teams.

In all these ways, conversational CX is the driving force for success in today’s customer-centric world. The competitive advantage is yours for the taking.

About the Author

Rebecca Jones is the general manager of Mosaicx, a leading provider of customer service AI and cloud-based technology solutions for enterprise companies and institutions. Rebecca joined the West Technology Group, owner of Mosaicx, in January 2021, after a 25+ year career focused on growing businesses, people and client success. Rebecca also serves as a member of the board of the Families for Effective Autism Treatment (FEAT) of Louisville, KY, is an executive sponsor for Women of West, actively volunteers for The Molly Johnson Foundation that supports children with special needs, and champions causes promoting women in technology, including the IWL Foundation (Integrating Women Leaders Foundation), Tech Up for Women, and CCWomen.

Featured image was provided by Blake Wisz; Unsplash; Thanks!

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The annual customer review survey from BrightLocal found that 98% of consumers read reviews online for local businesses — an 8% increase over 2019. The survey also found that consumers expect a response — 88% are more likely to do business with a merchant that responds to both positive and negative reviews. However, that number drops to 42% for businesses that never respond.

According to the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, there are several reasons consumers put stock in reviews and how merchants respond to them. Reviews give potential customers an indication of businesses’ credibility and trustworthiness as well as the features and quality of the products they sell. Consumers factor in what they read on online review sites so that they can make purchasing decisions with more confidence.

So, along with essential tasks like tracking inventory, creating employee schedules, keeping a website up to date, and optimizing pricing to improve margin, small business owners must also make reputation management a priority to ensure success.

Furthermore, to know what people in your market are saying about your business, you need to stay connected to online review hubs that allow you to capitalize on positive feedback with loyalty-building responses. It also gives you the opportunity to address criticism to restore relationships with unhappy customers. Negative feedback is also a chance to learn from your market. This way, you can improve your product mix, customer service, and other factors that add up to a growing business.

In addition to increasing transparency and trust among your customers, reputation management also gives small business owners these three additional advantages.

1. Partnership and investment opportunities

Online reviews aren’t only for consumers. The reviews that your customers post and your responses to them could be the green light to a potential partner.

2. More job applicants

If you’re like most small business owners, you’re looking for qualified applicants to fill vacant positions. Activity on review sites can encourage (or discourage) talent to consider working for your company.

3. Search engine rankings

Search engines see responses to online reviews as new content. They will help them recognize your business as a trusted source. A well-managed online reputation can also result in more traffic to your website.

To help business owners achieve these benefits, Payanywhere launched the Payments Hub Reputation Management solution. This tool allows merchants to connect their Google Business Profile to Payments Hub. Plus, stay up to date on customer reviews, all from a single screen.

Payanywhere is an all-in-one payment platform that aims to power the potential of business owners with everything they need to make day-to-day operations run smoothly. Payanywhere offers hardware, software, and support for a variety of business needs such as in-person and online payment acceptance, invoicing, reporting, inventory and employee management, and — you guessed it — Reputation Management.

Payanywhere’s Reputation Management tool allows business owners to:

• Gain insights on their customer ratings and review trends.
• Stay in the know with email alerts when reviews are posted about their business.
• Engage with their customers by responding to reviews.
• Keep tabs on what people are saying about the competition.

Reputation Management is a great way for business owners to interact with customers and set their products or services apart from others in the marketplace, directly from their back office.

Staying visibly engaged with customers and feedback on the platforms where potential buyers search for businesses is an invaluable resource. While it does take time and dedication, Payments Hub Reputation Management simplifies the process of creating conversations and cultivating trust with consumers, leading to not just a good first impression, but a good lasting one as well.

Visit payanywhere.com for more information on the products and services that are built to power the potential of businesses everywhere.

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Fortunately, small businesses across the United States can turn to the Small Business Administration’s SCORE program for guidance. SCORE offers free mentorship services and workshops to small business owners and entrepreneurs nationwide, including a webinar specifically designed to help businesses implement AI tools.

AI has the potential to revolutionize the way small businesses operate. By leveraging AI tools, small businesses can automate tasks, analyze data, optimize marketing strategies, and even draft legal documents. The possibilities are endless.

According to a recent SCORE workshop, while 70% of small business owners are aware of AI tools, only 40% are actively utilizing them. This suggests that many small business owners are still in the learning phase and have not yet fully incorporated AI into their processes.

Paul Ohlson, a small business owner and SCORE mentor, explains that most small businesses are currently using text-based or content-based AI tools, such as ChatGPT, to generate content for their blogs, newsletters, and websites. Some businesses are also using prospecting tools to automate lead generation. These AI tools allow small businesses to accomplish tasks without the need to hire additional staff, enabling them to scale more cost-effectively.

The SCORE program, with its network of experienced business mentors, is an invaluable resource for small businesses looking to implement AI. SCORE mentors have expertise in entrepreneurship and various aspects of business operations. They can provide guidance and support throughout the AI implementation process.

Small business owners can benefit from SCORE’s free webinar on “How to Effectively Use Artificial Intelligence in Your Business,” which will cover the fundamentals of AI, its potential applications, and a step-by-step process for implementing AI tools. The webinar will also provide actionable strategies for using AI in prospecting, negotiation, and closing deals to drive business growth.

One of the advantages of working with SCORE is the vast knowledge and expertise available through its network of mentors. As a SCORE mentor, Paul Ohlson emphasizes the value of this collective knowledge. He explains, “There’s so much knowledge at SCORE, and as a SCORE mentor, I don’t have to know everything. Why? Because I have an army of other SCORE mentors all across the nation that I can contact and pull into a call with a client, and so you have every aspect of business knowledge at your fingertips when you work with SCORE.”

AI tools can assist small businesses in various aspects of their operations, including finance analysis, marketing optimization, competitor monitoring, and contract drafting. However, it’s important to note that AI is not infallible, and users should still verify its output and consult legal professionals for any legal documents generated by AI tools.

Here are some popular AI tools that small businesses can consider implementing:

AI tools can help small businesses analyze financial data, identify trends, and make informed decisions. These tools can provide insights into cash flow management, budgeting, and financial forecasting.

AI tools can analyze customer data, behavior patterns, and market trends to optimize marketing strategies. They can help small businesses identify target audiences, create personalized marketing campaigns, and improve customer engagement.

AI tools can monitor competitors’ activities, including pricing strategies, product launches, and marketing campaigns. This information can help small businesses stay competitive and make informed business decisions.

AI tools can generate contracts and other legal documents based on predefined templates and legal language. While these tools can save time and effort, it’s crucial to review the output with an attorney to ensure accuracy and compliance with legal requirements.

Implementing AI tools can bring numerous benefits to small businesses, especially those with limited resources.

AI tools can automate repetitive tasks, allowing small business owners to focus on more strategic activities. This leads to increased productivity and efficiency, enabling businesses to accomplish more with fewer resources.

By leveraging AI tools, small businesses can scale their operations without the need to hire additional staff. AI can handle tasks that would traditionally require human intervention, enabling businesses to grow in a more cost-effective manner.

AI tools can analyze large volumes of data and provide valuable insights. Small businesses can use these insights to make informed decisions, optimize their processes, and identify new opportunities for growth.

Implementing AI can give small businesses a competitive edge. By leveraging AI tools to automate tasks, optimize marketing strategies, and monitor competitors, small businesses can stay ahead of the competition and respond quickly to market changes.

If you’re a small business owner looking to harness the power of AI, the SCORE program is an excellent resource to guide you through the process. With its network of experienced mentors, SCORE can provide the knowledge, support, and guidance you need to implement AI tools effectively.

To get started, consider attending SCORE’s free webinar on “How to Effectively Use Artificial Intelligence in Your Business.” This webinar will equip you with the fundamental knowledge and practical strategies to integrate AI into your operations and drive business growth.

Remember, technology should not be intimidating. Embrace the opportunities AI presents and leverage the expertise of SCORE mentors to navigate the world of AI implementation successfully. With the right guidance and tools, you can take your small business to new heights.

Artificial Intelligence has the potential to transform small businesses by boosting efficiency, automating tasks, and providing valuable insights. However, many small business owners are still in the process of understanding and integrating AI tools into their operations. The SCORE program, with its free mentorship services and workshops, is a valuable resource for small businesses looking to implement AI effectively.

By attending SCORE’s webinar on “How to Effectively Use Artificial Intelligence in Your Business,” small business owners can gain insights into the potential applications of AI, the implementation process, and strategies for driving business growth. With the support of SCORE mentors and the power of AI, small businesses can streamline operations, optimize marketing strategies, and stay competitive in today’s digital landscape.

Don’t let the fear of technology hold your small business back. Embrace AI, leverage the expertise of SCORE, and unlock the full potential of your business. The future is AI-powered, and with the right guidance, your small business can thrive in this rapidly evolving digital world.

First reported by Fox Business.

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In the present day, people generate a larger volume of data than ever before. Determining what data is essential and matters to businesses is very challenging. It requires a significant investment from both data teams and business subject matter experts. This is because every business team owns data but not everyone fully understands it. Additionally, it’s challenging that no one comprehends why it takes so long to obtain cleaner data. What goes behind the scenes?

Jasmeet and Data Strategy

Singh has implemented winning data strategies for organizations with a varied set of industries, org structures, and different needs. Prior to joining HackerRank, he started his career in IT. He worked with medical device manufacturer Lake Region Medical based in Chaska, Minnesota. In this sort of environment, a small error in data processing could endanger patients’ lives. This could also cause lengthy FDA audits.

“At Lake Region Medical we had to ensure the highest quality standards for compliance,” Singh Says. “But without modern data governance and quality tools available today, one had to rely on creating data definitions in Excel, writing custom SQL scripts for data quality checks, and using Windows scheduler to get email alerts for failures.”

Data Strategy in Business Systems

The data strategy at the global restaurant chain On the Border must integrate multiple business systems. This includes point of sale, online ordering, 3rd party catering system, employee scheduling, attendance, etc.

“At the time most, people would call and order,” Singh said. “There were no mobile apps where customers create their profile so coming up with personalization and segmentation to give the best customer experience meant a lot of data mining.”

Data Strategy and Analytics Teams

At Amazon, data processes were already mature. However, there were different challenges of scale, complexity, and org structure. Each business had its data and analytics team.

“Amazon operates in so many businesses, so it was like working for multiple companies at once. Each business had its own data and analytics team,” Singh says. “So it was shared ownership with data contracts needed to be in place, traditional systems and architectures could not scale so everything had to be on a distributed model including people.”

Data Strategy with Machine Learning & AI. 

HUSCO International is a global manufacturing company based in Wisconsin. They tasked Jasmeet with leading digital transformation and industry 4.0 efforts using data, machine learning, and AI.

“HUSCO was using cutting edge robotics and automation technology to manufacture parts at scale, 90 percent of data was generated by sensors vs humans, it all needed to be ingested and processed in real-time to realize maximum value, data needed to be shared asset among suppliers, the manufacturer (HUSCO) and customers.”

Insights and Data Exports

Contrary to previous companies, HackerRank is a software-as-a-service company with an AI-first strategy. HackerRank caters the data strategy towards users at thousands of enterprise customers, in addition to internal business operation analytics. HackerRank operates with a POD-based model where each product area assigns a product owner and a self-sufficient engineering team.

“Insights and data exports needed to be near real-time, perform insanely fast and actionable as recruiters needed to make hiring decisions within a few minutes of conducting campus recruitment drives, it was not just HackerRank but some of the largest tech company’s reputation is at stake.”

Conclusion

Jasmeet’s mantra of winning data strategy is that there is no one-size-fits-all. Align your data strategy with the company’s overall strategy, organizational structure, and culture to ensure coherence and effectiveness. Often, data teams try to align the operating model with the architecture they pick, but Jasmeet suggests doing it the other way around. Pick the operating model first and then pick the architecture aligned with it. If you have distributed analytic teams like Amazon, pick the Distributed Data Mesh architecture. If most of the departments in the company are centralized, pick centralized data lake architecture, and pick hybrid if that makes more sense.

Jasmeet also recommends investing in data governance, data quality, and observability initiatives early on, as delaying these can sabotage the entire strategy. If users lose trust in the presented data, they stop using the reports. Therefore, Jasmeet recommends separating out the data architecture team focusing on deployment, configuration, and best practices, so data delivery teams can focus on development and meeting deadlines. He also believes that one important aspect of winning data strategy is to leverage self-service models so that precious data engineering resources deal less with ad hoc requests, allowing them to focus on big-ticket items.

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What Companies Are in the Technology Field

Alphabet Inc.

Let’s start off this list with a company nobody’s heard of. When Google restructured itself, back in 2015, Alphabet Inc. was created to be the parent company of the setup. That means Google, Gmail, YouTube, all of it. Alphabet Inc. is the umbrella it falls under. This multinational conglomerate company is valued at 1,581.72 Billion. It is stationed in Mountain View, California, and among its numerous subsidiaries hosts over 156,000 employees.

However that in and of itself does not qualify it as a tech giant worthy in standing amongst some of the best, let’s list the Alphabet subsidiaries and touch on their respective fields:

Google – Internet Services

Google Fiber – Internet Access

Deep Mind – Artificial Intelligence

Intrinsic – Robotics Software

Waymo – Autonomous Driving

Wing – Drone Based Delivery

Calico – Human Health

Verily – Human Health

CapitalG – Venture Capital

GV – Venture Capital

X Development – “Moonshot” Technologies

Yes, you read that last one correctly. “Moonshot Technologies” are essentially described as major problems addressed through a utilitarian, radical solution. X Development is quoted as a semi-secret lab aimed at the research and development of such technologies. Google’s self-driving car incited the inception of the lab that became this.

With all these conglomerated technologies: AI, internet services, massive databases, autonomous automation, and a literal Johnny Quest-style laboratory, this is surely a tech company to watch – particularly its subsidiaries, into the future.

Apple

Valued at around 2,604.32 billion, Apple has revolutionized technology and the world with its take on the smartphone. There are also their tablet technologies and Apple continues to improve upon them with its 1,608,000 employees. Their specialty is in electronics and software. Additionally, they boast other online services.

Last year, Apple claimed a 2.3 trillion valuation boosting its worth over Meta, Amazon, and Alphabet combined. All other giants on this very list.

As a business that deals in the invention of electronics and its software there is little doubt that Apple has a competitive edge in the product generation market. Besides the hardline-backed necessity of tangible merit, their footing in app development and both TV and News services provide them a competitive edge over simply logistic-based operations.

Amazon

Little understood about Amazon is the immense weight that is placed upon its algorithm. The 1,468.4 billion dollar company started as an online market, with an implementation of the aforementioned algorithm. However, over time Amazon Web Services and their Prime Logistics feature have carried them into both vertical and horizontal market expansion.

Amazon, like other tech giants, has brought research and development into autonomous driving, their car being Zoox. While this could be expected to work in tandem with their logistics services, it is said that Amazon intends to do this to rival Uber and Lyft in competition with rideshare services.

Meta

Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp. 499.86 billion. While it has been fumbling in recent memory, Meta is a tech giant that deals particularly in data and analytics. Beyond this, these services hold massive stock in the marketing space with Facebook and Instagram respectively holding the top two spots for digital marketing as of 2023.

The “Metaverse” itself has largely been deemed a joke, however, it also serves as an interesting case study as the technology trudges along. With Web3 in discussion and the advent of NFTs and other similar decentralized happenings, if these were to come to pass it could boost the Metaverse into public consciousness and give Zuckerberg and Meta a once again stranglehold monopoly within the new space.

Microsoft

While not as flashy, or seemingly as modern as many of the other tech companies on this list, Microsoft has remained in the public consciousness since 1975. Consumer electronics and consumer software leave it with a similar background to Apple. And with its acquisition of LinkedIn, it has a social media presence as well – the third best for digital marketing, in fact.

Unlike other tech giants, it has focused on largely retaining its lane and staying within the general consensus of its core space. Its MS Office features are integral to many companies, businesses, and individuals alike across the planet.

Tesla

There it is, the electric car company housing over 110,000 employees and 650.10 billion in total market value is unsurprisingly another tech company to keep on the brain within the foreseeable future. The company’s focus is on car automation and car functionality.

This leads to the development and integration of “smaller” technologies into the “bigger” picture of the vehicle. Regardless of whether that is working in conjunction with SolarCity. In intent to navigate toward renewables, or simply Tesla’s own self-driving efforts. Anything that falls under Elon Musk’s umbrella is certainly something to pay due note to as pieces are often linked within each other like looking at an aerial view of a puzzle constructed in pieces over multiple elevations.

In addition to cars and solar integrations, Tesla develops general electric battery production and research. Similarly, the car manufacturer works in the software space by designing multiple programs and interfaces within the realm of self-piloting vehicles and camera recognition and AI software.

Across the board, there are a lot of multi-billion dollar tech companies all vying for clear market dominance in the “tech” space. This all diversifies and branches out in its own specific and nuanced ways, however ultimately the key point and takeaway is, as a good rule of thumb; look at all the technology companies that are doing essentially the same thing.

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Whether you do your own taxes or use a tax professional, here are some tips that can help you get a jump on your taxes year-round.

Prepare for Tax Season: Keep excellent, organized records

When you prepare for tax season there are things you will want to avoid. This includes the last-minute crunch of searching for tax-critical business information by employing good record-keeping strategies. Consider using accounting software to simplify the tracking and managing of everything from receipts, invoices, and mileage to income and bank transactions. Customize your software and sync it to your bank accounts, credit cards, payment apps, and e-commerce tools. This will allow you to run real-time reports and gain insights.

The right software can help deliver peace of mind during tax season. This is also true at moment you want to know where your money is going and what’s coming in. And there are options for paperless organization. This means you can trade rummaging through a receipt-filled shoebox for more time to focus on growing your business.

Understand tax laws 

Tax laws can be complicated and are in a constant state of flux. But as a business owner, understanding your federal, state, and local tax requirements is essential when you prepare for tax season. Be sure to always stay on top of the latest tax laws and policies, whether it’s a new tax obligation or a recently introduced tax credit that could reduce the amount of money you need to pay, dollar for dollar. Keep informed by visiting the IRS website or consult with an accountant to ensure you’re in compliance with new tax rules and taking advantage of any eligible tax deductions and credits.

Track your tax deductions 

No one wants to pay more than they have to. Small business owners can often write off many expenses. These expenses include office rent and supplies, car expenses and mileage, and business-related travel. Understanding which tax deductions you may be entitled to can help speed up your tax filing process. It can also save you money—a win-win!

You could wait until tax time to go through all your records and messy spreadsheets. However, a better way is to utilize user-friendly accounting software that automatically categorizes your business expenses through synced accounts. Whether you spend money on legal services, contract labor, or other deductible expenses, this software can help you stay organized throughout the year. It can also improve accuracy when adding up your claims. Export your documents when it’s tax time, or share them with your accountant. And it gets better: the software itself is a tax-deductible expense.

Prepare for Tax Season: Monitor finances and plan

Monitoring your financial statements throughout the year will always be beneficial. It can help you uncover issues you may need to address in order to prepare for tax season. For example, it may be a good idea to estimate your potential taxes to minimize surprises. Or use an accounting software system that can forecast money-in and money-out to help manage cash flow.

Paying attention to your finances can also help you understand the impact some of your expenses could have on your taxes, such as if you’re purchasing equipment. Perhaps you qualify for Section 179, an IRS Tax Code which allows businesses to deduct the cost of certain property, like equipment or machinery, as an expense when the year it was placed in service.

Prepare for Tax Season: Know your business tax deadlines

With everything else on your plate, there are also tax filing deadlines throughout the year to keep in mind. Knowing when your taxes are due can help you avoid accruing interest, penalties, and not-so-friendly reminders from the IRS.

Business tax due dates vary depending on your business classification. And if you’re a sole proprietor, partner, LCC member, or independent contractor, you’re required to pay estimated quarterly tax payments.

Have employees? You’ll need to report the amounts of federal income taxes and other payroll taxes you have been withholding from your employees. Payroll is another area where some accounting software solutions may assist by calculating, filing, and payroll taxes for you. One less thing you have to worry about.

View the IRS Online Tax Calendar to determine when your business taxes are due and add the dates to your personal calendar.

Prepare for Tax Season: Set up an inventory tracking system

Obsolete inventory that cannot be sold may reduce your taxable income, so keeping track of your unsold products may save you money at tax time. If you own a product-based business, consider setting up an inventory tracking software system that makes real-time tracking of goods, raw materials, and finished products easy so that you know what you still have on hand.

Prepare for Tax Season: Build a dedicated tax savings account

If you’re self-employed, having a savings account earmarked for taxes can give you peace of mind that you’ll have money to cover what you owe when submitting your quarterly estimated tax filings. Keep the account separate from other accounts, such as your personal, business checking, or emergency fund accounts. Determine your tax bracket and estimate what percentage of your income you should allot toward taxes.

Tax season may never be considered the “most wonderful time of the year,” but it doesn’t have to be the most stressful either. Make tax prep a business-as-usual task all year and help set yourself up for smoother sailing at tax time.

The post How Businesses Can Prepare for Tax Season Year-Round appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

1. Use Chatbots to Draft Candidate Communications 

Staying in touch with candidates through the hiring process is crucial, but it becomes more difficult as the number of people applying rises. Fortunately, you can use tools like ChatGPT to suggest how to tell applicants about their progress. For example, will you invite them to an interview or inform them others are better suited to the role? 

Following up with all candidates protects your brand and shows respect to the people who decided to apply. A tool like ChatGPT could also help you develop consistent messaging, further strengthening the perception of your company. 

Consider using a chatbot to help you craft content for various situations. Whether you need to let candidates know their applications are under review or want to extend job offers, clear communication will make these experiences better for everyone involved. 

2. Let Chatbots Create New Content for Job Ads

When decision-makers at your SME commit to recruiting and hiring more candidates, you must take the time to ensure any previously used job ads still reflect current needs and benefits. You may also need to make wholly or mostly new postings to attract the kinds of people you hope to hire. 

You might stipulate that international workers you hire will be contractors rather than employees. Alternatively, you might need to clarify that advanced English-language skills are a prerequisite for getting hired. 

Perhaps you’re recruiting to fill skills gaps in your organization. In that case, make sure the job listing has those specifics. You might say it’s essential for candidates to have at least three years of artificial intelligence (AI)  development or cybersecurity experience. Whatever the case, tools such as ChatGPT can help you write that content more quickly. 

You can even format your query by stipulating that the chatbot’s responses must have or should not contain certain elements. This should dramatically accelerate your workflow. 

One study found that three-quarters of respondents thought AI would gradually become more natural and human-like. Even if you believe that, don’t be fooled into thinking AI can replace your oversight. Let the technology supplement it instead.

3. Rely on ChatGPT for Candidate Assessments

Many employers remain unsure of whether to allow their workers to use AI. Some have banned it outright. They worry that products like ChatGPT could provide incorrect information or enable people to cheat. However, there are better approaches than forbidding candidates to use generative AI tools.

One possibility is to test candidates’ resourcefulness with AI by allowing them to use it during company assessments. It’s already clear artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly significant factor in how people use the internet and complete various tasks. Recruiters typically want to see whether applicants can think creatively and use all the tools available to them.

Consider creating one assessment where people can use AI tools and another that forbids it. Then, compare the results and look for details of someone’s most obvious strengths and weaknesses. 

4. Have the Chatbot Suggest Interview or Screener Questions

It’s always a good idea to freshen up your interview questions when engaging with candidates. Some people suggest using ChatGPT to understand what will likely be asked during interviews. It does work that way, but you can also have it create new questions for candidates. 

One option is to paste the job description into the ChatGPT input box and ask the tool to provide appropriate questions. That could encourage you to think differently by going beyond how you’ve previously engaged with candidates during the interview process. 

Another possibility is to use an AI chatbot while writing your candidate screener questions. People see them when they’re submitting resumes and cover letters. They might ask individuals what appeals to them about a specific job, how prepared they are to relocate, and which characteristics make them most well-suited to succeed. 

Coming up with these questions takes time and effort, but those are some of the strongest reasons to rely on AI chatbots. You’ll still need to proofread the queries and potentially make some tweaks, but this technology application is a definite time-saver. 

Maintain a Realistic Perspective

AI chatbots are incredibly versatile, but they don’t replace human input. Use these suggestions as jumping-off points for how you might apply these tools in your organization — particularly for recruitment. The potential applications will undoubtedly change and expand as technology advances. However, these are practical and useful ways to experiment with it now.

The post The Use of Chatbots and Generative AI, Such as ChatGPT, in SME Recruitment appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

In 2022, statistics gathered by Invesp found that U.S. businesses are more focused on improving customer acquisitions over retention strategies. The Chicago-based marketing consulting firm noted that “for every $100 spent on acquiring new customers, only $5 is spent on retaining existing ones.”

Finding new customers is essential for sustaining business growth, but it’s not enough. It is also necessary that small business owners and entrepreneurs place special emphasis on preventing customer loss. Many customers demonstrate high satisfaction rates due to fair prices, personalization, and high satisfaction. However, reducing customer churn and building up customer loyalty have been shown to help businesses thrive over time. It also reduces expenses associated with customer loss.

To prevent customer loss in 2023, it is important that entrepreneurs and small business owners look at how they can optimize their customer interactions. There is a myriad of technological tools that can help accomplish this goal. Here are 6 tools we believe every business needs to improve customer experiences and reduce customer losses this year and beyond.

1. Customer Experience Technologies

A report by Fortune Business Insights shows that the global customer experience management market has grown to $22.41 billion and is expected to reach 32 billion by 2029. Having a targeted message that speaks directly to potential customers and the right tools in place can improve customer experiences and brand loyalty. As a result, this is effective at reducing customer churn and growing retention rates.

The use of customer experience tools allows you to better understand your target customers. It also allows you to track their journeys and preferences and meet specific customer needs with automated processes. Amplitude is a great example of how you can improve your understanding of customer behavior and turn user data into meaningful insights that impact future product developments. Leading brands such as Dropbox, Walmart, HubSpot, and Notion trust the platform. It streamlines customer data analysis while increasing growth and engagement.

2. Subscription and Billing Software

A recent study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows that customers are more likely to make payments on time when they receive payment reminders and have a digital payment platform that is quick and simple to use. To boost payment collection efficiency and keep your customers in good standing, consider using automated billing software to optimize payments.

Look for software that includes a list of features that will help you reduce attrition rates. Reports have shown that users who use Regpack billing solutions experience a 25% decrease in customer losses. It also shows a 30% increase in cash flow. Regpack provides a recurring billing solution that is equipped with customizable recurring schedules, easily managed payment plans, and auto-billing options to streamline invoicing.

3. Customer Relationship Management Tools

To keep your customers happy, focusing on customer relationships is essential for tracking data and understanding interactions. CRM tools have the capability to prevent customer loss and drive sales. It does this by better understanding customer needs, reducing operational costs, and supporting ongoing customer relations.

Zendesk has become a world-class name for over 10,000 companies across the globe. Known as a tool for providing exceptional customer service and managing customer relationships, it supports customer retention efforts. It does this by comparing the performance and strategies of competitors to provide customized CRM ideas for your business.

4. Digital Payment Solutions

A common barrier that keeps customers from returning is credit card fees at the checkout process. This usually falls around 3% of the total order amount. Credit card processing fees can be expensive for your business. But, it is best to refrain from charging your customers a fee or surcharge to recoup costs.

Consider a digital solution that offers account-to-account payments to avoid additional fees and provide a seamless customer checkout experience. Dwolla is a great option for eliminating credit card fees, serving as an easily implemented, low-code payment solution. This robust payment platform has helped businesses increase transaction volumes by 86% after integrating same-day ACH payments that reduced fund transfer costs and streamlined account transfers for users. The success of this innovative tool provides a white-labeled experience. It maintains brand loyalty and reduces administrative costs to work smarter and not harder.

5. Upsell Cross-Sell Software

Upselling and cross-selling strategies are great ways to keep customers coming back. Yet, many businesses leave the bulk of these strategies to customer support teams or hesitate altogether. A study by Bain & Co. found that returning customers spend over 65% more than first-time consumers. So, while chasing after new customers is more costly compared to retaining current customers, capturing opportunities with loyal customers is a valuable way to offset additional costs.

One of the best tools to support customer interactions during the post-purchasing phase is Klaviyo which uses SMS and email marketing to stay organized and save time on cross-selling. This e-commerce marketing automation platform has successfully earned its customers over $14 billion in untapped revenue. This is all while delivering greater retention rates.

6. Customer Feedback Tools

While reducing churn is an essential goal to have, don’t leave out efforts to win back customer loyalty. The Harvard Business Review has previously noted the need for companies to place greater emphasis on winning back lapsed customers using SMART strategies. In 2023, this means using the right tools to collect customer feedback, then using the feedback to gain back lost customer trust and loyalty.

To help you better identify why your business has experienced customer churn, you want to have an effective tool for gathering customer feedback. Survicate is one great option for delivering surveys in minutes across all distribution channels and informing you of the churn factors impacting your retention efforts.

Investing in digital solutions and self-service channels that are made to reduce customer losses is guaranteed to deliver long-term business growth, while still allowing leaders to focus on bringing in new customers. What tools will your business use to improve customer retention this year?

The post Prevent Customer Loss: 6 Tools Every Business Needs in 2023 appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What are 3PLs and what do they offer businesses of all sizes?

3PL companies provide businesses of all sizes with access to a wide range of services. These services include warehousing, inventory management, and transportation services. Companies can accomplish a great deal by outsourcing these specialized tasks to 3PL experts. They can improve efficiency, reduce costs, free up time for core business activities, and compete better in the market.

3PLs are adept at handling complex supply chain activities. 3PLs do everything from coordinating between suppliers and end customers to managing order entry and tracking inventories. Even optimizing route networks for transportation optimization and cost savings analysis.

With their expertise and expansive network of resources, 3PLs offer a reliable way to manage the many different facets of a business’s logistical needs.

How can a 3PL help streamline your supply chain and improve operations?

Working with a 3PL provider can be a cost-effective way to streamline your supply chain and improve operations. They manage the process from start to finish. Additionally, they have developed systems and processes that will help you eliminate any costly mistakes or delays.

They can develop efficient solutions for a wide range of shipping situations. This reduces costs while protecting the quality of the goods you are shipping.

In addition, they are experts in technological solutions such as automated tracking tools and innovative packaging techniques that no other provider may offer. By leveraging the expertise of such scalable systems, you can reduce direct labor costs by up to 30% and dramatically increase efficiency levels, resulting in improved ROI and greater profitability.

What are some benefits of using a 3PL for your business?

When it comes to running a successful business, there are so many moving parts. If you want to ensure maximum efficiency and success, using a 3PL can be an important part of your strategy.

They specialize in providing businesses with a variety of essential services. The services include inventory tracking, order fulfillment, shipping and freight management, freight forwarding; the list goes on! By engaging a 3PL, you will have access to their extensive network of resources. This allows you to save time and money while you focus on your core expertise.

Additionally, 3PLs have been proven to reduce costs associated with storing goods by optimizing storage locations and managing product replenishment more effectively. Whether your business is just expanding or seeking cost savings through specialized resource outsourcing there are many benefits that come along with working with a talented and experienced 3PL partner.

How do you choose the right 3PL for your company’s needs?

Choosing the right 3PL for your company’s needs can seem like a complex task, however, it all comes down to finding the best fit for you. Make sure you keep an open mind as you research potential providers and don’t forget to evaluate resources such as reviews, references, and certifications.

Look into pricing options and services available, such as storage space and order fulfillment services too. A good 3PL should be flexible enough to meet your process requirements whether they involve manual or automated techniques.

If shipping is part of the service they are offering, compare their rates and capabilities against carriers you already use too. You will also want to take any existing customer relationships into account, as an existing business relationship may be beneficial for the successful management of production processes in the long run.

Lastly, don’t forget about technology when evaluating potential logistics providers. Having the flexibility for suppliers and customers to access data within a secure cloud platform is a critical aspect of effective supply chain management these days.

Doing ample research based on your objectives should result in finding an effective 3PL provider that meets all your business needs.

What should you consider when negotiating a contract with a 3PL provider?

When negotiating a contract with a 3PL provider, it’s important to make sure you understand the many details of your agreement. Start by researching what services are included and what additional fees may be incurred. Make sure critical deadlines like delivery dates and payment terms are set out clearly in the contract before signing.

Look for a provider who is willing to collaborate and be flexible throughout the process. Be sure that their pricing structure aligns with your needs, both long-term and short-term. Any changes down the line can have serious cost implications. Communicate openly and efficiently with your 3PL provider, so both of you can come to an agreement where everyone benefits.

How will implementing a 3PL benefit your bottom line?

On top of potential cost savings as 3PLs are highly efficient and know where to obtain the best rates. Having a professional handle such matters for you means peace of mind. You can rest knowing that everything has been well taken care of by experts who specialize in their field.

As mentioned above, utilizing 3PLs is a great way to streamline processes and increase overall security and efficiency. By leveraging the expertise of a 3PL provider, organizations are ultimately able to focus on core competencies that support business growth.

Conclusion

In summary, as the business landscape continues to change at a rapid pace. It is more important than ever for companies to adopt new strategies that will allow them to remain competitive. 3PL providers offer a number of advantages that can help businesses to improve their operations and extend their reach.

If you are looking for ways to increase your company’s efficiency and effectiveness, consider working with a 3PL provider. There is much you can do with the right partner. You can gain access to the latest technology, tap into new markets, and improve your bottom line.

The post Adopting New Strategies: The Power of 3PL for Your Business appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Each business has its own apparel, that while streamlined, serves tailored toward an air of professionalism. Each is built appropriately to suit the job’s numerous functions and economically-stratified levels. So with each seeking out professionalism at its appropriately deemed level, there becomes a new question: what is business attire?

There are several key levels of dress outside of an issued uniform. This article will seek to illuminate the general articles (of clothing) that one would typically come across at each level and additionally what an outfit would most typically be appropriately composed of.

Women’s Business Attire

The Suit

This is the hallmark of business attire. The mainstay itself. A strong suit is tailored.  Always clean and pressed. Equally important, the suit should be a darker color: black, gray, and navy are all consistently accepted colors. It can be worn with either a skirt or pants suit accordingly. Make sure the fit is not too tight, small, short, or baggy. Professionalism comes from form.

• Pressed and Clean
• Dark and Neutral Colors
• Tailored, Worn with a Pantsuit or Skirt

The Blouse

Blouses offer generally more stylistic opportunities than most business attire. Furthermore, the blouse should always be clean and can come in either the collard or simple round neck variety. Softer pastel colors are often allotted beyond the usual white. Avoid anything excessive or trendy.

• Collared or Round
• Soft Colors
• Well Fitted, Pay Mind how the Collared Blouse Wears

The Shoes

Shoes should be used to complement the outfit. This will typically exist in the form of a classic pump. Heels themselves are not required but should never exceed past 4”. Ultimately go with an option that is clean and polished, but one that you are comfortable walking in. Likewise, avoid trendy, overstated footwear.

• Complement the Outfit
• Classic Pump
• Heels Remain at or Under 4”

Hosiery and Accessories

The hosiery should be worn with a skirt suit. Find a sheer style without any pattern. The color should match well with the suit. All accessories should complement the outfit while remaining understated.

• Hosiery with Skirt Suit
• No Flashy Accessories

Men’s Business Attire

The Suit

The suit itself is the flagship enterprise of business attire. Ever the safe bet, a traditional suit should sport dark, neutral colors and avoid being distracting or trendy. Also, the pants should match the suit (in most cases) and all should be kept at the appropriate length – sleeves to hands with the jacket possessing a roughly 80% overfold on the glutes and crotch. A proper suit should be pressed thoroughly.

• Pressed and Clean
• Dark Color
• Tailored for Jacket, Sleeves Fall at Hands

The Shirt

A good shirt should in theory, typically boast the same lengths as the suit jacket – hands, butt, crotch. It should be cleaned and pressed. With this in mind, a long sleeve and button down to reach the proper pedigree – this is not business casual. The shirt should theoretically be white, or another similarly understated color. It does not have to be tailored, however, it should fit well.

• Long Sleeve Button Down
• Simple, Soft Color
• Well Fitted

Socks, Shoes, Belt, Tie

Shoes should be clean and either brown or black. Socks should match the suit. The same goes for the belt. Utilize a solid belt pairing for added cohesion and professionalism. The tie is often where you can have the most “fun” if you can call it that, but it should typically be conservatively understated as well. Think of a typical solid, potentially soft color, or an underwhelming pattern.

• Cohesive
• Compliment Suit with Colors
• Distinct, but Not Distracting (should add to the outfit)

Women’s Business Casual

Blouse

The blouse can and should remain largely unchanged from the business attire. Provided that it is clean, pressed, and well-fitted. This can once again be either round or collared. It should be soft and understated, avoid flash, pomp, or anything overtly bright.

• Clean, Pressed, Fitted
• Round or Collared
• Soft, Unassuming Colors

Pants

Dark colors are preferable for pants. It’s important that they’re well-fitted and freshly ironed. Business casual exists to set a level more than any particular style. There is a chance to express oneself via one’s choice of clothing, so long as the trousers are properly tailored for business and the colors are not garish.

• Darker Colors
• Well-Fitted, Especially in Length

Shoes, Accessories

Shoes should be clean and dressier in nature. Generally, one should make sure to avoid anything flashy or overly ceremonious. Heels are fine for business casual dress. Once again, avoid the grandiose or trends. Accessories like scarves can be used to pull together an outfit, but once again should be used for stylistic cohesion.

• Heels are Fine
• Accessories Should add Professionalism and Cohesion, Not Distraction

Men’s Business Casual

The Shirt

Business casual dress offers far greater wiggle room for personal affinities or stylings. For the torso, there is the freedom of options. A clean, well-pressed shirt is standard, obviously. Also, a polo or a simple collared shirt is fine. Furthermore, a sport coat is optional assuaging the need for a tie.

• Typically Short Sleeve
• Sport Coat Opportunity

Pants

The pants should pair well with the shirt and be of a typically nicer fashion. For the most part, they are more often in essence non-suit dress pants. Think khakis. Avoid jeans. Think Justice Stewart’s “I know it when I see it.”

• Khakis
• Simple Color (brown, tan, gray, etc.)

Socks, Shoes, Belt, Tie

Lastly, socks should match your shoes. Generally, shoes should be one of the nicer pairs, with room for the individual’s proclivities and distinctions. Furthermore, a belt is a requirement, as the shirt should remain tucked. Find a belt that once again plays well between the shirt and pants. Additionally, common business casual attire does not often include a tie. If you are wearing a sport coat this remains the case.

• Dress Shoes
• Paired Belt
• No Tie

In conclusion, these are the most common forms of dress that will be appearing in your typical workplace. After grasping one element, be it the suit, blouse, or dress shirt, the outfit will typically pull itself as well as its stylistic choices together naturally.

The post Small Business Guide to Business Attire appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Considering all the other work and tasks that have to be completed in a day, strengthening cybersecurity can quickly turn into an afterthought. Regardless, proper security against ever-evolving hacking techniques is essential for preventing major financial and reputable harm.

According to Statista, a cyber incident is the main risk for small businesses in 2023. Its repercussions are more damaging and concerning for companies than inflation, energy crisis, trade wars, or natural catastrophes.

So, what is XDR security all about, what makes it essential for IT teams who manage security, and how does it cut costs for small businesses?

What Is XDR Security?

XDR security is the platform that aids teams make sense of the large quantity of data coming from several security tools while also automating responses to known exploits.

The key function of this security solution? Collect, analyze, and correlate security data then organized and shown in one interface.

Another main function is to automatically respond to threats regardless of where within the network they might occur.
As a result, security is simplified. Also, IT departments retain visibility of the state of the security from a single user-friendly dashboard to which they can refer and make informed decisions on how to protect the company.

Closing the Gap in the Security

Most small businesses will have layers of security tools that consist of:

• A firewall to observe and block any unwanted traffic
• Antivirus programs to remove malicious software that managed to get into the system
• Virtual Private Network (VPN) to protect remote employees
• Phishing awareness training for all employees within the company
• Insisting on multi-factor authentication and stronger passwords for employees

While this is a good start for building strong security, such companies don’t have a chance when facing zero-day threats and more sophisticated hacking attempts.

This is precisely where XDR security comes in handy.

It gives the company the means, visibility, and comprehensive reports they need to fight more advanced threats that security teams have to mitigate manually.

Providing a Key Asset for Security Teams

Small businesses lack a large security team managed by CISO (short for Chief information security officer). How does XDR security help SMEs get the most out of the IT personnel at the company’s disposal?

Before XDR security, companies would rely solely on security information and event management (SIEM) technology.

The main disadvantage of the old SIEM is that it would bombard the team with too many alters. Many of them would not indicate the high risks. Most would be discarded as false positives.

To fix that, XDR enables teams to manage security from a single interface. Increased visibility in the state of the security provides them with actionable reports and suggestions on how to prioritize tasks.

The tool uses machine learning to analyze the information about the security posture in the context of a company.

This helps it to catch if something out of the ordinary is occurring within the systems. Teams have useful information at hand, such as which parts of the infrastructure are affected and whether the risk is critical (e.g. is there a possibility of endangered sensitive data?)

XDR security boosts the productivity of teams. It allows them to dedicate their time to tasks that matter and reduces fatigue caused by the frequent change of the dashboards.

Being a Cost-Effective Solution for Growing Companies

XDR can cut costs for small businesses by:

• Preventing major cyber incidents that cease work in the company or cause data theft
• Not having to go through the most expensive part of the cyber breach (the recovery time)

The average cost of cyberattacks for small businesses due to the recovery period is between $15,000 to $25,000. This doesn’t include the cost of possible legal action, damaged reputation, or even restoration of the system itself.

For SMEs, the average recovery period is 279 days or just over nine months.

Financial damage and the duration of the recovery period also depend on how long a bad actor has illicit access to the network and whether sensitive user data has been stolen during the attack.

With XDR, small businesses can detect and remove hacking threats faster. This saves them the costs that would otherwise have to be allocated to repairing the network and investigating the crime.

Instead of purchasing multiple solutions that have versatile dashboards, XDR security provides small businesses with the means to respond to cybercrime by relying on the data from the unified security solution. This scales as the business grows and reaches new heights.

Main Advantages of XDR Security

Whether you’re looking for a solution that can improve the speed at which you detect and react to threats or want to help your security team, XDR can be beneficial to your small business.

It’s an essential resource for your small cybersecurity team. It allows them a birdseye view of the complete security posture. Additionally, it organizes data in reports whose insights they can use to strengthen the security or react in time.

For small companies that already have some form of basic protection, XDR offers a more advanced, but also a user-friendly solution with which they can tackle more sophisticated threats.

Finally, XDR security saves on the costs otherwise needed to repair the architecture following the cyberattack or paid during ceased operations.

The post Helping Small Businesses Fight Cyber Crime: XDR Security appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

This isn’t surprising. Freelancers like to think of themselves as their own bosses.

However, in reality, they have as many bosses (at least) as they have clients. Each of those mini-bosses works on a different schedule, has a different management style, and communicates in different ways. (If they communicate at all…experienced freelancers know this is not always a strong suit for clients.) Juggling all this is exhausting. More than that, it’s discouraging.

Frustrated with the grind, many freelancers burn out. As a result, many seek the relative predictability of traditional employment, even if it means giving up some earning potential. They want to keep freelancing but are having a hard time envisioning a happy path forward in balancing it all.

Others would love to grow their freelance business. However, many either don’t know where to start or can’t find the time and mental energy to scale. So they pull back, content to work with a manageable, comfortable set of core clients.

Work Smarter, Not Harder

Maybe you sense burnout creeping in, extinguishing whatever joy you once found in your work.

Worse, it’s diminishing the quality of your output. Or perhaps you remain perfectly content as a freelancer, but unfulfilled. You’re always beating back that nagging sense you’re capable of doing (and earning) more.

The problem isn’t that you live off 1099s instead of W-2s. Nor that you’ve fallen out of love with your specialty and need to find a new line of work. More likely, it’s that you’re not managing your freelance business as efficiently as you could — and that inefficiency is preventing your business from becoming something more.

You need a tool that automates and streamlines the nitty-gritty details of freelancing, freeing you to focus on the creative work you do best and work toward the growth or income goals you’ve put off because you’re so busy with everything else.

Harlow is that tool. No, it can’t work miracles. However, it can significantly improve your efficiency and strategic discipline. Both of these are critical if you’re serious about scaling. Here’s how.

Proposal Templates (And Contracts) You Can Take Pride In

Feel like you barely have time to prospect for new clients, let alone put together thoughtful, attention-grabbing proposals to win them over? Harlow’s professionally designed proposal and contract templates make this time-consuming part of freelancing that much easier.

Find a template you like, customize it with your logo and brand colors, and save it for easy access whenever a new opportunity presents itself. No more time spent building branded proposals and contracts from scratch — or, worse, using plain text documents that scream “boring” and “anonymous.”

Harlow gives you the option to add e-signatures to your proposals as well. Whatever nostalgia you might feel for the old-fashioned “print, sign, scan, email” process, you have to admit e-signatures are faster and less error-prone.

Legalese, Done

You know that what your proposals and contracts say is just as important as how they look.

Especially your contracts. If a client relationship goes south — they delay or refuse payment, or threaten legal action over something you did or didn’t do — you need a contract that’s actually legitimate (and legally binding).

Harlow takes care of that for you. While they don’t provide legal representation, their contracts are written by legal professionals. No need to write your own legalese, which you have no business doing anyway unless you’re a freelance lawyer.

No need to worry, either, about whether the random freelance contract template you found online for free will actually protect you.

Fast, Organized Invoicing

One of the many advantages of freelancing is being able to dictate your payment terms. Not only how much you charge — if a client doesn’t want to pay your going rate, they can negotiate or end the relationship — but how frequently you get paid and by what method.

Maybe you’re a Stripe fan. Or a PayPal enthusiast. Perhaps you’re a credit card die-hard. Or, inexplicably, you prefer the crisp thwack of a paper check, mailed monthly to your P.O. box.

Whatever the case, you know it takes work to get paid. You have to generate a new invoice, fill it out with the client’s information and a description of services rendered and dollar values and all the rest, and send it off by email or snail mail or text.

Multiply this by however many clients you have and however many times you invoice per year and you’ve got what’s practically a part-time job as an invoice manager — an unpaid one at that.

Harlow’s invoicing suite uses pre-built invoices that you can custom-finish rather than start from scratch. You choose the frequency — one-off or recurring on your preferred schedule. You build in your preferred payment method. If you have clients in different countries, you can accept currencies other than U.S. dollars. And Harlow automates follow-up and payment logging, so you can focus on the next project while awaiting payment for the last.

Seamless Integration With the Rest of Your Digital Work Life

Calendar management (or lack thereof) holds countless freelancers back. Add in the multitude of apps the typical freelancer relies on to get work done and the whole thing can feel unworkable at times. Taking on more complex projects under these conditions is a nonstarter.

Harlow can’t make you better at managing your time; that’s still on you. But it does integrate with Google Workspace (the former GSuite) so you can spend less time toggling between your calendar, your client contact list, your invoices, and your to-do list.

The less time you spend running down this or that detail of your finances or meeting schedule, the more time you have to focus on finding new clients or expanding your relationship with existing ones.

Project and Task Management to Keep You on Track

Do you use a project or task management app to stay on top of your assignments and strategic objectives? Or do you just wing it, maybe updating handwritten or Google Doc-based to-do lists when you have a free second?

Either way — and especially in the second case — you’re probably spending too much time thinking about what you should be doing and not enough time actually doing it.

Harlow’s built-in project and task management tool is appropriate for simple, small-scale personal tasks (say, paying estimated taxes) and more complicated professional needs (mapping out milestones for a six-month project, for example). You can track time against any task right in the interface. This means you won’t lose out on billable work or fail to compute exactly how long you spent on essential non-billable stuff, like prospecting for new clients or onboarding your own contractors.

Get Serious About Scaling

If you’re a freelancer, that means you’re a business owner, even if you don’t feel like it. Which also means you’re already walking a path that only a small fraction of your peers dare to follow.

Yes, it’s risky, and it can be lonely and thankless. But it’s exhilarating and full of potential. With a few tweaks to your routine and the right tools to support your operation, you can turn that potential into reality, all the while growing the success of what you so bravely started.

The post The Tool That Will Help Scale Your Freelance Business appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

How Abandoned Carts Undermine Potential Revenue

Abandoned carts are precisely what they sound like.

They’re the digital equivalent of filling your cart with items at a store, changing your mind about buying your cart’s contents, and walking out without making a purchase.

It’s worth pointing out that, in this case, it’s even worse. It’s much easier to add items to a digital cart, close out a window, and never look back.

It should come as no surprise that abandoned carts are a common issue for online retailers. This is easiest to explain via a retailer’s “abandonment rate.”

Customer Cart Abandonment Rate in Simple Terms

Your abandonment rate reflects the number of carts visitors generate on your site. The abandonment rate compares that to the number of purchases they complete.

For instance, consider if 100 people visit your Etsy site on a given day and create a shopping cart. If 36 of those people complete their purchases, your abandonment rate is 100 – 36 = 64%.

That number may sound high, but Baymard Institute begs to differ. The research organization reports that the average documented abandonment rate for online shopping carts as of August 2022 was 69.99%.

Steering Clear of Making Hasty Assumptions

The good news is that this number doesn’t represent potential customers who have definitively decided not to patronize your brand. On the contrary, there are many reasons for people to abandon carts while online shopping.

Statista lists things like slow delivery, excessive extra costs (like shipping), and the need to create an account as the primary reasons people didn’t cash out in 2022. It isn’t until the fourth reason on the list (just 18% didn’t trust a site with their credit card information) that the issue becomes more connected to specific failures on the part of the retailer.

In other words, in most cases an abandoned cart isn’t a burned bridge. It’s simply a failure to complete a purchase. This naturally implies that, if handled correctly, following up on abandoned carts can be a legitimate (and profitable) source of revenue for an e-commerce company. The question is, how?

Reclaiming Cart Abandonment Income

With so many abandoned carts out there, it’s important to consider multiple ways to reclaim that unrealized cash. Here are some different strategies to consider heading into 2023.

Send abandoned cart emails.

This is one of the most tried and true ways to follow up on an abandoned cart. If a potential customer gives you enough information (including an email address), you can send them an email reminding them about an abandoned cart.

When a shopper is a repeat buyer or an older customer with an account or purchase history with your brand, you can even personalize the message.

Retention.com points out that there are also ways to engage with anonymous cart abandoners. On-site software can collect first-party cookies, allowing you to reach out to unknown website visitors who filled a cart and left it behind.

Fire off a text message.

E-commerce website giant Shopify reports that nearly a third of all U.S. internet users used mobile devices to purchase something every week in 2021. The significant number of mobile shoppers makes text messages a solid alternative to an abandoned cart email.

When a mobile shopper leaves items in their cart in your app or mobile site, sending an SMS notification can be a perfect way to draw them back in. These are quick, subtle messages — and they aren’t seen as spam, either.

Try exit popups.

Abandoned carts are a time-sensitive issue. If someone leaves your site, there’s a good chance that they’re still shopping and want to find a better deal or an easier checkout process. This sense of urgency means the sooner you connect with a customer after they leave a cart, the better.

Exit intent popups allow you to do exactly that — before they even leave your site. These popups trigger when a user is about to leave a website. Hubspot explains that these should include offers or information that can draw potential customers back to their carts, such as a discount or free shipping.

Reclaiming Abandoned Cart Revenue in 2023

Customer cart abandonment revenue should never be an afterthought. It’s a significant source of potential revenue growth for most businesses.

Remember, a consumer who has gone as far as putting an item in a cart is close to being sold. They are much closer to the point of purchase than a new lead. They are far closer even than someone at the beginning of the customer journey.

Make sure to keep this dormant income in mind. Leverage it as you create and adjust your e-commerce strategies for the year ahead.

The post How to Reclaim Revenue by Reducing Customer Cart Abandonment appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

One of the best ways to open up the doors for delegation is by helping a small business owner see the value that comes from offloading a job onto someone else. This is particularly true when that task has to do with keeping up with the complicated and overwhelming world of human resources.

What Is Outsourced HR?

As the work world becomes more interconnected through technology, HR professionals are seeing their responsibilities increase in complexity. One of the most obvious examples of this is remote work.

As businesses great and small hire across international borders, it opens up a Pandora’s box of regulations and compliance concerns. A common solution to this challenge is to outsource the HR responsibilities associated with those new hires. Also called human resource outsourcing or HRO, outsourced HR involves passing HR functions off to an independent third-party provider.

Depending on the situation, you can farm out either all or a portion of your administrative HR duties to outside entities. The global HR solution specialists at Remote point out that outsourcing HR can have other nuances, too.

For instance, a company may need to choose between an EOR (employer of record) or PEO (professional employer organization) to efficiently navigate HR requirements in another country.

While it does take some work to set up, outsourcing HR can offer small businesses several key benefits, especially when it comes to efficiency.

6 Efficient Benefits of Outsourced HR for Small Businesses

Here are a handful of the most important ways outsourced HR can benefit small businesses, despite their limited size, time, and resources.

1. Keeping Up With Regulations

HR is a regulation-heavy field.

However, it doesn’t just take time to grasp all of the rules and compliance concerns that come with hiring and retaining employees. You also need to invest significant effort into keeping up with those standards and requirements. Outsourcing HR takes that ongoing burden off of the shoulders of a small business’s employees.

2. Cutting Costs

One of the most obvious advantages of HRO is that it saves money.

The cost of hiring a full-time HR professional is significant. ZipRecruiter estimates the average annual U.S. HR salary at over $66,000. Working with a third-party provider gives small businesses access to the same skills and services at a fraction of that price.

3. Freeing Up Precious Time

A small business owner may decide that they can get by without a full-time HR professional on staff. In fact, that’s often the case.

But the truth is, whether you have a human resource rep on your team or not, someone is going to need to spend time tending to that part of running a small business. Outsourcing HR frees up significant quantities of time that can be reallocated to more productive activities.

4. Better Retention

Chairman and CEO of Lyons HR, Bill Lyons, emphasizes the impact that HRO can have not just on upfront efficiencies like payroll and administrative costs. He also points to retention as a quiet-yet-critical way outsourced HR can revolutionize a small business’s efficiency.

When a small business works with a third-party provider, it can provide higher-quality HR services to its employees. This helps them feel valued and well-compensated for services, leading to improved loyalty and retention, both of which have a direct impact on efficiency over time.

5. Access to Better Talent

One subtle way outsourced HR can improve small business efficiency is through access to better talent.

When you use an HRO partner, it gives you the confidence to recruit the best individuals for your team. This is true no matter where they’re located or what complexities come with hiring them. This sets up a much larger talent pool, helping you build a better, more efficient team.

6. Help With Scaling

As small businesses scale, their HR needs grow, as well.

Typically success comes with more hires, a larger staff, greater compliance and regulation concerns, and so on. When you have an experienced and knowledgeable HRO partner, you can address these needs without spending unnecessary quantities of your internal staff’s precious time, effort, or resources.

HR is a necessary part of any small business. It’s also a complicated and evolving field that requires professional attention.

Small business owners can cut through their organizations’ HR inefficiencies (and at the same time keep costs down) by passing off ongoing HR needs to an outsourced HR provider. The result is a leaner, meaner operation that can maintain quality and onboard better talent. Consequently, they can effortlessly scale internal operations when the time comes.

The post How Outsourced HR Can Help Make Your Small Business More Efficient appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

In an era where brand reputations are ruined in an instant, launching a product without first doing your homework is a recipe for disaster. Here’s a closer look at common product development mistakes and ways to avoid them.

Completing Tasks You Don’t Comprehend

Entrepreneurs are notorious for doing things themselves. Although this route works for specific business tasks, it’s not ideal in all circumstances. Product development is a multi-faceted process involving a variety of steps. Executing each phase successfully requires education and experience in everything from market research and analytics to consumer studies to manufacturing and distribution. Unless you have a plethora of degrees or years of experience, you run the risk of making mistakes that cost you big.

There’s nothing wrong with admitting you need help developing your product. Whether it’s working with a digital product development agency to design an app or a consumer research panel to provide feedback before launching, enlisting help from people with experience is ideal. Their knowledge in their fields or personal experience enhances your products, increasing your chances of success.

Not Investing Enough Time or Money In Feedback

All too often, entrepreneurs anxious to get their product on the market bypass getting feedback from others. Consequently, they end up producing merchandise that doesn’t sell. No matter how great you believe your product is, you need feedback. The professional and personal opinion of others gives you new perspectives on your product. It enables you to weed out problems and finetune your merchandise before you place them on the market.

Talk to your business partners, stakeholders, and target audience to get honest feedback on your product. You can try user testing, online polls, paid surveys, and consumer panels. You must also be willing to take the findings and apply them as needed to create merchandise that interests consumers and stands up to the competition.

Cutting Corners To “Save Money”

The idea of having your product or service on the market is exciting. However, accomplishing this goal comes with a sizeable financial investment. Consequently, anxious entrepreneurs working with small budgets cut corners as a means to save. They start skipping steps or using low-quality resources to develop their products. Although it may shave a few bucks off the expense, taking “shortcuts” or opting for “cheap” materials and professional services could cost you big time. Ultimately, you present a product or service to the public that’s sub-par or ineffective, ruining the brand and everything you’ve worked so hard to accomplish.

A ruined reputation, overlooking federal and local regulations, or a lawsuit from a disgruntled customer is hard to come back from. While there’s nothing wrong with finding discounts and streamlining processes to save money, it should never come at the expense of your product or service’s safety or quality. Entrepreneurs are encouraged to research in advance to get an average cost of product development. If you don’t have enough money in the budget, it’s best to turn to money-earning solutions or hold off until you have what you need.

Whether you’re just starting a business or merely interested in expanding your brand, it’s essential to take your time with product development. This merchandise is a reflection of your company and can ultimately determine your failure or success. Although you want nothing more than for your idea to take off, making mistakes like those discussed above can throw a monkey-wrench in your plans. When you do the research, enlist help, and create an efficient strategy, you have a better chance of making your professional dreams come true.

The post Designing A Product? Hopefully, You’re Not Making These Mistakes appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Automate Inventory Control When Possible

Selling out of in-demand goods faster than expected can cause numerous issues throughout a business. The situation could disappoint customers, making them decide they’ll look elsewhere to meet their needs. Replenishing the items could take longer than you think, leading to other supply chain hassles.

That’s why it’s smart to look into robotic technology that uses artificial intelligence for better inventory control. For example, some solutions let you set triggers so goods are automatically reordered when inventory reaches a certain level.

Some artificial intelligence platforms can also make inventory-related predictions. That way, you’ll know sooner that something is about to sell out and can potentially react before it does.

Robots can also roam store aisles to monitor how much stock is left on certain shelves. Depending on the size and scope of your business, those may be outside your budget for now. However, they’re good to keep in mind for the future.

Look for Ways to Pursue Digitalization

If you stop to think about it for a second, you’ll more than likely realize that digital advancements have made your business and personal life much easier. Many digital banking platforms allow you to generate reports, and you can check your balance from anywhere.

Making a conscious effort to focus on digital operations will help you set the stage for using robotic technology. For example, there are many compelling reasons to switch to paperless processes.

Some email platforms automatically categorize incoming emails based on their subject lines and senders. Others can recognize key elements in the content and automatically route them to the appropriate person or department.

Similarly, a digital project management suite can automatically assign tasks to the correct parties and give you status updates as things are completed. You’ll be less reliant on manual tasks, which reduces the likelihood of errors.

Investigate Automating Your Customer Communications 

No matter what kind of small business you have, it’s important to stay in a top-of-mind position with your customers. Ideally, they’ll think of you first to meet their needs. One way to increase the chances of that happening is to send periodic communications.

Using a platform to distribute bulk text messages is a popular option. Consider that approximately 93% of adults from advanced economies have mobile phones. Many people are already well-accustomed to receiving text messages, too.

Think about how you might automate text message distribution. You could:

• Tell people about limited-time sales
• Remind customers to fill out feedback surveys
• Give birthday wishes or mark other milestones
• Prompt website visitors to complete unfinished orders

People don’t always have time to open emails right after receiving them. However, text messages are often easier for them to immediately digest. Before setting up an automated system, consider the wording and format carefully. You’re working with limited space, so make every word count grab attention immediately.

See if Robots Fit Your Budget

Investing in robotics to cut operating costs may seem counterintuitive. After all, many robots have high upfront costs. Fortunately, they’re starting to become more accessible. Some companies charge per-usage rates to let business owners rent robots. One machine costs $8 an hour to run, less than hiring a person. The option to rent a bot lets people lower expenses and only pay for the time they use the robot, which often makes the prospect more affordable.

Sometimes, decision-makers realize the cost of purchasing a robot is worthwhile because it allows people at the business to spend their time more productively. Consider how an Auckland, New Zealand-based export business with 80 employees used a robot called Robert to assist with data-entry tasks.

Employees initially thought Robert was a human working remotely. It took some staff members several weeks to realize it was not a person. Workers said deploying this kind of robotic assistance was instrumental in enabling them to focus on more value-added tasks and keep the company competitive.

How Will You Deploy Robotic Technology?

As these examples show, there’s no universally best way to take advantage of robotic technology in a small business. However, a good starting point is to assess persistent weaknesses in your company. How might automation improve them and give your workers more time to focus on other duties?

Now is also an excellent time to decide how much of your budget you can devote to robotic technology. Don’t worry if you only have modest financial resources. Many business owners start small when using robots and automation, then scale up once they see those upgrades pay off.

The most important thing is to stay open to new opportunities and know that it may take some time before you see the full impacts of any tech upgrades. Remaining focused on what you want to achieve will help you stay motivated.

The post Implementing Robotic Technology to Reduce Operating Costs for Small Businesses appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

One of the reasons for this is that most small businesses are too caught up with strategies that fuel their lead generation, customer acquisition, and business development efforts.

However, press releases have a huge role to play when it comes to boosting a business’s brand awareness, traffic, and overall competitive edge. Also, getting your press release on authority publications like the Associated Press or Businesswire is a great return on your marketing spend.

Companies usually share a press release to make news, attract attention, and create a community. However, press releases can be leveraged to achieve different business goals.

In this post, we will share types of press releases with examples to help your business get the attention it deserves.

So, let’s begin.

Strengthen Your Brand Awareness with These Press Releases

Here are the top 7 press release types you must include in your media list to generate publicity.

1. Events

Event press releases are written to inform the audience about an event your business is planning to host, sponsor, or attend. The event could be a charity initiative or a community gathering.

An event press release should pique the interest of its audience by sharing a newsworthy story. Further, it should carry interesting copy and imagery to get people excited about the event.

When it comes to creating an event press release make sure you address the 5W’s + 1H of journalism, namely who, what, when, where, and why + how.

• Who is announcing the news?
• What are they announcing?
• When will the event take place?
• Where is this taking place?
• Why should the audience care?
• How should the reader participate or register for the event? OR How is the company going about it?

Besides, your press release should share why your event is worth participating in or attending. The objective of this press release is to intrigue and drive attendance.

2. New Technology

If your product circles around innovations, the technology press release can help in not just creating noise around your offerings but also attracting technology investors. This type of press release carries information on the new technologies the business has invested in. Plus how it solves customer problems.

While it’s tempting to share every piece of product detail in a technology press release, avoid doing so. Your press release should be scannable and concise. Offer plenty of opportunities to link to product pages, company overview pages, and data sheets. Learn from these press release examples to create a release that’s more readable while portraying your strong commitment to SaaS technical excellence.

To write an effective technology press release, create an engaging headline that conveys the end benefits to the reader.

Good Headline: Neoteric Invests in AI and cognitive computing for Its Client AppOrchid
Better Headline: Neoteric Invests in AI and cognitive computing for AppOrchid to Build AI Models Visually and Substituting Programming.

Secondly, journalists are constantly looking for the announcement. So, it’s best to stick with the 5W’s + 1H we spoke about earlier.
Finally, remember to add validation like quotes from beta users or R&D engineers. Business development leaders or the top management can share how investing in this technology is impacting customers and fitting into the overall company strategy.

3. Product

A product press release is used to announce a new feature in the product, a brand extension, or a new product launch. It usually talks about why the product is different from the competition, giving people a reason to invest in the product. By highlighting the product’s striking features, you are giving your new representatives (PR professionals and journalists) reason to write about the product.

Here are a few quick tips to write a product press release.

• Begin with a captivating headline. Keep it short. Use action words like achieved, capitalized, delivered, empowered, and integrated among others to evoke an emotional response from people.
• The first paragraph should convey the product value. Remember that your audience is pressed for time. Make sure you include the 5W’s + 1H we discussed earlier in this post.
• Include quotes from top officials, spokespeople, or key company stakeholders to emphasize the core of the announcement.
• Share your boilerplate in the end. A boilerplate explains what your company does, its size, and key operating locations and shares details of your website and social profiles. Your product press release is incomplete without the boilerplate.

Journalists are constantly looking for stories that their readers will appreciate. Thus, a product press release is a huge value-add that entices readers to their article and persuades them to try the product.

4. New Business

A new business launch press release announces new ventures that could be addressing a gap in the market or a competitor’s offerings. This should tell the audience all the information related to the new business opening.

Small businesses planning to expand should leverage this form of a press release. Begin with the name of the venture and share the location and date of the business opening. The body should include an overview of what the business does and the gaps it will address. Plus, why it’s different from the competition. You may also add a few executive quotes to share the firm’s vision.

5. Awards

If your business has received a prestigious industry award or recognition, showcase the accolade through an awards press release. Sharing such news can strengthen your position in the industry and attract the attention of investors who can support your venture, especially when it’s scaling.

Here are a few elements you should include in your awards press release.

Name of the award. It sounds obvious but sharing the name of the award your company has received will help your readers understand its significance.

Moreover, offer context for the award for those readers who aren’t familiar with the strength and significance of the award you’ve received.

Share the reasoning behind your award. You’ve received an award, but why? Was the technology used in the product outstanding? Did your product help solve specific problems? Include a few sentences on the judging process to tell your readers that it wasn’t just a flippant win.

Avoid bad-mouthing competitors who didn’t make it. Your winning is enough for your audience to know that your company is better than the competition.

Express gratitude. Don’t forget to mention the critical role your team, investors, and customers played in making this award possible. This will go a long way in showing that your company upholds values like humility and team spirit.

6. New Hire

New hire press releases are especially important for small businesses because it helps build credibility as a sought-after employer. Moreover, if the business has an influential person on its team, it builds trust in their expertise.

Remember to highlight the responsibilities and priorities of the person in the new role. Sharing such information in the press release allows customers and investors to relate to the new hire and understand the role they will play in addressing their pain points.

7. Partnership

If you’ve been negotiating a partnership for months and it has finally come through, a press release can help you make it official to the public. The primary purpose of a partnership press release is to update your audience on the upcoming changes and how they will affect them.

One thing that you need to remember here is that like you, your partner will have a customer base. Hence, you need to create a press release that appeals to both audiences. Focus on aligning your values. Use this opportunity to delight a new set of customers (your partner’s customer base) with the features, services, or experiences they’ll get access to.

Summing Up

Whether you are announcing a new product in your existing line or partnering with a firm to introduce a groundbreaking technology, press releases can help you get the word out. Regardless of the type of press release you use, they prove to be great tools to attract attention to the business, build credibility, and gain a loyal following.

We are sure the press release types discussed above will help you generate publicity for your small business, steering it towards the fast track to success.

The post 7 Types of Press Releases Every Small Business Should Leverage appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Increased Brand Awareness

Implementing a social media plan will significantly boost brand recognition. Encourage workers, partners, and sponsors to “like” and “share” your page. Each shared post will introduce you to a new network of people. It might also produce a large audience for your business if used regularly.

You can include your brand in images to help increase the visibility of your logo or name. A strong visual can help you achieve high brand recognition. You can also use gifs or memes to respond to comments or spice up your feed.

Increase Website Traffic

Posts on social media and advertisements are effective ways to generate website visitors. Sharing high-quality material from your blog or website on social media is a terrific method to gain newcomers.

One of the most effective ways for increasing website traffic is optimization. Social media profiles, like your website, should be thoroughly optimized as it is excellent SEO practice.

Make sure you include relevant keywords in your social media bios.

Instagram’s massive reach makes it a perfect platform for marketing your business or website. The platform provides a variety of advertising possibilities, and its highly visual nature makes content creation easy.

Every Instagram user can post a link in their bio. This is the only area on your profile where you can directly add a link, so be sure to use it.

Your Instagram bio should always include a link to the website you want users to visit. Instead, consider connecting to a specific page or product on your website. Including terms like “link in our bio” in your posts is an excellent way to increase the number of people who click on them and help your social media marketing strategy.

Generate Leads

Use social media to connect with potential customers and generate leads. By producing relevant and informative material, you may attract new visitors seeking information about your products or services. This will improve the ranking and exposure of your website, as well as stimulate interest in your products and services.

Allowing potential leads to view customer testimonials helps boost your brand’s reputation and gives potential clients the extra nudge down through your sales funnel.

Also, social media is an excellent place for displaying customer testimonials. Take the opportunity to demonstrate how each happy customer has benefitted from your business, as well as how you’ve helped them in overcoming common consumer issues.

Running social media ads includes collecting essential data, analyzing it, then using it to more efficiently find your target audience. Ultimately, the goal is to minimize the cost of acquiring a lead. For some industries, this can be a very effective way to generate more leads.

The most popular social media platform for lead generation is Facebook. One of the reasons many businesses use it to market their products is because it offers the lowest CPC rates. Businesses can set up their own Facebook page, and the people who like the page are potential leads.

Go Viral

Going viral is not an easy task, but it would be nearly impossible without social media. Your content travels over the Internet when individuals share it with their networks, and their networks do the same.

Viral marketing is a combination of strategy and chance. The brilliance of this method is that posts frequently become viral by accident. When the post contains a product, it is common for the product to sell out for months at a time. TikTok is an example of a viral marketing hub. All types of content have the potential to go viral. If a product is mentioned in a post, expect it to sell out quickly!

Since viral material is shared by users, it does not require a large advertising budget. Small businesses can increase their lifetime orders because of a viral TikTok video. Rapid growth like this brings rapid lead generation and sales.

Featured items find their way into the media when posts go viral. This leads to a significant increase in exposure and brand recognition. 

Customer and Audience Engagement

Social media engagement is a broad term that involves a range of metrics used to determine how many people interact with your business across various social media platforms. On the surface, this can include your posts’ comments, likes, and shares.

Identifying your target demographic and consumers will enable you to better appeal to them. Indeed, the language, tone, and visual content used will depend on their age, gender, and interests.

Also, don’t be afraid to show your business’s personal and human side. This will make your brand more appealing and relatable to customers and help your social media marketing strategy. 

Keeping up with current events and conversations will keep your content relevant. This could include hot topics in pop culture, holidays, athletic events, and memes.

The best way to keep in touch with your customers is through a social media community. When you interact with your social followers in their preferred manner, you boost your exposure and reach. Having a community of loyal customers can help you stay relevant in the market for a long time.

The post 5 Advantages of Having a Social Media Marketing Strategy for Small Businesses appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

However, starting almost any business, preschool one as well requires you to do certain things beforehand. You should approach this business idea carefully and with plenty of consideration and thought to do the right job.

You should start with a plausible business plan as it is the base you need. Then, you should research your competitors and find an ideal location. As there are plenty of curricula available, you should consider which one(s) to implement.

It would be great if you got preschool software to help you run your business more smoothly. Moreover, you should also obtain the necessary licenses and permits. And finally, you should focus on equipping your preschool. Keep reading to learn more. 

Start with a Plausible Business Plan

A business plan is a base for every business. It is essentially an outline of your business, containing all the important information about your business. It also includes information on short as well as long-term goals, marketing strategies to be implemented as well as some future estimations.

Another key aspect of a business plan are costs involved in starting a preschool business as well as ongoing, monthly costs and all other investments needed. Writing the business plan forces you to think and plan ahead. Doing a good job in planning your business can help you avoid making mistakes.

Research your Competitors

When you have finished creating the business plan, it’s time to move to do extensive research on your competitors. Sometimes competitor research is also a part of the business plan. Nevertheless, you should find out about your competitors. Who they are, where they are located, whether they are full, what curriculum they use, what perks they offer, and so on.

Read online reviews and deduce what people want in a preschool. Check if there is some aspect nobody has covered yet and try to fill the market need for it. You should give people what they want.

Find an Ideal Location

When it comes to the right location for your child care center, there are a few options, depending on your business preferences. You can start your preschool in a part of your home, or you can rent an existing preschool facility. Additionally, you can also start your preschool from scratch, in a completely new facility. Anyway, you do need a great location.

Check your city’s zoning laws and other regulations, to check whether your intended location is compliant. The main differences between home-based and other location preschool businesses are fewer expenses and lower overhead costs, more flexible hours, and generally more convenience for you. However, they can also be a bit limiting. 

Consider Which Curriculum to Implement

As for the curricula, there are a few popular ones worldwide. You should go over each one carefully, to see what they are about. The curriculum you opt for should reflect your preschool’s aim, mission, and vision. What’s more, you don’t have to opt for only one curriculum, you can mix different aspects of various curricula.

You should focus on providing the children with a learning environment that will positively affect their academic and social development. Moreover, you should take into consideration current child development research, whether it’s practical to implement, whether it supplies support and training and whether it’s appealing to children. 

Some of the most popular curricula are the Montessori program, the Waldorf approach, and the HighScope approach. The Montessori program provides a hands-on learning environment, where educators pay attention to every child individually. It is a similar case with the HighScope approach. On the other hand, the Waldorf approach is more group-oriented, in comparison to the previously mentioned programs. Perhaps the best way to go is to create a unique framework to work by.

Get a Preschool Software

Nowadays, we have access to plenty of useful software we can use in all kinds of businesses. And you should definitely take advantage of new technology. It makes doing business easier, faster, and more optimal. By reducing the time for doing mundane tasks, you can focus on performing some other, more essential tasks. There are some preschool apps that can streamline administrative tasks.

Apps also allow you to manage your business more easily and stay in touch with parents. You can also use it to record daily events and activities and deliver real-time updates to parents. Moreover, there are also preschool apps that parents can use at home with their children.

Obtain Necessary Licenses and Permits

Child care businesses require certain licenses and permits to be obtained. They depend on each town, city, and country. So, you should get yourself familiarized with the things you need in order to run a business that involves taking care of kids. Most often, this process involves filling out some licensing applications, paying certain fees, working with a licensing agency, and going through a background check, among other things.

Equip your Preschool

When you have completed all the previously mentioned steps, you can focus on equipping your preschool. That means getting furniture suitable for a preschool, decorating walls with paint, and all kinds of educational posters. Kids should have the appropriate sleeping area as well as the area for eating. The bathroom should also be well-equipped and adapted. There should be plenty of toys, both educational ones, and free-play ones.

All in all, you should focus on making it appealing, functional, practical, and safe. Don’t forget to get insurance for your business and cover general liability insurance, property insurance, professional liability insurance, and workers’ compensation insurance.

Starting your own business can be overwhelming and exhausting at times. Nevertheless, with thorough research and good organization, you can decrease the stress and enjoy the process more.

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As Digital Banking methods progress in the world of tech, they become quicker and safer than most traditional exchange methods between two parties. So what exactly are the benefits of digital banking for small businesses aside from speed?

Digital Banking Allows Small Businesses to Keep Track

Since small businesses or start-up organizations that are at the beginning of their entrepreneurial journeys can’t really afford to hire top-level accountants or pay for an advanced accounting system to monitor all the processes and finances in their firm, they can take advantage of digital banking.

Digital Banking allows smaller enterprises to manage their finances smartly. Additionally, it keeps track of everything in the form of reports, either weekly, monthly, or quarterly. These are easy to filter, which gives an extra edge to decision-makers in the company. You can always take a step back and see what you’ve paid to whom in which time period.

Some neobanking solutions for businesses can even allow you to share your financial data with a third party, like a financial analyst. As a small business, you could do that once per quarter or a couple of quarters instead of hiring a full-time analytics team.

It’s Convenient

Are you outside of the office? At the beach? No problem. You’re carrying all your financial data in your pocket on a mobile device. What’s more convenient than that? Online banking has become the leading way to handle money globally.

If you are a busy business owner, you can use the features while traveling, stuck in traffic, or even in a meeting if it allows it. Sometimes during meetings, questions regarding finances that you can’t know for sure could come up. Taking out a phone and checking in a matter of seconds is something that can help you a lot. You can have it all, employee salaries, payments, bills, and invoices, in one place, at all times.

Brick-and-Mortars Are More Expensive

Did you know that traditional brick-and-mortar banks with physical locations need to spend a ton of resources on organizing financial records and documents the usual way? They need to pay for a location, build an office, have ten times the number of employees, and interact with customers one-on-one on a daily basis. All of this requires more resources and leaves almost none for innovation. These are just some of the reasons why brick-and-mortar banks charge more for almost everything than digital banks.

On the other side, neobanks don’t rely on physical locations and invest all they’ve earned into improving the digital interface and infrastructure of their product. This makes automatic billing seem like a walk in the park.

If your employees are on a fixed salary basis, you can easily schedule all salary payments. Other expenses like bills can also be deducted automatically, and even monthly subscriptions, since you can easily get a business debit or credit card alongside your banking account.

Better Digital Security

Nobody walks up to a bank and robs it these days; it’s not the 90s. Banks are getting smarter and stopped carrying large amounts of cash in their safes. On the other hand, however, there are billions of digital dollars out there. 

As mentioned above, digital banks have way more resources to spend on innovation and security, while traditional banks have to spend money on locations and traditional real-life security personnel, who can’t really keep you safe from hackers.

New online payment platforms operate with advanced blockchain technology, which brings with it a whole new level of decentralized security. This prevents attackers from hacking one specific place or domain and gaining information. Information gets encrypted and broken down into nodes within the blockchain, becoming almost inaccessible to hackers.

Aside from high-level data encryption, digital banks also take advantage of numerous firewalls and the best and latest antivirus software. Of course, regular KYC inspections are still done for additional security, preventing social engineers from accessing your accounts.

A Smaller Environmental Footprint

Whether you are concerned about nature and the environment or not, having a smaller environmental footprint is a goal everyone should strive for. New regulations regarding certain operations are being implemented each month. Some of these impact the amount banks charge. However, not digital banks. They have an almost unnoticeable environmental footprint. Paperless operations, transactions, online support, and no office, meaning no commuting, are just some of the reasons digital banks are much better for the environment. However, a business records management plan is always needed to keep sensitive information safe and organized.

Final Words

Each year, the reasons why a small business should switch to digital banking instead of relying on brick-and-mortar banks continue to accumulate.  Digital banks lower your cost and provide better security, convenience, automatic payments, and financial tracking. The best thing of all, it’s easy to start and try without you having to visit an actual bank. All from the comfort of your home.

The post The Benefits of Digital Banking for Small Businesses appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What Challenges Teams Can Face and How OKR Approach Helps

Essentially, an Objective answers where we want to go, Key Results explain how we’ll know we’re getting there, and Tasks list the steps necessary to get there. And the OKR is the plan that brings it all together.

Below we offer two OKR tools: the Objective Map and the Roadmap. The Objective Map allows you to build a visual hierarchy of goals and plan objectives, while the Roadmap links this hierarchy of goals to a time factor.

The goal hierarchy is the heart of OKR.

OKR Planning Tool #1: The Objective Map

Our first tool is the Objective Map. The visual nature of this map allows you to see the whole picture at once, making it easy to analyze possibilities, predict obstacles, and plan objectives and the necessary resources for them. The Objective Map shows all factors (and how they are connected) that are needed for your success.

See all information on a map at once.

To create your own Objective Map, follow these steps:

1. Identify and name your Objective. This is your long-term, overarching goal.
2. Determine your Key Factors. These are the measurable sub-goals needed to achieve your Objective.
3. Identify and name any possible obstacles you will face on the way to your Objective.
4. List your Tasks. These are the specific steps to accomplish each Key Factor. Assign team members to these tasks.
5. Create an Objective Map by plugging in the Key Factors and Tasks you’ve identified. Where appropriate, include your obstacle plans.
6. Define your success metrics and connect them to your Objective and Key Factors.
7. Review the Objective Map with your team to get buy-in and understanding.

The Objective Map is finished only once it provides answers to the following questions: where are you going, how will you get there, and what steps do you need to take along the way.

Tips for Creating an Objective Map

When creating your Objective Map, keep these tips in mind:

Tip #1: Name problems first, then make plans.

Take the time to brainstorm any obstacles that might come up on your way to plan Objectives. These obstacles can come in all shapes and sizes–from limited internal resources to external issues with your clients, product, or services. When you identify a potential obstacle, decide how you are going to address it before you set out on the journey towards your Objective.

Tip #2: Follow cause-and-effect logic.

It is important to have the Objective Map express the cause-and-effect connections between each element on the map (your Objective, Key Results, and Tasks). The best way to do this is to define success metrics for all factors. In other words, determine what success looks like for an activity (the cause) and connect that success to what happens next (the effect).

OKR Planning Tool #2: The Roadmap

The Roadmap is the tool you can use to determine the timeline, sequence, and deadlines of each step of your Objective Map. The Roadmap ensures that your team not only knows what they are doing but also when and in what order they will move through each step. Based on your goals, keep in mind that your team might be completing more than one step at a time. A Roadmap will help you identify those moments and prepare your resources accordingly.

The roadmap ends and begins with your Objective.

The steps of creating and using a Roadmap are:

1. Revisit your Objective Map and review all the Key Results you’ve included in the map.
2. Order each Key Result, and the Task activities that will get you to that result, in a logical sequence that moves towards your Objective.
3. Assign due dates for each activity and step toward your Objective. If there is a hard end date, work backward from there when you plan Objectives.
4. Revisit the Roadmap often to check-off completed steps and to prepare for the next steps.
5. Revise the Roadmap when changing circumstances require you to pivot.

A Roadmap gives your team the awareness of projects in real-time.

Possible Challenges

Before we jump into a discussion of OKR creation, let’s review a few possible challenges that your team might face when creating a plan.

Problem #1: Unrealistic Views

Don’t succumb to wishful thinking by setting unrealistic goals. True, you want your Objective to be ambitious, but it also needs to be based on reality. Keep the assessment of your internal resources and capabilities, as well as any external factors, realistic.

Problem #2: Rigidity

The growth of your company depends on sustainability; sustainability depends on flexibility. When creating an OKR plan, don’t follow the plan so rigidly that the plan becomes (at best) useless or (at worst) harmful to your end goal. Always have the expectation that you may need to adjust to changing circumstances.

Problem #3: Lack of Motivation

The resources and technology you have access to are important, but it’s the people in your company that are key to your success. Avoid a lack of motivation by making sure each team member understands your business goals and agrees with their importance. This allows everyone to feel invested in a positive outcome and to use their creativity and energy to solve any emerging issues.

Conclusion

By using the Objective Map and Roadmap tools as your own OKR method, you will eliminate all the common problems that teams face when planning the road to a goal. These tools allow flexibility when obstacles arise; they also teach your team how to think about their own problem-solving thought process and the cause-and-effect relationships between each Key Factor. Fostering these qualities will ensure your team and your company will always be improving the practices and routines you use for achieving your goals. This is the key to success.

The post The Best Way to Plan Objectives and Key Results appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

1. Google Sheets

With Google Sheets and Zapier, you can automatically keep your Spreadsheets up to date with the latest data from your apps. Just select which apps you want to connect, and Zapier handles the rest. For example, you can use Google Sheets and Zapier to automatically add new rows to a Spreadsheet when new entries are added to a form. Or, update cells in a Spreadsheet when new data is added to a CRM. The possibilities are endless! With Zapier’s Google Sheets integration, you can certainly save time and effort by automating tedious data entry tasks.

2. Asana

Asana is a great project management tool, but it can be even better with the right integration. Zapier is one of the best ways to automate your workflow and connect Asana to the other tools you use. With Zapier, you can set up rules so that certain tasks are automatically created or completed in Asana when something happens in another app. For example, set up a zap so that a new task appears in Asana whenever someone subscribes to your newsletter. Or, you could have Zapier automatically add a comment to a task whenever someone tweets about your company. There are endless possibilities for how you can use Zapier to streamline your workflows and get more out of Asana.

3. Gmail

Gmail integration examples with Zapier are numerous and varied. With Gmail being one of the most popular email platforms in existence, it’s no surprise that there are a wealth of integrations available for users who want to get the most out of their inboxes. One popular example is to use Zapier to connect Gmail with a CRM system, allowing sales teams to manage their email communications more effectively. Another common use is to connect Gmail with project management software, making it easy to keep track of tasks and deadlines.

4. Trello

Trello, a popular and easy-to-use visual collaboration tool, enables you to organize projects and everything related in a user-friendly way. One example of potentially integrating with Zapier is to automatically create tasks in Trello based on new items added to a Google Sheets spreadsheet. Or set up a zap that allows you to post a message in Slack whenever a card adds to a specific Trello board.

6. Facebook Pages

Facebook Pages are a great way to connect with customers. However, they can be even more powerful when used in conjunction with Zapier. By integrating Facebook Pages with Zapier, businesses can automatically send updates to customers, post new products or promotions, and keep track of customer interactions. For example, a business could use Zapier to automatically post updates to their Facebook Page whenever they update their website. Basically, this would ensure that customers always have the latest information about the business without having to manually post updates. Additionally, businesses could use Zapier to automatically post new products or promotions to their Facebook Page when added to the company website.

7. Twitter

Businesses can use Zapier to automatically post tweets whenever new content is added to their website. This ensures that followers always have the latest information, and it can help to increase website traffic. Zapier also creates the ability to send automatic Direct Messages to new followers. This provides an easy way to build relationships with potential customers. By taking advantage of the Twitter integration features offered by Zapier, businesses can maximize the power of this popular social media platform.

8. Shopify

The Shopify-Zapier integration can be used to automatically add new customers to a mailing list, send out shipping notifications, or even post new products to social media. What’s more, the possibilities are virtually endless, and the Shopify-Zapier integration makes it easy to implement them.

Using Zapier Integrations for Small Businesses

Using Zapier integration in your small business can help you to automate many tedious tasks, ultimately saving you time and energy. Indeed, there is a multitude of integrations available, so you’re sure to find one that will fit your needs. By automating these processes, you’ll be able to focus on what’s important – running your business.

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Curious to know more about the impacts of the pandemic on entrepreneurship, we spoke to Caroline Castrillon, a successful career coach that has helped many of her clients ditch their corporate jobs for self-employment.

How would you say career perspectives and entrepreneurship have changed since the pandemic?

Clearly, remote and hybrid work has become more prevalent. That trend doesn’t show signs of slowing down. More workers are looking for freedom, flexibility, and fulfillment. Moreover, they aren’t willing to compromise.

In addition, people’s values and priorities have changed. Spending time with family and feeling satisfied with their work has come to the forefront.

What effect do you think the pandemic has had on working lives?

Because of the pandemic, more people are reevaluating their values and priorities than ever before. As a result, they are more willing to make compromises with their work. For example, they perhaps accept a lower salary if they have greater benefits that offset that sacrifice, such as more time off or a flexible schedule.

The study above found that since the pandemic women are especially dissatisfied with their jobs. Does this match your experience when coaching women?

Yes, I believe this trend is amplified at the moment. Women have had to bear the brunt of the pandemic over the last few years in terms of childcare, homeschooling, and caring for loved ones. 

Those circumstances, combined with working full-time (with many women I work with being the primary breadwinners in the household), have caused women to experience burnout and their perspectives to shift. 

They want more from their jobs and careers. This includes flexibility, advancement options, and just the opportunity to learn and grow professionally.

The pandemic has highlighted how essential sustainability is. In fact, 90% of the study’s participants stated that it plays an important role for them when starting their businesses. Would you advise going green to be a priority for startups 2022?

There is no question that the pandemic increased global awareness of environmental issues. It’s also sparked a renewed commitment to finding solutions. As a result, we see a rise in demand for sustainable goods and businesses supplying those goods and services.

This surge in consumer demand for sustainable goods opens the door to new markets. This especially happened in the fashion, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, and food industries. It also presents opportunities for self-employment, as well as for companies to build trust, enhance their brand reputation, and improve their bottom line in the process.

To read more about the US study and Caroline Castrillon, you can go here: “New Insight into Entrepreneurship in America”.

The post Entrepreneurship in America and the Impacts of COVID-19 appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The difficulty is that adopting a fearful worldview frequently results in a self-causing recession. This is due to the fact that those who work from a place of fear generate contraction rather than growth.

We’ve been conditioned by nature to either flee or fight. We assume a defensive posture when we’re ready for flight in order to minimize potential losses or to just stay afloat. The problem is that these are the very acts that will cause businesses to downsize or possibly fail as a result of layoffs and lower revenues.

How do some businesses thrive in a recession?

Some businesses, on the other hand, not only survive but thrive during the most inconvenient of circumstances. Therefore, how do they do it?

The distinction is that some management teams and business owners regard a crisis as an opportunity. Therefore, when you think about it, every cloud has a silver lining. At the absolute least, there is always an opportunity that develops in the face of adversity in the case of business.

Avoid reacting emotionally.

While the natural impulse may be to reduce corporate activities and cut costs wherever possible, doing so indiscriminately would have the opposite effect. Businesses that thrive during economic downturns double down on their efforts. This is because they know that growth will take more effort, time, and resources at this key stage. Therefore, to obtain more customers, you might have to work ten times harder.

However, if you are ready to put in the effort, you will get more clients. At the same time, your competitors will be losing customers and personnel if they are acting fearfully.

Here are five main techniques for maintaining growth even in a recession.

1. Maintaining growth means boosting your marketing and public relations initiatives.

Effective promotion and marketing generate sales, as most CEOs know. They also understand that during a recession, the majority of other firms, including competitors, will cut back on marketing spending. However, this is an opportunity to do more.

This is when smart companies ramp up their advertising and marketing campaigns in order to stay ahead of their competitors. Those who are cutting back are driving their businesses into the ground at the same time.

2. Maintaining growth means eliminating the bottom 20% of your consumer base.

This does not apply to e-commerce companies. However, everyone else should be aware. This strategy seems unlikely to help. You may be wondering whether, at a time like this, you can afford to lose customers.

The truth is, yes, you can. In addition, this is how smart leaders succeed. We’ve all dealt with clients who are tough to work with, late to pay, or who require a disproportionate amount of resources in comparison to the money they create. Therefore, cut these clients immediately. This is because increasing your marketing efforts will bring in new business. This change will require the same internal resources that low-yield customers are consuming now.

3. Provide additional assistance to your customers.

Make a list of the problems that your clients may be facing during the downturn. Think about how you, your partners, or your vendors can help clients withstand the storm better with your team. In addition, reach out to your customers and inquire about their problems in order to give them assistance.

Offer to do something for free. You can do this if there is something you can do without increasing your expenditures. You might offer to deliver something with payment terms or at a discount rate.

4. Maintaining growth means streamlining operations and providing a better client experience.

You now have extra time on your hands. You can use it to improve internal processes. Further, you can improve the quality of your deliverables in addition to setting up a system to provide top customer service.

If you want to come out on top after this storm, you’ll have to outperform your competitors. You can do so by providing the best customer service in a more efficient manner. This will significantly lower client churn while also allowing you to service more customers.

5. Fire your worst employees and convince your other employees that you care about their well-being.

There’s a good chance you’ve kept people on board because you needed all the support you could get. These folks, on the other hand, are chronic underachievers who don’t get along with others and have lots of other troubles. Now is the moment to let them work for the competition. It will benefit both your team and your customers.

Now go tell the rest of the team why you did it. After that, let them know how much you care about them and will go to any length, including falling into the red this year, to ensure that they and their health insurance are protected. Furthermore, fulfill this commitment. Your company’s success depends on the trust you have with your employees.

Your company may not only survive but prosper in this storm if you have an offensive plan, an expansionary attitude, and a proactive approach.

Image Credit: Lukas; Pexels; Thank you!

The post 5 Tips for Maintaining Growth During a Recession appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

So, think about it: “What do I provide clients that will make them feel good and keep them coming back?”

Don’t worry if you’re not sure about an answer. Here are five customer service gems for retaining your consumers, getting on their “loved” list, and, best of all, getting their repeat business:

Pleasantly Personalize to Keep Customers Returning

Do you have frequent interaction with your customers so that when they need your product/service, they will think of you first? Sending thank-you notes is a big part of this. The ones that are handwritten and personal have the most impact. Customers will remember that you took the time to write them a custom, personal note.

Here’s a suggestion: take a picture. Nature, sunrises, animals, sunsets, or anything else appropriate is good. The argument is that people have a difficult time discarding images. On the back, include a label with your name, phone number, company name, address, and website URL, as well as a short thank-you note. It’s likely that they’ll pin it to their desk or bulletin board and think of you every time they see it.

Politely Persist

The line between persistence and annoyance is thin. Therefore, when you try to pitch your goods or service too hard, you will annoy people. When you address and fill the needs of your customer, however, persistence pays off. Polite persistence is a proactive attitude. Annoyance is a reactionary emotion.

Here’s a tip: call to follow up on a sale or service. Inquire about the customer’s experience. Inquire if there is anything else they would want or require. Make them aware that you are there for them.

Advance Alerts Keep Customers Returning

Nobody enjoys finding out that everyone else had heard about your great deals before them. If you’re preparing to launch a new product or service, reach out to your customers and let them know. It’s a fantastic method to stay in touch with them.

Here’s a hint: your message might be as basic as: “I wanted you to be one of the first to hear about our great offer before we made it public.” What a powerful statement!

A Product or Service of the Month will Keep Customers Returning

Having a product or service of the month is a terrific approach to get your consumers’ attention and develop excitement.

Here’s a hint: practically every month of the year has a holiday in it. Consider monthly product/service of the month goods that are thematic to keep customers returning. You could also use the seasons to divide your Product/Service of the Month. For example, “Spring Into Action”; “Hot” Summer Deals” and so on.

Anniversary Announcements – Remembering Older Purchases

Wish them (and their product or service, of course) a happy anniversary on the anniversary of the date they purchased your goods or service. Of course, anniversaries can be used to commemorate birthdays, company anniversaries, or anniversaries of a product or a service.

Here’s a tip: tell your consumers about your company’s or product’s anniversary. In addition, tell them that they, the customer, are the best gift you could ever receive. After that, thank them for their business.

Additionally, consider including a small “something” with their purchase that day as a token of your appreciation for their devotion. This might be a loyalty card, coupon offer, gift card, or any other type of promotion you see fit.

Customer service is a Choice, Not a Chore!

There may always be some clients who aren’t a good fit. However, if you follow the “5 P’s of Positive Customer Service,” you’ll feel like you’ve been able to double or even triple your customer base. How would this happen? It’s simple! Customers will keep coming back to you.

In addition, they will tell their colleagues and friends about you. Furthermore, their colleagues and friends will tell their friends and colleagues…

It goes on and on like this. It doesn’t get any better than that, does it? When you give honest and excellent customer service, the dividends keep coming, just like your customers.

Image Credit: Jopwell; Pexels; Thank you!

The post 5 Customer Service Gems to Keep Customers Returning appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Understand Business Growth

A growing business is one that is experiencing growth in one or more areas at the same time. A business does not measure growth on a single metric. Instead, we might highlight a number of data indicators to demonstrate that a company is expanding.

These are some examples:

• Calculate profits from revenue and sales using the company’s valuation.
• Calculate the number of staff and the number of clients.

Companies can increase in some of these criteria and not in others, according to the research. For example, revenue might increase even if there is no increase in the number of consumers. This can happen if the gains are the result of existing customers purchasing more.

If one data point increases while another declines, it is conceivable for a business’s entire revenue to decrease as well. For example, if sales growth comes because of a decrease in product pricing, a company’s overall revenue could decrease as well.

This means that defining growth might be challenging. Therefore, those wishing to expand their businesses should examine their business objectives. They must do this in order to determine the growth metrics that are essential to them.

In the case of certain ambitious start-ups, this may entail doing everything they can to expand the total number of clients. This should be the objective even if this means incurring a significant financial loss during the early stages of growth. Other businesses, on the other hand, will benefit by gradually expanding income and sales. This may do this in order to ensure that enough money is brought in to cover costs.

Factors that Contribute to a Small Business’s Expansion

It is critical for all businesses to see growth in their operations. The type of growth necessary, on the other hand, will be determined by the stage of development in which the company is currently operating.

For start-ups to be successful, they must expand in order to solidify their position in the market. Furthermore, they must quickly grow to a scale that generates enough income to cover expenditures and begin to generate a profit.

Companies in the maturity stage do not need to expand as quickly. They may, however, wish to check their metrics to make sure they are moving in the right direction, however. Revenue and sales may remain the same. Nevertheless, a rise in profitability as a result of better sales process efficiencies could help a steady organization build cash to defend against future risk.

The Primary Drivers

Businesses do not expand of their own accord. If a firm wants to achieve organic growth, it must put in place mechanisms that will help it achieve that growth. Here are some of the aspects that can aid in the expansion of a company.

A. Individuals who are driven by a desire to see their organization succeed

The most critical component is having people who are committed to the growth of the company at the helm of the organization. A business owner who is focusing on growth might be the driving force behind the company’s success. In addition, a company’s other managers and employees will also require both drive and expertise in order to push it forward with its expansion.

B. A plan that places a high priority on expansion

It’s true that people are the driving force behind growth. However, a strategy must be in place to ensure that the business continues to grow in the right direction. There are several possibilities here, like offering new items, bringing in new clients, or entering new markets.

C. The processes and infrastructure that are necessary

It’s important for a company to have employees that are eager to expand. In addition, it’s helpful to have a growth strategy that prioritizes expansion. However, it also must put processes in place to make the expansion a smoother process. Among these measures include the implementation of automation software. This will make operations more effective. In addition, the construction of warehouses is key. Furthermore, they must be large enough to accommodate the increase in stock that will be necessary as a firm grows.

D. Sufficient funding

Every one of the issues above has one thing in common: they all require funds for implementation. Therefore, if a business owner lacks financial resources, there may be nothing that can be done about growth. In order to invest in the product, make the necessary recruits, and adopt processes, adequate financial means must be in place.

Image Credit: Jopwell; Pexels; Thank you!

The post Understand Business Growth – Then Achieve It appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The advancement of technology is changing how we interact with the world. There isn’t a single business globally that hasn’t been impacted by artificial intelligence in some way or another (AI). From virtual reality (VR) gaming systems to artificial intelligence (AI) robots in industrial production, technology is advancing exponentially. And that’s not even close to Q Commerce.

However, since learning technologies and algorithms are already transforming the industry, eCommerce is especially susceptible to artificial intelligence (AI) disruption. It could alter the way we buy and sell items on the internet.

Artificial intelligence (AI) can not only do jobs that humans previously performed manually, but it can also optimize the customer experience and give businesses the information they require to make intelligent business decisions.

Here are four ways in which artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the world of e-business.

1. Artificial Intelligence Copywriting

The emergence of automatic copywriting is transforming how brands generate their sales copy and marketing materials.

Writing technologies that use artificial intelligence may generate marketing text in seconds. Instead of engaging copywriters or advertising firms to write headlines, blog introductions, or product descriptions, brands may now use artificial intelligence algorithms to accomplish the task.

These systems, which use advanced artificial intelligence language models, can provide digital ad text, social media material, and other eCommerce copy.

The majority of automated copywriting still requires manual editing. But it is well on its way to becoming a standard feature of eCommerce.

2. Chatbots and virtual assistants are two examples of artificial intelligence.

Shoppers who choose to do their shopping in a physical store benefit from the presence of clerks. An employee or assistant can aid them in navigating the store and locating what they’re looking for.

While eCommerce has always had customer care employees available to provide phone support, it wasn’t until recently that artificial intelligence (AI) could fill in the gaps and give customers more instant assistance. As eCommerce merchants strive to provide 24/7 help to all of their online consumers, chatbots and other virtual service usage is becoming more commonplace.

However, the use of natural language processing (NLP) allows these chatbots to understand and comprehend voice-based interactions with online shoppers, allowing them to provide customized offers. As a result of being programmed with self-learning skills, they are constantly increasing their ability to respond to and satisfy the wants of their customers.

3. Personalization is the next stage.

Therefore, through accurate product suggestions and advertising, AI also gives clients a more personalized experience.

Artificial intelligence algorithms will sift through massive datasets to extract meaningful insights into customer behavior. These insights will allow them to predict better what a client needs when the customer needs it. Their recommendation engine can use the information from your buying history to propose products that are similar to what you’re looking for. These days, you can even use AI scheduling tools to map out your whole day!

To give you an example, if you recently looked for sponges on Amazon, the AI algorithms will propose additional cleaning goods that are similar to sponges on your page.

However, people can also apply this artificial intelligence technology across various platforms, including websites, email, and even mobile applications. AI can assist you in providing a more delightful and simplified experience to your clients. AI can tailor to an audience and increase your productivity.

Personalization is essential for a positive customer journey. So the algorithms of AI are present in a great deal of eCommerce advertising.

4. Inventory control is critical.

For example, inventory management is the second area of eCommerce where artificial intelligence’s predictive analytics is transforming the landscape.

Maintaining current inventory, storing it appropriately, and placing orders well in advance is critical, mainly when predicting client demand.

Storage facilities do not have the capacity or the resources to maintain everything in stock at all times. This is why it is critical to prioritize the things you require and order them in the order in which you need them. Therefore, artificial intelligence uses predictive analysis to generate educated guesses about what the future needs in the market will be like.

With the help of machine learning, artificial intelligence technology is becoming increasingly accurate at anticipating what inventory you will need to order. And how much of it you should keep on hand at any given time. These systems can anticipate rapid changes in demand.

Do preventive maintenance on your technology. Automate key packing activities to boost productivity.

In conclusion, artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly popular among eCommerce companies to improve their analytical insights. It provides a more tailored consumer experience, and raises their competitiveness. As the market for artificial intelligence in eCommerce continues to grow, they can leave you behind.

The post Artificial Intelligence Is Transforming eCommerce appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Extreme natural catastrophes and pandemic risks have been shown to inflict significant economic harm. There are also other types of crises, such as the global recession of 2008 or the current pandemic, which have created major commercial disruptions.

How Can Technology Help Businesses in a Crisis?

The tsunami in Japan in 2011 had a direct influence on the profit margins of major American companies. In effect, it was the wave heard round the world. A calamity in one place might have far-reaching consequences in a worldwide economy.

For example, during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, governments issued measures prohibiting mass gatherings. As a result, fewer people reported to work.

When a company’s bottom line suffers, automation might be its best friend. But that usually means some investment capital. And how many small businesses save for a rainy day anymore? Not too many.

In reality, automation can help to alleviate a human resource shortage.

To compensate for a lack of staff, AI and machine intelligence can now take over daily jobs such as customer support. A basic self-help form on a company’s website, for example, can free up human personnel for more challenging work.

The self-help form can provide answers to essential inquiries concerning the company, such as service availability during a crisis. Listed below are some other ways that technology might help businesses during a crisis.

1. Communication is number one.

Businesses may now connect with their staff and consumers more quickly and efficiently, thanks to digital technologies.

Virtual meetings may be held using video conferencing software. Customers can receive critical information in real-time via social media networks. Collaboration with distant teams is feasible thanks to apps like Trello and Slack. This means firms can keep operating even in the face of a catastrophe.

The change to digital is even more crucial during a crisis. The website of a company should serve as a major center for communication, both with consumers and with staff.

2. Embrace advance preparation with technology.

During a crisis, there is a supply-demand imbalance. Utilize data to forecast future demand. This helps with resource and inventory management.

A worldwide epidemic, for example, may have a significant impact on people’s priorities. They can change in a heartbeat. People may be more likely to spend on needs if they have less disposable money. Because whether you’re rich or whether your poor — it’s nice to have money!

In the instance of the current pandemic, an eCommerce firm may utilize this knowledge to shift its focus to sourcing more health-related commodities, such as hand sanitizers, where we would expect demand to rise.

You can minimize losses, especially those related to inventory. When people’s morale is down, fashion businesses, for example, might employ flash deals to sell outdated stock. There’s really little difference between inspiration and desperation.

Companies can reduce the manufacturing of particular goods by using previous data. Predictive analytics help forecast when a crisis will end. Such data is valuable for a variety of purposes, including maintaining liquidity and determining HR practices.

3. Experiment with different revenue models.

Small firms are particularly heavily struck and more sensitive to the economic effects of any crisis. This is self-evident.

To stay relevant, many firms must change rapidly and adopt new monetization approaches. No one disagrees with that. For example, travel websites may charge a monthly fee for virtual tours of places. It couldn’t be otherwise.

Similarly, agencies that specialize in live performance events may go online and offer paid exclusive material to keep fans and artists involved.

At the end of the day, it’s about adjusting to a crisis and maybe using the crisis to solve creative problems. How else could it be?

Since the days of the Spanish flu, the global economy has come a long way. Longer than most think. In today’s world, technology may be used in previously inconceivable ways. Technology can help firms who are prepared to innovate outside the box, whether it’s real-time information distribution or new-age monetization strategies.

Sometimes, a crisis brings out the best in people. Sometimes the worst. It’s the same for a business. Many a small business has risen to the pandemic challenge. They’ve proven themselves to be good neighbors. How does your business stack up?

The post Can Technology Assist Businesses in a Crisis? appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Over half of Facebook users go to a local business’ page weekly, so it’s not surprising that marketing agencies see Facebook as one of the best social media platforms to invest in as a small business.

This platform can help small businesses build brand awareness, attract new customers, retain existing customers, increase sales, and improve customer service.

1. Create a business page.

Is your small business Facebook-ready? A small tea shop, an eCommerce store, or a landscaping company may benefit from Facebook. If you can only concentrate on a couple social media networks, make Facebook your top choice.

How do you find out? Ask your clients whether Facebook is a good way to interact with them. You can send a survey via an email list or through a social media post. Inquire about their preferred platforms and brands.

Getting Started

The Facebook page you create for your business will inform prospective customers about your business, its mission, and what you offer. If you’re nervous about setting up a page, it’s actually quite easy. Facebook provides templates, so you just choose the one that works best for you.

Upload a profile image that includes bright colors and an easy to read logo. Include contact information like a phone number, email address, and website (if you have one). If you serve customers locally, include your location or physical address as well.

The About section will allow you to give background information on your company’s mission, history, and products/services. It’s vital that people know what you do! Tell them what makes your company unique.

A cover picture is your brand’s initial impression. Evoke an emotion or inspire action, like taking advantage of a seasonal sale. Take a snapshot of your product in action, your business, your staff, or your current deal. Be sure to fill in all of the contact info fields.

2. Match your target demographic to Facebook users.

Some social media networks have more active audiences than others. You can match your target audience’s interests, values, beliefs, and personality to the social media platforms you’re considering.

For example, Millennials love Facebook. With over 290,000,000 users, the platform is worth exploring for all age groups. On the other hand, if you want to reach adolescents, try TikTok, where 25% of users are aged 10 to 19.

3. Examine your competitors.

Your target demographic is likely on Facebook if comparable companies have significant followings and get many comments and likes. After all, your competitors’ customers could be yours! Just start posting.

However, if your rivals aren’t on Facebook, it’s probably not for you. On the other hand, if numerous clients say they’ll follow you on Facebook, it means there’s untapped potential in your industry.

4. Customize your CTA button.

At the top of your Facebook page, you can customize the CTA button to encourage your followers to take a specific action. Other CTA considerations include:

• Vanity URLs: After 25 followers, you may obtain a branded URL, which helps to further brand your business page.
• Videos: Posts with videos get more attention and interaction than posts with only text. Facebook videos immediately play, making them much more appealing.
• Text Posts: Utilize text-only postings to poll your followers or create discussions. If you include a link, it will display a sample of the website, grabbing more eyeballs than text-only posts. Use them to promote a bargain or a blog article.
• Photo Postings: People notice photos on Facebook while looking through their feed. Photos are easier to publish than videos and have a higher possibility of interaction.
• Phone Videos: These are natural and may help viewers connect. Showcase new items, behind-the-scenes shots, and Q&As through video. Go live to interact with the audience in real-time.
• Stories: Instead of creating a status update, share a story. Facebook users are more interested in a business or product after seeing it in their stories, according to Facebook. Stories are suitable for informal content. Post exciting questions and polls to keep folks interested.

5. Be human, not pushy.

Your customers come for what you can offer them, but they remain for your human-like interaction with them on social media.

Consider Facebook to be a brand extension. You may still upload promotional material, but it should be mixed in with lots of compelling, non-promotional content to attract Facebook fans. And remember to respect their privacy as much as possible.

The post Grow Your Business on Facebook in the New Year appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What software is essential for small businesses looking to scale?

If a small business owner is looking to scale their business, a cloud-based solution is the top investment they should make. Cloud-based solutions allow businesses to gain full control over their inventory and orders and visibility into the supply chain and third party partnerships. It also offers a variety of integrated applications that businesses can install or remove based on their needs at any given time. Cloud-native software also stores all data in one system, enabling end-to-end visibility to everything from available products, accounting, warehouse management, in-store point of sale technology and much more. By giving business owners maximum flexibility and the ability to scale seamlessly, this investment will ultimately allow businesses to better serve their customers and get products into the hands of consumers faster. 

How can software or remote sourcing options allow businesses to reduce overhead costs?

Software not only simplifies and streamlines business processes, but it also automates many tasks and operations that suck up crucial employee time. This frees them up to focus on more value-added tasks to help grow the business and enable higher job satisfaction. Modern technologies allow you to integrate effortlessly with third-party logistics providers, which can help reduce overhead costs like the burden of renting your own warehouse and hiring employees to staff it, especially amid global labor and warehouse shortages plaguing the industry. Software solutions also use automation to minimize the number of mistakes made with manual processes, saving unnecessary costs that can eat away at a business’s bottom line.

For example, Cin7 customer Peta + Jain implemented software to help scale the business, reduce manual error, and make the best use of the resources available to them. Once they integrated the system, Peta + Jain was able to save hundreds of hours and over $130k per year by utilizing an accounting software integration and online marketplace and shipment applications to help bolster the company’s online presence. Another positive of the technology is that the company gained access to high-quality analytics and reporting, allowing them to instantly place inventory in any of the company’s multiple channels, see sales throughout different regions, and accurately forecast and plan for the future.

How important is program compatibility with mobile devices?

Ensuring that business programs are compatible with mobile devices is extremely important because modern product sellers need to be able to do things on the go. For example, they should be able to make sales, access inventory anywhere in a store or warehouse, fulfill orders at the touch of a finger, and have visibility into the entire business no matter where they’re physically located.

In the past, legacy systems only allowed for software to be accessed on desktop computers, but now the possibilities are endless. Mobile devices can help you offer a better customer experience – whether it be through the speed of which an online order is fulfilled or supporting customers with in-store purchases.

What kind of software metrics should programs provide businesses?

Cloud-native software provides analytic and reporting metrics, allowing businesses to gain visibility into sales by region, channels and time period. You can also have control over things like taxes, compliance-related filings and all accounting record keeping. As a result, businesses can use these reports to plan cash flow with clearer insights into quick- versus slow-moving product, expenses based on historical data, seasonal trends, and more – removing the guesswork from finances and allowing business owners to focus on functions that will help them grow and reach more people.

What is the most important tech upgrade a small business should make?

Implementing an integrated, flexible, and scalable cloud-native software platform should be a top priority for small businesses because the opportunities that come with these technologies are endless. Many small business owners are using or have used disjointed, manual systems for operations such as accounting and inventory management; but these legacy systems often involve a lot of user error, avoidable mistakes, and use up countless hours that could be spent elsewhere. Investing in an end-to-end technology that consolidates and connects all business departments and data will allow you to scale, better serve customers, speed the time it takes to get orders into the hands of consumers, and enhance employee productivity and satisfaction.

Do you prefer desktop or online software applications for your business?

We prefer online software applications because they allow employees to work from anywhere, which is essential in today’s digital world. They also keep all data backed up and automatically stored – ensuring maximum productivity – allowing employees to focus on the work at-hand, rather than troubleshooting tech issues that are often associated with desktop programs.

How does your company focus on being sustainable?

We operate in a flexible work environment that is very supportive to remote working, virtual instead of in-person team meetings, and virtual customer meetings which reduces our carbon footprint and lowers travel times for our team members. In addition, we support and encourage our customers to put a high priority on sustainability and feature positive accolades on our most sustainable customers making them role models for all our customers to follow.

The post Interview with Doug LaBahn, Chief Marketing Officer of Cin7 appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

1. Google Sheets

Google Sheets is a great way to automate your business data. You can create formulas to calculate totals, averages, and other statistics automatically.

You can also use it to create graphs and charts to track your progress over time. This is just one example of how automation can save you time and money. Likewise, by automating your data entry, you can free up your time to focus on other tasks.

If you are not using Google Sheets for your business, you should probably start. It’s a powerful tool that can help you automate many different tasks.

2. EngageBay

EngageBay is an integrated Marketing, Sales, and Support CRM for startups and small businesses.

It features everything you need to align marketing, customer service, and sales around a single view of your customers. From marketing automation, and sales CRM, to helpdesk and ticketing, EngageBay is a complete business solution in itself.

3. SocialBee

SocialBee is a social media management tool that can help you automate your social media posts.

The app allows you to schedule posts in advance on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tiktok, Linkedin, and Google My Business. Therefore, this can save you a lot of time, especially if you are managing multiple social media accounts.

4. Asana

Asana is a great tool for larger project management.

It allows you to create tasks, set deadlines, and assign team members to each task. As a result, this can help you stay organized and on track with your projects.

5. Hootsuite

Hootsuite is another social media management tool that can help you automate your social media posts.

Similarly, it also allows you to track your analytics and measure your progress over time. Hootsuite offers a free plan that gives you access to basic features. However, you can upgrade to a paid plan for more features.

If you’re looking for a tool to help you automate your social media posts, Hootsuite is a great option.

6. BuzzSumo

With this tool, you can find the most popular content on social media and see what’s working for your competitors.

This is a great way to save time by quickly seeing what content is resonating with your audience. You can also use BuzzSumo to quickly find influencers in your industry and build relationships with them.

7. Canva

Canva is an amazing tool that allows you to create professional designs for your business.

Whether you need a new logo, business cards, or a social media banner, Canva can help you create beautiful designs that will save you time and money. Likewise, Canva has thousands of predesigned templates for almost any business need you may have, including:

• logo design;
• business card design;
• social media banner design;
• presentations;
• videos;
• planners;
• letters;
• social media posts; and
• and more.

Plus, with Canva’s easy-to-use design tools, you can customize your designs to create a unique look for your business. Best of all, Canva also offers a lot of its features for free.

8. Zapier

Zapier is probably the mother of all small business automation tools. Consequently, it can connect almost any app/service you have together and create automation flows to save you time.

For example, you can set up a zap (automation) to automatically send new leads from your CRM to your email marketing service. Likewise, you can add new sales from your payment gateway — Stripe, Paypal, etc. — to Google Sheets.

Zapier starts at $0/month for the free plan which includes up to 100 tasks per month. However, paid plans start at $20/month for 500 tasks per month.

9. ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign is an email marketing and automation tool that can save you time by automating your email marketing. Therefore, with ActiveCampaign, you can create email campaigns, set up autoresponders, and track your results.

ActiveCampaign offers a free plan for up to 500 contacts. However, paid plans start at $15/month for up to 500 contacts.

10. Grammarly

Grammarly is a great tool that can help you improve your writing. Similarly, it can save you time by automatically correcting grammar and spelling mistakes in your writing.

Grammarly offers a free plan that includes basic features. Alternatively, you can upgrade to a premium plan for more features.

Automation is your future. Make sure you are implementing it in your business.

So there are some of the best small business automation tools out there. As a result, these tools can automate various tasks, such as invoicing, contact management, email marketing, social media marketing, and more.

Do you use any of these tools in your business? In conclusion, learn which parts of your business can be automated. After that, start using automation in your business.

The post Small Business Automation Tools: Ten That Will Save You Time and Money appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Before the advancement of technology, businesses used to work with and manage thousands and thousands of physical documents. This would sometimes be challenging as they would also have to manage the day-to-day business operations.

As businesses move towards a more paperless future, your business will benefit from having scanning solutions. Additionally, digital scanning solutions can be scanning apps, scanning software, and other cutting-edge technology that can be used for scanning. As a result, consider investing in the following scanning solutions for your business and step into the future.

Benefits of Digital Scanning Solutions

Digital scanning solutions can ensure that your business is running smoothly and efficiently. Therefore, they are very useful regardless of the sector you are in, whether it is the medical sector, the property sector, or the retail sector, to name a few. Likewise, you will be able to find a variety of document scanning software and digital scanning solutions for your business.

Scanning solutions help you simplify all your data management processes and ensure that your business is disaster-proof or at least well prepared enough to stand against any workplace disaster.

In the same vein, you will also be able to save time and office space in your business as most day-to-day operations will be paperless and can be shared digitally between employees. This, in turn, can help improve work efficiency at the office, which can increase work productivity. Increased productivity can be a great benefit for any business as it will translate to more profit.

1. Barcode Scanning

Barcode scanners are scanners that can read printed barcodes. The barcodes then feed information to a computer. Operators scan these barcodes using an LED, laser, sensor, and lens. Barcode scanners can decode the information received to maintain your business’s product database. As a result, you’ll know what stock you have and how much of it you have left and better plan for future expenses.

Barcode scanning can be a great addition to your business as it can also help you with asset tracking, validating tickets, managing your stock database, and security. Above all, it’s easy to use. Non-technical business owners are able to install these systems quickly.

You’ll be able to get your business running at a much more efficient pace, increasing your customer base as well.

2. OCR Scanning

OCR stands for optical character recognition. This type of scanning converts printed characters into digital texts.

Once you convert the characters into digital text, you can search them quickly. As a result, you will be able to edit the document in a word processor. Having an OCR scanner in your business means that even vision-impaired individuals will be able to scan different types of faxes, books, and various documents.

You can use OCR scanners for scanning and converting texts for signs, and billboards, making it a must-have for businesses. Data entry projects can take hours to do, and an OCR scanner can help cut down on time spent on data entry.

3. QR Code Scanning

This type of scanning is mostly used in smartphones. QR stands for the quick response, and this type of scanner can decode QR codes and convert them into their intended purpose. Some information found in a QR code includes being redirected to a company’s website or automatically downloading a particular app.

QR codes are a great way to provide mobile solutions. For example, you can use a QR code in your business to direct potential customers to your information. You can also use it as a form of advertising where potential customers will be so curious about what your business does that they will scan the code to get more information.

4. RFID Scanning

An RFID scanner uses radio frequency identification, and this type of scanning solution can help your business identify and track RFID tags. These RFID tags are usually attached to various objects and contain data relevant to your business.

By using a radio responder, a transmitter, and a radio receiver, your RFID tag will transmit all the data it contains to a scanner. Therefore, this can be very beneficial for various cases, such as tracking your inventory and tracking your business vehicles and other logistics.

With RFID, you’ll be able to remotely increase your asset visibility and know exactly where each asset is. Further, you will also be able to improve the productivity of your employees as they will no longer need to waste time on long, intensive projects. As a result, your business will also be able to mitigate any risks that may arise from theft or loss.

You will be able to track your assets quickly, access all inventory information, and cross-reference it with the location of the asset. Having this much visibility means you will be able to better prepare for anything that may arise.

Specialized Scanning Solutions for Businesses

Manufacturers design specialized scanning solutions for businesses to save time and make day-to-day operations more efficient. Other forms of scanning that can benefit your business, regardless of the sector, include the following.

1. Medical Record Scanning

Medical record scanning allows medical personnel to manage patient health records, medical prescriptions, and transcripts and track every step of a patient’s care.

2. Legal Document Scanning

Legal document sharing helps lawyers, and law personnel cut down on the amount of paperwork they handle. You can digitize most documents and file them so that attorneys can easily access them. Consequently, firms will be able to save money for the practice and reduce using physical storage space.

3. Digital Dental Scanning

Having easy access to a patient’s health records can streamline any time-consuming tasks in dental practice. You’ll also be able to control which medical personnel can access what files. As a result, this adds an extra layer of security for sensitive information.  

Additionally, there are technological advancements in the dental industry today that allow dentists to effortlessly make mouth and tooth impressions. With digital dental scans, dentists can efficiently get oral impressions within seconds. This eliminates the laborious and often expensive process of casting plaster molds for the purpose of fitting dentures and other oral procedures.

4. Blueprint and Map Scanning

Blueprint and map scanning give blueprints, plan sets, and maps to a barcode that simplifies inventory control for businesses. The images are then checked for quality, completeness, and clarity for secure data transfer.

Conclusion

Choose the best digital scanning solution for your business by identifying what weaknesses your business has and which scanning solutions will be able to help.

You can use these solutions to boost efficiency and minimize operational costs. You’ll be able to organize data without endangering the environment as all transactions will be digital. It’s the best investment for you, so make sure you invest in the best digital scanning solutions.

The post 4 Types of Digital Scanning Solutions for Business  appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Technology is one of the tools that help companies broaden their horizons. Most founders realize the need to start out with basic tech solutions, such as security and productivity applications.

But there are other types of software and platforms that can facilitate your company’s growth strategy and streamline costs. Let’s discuss four of those solutions.

1. Information System Monitoring Apps

As your business grows, the amount of data you collect, store, and use increases. So do the company’s technologies and processes required to collect, transform and process all this data.

These growing complex info systems require something more. But complex info systems require something more advanced than human oversight.

AI-backed applications, such as data observability tools, track the reliability of data within intricate data pipelines. You’ll gain visibility into whether the information is flowing well throughout your organization. When there are glitches with specific data moving between applications in the pipeline or performance problems, you’ll get alerts.

Observability tools also reveal where data processing costs are increasing and records are missing or don’t match.

You’ll identify and correct issues before they lead to downtime or outages. Your team will have better insights into how to optimize the way the company gathers, manages, and keeps information.

2. Digital Marketing Tools

Surveys show digital advertising now makes up 58% of marketing budgets. Spending on digital marketing is also expected to grow 14.7% in 2022.

These figures represent an overall shift from traditional forms of advertising and media, including television and radio.

Although conventional marketing is still effective in specific markets and with certain demographics, online media can be more efficient. Digital content, including social media posts, videos, and PPC ads, is often cheaper to create and circulate. Online media increases your visibility, reaches new audiences, and creates a brand following.

Furthermore, the turnaround time for campaigns can be quicker since technology simplifies the production and distribution processes.

Content management solutions, design apps, and software that runs ad campaign reports and analytics represent the bulk of that business tech solutions. With these platforms and smartphone cameras, producing and distributing online ad campaigns doesn’t have to be complicated.

While some companies partner with digital marketing agencies, technology makes it easier to do the work in-house. And many online resources exist to help you learn the best strategies and tactics.

3. Cloud-Based Applications

Growing companies need applications that are adaptable and can scale. Software licensed to a single computer doesn’t serve those needs well.

Even if you purchase multiple device-based licenses, complications arise. Installation and data storage logistics consume internal resources and reduce flexibility.

IT staff still need to manage the software installation and removal process and track which assets are taking up licenses. Employees might also store information on separate devices that the applications use. Technical teams have to use more elementary methods of migrating that data, such as USB and external hard drives.

These procedures take more time and introduce risks associated with lost and corrupted information.

By choosing cloud-based applications instead, you can manage software and any linked data more efficiently. Employees have access to applications from any device or location and can store and work on documents in the cloud. IT won’t be spending hours installing and removing software, freeing up time for higher-value projects.

Plus, you can add and track user-based licenses within an online dashboard as the number of employees and locations grows.

4. Mobile App Development Software

By 2024, the projected number of mobile shoppers in the U.S. will surpass 187 million. Mobile commerce, including apps, is also expected to become the dominant means of online shopping among consumers.

Already, 77% rely on mobile apps for in-store price comparisons. Of those that use smartphones to do in-store online research, 71% say these devices are important to their retail shopping experiences.

For businesses with storefronts and physical locations, mobile app development isn’t something that can be ignored.

Consumers are increasingly reliant on apps to enhance their overall experiences with brands. Customers find mobile apps more convenient, whether they’re ordering takeout or researching products and services. Businesses that don’t have them are missing opportunities to communicate, trigger buying behavior, and deliver service.

Mobile app development software provides the resources companies need to create the apps consumers crave.

You don’t need a coding background to make something that looks professional. These platforms work like web design software that allows you to drag and drop features. You can also use app builders to automate customer notifications and create mobile versions of online stores. Some development tools even automate the digital app store submission process.

Get Growing

Business owners see growth as an indicator of success, as well they might.

Today, technology is instrumental in advancing a company’s core competencies, increasing customer reach, and improving or enhancing service delivery. Business tech solutions also help optimize internal resources and processes, preventing downtime and increasing cost-effectiveness.

Choosing tools that support your business’s growth involves identifying opportunities and the platforms that can best facilitate your objectives. Some that are worth looking at are data observability, digital marketing, cloud-based, and mobile app development solutions. These applications not only promote growth but also scale as businesses advance.

The post 4 Business Tech Solutions That Will Help Your Company Grow appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

There are nearly 2 billion websites in the world vying for the attention of online shoppers. Consequently, small businesses need to gain visibility to drive traffic to their site while providing the best solutions to the unique problems of each prospect.

Today’s discerning consumers are motivated less by competitive prices and more by whether a company’s website provides a positive user experience. In other words, content marketing can help you build a following and increase conversion rates for ongoing success.

Keep reading to gain a better understanding of the importance of content marketing and learn how to develop an effective strategy for your marketing efforts.

Quick Takeaways

• Content marketing helps set you apart from the competition. As a result, it increases visibility. Likewise, it drives traffic to your site for higher conversion rates and revenue generation.
• Setting SMART goals and identifying your online shoppers help shape your content marketing strategy for optimal results.
• Mapping out content and creating a distribution schedule provides parameters against which to measure the success of your content marketing efforts.

Why is Content Marketing Important?

Content marketing has a far-reaching impact. Today’s consumers want to receive relevant, authoritative information. Therefore, the more quality content you create that resonates with your audience, the more trust, and loyalty you build among your followers.

This increases the likelihood that they’ll share your information with their own contacts and broaden your reach exponentially. In the same vein, quality content enables you to:

• Engage with your audience. Storytelling helps you connect and build lasting relationships with your readers. This is important because existing customers make 65% of a company’s purchases.
• Build your reputation. When you consistently deliver quality content, people will rely on you as a trusted source and industry leader.
• Boost your ROI. The conversion rates for content marketing are six times higher than other marketing strategies.
• Enhance digital marketing channels. Social media, email, video, and more benefit from quality content.

When you craft tailored messages that address particular issues, you deliver a positive experience to your audience. Consequently, search engines identify you as a valuable resource for their users and reward you with higher ranking placement.

This is crucial since 75% of online users don’t look past the first page of Google search results. The following video provides more detail about how to write for SEO to increase your visibility and drive more quality traffic to your site:

Content marketing is key to setting your small business apart from the competition, getting more leads, closing sales, and generating revenue.

5 Steps to Building an Effective Content Marketing Strategy

To benefit from content marketing, every small business must first develop a roadmap for creating and distributing quality content. Here are five steps to building an effective content marketing strategy.

Step 1: Set SMART Goals

Before you can plan your content, you must first know what objectives you’re trying to reach. Whether you want to drive more traffic to your site or increase audience engagement, set SMART goals that are:

• Specific: Whether it’s a number to reach or a deadline to meet, specificity can help provide direction for your campaign.
• Measurable: Milestones help you gauge the impact of your strategy.
• Achievable: Goals should be realistic and attainable. A series of small successes can help propel you forward.
• Relevant: Short-term plans should align with your long-term mission.
• Timely: Set an end date to motivate you toward success.

Setting goals will help you deliver the right message to the right audience at the right time.

Step 2: Identify Your Audience

For the greatest impact, you must have a strong understanding of who your online audience is. As a result, combining basic demographics like age and gender with insight into which channels they frequent (and how often) can help you build the framework for an effective content marketing strategy.

Analyze your data to identify audience personas. Likewise, learn more by monitoring their online activity to see what kind of feedback they give and what candid conversations they have about you and your competitors.

Use that information to plan content that specifically addresses concerns and frustrations and proves why your solutions are superior. In short, by understanding what your audience wants, you can create custom content that resonates and compels them to shop with your small business.

Step 3: Map Out Your Content

With your goals set and your target audience identified, you can begin to plan your content. Choose relevant topics that are meaningful to your readers. Content marketing encompasses a wide variety of materials, including:

• Blog Articles: Expert content includes high-performing keywords and links to reputable sources that help deliver a positive user experience and boost SEO.
• Videos: People can digest information while performing other tasks.
• White Papers: Research findings help establish you as a leader in your field while delivering essential information.
• Social Media Posts: Engage your audience and learn more about their preferences, pain points, and opportunities to provide solutions.

Based on audience behavior and preferences, choose the type of content that makes the most sense for your goals. Further, as you develop your messaging, be sure to keep the customer in mind. Address their specific needs and build trust with valuable information. After all, trust is a top priority for 53% of shoppers.

Step 4: Schedule Your Distribution

Knowing your audience and the type of content you plan to post will help you set a distribution schedule. You’ll know which channels you should use to reach your readers and when the best time is to post.

If your customers respond well to images, you know to focus on an Instagram campaign. For people who prefer email, you’ll have a better open rate with content sent in the mornings. Use all this insight to create a content schedule that helps you know what topics will be covered and through which channels you should syndicate it.

In addition to keeping you focused on your goals, setting an agenda helps you assign work to team members or outsource the work to a professional writing service. With the content subject matter planned out, you can find writers specializing in those topics to create expert messaging that resonates, brings value, and earns customer loyalty.

Creating a distribution schedule ensures organization, helps you create timely messages for greater impact, and sets parameters against which you can measure success.

5. Track Your Progress

Metrics are essential to determine whether your content marketing strategy is truly successful. Measure which channels are yielding positive results and identify areas that need adjustment. Engagement, open rates, and bounce rates can tell you things like:

• which avenues aren’t a good fit for your audience;
• what topics aren’t generating interest;
• time of day or day of the week that content distribution gets the best results; and
• whether you’ve accurately identified your audience and their needs.

In conclusion, there are lots of factors involved in a successful content marketing strategy. You can pinpoint what adaptations need to be made to achieve the best possible outcome by measuring progress.

The post How to Develop an Effective Small Business Content Marketing Strategy appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Intelligent automation can increase productivity, accuracy, and compliance while decreasing costs and enhancing staff morale and customer happiness.

Bringing IA into your firm is a people-centered strategic business change, not a technological project. You need top-level sponsorship to get the change started, the necessary skills to make it work, and the support and buy-in of employees at all levels of the organization to assure long-term success.

High-Level Management

Senior management endorsement helps to define the automation goal for the whole organization. They release the cash and resources required to expand the project fast.

Your IA transformation has limits in scale without top-level backing, maybe to one department. Confining your automation project to an organizational silo will likely under perform and fail to realize its full potential. Consequently, resulting in a vicious loop in terms of getting funds and talent for the next step of the roadmap.

With top management buy-in and enterprise-level vision, on the other hand, you’ll be capable of launching a deep-impact, highly-increased pilot. That is to say, quickly access the funding and resources needed to scale, unlocking the synergies and economies of scale that come with end-to-end organization-wide intelligent automation pipelines.

Automation Talent

The proper personnel is critical to the success of your IA transformation; therefore, begin forming your team as early as possible in the process. This offers them a feeling of ownership over the project. They have knowledge of its history from the start, which will be helpful as the project continues into its latter phases.

Form an IA leadership committee to supervise the transition and an IA center of excellence (CoE) to execute and deliver it. The leadership committee is in charge of overseeing the transition and developing the vision, business case, and strategy. Top management from all company departments engaged in the transformation should be present.

The CoE is accountable to the leadership committee. It is in charge of carrying out the IA plan, creating and managing all of the policies, frameworks, and typical assets required for the transformation, and discovering further possibilities for innovation. The expertise necessary for the CoE is diversified and not only technical. You may encompass developers, architects, data scientists, testers, machine learning experts, data engineers, and IT and systems professionals on the technical side. However, it is also critical to involve experts in operations, risk management, change management, communication, and training.

Data Science

Because intelligent automation and data science are rapidly emerging industries, it might be challenging to discover the proper people via external recruiting. Don’t depend too much on short-term external consultants. You’ll need people to remain around beyond the first implementation phase to maintain your IA infrastructure and grow and enhance it as technology changes and new automation possibilities emerge.

Consider internal hiring and upskilling current employees. I’ve seen organizations effectively discover 60% of the essential talent in this manner. Existing workers already have domain knowledge and business loyalty. In certain circumstances, teaching them technical skills may be more beneficial than bringing outsider specialists. Moreover, to bring up to speed on your organization’s unwritten understanding.

Develop a process to find internal candidates interested in and capable of contributing to your IA transformation. Indeed, arrange communities, games, and contests that test the needed or relevant abilities. That is to say, give speeches and seminars on automation-related themes from external specialists.

Your Employees and Automation

The mindset of your whole staff has a significant influence on the continuing success and impact of your IA transformation.

Do your most junior employees regard intelligent automation as a danger that will replace them and force them out of the workforce? Or do they view it as a chance to supplement and strengthen themselves while freeing up time to focus on creative or relationship work?

The appropriate approach to training and education may lead to widespread adoption of automation inside a corporation. The road ahead will be considerably easier if your human staff accepts and works with your digital workforce rather than against it.

Employees totally on board with automation may even be encouraged to seek out chances for further automation in their day-to-day duties. Although very few whole professions are automatable, many jobs have a significant number of automatable activities. Your employees are the experts on what they do daily. They are in the best position to identify these automatable tasks in their work. Indeed, they learn what types of jobs lend themselves well to automation. They may even help train and develop the automation programs that will become their assistants using low-code and no-code technologies. This may enable individuals to become authors of the change and aid in integrating IA into your organization’s culture.

You can extend the capacity beyond the limited number of highly experienced individuals. Using your CoE, this democratization of IA may also boost your IA transformation’s scope, pace, and effect.

Everyone benefits if your employees realize that automation may free them from arduous and repetitive jobs. IA allows them to undertake more meaningful, higher value-add work that raises their market worth. Your business acknowledges and rewards this.

The post Intelligent Automation: It’s All About Your People appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Successful companies such as Tesla have made a move to invest in new technologies, including clean and renewable energy. This gave rise to the invention of the Tesla Powerwall, a solar battery providing even greater value.

Installing a solar battery such as the Tesla Powerwall, whether it’s to supplement your strategy for dealing with power outages along with a bank of 10000 watt generators or as a stand-alone strategy, will help to ensure that you get the most out of your system. You will be able to store excess electricity and improve its generation throughout the day in both your homes and businesses. It helps not only protect the environment but also saves money.

There are many benefits to adding the Tesla Powerwall to your system as outlined below.

1. Reliable, Consistent Power Supply

The Tesla Powerwall ensures that you have power when you need it.

Solar panels only produce electricity when there is sunlight. This means that you lack consistent supply at night. You are assured that your essential appliances will keep running even during power outages.

Installing a solar battery ensures that you have a constant power supply. The Tesla Powerwall boasts of great energy storing capacity of 13kWh. The Tesla Powerwall also ensures a higher power supply due to its flexibility. You are able to stack or add to your units at any time as your demand increases.

2. Diminished Grid Dependency

The Tesla Powerwall offers a great solution for you if you want to stop relying on the grid.

Frequent power outages are a pain to handle. This battery system ensures that you do not have to depend on the grid to run your household or business. This is because it automatically detects grid outages. You do not have to lift a finger when this happens. Having independence from the grid without a solar battery is next to impossible.

3. Improved Power Technology

Technology access means more control.

The Tesla Powerwall provides great features that make your solar power system more efficient. It even includes a storm-watch feature. The Tesla application provides you with real-time data usage and time-based control.

You are able to optimize the usage of electricity from your solar system by discharging it during peak hours. This time-based control greatly impacts your electricity costs and is a definite advantage for your household.

4. Benefits to Our Ecosystem

The use of non-renewable energy such as fuel and coal has had a continuously negative impact on our environment.

Global warming is increasingly on the rise and with it comes temperature rises and harsh weather conditions. Likewise, wildfires are now a common occurrence destroying our ecosystem.

Integration of your solar system with the Tesla Powerwall ensures that we have a constant supply of clean renewable energy from the sun. This will enable us to minimize our carbon footprint and help the ecosystem become vibrant again.

The Bottom Line

The Tesla Powerwall offers a great battery storage solution that caters to the growing needs of businesses and industry. Its ability to be integrated into an already existing solar system is also a great advantage.

The Tesla Powerwall is powered using lithium-ion batteries which are made from recyclable material. Tesla has partnered with different companies to reprocess spent battery packs and cells for making new ones. This battery requires no maintenance. You can feel proud while using this technology as it incorporates a zero-waste policy and is manufactured using recyclable materials.

Environmental awareness provides a much-needed reprieve as the world makes many changes and initiates campaigns to go green and create sustainability for the environment. Considering the benefits to your business and the environment, it may be time to give the Tesla Powerwall serious consideration.

The post 4 Benefits of Adding Solar Batteries to Your Solar Power System appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

These technologies are more important in 2022 than ever before, especially as the eCommerce industry continues to grow. Most eCommerce businesses need the right tools and technologies to achieve their goals.

So…what should you be investing in?

Take a look at some of the new technologies entering the eCommerce space. Make a decision for yourself that is worthy of investment based on how you operate your business.

1. Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is an interesting type of technology when it comes to its place in the eCommerce world.

Once thought of as a solution for high tech, it’s now more readily available than ever. It allows many organizations to adopt it as a way of minimizing costs and enhancing operations.

AI may help to fill in the one gap that consumers have when it comes to making a decision about purchasing online. It creates the opportunity for virtual assistants to work and connect with consumers in a realistic experience.

That can help with improving personalization and customer service. It increases the connection between the company selling the product and the consumer buying it, filling an all-important gap.

2. All-Inclusive Fulfillment Systems

It’s a fact of eCommerce. The faster you can fulfill orders, the more orders you can take. And that means more revenue streaming into your company’s account.

Yet it can be challenging to keep up with all the warehousing, picking, packing, and shipping needs of a growing business. It can also become expensive, bringing down the profits you make on each item you sell.

Newer fulfillment systems that leverage the latest software advancements have been a huge boon. This is especially the case with startups operating on limited capital.

These systems are typically offered on an outsourced basis, as in the case of third-party logistics (3PL) providers. These providers can have technology that can help with warehouse management, order management, and product information management. They can pull it all together in one spot making an eCommerce retailer’s life much easier.

As a complete eCommerce solution, Tradefull points out that automation through those types of tech is making warehousing more efficient. As a result, this is helping retailers get products to customers faster and faster.

3. Hyper-Personalized Experiences

Hyper-personalized experiences piggyback on the use of AI in eCommerce environments.

AI can help to gather information about shoppers during their visits. That data proves valuable because it can then be used to create personalized experiences for customers.

Consumers desire a personalized experience that speaks directly to them and values their time. Likewise, a tailored experience like this also allows companies to present consumers with more of the products they are likely to want, improving sales.

The adoption of hyper-personalized experiences through the use of AI can empower eCommerce brands beyond the competition. As a result, it creates an opportunity for a one-of-a-kind experience that consumers desire.

4. Voice Assistants

There’s no doubt that checking the weather or playing music using a voice assistant like Google or Alexa is the easy way to go.

Voice assistants like this can also directly contribute to the needs of eCommerce businesses. Consumers want to rely on their devices to help them make purchases, especially when buying online.

In an eCommerce environment, consumers want to ask their voice assistant of choice to help them find what they need. That may allow companies to set up tools that also allow repeat purchases.

All the consumer has to do is to ask their voice assistant to purchase a specific product from the store of their choice. Many of these assistants remember past purchases. Additionally, they may even help with marketing products by sending reminders to consumers to buy again.

5. Chatbots

One of the concerns for many organizations in managing their eCommerce operation is being accessible to customers 24 hours a day.

It’s simply impossible to do this without the use of technology. New technology, such as AI chatbots, is working to provide a solution.

These more advanced chatbots allow consumers to type their messages directly to the company. The chatbots respond with reasonable questions and can retrieve customer information, product shipping data, and even product information, answering most of the consumers’ questions.

The benefit here is in improving customer service. Consumers get the information they need whenever they need it, even in the middle of the night. That leads to increased sales.

At the same time, eCommerce companies don’t need to pay the high cost of using people to answer those questions. This type of technology has improved significantly so that it creates a more personalized, realistic experience for the consumer while gathering data and supporting the needs of the company.

6. Augmented Reality

Unlike at a brick-and-mortar store, consumers have no way to look at a product from different angles, handle it, try it on, or otherwise explore it.

Augmented reality (AR) opens the door for this opportunity. While it has a long way to go in terms of texture and truly experiencing what a product is like, consumers can use AR to visualize products more realistically before they make a purchase. They can try on clothing virtually. They may be able to place furniture in their living room to see just how well it would fit.

AR is rapidly changing and morphing into a valuable tool for many eCommerce businesses. It’s also a fantastic tool to embed into social media to help build brand recognition and help encourage sales.

Technology Continues to Improve eCommerce Success

Business owners looking for ways to grow and build their operations may need to pay close attention to new technology like these.

Not only can technology help to create new opportunities for sales and better customer service, but it may also provide opportunities to streamline costs, improve operations, and improve efficiencies throughout the company.

In the growing eCommerce industry, it’s essential to have every possible tool available to ensure the best possible return on every sale made.

The post 6 Types of New Technologies in eCommerce appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

While you’ll find many benefits with cloud computing, you might also have concerns over potential security issues. Fortunately, you can embrace the advantages of cloud computing and managed siem while still keeping your small business and your customers’ private information safe.

Look into ideas such as hybrid cloud computing, which costs less money and gives similar advantages to companies. You’ll still gain the safety net of a third-party provider, but for a fraction of the cost.

Here are some things to keep in mind when considering whether cloud computing is a secure option for your small business.

1. Train your workers to identify attacks.

Phishing usually starts with an email made to look as though it’s from an official source.

Teach your staff to go directly to a website and never click on links within an email. You can significantly reduce social engineering attacks by training your workers to recognize them.

Phishing can also look like an email from someone higher up in a company, but will actually be from someone trying to gain access to accounts. It’s always best to double-check requests for passwords or personal information by calling the other employee directly.

According to Verizon’s 2021 Data Breach Investigations Report, approximately 36% of breaches come from phishing attacks. Phishing is quite avoidable if you train your workers to recognize and avoid it.

2. Install virus and malware protection.

Make sure every device used by your company or its employees – even remote workers – has the latest virus and malware protection installed.

One of the biggest threats to the computing safety of your small business is workers not protecting their accounts. Hackers can do a lot of mischief if they get their hands on login credentials.

Make sure any device used to access accounts has protection installed. Remote workers may need to go through IT to ensure they add two-factor authentication and install all available software.

Companies should provide protection and follow up frequently to be sure it gets installed and updated properly.

3. Insist on strong passwords.

One way people allow hackers into their accounts is by reusing passwords, not changing them frequently, or using easy-to-guess combinations.

At a minimum, you should change all your business passwords every few months, including any passwords to cloud computing software.

Encourage employees to use passwords that aren’t easy to guess and contain lowercase letters, capitals, numbers, and characters.

Don’t forget to watch the passwords you use for software as a service (SaaS) applications. A company with under 500 employees uses as many as 123 different SaaS apps.

For example, if you use several different websites for various tasks, make sure you change passwords when an employee leaves or you terminate them. Not keeping up with passwords opens your business to vulnerabilities.

4. Set clear security policies.

Avoid confusion over security protocols by setting some policies.

What happens to customer data when you no longer need it? How often do you change passwords? Are there tiers to data access?

Figure out what works best for your organization and set the rules. This helps current and future employees know what’s expected of them.

5. Comply with all applicable laws.

Know the rules surrounding data protection.

For example, if some of your customers reside in the European Union (EU), you fall under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and must comply with the rules or face fines.

States such as California have similar standards. Your state and local governments may vary, so be sure to check any applicable laws.

You also must comply with laws in areas where your out-of-state customers reside.

6. Set a budget.

McKinsey & Company recently noted most companies plan to have $8 of every $10 in their IT hosting budget go toward cloud hosting by 2024.

The pandemic brought many companies online with cloud access for remote workers they weren’t planning to implement yet.

The increase in data means an increase in online criminal activity.

So, is cloud computing safe for your small business? The answer isn’t always the same, but most cloud hosting providers invest quite a bit of money into the most recent security measures possible.

It’s likely as safe as any other method of storing data, short of keeping information only on paper, which isn’t practical. Set a budget that meets your company’s goals. You can always increase it if you feel your data isn’t safe enough.

Is cloud computing safe or not?

Cloud computing is as safe as any other form of digital data storage.

You should ensure any companies you hire have the latest in safety standards and security. Take steps to protect your information, such as training employees and frequently changing passwords.

With some good security practices and awareness, it’s much less likely that you’ll face a data breach.

The post Is Cloud Computing Safe for Small Businesses? appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

A worldwide recession is on its way. Perhaps not today. Perhaps not tomorrow. But it won’t be long now. Do you hear the consistent economic drumbeat? Don’t ignore it!

A recession is on its way, and although it is unlikely to endure the rest of your life, it is unavoidable. That’s a fact.

Even if there are warning indicators to watch for — increased interest rates, deflation, stock market collapses, loss of trust in the economy, and so on — there is no magic formula to forecast when and how long it will occur. And no, you can’t count on cryptocurrency to save you.

For example, increasing interest rates and weak first-quarter growth have led some to predict that the next recession would occur sooner than later. Perhaps it will happen. But, then again, who could have forecast the economic impact that the coronavirus would cause at the start of 2020? Aren’t the best-laid plans no more than that…plans?

But, whether it occurs this year or in five years, it never hurts to be prepared.

According to a poll conducted a few years ago, 44 percent of small-business owners questioned had made no efforts to prepare for a prospective recession.

Recognizing that the unexpected might occur at any moment, it is more crucial than ever to be proactive in preparing your organization to weather the next recession. Here are three crucial areas to concentrate on.

1. Take care of your money.

Everything ultimately boils down to money. You can’t keep your business afloat if you don’t have it.

Create an emergency fund. Just as you (ideally) have money set aside for a rainy day, your company should have something for the unplanned and unexpected. Therefore, maintain at least three months’ cash reserves to cover everything from operational expenditures to staff payments. As a result, when the economy begins to collapse, quick and straightforward access to capital is critical.

Obtain capital. Please go into the coming recession knowing what you have access to, whether via investors, lines of credit, grants, or credit cards. This groundwork enables you to plan ahead of time rather than hurry to catch up.

Examine your spending patterns up close and personal. Is it possible to minimize expenses without losing quality? Do you have the ability to renegotiate contracts with vendors and suppliers? Determine the difference between strategic and non-strategic expenditure. Where can you cut expenditures carefully to increase the return on operational expenses?

Pay off your debts — sound advice, recession or not. If you have the means, pay off those high-interest loans or credit cards so you don’t have to make monthly payments.

2. Pursue new business markets.

When a company’s finances are tight, the first item that gets cut is its advertising budget. It’s challenging to invest time, energy, and money in something that doesn’t necessarily provide an instant return. However, even if the economy is a downturn, you must maintain your market competitiveness.

Consumers are spending less, and they are significantly more intelligent and demanding when they do buy. If you don’t get your name out there, you have less chance that your company will be the one people choose to support.

That is why you want astute, strategic marketing. Therefore, show them why your company is worthy of the award. Help them realize why your service or product is a good investment and how it may give some stability during a difficult period.

3. Increase existing customer loyalty.

Don’t forget about your existing consumers. When all else fails, a devoted client base may be the only thing that keeps the lights on and the doors open. However, it’s a wise business decision to seek out new customers, but it’s just as critical (if not more so) to maintain the ones you currently have.

Most people say that acquiring a new client costs more than retaining an existing one. If you’re continuously bringing in new customers but losing your regulars, you’re moving one stride ahead and two steps back. You don’t want to be performing that dance.

Provide outstanding client service. Therefore, concentrate on fostering loyalty. Don’t save your discounts and gifts only for new consumers.

Continue to examine and determine their requirements and how you might meet them. Remind them of the benefits of sticking with you versus your competitors.

Takeaway: Don’t wait for a recession to prepare for one.

Begin preparing to give yourself a little added protection to help you live through the inevitable. The unavoidable may not occur today. Perhaps not tomorrow. Perhaps…well, you get the point.

This is not investment, tax, or financial advice. For counsel on your specific circumstances, you should seek the opinion of a qualified expert.

The post Three Recession Risk-Mitigation Strategies appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The continuing Covid-19 pandemic will shape and affect business and tech trends for the third calendar year. How companies and organizations adapt to pandemic disruption might have defined 2020 and 2021. This year, enterprises are reacting to the Covid-19 fog with a cautious business attitude and a frantic drive toward digital operations.

However, in the near term, corporations will shift their attention from uncertainty to agility, seeking to capitalize on emerging trends and shifting conditions. After all, you’re not a Russian billionaire!

This year, companies will have to understand the unpredictable nature of global pandemic patterns. For clarity, firms should employ data and analytics, not the cloud of doubt. With a proactive perspective, firms may go from being reactive to proactive.

A greater focus on data and analytics will reshape operations in many ways, but four small business tech trends stand out.

1. Subscription-based models.

It’s no wonder that firms are adapting their subscription trends models to meet customers’ changing demands in the on-demand economy. -Converting one-time buyers into subscribers ensures a steady income stream rather than irregular purchases.

During the early phases of Covid-19, the subscription model held strong. According to Deloitte, 4/5 subscription-based firms have kept or gained customers since the epidemic began.

While the pandemic boosted many subscription-based businesses, churn is now a concern as customers reassess the value and volume of their paid memberships.

Companies may use data to create a more customized experience, from communications and marketing to the goods and services included in the subscription. Therefore, delivering a personalized experience means clients get value for money and are motivated to connect with the business.

2. Changing supply chain strategy.

Supply chain disruption stories dominated this year’s Christmas shopping season, and they will continue in 2022.

Businesses will increasingly depend on data and supply chain analytics. Leaders depend on the data to understand better how to service their consumers from multiple smaller, localized fulfillment centers.

The Ever Given incident and tech scores of cargo ships trapped off the California coast defined 2021. In 2022, expect firms to adapt to more agile supply chains.

You’re not alone in thinking that the supply chain will become a hot subject as we move forward. Companies are scrambling to discover technologies that will help them weather the storm in 2022, yet data-driven supply chain management tools — including AI and GIS — are still in their infancy.

3. B2B tech sales tools.

As data practices evolve, we should expect to see more data-driven technologies used by B2B salespeople.

Therefore, major fundraising rounds like Apollo.io’s $32 million Series B show the rising interest in sophisticated trends sales enablement systems.

Some company executives attempt to use new technologies for sales and marketing. However, we expect to see increasing technology cooperation across formerly walled business groups.

So work to enhance goal-oriented processes as prospects progress into the funnel and throughout the customer journey.

Business executives and data trends professionals are increasingly working together to uncover new possibilities. As a result, data-driven B2B sales enablement may boost campaign effectiveness and efficiency.

4. Optimization of digital technology.

The trend toward personalization unifies all of the themes on this list. Consequently, consumers have more options than ever, allowing them to influence company success.

Companies may succeed in this climate by focusing on consumer data, analytics, and targeted communications. In 2022, successful organizations will rely on tech touch and accuracy rather than volume.

Above all, sending the proper customized greeting isn’t always easy. The collapse of third-party data and revisions to iOS privacy settings have made this a difficult task.

However, to compensate, businesses must use their first-party data, collecting, organizing, and analyzing their precious resources.

Moving Toward Clarity in the Coming Year

Europe and Asia have alternated between normality and increased lockdowns over the last two months. Many states in the U.S. are urging individuals to obtain a second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. All the while less developed technology nations recommend populations to be vaccinated.

However, these contrasting scenarios show that this year will be a year of uncertainty, with implications for global rivalry, demand, and logistics.

While abrupt changes may impact tech sectors, this does not imply changes will harm all enterprises.

Dedicated data gathering and analysis allow firms to see through the fog and make intelligent choices. Big data enables firms to see patterns in apparently random or chaotic occurrences. Real-time data resources may help companies respond to changing legislation or supply chain interruptions, ensuring sustained success.

A year of personalization, clarity, and dependability for firms that invest wisely in data solutions.

So stop, look, and learn. Rome wasn’t built with sticks and stones but rather with fortitude and determination.

The post 4 Business and Tech Trends to Watch This Year appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

But wait, aren’t global labor markets off-limits to small and medium-sized companies?

Thankfully, international workers are more accessible than ever due to modern technology and third-party services. So if you’ve never considered looking overseas to solve your local talent issues, here are three reasons why you should.

1. Technology can bring the world to you.

Moving into the global market doesn’t necessarily mean going through the process of opening up a location overseas.

Sometimes thinking internationally is as simple as opening up your hiring pool to remote workers in other countries. And the best part is that technology has come a long way in this endeavor. Hiring individuals from another country no longer requires relocation, visas, or sponsorships. Depending on the position, you can hire and onboard remote contractors and employees online.

Technology is also a huge asset when it comes to finding quality remote workers in the first place.

There is a multitude of specialist companies that can post your job listing in the countries that you choose. After that, your preset filters can forward your best options without overloading your inbox.

The explosion of individuals who work remotely has also brought with it innovation in collaborative software options.

In the past, the notion of having a team of people work together and never be in the same room was outlandish. Nowadays, assigning tasks and sharing workflow materials is as easy as clicking a button or creating templates. Meeting and conferencing software automatically adjusts for individual time zones and can record conversations for future reference.

So if you believe job-specific limitations are preventing you from hiring global workers, you might investigate what software is available. Sure, there’s no getting around certain location-dependent jobs such as package delivery or building construction. However, some job categories previously considered to be solely in-house might be more adaptable than you think.

2. You don’t need international HR expertise.

Some small business owners don’t consider acting on overseas hiring options. One reason is that they assume they’ll need international expertise to do so. And while international workplace differences and labor regulations can genuinely be a pain, there’s good news. All that administrative hassle doesn’t have to be your problem if you outsource it.

If you only want to hire global remote employees — as opposed to setting up shop abroad — you will need an employer of record (EOR). This is actually not a recommendation. It’s a requirement if you do not have a legal presence established in the country of hire.

What does an EOR do?

An EOR works by creating its own legal presence in multiple countries. Once they’ve done that, they offer the service of hiring employees on behalf of companies around the world.

So let’s say you want to hire a remote worker from Brazil. You would engage an EOR to be their employer on paper even though the worker performs services for you.

An added benefit of using an EOR is that the liability for international reporting and regulations is off your shoulders. If you do not file reports correctly or employer taxes are paid late, it is the responsibility of the EOR.

A situation where you might engage an overseas worker and not be forced to use an EOR involves independent contracting.

When you hire an independent contractor rather than an employee, there are no requirements to have a legal presence. This doesn’t mean you have to navigate international regulations on your own, though. In these instances, you can hire a professional employer organization (PEO).

A PEO operates similarly to an EOR in that it can handle administrative setup and payment functions. The major difference between the two is responsibility. If an error is made with reporting or payment, the PEO can help resolve the issue. However, you are ultimately on the hook for fines and penalties.

3. You gain options to fill in your talent gaps.

Competition for quality employees and contractors is stiffer than ever.

Does it seem like your open positions are destined to stay that way due to a lack of qualified candidates? Maybe qualified individuals in your area are in such demand that they are out of your price range.

To solve this problem, you might be tempted to settle for subpar hires. Sometimes these individuals grow into the positions, and everything works out fine in the long run. When it doesn’t work out, however, you’re looking at turnover that is costly from both a monetary and team morale perspective.

Expanding your search radius internationally can be either a long-term or short-term solution.

Let’s say your firm has a series of projects that require engineers, and you have been coming up short locally. In order to fulfill those needs within budget, you could look for engineering contractors in countries such as Iran or Indonesia.

You can use remote contracting either as a stopgap measure or as a trial run for future employees. If you like the work an individual performs on a single project, you can extend an offer of full-time employment. Getting a better understanding of a worker’s performance before onboarding them can save you time and money by preventing unnecessary turnover.

The world is open to businesses of all sizes.

If you’ve been hesitant to investigate options for global solutions to your hiring problems, it’s important to ask yourself why.

Is it because you think it will be too complicated, expensive, or inapplicable to your industry?

If those concerns are holding you back, there are options and third-party companies available to help. Whether it’s temporary support to get you through a busy patch or a long-term strategy, global hiring might be the best solution for you.

The post If You’ve Been Afraid to Hire Globally, 3 Factors Might Change Your Mind appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Attracting and keeping fintech staff is a primary goal in the wake of The Great Resignation. Therefore, after health insurance, the second most common perk provided to recruit talent is retirement benefits.

State and local government regulations also increase interest in 401(k) programs. More than a third of small firms that do not already offer 401(k) plans aim to do so within the following year. It’s becoming a social responsibility for small businesses.

A 401(k) retirement plan is also a strategy to protect workers’ financial well-being while simultaneously providing a tax advantage to businesses and employees.

However, traditional 401(k) providers avoid marketing to small enterprises since the market is unprofitable. Despite this, the great majority of businesses have less than 20 workers.

Penelope is a 401(k) platform that provides a cheap and simple solution for small companies to offer retirement benefits. Therefore, it is assisting small firms through The Great Resignation’s obstacles. At the same time, its CEO and creator, Jean Smart, is dealing with her own set of issues.

Meet Jean Smart

Smart is a co-founder of Chief, a private network for powerful women executives. She joined a peer-advisory network of female entrepreneurs and corporate leaders who have similar interests and concerns and collaborate to solve problems. One of Smart’s peers has already attained unicorn status with a billion-dollar value.

Smart has previously worked for Citi, Charles Schwab, TD Ameritrade, and, at the time, UBS. Consequently, she worked on 401(k) programs, employee stock options, and financial wellness for institutional employees. Smart began building her own company plan after being inspired by the female entrepreneurs in her Chief group.

Smart is the daughter of Korean immigrants who operate a grocery business and a restaurant. She saw her parents making sacrifices to support their children and workers but failing to prepare for retirement. They are vulnerable in their latter years since they did not save. With one in every four Americans lacking retirement funds, Smart’s parents represent an all-too-familiar narrative in the United States — equal parts inspiration and cautionary tale.

Smart is a Gen-Xer who has been told her whole life that we would run out of Social Security. For many Americans, Social Security is a critical source of retirement income. However, its funds are running short. Therefore, according to projections, the Social Security Administration will lower retirement payments beginning in 2034.

Smart’s personal and professional history led her to believe she was the best person for the job.

Smart said that she wished to work in the areas of fintech, education, and inclusive capital. She wanted to shatter the myth that there was a fast way to get wealthy.

Investing consistently in a 401(k) was the best method to save for retirement. She groaned. The fact is that communities build money over decades. It does not happen quickly, and it takes individuals 20, 30, 40 years of hard labor before they have enough money to pass on [to loved ones].

She wanted to devise a method for setting it and forgetting it.

Smart believes that enterprises with less than 20 workers, which constitute most small businesses, need assistance. Women, minorities, and immigrants own many of these enterprises. Therefore, fintech expedited procedures, simplified paperwork, and assisted her in cutting expenses. The method was to use a self-service company model, making it feasible for small firms to give retirement benefits to their workers.

However, making things simple is difficult, according to Smart.

There are around 50 to 60 thousand funds to pick from. Chief provides ten. The disadvantage is that there is no personalization.

An inexpensive subscription model called Penelope will automatically scrutinize the investments of employees. Therefore it simplifies red tape and eliminates PEP plans to function as they should.

Penelope is a user-friendly, cloud-based 401(k) program that debuted in January. There is no 30-to-40-page paperwork with a sophisticated language, and the material is concise, to-the-point, and written in clear English.

Finally, because various people have different learning methods, we gain knowledge in the form of text and FinTok videos.

Timing is important.

More and more states and municipalities are requiring firms to give benefits at retirement. Colorado, Oregon, California, Maryland, Illinois, Connecticut, New York City, New Jersey, Virginia, Seattle, and Maine are among the states that have done so.

The rules and laws differ based on where your company operates.

During The Great Resignation, Smart declared, we’re all trying to obtain the best personnel. However, she depends on references and, thankfully, she is well connected.

Her workers could surely earn more money working for bigger corporations than for a startup. Smart, on the other hand, stresses the company’s mission. She finds the notion that we are mission-driven incredibly appealing. It’s hitting home, not only with professionals in their twenties and thirties but also with those in their forties, fifties, and even their eighties.

Penelope was advised by Ted Benna, widely recognized as the “founder of the 401(k).”

According to Benna, providing a 401(k) was out of reach for many individuals because it was too pricey, too complicated, too full of jargon, and too time-consuming. Penelope offers simple solutions to comprehend and make financial sense for small businesses and startups.

Smart’s transition from a well-resourced attitude to a resource-constrained company has been a steep learning curve. You’re starting from scratch, she said. You make a lot of errors. However, you must be open. You must be an adaptable leader, and there are methods to increase your flexibility. It’s exhilarating after you’ve done it.

Consequently, Penelope has secured $2.1 million in pre-seed funding sponsored by Slauson & Co. Amplify LA, Black Jays, and officials from Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and U.S. Bank are among the other investors.

The post Fintech and SMBs Provide 401(k) Plans appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Time is money, as we all know, and nowhere is this more true than in a small business. Implementing technology solutions that take over and simplify some of the chores on your to-do list is one of the easiest methods to boost your business’s efficiency.

Of course, technology solutions may be expensive. You may not want to spend when you’re just starting. That is to say, trying to get as much done as possible for the least amount of money.

However, some small-business technology is free. Many are pretty reasonable. When it comes to automating busywork, the investment might save you more money than it costs.

You’ll need technology also to regulate your supply chain. Everything from wheat to widgets can become scarce at any moment.

Here are a few digital solutions that may help you get more done in less time and with less effort.

Keeping Digital Records of Tasks

There are just a few chores that you can complete in one sitting. Multiple phases, teamwork, and frequent check-ins with personnel, partners, and customers characterize most work. Keeping track of all of that might clog up your inbox and take up a significant portion of your day.

Technology can do a lot of that labor for you.

Software and internet platforms that monitor tasks, calendars, and workflow are available. They aggregate information. In other words, it’s about allocated personnel, steps, progress, document modifications, and deadlines.

Consequently, it is a dedicated location that everyone on your team can access. Moreover, try bringing the task dialogue into a dedicated space that everyone on your team can access.

Digital task tracking technology allows for increased efficiency and real-time team communication, and it almost removes the need for a frequent phone or email check-ins.

By looking at the workflow, you can precisely see whom and what’s remaining.

Communication and Group Training

Off-site employees and contractors are becoming more common in the small business setting.

Although the trend might save you money on overhead, it can also cost you time and money in terms of training and group work.

• Travel is costly, and keeping distant employees informed about today’s office meeting might take hours of summarizing, presenting, and assuring understanding.
• You may streamline that procedure via web conferencing technology, online group training, and group messaging.
• Specialized chats, group meetings, and education provide seamless, real-time cooperation.

They may also assist with integrating off-site people into the team, which will improve collaboration and morale.

Marketing on the Internet

Email newsletters and social media presences are no longer optional for most organizations; they’re already conventional marketing methods.

If you do them “by hand,” they’re also quite time-consuming. Enter technology!

With social media and email management software, you can drastically cut the amount of time you spend on social media marketing.

They have a wide range of features and may easily be tailored to your company’s requirements, automating chores such as customer emails and social media posting.

The following are some of many technology product’s features:

• real-time and cross-platform viewing of content and user analytics;
• setting tweets and posts to go out at specified periods in the future;
• synchronizing social media posts across many platforms; and
• sending out newsletters to customers as well as social media sites at specific periods.

Storage in the Cloud

Cloud technology is taking control when it comes to data storage. Consequently, the cloud keeps your data on off-site servers and has several advantages.

Therefore, one of the most important is security. Cloud technology relieves you of the burden of securing your data from unauthorized access and loss.

But it also allows for efficiency and mobility. If you and your employees are often on the road for business, cloud storage technology may help you save time and money.

Instead of downloading and setting up VPN access to access encrypted data, you connect to the internet and download it from the cloud.

Shortcuts in Technology

You may also use technology to automate or simplify the following tasks:

• Scheduling Meetings. Finding a convenient time for all parties involved may need a 10-message email chain. When you use digital scheduling, you transmit a link to your schedule to the recipient, choosing an available period. Done.
• Getting Signatures. Post the documentation online instead of sending contracts and hunting down unsigned customers or employees. You may provide a link to the paperwork and have the recipient sign it electronically using digital signature technology. However, systems will also notify you when it is complete and offer reminders to folks who haven’t completed it promptly.
• Dictation and Transcription. Technology can do it for you rather than writing everything down or otherwise transcribing digital recordings. Audio recording and transcribing, especially while traveling, may save you a lot of time. It can protect you from losing an excellent idea.

There is a plethora of other small-business IT options available. Therefore, which one is ideal for you is determined by various criteria.

Standards include the nature of your product/service and your work style. However, whichever technology you use will not only save you time but may also save you money. Money saved particularly in areas like social marketing and task monitoring.

Using these technologies in your company may help you. You can attain the lean, efficient operations necessary for success and development.

The post Small Business Benefits from Technology appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Technology can help small business owners automate tasks traditionally required hiring a designated employee or overloading an employee with multiple roles.

For example, many companies that previously had an Appointment Scheduler position were able to replace that role with calendar platforms or applications. These apps allow an individual to see availability for appointments and select the date and time that works best for them, rather than communicating back and forth to determine a mutually agreeable time. This process saves time. It also saves the money that would have gone toward the salary of an Appointment Scheduler.

Automated appointment scheduling is just one example, but there are several other technologies that can be beneficial to small businesses.

Learning Management System (LMS)

It can be challenging for small business owners to ensure that their employees are properly trained.

This is especially true if they must rely on people within the company to train new employees.

Businesses use technology, such as courses within a Learning Management System, to onboard and train new employees. As a result, it frees up current employees to focus on their own jobs.

This is significant within a small business environment that may have limited resources.

Cloud Document Storage

Document storage has evolved over time to become more efficient than ever.

Small businesses can use cloud document storage technology to store files rather than using limited physical space.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

These web-based apps use cloud storage that allows employees to create collaborative documents in real-time.

Employees can collaborate even when they are not physically together. As a result, this creates the opportunity for a flexible work environment that includes remote or hybrid work options.

Businesses also use web-based apps for project management, communication, and time tracking.

Website

It is essential for small businesses to have an online presence. In addition, having a website is a form of communication with potential and current customers.

Within a website, small business owners can provide details about the services they offer, their products, and the business itself.

Live Chat or Chatbots

A website can also include a way for customers to easily communicate with a small business via live chat or an after-hours chatbot.

If customers have questions about a service or product, typing them in a chat box is easier than calling or even emailing the business, as chat features are typically instantaneous.

Live chats can also be easier to manage than an email inbox.

Social Media

Having a social media presence is also an advantage for small businesses, as it can serve a variety of purposes.

Small businesses use social media technology for marketing and growing their customer base. It also can be used to build the company brand, connect with customers, and receive feedback through customer reviews.

Customers typically set up their devices to receive notifications from social media apps. Therefore, if customers are following a company on social media, then updates, such as promotions and sales, can be communicated to them instantly, as opposed to waiting for customers to access the company’s website.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Small businesses can use CRM technology to analyze data about customers, individually or as a group.

For instance, CRM can provide small business owners with insight about which products a specific client buys most or which products are most popular with customers in general.

CRM provides business owners with data to help make decisions and most importantly, to build relationships with customers.

If CRM detects that a customer has left items in an online shopping cart, it can be triggered to send the customer an email reminding them of the products they left behind or even offer them 5% off the items in their cart.

CRM has many tools built-in to help small businesses build and maintain their customer base.

Small businesses have many technology options to choose from that can increase their sales and expand their growth. It also can make managing a small business easier for owners.

When small business owners take the time to learn about technology tools that are available, they will see exponential benefits for their business and their employees.

The post How Can Small Businesses Use Technology? appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Small business technology is seldom the first to adopt new trends. Large, established corporations tend to lead corporate shifts. Consider Amazon’s drone delivery innovation. Or Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, who was campaigning for four-day weekends. Or Karl Waggoner, who wants to abolish Daylight Savings Time.

This makes sense. After all, small company entrepreneurs lack the time and resources to test new technologies. But failing to integrate new tools and methods once they’ve been proved successful is a mistake. One mistake can put you at a competitive disadvantage.

If you go through all the top small business publications and gather all the technology trends, some stand out more than others. Listed below are seven significant business technology trends affecting small and medium-sized organizations. Understanding them can help you position your firm for future success.

1. Feature-Rich CRM Apps

Customer relationship management (CRM) applications are nothing new. For decades, businesses have used them to monitor sales, client information, and more.

However, in recent years, an increasing number of solutions targeting small enterprises have joined the already congested CRM industry. Affordability and feature richness abound with these tools. However, the best thing is that they interface with practically every aspect of a company’s current IT stack, saving employees work hours every day.

Compare small company CRM software and find a system that matches your specific needs.

2. Artificial Intelligence

Terms like “artificial intelligence” and “machine learning” frighten some people. Therefore, while the underlying principles of these new technologies are complicated, small firms may nevertheless benefit from them.

Owners of businesses may use AI to automate customer-facing and internal processes. That is to say, improve customer journeys, personnel management procedures, data synchronization across platforms, etc.

Many AI-as-a-service applications are also available as independent solutions or as part of a more prominent feature kit.

3. Bot Technology

Chatbots are part of a more extensive corporate use of artificial intelligence.

However, chatbots are computer programs that can converse with humans using messaging applications like Facebook and WhatsApp. They help firms assist, process purchases, and alert consumers of critical changes.

Convenience is another benefit of chatbots. Small company owners must use chatbots with more consumers making transactions through messaging applications. Also, thanks to user-friendly chatbot systems, coding skills aren’t required.

4. Analytics Tools

Data overload is a common problem for small company owners and managers.

That is to say, particularly in manufacturing, where IoT sensors and supply chain data signals may overwhelm owners and managers. Hiring a professional data scientist is rare, and outsourcing is pricey.

So, how can small firms use data to make better decisions?

Analytics programs derive meaningful, actionable conclusions from enormous swaths of data. Not simply reporting options that give you your total conversion rate and website traffic.

These services analyze massive volumes of data to give actionable insights into your customer experience, employee activities, and company ecosystem.

Whatever your goal, today’s most valued analytics software technology packages make it easier for non-technical people to succeed. Therefore, they use data-driven management practices.

5. Robotics

Employees of small businesses often spend hours each week on vital but straightforward chores. These may entail data input, appointment scheduling, and customer service.

Recent technological advancements have enabled small organizations to adopt automation solutions without in-house expertise.

These easy-to-use tools can help you develop a fully integrated tech stack that can perform routine chores without your or your workers’ involvement.

One such startup is Zapier, which has developed rapidly in recent years. Therefore, it’s a simple option for syncing applications and automating tasks when native software integrations aren’t available.

6. Remote Work Technology

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated an increasing tendency towards remote work.

However, companies that allow workers to work from home also have reported cheaper office expenditures, more productivity, and happier staff.

If practicable, consider allowing employees to work remotely for a few days a week. Furthermore, small enterprises should have a robust software architecture that allows workers to interact remotely.

Companies must consider how they will position themselves in the business technology job market to attract the most OK people as flexible working options become more popular.

7. Influencer Marketing

Online material is replacing more conventional media like television. Moreover, sponsored advertising has a declining return on investment, and ad blockers are gaining ground.

But emerging strategies, such as influencer marketing, are becoming successful in terms of reach and cost. Therefore, small enterprises should develop plans to seize these new possibilities as soon as possible.

Conclusion

Change is both challenging and exciting. This is especially true with technology.

Small firms that efficiently use modern technology may gain several benefits. These include more efficient procedures, better customer experiences, and happier staff.

Moreover, user-friendly and cost-effective applications enable small enterprises to apply innovations without specialized help. So now there’s no excuse!

The post 7 Small Business Technology Trends appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The first step has always been to grow and establish your brand as a household name when launching your business. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen overnight. It’s safe to assume that we are all searching for new ways to improve our business and brands.

Mapping Out a Strategy That Works for You

There’s no particular strategy, plan, or secret that will help you get immediate success. (Sorry to burst your bubble!) However, if you apply these small business tips, you could eventually reach that success bracket and increase your brand awareness.

1. Be specific in your goals and objectives.

Start by breaking your big goals down into smaller ones.

For instance, you can have a 10-year plan, 3-year plan, and a one-year plan. When it comes to small businesses, having specific goals could mean that you have the right direction in your company.

Don’t start by focusing on your 20-year plan yet you haven’t completed your quarterly objectives. That only means you might not even finish the first year.

2. Build a network.

No business succeeds as a standalone.

Truth be told, being a business owner is an isolating experience, especially if you are a solo business owner. But don’t let that deter you from connecting with other businesses.

In fact, staying connected with the larger community could catapult your business to the next level.

3. Create your vision.

Every employee you hire, product you develop, and marketing campaign you unleash should spring from the vision in your business.

Create a deep sense of what this business is about, then make sure every decision you make aligns with the idea.

Typically, it’s tempting to say “yes” to every opportunity that comes your way, but if it’s not in line with your vision, you’ll lose valuable time, money, and effort.

4. Be patient.

One of the significant challenges any small business owner will face is impatience.

Focus on the foundation and a steady improvement to your systems. Then and only then will your business start to witness growth.

5. Hire the right people.

Your team will either build or break your business.

You will need a solid staff to help you achieve your goals, but that doesn’t mean any Tom, Dick, and Harry can work in your company. By hiring the absolute best people, you can ensure steady and fast growth in your business.

If there’s one thing you should take seriously in all these business tips, hire the right people.

6. Trust your team.

You’ve established that your team is the best you could hire. Now it’s time to understand that there’s no room for ego in management.

You’ve hired them to help you grow your business. So…let them! There’s nothing worse than a small business owner who doesn’t believe he could make a mistake.

Trust your team and their unique capabilities.

7. Minimize your risks.

Unfortunately, taking risks is part and parcel of business, especially if you want your business to grow.

More importantly, it’s virtually impossible to control everything. However, there’s a limit to how much risk your business can handle externally and internally.

An excellent way to manage your risks is to talk to an insurance company provider. Such companies could potentially help your business grow without taking all the risks.

8. Be adaptable.

These small business tips wouldn’t be complete without pointing out that your business should be adaptable.

Successful startups always have one thing in common. It’s the ability to switch directions almost instantaneously to respond to changes in the market.

By changing and adapting, you are able to compare different approaches and identify which one works best for your company.

9. Invest in marketing.

Marketing is the heart of every successful business. How else will your business grow?

As a small business, I’m sure your budget is fixed. But that shouldn’t stop you from marketing your company.

Take advantage of budget-friendly marketing strategies, such as social media marketing and SEO.

10. Find a mentor.

Last but not least, find a mentor.

In addition to networking, you will need someone within your reach who can help you navigate the ups and downs of starting a business. And who better else to do that with than a mentor!

Mentors often have more experience in specific areas, and they can share a lesson or two to help foster your business growth.

Wrapping Up

These small business tips will ensure you are always at your best.

Be passionate about everything in your business. It will show and will also reflect positively towards the success of your business.

The post 10 Small Business Tips to Help Owners Succeed appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Building catchy, distinctive business brands is critical for every company. Customers can better grasp who you are, what you do, and why you do it if you have a strong brand identity.

However, many entrepreneurs conflate their company’s brand with their personal brand. While combining them may work for a select few, it isn’t the best method for most people. And it can affect worker numbers as well.

Separating your brand from your company enhances your business while also allowing for individual liberty and professional progress. This advice is from experts with experience as a creative brand strategists and coaches for small companies and startups.

If you have a public persona of any kind, experts strongly advocate developing a distinct business brand. Likewise, sharing insights into personal life via a “personal, professional” brand platform.

This is why.

You’ll be able to expand your horizons outside your business.

Many entrepreneurs write a book, become public speakers, or start a new business initiative. Your professional brand is an ideal venue for sharing and promoting this work while keeping the company running smoothly.

You may improve your company’s brand by doing one thing. Separating your professional interests from the core goal of your firm boosts the brand of your organization by making it more focused and deliberate.

You’ll improve your brand’s development potential because you want the company brand to exist on its own, without you, even if you feel like you are your business at first.

Therefore, if you have ambitions of building a team or even being purchased, you want the business brand to stand on its own without you.

However, your professional success should not be contingent on the success of your company.

You are more than a business.

Employers, customers, and partners all want to have a better sense of who you are on a deeper level.

• What are the issues that you support?
• Do you belong to other professional organizations?
• What other creative pursuits or hobbies do you have that help you be who you are?

Convinced? Great. Here’s how to go about it.

Develop your professional identity.

Think of enlarging your professional brand as a Linkedin profile. It’s a professional internet persona that extends beyond your organization or corporation.

People sometimes mistake this with a personal brand. Nevertheless, it’s essential to differentiate them.

Some people have trouble deciding what to keep private and share with the world.

Ask yourself, “How much of myself do I need to be genuine without feeling like the rest of the world knows everything I’m up to?” (The “personal branding” approach to social media that many people take.)

One answer has been to create a “personal professional brand.”

Do you publish causes you believe in? Do you promote initiatives you’re involved in? Are snippets of your daily life on your website and social media?

For instance, images from a recent vacation or a snapshot of the family. This personal, professional brand would assist conveying a more extensive narrative of who I am if I were applying for any form of employment, collaboration, or client transaction.

Are there any exceptions to this rule?

Yes, of course! Having a single brand makes sense if your personal, professional brand is also your business brand — as many writers, lecturers, trainers, and thought leaders do.

Otherwise, keep them apart but point them in the same direction.

Here’s how it might go.

Create a professional personal website.

As a home for your own professional identity, one can suggest obtaining the domain name yourname.com (or something similar). You don’t want to manage a website like this in addition to your company’s website…do you?

Show up on social media, but just where you want people to see you.

As a small business owner (particularly one who reads this site), you’re probably aware of the value of social media.

You’re probably also worried about keeping track of your company and personal accounts on several platforms.

A little remark about LinkedIn while we’re on the subject of social networking.

Many individuals choose “Owner of Company” as their default title. Yet, adding a few more adjectives about who you are and what you excel at is essential.

If someone is looking for an expert or speaker and comes across your profile, they will better know who you are outside of your company.

Develop your thought leadership skills.

Find ways to offer your knowledge. Things like publishing articles or presenting on podcasts are a beautiful approach. It will boost your company’s and personal professional brand’s awareness.

You may and should mention your firm when these possibilities arise. However, you should also discuss your principles and what you stand for as a professional outside of your present position.

There was a recent interview on a podcast where people discussed their brand philosophy. It was said, yes, they do that every day at work.

But it’s also good advice to counsel other businesses or serve on advisory boards. Outside of your business, it’s a part of who you are.

Don’t be afraid to show off your personality.

What makes you a little bit eccentric? Is it simple for others to connect with you, both for companies and individuals?

So, while you build your unique professional brand, don’t be hesitant to show off such qualities!

Do you like ice skating? Do you have a massive Star Wars miniatures collection? Those enjoyable pastimes may not be able to take center stage in your company’s branding.

Still, they will provide a layer of appeal, curiosity, and connection to your professional brand. After all, they’re what distinguishes you from the competition — and that’s what branding is all about.

The post SMBs Make Personal and Business Brands Work appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The 12 Federal Reserve Banks’ Small Business Credit Survey 2022 Report on Employer Firms show what economists suspect. Many small businesses have not returned to pre-pandemic levels, with the pandemic affecting smaller enterprises, notably those run by persons of color.

The Small Business Credit Survey (SBCS) gathers data on small business performance, financing requirements and options, and borrowing experiences.

Responses illuminate the dynamics of aggregate loan trends and special small business categories. Therefore, the study contains data from over 11,000 businesses in all 50 states and the District of Columbia using the latest technology.

The Fed Small Business Credit Survey

Emergency financial assistance programs were commonly utilized in 2020 and 2021, although use fell in the year before the study.

Notably, the pandemic-prone companies were less likely to get the required funding.

During COVID, the U.S. government offered small business pandemic aid, mostly through the Fed SBCS.

The SBCS uncovered…quite a lot.

The pandemic still has an impact, with 77% of enterprises reporting negative technology consequences.

In 2020, 87 percent of employer enterprises got pandemic-related financial support. 59 percent of enterprises reported being in good or bad financial positions.

A percentage was unchanged from 2020. The most financially distressed enterprises were those of color, smaller firms, and leisure and hospitality.

The biggest operational concerns for small businesses are finding competent employees and managing supplier technology chains. The proportion of applicants that received all of the typical financings requested declined from 51% in 2019 to 36% in 2020 and 30% in 2021. However, Hispanics got 19% of what was requested, while non-Hispanic Whites received 34%.

In 2019, non-Hispanic Blacks (26%) earned the least desired, followed by Hispanics (32%), non-Hispanic Asians (34%), and non-Hispanic whites (34%).

Revenue and employment have recovered since 2020, but performance remains below pre-pandemic levels.

Eighty-five percent of employers faced financial issues, up to four points from 2020 and roughly 20 points from 2019. Therefore, revenue fell for 48% of businesses, while it rose 38%. 63 percent of enterprises have fewer revenues than pre-pandemic, and 43 percent have decreased employment.

The pandemic significantly impacted half of leisure and hospitality companies, but just 26% of industrial enterprises.

Revenue and employment growth expectations have increased since 2020 but remain below pre-pandemic levels. Recruiting and keeping talented employees were cited as top operational concerns by 60% of organizations.

However, 78% of businesses reported too few candidates made hiring difficult. Employer revenue and employment patterns show some businesses recovered from the pandemic’s early impacts. Still more firms report sustained revenue and employment decreases.

Businesses extensively utilized assistance in 2021, but they also did earlier in the epidemic.

Approximately 48% of enterprises applied for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program and 47% for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

Firms applied for PPP in 2020 and 2021, with 36% using the PPP in 2020 and 6% in 2021. In 2021, 90% of employer businesses that sought PPP financing obtained funding.

Approval rates for PPP applications fell in 2021. Small firms obtaining the total amount requested in PPP financing declined from 76% in 2020 to 67% in 2021.

Access to credit proved problematic.

Traditional finance applications were down in 2021. Those who did apply were less likely to get the money they wanted.

Firms seeking conventional finance declined from 43% in 2019 to 37% in 2020 and 36% in 2021. As a result, the reports show the percentage of low-credit-risk enterprises a decline in funding all requests. Moreover, from 45 percent in 2020 to 38 percent in 2021.

Firms sought funding to cover operational costs rather than grow. Small-bank applicants were the most satisfied. Minority-owned businesses, small businesses, and leisure and hospitality businesses were the least likely to get complete funding requests.

Small banks were preferred by 76% of enterprises, while big banks are now the bank of choice by 62%. Online-lender applicants cited exorbitant interest rates and unfavorable repayment conditions.

The January 2022 Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index found similar results. Therefore, in January, central banks ($10+ assets) granted 14.5 percent of small company loan requests, while small banks report authorization of 20.3 percent. In January, non-bank lenders granted around 25.1 percent of financing requests, while credit unions authorized 20.7 percent.

Before the pandemic, central banks accepted 28.3% of loan applications. Whereas small banks authorized more than half (50.4%) of small company financing requests. According to the Biz2Credit Index, institutional lenders accepted almost two-thirds of requests (66.4%). Alternative lenders authorized 56.1%, and credit unions approved 39.6%.

Supply chain challenges multiplied.

Every small business needs to be aware of supply chain gaps today. These often start with big companies.

The upshot is those small companies have difficulty getting funding. For example, those in hard-hit sectors like restaurants, and those owned by people of color.

Forgiving loans is a thing of the past. Yet, the private sector and government agencies must be more eager to lend to small company owners. This includes agencies like the SBA which produce the majority of employment in the U.S.

Meanwhile, at the Minority Business Development Agency…

The Brookings Institute recommends expanding the Commerce Department’s Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), consequently linking minority-owned firms with finance, contracts, and markets.

However, the new Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act gives the MBDA tools to assist minority firms and entrepreneurs.

Allowing minority-owned companies to get finance will help them survive. Likewise, initiatives like the Restaurant Revitalization Fund helped eateries survive during the epidemic.

While the government can only do so much, fostering an environment that encourages small company survival is critical. Small business agencies like the SBA help smaller businesses grow.

Therefore, small companies generate employment and a feeling of community. Helping new and expanding companies strengthens America.

The post Business Survey Identifies Pandemic-Hit Firms appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Lack of child care, desire for a remote position, and fear of COVID are valid concerns for just about any worker. Therefore, these issues need to be addressed.

The rumors distract Mike Kinder, CEO of Veryable, a digital platform for finding on-demand labor for manufacturing and logistics.

“We believe we are getting sidetracked by headlines rather than what is real,” he remarked. Kinder calls it a full-frontal attack on small enterprises, and most manufacturers are small businesses. It’s almost like being twisted into a Zen position.

However, it’s hard to argue with that. Initial lockdowns deemed certain firms critical and forced the remainder to shut, favoring big enterprises.

Then came government assistance packages that increased labor costs, affecting small enterprises that can’t easily sustain significant increases in labor costs. And when they ran out, inflation soared, pushing up labor prices.

That could be difficult for smaller enterprises.

Workers can’t have business as usual.

Kinder’s claims are not unique. Carol Roth is the author of The War on Small Business: How Government Used the Pandemic to Crush America’s Backbone.

There has always been an unfair advantage. Fees, taxes, and restrictions disproportionately affect small firms, particularly extremely small enterprises. This was increased by COVID decisions.

Therefore, these establishments also provide nail care and grooming services for your pet. But your neighborhood beauty parlor was closed so you couldn’t do the same.

And such judgments were not data-driven. As a consequence, many small enterprises have been permanently shuttered. Workers gone. After that, it’ll probably be a few million. Now we have chronic shortages of almost everything as a result of it.

Kinder says that the supply chain fractures if something attacks one segment as non-essential. However, their game is one of compliance. Crossing your neighborhood or state might cost you your job or your organization. It was a dogfight.

But now that most government employee pandemic aid has ended and there is a lifting of lockdowns in affected regions, the issue is solved? No way.

Worker mega-trends play a role.

We built our firm on a lot of mega-trends, said Kinder. However, the skills gap, delivery deadlines, and technology are a few.

The previous two years have been a temporary amplification of difficulties building for some time. Baby Boomers, for example, assume you had to leave work due to the epidemic. If you were a worker nearing retirement, stay out. Your leaving was inevitable, but this expedited it.

“A primary concern,” says Roth. Government and Federal Reserve choices have damaged the free market.

We did the reverse. Three million Baby Boomers retired early due to financial security. And immigration choices imply fewer legal immigrants in our workforce now than in 2020.

How can manufacturers avoid negative trends? Technology can help. Therefore, work to understand IIoT, 3D printing, and Industry 4.0, Kinder said. Remember to innovate in mature markets like manufacturing and supply chain. “What do we need to look like in five years?” Most can’t, but you need to know for today’s choices. And for today’s workers.

Roth emphasized tech. Companies should examine how technology replaces humans, she says. However, they must dispel their anxieties.

For example, people fear autonomous vehicles, yet they may be beneficial if we lack drivers. Automation in the manufacturing and supply chain frequently replaces challenging, risky, and unpleasant employment while generating higher-tech opportunities around new technology.

Therefore, it’s critical business leaders utilize such facts to dispel Roth’s worries of employment worker losses.

Adjust for the human element.

But she emphasized not ignoring the human element.

Therefore, the number one thing employers can do to address the workforce mismatch is make hiring simpler. Because it’s challenging to recruit, just six million of the country’s 31 million small enterprises have staff.

Look for ignored areas. Second-chancers are one group – several non-profits try to encourage the employment and education of former inmates.

Think about how you can change immigration policy. However, talk to your workers about how you can help them in the production and supply chain.

Workers have great ideas, but corporations don’t always listen. Consequently, they can help you recruit and retain staff.

Of course, Veryable can assist. Surprisingly, they fared well throughout the epidemic. Gigafund led a $31.9 million Series A financing last summer. In the next several years, they want to expand to the rest of the nation, with 20 outlets. 40 percent of working-age people are unemployed, Kinder remarked.

We want to tap into that resource to support our supply chain firms. Workers will thank you later.

The post Supply Chain Worker Shortage: SMB War Stories appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Ascending to that tech level is no simple task, especially considering the supply chain headaches companies both big and small now face. On a regular basis, and with no sure solution in sight. It’s enough to make an entrepreneur swallow a pogostick.

It demands that you be a perfectionist who manages every aspect of your company to ensure it runs smoothly. That amount of control — and fussing over every aspect of your company — allowed you to achieve what many entrepreneurs never do…making $1 million per year.

What’s the next step?

However, those same attributes might help you grow your company to $30 million or more in yearly sales.

Some have purchased and sold over 100 companies in the last 20 years while working for private equity firms. Some have worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs during that period, allowing them to see their strengths and weaknesses.

Experts do observe time and time again that the same attributes that took these businesses to $1 million may keep them from going greater. A “false glass ceiling” prevents many entrepreneurs from scaling their company from $1 million to $30 million to $100 million and beyond.

Is tech trouble a stumbling block?

But, as an entrepreneur, you can learn how to burst past that barrier and other tech troubles. With self-reflection and deliberate action, you can do it with confidence.

Reflect honestly about yourself.

Now is the moment to question yourself whether you want to expand your company. There’s nothing wrong with determining you’re satisfied where you are or even handing over the keys to someone else and leaving.

However, if you want to develop your company, you must recognize that you will need to make some major adjustments.

Time to expand the one-man band?

Until now, you may have been the first-chair performer in every department of your orchestra. In other words, everyone in your company is training with you and follows your lead. You’re in everything, and everyone follows your lead.

To advance, you must cease being the first chair in every section and instead become the conductor. If you don’t, you’ll run out of bandwidth trying to keep up with everything.

Learn to let go. Trust your employees.

Yes, train and coach them, but enable them to handle their own work without your micromanagement. Speak to your peers.

It’s not simple to let go, especially if you’re afraid of new tech.

It’s not simple to let go. Joining a peer network group may help.

Peer networks are a great way to connect with other entrepreneurs who have encountered similar issues. Joining a peer network allows you to discuss issues with other company executives. You may also learn how to adopt improvements that will help you grow your company.

Peer networks are beneficial, but you must be in the correct group for you. People don’t always say what you want to hear.

Worse, you can be among a group of people who can’t assist you because they lack expertise or experience. In short, if you constantly find yourself helping others but not receiving aid in return, you’re in the wrong location and should consider moving on.

Consider a tech coach.

While peer groups may be helpful, sometimes working with a coach who has experience expanding companies to your desired level is preferable.

It’s all about the tech. When you take on a mentor, you have someone who can adjust their techniques and coaching to your individual requirements.

The correct individual may assist you see that your existing success isn’t gone; it simply needs retooling. They may also assist you codify methods and finally overcome your unique restricting issues.

In other words, they can help you go from first chair to conductor while avoiding possible problems.

Executive CEO coaches come in many forms.

They may have a Ph.D. and approach their job academically, or they may not have a sheepskin and have founded and run numerous businesses.

If you choose to work with a coach, it’s critical that you connect with them. It’s the “click.”

The best tech interactions are when it seems appropriate. Don’t be scared to interview many possible coaches before settling on one.

Change gears.

Increasing a company’s yearly income to a million dollars is an impressive tech feat. No doubt about it.

But if you want to progress, you have to accept that the exact things that made you successful might also hinder your progress.

You can take your company to the next level by being honest with yourself and seeking support. Especially from your tech experts.

You may become the unicorn entrepreneur who can take a small business to $100 million (or more).

The post How to Use Tech to Grow Your Small Business appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Experts promote this kind of technology thinking. People use the technological concepts now and for decades, and some firms have achieved success with them in recent years. Others, like Zappos, went all-in but then withdrew their support. We will see more confederations of teams that establish on their own, rather than official organizations, in the future. Due to digital tools and platforms, there are no geographical restrictions on who may participate. Already, it’s an element of small company automated marketing campaigns.

In terms of employee happiness, it’s the apex.

Mr. Matt K. Parker embarked on a journey to identify firms free of the command-and-control mentality. The goal is to foster a sense of teamwork and equality.

In particular, he admires those who reject the present trend toward disengagement and skepticism and instead foster joy, purpose, and fulfillment in their lives. Additionally, persons who can harness the power of self-management and intrinsic motivation will be successful. He wants to increase the scope of their social and economic effect across the globe.

Everything came about due to years spent as a programmer in miserable, soul-crushing environments.

Technology must be part of the equation. The title of Parker’s most recent book, A Radical Enterprise: Pioneering the Future of High-Performing Organizations, expresses just that. In recent decades, a small but growing number of businesses have been at the forefront of a new way of working.

He advocates for collaboration and equality rather than domination and coercion. In this working method, dynamic, self-managing, self-linking networks of teams replace static dominator hierarchies, supervisors, and bureaucracy with self-managing, self-linking networks of teams.

It’s cool to be a technology influencer.

An influencer of Parker’s work is earlier works such as Jon Husband’s “wireacracy.” The technology-enabled organizing principle informs the ways of purposeful human activities. Consequently, the structures which constrain them are evolving from a top-down direction.

He looks at supervision to champion-and-channel… championing ideas and innovation. He strives for innovation carried in those ideas. As a result, he channeled time, energy, authority, and resources to test those ideas and possibilities. Technology remains important.

Morning Star is the world’s biggest tomato processor. It maintains a 100 percent self-managing structure that is redesigned yearly via “CLOUs,” according to Parker (colleague letters of understanding). He claims there are no managers or bosses. Instead of working via a dominator structure. However, more than 4,000 coworkers begin each year by gathering as equals, with no formal duties or titles, and creating CLOUs.

The CLOUs layout how coworkers would self-manage all business areas that year, from day-to-day food preparation to equipment purchases and payroll. There are no managerial levels. The company’s colleagues (previously known as “workers”) would manage themselves. That is to say, they went through negotiated responsibilities to their colleagues and the firm as a whole, just as they did in the outside world.

Another example is TIM Group, a London-based fintech firm that uses an internet platform to generate trading ideas and investment suggestions. They formed a self-managing network of autonomous teams with no managers or hierarchy, and they imposed a set of technical restrictions.

Another firm that has used agile approaches to create independent software development teams is Haufe-umantis AG. In addition, they collaborate and do talent management as a software company with 200 workers. Technology is vital.

According to Parker, an autonomous, team-oriented organization has four fundamental characteristics.

Team Autonomy

Because they support total independence, radical collaborative companies generate higher employee engagement and creativity levels. Parker says that they have control over the “how” of their job. Teams also have complete control of their labor ‘where’ and ‘when.’ They choose whether to be spread or collocated. They may be found at an office, at home on a sofa, or the beach. They select whether or not to synchronize schedules to facilitate real-time cooperation. Importantly, radical collaborators select what sort of job they want to do, what kind of career they want to have, and what they need from the organization to acquire all skills they need.

Managerial Devolution

When management “devolves,” it implies the dismantling of the hierarchy in favor of self-managing teams. These networks of teams jointly self-manage the company in fully devolved organizations. While radical collaborators even self-manage traditional management roles like recruiting, dismissing, and onboarding. They even control their remuneration by avoiding coercive techniques such as performance reviews.

Deficiency Gratification

This muddled word implies that independent team-driven businesses should prioritize human needs such as security, autonomy, justice, esteem, trust, and belonging. This isn’t just a nice-to-have arrangement; it also contributes to a foundation of communal trust, which has significant implications for organizational performance. According to Parker, high levels of trust cause radically collaborative firms to demonstrate 32 times the risk-taking. It was 11 times the invention, and 6 times the business success over their typical hierarchical counterparts. Technology is important.

Genuine Vulnerability

These new organizations should be devoid of air. Radical collaborators openly communicate their fundamental ideas, emotions, beliefs, and assumptions, exposing their thinking processes to group scrutiny, criticism, and, in some cases, invalidation. This, in turn, feeds into a learning and collaborative innovation culture across the business.

The post Technology for Management-Free Business appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Budgets are detailed financial plans for a person or a company. Given our limited resources, small company financing requires careful consideration and preparation. Therefore, budgeting for a small company may assist you in making educated choices, tracking performance, and achieving business goals.

Let’s look at what a small company ledger is and why it’s so important. After all, it isn’t nearly as complicated as the current national budget. (Thank goodness…)

What is the definition of a small company budget?

A budget is a forecast of planned activities over a certain period.

By definition, it’s an estimate of revenue and spending for a given period. You can refer to a budget as a tactical action plan or a strategic business plan blueprint.

These are necessary for small firms for a variety of reasons. However, controlling activities for various categories is part of small company budgeting.

You can work on:

• cash budgeting;
• budgets for operations;
• capital expenditures; and
• budgets for sales, and so forth.

People may create budgets in a variety of ways. Therefore, every company’s budgetary requirements are unique. The plan may take various forms based on the resources, existing status, and desired goal of the firm. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, including:

• one that is set in stone;
• some budgets that are adaptable;
• bookkeeping that is built up over time;
• zero bases for a ledger; and
• budgets for value propositions.

What is the significance of small business financial planning and budgeting?

Small company budgets are equally as vital as big enterprise budgets. At the very least, budgeting will assist you in keeping track of your income and spending.

Many people are surprised to learn that basic planning may provide more immediate advantages than extensive financial planning, forecasting, and other methods.

Having a budgeting schedule enables you to do the following:

1. Keep an eye on the company’s goals.

The most significant benefit of keeping to a plan is that it pushes you to focus on your company goals.

However, you may utilize your budget as a small company to assist your action plan and put you in a position to accomplish long-term objectives. These objectives might be monetary, strategic, or operational.

Therefore, in your tactical business planning, use your plan as a route map.

2. Obtain financial objectives for your budget.

Financial planning is, of course, the most extensively used strategy. Small companies need a thorough and realistic planning procedure to achieve their financial objectives.

To meet periodic financial objectives effectively, divide your financials into daily, weekly, monthly, and annual plans.

Financials in this manner may assist your small company in meeting short- and long-term financial objectives. Therefore, ledgers may be a great financial planning tool for a new small firm lacking historical data.

3. Keep tabs on your debt management.

Debt is, unfortunately, an unavoidable element of running a small company.

Controlled and planned financial activity, on the other hand, can help you manage your debts. However, budgeting is a sound financial technique for properly allocating financial resources.

Keep track of variations and make adjustments to your financials as needed. You can effectively handle your company debts after controlling your finances.

Therefore, budgetary constraints can accurately define debt management programs.

4. Evaluate your employees’ performance as part of budgeting.

Many small organizations have minimal human resources, yet executives may assess their staff performance through financial restrictions.

Constraints in manufacturing organizations may shape performance and operational schedules.

For example, set labor or volume figures at a manufacturing plant, for example. Another excellent technique to use in small company planning is to compare profits against expectations. Compare each period’s income and spending in detail.

In this manner, you may assess operational efficiency and, as a result, corporate profitability.

5. Prepare your budget for the worst-case scenario.

However, most of us have lately learned the need for emergency preparedness the hard way.

External market issues such as economic recessions, political unrest, pandemics, and other macroeconomic concerns are especially damaging to small enterprises.

Use your budget to assist you in staying inside your budget while still allowing your company to develop.

Consequently, create an emergency savings buffer by assigning a regular percentage of earnings to emergency reserves without borrowing.

6. Organize your financial flow.

Cash budgeting helps in tracking and managing cash flow, which is the lifeblood of any organization. Small firms would struggle to keep up with day-to-day operations if they didn’t have cash on hand.

The majority of small firms have a tight financial flow. Therefore, this necessitates the clever use of monetary resources. Cash flow management helps you make better investment, finance, asset management, and working capital management choices.

7. Distribute resources.

Small enterprises often face a scarcity of resources. You’ll never run out of the stuff you need to be operating if you adhere to a defined budget.

A small firm, for example, might be lucrative yet have little cash flow. Examine your financials to see how you can best deploy these bottleneck resources.

However, to assist your small firm in attaining effective resource management in every area, given possible limited resources, small company budgeting requires careful consideration and preparation. Therefore, implement financial controls across the board.

The post Why Do You Need A Budget For Your SMB? appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Here are five technological and Gmail developments and how they may affect your organization. They are all about the future of small business technology.

1. It’s possible that Apple’s iPhone could soon be able to take contactless payments.

According to recent rumors, developers intend to integrate a POS system inside Apple’s iPhone, similar to Square (which changed its name to Block).

According to the source, Apple’s rollout will integrate the feature directly into iPhones, eliminating the need for retailers to purchase additional hardware.

Apple spent about $100 million for Mobeewave, a firm working on a technology that would allow people to pay using their cell phones.

Why is this significant for your company?

Despite how simple it is to take payments with Square, merchants that use the card reader often have to input additional hardware to complete the transaction.

Apple wants to avoid all of that and streamline the process. Is it compatible with other systems? What will the price be? Is this less expensive than Square or other mobile credit card readers? How simple is this going to be? Only time (in the near term) will tell.

2. Citrix, a cloud computing and virtualization company, was sold for $16.5 billion.

Vista Equity Partners, a global investment group, will pay $16.5 billion for Citrix, a cloud computing and virtualization business.

Citrix began as a remote access software provider for Windows computers but expanded its services to encompass networking, servers, and cloud computing.

Yahoo Finance reports that Citrix creates software that allows employees to remotely log on to their company’s programs. A type of product heavily used during the epidemic. That is to say, companies sought reasonable methods to keep distant workers linked to significant operations.

Many people are considering permanent hybrid arrangements for home and office work. It will certainly drive up demand for technologies that make this possible.

Vista and another investor, Evergreen, plan to merge Citrix and TIBCO Software, one of Vista’s portfolio firms, as part of the deal.

Why is this significant for your company?

Prepare for changes if you’re a Citrix user.

According to Citrix, the merger will create one of the world’s biggest software companies, servicing 400,000 clients, including 98 percent of the Fortune 500, and 100 million users in 100 countries.

Citrix’s specified growth plan and SaaS transition will accelerate.

However, to develop hybrid cloud IT strategies and satisfy the objectives of the contemporary organization, circumstances will position the merged firm to offer a complete, secure, and efficient infrastructure for corporate application and desktop delivery, as well as data management.

3. On February 8th, Gmail’s new “integrated view” became available to Workspace users.

Google Workspace will have a new “integrated view” starting February 8th. Therefore, by April, users will be able to view the new appearance automatically.

Why is this significant for your company?

According to Google, the new integrated view will make it easier for users to transition between chats, meetings, and email without switching tabs.

Prepare yourself as you will not have a choice.

However, according to Google, the integrated view will be a “normal experience” by June, without choosing to go back.

4. Microsoft Teams will improve hybrid meetings and add predictive text tools.

System managers will update Microsoft Teams’ mobile app shortly to include predictive text and enhancements to hybrid meetings.

Teams will introduce the “Front Row” perspective to make hybrid meetings seem more like in-person meetings.

Why is this significant for your company?

The predictive text feature’s purpose is to make it more challenging to commit grammatical or spelling mistakes when typing on the fly, mainly as more people work remotely.

However, the new “Front Row” feature moves the videos to the bottom of the conference screen, bringing all meeting participants face-to-face.

5. Tech investment is at an all-time high, and everyone wants to employ programmers.

According to recent research, there will be around 12,800 job vacancies for computer workers in 2021.

This is a 105 percent gain over the previous year.

Therefore, the bulk of the tech job openings was in the engineering and software development sectors. The number of job openings for these positions increased by 88.2 percent year over year, indicating that companies need digital services and products.

Why is this significant for your company?

Tech is still highly hot, and competent internal personnel is difficult to come by.

But isn’t that unsurprising? Or at least expected? The question becomes…did you plan for it?

The post SMB Tech News: Apple’s iPhone Will Accept Credit Cards? appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

It requires significant effort and is time-consuming to pull out the previous year’s receipts and statements. Plus, it necessitates that you work for extended hours, and do everything needed to file accurate taxes and meet compliance.

Why is tax season a crucial time for business owners?

Tax preparation is comprehensive and complex, especially if you do your own business taxes. So, be prepared to pull out considerable time from your daily schedule, putting aside some core roles.

Additionally, since you are probably not a tax expert, you might end up putting your firm at risk of an audit. Here are the most common reasons businesses get audited:

• typos, errors, or overlooked mistakes;
• filing wrong forms;
• reporting incorrect financial information;
• regularly filing tax returns post due date; and
• filing excessive write-offs.

Due to the above-mentioned reasons, many firms choose tax preparation outsourcing. This preemptive tactic ensures taxes are managed well in the hands of professionals. However, there are many solutions to prepare your business taxes and make this time a little more manageable.

Six Tips to Deal with the Busy Tax Season

1. Start now.

First things first. Make it a habit of updating your books daily or weekly.

Maintaining your financial information timely can help make things a lot easier for the hectic tax times. Like everyone else, you also don’t want to spend your weekends digging into invoices and receipts to meet the deadline.

Keeping all things aside, though tax season seems a difficult time, you need not worry. Even if you don’t have your financial papers yet, don’t worry! Instead, start today. You can even start now. As soon as something reminds you of taxes, do some work for it.

For example, you can start collecting all the information required and prepare a data set for other processes. Getting started as soon as possible will speed up tax preparation and reduce the associated burden and stress.

2. Review all transactions to ensure accuracy.

When it comes to calculating business taxes, you need high-quality financial data. And to make sure the numbers are correct, bank account reconciliation is the best way to go.

This side-by-side comparison between your company’s books and bank account statements reveals mismatched entries (mistakes or errors). These errors can result in ruining tax calculations.

Bank account reconciliation also gives you more reliable information to determine your tax liability. You should review transactions regularly. Why do this? You must have correct numbers for tax filing to meet GAAP guidelines. By doing that, you avoid penalties and comply with regulations.

Business professionals may also benefit from errors and omissions insurance that shields them against financial errors or negligence.

3. Organize all financial papers.

One of the best ways to make your tax season hassle-free is to update your financial record from time. Also, you want to keep your records organized — always.

The IRS mandates documented proof if you apply for tax deductions. Thus, having an organized, quickly-accessible set of financial records can help reduce tax prep time and effort.

However, if you have never maintained any records, now is the time to spend some hours collecting the required information. This information includes:

• personal details;
• business information;
• important financial documents (like income statements, P&L statements, balance sheets, etc.); and
• financial reports.

Also, make sure you do it quickly. As soon as you organize the information, it will be easier to prepare tax files. Not only will you be able to find the necessary documents, but you will also file your taxes on time.

4. Take advantage of technology.

Technology has advanced quickly in the last two decades. Today, most businesses depend upon it for many processes. You may also consider leveraging technology for your accounting and tax preparation needs.

A wide variety of software applications are available in the market. These applications can assist with various financial accounting functions such as expense tracking, generating statements and customized reports, determining deductions.

All these tasks are necessary for tax filing purposes. The software can help perform the same easily and quickly, making your tax season less complicated and hectic.

Moreover, various tax institutions worldwide, like the IRS, allow users to file their taxes via approved online tax-filing platforms electronically.

5. Keep yourself updated about tax laws and news.

Tax laws often change. Therefore, even if you have deep knowledge of regulations, it is always beneficial to review them before preparing your taxes.

For example, you might be eligible to file some COVID-related tax credits due to the recent pandemic. But if you are not keeping yourself updated about the latest changes in tax laws, you might miss such opportunities.

Since inflation impacted the economy, the income tax brackets in the U.S. will most likely be higher in 2022. Additionally, some tax rules might be retroactive to the fiscal year 2021-22.

Fortunately, you can keep updated about tax law amendments by subscribing to news alerts and resources providing authentic information. If you cannot find any resources you trust, consult a professional and ask them for help finding resources.

6. Do not hesitate to get external support.

Being a business owner, you likely have minimal knowledge of taxation regulations. However, even if you have excellent tax accounting skills, there’s only so much you can manage on your own.

Tax preparation is complicated. The level of expertise it requires and the sudden increase in tax workload impact the busy tax season’s challenges. If you face issues managing your taxes timely, it is best to seek external support.

The sooner you involve a professional tax preparer, the better you’d be prepared for taxes.

Many businesses consider tax preparation outsourcing a strategic option. Outsourcing ensures timely tax preparation, saves on tax prep costs, and enables in-house teams to focus on daily roles. You may also outsource tax preparation to reap these and other relevant benefits.

Improving Your Tax Season

There are ways you can make your tax season a little smoother and more efficient. If you have a set of documents organized in the best manner, ready to be used for tax filing.

Additionally, you can choose a reliable partner to handle your tax preparation. Doing so will let you have all your focus devoted to core business and growth.

The bottom line is setting yourself up for success allows you to stay focused, even during the busiest tax seasons.

The post Top Tips to Manage the Busy Tax Season Rush appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Furthermore, you also have the added difficulty of being a small business owner, as well. That means that you are not only spending your day seeing patients, charting, and sending out prescriptions and referrals. You’re also working tirelessly to stay abreast of the responsibilities of running your own business. Because of this, it can easily feel as though you’re being pulled in a million different directions at work.

It’s no secret that this industry can start to take its toll on your own mental health. Even if you outsource other facets of your workload, there’s still so much left to be done. Fortunately, technology is completely changing the landscape of the mental health industry, making this much easier to accomplish.

From apps to help you manage your workload to new devices that can provide revolutionary breakthroughs in treatment. The future of mental health is undoubtedly very unpredictable yet also quite exciting. And if you want to remain relevant then it’s vital to consider these four tools and wholly embrace them.

Precision Medicine

Previously, trying to find the correct dosage of a particular medicine for a patient was largely a guessing game. You could make educated estimates based on their age, gender, height, and weight, but it was still an imperfect science. There was a significant margin of error built into every treatment protocol. Thus, it was normal to have to adjust and tinker with their dosage at every appointment.

These days, however, precision medicine is changing all that. Instead of eyeballing the correct amount of medication for a patient a program at https://ryderclinic.com/xanax-alprazolam/ will return a specific dosage. Using information such as their genetics, lifestyle, and other key considerations, the “one size fits all” method will become obsolete.

Creative Wearables

Mental health patients often do not have the option for clarity like patients with a chief complaint such as a cold or an open wound. Mental health patients often struggle with such a straightforward diagnosis. First, mental health patients may be resistant to meeting with you in the first place. Yet, even after they meet with you, their mental health concerns can make it difficult to be compliant with medication.

For these patients, wearables can completely transform how they approach dosing. These devices can address a wide range of concerns, such as forgetting doses and those who need tactile care. For instance, one device sends a signal to a sensor, letting patients know when it’s time to take their medicine. Plus, it will tell patients when their medications have gotten absorbed.

Another one can be simply slipped into a patient’s pocket or be worn around their wrist. These devices can provide them with the necessary stimulation to change their brain’s waves and soothe them during anxiety attacks. The most exciting aspect of this isn’t just these devices’ efficacy, but also how surprisingly affordable they can be. These factors further increase the reach of these products.

Virtual Reality

When video games and virtual reality first came out, there was a range of reactions. A significant portion of the response to it was a combination of restrained enthusiasm and a touch of necessary caution. After all, couldn’t VR further promote detachment and broaden the divide for people with an already tremulous grasp on reality? And isn’t escapism already largely considered an unhealthy coping mechanism?

The answer to these questions is, in fact, a resounding no. These concerns couldn’t be further from the truth. In reality, VR is paving the way to help improve mental health care multifold. Thanks to the use of this novel technology, therapists can deliver treatment for addiction, eating disorders, PTSD, and OCD. One such use is through exposure therapy, albeit in a safe environment away from the threat in question.

Remote Care

For some patients, it’s not enough to have a desire to get treatment and start down their path toward recovery. They may also have other variables that can prevent them from actually seeking out care in the first place. This is especially true if they struggle with remembering to go to their appointments. Or issues can manifest if they have a disability that prevents them from commuting to your clinic.

For them, remote care can literally be life-changing. Instead of needing to find a ride to their appointment, they can log onto their app and connect with you. In addition, having healthcare at their fingertips can remove any obstacles that may prevent them from getting treatment. Undoubtedly, ensuring that your patients have access to online therapy that takes insurance can and will save lives.

The Future of Mental Health

Innovation is transforming mental healthcare, and it’s a highly exciting time for both patients and clinicians. Even just a few decades ago, we were institutionalizing patients who could otherwise function in society. Worse, we were performing lobotomies on patients and hoping for the best. Thankfully, we’ve made great strides in banishing these types of archaic techniques. However, refusing to adopt new tools can also be a form of unethical treatment.

Finding ways to incorporate these many tools into your practice can take time. It’s understandable if you’re not ready to utilize them all at once. However, try incorporating even one or two of them into your practice. If you do that, you can ensure that you provide your patients with the highest level of care. Plus, you’re making sure your business stays both relevant and solvent in the coming years.

The post Bringing Your Clinic Up To Speed: Essential Technology for Every Mental Health Professional appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Supply chain disruption and low pricing are not new phenomena. You don’t have to dig hard to find statistics on it daily. Unluckily, there is no one straightforward answer to the present problems resulting from a perfect storm of various variables. Overseas manufacturers are still reeling from the epidemic’s effects.

Ports are bursting at the seams, and there aren’t enough trucks to transport the requisite amounts of cargo. This involves some deep technology for small businesses.

This interruption has had a significantly negative impact on small enterprises, which cannot typically store products well before the disruption. And we are well aware that this has directly correlated with a dramatic spike in inflation. With many other disturbances we have seen throughout time, this one also offers an opportunity.

There are several ways to prepare the groundwork for taking advantage of these changes as they present themselves. Things like reexamining price seem to be straightforward solutions, yet there are other levels of intricacy involved. Here are five essential questions to think about.

1. What is the nature of your competitive environment?

The first and most important question is…do you clearly understand your competitive landscape?

What strategies are your rivals employing? Is it true that they’re boosting prices? Is it difficult for them to even meet the needs of their most important customers?

Do they have extensive inventories or large capital reserves that they can use to leverage their position?

Of course, most of this will not be made public, but the word on the street may be pretty effective. Contact people in the business to see if you can get a complete view. This will serve as the lens through which you will view all subsequent decision points.

2. Is raising pricing even a possibility at this point?

In light of the nature of the products and services you supply, do you believe there is a chance to boost your prices?

Price hikes might take months to take effect, depending on your company’s sales cycle. This is particularly true for organizations that have long-term contracts.

Pricing is either limited or mandated to some sectors and organizations that provide services to government consumers, such as those in the healthcare industry. Each company is different in this respect, and there are numerous shades of gray around it, but there are some fundamental issues that we can address.

How much of your cost increases do you think you can avoid? In this case, let’s consider the effect of price rises.

The cost of inputs increases for businesses across the board, affecting everything from labor to raw materials and supplies. The same factors that affect offsets apply when it comes to sales cycles. If the cost of inputs increases, there may be a lag before your pricing adjustments become effective.

Price increases may also need to be phased in over time to minimize your clients’ impact. Understanding the potential net impact of price adjustments can assist you in making decisions about the quantity and timing of price increases in the future.

3. Is it appropriate to increase prices at this time?

A firm may decide that increasing prices is not the best course of action despite the challenges and possible effects on profitability.

Using your knowledge of the market environment, do you think this presents a chance to acquire a market share or strengthen consumer loyalty?

Several companies effectively used this technique during the early stages of the epidemic, allowing them to reinforce their position with their consumer base while simultaneously luring customers away from bigger, slower-moving rivals.

The ability to provide excellent customer service may be a much more effective instrument for increasing the long-term worth of a firm than changing price.

4. How much more are you willing to hike prices?

After going through all of the filters up to this point, the next step is to look at the increases’ structure.

Are the price hikes consistent across the board, or are they product-specific? If there is a staggered approach, are the increases in equal increments, or is there a spike followed by a series of more gradual rises? Is it preferable to raise prices faster than the rate of increase in your expenses to stay ahead of rising costs…or is it better to lag?

5. Examine the surrounding environment.

Do the necessary calculations, and determine the prospective consequences. Pricing may be a valuable tool in the middle of supply chain upheaval, but if utilized incorrectly, it can do long-term harm to your company.

Understand the levers you may use and the locations of the ceilings so that you can thoroughly analyze your alternatives. Although pricing may seem to be the obvious solution, is it the best solution? A thorough examination and a deliberate forward-looking approach may make all the difference.

Keep calm and discount mindfully.

Be prepared for however long it takes. Stay focused and hoard energy for the big push.

Know when to pick your battles. Engaging in a price war might do more harm to your business than good. Play the long game, and keep communication lines open with your customers.

The post SMB Strategy to Survive Disruption: Low Pricing. appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

When you are looking to hire new people, it can feel difficult and trying. Still, there are plenty of things you can do to search for the right people for the job. Below are tips for hiring new employees at your small business.

1. Utilize social media.

When you are hiring new employees for your small business, you should utilize social media to get the word out. Post on social media that you are looking for people to fill specific positions, reach out to possible candidates, and vet the people before you hire them.

Social media is necessary in the world we live in. It’s a good idea to spread the word about what you are hiring for.

You can use LinkedIn for interacting with possible candidates and looking at resumes. Whatever your business is, you should do your best to spread the word and use social media to find the right people for the job.

2. Use career sites for hiring.

Another thing you should do is leverage career sites. With plenty of platforms that act as a middleman between the employer and the prospective employee, there’s no reason that you shouldn’t take advantage of the technology and expertise these platforms have.

With sophisticated algorithms and plenty of candidates to choose from on career websites, there’s no reason you shouldn’t get started on multiple of these platforms.

Of course, some are better than others but if you utilize the various career sites that are connecting companies with qualified workers, you just might be able to connect with the right one.

3. Recruit from colleges.

Freshly graduated college students won’t ask for as much money as veteran workers. They can also provide new and different skills while offering a perspective older people do not have.

If you are hiring new employees straight out of college, you should attend their career events and fairs. Setting up a table or booth at a college, you can interact with students who are about to graduate. You can get a feel for how you will engage with younger workers. You will be able to see the differences in their perspective, skills, and outlook.

Talking to prospective candidates who are about to graduate may offer up some skilled, hard-working, and enthusiastic employees. Give it a try!

4. Conduct video interviews.

Before you have employees come in for an in-person interview, you should conduct interviews over video conferencing software.

You’ll be able to get a feel for your candidates quickly. Right away you will know whether they would fit the company culture and vibe of the job. Are they well-dressed for the interview? Are they articulate? Do they have a good video and audio setup? All the details that you will receive from an online interview can make a huge difference.

You can avoid wasting time and hiring the wrong person because you feel pressure to hire them when they’re in front of you.

5. Have someone sift applications for you.

When you are the hiring manager or the owner of the company, you might not have time to go through all the applications yourself. That’s why you should have someone go through the applications to determine who is not eligible for the job.

This process will help your business eliminate the applicants that don’t fit before the resumes even hit your desk. Not only will it speed the process along, but you will also have a clearer view of what you want and who qualifies based on the small number of applicants that you have.

6. Lean on trusted referrals when hiring.

One of the most effective ways to hire people is through trustworthy referrals. When you trust someone who works with you already or someone you’ve worked with in the past, you will be able to find good workers who are also trustworthy.

Even if you’ve never worked with a person, if you trust them and their opinions, a referral still might work. Referrals are an easy but effective way to interact with new candidates for specific positions. This is especially true when you have very skilled and specialized jobs open.

When you need talented people, you should ask the people you already know who a good fit would be. Referrals can really come in handy when you are looking for new hires.

7. Be upfront about your expectations.

When you are hiring new employees, you should be upfront about what you expect from them. Describe the tasks in detail and be honest about the kind of person you need to do the job.

When you are transparent about the kind of worker you need to take on the position, you will narrow it down naturally. Some people won’t want the job if it doesn’t suit them, or you’ll be able to tell exactly why the person isn’t good for it. You should even have them read the employee handbook to see if they are diligent and a right fit.

Whatever your expectations, when you make them clear you will have a better chance at finding the right person.

Summing Up

It doesn’t matter what business you are in, finding new employees is tough right now.

You may not be able to easily interact with the right candidates, but luckily there are many outlets, platforms, and apps to help you find qualified workers who will be able to get the job done. Whether you are looking for highly skilled engineers or someone to fill an administrative job, you should always utilize whatever you have at your disposal.

Crafting a concise and effective hiring process can facilitate your needs, but the most important thing is to sift through applications quickly, looking for a specific set of standards for the job. Once you have done all you can do, the right employee is more likely to emerge.

The post Tips for Hiring New Employees at Your Small Business appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Whether it’s energy, water, electricity, or tangible materials, keeping up the efficiency of your small business will make a huge difference to the bottom line. If you pay attention to efficiency, you just may be able to grow and thrive.

Water Efficiency 

It doesn’t matter what kind of business you are in. Water is always a pivotal resource.

You likely need water in your business building or property. If you have an office, you will certainly need to pay for the water bill. One of the ways that businesses of all kinds pay more money for their water is because the mineral deposits and sediments build up in the pipes. To boost the efficiency of your small business, you’ll want to address this reality.

One way to avoid this is to upgrade to a soft water system and reverse osmosis. A commercial RO system is perfect for small businesses of all kinds.

“Reverse osmosis” is the process of filtering out the sediment and mineral build-up that occurs over time. It makes the water softer to the touch, filtered more thoroughly and helps avoid pipe build-up that makes you pay for more water you aren’t using.

Whatever business you are in, a commercial RO system will help lower the bills and use less water.

Lighting

Lighting is another culprit when it comes to bills and waste. You might not need as many lights as you have, and you can also change the bulbs.

LED light bulbs are more expensive, but they will pay for themselves. They last much longer and use a lot less energy. Your bills will be significantly lowered if you change all the bulbs to LEDs

Training your employees to turn off the lights may not be the easiest thing in the world, but if you can get it done and save money it will be worth it.

Of course, you should turn off the lights…but what about other electronics? Can you turn off other devices and unplug them when you aren’t using them? What else can you save money on when it comes to energy?

Operational Machinery

If you are operating a factory or a warehouse, the efficiency of your operational machinery matters.

You should be focusing on creating the best output while keeping the cost of operation down. The energy efficiency of your machines has a lot to do with this. Nowadays you can employ energy-saving appliances and machines for improving the efficiency of your small business.

Of course, it depends on what you’re doing, but if you make the effort to invest in modern machines that cut down on energy usage you will see a difference in the bottom line.

When you are involved in some form of production, spending the time and effort finding the methods to produce your products more efficiently could be the difference between success and failure.

Use Remote Technology

Since the pandemic began, one thing was clear — we weren’t using remote technology nearly enough.

There are many tools that can help you collaborate with your employees, wherever they are. With apps that enable you to work with each other from across the world or simply across the desk, there is no reason to put off work. You don’t need to be in the same room anymore to do just about anything.

Even if you work in a hands-on environment, you probably have employees who are engineers or other staff who work on computers. Administrative staff doesn’t need to be in the room as often as they used to be.

If you aren’t using remote technologies to make your business more efficient, you are missing out on some money saved.

It’s imperative to cut down on unnecessary energy from your employees and your office. Having people work from home will lower your overhead in all kinds of ways, power usage being one of them.

Gas Efficiency 

You might not think of your gas usage as something that needs to be curbed but think again.

The impact your thermostat has on your gas bill, for example, can greatly impact your business. Gas and electric companies typically recommend that you only have your thermostat turned up to 70 degrees in the winter to cultivate maximum energy efficiency.

One thing you can do is install a smart thermostat, which enables you to monitor and control the temperature of your property wherever you are from a smartphone.

Another thing you can do is make sure that the building is properly insulated. You want to control the temperature inside your facility as effectively as you can. Whether the things inside are sensitive or not, it will help you lower your bills and create a more energy-efficient environment.

Opportunities That Boost Your Bottom Line

When you are running a small business, every expense matters.

You need to grow and to grow it’s necessary to keep the overhead as low as possible. It’s necessary to get everything done the right way, but it’s another thing entirely to be wasteful.

Energy Star products, turning the lights off, changing the bulbs, using remote technologies, and plenty of other means to decrease energy and create a more efficient work environment are helpful in all kinds of ways.

Beyond the success of your business is the sustainability of our species on this planet.

No one will be able to have prosperous, happy lives if we continue to waste energy. Water, power, and gas are all valuable resources that we should use sparingly for our own benefit as well as the benefit of humanity. When the prices are cheaper, every business benefits. The money spreads around and we can create more wealth for all.

So, when you are thinking about your business, think about how sustainable it is. If you take the steps to make a sustainable business, you will see the results of that effort in the end.

The post Tips for Boosting the Efficiency of Your Small Business appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What is virtual real estate?

Thanks to the advent of VR technology, the concept of virtual real estate is on the rise. In fact, it can be a major game-changer for the real estate industry in the coming years. Reports suggest that the VR industry is already worth a whopping 15.81 billion as of 2020.

According to a survey, nearly 54 % of potential homeowners search for properties on the internet first before scheduling a meeting. The amalgamation of virtual reality with the online transformation of the real estate sector is bound to deliver amazing results.

To further demonstrate its amazing benefits, here are five ways in which virtual reality can help transform your real estate business.

1. Home Touring and Selling Efficiency

Perhaps the biggest and most significant benefit of VR is the ability to tour properties from the comfort of your home. Prior to VR, a prospective client had to drive or walk around the area and explore the properties in person.

However, many software companies have now created cutting-edge VR software that provides a very realistic, interactive rendering of the property. These VR software packages can help prospective homebuyers and renters alike in virtually gauging the property online.

Furthermore, it offers incredible comfort not just to buyers but realtors as well. They don’t need to travel incessantly to make a sale. Overall, it has led to an exponential increase in property viewings. With VR, selling a home and improving your business is nothing short of a cakewalk.

2. Virtual Staging

Conventional real estate home tours involve walking around empty rooms in a house. As a realtor, it can be a struggle to sell an empty apartment or house to a potential client. The prospective buyers or renters can struggle to visualize a home when they have little to fuel their imagination.

To mitigate this, staging a property with nice furniture and fixtures is much more appealing to a customer. Almost 77 % of active realtors agree that aptly staging a house helps clients feel more connected to the property. The only caveat is that it is quite expensive to stage it physically for each property.

However, virtual staging blows both of these problems right out of the water. Realtors can now showcase their properties through virtual staging and impress potential clients to close the deal.

3. Virtual Commerce

The fantastic benefits of VR technology don’t just end with home tours and virtual staging. It also promotes virtual commerce to a whole new level. You can help the client with ideas to decorate the space by tastefully staging the property with decor and furniture.

One can click on a particular item during a home tour to reveal its price and vendor info. This helps the customer to purchase items for the home online at a moment’s notice. They can also replace a particular product or decor setting with another online purchase that suits their taste.

This offers an incredible level of interaction with the property which might not be possible during a real-time viewing. Overall, it boosts the virtual commerce aspect as well as bolsters the reputation of your business.

4. Architectural Visualization

Virtual staging is a great tool to sell already-built homes. But what about yet-to-be-built properties?

Traditionally, realtors showcase small, layout models of the property and the locality to paint a better picture. For the interiors, however, real estate businesses often create showrooms where they display full-scale models of the property.

This is, of course, not ideal from an economic standpoint.

Thankfully, VR technology has a solution for this problem too. With the help of virtual reality tools, realtors can impress customers with incredible detailing of the property’s interior and exterior.

Thus, architectural visualization through VR can be done at a fraction of the cost of the physical setup. This can ultimately help real estate companies to drum up more business.

5. Improved Client Communication

Finally, with the advent of VR, spotty client communication is a thing of the past.

When it comes to renovation projects, this technology helps in keeping the customer updated about their property. Through a virtual tour, all the concerns regarding the particular property can be addressed with ease. It also helps realtors to convey these problems to contractors and the renovation team with ease.

Sometimes, when a new tenant moves into a property, they can have queries about operating certain appliances or plumbing. This problem is especially common where there is a massive communication gap between the property owner and the tenant. The vacation rental industry has been plagued by issues of flawed communication for years.

This can all be easily mitigated with the help of a virtual tour and an interactive video. The importance of VR in vacation rentals is even more pronounced as these properties have a massive turnover rate. This further emphasizes the role of better communication with tenants.

Concluding Thoughts

These aforementioned five points make a convincing statement regarding the importance of using virtual reality in the real estate sector.

If you’re still on the fence, it might help to remember that VR is still in its infancy. The technology is set to evolve by leaps and bounds in the coming years, potentially impacting all aspects of life. As a result, it’s best to stay ahead of the curve.

The post 5 Ways Virtual Reality Can Transform Your Real Estate Business appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Many individuals are thrilled to get their business off the ground, especially with billions of people purchasing online and social media, making it simpler than ever before to reach your target consumer.

But, to get started, do you need a large budget? Is it feasible to establish an e-commerce goods company with no money at all? Or is it impossible? And what about taxes?

Start your eCommerce business as lean as possible.

Starting a company with no money at all is very challenging.

But you may use a variety of strategies to keep your expenses as low as possible during the first stages. In reality, it makes a great deal of sense to keep things as simple as possible as you learn.

You really don’t know many things until you go out there and start selling to your consumers. These range from the most popular products to the prices that your customers are ready to pay for particular items.

Maintaining a lean operation when you first start will allow you to save valuable funds for later. That is to say, a time when you have a better understanding of precisely what you want to accomplish later.

Instead of paying to have your brand designed before you even begin, you could use a free service. One like Canva can help you create the look and feel of your company’s branding before your debut. There are several templates from which to choose to begin started.

Eventually…

Eventually, a website will be required. For now, all you need is an online method of accepting payments (such as PayPal). And a means of connecting with your customers to get started.

It is possible to set up a free email small business marketing account with MailChimp and begin collecting email addresses. The emails will assist you in staying in contact with clients as your business grows, all without having to invest any money upfront.

Make videos and photographs of your items using your smartphone camera. The purpose is to sell them on social media platforms such as Instagram or TikTok…if you have them.

Not sure how to get the most out of your camera’s picture capabilities? Look at sites like Udemy such as low-cost classes on a wide range of topics at your leisure.

Livestream your eCommerce offerings.

Why not examine the possibility of live streaming?

This selling technique is one of the most rapidly expanding segments of the e-commerce industry. It also has the advantage of being very simple to set up, requiring no additional equipment other than a phone, and the desire to interact with your clients live on camera!

Don’t over-commit to a stock purchase.

One of the most common ways to tie up your valuable cash is to purchase an excessive amount of inventory when you are just starting.

Try to spend as little money as possible as you establish your following. Experiment with different products using to see which ones people genuinely want to buy from you.

First, choose a modest number of online things, or even just one item if you prefer. Even while you may continually expand your product line as your business grows.

Keeping your order quantities modest is vitally essential for keeping your expenditures under control at the start of your venture.

One of the most effective strategies to get started on a restricted budget is to keep the number of goods you have under tight control.

To maximize profits from sales of those things, you should reinvest earnings to purchase more shares. Which you may then sell and reinvest the profits from those sales. It is possible to build an increase in your stock holdings over time due to the “snowball effect.”

You can eCommerce it yourself if you prefer.

You won’t have to do everything yourself indefinitely. One day, your primary responsibility will be delegating as much as possible. However, you should spend your first several months learning all you can about operating a product firm.

It may be worthwhile to consider a low-cost alternative, such as joining a membership organization. The membership organization gives you access to expertise, support, and a network of other business owners. This may save you money in the long term by allowing you to avoid making expensive errors as your company grows.

With strict online control over your expenses, you’ll be able to put your goal into action for much less money than you would have originally anticipated. Understanding how to do more with less money is a valuable talent. One that will assist you in building a profitable company from the ground up.

The post Start an Online eCommerce Business Without a Lot of Cash appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

After hearing about its benefits from many other companies, a small firm decides to invest extensively in new technology. Including AI. Despite this, days, weeks, and even months pass without the corporation receiving a complete return on its investment. The issue, among entrepreneurs, has only intensified due to the pandemic and the hasty adoption of technology that resulted.

So, what’s the real story behind that? There might be many explanations for this. For starters, the technology implementation may not be as excellent as you had hoped.

Maybe your employees weren’t adequately trained. Perhaps the technology wasn’t a suitable match for your specific requirements.

It’s possible that the technology isn’t all that useful in the first place. And in the context of the pandemic, hasty digital transformation efforts often result in poor technological outcomes.

Unfortunately, anybody dealing with today’s challenges will find that solving them without technology is challenging. (In truth, every business should now be a technology business, but that’s a discussion for another day.)

Fortunately, you can make efforts to ensure that the technology you choose provides you with all you need. Remember that these aren’t fail-safe formulas for success, but rather a set of suggestions that will help you get closer to the results you want from technology.

1. Choose your technology carefully.

This is one of the most often repeated tips, but it bears repeating.

Why? Because you don’t have to employ every single piece of technology available. Sure, some IT basics may drastically transform your business. Meanwhile, you must be reasonable in how and where you use them, even in such circumstances.

When deciding which technology to use, there are a few considerations to consider.

You must consider specific demands, industry circumstances, competitor movements, and future business prospects before making a choice.

However, there is a mentality that may assist you in making better tech decisions. Choose technology that will help you become a more agile and fast-paced firm. Combining DevOps and CI/CD principles with decoupled data, infrastructure, and digital solutions may go a long way.

2. Include cloud computing in your infrastructure as a must-have.

The advent of the everything as a service (XaaS) paradigm allows you to tap into the power of various technologies.

Moreover, without having to make significant expenditures. As a result, you may (and should) use cloud computing to implement technologies.

Utilizing things like artificial intelligence, analytics, and big data can help your company grow.

Yes, cloud computing is ideal for storing data and even running customer relationship management software on top of it.

However, there’s more. Cloud computing allows you the freedom to scale up or down your tech demands at any moment. Meanwhile, you gain access to technologies that would be significantly more expensive if you developed them yourself.

3. Use data to make decisions and track progress.

You must already be aware that you base your selections on the information available to you.

Adopting big data strategies, as well as analytics and artificial intelligence, may help you maximize your company’s potential. This involves technology adoption and performance considerations.

Looking at the correct data may help you figure out which technologies are good for you. Consequently deciding when the optimum moment is to implement them.

Furthermore, when assessing the output and performance of new technology, data should be at the core of your monitoring activities. Data collected from the technology you adopt will offer you insights that will assist you.

Furthermore, you can determine what to alter, adapt, and scale up or down.

4. Invest in technology that will benefit the whole firm.

Because technology can empower your whole business, you should ensure that the digital solutions you implement benefit employees from all departments.

Doesn’t that sound natural? However, you’d be amazed how many firms acquire a specific technology, such as AI-based analytics solutions, and use it solely in one department, such as sales.

The concept is simple. Make as much use of technology benefits as possible.

Even if your new technology doesn’t seem helpful in a given area, try to conceive of other ways it may help you. At least, utilize the output to inform and connect with the rest of your firm. That way, everyone benefits — even if the production is a source of information.

5. Pay special attention to your workforce’s training.

Finally, you’ll need your team members to be well-versed in your new technology.

If you expect to install a new technology without providing extensive and continuing training to the individuals using it, you will be disappointed.

You’ll need extensive training to ensure that your staff understands making the most of the new digital solutions. Perhaps most significantly, the training should be continual rather than a one-time event.

That’s because you could discover new applications, or you might upgrade the solution with new features and capabilities that you wouldn’t have known about if you hadn’t informed other colleagues about them regularly.

If you don’t want to repeat the errors that others have made, do yourself a favor and think carefully about these tips.

The post Five Ways to Maximize the Benefits of Technology appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

On the other hand, marketing brands are feeling the pressure to comply in an increasingly competitive marketplace driven by customer expectations. Conformity, by definition, does not foster creativity or innovation. This is just one of the 2022 trends.

The epidemic jolted the globe out of its stride, hastening the race to digital transformation. Brands that hadn’t already begun experimenting with digital transformation had to race to catch up.

But what if attempting to catch up isn’t the best option?

Brands have long pursued consumer loyalty programs as though they were shiny things. The allure is fading off now that so many small firms have established themselves. Now is the moment to research what other businesses have learned and devise a plan that puts you in charge of your future. To do so, create an architecture that allows you to maximize all possibilities to engage clients and successfully drive sales, putting you ahead of the competition by many stages.

You should avoid FOMO-driven planning.

Recently, in quick-service restaurant (QSR) businesses, particularly in the face of rising customer demand and expectations, their technological choices are causing them pain. Not only are some prepackaged marketing technology solutions failing to deliver on their promises, but they also don’t allow for simple customization.

In other words, these solutions are more about what works best for the partner than what the brand needs or wants. What brought us here?

Part of it is a lack of foresight in creating components that don’t correctly connect data. Leaving organizations with just a partial view of their client journey. Another factor contributing to the current status of brands is a fear of losing out.

Again, it’s apparent that, when done effectively, loyalty programs may help businesses acquire and retain customers. Those advantages, however, will not be realized if your company acts too quickly. And now faces constraints by technological limitations.

You want to get out of a box, want to think, and grow outside it. So, what can you do to avoid stagnating or falling farther behind? Here are a few pointers.

1. Refuse to accept that high-cost aftermarket modification is the price of doing business your way.
   • Take the time to select a solution tailored to your specific requirements without overloading you with features you won’t utilize.
2. Find a consultant or a technology partner who has expertise and awareness of the space’s deficiencies.
   • Then collaborate with them to find out how to fill that need while being loyal to your brand and using your resources efficiently.
3. Adopt a robust, flexible ecosystem with a well-documented API.
   • One that you can readily integrate and share with various partners.
   • Avoid selecting a partner subgroup that vacillates in relevancy to your brand.

Embrace unique marketing.

When it comes to incorporating this new power — this integrated, data-driven enablement — into customer loyalty programs, businesses must think about two things: campaign administration and campaign planning.

Dashboards, data analysis, and connecting everything is part of campaign management. For example, your offers and promotions platform must work with your email marketing, SMS, and other marketing channels.

Then there’s campaign planning, which focuses on creating a consolidated perspective of how all of these initiatives are doing so you can make well-informed judgments.

But it’s not as simple as “set it and forget it.” Technology is the tool, and strategy is the plan for doing the technology work for you, but you want to use this as a supplement to your campaigns.

As a result, we become more creative. You’ve freed up your marketing staff to perform their magic if you have the right technology and plan in place.

Domino’s has a simple points-based program, but its AnyWare network allows consumers to earn points by ordering from their vehicle, television, wristwatch, digital assistant, or social media and messaging applications. Starbucks has incorporated gamification into its reward program, capitalizing on a growing trend. Chipotle has continued to develop new methods to make itself relevant to consumers by utilizing influencers, social media, and the power of partner companies.

Commit to audience marketing.

For both external and internal audiences, maintaining that enthusiasm is vital.

Instead of pandemic pivots forcing people down into regions where they feel secure, look for a higher demand among marketing professionals for experimenting, learning, and moving more swiftly. There’s a desire to go creative and do something different than what they’ve done before, as well as what other businesses are doing. All they need now is the correct basis to give them that freedom.

Good marketing can help.

Our digital and mobile environments are changing at a breakneck pace. Making the financial and time commitment required to construct the appropriate solution rather than the most suitable approach requires patience and fortitude.

4The distance between where your company is now and later? Having a flexible, cutting-edge marketing technology stack, which isn’t as great as it may seem. All you have to do now is identify the necessity to rethink and reorganize your infrastructure to ensure your brand’s long-term viability in the new digital normal. Marketing just might be the answer.

This too shall pass.

Things are in flux. In motion. Stasis is out. Flexibility is in. Can you keep up? Do you even want to?

How much is your brand worth? Take some time to jot down thoughtful answers to these questions. Use those observations to construct an agile marketing plan for your successful future. Leverage newer technology to help you get there.

The post An Agile Marketing Technology Infrastructure appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Read on for more about how Google Analytics can help your small business run more effectively and increase your online sales.

Segment your audience more accurately.

For any type of small business, Google Analytics can give invaluable insights into customers’ online behavior.

If you keep track of your website’s analytics long enough, you’ll start to notice different demographics engage in different browsing patterns as a result.

Particularly, here are some metrics you should look for to identify these patterns.

• Interactions per Visit: How many web pages a user visits in one session.
• Return Visitor Conversion: How many users return to the site a second time.
• Bounce Rate: The rate at which users leave the website without completing any actions.
• Conversion Rate: The rate at which users complete an action on the website.
• Pageviews: How many users visit a webpage.
• Average Session Duration: How long users stay on a page.

Users of different ages and backgrounds will interact with your site a little differently.

So, the more information you have about their behavior, the more accurately you can segment them. Then, you can create more individualized marketing campaigns and get higher conversion rates.

Along with Google Analytics, any small business owner should use a customer data platform (CDP) to track and archive consumer data. It’s important to have easy access to all relevant data to make informed business decisions about your marketing efforts.

Create a more personalized user experience.

With clearly defined audience groups comes a more personalized user experience for each segment. This is extremely important for different age groups, as their tools and technical skills can vary.

For example, younger generations use mobile devices for most of their browsing. So, your online content and marketing campaign must be mobile-optimized to fit their habits.

Personalization is important. But, all of your content still needs to work together to attract as large an audience as possible. For example, Millennials (people aged 23-38 as of 2019) now make up the largest portion of the United States workforce. Thus, most of your online content should have conversational language and a lot of graphics to appeal to them.

You can easily personalize standard marketing tactics, like social media posts and emails, to appeal to a group’s needs and habits.

To do this, include videos, images, language, and pop-culture references that resonate with your target audience. You can also use analytics to:

• identify unusual browsing patterns;
• determine what kind of people participate in those patterns; and
• tailor your content directly to that audience.

Predict future market trends.

Google Analytics lets you monitor trends in your website’s traffic, no matter how small your business and its traffic may be.

Over time, you’ll gain a better understanding of what your customers want, when they want it, and how they want to obtain it. Every business experiences these patterns, no matter their product or service.

For example, your website’s traffic might spike around a specific season or holiday. Google Analytics gives you the information to foresee the spike in plenty of time to prepare your small business with an effective marketing plan.

Cut costs and increase revenue.

With a narrower target audience, more personalized content, and a look at future market trends, you can accomplish two tasks at once.

• Cut costs.
  • First, Google Analytics helps identify content that’s too expensive or unnecessary.
  • Thus, you can remove anything that isn’t pulling its weight to cut costs and streamline your business model.
• Increase revenue.
  • Also, Google Analytics gives you the data to make the right changes to your marketing strategy, encourage sales, and thus increase revenue.

By properly using analytics, businesses have seen a 10% decrease in total costs and an 8% increase in profits on average. Clearly, planning and executing your business plan becomes much more straightforward when you can see real numbers showing your customers’ behaviors.

Support your team.

Analytics also gives you helpful information about your employees’ performance.

You can see which people generate the most traffic and revenue, and which are lagging behind. This data lets you allocate your resources and help struggling employees pick up the slack.

Over time, you should see more consistent productivity across the board and a more supportive work environment.

Optimize your small business with Google Analytics.

Google Analytics gives you raw data about your small business and its relationship with your customers. And with the right information, you can identify unique market segments, create more personalized content to improve the user experience, anticipate market changes, and thus increase sales.

There’s no better time to start optimizing your small business with Google Analytics!

The post How Small Businesses Can Use Google Analytics to Increase Sales appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Retail technology industry funding hit a new high of $29 billion in the first quarter of 2021. In other words, retailers and tech firms tried to merge online. Likewise, in-store experiences, customized interactions at every touchpoint, and speeded up delivery operations had their influence.

And boy, did the industry smack the ball in 2021! Can small businesses keep up?

Yay for Tech!

We’d be writing and reading till 2023 if we analyzed every retail innovation that took place in 2021. After all, some failed.

It’s easy to choose the few technologies where merchants will likely spend more this year.

“Untouchable” invention. The industry expects touchless technology to grow from $6.8 billion in 2020 to $15.3 billion in 2025. The projection may be an overstatement due to pandemic-related safety precautions. By 2020, 67% of merchants would accept no-touch payments, such as tap-and-go credit cards and mobile wallets.

According to Raydiant, a producer of in-store digital signage, by spring 2021, 72 percent of customers were utilizing contactless payments. Expect more frictionless options, like Amazon Go cashier-less stores. Step 2: Software that can read hand signals and other motions.

Niche Industry Quick-Replies

QR codes seemed consigned to the “Island of Lost Tech” for a while. Therefore, the pandemic has altered that by driving demand for touchless technologies QR codes.

The projection, according to Juniper Research, consumers will redeem 5.3 billion QR-coded coupons by mobile in 2022. Starbucks and 7-Eleven feature QR codes in their payment applications. Like Lacoste and Zara, merchants utilize QR codes to deliver customized smartphone offers in-store, advertise goods in windows.

Likewise, connect to web purchasing. And luxury companies have found them helpful in preventing product counterfeiting, a rising concern.

Always-On Cybersecurity

All online shopper data is as essential to fraudsters as to retailers. Corporate and government data breaches increased 17% a year until September 2021, surpassing 2020.

In 2021, the average retail data breach cost $3.27 million, up from $2 million in 2020.

Because hackers are growing more intelligent, merchants must invest in proven, faster-detecting solutions. They must also utilize these services more wisely, gathering the data required to achieve specific objectives. Securing it like Fort Knox…and then destroying it as carefully as plutonium.

Streaming Industry Upstream

Another popular activity for consumers is celebrity-hosted internet sales events.

Some say they will gain popularity in 2022. Experts warn merchants not to anticipate a boom yet — and therein lies the opportunity.

According to Coresight Research, the U.S. live streaming industry will hit $11 billion in 2021. A considerable increase to $35 billion by 2024, but still just 3.3 percent of anticipated U.S. eCommerce, according to Coresight.

You should thoroughly test themes, product mixtures, and marketing. A broadcast might remind viewers of a hard-sell QVC pitch, so be careful with your content.

Dark Shops That Shine

Demand for speedy delivery has put new technologies to the test in the last 24 months. Converting out-of-business shops into fulfillment centers has become common.

Online research shows retail online purchases as of 2021, about 21% of all retail purchases (and hence fulfilled). Compelling fulfillment centers will demand more precision technology as the worldwide same-day delivery business grows. Experts project going from $8.4 billion in 2021 to $10.2 billion in 2022.

Good start! However, many dark businesses now provide curbside and in-store pickup in addition to delivery. For example, these consumer-centric technologies position dark shops to dominate the industry in eCommerce growth until 2022.

Vaimo says that global eCommerce sales will hit $6.5 trillion by 2023.

Two Wait-and-See Technologies

With trillions at stake, merchants should take a chance on tech. But even those that merchants may offer in 2022 are bold and maybe ahead of their time.

Virtual Fitting Rooms

Virtual fitting rooms make the cut.

Just as merchants needed time to discover the proper match for QR codes, it may take another year or two for virtual fitting rooms to establish themselves in shops.

Levi’s introduced its “Virtual Stylist” in 2017, while Gucci and Macy’s have lately experimented with the technology.

A virtual fitting room requires excellent product images and augmented reality to create a 3-D illusion. Also, the customer’s technology (for example) will influence the experience. You will remember 2022 being the Year of Lost Tech for these reasons.

Shopbots

Until proven otherwise, the in-store robot’s utility and profitability place it in the “cute gimmick” category.

Meanwhile, an app is likely cheaper to locate things on the shelf or order out-of-stock items, and it is more convenient for consumers.

However, robots can also clean floors, check stock levels, and transport merchandise at a reasonable cost.

Encouraging shoppers to buy something is one thing, but blocking their way is another. Walmart has been trying robot-enabled last-mile deliveries aside from Tiny Mile’s charming self-driving delivery carts. Wal-Mart plans to deploy fully autonomous trucks in late 2022.

Keep Up With Retail Tech Industry

We may be scratching our brains about in-store robotics or the unexpected decrease of live streaming in a year.

Creators of technology and shops prepared to take in a “cute gimmick,” or lost technology are in control of such situations.

Most importantly, for smaller shops and their technology to be successful in the future, customers must be digital. If they don’t, you may forget their ideas in a flash.

Remember, a little plaster can cover a big eyesore.

The post Retail Industry Tech Trends to Watch This Year appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

This was the year when the phrases “global supply chain” and “global value chain” became commonplace. And worrying to small businesses. A specific massive cargo ship stopped the Suez Canal in March 2021. The ship Ever Given was in the public eye for a week.

Then, over the summer and autumn, video footage of hundreds of ships anchored off the coast of California became a frequent fixture on the evening news and morning programs. This backup could also affect tax credits.

Of course, people are talking about the supply chain more than ever before. Not because these kinds of issues make headlines, but because products have become harder to come by as prices have risen. They delay shipments throughout the year. They’ve realized just how much we all rely on it to run smoothly.

And the problems that are producing these problems will undoubtedly continue through 2022. As organizations explore new technologies and tactics to keep their supply chains on track, there are several trends to keep an eye on and consider in the months ahead.

Enhanced Automation to Relieve Teams of Manual Tasks

From booking through settlement, almost every step in the supply chain may benefit from automation somehow.

At a high level, automating manual processes helps businesses to do more with the same number of employees, allowing teams to concentrate on higher-level strategic work rather than mundane duties.

Time-consuming tasks such as making appointments, monitoring shipment status, and creating invoices may all be automated. Automation allows businesses to manage a more significant number of shipments with more efficiency.

For Better Decision-Making, More Centralized Data

The most successful supply chains combine data with team member knowledge in making choices.

Centralizing data is critical because it allows for in-depth analysis and reporting, revealing inefficiencies and possibilities for improvement at all levels. Team members make choices at each process level. Allowing team members access to this information guarantees that the best option is taken at each process level.

Better data may have instant effects in the actual world.

Deadhead mileage, for example — trucks on the road with no load — is one of the most dreaded carrier charges. Companies may group shipments to reduce the distance between stops for picking up and dropping off. This would lower empty miles and the accompanying carbon footprint by employing data analytics to understand routes better.

By choosing the appropriate method for shipments and loads, you can guarantee that delivery time-frames and prices are satisfied.

For example, if cargoes are more time-sensitive, shippers may choose to move using trucks rather than rail. They also could convert from a full-truckload (FTL) to a less-than-truckload (LTL) option to use existing routes that meet their requirements. As a result, clients may be comfortable paying the correct amount for the quality of service required.

Consistent Capacity Restraint

Long hours and difficult working conditions have long been a part of the trucking industry’s history.

The epidemic has heightened tensions, with the American Trucking Associations estimating an 80,000-driver shortfall, up from 61,500 before the outbreak. National van rates have risen from $2.82 in September 2021 to $3.01 in December 2021, indicating a supply and demand imbalance.

There is no simple solution to this problem.

Customer demand and expectations will continue to rise. Since it is hard to add tens of thousands of drivers, vehicles, and trailers to the system overnight, many shippers will need to strive to extend their available carrier network to keep up.

Business owners will use mergers and acquisitions to consolidate the market further. The industry is ready for a wave of acquisitions to produce economies of scale.

There are roughly 17,000 freight brokers and over 1.8 million transportation operators in the United States. Larger firms acquire specialty enterprises to build enormous, full-service transportation management systems (TMS) and managed transportation solution offerings. There’s also a sense of consolidation, as more prominent shippers attempt to take on shorter-term spot bids which have traditionally been the realm of smaller firms.

The Final Mile’s Growing Importance

The last mile is the most familiar phase of the supply chain.

Most people are acquainted with when items travel from a distribution hub to their ultimate destination. Amazon has raised consumer expectations to new heights with same-day and next-day delivery.

More businesses project that they will enter this supply chain sector as direct-to-consumer sales and e-commerce rise. This necessitates an increase in rapid, dependable delivery. Drivers like the last mile because they can work all day and come home every night.

Conclusion

For better or worse, the supply chain industry in 2022 will resemble that of 2021. That is to say, with volatility being the one constant.

However, in the middle of the uncertainty, an opportunity presents itself. Companies who take the time to review their supply chain and better understand and fix their challenges in 2021 will likely shine in 2022.

As always, the world continues to nervously watch the system that delivers items to their doorstep.

The post Supply Chain Technology Trends In 2022 appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Technology has changed practically every aspect of contemporary life, from education to shopping. As a small company owner, you probably utilize various IT tools. But are you wisely using modern technology in your company? Especially with regard to cyber security?

Likewise, small business tech may help you save time, energy, and even money. These tools aren’t only for cutting-edge IT companies.

In this post-pandemic world, it’s more important than ever. Small enterprises that use digital innovations have double the revenue per employee. They have higher revenue growth rates and higher employment growth rates. In short, whether you manage a plumbing company, a florist, or a freelance event planner, these ten pieces of small business technology may help you.

1. CRM Software

Customers are the lifeblood of every firm. We make money by generating leads and converting them to paying customers. Cloud-based CRM software allows you to manage your company’s interactions with new and current clients.

A CRM is a piece of small business tech you can leverage to increase use, boost lead conversion, and save marketing expenditures. You may choose from various tools, depending on your company’s size and kind. For post-pandemic small enterprises, Insightly is a simple and user-friendly solution. Popular all-in-ones include Salesforce and Zoho.

2. Payment System Technology

Payment processing is crucial in all sectors. As a company owner, you want to accept several payment methods as simply as possible. This saves them time and money. If a customer can’t pay via their chosen method, they may leave.

You may accommodate online payment gateways — such as PayPal and SecurePay — and credit card terminals with a payment processing system.

Check out Braintree. It’s a cloud-based payment processing platform that accepts credit and debit cards. Likewise, it accepts PayPal, Venmo, and digital wallets like Google Pay and Apple Pay. Others include Stripe and PaySimple.

3. Cybersecurity Answer

Our reliance on digital technologies has created new risks.

Any post-pandemic company owner is concerned about cybercrime. Business owners must secure personal information such as employee Social Security numbers. You must also protect payment information.

Meanwhile, data security solutions guard against digital threats. Companies require a secure environment for all computer and mobile devices. The proper security defends your company’s data and money against cyber-attacks. Comodo is one affordable alternative for small businesses.

4. PM Platform

Keeping track of project deliverables and deadlines is critical to corporate success.

The prompt delivery of products and services assures consumer pleasure. It can be a challenge in this post-pandemic world. Project management may be complex when numerous individuals are engaged. It’s especially challenging when employees work remotely.

Solution? Project management software. Tools such as Trello and Asana let you track tasks and keep track of deadlines. You may also use these tools to assign assignments and track progress. In short, the products’ messaging features enable you to ask and answer questions, keeping everyone informed.

5. Inventory Management Technology

Inventory management is probably one of your top worries if you sell things. You must ensure sufficient stock to fulfill client demand. Overstocking eats up expensive storage space and leaves you with unsold things you can’t sell.

Inventory management software helps enhance data analytics, reporting, and processes. It is also simpler to grow with coherent inventory management software. Finally, inventory management software may improve customer service by simpler product tracking. Use technologies such as LOCATE to help manage your inventories.

6. Reliable Internet

Social networking has become a crucial marketing and communication tool for small companies. You may use it to acquire new consumers, convert leads, and retain current clients. Using social media to share bargains may further improve consumer satisfaction and loyalty.

Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Facebook are just a few examples. Instead of joining every network, concentrate on one or two that best match your target demographic. For example, younger customers choose TikTok, whereas older consumers prefer Facebook.

Posting across platforms may also be automated, saving time and effort. Popular is Hootsuite. Their technology is spot on.

7. Company Website

In addition, your company’s website is a powerful digital tool. This is where you may notify customers about your goods and services, pricing, and business hours. Further, you may create new company leads by optimizing your website for search engines. Above all, their tech is au courant.

For example, you may be a general contractor in San Francisco. Someone may find you by someone searching Google for “San Francisco general contractors.”

Your website is your online showroom. Having no website makes your firm seem amateurish and might turn off customers.

Create a website using resources like ZenBusiness’ business website service. You don’t need to hire a high-priced web designer to implement effective small business tech.

8. Location-Based Technology Services

Consumers may utilize location-based solutions to identify services and items nearby using mobile technology and GPS.

Another strategy is to attract customers and grow your company. A localized online presence is crucial for local listings like Citysearch, Yellow Pages, and Yelp.

Make sure your company name, address, and contact information are consistent. Also, utilize Google My Business. For example, create a custom profile and connect it to Google Maps to improve your Google findability. It also provides crucial consumer feedback. These are excellent marketing tools.

9. Interactions with Customers

Again, the success of every company hinges on keeping consumers happy.

But post-pandemic business owners may now contact consumers through various means. For instance, chatbots, social media, review sites, telephone, email, and website contact forms. In the same vein, constant contact might be burdensome for a small company owner.

For instance, a customer contact management system centralizes all consumer interactions. You have greater control over customer interactions and can enhance the consumer experience by communicating in real-time. Genesys and Podium are both valuable tools.

10. More Tech Tools for Small Business

Depending on your firm or sector, more tech tools may be helpful. Consider these options:

• Scheduling: Above all, you may track meetings and deadlines using a linked calendar software like Google Calendar. For workers and customers, you may also use it.
• Mobile Scanner: To clarify, apps like CamScanner allow you to scan and share documents right from your phone. It saves time and keeps you on top of essential documents.
• Third-Party eCommerce Apps: On the other hand, you may also reach consumers through eCommerce sites such as Etsy. Using a reputable third-party platform also increases customer security.
• Proposal Tools: Automate proposal writing and follow-up using the software. Start with Better Proposals.
• Online Learning: As a small company owner, you must remain competitive. As a result, for you and your team, this implies ongoing improvement. Google Digital Garage, for example, provides free online instruction.

With all the right must-have small business tech in place and operational, attracting and retaining customers is a snap.

The post Small Business Tech: The Must-Haves appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

That’s because hybrid cloud deployments consist of a private cloud established on a company’s proprietary data center. This setup is then combined with public cloud services from a recognized provider.

With hybrid cloud networking, your enterprise can have its own data center. You can keep sensitive information safely stored behind a firewall, without sacrificing the benefits of public cloud services. Using hybrid cloud networking can have many benefits for your business. These benefits include cost-cutting for enhanced security, increased scalability, higher networking speed, and even fewer headaches for your IT team to deal with.

Hybrid Cloud Networking Combines Security with Speed and Scalability

A hybrid network environment isn’t intrinsically any faster than a public or private cloud. However, it does allow your IT to optimize the network so that users can get their tasks done faster on it.

For example, your IT team can use edge computing to bring the most important of your cloud services closer to users. This boosts overall speed and help data get where it’s going.

Hybrid networking consists of a combination of both public and private cloud services. your organization isn’t reliant on its own data centers and their finite ability to store and process data. Additionally, you can take advantage of the theoretically limitless storage and computing capabilities that public clouds offer.

However, public clouds are more generic in their construction — they have to meet the needs of a wide range of enterprises. Your enterprise can tailor the private cloud portion of your hybrid cloud network to make it exactly what you need. That’s because the private part of your hybrid cloud network exists in a protected data center. You can keep your sensitive operations and data secure while taking advantage of the scalability offered by the public cloud.

Whenever you need more computing power — or less — public cloud services can deliver.

Hybrid Configurations Are Ideal for Regulatory Compliance

Some jurisdictions have regulatory guidance dictating the time and place for storage of sensitive data. You may not be able to store your sensitive data on data centers in another country or state. Many industries also treat certain kinds of data as strictly confidential. Not all of your data will need to be kept secret. However, for any data that are governed by regulations, you need extra security.

Hybrid cloud networking combines bespoke private cloud infrastructure with public cloud infrastructure. As a result, you can keep your sensitive data safe on the private network while performing less sensitive operations on the public side.

For example, you can keep personally identifiable information in the private infrastructure. You can then move it to the public infrastructure after it’s been sanitized for processing.

Hybrid Cloud Gives You More Control Over Your Network

You don’t want to trust a third-party service provider with all of your data and processing power. You shouldn’t have to.

Hybrid cloud networking gives you more control over your data storage and processing infrastructure. It allows you to build part of that infrastructure from scratch and keep it secure. A portion of your network remains private. IT can have control over the management and maintenance of servers and other infrastructure, as well as critical daily processes.

Hybrid Cloud Networking Is Cheaper than Private Cloud

Putting together a private cloud isn’t cheap.

Most enterprises understandably want their private cloud networks tailored to their own needs.

It’s well worth it to store some of your data on a private cloud network. There, you won’t have to worry about migrating it from one public cloud service to another. You won’t be concerned that perhaps you’ll need to pay a termination fee in the process.

Some public cloud services won’t even give you back your data in a format that you can use! If your public cloud provider goes out of business unexpectedly — or has problems like the ones that affected some public clouds during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic — you won’t have to worry about hastily migrating your data.

However, maintaining a private cloud for all of your networking processes is overkill. It’s cheaper to supplement with public cloud services. You don’t need to sacrifice your data security in order to save money on cloud computing.

Hybrid cloud is the next big thing for businesses that want to save money on cloud networking. You can keep your sensitive data safe. You’ll enjoy some bespoke network structuring. Additionally, you can call on the resources of the public cloud whenever you need them with hybrid cloud networking.

The post Hybrid Cloud Networking: Here’s Everything You Need to Know appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

With the advent of the Metaverse, it’s more crucial than ever to have a portable and composable digital identity. One that protects privacy and security in the quickly evolving Web 3.0 environment. One that not only verifies your identity and access but also acts as a non-custodial cache for your virtual assets.

A New Paradigm for the Metaverse

Consider this. In the Metaverse, you may pick from an endless number of avatars.

It’s not at all like real life, where your face reveals a lot about you. Instead, you’ll need a more intangible way of establishing who is behind the façade.

This applies to both consumers and suppliers.

The stakes will be considerably more significant in this new digital universe than in present social media venues. Parents, for example, want to know about their kids are playing video games, whether it’s with other youngsters or at least aware if they are.

Why not purchase a virtual property? How can you be sure you’re not dealing with a shady character? Is it money laundering? Or possibly a counterfeiter’s NFT art?

In short, we need to verify that these entities are who they claim to be. Moreover, the Metaverse generates more personal data than ever. Consequently, users will want to know that their data is secure and entirely theirs.

New Models and Technologies

Luckily, Self-Sovereign ID already allows this (SSI). In addition to the trustworthy IDs, installing Zero-Knowledge Proofs and an underlying blockchain make SSI fully enforceable (ZKPs).

Essentially, ZPKs allow one party to check the accuracy of data from another without disclosing personal information. Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) and encryption protocols allow for the creation of cross-platform SSIs.

Users will need to transact with the digital economy in any online world.

The ability to produce, acquire, and sell from virtually anywhere will be a key element of this new universe. With SSIs, you’ll always have the same consistent, portable identity, no matter where you are. No matter what you’re doing, or who you are.

Web 2.0 is a centralized monopoly of huge tech businesses gathering user data, whereas Web 3.0 flips that concept. Instead, the Metaverse will allow people to claim ownership of digital assets, including personal data and identity.

In the present Web 2 context, you can’t utilize your Google identity in an Apple AAPL 0.0 percent owned service. And vice versa. Users must create separate accounts for each platform they desire to use.

With SSIs and other legitimate company’s use of verified credentials and encrypted communication protocols, you may avoid these vulnerabilities entirely. This eliminates the need to enter personal information to access various areas and services repeatedly. This new paradigm requires confidence in the emerging Metaverse’s various worlds and their inhabitants. This is especially true for startups.

How the Metaverse Looks

The options are endless.

Online games, for example, will no longer be closed environments. An object obtained or manufactured in one planet may be transported to another or sold directly or indirectly off-platform.

You may buy from any merchant with a single click, yet you only need to submit your information once, and it’s completely confidential. You may even show that you have enough money to complete a transaction, like purchasing property, without exposing your balance.

It’s not only about opportunity; it’s about security. All present internet issues will inevitably migrate to the Metaverse, but with far higher stakes.

People wouldn’t believe that an accidental click may take your assets and virtual land on a malicious website. Neither would they believe it for a SIM switch assault.

The new system must be foolproof, such that you cannot even confirm the transaction if the other end is incorrect. It shouldn’t matter whether it’s due to deceit or user mistake.

Always Yours

An individual’s identity links to values such as crypto, in-game goods, and other NFTs. It will be easy to use for physical and digital services, such as Uber UBER +2.6 percent.

In addition, no one will tie it to a specific physical item like a phone. By just being who they are, a user’s biometric data will validate their identity on the blockchain. The data will provide them access to their assets. No one’s property or information is in danger by using any interface for the same goals.

This is good news for small businesses.

We’re talking about a future where your cloud vault is mobile. You will be linked to the Metaverse whether you are “in” it or not. There will undoubtedly be many more virtual solid world possibilities. But now there will be a concrete “link” to where we are today.

The post A Metaverse-Ready Digital Identity appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

That is just one of the consequences of implementing 5G, the latest technology for wireless communication. In ways that most of us can’t imagine right now, we will be impacted.

There was a mandate for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and cellphone operators to postpone a statewide deployment of the service. That is until early next year due to a last-minute complaint by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and additional arbitrary FAA interventions and delays may be on the way.

The FAA is concerned that the 5G deployment would cause difficulties with altimeters on certain flights.

Last week, the FAA issued a directive. This mandate states that the 5G network’s rollout would cause delays in plane schedules, then the agency could take further action. A Senate Commerce Committee hearing was convened. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said in the hearing that the interference could cause a delay in up to 5% of their planes’ schedules.

On the other hand, the agency’s concerns may have more to do with interagency intrigues than with safety. Or with how small businesses will work around these things.

Regulatory Complaints

The FAA’s complaint comes at the culmination of a lengthy investigation that started more than a decade ago. The FCC started planning for the transition to 5G seven years ago. Those preparations included a slew of tests to verify that 5G networks wouldn’t interfere with adjacent spectrum users.

The issue with the delay is that the advantages of a statewide 5G network are massive. Aside from allowing us to download services faster than we can now. That is to say, downloading a movie will go from seven minutes to six seconds. The lightning-fast connection would enable all sorts of other business applications to emerge. Our lives will improve in ways that many cannot yet imagine.

It is, for example, a crucial step for self-driving automobiles.

Delaying the widespread deployment of 5G will be very costly. One researcher predicts that the advantages of 5G deployment would total $300 billion over the next six years.

AT&T and Verizon started rolling out the service in congested metropolitan areas in 2019. They had expected to roll it out statewide within a month. Both companies have spent tens of billions of dollars acquiring bandwidth. They are constructing the requisite towers and other infrastructure for the network’s deployment. For example, Apple and Samsung have released a new generation of phones that can connect to 5G networks.

The FCC Engineering Team

The FCC’s well-respected engineering team looked into the new technology’s potential repercussions. The team found no reason to suppose it would interfere with altimeters. And it is the FCC, not the FAA, that is in charge of this. That’s a good thing since the company’s workforce training is precisely what the company wants to do.

On the other hand, the most significant project of the century is years behind time and billions of dollars over budget, with no end in sight. And what is the project you ask? It is the FAA’s Nextgen Air Transportation System, which aims to enhance navigation and capacity at U.S. airports.

Six former FCC Commissioners recently signed a letter expressing their surprise that the FAA voiced this complaint. This complaint was very late in the process. The complaint is urging the two agencies to work closely together to fix the matter promptly.

Delaying 5G deployment has an equality problem. For now, those in vast urban regions get 5G. Meanwhile, others in the comprehensive center of the nation are still waiting. And, in addition to deepening the digital divide, the delay also hurts the few who have it. So, without a large client base, the apps that rely on it will be unprofitable.

The FAA’s last-minute action reflects a more significant regulatory challenge. The challenges are within agencies as they struggle to consider responsibilities. They consider the costs and benefits of activities that may extend beyond their own smaller authority.

5G and the White House

The White House should be more proactive in resolving this disagreement. It seems that it has attempted but failed to arbitrate it.

Part of the difficulty is that it has yet to officially designate an Administrator for the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs is an office inside the Office of Management and Budget. The Office of Info. and Reg. Affairs is entrusted with monitoring regulatory actions and acting as a traffic policeman for interagency conflicts.

It’s difficult to exaggerate the significance of 5G to our country’s future living level. More delays would cost American families dearly by postponing technologies. Technology that might enhance their health, safety, convenience, and living standards.

These infighting squibs may just be small business irritations. Or, worst-case scenario, they may jam up things for good.

The post High Cost of 5G Tech Delays: Small Businesses appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The New Year will see technology geared to small business efficiency and the bottom line. The pandemic wreaked havoc with small retailers. But online ordering software and delivery innovations have offset the loss. (Somewhat.)

A small business can especially benefit from new tech as the tax season arrives. Turbotax may not do the trick. However, once things start to look good, how can those enterprises not only remain afloat but also capitalize on the momentum they’ve built?

Small firms may grow to stay up with larger enterprises and even beat them at their own game with the help of technology and inventive methods.

In general, they should seek to reinvent and rethink their companies in a few key areas, all of which should eventually function together to provide a seamless consumer experience.

Experiences in a physical showroom that are one-of-a-kind must go hand-in-hand with an online presence.

1. Location of Inventory and Logistics

How are customers interacting with your inventory? Even before Covid-19, a part of the market would visit conventional brick-and-mortar stores to examine, touch, and try on things before choosing to purchase them online.

The epidemic has effectively erased any difference between purchasing online and in-store presence. It may take years for consumers to embrace the concept of returning to a shop to explore and buy in the same manner they did before.

Instead of fighting this trend, small businesses could embrace it to create a unique retail experience that appeals to consumer aspirations for convenience and improved safety.

What if we turned the conventional retail model on its head to effectively navigate a new normal? In that manner, we have something that is instantly possible and potentially lower costs. In other words, more efficient and more in line with what contemporary clients are used to.

While the brick-and-mortar model still reflects what most customers want from a small company, it also marks a transition. The movement toward a lower cost-per-square-footage approach is in the works. It helps meet expectations from consumers to emphasize high-visibility displays of merchandise held elsewhere — for less money.

A retailer who survived the pandemic should consider unique showroom space. Something intimate, where customers can easily find the products they want. Deliver products quickly, within 24 hours if possible. Ship from warehouse space, which is much less expensive to lease.

2. Technologies Powered by the Internet

Small firms will need to embrace technology more than ever under this paradigm.

They should think about marketing and customer involvement. That is to say, but consider the sorts of technological solutions that the world’s top firms are using to help them run their operations. What they use to run more efficiently and provide their consumers with cost-effective products and services.

Since the introduction of Covid-19, the same technologies that have helped firms survive you can now actively exploit. You can extend as part of the business strategy.

It eventually becomes about the confluence of online purchasing and things like live chat versus a live operator on the other end of the phone. Like employing specialized small business technology for a specific purpose. It’s all about finding software and services that function together and link as part of a bigger company plan from a business growth standpoint.

We are integrating such digital solutions into more conventional business procedures. On the other hand, it may be a terrific way for a small firm to develop and flourish. Web- and mobile app-based delivery services have been among the most prevalent and profitable enterprises throughout the epidemic. Those services give a model that small companies may follow, whether they want to add delivery services to their present firm or start an utterly mobile one.

In any case, there’s potential to employ the same technological platforms as their multibillion-dollar equivalents in the market, such as telematics.

3. Company Vehicles with Multiple Purposes

For small company owners that currently have car fleets, telematics technology is still primarily focused on GPS position. Beyond that, they’ll be able to see their total operating expenses (TOC) and return on investment for their cars.

There is also the potential to assess staff safety to some level and use data exchange between fleet cars and office applications.

Are the company’s cars employed as part of the business…or as the business itself? Either way, they provide a concrete and relatively straightforward means for a developing or evolving small firm to connect everything. Vehicles using advanced small business technology, such as telematics, may assist in tailoring the customer experience while also saving money.

The post Small Business Technology Levels the Playing Field appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Were you a small business thrown into chaos when the Covid-19 outbreak? If you were hit, you may just now be starting to recover more than a year later. In a post-pandemic environment, small-enterprise owners must be aware of the changes and key trends driving business.

1. Empathy and Emotional Intelligence

We cannot overstate the importance of emotional honesty and modeling emotional intelligence.

Empathy is no longer a luxury but rather a valuable tool for coping with life’s and work’s obstacles. You don’t have to know or reveal every detail of an employee’s (or your own) circumstances, but detecting moods or actions and responding with care is appreciated. “If we inquire, ‘How are you doing?’ we genuinely want to know.” Adopt that slogan.

2. Social Media Influencer Marketing

The power of influencer marketing is a key trend that small companies should be aware of if they aren’t already.

Small companies may use online platforms and social media channels such as Instagram and TikTok to communicate their stories and raise awareness and enthusiasm. Influencers of all sizes (even micro-influencers) provide credibility to the article by adding context and endorsements.

3. Large-Scale Business Processes and Systems

Small firms must begin adopting large corporate systems and procedures to succeed in 2022.

What we mean is that small firms should set up toll-free phones, IVR systems, and automation to organize their operations. Act as if they were much more significant than they are. It will be critical to their success if they can do this.

4. Increased Recruitment Efforts

Companies will be able to broaden their recruitment efforts to be more far-reaching than in the past.

As the globe is more linked than ever, more individuals choose remote work locations throughout the world. In a tight labor market, organizations have purposefully established their culture. They are defined purpose, values, and norms will be more effective in recruiting the appropriate personnel.

5. Workplace Values That Put Family First

Over the past year or two, many individuals have reviewed what they value in life, resulting in family-first key trends.

As a result, company owners must establish a workplace that prioritizes people or risk losing their most exemplary employees. Small-business owners must develop a set of workplace principles with their employees and ensure that supervisors, in particular, lead by example.

6. Building Relationships with Business Owners

Don’t miss out on 2022’s hottest key trend: networking!

Small company entrepreneurs may increase their efforts tremendously by networking with other business owners rather than expanding alone. As a result, networking allows you to get business lead referrals and hear new market views. Learn from other people’s experiences, improve your game, and pitch. Team up and establish partnerships that motivate and drive each other’s development.

7. Digital Marketing’s Effectiveness

Digital marketing is here to stay, and small company owners should embrace it.

However, digital marketing may not completely replace in-person profile development. While it did during the epidemic, its cost- and time-saving benefits cannot be overlooked. Consequently, utilize these advantages to reach a large audience constantly.

8. Cloud and Digital Technologies for Business

A robust digital presence is lacking in many small firms.

Your ability to utilize and use today’s digital and cloud technologies will determine much of your success. Similarly, key trends like this bolster your commitment to keeping on top of whatever technology your customers use. That is to say, it will add to your success in the next ten years. It’s Slack, Teams, and Twitter trends these days. Who knows what the situation will be like in three years?

9. Product Development and Agile Service Delivery

The ability to stay flexible in client service delivery and product development will provide you with an edge.

Flexible delivery trends assist in creating a personal brand with a recognized competitive advantage. Likewise, creating a range of solutions and understanding the effect of these solutions on various customers can help your small company stand out. To clarify, your small business can stand out in any market by allowing you to provide variety, creativity, and strategic innovation.

10. Employee Business Coaching and Mentoring

Small firms will need to develop unique, new methods to recruit and retain talent to keep their employees happy and enhance retention.

Trends toward providing coaching or mentoring to workers exist. Consequently, it is considerably more beneficial to a person’s growth than a break room with a ping-pong table!

11. Synchronous and Delayed Video

The use of both synchronous and asynchronous video will be crucial.

The use of video to prospect, sell, service, and meet with people across the world has increased dramatically in the previous 18 months. Everyone has access to a phone, tablet, or laptop, and we are just a click away from engagement. Video is the new “new” thing, and its popularity will only grow. There are several free platforms to choose from. Get started!

12. A Business That Is Both Traditional and Hybrid

As we balance security and insecurity with a healthy home and working environment, we have options for workers.

Having a hybrid workplace where workers may pick their best work schedule will be a key trend for the future. In conclusion, employers must accept multi-generational staff with various value systems and life-learned skill sets.

The post Key Trends: 12 That Will Drive Small Business in 2022 appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

When you confront company owners with the day-to-day obstacles of life, they may severely curtail their goals…like all of their New Year’s resolutions. The good news is those small company owners may establish and accomplish some reasonable goals for themselves in the New Year.

Listed below are five examples.

1. Establish an online presence and use digital tools to your advantage.

Because of the epidemic, there is a pressing need for resolutions to be fresh. There is also an opportunity to depend more heavily on digital skills.

According to the Small Business Roundtable’s annual study, many organizations will use a web presence in 2022 for awareness. Web presence is also available for client acquisition, eCommerce capabilities, and digital fulfillment (no contact) when practicable.

The first question that company owners should ask themselves is whether they have a website and methods for accepting payments online.

Ask this when evaluating whether they have completely integrated digital resources. If they do not, there are several tools available to assist them in moving to digital technology. In the case of Forbes, the publication provides step-by-step guidance for transitioning your small company to the internet.

2. Develop a resolution for providing care to your employees.

Covid-19 also brought to light and worsened the difficulties that working groups face. The technology that is supposed to help small business employees often makes them feel alienated as well.

Make a strategy to adjust their day-to-day company operations. Adjustments to accommodate the requirements of family caregivers is one idea. This and other ideas allow business owners to help their workers who are also caregivers.

Employee absences they can anticipate can work with flexible schedules. An absence due to personal sickness, care-giving for children, elderly relatives, or ailing family members are among those to accommodate using methods such as flexible work schedules. Another option is phased part-time employment and cross-training. A caregiver handbook for small business owners is available from the AARP.

3. Resolve to become a certified professional.

If a person is a member of certain demographics, there are options.

For example, an underrepresented demographic may need an applicant to seek a certificate. That certificate is a blessing to a business in an under-served neighborhood. This business then opens doors to professional connections due to their certification.

In other words, applicants seek members of an underrepresented demographic. Those who run their businesses in an under served neighborhood may have access to hundreds of corporate representatives. Included also are supplier diversity professional connections due to their certification.

For example, the Biden Administration has launched new initiatives to increase Black wealth and close the racial wealth gap. The United States Black Chambers, Inc. has launched the ByBlack initiative. This provides Black entrepreneurs with valuable business resources and networking opportunities.

Some groups offer certification programs, including the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, the National Minority Supplier Diversity Council, Disability: IN, and the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council. Take the time. Make a resolution to learn about the available possibilities and the application procedure.

4. Become familiar with federal employment opportunities.

There will be a significant amount of funds available to states and municipalities. These funds are to reconstruct the economy and infrastructure after the pandemic.

Thanks to federal legislation, funds are available. Most notably for the American Rescue Plan and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal. So…sharpen your fintech skills!

Small company owners should investigate these and other government contracting opportunities. It will serve them to evaluate whether or not it makes sense for them to submit bids on these opportunities.

The United States Department of Commerce provides a Good Jobs Challenge and the Minority Company Development Agency assists small firms. The Women Impacting Public Policy organization focuses on increasing government contracts for female business owners. Having a resolution to learn about these funds can help your small business.

5. One simple resolution is to become a member of a small business organization.

You can find organizations for company entrepreneurs in almost every community. These groups assist small business owners in building stronger relationships. They also assist in taking on more leadership positions in their communities. They may also open the door to new business prospects.

Business owners should learn more about the groups in their cities or towns, such as a Chamber of Commerce or a Rotary club. Decide which organizations make the most sense for you to join in the future.

Joining a national business organization may also be a wise decision. For example, the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce or the Asian American and Pacific Islander Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship. The National Association for the Self-Employed, Small Business for America’s Future, or the National Small Business Association.

It’s always challenging to make adjustments and improvements. Yet these goals are doable if company owners begin working toward them as soon as possible.

The post Small Business (Realistic!) New Year’s Resolutions appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

You’ll need to stay ahead of the competition by using a few fresh methods to attract exceptional employees. Two years ago, merely providing remote work was a positive perk and attracted top talent.

Today, though, just stating that you’re willing to allow work from home isn’t enough. To set your company apart and attract the best-of-the-best applicants, you must go above and beyond. The truth is that remote work isn’t as fascinating as it once was. It’s part of everyday life.

According to FlexJobs, between 66 and 70 percent of businesses are willing to enable at least part-time virtual work. That’s a significant number, and it demonstrates how common and even anticipated remote labor has become in many fields.

So, how can you keep on the cutting edge of the remote-work trend? Consider incorporating some of the most recent trends into your sourcing, onboarding, and retention plans. You have to hire the right team.

1. Take your employment hunt to the next level by going worldwide.

For many firms, the prospect of hiring overseas personnel might be daunting. “They don’t speak decent English!” is a common cry.

According to a worldwide workforce survey from global HR platform Remote, 30 percent of businesses consider foreign country rules and regulations as possible stumbling obstacles for remote hiring. Though this is reasonable, it doesn’t have to prevent you from casting a broader net searching for outstanding employees.

Instead of dismissing the thought of hiring individuals from any place, seek out an HR department partner who can assist you. You should try to discover one with experience recruiting in the areas you’re interested in. You and your partner may create anything from job postings to payroll settings that keep your company compliant while enabling you to expand your workforce.

If you’re still worried about having remote employees worldwide, concentrate your search on applicants who reside in set time zones. You’ll have an easier time scheduling meetings and motivating your team to operate this way synchronously. However, you may still broaden your appeal by bringing in a more varied set of artists.

2. Make your choice to go hybrid or entirely remote as soon as possible.

During 2020 and 2021, maybe you relocated all of your employees to faraway locations. It’s now up to you to decide exactly what to do next.

Whether or whether you plan to hire additional people, you must choose your company’s future shortly. Are you considering a hybrid functional approach, in which you may telecommute in part but not entirely?

Because some of your workers may be contemplating life changes that might impact their choice to stay with you or leave, they need to know. What life changes are on the horizon? Consider huge movements. Many employees who have gotten used to working remotely like it. So they won’t budge.

They are contemplating migrating to various places since they like it so much. Approximately one-third of remote workers said they would relocate if the chance presented itself. As a result, you can’t afford to wait and see what happens.

Going hybrid may be the correct decision for your firm, but your workers need to know this immediately…especially if they’ve considered leaving.

3. Make your IT stack more remote-friendly.

Is your remote team still using the same technology as when they were in the same office?

Those technologies may have come in handy during Covid’s early shutdown phase. However, if you want to work remotely as your primary mode of communication, they may no longer be relevant.

By mapping your processes, you may begin to untangle all of the loose ends. Ask broad questions of your talent prospect such as, “Is there a digital solution that might automate this process or make communications easier?” Enlist the aid of your team leaders.

Of course, you don’t have to overhaul your processes entirely. However, you may discover that your employees have been using workarounds to close gaps. Give them credit for their tenacity, but complement their “duct-tape” remedies with technology solutions like a project management system or a  CRM database.

Do you force new workers to learn clumsy workarounds? If not, it will be considerably more straightforward for them to come up to speed. Furthermore, if you have a good tech stack in place, your organization will project a cutting-edge image to recruits.

Many businesses are still bumbling through their remote arrangements. Your company may show a more attractive face to hidden talent looking to produce their best for a supportive brand by fully embracing remote work.

The post This Year, Hire the Best ‘Hidden’ Talent appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

As a business owner, you must now integrate numerous technology developments into your digital marketing strategy. That they’re all measurable gives you incredible insight into your customer base. Is this cause for optimism? Most signs point to “Yes.”

Personalization in Email Marketing

Firstly, any digital marketing strategy must include email marketing. However, achieving personalization in email marketing has changed. Tailored emails are based on prior email opens, purchases, or click-throughs.

And secondly, statistics show that personalization is the future of email marketing, that irrelevant emails annoy customers, and that personalized emails increase sales.

Channel Tech Advertisements

Multichannel marketing technology was popular in 2018. You can save money on marketing technology platforms today.

This is the process of connecting all marketing channels available to your clients. Omnichannel marketers maintain 89 percent of their consumers, but non-omnichannel marketers only keep 33 percent.

Here’s an example of omnichannel marketing technology. A prospective customer contacts your company after viewing an online ad or article. SEO helps your brand’s content rank better in search. They become leads when they join your email list. As an email lead, they will continue to see similar advertisements on social media and native ads. They buy after clicking on one of your emails.

Client engagement points must be measured omnichannel in 2022. A year ago, people were surprised by chatbots. People expect chatbots today. Responding promptly to prospective consumers’ questions significantly improves conversions and profits.

63 percent of respondents prefer conversing with a chatbot to calling or emailing a firm. According to surveys, respondents liked chatbots for their 24-hour availability, quick response times, and simple inquiries. Delay employing chatbots on your website.

Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMPs)

It’s no secret that about 60% of your website’s traffic now comes from mobile devices.

Page load speed is linked to bounce rate. Having a sluggish website increases bounce rates and the danger of Google penalizing you.

Keeping this in mind, businesses can’t ignore the need for AMP. Those who do not employ AMP risk getting left behind!

Video Marketing

Video marketing will increase during the next five years. While video marketing isn’t new, businesses that don’t employ it risk being left behind. New research shows that approximately 70% of users share a promo video. Videos enhanced conversion rates for 72% of businesses. Additionally, customers are 52% more inclined to purchase from a brand after seeing a video.

Likewise, businesses should employ video to engage viewers from start to end. Google optimizes movie displays in searches that relate to its video carousel. In 2022, keep an eye out for 360-degree footage.

Augmented Reality (AR) Technology

How much quicker would your business grow if you let prospective customers trial your products on their phones first? AR decreases risk by allowing customers to see a product in action. Among the companies embracing augmented reality are:

• Garnier uses AR to allow smartphone users to “try on” several hair colors.
• Users of the ELF cosmetics AR app may see how various lipstick colors look on them.
• Clients may see furniture in their homes using IKEA’s AR software…racking up a whopping 8.5 million downloads, by the way.

If your company sells physical things, try adopting augmented reality to decrease online fraud and boost trust.

Indy Marketing

Ads are a part of online life. But no one likes forced product placement.

People hate pop-up ads the most. Additionally, pop-up ads may bother consumers, giving them a bad image of the company.

Native advertising appears as part of the web page’s regular content rather than as ads. As a result, users see ads in their news feeds that are image-centric. Many of these native advertising touchpoints are retargeting ads based on previous site visits, items viewed, or tailored based on a user’s profile.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Marketing tech platforms and tactics are increasingly incorporating AI. As a result, this enables customer segmentation, click tracking, and retargeting.

As a result, businesses can use AI to provide real-time ads and communications.

Facebook Marketing Budget Reallocation

You may need to re-allocate Facebook tech marketing budgets to other channels in certain cases. Of course, Facebook is still big, but 41% of its users are over 65.

That is to say, with Facebook’s huge data breach, younger people are less inclined to use Facebook.

Voice Search Tech

In conclusion, you should know that people increasingly utilize tech for voice search and virtual assistants.

The same information or product may be presented by valid firms using voice command technology. For example, 2017 saw $1.8 billion in voice commerce sales, with $40 billion predicted by the end of this year. Likewise, consider how you may strengthen your digital voice approach.

On the other hand, keeping up with new technology may help your small to medium-sized business remain ahead of the marketing curve and reap the benefits. Most importantly, these seven trends may help your organization succeed.

The post Don’t Ignore Recent Small Business Tech Trends appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Even though small company owners confront great challenges, such as the ongoing supply chain issue, they continue to bounce back. And customers continue to support them. Even though finances can be troublesome.

As recently as last month, the National Retail Federation predicted that over 58 million people would shop on Small Business Saturday. Marketers had a chance to recover and reassess how to best serve the rising small company sector during the previous year.

We wanted to discover how small firms were reacting to the present climate, preparing for the future, and encouraging innovation. Recently, Forbes polled 500 small company owners in the United States to provide marketers with the information they required to effectively serve this market.

And, based on the statistics, the mood is upbeat!

Despite the fact that 41% of owners reported low growth last year, over half believe their company emerged stronger than before the pandemic. According to the same study, small company owners will be spending in five areas in the next year. What exactly are they?

Customer Satisfaction Challenges

Customers are at the forefront of small company owners’ digital developments. In the Forbes Small Business Survey, more than 80% of respondents stated they would concentrate on customer experience next year. One-third of respondents responded that the primary purpose of new technology investments is to serve more consumers.

Small company owners want to empower their teams when deciding what technology to invest in. Three out of four aim to improve their workers’ ability to create transformational client experiences.

It’s no surprise that many small company owners are turning to data to improve their client experience and reach a larger audience. According to our poll, 45% of respondents want to acquire consumer analytics software next year.

Initiatives Promoting Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion

Brands will continue to prioritize diversity, equality, and inclusion next year, regardless of their size.

Despite this, 62% of small company owners want to invest in additional DE&I efforts in 2022, according to our poll. While Forbes is not a small business, it’s providing a good example for promoting a diverse, egalitarian, and inclusive workplace while assisting small companies. Forbes EQ is a dedicated area for companies, entrepreneurs, and charitable organizations.

Supporting underrepresented groups to share their experiences and insights with Forbes.com widens its audience through the BrandVoice content marketing platform.

The Challenge of Technology

According to 78% of poll respondents, technology will be a major investment challenge in 2022.

It’s perhaps no surprise that technology would be front and center for small company owners. However, they have no intention of investing in just any technology. Research also revealed that a staggering 80% of companies have invested in the cloud or intend to do so in the next year.

What is the primary goal of all of these investments? To service a more significant number of customers — and to do so successfully.

Workforce and Talent

Small company owners now aim to improve their employee experience, with 73% of owners predicting that personnel would be a major challenge and investment in 2022.

To empower their workers, 36% said they’ll concentrate on enhancing mental health and well-being while 35% said they’d focus on promoting work-life balance.

More than three-quarters of chief experience officers (CxOs) claimed they’ve already enhanced parental leave. CxOs have created clear limits around working hours to recruit and retain female talent. With “The Great Resignation” continuing in full gear, small companies will continue to prioritize talent in 2022.

2022 has arrived, and smaller companies are eagerly embracing it.

As an entrepreneur or small company owner, you need to be a futurist. Think past today. Imagine tomorrow, then act on your intuition, no matter how far-fetched.

Marketers will also need to be futurists in order to target small enterprises. Small businesses faced difficult times as a result of the epidemic. We’ve seen and heard about several firms that found creative methods to adapt and prosper.

Salesforce, the world’s largest cloud-based software firm, saw this coming a long time ago. At the height of the epidemic, Salesforce wanted to encourage small companies. They hoped to encourage them to keep pushing ahead while also recognizing those who had already made significant progress. This key action yielded great results.

So…find your blissful state when it comes to the modest requirements you have. Or, go big if you have the guts for it and are not risk-averse or fearful of challenge. Always remember that the longest journey begins with that single, first step.

The post Challenges to Small Business Owners in 2022 appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

But, how can you start benefiting from new technology in your business? In this article, I’ll share the steps you can follow to do it without wasting resources or missing a beat on what your customers want. Let’s begin!

1. Study your customer’s consumption habits.

This step is crucial to know which technologies are part of your customer’s daily activities.

You don’t have to dig too deep to know that most of your customers are using mobile payment options such as the must-have Apple Pay.

That’s part of the good news.

• You don’t have to spend a lot of money, time, or effort to start accepting different payment options.
  • Additionally, you don’t have to invest in high-end drones to deliver food for your business to say you’re keeping up with trends, either.
• Transitioning into newer technologies in your restaurant doesn’t have to be harsh, but that it can be gradual.
  • That can give you time to find the right tech and implement it properly.

But, what you must keep in mind is that the solutions you apply solve a real problem your customers have.

That way you can avoid applying complex, expensive, and unwanted solutions that will actually chase your customers away.

2. Conduct a few surveys or polls.

Studying your customer’s consumption habits is a rather indirect method — although necessary — to know your customer’s preferences. That’s why creating a survey or a simple Instagram poll can help you know which are the tech options your customers would love to see in your restaurant.

Also, this helps you engage more with your customers, who will instinctively know that their opinions are valuable for your business.

That’s gold if you’re implementing branding and even customer retention strategies in your restaurant.

3. Study your competitors’ technology.

Watching over your competitor’s shoulders can help you narrow down the competitive edge they have over your business.

To be clear, I’m not advising you to go and get exactly the same POS system your competitors are using or something along those lines.

Instead, try implementing new technologies that work well to reinforce the infrastructure that’s already in place at your restaurant.

That way, you can beat your competitors in original ways, that are in line with your restaurants’ brand, and are also useful to satisfy your customers.

4. Create a budget.

Working with budgets is vital in businesses. That’s why you must create a budget that allows you to materialize your plans while helping you limit how much you will spend.

Again, you should take a gradual approach to get new tech for your restaurant. Find complete solutions that help you go from 1 to 2, instead of 1 to 1.5.

You can set monthly or even yearly goals to transition into new technologies. That way, you can take enough time to fully adapt your restaurant.

5. Train your staff to handle the new technology.

A restaurant’s staff is the force behind it — even though there’s been a shortage going on since last year. As a result, you can’t buy new technology without training your staff on how to use it and troubleshoot common problems.

If you skip this step, you will have issues while applying the new system effectively. And this is definitely bad for restaurants since it’s a business based on efficiency and swiftness.

As a result, if your staff can’t handle the new tech, you’ll run into problems with the service, which will negatively affect your restaurant.

6. Create a marketing strategy around the new tech.

Even if you change a single aspect of your business’s technological infrastructure, if it improves its performance, you should let people know.

Especially if it’s something that customers will come into contact with, like a new tablet POS, a new payment method, or a new drone delivery service.

Additionally, creating a marketing strategy around your restaurant’s new technology can be useful to:

• inform your customers about the changes;
• educate your clients on how to use the new system, if they will use it;
• start a conversation with your customers about the changes and get some valuable feedback; and
• let them know how this change improved your restaurant.

You can apply simple marketing strategies that help you achieve any of these objectives.

There are many benefits to adding new tech to your restaurant.

Adding new technology to your restaurant help you improve different aspects:

• The speed of the service.
• The efficiency of your waiting staff.
• Easing the payment process.
• The safety of your restaurant — self-service and QR code menus are especially useful for this.
• The management of your business.
• The inventory system.
• The delivery service.
• Customer engagement and satisfaction.
• And much more!

In an industry as convoluted and competitive as the restaurant industry, having the slightest competitive advantage can push your business to the next level. In conclusion, are you using the latest technology in your restaurant? I hope so!

The post How to Benefit From New Restaurant Technology appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Consider traditional employee time tracking. Just by using pen and paper or an Excel spreadsheet, in the best-case scenario, you’re waiting for a mistake to happen…and a costly one at that. Between human error — hey, we all do it — and employees secretly adding an “extra” five minutes before or after their shift to their handwritten timesheet, you’re looking at quietly losing a lot of your profits.

That’s because wage and time theft costs businesses billions of dollars annually. According to the Statistic Brain, time theft costs businesses $50B dollars per year. Furthermore, a shocking $373 million is spent on “buddy punching.”

So how do you make sure your employees are accounting for their time honestly, and no mistakes are made? Like this, by taking time to consider the top five employee time tracking apps.

The Top 5 Employee Time Tracking Apps

1. Connecteam

Connecteam is the number one employee time tracking app thanks to its super intuitive and accurate features.

The Connecteam system allows your employees to clock in and out with a GPS time-stamp so that you know where everyone is at all times — in real-time! All this happens without you having to check up on individuals. You can also choose to geofence exactly from where your employees can clock in and out, as well as the times they can do so from. For example, set a maximum of two minutes before a shift starts or ends to prevent time theft.

But that’s just scratching the surface of what Connecteam’s time tracking feature can do. Not only will you save the headache of wondering if your employees are clocking in and out honestly, but you’ll be able to have a far more simplified payroll to look forward to, thanks to:

• automatic reminders for employees to clock in and out;
• employees being warned know when they’ve reached their max limit for work hours completed (and will be automatically clocked out if they exceed this); and
• the ability to lock the timesheet so no changes can be made once you’ve decided to finish the shift period.

Moreover, Connecteam even offers you a time clock kiosk. You can set a fixed station where your employees are to clock in and out. Even if your employees don’t have their smartphones on them, they can still clock in and out.

• Price: Pricing starts at $39/month for up to 50 seats.
• Free Trial: There is a 14-day trial, as well as a forever-free plan.

2. Jibble

Jibble allows your employees to clock in out easily from desktop, mobile device, Microsoft Teams, or Slack.

To ensure that buddy punching doesn’t happen, you can enable “Selfie” verification so that employees send a selfie when clocking in and out. Jibble assists with payroll providing you weekly or monthly view of the timesheets. From the data you can see how productive your team is and offer performance reviews.

• Price: $1.50/user/month.
• Free Trial: There is a free trial as well as a free plan.

3. Toggl

Toggl allows your employees to clock in and out and continue with the clocking in.

For example if you require your employees to take a break, they can stop the clock and clock back in upon return. If any member of staff forgets to clock in, Toggl will send a reminder.

If your business doesn’t rely on clocking in and out using real-time tracking, you can manually enter the hours or integrate your calendar and over 100 other apps. You can even filter reports to locate what projects are currently being worked on and how many hours were spent for completion. You can decide to download the report in a CSV, PDF, or Excel format.

• Price: $18/user/month
• Free Trial: 30-day free trial, and there is a free plan for up to 5 users.

4. When I Work

When I Work is super easy to download onto your employees’ smartphones.

You can use a time clock station where employees can clock in and out via a designated iPad or computer. Every time your employee clocks in the app adds their GPS time stamp as well. Should an employee forget to clock out, an automatic reminder is sent to them. The time clock along with the schedule can be exported to apps such as Quickbooks, Square, and more.

• Price: $2/user/month for up to 100 users.
• Free Trial: No free trial, however, you can use the free plan.

5. Quickbooks

Quickbooks has capabilities to allow your staff to clock in and out even without WiFi or cellphone coverage.

Every time your employee clocks in a GPS time stamp is recorded. Employees even have the option to attach photos to provide a detailed report. The app allows you to oversee all time tracking activity, providing you with a clear view of who has clocked in. In addition, you can approve time off.

• Price: $180/month for their advanced plan which is more than 5 users.
• Free Trial: 30-day free trial.

The Bottom Line on Employee Time Tracking

Time tracking does a lot more for your business than just track time. It can reduce costs, discrepancies over hours and can boost engagement.

Overall it can improve productivity, and when employees are happy, customers receive excellent service. Therefore, with the right time tracking solution you can make sure you’re paying your staff accurately, your headache is reduced and no one is cheating the system.

The post Top 5 Employee Time Tracking Apps in 2022 appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The traditional brick-and-mortar model will no longer work to stay afloat during challenging economic times. However, technology will play a pivotal role in bringing businesses closer to their customers and achieving their short- and long-term goals.

Here’s how small or medium-sized businesses can level the playing field and compete with larger companies by using various types of technology to achieve their goals.

Why Should SMB’s Utilize the Latest Technology?

The 21st century brought many changes to the business world. One of the most important is technology.

New technologies continue to emerge, and the businesses that use them often perform better than those that do not. However, it’s vital to consider which technologies are worth investing in — some may offer more value than others, depending on the industry you serve.

It’s crucial to perform a cost-benefit analysis before choosing to adopt the latest technology, whether it’s artificial intelligence (AI), customer management software (CMS), or fleet management software (FMS). This will help guide your decision-making process and justify adopting new technologies to reach your bottom line.

These are some basic benefits your small business can reap when utilizing the latest tech:

• maximize profitability;
• achieve higher levels of productivity and efficiency;
• improve your lines of communicationi
• enhance your security measures; and
• provide quality customer service.

How Can Small Businesses Leverage Technology?

Here are some ways small businesses can use technology to level the playing field and capitalize on the positive aspects of their operations.

1. Use cloud-based solutions.

One benefit of using cloud-based technology solutions is that you can easily access sensitive company information without worrying about cybersecurity threats. Cloud-based platforms are extremely secure, in addition to being scalable. Hence, you can operate efficiently without experiencing cyberattacks as your business grows.

There are many cloud services you can research to learn more about how they might benefit your business. Examples of cloud services include Microsoft Azure, Google Drive, and Dropbox. Cloud services are useful and will help you compete with larger companies, whether sharing files with team members or collaborating on a project.

2. Establish a remote workforce.

With the transition to remote work taking place globally, it’s no wonder that more companies are establishing remote workforces. Hiring home-based employees is nothing to fear — in fact, they tend to achieve high productivity levels.

Remote teams need tools to help them accomplish daily tasks, so determine if you want to use company-issued technology like laptops or tablets or adopt a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy. You may want to consider using employee monitoring software such as Hubstaff, Teramind, or ActivTrak.

3. Utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline workflows.

Large companies across several industries leverage AI because the benefits make it a worthwhile investment.

For example, Twitter uses AI and natural language processing (NLP) to sort through tweets and find the most relevant, appropriate content for its users.

AI can streamline workflows, automate basic tasks, and help bridge any gaps between you and your customers. It may be costly to implement initially, but it could positively impact your business in the long term.

4. Reach more customers with email marketing campaigns.

Did you know that six in 10 millennials would prefer watching a video attached to an email rather than reading a company newsletter? In addition, the same research shows that one in two millennials will interact with an email that contains a video element.

Email marketing is a tried-and-tested method that many companies leverage to reach new and existing customers. Large companies often have customers sign up and agree to receive emails with discounts attached. You could be missing out on a substantial audience if you choose not to use email marketing as a core strategy. Consider using tools like Constant Contact, MailChimp, or MailerLite for your campaigns.

Leveraging email, company-issued devices, AI, and cloud-based services can help bring your business to the next level. Your company may be small, but today’s landscape is more about the strength of your technological muscle.

The Future of Small-Business Technology

There’s no denying that the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many industries, and small businesses were among some of the hardest hit during this time. Thankfully, it seems that consumer attitudes are shifting in their favor.

People have rallied around small businesses to help them survive this ongoing pandemic. For example, this year, 49% of consumers planned on shopping at local stores for Small Business Saturday. According to the same research, 63% agree that the pandemic has strengthened their loyalty to smaller companies in their region.

Leveraging technology to meet ever-changing consumer expectations and demands will help your business outperform its competitors. Consider implementing new tech to reap all the benefits it has to offer.

The post Small Business Technology Can Help Level the Playing Field appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Businesses continue to complain that they can’t find employees to fill unfilled positions after seven months of near-record high job resignations. Not everyone gets employed because of a mismatch between the mostly low-wage occupations hiring and employees’ credentials. Labor issues are complex and intertwined.

Here are some possible explanations for a labor shortage. However, don’t get desperate; remember to always hire the best.

Does everyone just want more cash?

Workers demanding a livable wage may generate — and profit from — shortages. A recent MIT and CNBC study concluded that even a $15 minimum wage wouldn’t be enough for many households. Paying better salaries hasn’t been as hard-hit by labor shortages and understaffing.

Wages have risen as firms compete for employees (which you can see if you look at a current salary comparison), but economist Heidi Shierholz of the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute says increases are still catching up with epidemic losses. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a 4.8% increase in average hourly wages since November 2020. Wages in typically low-paying leisure and hospitality have risen 12.3%.

Workers are unsure whether they like their employment.

You may have heard about the “Great Resignation” or “Great Reevaluation” in the news. Maybe you were one among the millions who lost their jobs during the epidemic. Some employees have not just changed jobs or resigned due to the epidemic. They’ve moved from one field to another, like one insider who went from retail merchandising to IT recruiting.

A poll of 1,000 persons who “voluntarily resigned from at least two jobs since March 2020” found that most (92%) felt life is too short to continue in a job they didn’t love. Flexibility in occupations remains in high demand.

Leisure and hospitality labor are some of the hardest-hit sectors.

Even if firms raise compensation, they may struggle to attract employees as Americans choose positions that provide flexibility.

Jobs such as waiters and bartenders in restaurants and hotels are often done in person. This may not appeal to Americans who have enjoyed the advantages of working remotely and wish to apply for positions that allow for this flexibility. Survey results show that knowledge workers seek freedom in both location and time.

Childcare concerns and caregiving tasks restrict the labor force.

Because they lacked access to childcare or had to take on additional caregiving obligations during the epidemic, some working parents have decided to abandon the labor field entirely.

Daycare services and jobs are still recovering from the outbreak. Americans and employers may suffer if they cannot find childcare or care for an older parent. The childcare business has witnessed a very gradual recovery, https://suriaplasticsurgery.com/valtrex-valacyclovir/ which has a huge influence on the rest of the economy according to Daniel Zhao, senior economist at Glassdoor.

Many have pandemic fears and vaccination hesitancy.

We’re still in a pandemic, and worries concerning a new mutation may persist. Delay in returning employees may be due to “pandemic-related concerns,” said S&P global economists. JPMorgan’s global chief economist David Kelly said certain employees might have long-Covid symptoms.

The epidemic kept 1.2 million individuals from looking for a job in November. Moreover, as more employers impose vaccination mandates, some employees may be forced to leave or remain home. The infection is still very much with us, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh told Insider in October.

More employees may retire than average.

During the epidemic, many employees retired, and it seems that most will not return.

Goldman Sachs estimates that 2.5 million of the 5 million unemployed are pensioners, 1.5 million early retirees. Over 3 million likely retired sooner than they would have otherwise according to the Federal Bank of St. Louis. Some of the younger retirees may return — over 2.5% of retirees “unretired” in October — but not all.

Immigration may be slowing the labor force.

Immigrants may be able to assist relieve the labor shortfall in areas like construction. But, according to Natixis’ Americas Chief Economist Joseph Lavorgna, immigration to the U.S. has decreased, worsening the labor shortfall.

There are probably 1.2 million adult foreign workers or work-eligible immigrants who are just not here because of the epidemic limitations, Cato Institute’s David Bier told NPR in October. The rise in job vacancies is around a fourth.

Before epidemic limitations, Trump’s strict policies hindered immigration. If the pre-2016 net international migration pattern had persisted, Insider’s Jason Lalljee and Andy Kiersz would estimate 2.1 million additional immigrants between 2017 and 2020.

There’s a gap between available employees and available employment.

Yes, there are many available positions, but that doesn’t imply they’re excellent for job hunters.

Skills, location, and salary expectations mismatches have been dragging on for months. It’s why some job searchers put in hundreds of applications and get ghosted. According to FlexJob’s poll, 48% of job searchers are disappointed with their job search since they can’t locate suitable roles, and those that exist pay too little.

Self-employment is the big watchword.

Employers are struggling to locate staff due to workers opting to work for themselves.

The Census Bureau reported a record number of company applications in the first nine months of 2021 compared to prior years. In July 2021, the U.S. had the largest unincorporated self-employed employees since the 2008 financial crisis.

Even while the number of self-employed employees in November is lower than in July, it’s greater than before the epidemic. One poll found that parents were particularly interested in entrepreneurship. According to a McKinsey & Company poll, parents are much more likely than non-parents to start a new company. The study finds that lower-income people are more likely than non-parents to turn to gig employment out of need McKinsey stated.

The post Underlying Causes for the U.S. Labor Shortage appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Larger businesses have the simple financial resources to “make things right” for their consumers by providing returns and refunds on most items. And they have the staff to do so easily. What they can’t do as easily is be personable.

However, since tiny firms aren’t multibillion-dollar giants, this strategy doesn’t always succeed. Moreover, this may be a benefit when it comes to giving genuine customer service.

Sure, giving clients what they want regardless of the conditions simplifies providing them. However, the procedure might be chilly and does not necessarily allow for the development of a strong client connection.

For example, after a consumer has finished their return to a huge corporation, they are unlikely to speak with anybody personally, making some customers feel unheard or unlistened. They don’t feel that they are any closer to the firm.

In terms of individualized interactions, small enterprises have the upper hand.

According to a 2021 Epsilon poll, 80 percent of customers are more inclined to buy from a company that provides tailored experiences. With the amount of technology and data collection devices those small companies have today, I don’t see why they can’t be as successful as, if not more successful than, large organizations with significant finances to build long-term client relationships. Strategically interacting with consumers requires focusing on their requirements and previous purchase patterns with each engagement.

Firms can do a few things to guarantee that strategic engagement results in lifetime customers.

1. Make your brand and voice personable and consistent.

Decide on what you want your company to be recognized for and stick to it.

Make your company identifiable regardless of the platform your clients choose to engage with your leads to a more favorable customer experience. This begins with the personality of your brand.

Consider something as basic as how you welcome your clients. Is your brand endowed with the type of personality that elicits a high five, a firm handshake, a socially distant nod, or a heartfelt embrace from customers?

Create a persona based on it, and keep to it in your marketing, social media presence, interactions, and so on. People will begin to remember it.

2. Embrace participation on social media.

Increase your presence on social media. Use this rule of thumb; no matter how much you already do on social media. You. Must. Do. More.

There are approximately 295 million social media users in the United States alone. Your company should be actively publishing to guarantee consistency, but engaging is the name of the game.

Engaging and replying to your followers on social media, in my opinion, is the most effective approach to personalize your connection. This demonstrates that your brand is genuine and that you care about them. Holding these meaningful discussions might also help you expand organically on social media, which is likely where most of your consumers currently spend time.

3. Make it possible for consumers to contact you on their terms.

Many clients prefer to text companies instead of calling them.

As a result, make sure you’re textable for your consumers. Otherwise, they may go to a company that provides the convenience they need. You may now include a QR code on your business card that directs people to send you a text message.

Alternative message possibilities are also available. Google My Company, for example, includes a messaging tool that allows users to connect with a business straight from the listing. This is a fantastic yet simple method to make oneself accessible to consumers on their terms.

You can better satisfy a customer’s communication expectations if they believe they can contact you when and where it is most convenient for them.

4. Being personable means making use of your data.

Too many firms collect data and then abandon it. Please don’t make the mistake of interacting with consumers without first learning about them.

Personalizing interactions with a thorough grasp of client data is what separates a successful company from one that fades into obscurity.

For example, suppose you have two Bob Johnson clients. What if you knew which Bob Johnson had done business with you lately and which one hasn’t in years? That would have a significant impact on the messages you communicate. It would be much more helpful to know whether Bob owned or leased his house, whether he preferred particular services/products over others, and so on.

5. Do something unique and memorable.

Have you ever received a gift that stuck out among the rest?

Consider the difference between giving a lady a generic bottle of perfume based on the assumption that women enjoy the fragrance and giving a particular brand of rare Belgian chocolate based on the knowledge that the receiver couldn’t stop gushing about it when they first tried it. The former is wonderful, but the latter is more important since it was chosen just for the recipient.

Consider utilizing the information from No. 4 to make this process simpler for you as a company owner. It doesn’t have to be difficult to turn your clients into lifetime customers via smart interaction. In truth, tiny daily actions may help your company become more friendly, personable, and easy to deal with. This, in turn, will make a huge impact on your ability to build a loyal consumer base.

The post It’s Simple: A Small Business Can Be More Personable appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Technology, even fake technology, is here to stay. As a result, your small business’s digital marketing plan must now include the following eight technological trends. However, the best part is that they are all quantifiable, providing you fantastic insight into your consumer base.

1. Email Marketing Automation Personalization

Email marketing is a vital component of any digital marketing plan. Similarly, personalization in email marketing will alter to keep consumers interested and/or buying.

Marketing automation enables you to send consumers personalized emails based on previous email openings, transactions, or click-throughs. Statistics demonstrate that personalization is the future of email marketing, that customers are upset when they get irrelevant emails, and that consumers spend more when their email experience is individualized.

As a result, don’t be hesitant to personally connect with your clients!

2. Omni-Channel Promotion

Multi-channel marketing technology was hot in 2018 and early 2019. However, invest exclusively today in omnichannel marketing technology platforms.

This is the process of linking all marketing channels accessible to your customers to get consistent messages. Companies that use omnichannel marketing keep 89 percent of their customers, whereas non-omnichannel enterprises retain just 33 percent.

Here’s a common example of the technology needed to provide an omnichannel marketing experience to your customers.

• A potential consumer connects with your business after seeing an ad or content on social media.
• Your brand’s content then ranks well in search results, thanks to SEO.
• When they sign up for your email list, they become a lead.
• While an email lead, they will continue to encounter comparable advertising on social media and native ads as they surf the internet.
• They eventually make a purchase after clicking through on one of your emails.

Businesses in the New Year cannot ignore technology to perform omnichannel marketing and measure client interaction points.

3. Customers Now Expect Chatbots and Virtual Assistants

Let’s face it, in today’s digital environment. In fact, we want it immediately.

A year ago, chatbots were a surprise for website users, but now they’re cliche. Using chatbot technology to instantly answer potential customers’ inquiries would dramatically increase conversions and revenues. In fact, 63 percent of respondents prefer chatting with a chatbot over contacting a company through phone or email.

According to polls, the top three advantages people perceived from chatbots were:

• 24-hour service;
• rapid response to requests; and
• simple questions taken care of instantly.

In conclusion, don’t fall behind by not using chatbots on your website!

4. A.M.P.s

Almost 60% of your website’s traffic now originates from mobile devices, which isn’t a mystery.

Page load time and bounce rate are directly in sync. The slower the website loads, the greater the bounce rate and the risk of Google penalizing you.

With that in mind, organizations can’t overlook the necessity for accelerated mobile pages (A.M.P.). Business owners that don’t use A.M.P. risk being left behind.

5. Video Marketing

Video marketing is now the hottest form of marketing and is expected to increase rapidly over the next five years. However, while video marketing isn’t new, organizations that don’t use video technology in their digital marketing plan risk being left behind.

A recent study shows some interesting results:

• 70% of users shared a promotional video;
• videos have boosted conversion rates for 72% of firms;
• after seeing a video, 52% of customers believe they are more likely to buy from a brand;
• businesses who want to convey content that has high engagement and is watched from start to finish should use video; and
• Google shows optimized videos immediately in relevant searches, including video snippet previews in its video carousel.

6. Augmented Reality (AR)

How much faster would your company grow if you let potential consumers try your goods on their phones before committing to a purchase? Augmented reality (AR) reduces risk by enabling clients to view a product in action. This means “it ain’t over till the stout lady sings.”

Some firms that are successfully adopting augmented reality include:

• Garnier employs AR to let smartphone users “test out” several hair color hues on themselves.
• E.L.F. cosmetics employs AR to let mobile users see how different lipstick colors appear on them.
• IKEA’s AR software allows customers to visualize a piece of furniture in their home — racking up a whopping 8.5 million downloads, by the way.

If your organization offers tangible goods, consider using augmented reality. In short, it helps immensely to reduce the risk of online purchases.

7. Native Marketing

Ads are a normal aspect of internet life. However, no one appreciates advertising that forces a product down the user’s throat.

Pop-up advertisements are the yuckiest and may frequently annoy users, giving them an unfavorable impression of the brand. To avoid being seen as intrusive, native advertisements are meant to appear as part of the web page’s usual content rather than as adverts.

Users are presented with adverts in their news feeds. In addition, these image-centric channels flow to marketing. Many of these native advertisements are retargeting ads based on a user’s prior web visits. They even use a particular item they’ve looked at, or curate according to their user profile.

8. Artificial Intelligence Could Rule the World

Artificial intelligence is permeating marketing platforms and strategies.

For instance, it allows for consumer segmentation, click tracking, remarketing, and more. Use AI to offer real-time, tailored adverts and messages. Subsequently, there’s icing on the cake.

The post Ignoring New Year’s Small Business Technology Trends? appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Consider all the problems inherent with hiring. First, it is expensive to hire the full-time services of another human being. You can barely pay your bills. But you are supposed to somehow pay someone else enough money to pay theirs. If you don’t pay enough for a good worker, you will end up with a bad worker. That is worse than no worker. 

Then, there are the challenges associated with management. You have to provide technology and train and set expectations and provide support and encourage and hand-holding through the process, and… You get the idea. The first person you have to hire is a middle manager, which is utterly ridiculous with no one to manage. Hiring is a mess. And that is just one of the problems all businesses of a certain size eventually face. Here are a few others.

Training

Regardless of whether you’re a new business or have been around for generations most of the onboarding of a new employee is training them to do the job for which they were hired. They might know how to do the job generically. But they still have to learn the way you want the job done. It is a documentation-intensive process. Depending on the line of work, some of that documentation will be quite technical. When you can answer the question, “What is technical communication?” then you will be well on your way to solving one of the thornier issues most businesses face.

Generally speaking, technical communication (or technical documentation) is any type of documentation that conveys useful information about the details of a technical system. It could include everything from instruction manuals, to schematics, to properly commented code. In general, companies are not very good at documentation for a few reasons:

• Most people aren’t very good writers.
• Most documentation does not get updated in a timely manner.
• When documentation is provided, there is a company culture of not following it.

Training materials are essential to the onboarding process. The same is true for technical documentation that serves as a reference. Make sure you do it right even if that means bringing in a third-party consultant.

Assembling the Tech Stack

When you are a new business, you really have no idea what technology you need. It is very likely you will need more technological help than you think. If you were not a technologist before going into business for yourself, you can be forgiven for making a few mistakes when it comes to the tech you will ultimately need. Much of it is so complicated that even IT pros get it wrong. 

When exactly will you need a server? Will you go cloud or on-prem? If cloud, which company will you use? What package? SaaS? Do you even know what that stands for? Good, because that’s one of the easier ones. These questions only address one small aspect of business tech. You can avoid some of the pitfalls by bringing in a consultant just long enough to help you get it sorted. A one-time consultant’s fee is a lot cheaper than a big tech miscalculation.

Knowing When To Expand

Expanding your business should be based on something more than a gut feeling. If you wait too long, you could pay a huge opportunity cost. If you push things too soon, you can lose everything. What you need is a business plan that includes a growth plan for 2, 5, and 10 years. You need to have a good idea of where you want to be in each time interval. You might think that staying the same is a good option. But in business, if you are not moving forward, you are probably falling behind. 

All companies have issues they have to overcome. You can overcome the most basic issues dealing with training, assessing your tech needs, and growth by bringing in one-time consultants and preparing a good business plan that accounts for the future.

The post These Are the Problems Most Businesses Have Trouble Correcting appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What Kind of Culture Do We Want to Foster at Work?

Believe it or not, company culture is a big reason why people accept jobs or leave them. A great company culture allows for the freedom of ideas to be shared. It also respects individuals, and offers opportunities for growth and development. If you want an open and honest company culture, it’s important to configure your office to allow for it. Additionally, if you want a company culture where people can take breaks to relax, there needs to be spots for it. 

You should also consider configuring your offices in a way that encourages group activities. For instance, install a golf bag rack and a mini golf course in a small greenspace. Or, build a coffee bar next to the breakroom. Planning out fun and inviting spaces in the office that prompts employees to gather together promotes socialization, better teamwork and a more cohesive company culture.

Do Any of the Leaders Need a Private Office?

While it might seem like a perk of the job, not all leaders and executives want or need a private office. Having a space large and private can be useful, but a separate office may not be needed. This is especially true of leaders who spend time with their staff. They often like a workspace near their people to be available for questions, concerns, and other needs.

Is This a Collaborative Space?

When you look at your office and the way it’s configured now, is it conducive to collaboration? Where are the collaborative spaces? Are they only in conference rooms? How would you like to change that? Creating places throughout your building where people can gather to talk, collaborate, and envision new things is powerful. To create these spaces, you’ll need forward-thinking leadership and staff to design a space that allows for this.

Will Staff Need to Perform More Than One Type of Task at This Desk?

Having multipurpose workstations sounds efficient, but it may or may not be. Ergonomic rules help determine the best ways to perform different work tasks, especially repetitive ones. If you can educate your staff on how to set-up their desk to suit the task they are working on, you will be able to reduce the amount of injury and discomfort caused by inadequate workstations.

Are Workstations Designed to be Shared?

Another important question to ask is if the workstations are going to be shared. You might have shifts at your company, and it makes sense for the people coming in to share a workstation with someone who worked earlier in the day. If this is the case, it’s critical that the desks can adjust to meet everyone’s needs. There is no one right answer to the question of how tall should a desk be? The fact is that a desk should be as tall as needed for the person who is working at it. Taller people need taller desks to account for their height. Shorter people need shorter desks to ensure they are not straining their muscles by needing to reach higher up.

How Much Time Will Staff Spend on the Phone?

The needs of people who take phone calls all day long differ from those who spend all their time coding. Keep this in mind when you design desk space. Creating an area of the office where people can talk without disturbing others is important. So as you consider updating and configuring your office, think about phone use. For instance, phone operators need headsets to help them do their work. They also partitions in between desks that are thick and high enough to reduce the sound when they talk.

Is There Enough Lighting for The Best Office Configuration?

Lighting is important in office design. Overhead lights are helpful, but they can also be harsh. Some employees prefer working in environments with more natural lighting or with desk lighting. Offering more than one option to your staff ensures each person gets to make the best choices for their working needs. Without enough light you’ll strain your eyes trying to work and with too bright of lights and you might end up with a headache at the end of every day.

Are There Adequate Sound Barriers?

A big open space is great.  However, it doesn’t have barriers. Barriers like soundproof sheetrock dampen the sound. Without them, an office space can get really noisy at work. This can be a huge distraction, especially for people who thrive in quiet spaces to work. Putting up materials that absorbs sound can make a big difference in the noise levels in the office.

How Many People Work on Site?

It would be nice if every staff member could have their own private office. But for larger companies, this isn’t possible. The fact is, there just isn’t enough space to accommodate individual offices. When you know how many people work for you, and what kinds of work they do, it becomes easier to devise a plan to create the best office configuration. Before you start putting anything on paper, you need to gather information about how many people are employed by your company.  Determine the jobs they do, and the departments they work with these details closely. This information is critical. It helps determine what you can and cannot do in your space and will result in the best office configuration.

Is There Enough Space for a Lactation Room?

Can you believe that in 2021, almost 2022, moms are required to go to a closet to pump milk for their babies? This is because businesses do not fully prioritize women in the workplace. They are often shown to dim, dark closets without adequate seating, instead of a warm and welcoming space where they can work and pump. Employers with more than 50 staff are required to provide a nursing mom’s space. Work with the women in your company to create a space that’s private, supports their desire to breastfeed their babies, and is still conducive to working at their computers.

The post Top 10 Questions to Ask to Create the Best Office Configuration appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

This is further reflected in the grim fact that greater than one in five small businesses will fold in their first year of operation, and by the end of a decade, only a scant 30 percent will still be solvent. With such a high failure rate, what exactly drives the type of person who nonetheless aspires to become a small business owner, despite mounting evidence of possibly losing everything? For the aspiring entrepreneur, these four traits allow them to stand apart — and even ultimately flourish — in the vast sea of start-up failures.

A Visionary Mindset

Every small business begins as just a spark in someone’s thought. It’s a hunch or a whim that somehow manages to expand into a full-fledged enterprise. On any given day, most of us are struck by inspiration. But how many of us actually follow those ideas through to their culmination? For many of us, inspiration is quickly dismissed.  We might promptly return our focus to the other day-to-day demands that otherwise distract us. However, for the successful small business owner, that ember is encouraged to grow until it becomes the start of an exciting new venture.

That’s where the visionary mindset steps in. Successful characteristics of small business owners include exploring their ideas.  This helps them develop roots and traction. In turn, the have a “go-getter” attitude to build their business from the ground up.  Furthermore, this mindset and similar characteristics of small business owners allows them to look into the future for problems and solutions. Important considerations such as what will define the foundations of their small business are crucial to consider.  Sharp small business owners will also set their minds to looking at today’s current trends.  Additionally, they look at emerging trends and try to predict the needs of their target audience.  These characteristics of small business owners are the cornerstones of being a visionary and successful.

Unyielding Courage

Not surprisingly, for a lot of small business owners, taking those first steps into building their company is often a leap of faith. They have the ideas and the ambition, and they’re more than willing to see where it takes them. While not all of them may be fully versed in the failure rate statistics, they’re not exactly idealists, either. Their expectations are firmly grounded in reality, and they’re acutely aware of the financial and emotional risks they’re taking. Yet, despite this, they’re not afraid to go all in. That takes courage, and these leaders have plenty to spare.

This doesn’t mean they’ll be foolish with their resources and capital funding, though. Yes, there will be setbacks, and those can seem devastating when they occur. But knowing when to trim back expenses and effort also takes a special kind of resolve, especially if they feel tantalizingly close to cracking the code to success, yet still aren’t quite getting there. Courage wears many faces, and knowing when to persevere when the odds seem insurmountable — as well as when to accept defeat and cut their losses — can be the bravest effort of all.

The Art of Persuasion

It’s one thing to believe in yourself when starting a new business, but it’s another one entirely to convince others to believe in you. For successful small business owners, they have ample reserves of this ability, and they can easily coax other people to see the world from their perspective. Turning a business venture profitable is more than just the selling of goods and services. You also need to be able to build a team of staff who are also equally willing to help you grow your business. Then once you have them on board, your next challenge is converting the public into sharing your enthusiasm.

Getting closer to your launch date can be incredibly tense, and maintaining a strong front is especially vital during this time period. Your employees may start to feel those first twinges of doubt, and you need to be able to suppress them before they proliferate and spread. Failure to do so can harm your bottom line, and potential clients may also start to grow wary and develop cold feet. With an unwavering sense of confidence, backed by persuasive charisma, you can keep the door to prospective opportunities wide open for yourself and your business at all stages of growth.

The Inherent DNA

Some of the most prevalent traits shared among small business owners and entrepreneurs are actually written into their genetic code. It’s certainly true that serendipity and chance can play a large part of success.  However, many factors contribute to consistency and victory.  Much research is done on the human mind and “what makes people tick.” Research now tells us that the smallest things really do make the biggest difference. In other words, it’s not a coincidence that a small business owner wakes up one day deciding to start their own company.

Instead, it’s part of their inherent makeup. For instance, something as seemingly simple as having strong leadership skills. Genetic researchers say that DNA sequences point to leadership abilities.  This occurs organically in natural-born leaders’ DNA.  The same can be said for other essential characteristics. Intelligence, self-control and the ability to get along with others are a few characteristics of small business owners.  As it turns out these, are attributes in DNA. It is not a twist of fate.  A closer look at the single cell multiomics inside each and every person further demonstrates this.  This underscores its value in determining who might fail and who may go on to succeed in small business.

The Last Word on Key Characteristics of Small Business Owners

There are many obstacles to overcome when being a small business owner.  And it is an indisputable truth that not everyone is cut out to thrive as a business owner.  Becoming a successful entrepreneur can seem like an arduous uphill battle. However, by being fully aware of your own limitations is a great start.  Also, maximizing your innate strengths to your benefit, can help you overcome a myriad of barriers.  Small business owners that some challenges are necessary.  Occasional failures can suppress your growth potential. Making adjustments and being willing to start over is a key characteristic of successful business owners. Also recognizing those hidden talents already present within yourself is crucial.  Endeavor and be persistent and you may very well become the next small business success story.

The post Four Successful Characteristics of Small Business Owners appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What’s the best way to start? Where should you put your state? If you want to create a full-stack application, what are some of the better backend options out there for storing data and running an API server with the help of react development services?

This article aims to provide some tips for helping you develop your very first React app. We’ll be covering how to get started with creating a new project, how to set up your file structure, and more. Let’s dive right in!

What is React?

React is an open-source JavaScript library that provides a user interface component framework for building web and mobile apps. React is perfect for developers who want to create rich, interactive UIs on the Web.

Companies That Use React

• Bloomberg
• Airbnb
• Discord
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Uber Eats
• Skype
• Pinterest

Familiarize Yourself in React Patterns

The best patterns are always in style. Check out the ever-growing list of React projects from this React Patterns page.

Install Create React App

We enter the terminal/command line on our PC and then use the npx tool to set up and then utilize the Create React App. The latter allows you to utilize the create-react-app package without setting it up on your computer and assures that you are using the most recent version of Create React App.

So, in your terminal/command line, type the following code to start Create React App:

• npx create-react-app awesome-react-app

You will complete the first step when the aptly named «awesome-react-app» folder appears with all the packages.

Review Your Project Structure Thoroughly

Let’s have a look at the components that make up awesome-react-app.

• Node modules is a folder that contains all of the dependency-related code that Create React App has installed. Leave it alone and ignore this folder.
• The package.json file is “The Heart” of any Node.js project. It takes care of all the dependencies in the node module directory, as well as the scripts required to execute your fantastic app.
• README.md is a Markdown language file that offers many valuable suggestions and links for learning Create React App.
• In excluding files and folders from Git tracking, you’ll require the .gitignore file.
• All of your React App’s static assets, such as svgs, photos, and fonts, are stored in the public folder.
• Lastly, there’s the src folder. This one is crucial because it includes all of our app’s source code. It’s where you spend most of your time when working on a React App.

Run Your Project in the Code Editor

Use the following command to run your project:

• npm start

This command will start a new tab with your app on localhost:3000 in the computer’s browser window.

You can change and modify the code to match the needs and purpose of your project. You can edit the p and a tags, renaming some of them, adding an h1 element.

Press control/command+S on your keyboard to see the changes you just made.

Use React Testing Library To Run Test

The React Testing Library is a built-in testing device in the Create React App tool that you can use with the following command:

• npm run test

However, if you run the test now, it would fail due to the modifications developed in the previous step. The most notable is the absence of a link element, which was replaced with a title element.

Changing Your App’s Metadata

The package ReactDOM displays the app by connecting it to an Html tag with a ‘root’ id value, which is how React Apps work. You can locate this element in the public/index.html file.

Why change your metadata? You’re effectively informing search engines and interested parties about your app by modifying it in the head tags.

Work on Your Assets…Like Images

Your project may have some assets, and we’re betting on images. As a result, you must check inside the App component to operate with them.

Installing Dependencies

Install the axios dependency immediately so you can send requests to obtain the posts in your illustratory post-sharing React App. You’ll use the following command to accomplish this:

• npm install axios

Second, you’ll place it in the app’s node module directory just after installation is done. After that, you’ll go over all of the dependencies that are directly included within your app’s package.json file to verify that the axios dependency is put to the relevant section.

Components

You don’t need to code all of your code in the App component because you can develop a separate component that can retrieve and show the data you need at any particular time.

You can create this component under the Posts name in the src folder, and the Posts.js file will be placed within it.

Style Your App with CSS

The app’s style and design are crucial. As a result, the Create React App includes pre-installed CSS compatibility is beneficial. However, you are more than free to modify it in the App.css file located in src.

In general, the index.css file is where you can style the app. You can add additional properties from there.

Publishing Your First Ever App

This phase is fun and straightforward because all you need to do now is construct our React App so that its size does not hinder its performance.

You can run your built React app using the serve npm package.

This command will launch your React App, which is available to use or publish on the internet or through deployment services. And that completes the process of building a web app from the ground up, which, as you can see, is not intrinsically difficult.

Conclusion

Publishing and creating your first React app doesn’t need to be that hard. With practice, patience, and eagerness to learn, you can quickly build your first app from scratch without hesitation.

The post The Ultimate Tips to Building Your Very First React App appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Changes spurred by new technologies, such as improved customer experience and more revenue, are of interest to everyone. We facilitate rapid expansion by adapting our company to meet the current demands and expectations of customers. If you don’t adjust to the changing times, you risk losing clients to the competition.

Although enterprise-level organizations are at the forefront of technology adoption and spend heavily in its acquisition, small businesses benefit by investing their limited resources in marketing.

Technology plays a critical role in increasing operational efficiency. Given how things have evolved in recent years, the following technological trends may be able to assist you in improving the experience of both your staff and consumers.

Put Up Signposts Along the Internet

Digital signage entails displaying marketing messages for your company on display technologies such as LCD monitors, video walls, and projections. It’s one of the most efficient ways to publicize your small company.

The interactive LOOK DS infrastructure is appealing and has a significant impact on a customer’s decision. Digital signage enables you to communicate with customers in addition to promoting your business actively. We accomplish this by including some well-known and inspiring phrases on your display.

Using digital signage to promote your company can save you money on conventional marketing initiatives while increasing impulsive purchases.

“AI” Stands for Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a method of simulating human mental capacities such as decision-making and problem-solving via computer systems. AI can help your small company become more productive and efficient.

Of course, machines, in contrast to human beings, work quickly and consistently generate high-quality output.

AI helps your employees to concentrate on higher-level activities. Automated systems handle repetitive duties. AI also saves you a lot of time and allows you to complete your tasks more quickly. Because you’re using less human fallible labor, your operations will be of higher quality and have fewer faults.

Marketing via Influencers

Influencer marketing is a sort of social media marketing that utilizes large-scale platforms to promote and mention your items to their audiences. Social media influencers often establish trust with their following, making it simpler for them to recommend your business. Influencer marketing is a good option for small companies to expand their brand on a tight budget.

Use influencer marketing alone or in conjunction with other marketing strategies. Its cost-effectiveness makes it a preferable option for small enterprises. The size of your audience and the topic you’re targeting determines the price you pay.

Shopping with the Help of Technology

Customer expectations have changed as a result of technological improvements, with the majority of consumers preferring speed and ease.

Consumers may buy a product or arrange a service from the comfort of their own homes when they shop online. The majority of individuals choose to get their goods online rather than wait in huge lines at shopping malls. This saves time while also enhancing client satisfaction.

In today’s world, mobile payments are frequently employed by both small and big organizations. As a result of lockdowns and COVID-19 measures in most states, this has grown increasingly common. Using online purchasing and payment to grow your company is a smart move.

Automation

The word “automation” refers to a variety of technological applications that eliminate human involvement. Employees at small firms and companies spend a lot of time on basic, low-level yet necessary jobs. Customer experience, data entry, and appointment scheduling are examples of these tasks, which vary based on the type of your organization.

Although these duties have a big impact on how the firm operates, they may be time-consuming and labor-intensive in the long term. However, with today’s automation systems and solutions, you can save expenses, enhance production, save time, and improve the efficiency of your small company.

It’s essential to take advantage of existing technologies improvements for your small business’s growth and profitability. You can take your small company to new heights with the correct techniques, including digital signage technology. You may employ systems, applications, and programs to affect your rankings and total visibility, depending on the type of your firm. Using the techniques above in your organization will result in a shift in your daily operations.

Accounting Technologies

We all know that CPAs are expensive. Even if they’re automated, nothing more than an app and an algorithm! And yet, you must keep your finances in order.

This is one area where small businesses must bite the bullet. You get what you pay for. So invest in your accounting services, whatever route you choose.

The post New Technologies for Small Business appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Before accepting cryptocurrencies, there are some major concerns, both technological and pragmatic. Do small companies need cryptocurrency? According to Business News Daily, certain blockchain companies are seeking to advance the area.

What is Bitcoin?

Cryptocurrency uses peer-to-peer (P2P) technology. This means that it is decentralized. It is also unregulated. As a result, it’s unbacked. Buyers pay merchants directly, without a middleman.

Cryptocurrencies take away the middlemen said Chris Poelma, a small business person who has started accepting some crypto payments. Rather than relying on a company to protect your funds, you keep them encrypted, and only you have the key.

As we learn more about data breaches and clever hackers, cryptocurrencies seem more enticing to customers seeking a safer method to transact. Small companies may opt to take cryptocurrency for a variety of reasons, including keeping up with technology, recruiting crypto clients, and reducing fraud.

Is it suitable for your company?

Advantages of Cryptocurrency

For small enterprises, cryptocurrency provides significant advantages over conventional point-of-sale systems.

Fee Reductions

The absence of a central middleman minimizes transaction costs. Small companies that accept credit cards frequently pay roughly 25 cents for each swipe plus 2 to 4 percent of the overall transaction. Smaller establishments typically set credit card purchase minimums due to these fees.

Trader Defense

Because of this, businesses enjoy protection against fraudulent chargebacks. No third party may overturn charges. Thus they are final. Business owners don’t need to dig through credit card receipt signatures to avoid chargeback fraud.

Sales Growth

The decentralized structure of crypto allows small firms to grow and reach new worldwide markets. Using Bitcoin, a tiny electronics merchant sold $300,000 worth of goods to over 40 nations.

Adaptable to Customer Tastes

Accepting Bitcoin gives clients more ways to pay while protecting their data.

Obstacles and Risks of Adopting Bitcoin

Acquiring a digital wallet on a cryptocurrency exchange may be difficult for small company owners inexperienced with the technology. Cryptocurrency is a complex industry with a steep learning curve, challenging to navigate while running a company.

Small firms, in particular, would find it difficult to accept cryptocurrencies. Even without technological issues, the volatility of crypto prices discourages businesses from holding digital currency.

Optherium, which will start its ICO in June, has already constructed a platform to address these issues. The Optherium B2C platform allows customers to pay in Bitcoin while merchants may accept any money, digital or fiat. The Optherium B2C platform lets buyers pay in whatever currency they desire, and sellers accept any.

They will initially offer 50 cryptocurrencies and a broad range of fiat currencies, completing 100,000 transactions every second. Optherium has its token, although it isn’t required to utilize it. Instead, holders of Optherium’s own coin will benefit from even cheaper platform costs.

Volatility of Bitcoin

The most volatile aspect of digital currency is price volatility.

For example, Bitcoin stood at $19,172 per coin in December 2017, up from pennies in 2009. You’ll need to arrange for the conversion of your bitcoin back into your official currency, said Areiel Wolanow, managing director of Finserv Experts. Cryptocurrencies are volatile, so do this fast and often.

Using a merchant service provider such as BitPay or Coinbase protects small companies from the volatility of the digital currency. These platforms allow users to pay in real-time for cryptocurrencies.

Keeping cryptocurrencies as a speculative investment is the sole justification, according to Wolanow, but it’s practically gambling with your earnings.

Cryptography Safety

While bitcoin transactions remove dangers like stolen credit card data, they aren’t entirely secure. There is currently no method to entirely protect consumers’ funds from fraudsters.

Cryptocurrencies, unlike fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar and the Euro, are not backed or guaranteed. But some Bitcoin startups want to alter that.

Coinbase, for example, retains less than 2% of users’ digital money online and completely guarantees losses. Like regular banks, the FDIC insures Coinbase’s fiat currency up to $250,000. It’s still your job to safeguard your account. However, you can rest easy. If someone hacks your firm, all is not lost. Assets are protected. You can protect your accounts by enabling multifactor authentication, safeguarding your secret keys, and frequently backing up your data.

Companies are also working on wallet security solutions. According to Beck, Optherium uses biometric verification to identify users based on face anatomy, making it difficult for thieves to take someone’s assets. This strategy also helps users recover lost wallet access.

Uncertainty in the Market

Accepting cryptocurrencies also poses the risk of legislative changes shortly. Regulators are still working on it.

Regulations will undoubtedly alter once in place, so company owners must be agile. Because cryptocurrencies are new, it’s unclear how the government will regulate them, Poelma added. New rules may be in effect by the time you read this!

To be broadly recognized, firms must be assured they understand how to declare profits and pay taxes on bitcoin transactions.

The post Bitcoin: What Small Businesses Need to Know appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Travel, eating, and entertainment businesses have all been negatively affected by the pandemic. And there is plenty of negative reinforcement from social media platforms such as TikTok.

Other areas, such as small business technology, have had to deal with lockdowns and work-from-home rules. Meanwhile, a lot of people want to learn online.

But, in the New Year, will these trends continue?

According to the SBA’s latest small business profile, the U.S. has approximately 31.7 million firms employing 60.6 million people. More firms are employing in 2022, despite the COVID-19 epidemic decimating small enterprises throughout the nation. The unemployment rate has consistently declined from 13% in the second quarter of 2020 to 5.2 percent presently.

We don’t have a crystal ball to predict the future, but we know which companies individuals will start. So which U.S. small enterprises will thrive in the future? Listed below are the top five business and industry trends for 2022.

Popular Markets Post-Pandemic

A year of lockdowns, distant schooling, and remote work has sparked demand for travel, eating, and entertainment. Vaccines, better medical treatments, a greater knowledge of the coronavirus, or simply population exhaustion have boosted demand for companies and services damaged worst by the epidemic.

The possibility to plan trips, dine out, and seek amusement beyond television programs and movies streamed from home arose naturally once the light at the end of the tunnel was seen. As a result, in the future, the following top 10 small business sectors will experience revenue growth:

• International Airlines 61.3%
• Motels and Hotels 57.8%
• Casino Hotels: 57%
• Cinemas: 56.3%
• Operators: 53.3%
• Aer Lingus 50%
• Travel Agencies: 48%
• Concert and Event Marketing: 45.2%
• Taxi and Limousine: 42.8%
• Water Parks: 42.1%

It’s apparent that the firms hit the hardest by the epidemic are ready to bounce back.

While the percentage increases indicated above are temporary, they represent the reality confronting this industry and enterprises. Ski resorts, car engine and parts manufacturing, medicinal and recreational marijuana, and real estate sales and brokerage were among the enterprises that enjoyed considerable growth.

Also, CNBC just revealed their ranking of the top states for business. The ranking of states takes into consideration factors including infrastructure, workforce, capital availability, and business costs. Among the best states for business, CNBC lists:

• Virginia
• North Carolina
• Utah
• Texas
• Tennessee

Business Ideas, Trends, and Predictions for the New Year

Now that we know what worked in 2020, we can plan for next year. What will be the top five industries in the U.S. in 2022? Where should you focus your business?

Adoption of New Technologies

Who hasn’t utilized Zoom, GoToMeeting, or Microsoft Teams this past year? As a result, new technology has entered millions of homes and companies for work, education, or to keep connected, and the advances are set to continue.

The genie is out. The horse is out of the barn. (Or is the toothpaste gone?) Therefore, people will constantly want faster data and network speeds. Similarly, we will need it to fulfill rising demand, and now is the time to join this digital boom. Some of the top tech occupations in 2022 include:

Web Admins

This position builds the code that powers millions of websites that power global eCommerce. In other words, a web developer’s function might range from client-facing work on-site design and features to back-end work with databases and networks.

Developers

A software developer creates computer programs and millions of mobile applications. Mobile app developers are showing the fastest-growing occupations, with a predicted 22% increase over the next decade.

Analysts (CS)

Computers, processes, and procedures are the emphasis of this function. Accordingly, they depend on IT to handle client demands and guarantee a company’s digital needs are satisfied.

IT Security Analysts

These people defend enterprises against cyberattacks. Above all, they safeguard and monitor a company’s computer network.

Data Managers

This employee organizes data. They ensure database information is safe and efficient.

AI and ML Growth

Smartphones and other smart gadgets are one example of how AI is influencing our lives. Smart automobiles will navigate the streets using AI systems. Whether you work in customer service, human resources, or even AI-powered applications, AI is meant to help. Among the new roles AI will perform in 2022 are:

• Cybersecurity
• Trends and Business Forecasting
• Healthcare Help Desk (Chatbots)
• Voice Recognition and Search

Entrepreneurs want location independence as digital nomads. As a result, working as a digital nomad was a rising trend in 2019 and will continue in 2022.

According to the Harvard Business Review, there will be 10.9 million digital nomads by 2020. This is a 49% increase and is anticipated higher growth.

Similarly, many businesses, particularly millennials, value flexibility, and geographical freedom. That is to say, these digital nomad enterprises are ideal for knowledge jobs like consulting and freelancing.

As the world shifts away from office occupations, new technological tools such as productivity applications, collaboration software, and communication channels allow knowledge workers to work almost anywhere.

Digital Nomads May Run Numerous Sorts of Businesses

Freelance in coding, programming, writing, graphic design, marketing, and other fields. Likewise, provide personalized knowledge and assistance in areas of extensive experience and understanding. For example, make money from a website or blog through affiliate marketing or advertising. Sell an information product like a course or an ebook using a well-known site like Fiverr, TaskRabbit, Upwork, or Toptal. In conclusion, there literally are no limits as you move into the New Year.

The post 5 Growth Business Trends of the New Year appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Automation trends look to be set to continue well into the New Year. Are you doubtful about the need to automate? Many (most?) of your competitors have already automated most repetitive operations.

What’s holding you back? You need to free up your staff’s time so they can use their unique abilities 24/7, not waste time on pencil sharpening. In the New Year, these are five things that every small firm should consider automating.

1. Scheduling of social media posts.

Today, social media is one of the most effective marketing platforms for businesses. Social media marketing, according to 73 percent of marketers, is an efficient strategy to raise brand recognition, create leads, and automate sales.

However, providing information on a regular basis is an important aspect of effective social media marketing. Posting multiple times each week is the most successful social media routine. If your company has a presence on two or three social media sites, keeping a regular posting schedule will take a significant amount of time and work.

Fortunately, there are certain websites that may assist you in automating this whole process. You can plan articles in advance and manage several social media platforms using tools like Hootsuite and Buffer. Your social networking process will be considerably easier and more comfortable this way.

2. Automate to provide excellent customer service.

There will always be a need for human customer service. However, small firms now have access to technologies that can largely automate basic kinds of customer support.

For example, AI-powered chatbots may serve as a front-line customer care resource by giving basic help and answers to your customers. CRM automation may also help your customer care representatives perform more efficiently and less laboriously. Modern CRM systems make basic customer support operations like ticket creation, quotation management, and account administration very simple to automate.

You may free up your reps for more critical work that demands human decision-making abilities by automating these easy procedures.

3. Routine information technology tasks.

Almost every firm nowadays needs some kind of IT assistance. However, the days of needing to have a crew of computer specialists on hand to handle every area of your IT administration are over. Typically, one person can handle all the work.

Many companies outsource the entirety of their IT needs. Workload solutions allow IT to automate operations such as troubleshooting, resource monitoring, and job scheduling. Task automation technologies work well in small business environments. This wasn’t always the case, but today IT and AI combine to offer user-friendly software.

It’s vital to remember that, like customer service, automated IT technologies should assist rather than replace human personnel.

These technologies may assist your team in working more effectively while also lowering the danger of human mistakes. Nonetheless, we will always require human IT specialists to deploy and monitor automated technologies. Workload automation software increases efficiency. It also lowers costs when you have a well-trained team.

4. Ramp up your email promotion.

One of the simplest and most valuable company procedures to automate is email marketing.

Writing many emails and then setting the parameters under which they will be delivered is the process of automating email marketing. The most simple example is the almost ubiquitous welcome email you get when you register for a new account on a website. Automated email alerts customers to upcoming sales. It collects feedback from consumers. And there are apps that allow you to re-engage with former customers.

While it may seem too easy, email marketing will be effective. This is particularly true when we tailor a customer’s emails to his or her individual use of your website. Sending a reminder to a consumer about an item they looked at, for example, might encourage them to purchase.

Emails based on on-site activity have been shown to raise income by 38%, making them one of the most successful methods to increase sales.

5. Automate your invoicing.

You may charge clients for purchases using automated billing instead of manually producing and mailing invoices. This is particularly useful for payments that are made on a regular basis.

It may, however, be used to charge clients for one-time transactions using payment information that your firm already has on file.

The benefits of automating your company’s billing process grow exponentially. First and foremost, it lowers the likelihood of your consumers being charged the incorrect amount. It will also result in a more consistent payment schedule for both you and your clients, which will be more convenient for both of you.

Finally, freeing up members of your team to focus on other essential initiatives by avoiding the time-consuming task of manually preparing invoices.

While automated designs may assist many other aspects of a company, these five are the most crucial for the majority of small firms. In an increasingly saturated internet marketing industry, automation may help your firm remain competitive and function more effectively.

Grab automation in the New Year. You’ll be able to avoid time-consuming, repetitive duties and concentrate on initiatives that will help your company expand.

The post Don’t Be Content to Merely Survive. Automate in the New Year to Prosper. appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Secure Package Delivery

If you’ve ever lived in an apartment or multi-family rental unit, you know the stress of receiving packages. Either you risk the packages getting stolen by people walking by, or you have to schedule time to go to the Post Office or UPS or FedEx location. With electronic parcel lockers, you’ll be able to offer a better experience for the people who rent with you. Instead of being delivered directly to the door, setup parcel lockers in a secure, centralized location. Once the resident’s package is delivered, they will receive notification and can retrieve their things from the locker. This differs from traditional systems which rely on keys and a lot of manual input. It’s also an excellent way to offer contactless delivery for those who want it.

Online Bill Pay

Writing a check is so 1990. To make it easier on you and your residents at your rental properties, offer them online bill pay. Sure, the system will take a fee, but it’ll make the renter experience more enjoyable and keep them happier longer. The less stress they experience renting with you, the more likely they are to stay renting with you. Additionally, you can offer autopay options and even offer a tiny discount for those who set up and use this feature. Online bill pay is one easy piece of technology to improve your rental properties.

Offer Surveillance in Public Spaces

Want to help keep residents safe in your multi unit rentals? Offer them video surveillance. These videos can help deter criminals and offer corroboration for disputes and fights that happen in public. You’d be amazed at how he said versus she said the issue can be easily settled using video footage. It’s best to also disclose the use of video surveillance to your residents before they move in so that they can be fully informed.

Keyless Entry

Wouldn’t it be great to never lose a key again? Keyless entry options have come a long way. There are technologies that offer everything from swiping a card, to using biometrics, to scanning a QR code from your phone. Incorporating these technological advances in your rental properties can not only make it a better experience, but it can also improve safety and security as well. Residents won’t need to worry if they lose their key or leave it in the door overnight. Instead, they can use a personalized code or their phones to enter the building and their unit. No more late night lock-out calls to respond to. This can save you time and money.

Smart Thermostats

Users get full control of their utilities using smart thermostats. With multiple different options to set manually, you can also adjust remotely. It’s estimated that a smart thermostat can save people 10-30% a year on heating and cooling costs. The apps that come with these thermostats are easy to use and they make it simple to make changes. Additionally, they track the weather and will notify you if there is a storm coming.

Tech-based Climate Sensors

As a rental property owner, you are responsible to install fire alarms, CO2 sensors, and other devices to ensure the safety of your residents. Use smart sensors for all of these and manage safety all in one place. You can also install monitors to sense water leaks and freezing before either of these causes major damage to your property. These advanced sensors provide additional information including how often they are going off, what the levels are and more. Instead of just beeping at you in the building, you can view this information in the app.

Motion Lights

If you rent out houses, having motion sensor lights can provide safety for your tenants. People love being able to go outside in the dark and not worry if there is anyone or any animal trying to sneak up on them. These simple, but helpful devices also reduce the cost of insurance and can protect renters from injuries that happen when they go out in poorly lit environments. Motion lights can also be timed and controlled through apps and smart devices.

Security Systems

Security technology has come a long way in the past 20 years. Older systems were bulky and needed a phone line to notify law enforcement that there was a break in. These systems couldn’t be turned off remotely. Advanced technology has enabled intuitive security systems that help you monitor things when you’re not around. If the alarm goes off, you can talk through the device remotely.

Some systems allow you to see what’s going on. If a teen came home and forgot the code, they are no longer at risk of getting the cops sent out if you can turn it off remotely for them. These features make security systems an appealing feature of a rental property. In addition, it can reduce the cost of your insurance and add more value to your property. Meaning you can charge higher rental rates.

Conclusion

Incorporating technology into your rentals is a great way to reduce insurance costs, improve time management, and create a safer place for your tenants. With the right devices, you’ll make it easier for tenants to get packages, get into their home, keep themselves safe at night, and give them ways to monitor their environment. All these improvements not only make the property more welcoming, but it can also boost the rental rates you can charge. By offering these premium smart technology devices, you’ll help create excited and happy tenants who rent with you long-term. 

The post Leverage Technology to Improve Your Rental Properties appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

If you’ve been considering a printer repair service, you’ll want to look for one that offers fast, courteous, and professional support across the country. Let’s look at the five top reasons why small business owners are choosing to get managed print services and leave the tough stuff to the experts.

Printers Are Complex

You might have one model in one shop and another in a different location. Perhaps you’ve got a Canon, HP, Lexmark, Dell, Brother, Samsung, Sharp, or Xerox printer that you and your team rely on. 

It may be that in the past, one member of your team was the go-to person for all things related to the printer. But what happens when this person moves to another location or gets another job?

Your entire team and customer service operations will falter. It’s a whole lot easier to fix a problem before it occurs. Printers are complex, complicated, and have become increasingly intricate. Why not leave the headaches to a team of experts?

Installation Is Time Consuming

Do you want to spend your weekend setting up a printer, reading an instruction manual in 8-point font, or sweating bullets about installation? Of course not! You’d rather be planning a family outing, checking in with friends, and having a well-deserved moment putting your feet up.

Your time is valuable. As a small business owner, you deserve to have a relaxing weekend to regain your strength, restore your energy, and practice some self-care. Especially during the holiday season, it’s important to find ways to restore and rejuvenate. Installing a printer under a deadline is not really on your Holiday Wish List.

Printer Outages Are Costly

If the printer goes down, everything comes to a crashing halt. That’s why you want to have a team of trained technicians across North America to help you. You want to get rapid response times and first-time fix rates. 

Many small businesses look for printer services that offer double-digit first-time fix rates. Getting your printer up and running is the key to having happy teams, happy customers, and a healthy bottom line. 

Printers Need Regular Service

It’s not as if a printer needs to get serviced once and that will last for a lifetime. If you’re looking at the big picture, you know that it helps to create annual service agreements. This can make it easier to get valuable discounts on per-call repairs, blocks of time discounts, and participation in managed print service programs. 

Small business owners know that national warehouses can make it easier and faster to get maintenance kits and repair parts. If you’re looking for rapid response for emergency, preventative, and routine services, seek out a service provider that matches these requirements.

Printers Need To Be Kept Up To Date Across All Locations

New technology is always changing and evolving. It’s essential to manage your printers just as you would manage a project. The industry term for this is IMAC, standing for Install, Move, Add, and Change. If your business is across multiple locations, it’s especially important to keep your printers up to date. 

You may need to offer certified training to staff so that all team members know how to operate new equipment. Look for a service provider who can offer this level of care, and make sure that your technology or your teams’ skills never becomes obsolete. Small business owners are relying more than ever on safety, security, and service. 

It’s no longer viable to just wing it or manage with yesterday’s printing methods. To compete in a competitive market, savvy business professionals are looking for ways to gain an advantage. As business owners, we’re all looking at trends that change how things are done. Many organizations have evolved into some hybrid forms of work, with some work-from-home days and some in-office arrangements. 

This requires an increased level of flexibility, security, and training. To manage these rapidly changing needs, it’s important to work with a print services provider who can offer experience in data protection, compliance, threat management—as well as functional service. 

Working with a vendor who understands the complex and changing needs of your business will reduce the stress of having a high-functioning team across all locations. Are you ready to have a new year with less stress and higher profits? This could be a critical component of what makes your vision come true.

The post Five Reasons Why Printer Services Are Ideal For Small Businesses appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

After the last year, more small and medium business owners are realizing that having Managed IT is a way to remove unnecessary headaches, sleepless nights, and lost weekends. Savvy small business owners know that they need to use technology to grow. 

Switching to a managed service comes down to three core benefits: reduce complexity, boost efficiency, and trim costs. Let’s explore each one and see how this may help you.

Reduce Complexity

Don’t you have enough to do with managing your business, creating innovative strategies, building strong teams, and delivering exceptional customer service? Do you need to spend your spare hours reading a tech manual or learning about network monitoring? 

If you’re in a service business and relying on a physical location, you already have your hands full and your hours accounted for. You know that every minute you’re spending on technical services is time away from the people-centric activities that make your business succeed.

But it doesn’t change the fact that you need to be up to date and at optimal functioning to keep your business state of the art. Reducing complexity is a daily mantra for every small business owner. Especially during the holidays, reducing complexity is the key to coping with stress, pressure, and longer hours. 

Here are four essentials that are likely to elicit a sigh of relief:

• A 24/7 Help Desk so that every request for help gets a rapid response.
• Remote Network monitoring so you know everything is functioning perfectly around the clock.
• Remote and on-site support to solve issues quickly and efficiently.
• Routine maintenance to make sure technology is up-to-date, secure, and backed up.

If you’ve been struggling to do these basics on your own, with the help of your family and friends, or leaning on a small internal team of tech wizards—you are in for a treat. 

Boost Efficiency

The benefits of managed IT services can go way beyond these critical essentials. It can provide you with peace of mind, improved efficiency, and increased customer satisfaction. If you’re growing into new lines of business or new geographic areas, managed services are the key to unlocking unrestricted expansion. 

You can reduce stress and improve employee morale when you let an outside IT managed services team take the load off of your internal team. You’ll provide your staff with access to expert support, and remove the burden of preventative maintenance. Ask your staff for their input…you’ll find that they are more than happy to let experts do the heavy lifting.

Trim Costs

If you’re a small business owner, you may have been holding back for one big reason: the cost. This reason seems valid until you examine it more closely. It turns out it can be much more expensive to train and support an in-house IT team. You could be looking at thousands of dollars, depending on the size and scope of your operations. 

Alternatively, managed IT services tend to run from $100 to $150 per person per month. This could average out to much less money than you have been spending. Money and time are the ultimate levers of success in a small business, but you still need to factor in the unknowable elements. 

For instance, what is the cost of a technology glitch? What will it cost you in sales, service, or customer loyalty? Ultimately, you’ll save a lot more money by preventing costly downtime or recovery time.

Finding The Best Fit for Your Business

How can you find the best-managed service provider for your business? Start with a core list of your values and needs. Four essentials for selecting a provider you can work with over the long-term include:

• Communication skills. You want to know that your needs, wants, and issues are being heard and given top priority.
• Expert skills. Technical expertise and insights into industry trends will keep your company positioned for success.
• Collaboration skills. Partnering together will help you innovate for current needs and anticipate future developments to stay ahead of your competition.
• Agile skills. Adapting and staying flexible will help you and your IT partner start, learn, and grow without limiting you to a fixed obligation or operation.

As you explore the next steps in managed IT, keep an open mind and discuss options. You may find that a dedicated team helps you to reduce stress and grow your business.

The post Three Benefits of Using Managed IT in Your Small Business appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

VAT Recovery

It’ll take an experienced and qualified professional to ensure that your company receives all of the recoverable Value Added Taxes you’re due. When employees without experience in international VAT recovery manage that aspect of your business, they will surely make mistakes. This issue can end in taxes not being recouped. That means a loss of money for the company.

Best Deals

It’s always a promising idea to try to get a better deal on whatever you pay for to save your business money. This deal search includes website hosting, catering services, software, and anything else you buy. Nevertheless, negotiation can be a form of art. If you aren’t familiar with it, begin slowly, and learn from those who have a lot of experience. 

Fewer Meetings

Meetings can waste both time and money for any company. If you read the Harvard Business Review, you’ll see that there can be problems when meetings get scheduled and held without regard to their impact on both solo and group work time. However, when done right, they can move projects along and be helpful to the growth of the business. When done poorly, they can hinder the business. Try reducing the number of meeting participants to the bare minimum if you want to keep things productive and save your business money.

Remote Work

A workforce that’s able to work remotely has many benefits to offer. First of all, employees choose to work from home more often because it provides an improved balance with their home life. Also, it gives way for you to save your business money because the workforce is more flexible. You might even be able to see lower costs for your office space.

Take the Lead

One fantastic way to save your business some cash is by taking the lead and setting an example for your employees. If you’re lax with your expenditures, your employees will be too. Keep in mind that social influence is a tool that’s quite powerful.

Marketing

It can be rather expensive to run ads in print and on TV. Instead, turn to lower-cost methods of marketing to save your business money. The various forms of digital marketing, when compared to marketing on TV, are more cost-effective and can provide payoffs that might surprise you. For example, if you effectively market on social media for only about 6 hours each week, the cost is zero (for sites like Twitter and Facebook), and you’ll reap the rewards of a lot more business.

Understand the Clientele

If you don’t have a good understanding of who your customer is and what they need from you, you can end up wasting money at each level of your business. You’ll make products that don’t have value to the customer, and you’ll spend a lot of money marketing to people who aren’t interested in them. Instead, define your target demographic and then integrate the strategy you have for your business to provide people with what they need/want.

Cutting your costs is a critical part of running a business, but don’t just view it as an exercise in cutting expenses – a lot of the ideas you’ve just read about can have other positive sorts of effects. Also, realize that you’re effectively shooting yourself in the foot if you ignore this aspect of the business. 

The post Innovative Ways to Save Your Business Money appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

New business trends are developing as life returns to routine. Recognizing them may help small firms recover their footing. Small company owners must keep abreast of the post-pandemic developments and movements. Listed below are a few ideas.

Developing EQ and Empathy

Transparency and emotional intelligence modeling are crucial. So many surveys say. As a result, empathy is a valuable tool for coping with life and professional issues. Similarly, recognizing emotions or actions and handling them with attention has tremendous value.

Using Social Media Influencers and Technology

Influencer marketing is a trend that small companies should know about. For example, online platforms such as Instagram and TikTok can help small companies express their stories and generate enthusiasm. Influencers, big and small (micro-influencers), provide significance and endorsements to the content.

Adopting Big Biz Systems and Processes

Small firms must adopt large corporate systems and procedures if they want to succeed in the New Year. That is, tiny firms should put up toll-free phones, IVR systems, and automation and organize themselves as if they were much bigger. Success depends on this.

Enhancing Recruiting

With the globe becoming more connected and individuals opting for remote work locations, organizations will be able to hire more widely than in the past. Above all, companies with a defined purpose, values, and standards will be more effective in recruiting top talent in a tight labor market.

Instituting Workplace Values That Put Family First

People have reevaluated their priorities in the previous year or two, leading to the family-first movement. As a result, business leaders must build a people-first environment or risk losing their finest employees. Small company owners must develop a set of workplace principles with their employees and ensure that managers lead by example.

Increasing Business Owner Networking

Don’t miss the “new” New Year trend: networking! Businesses may develop tremendously by interacting with other businesses instead of growing alone. Assemble a team and establish connections that motivate and drive one other’s progress. Do it in return.

Embracing Digital Marketing’s Efficiency

Digital marketing is here to stay for small businesses. Digital marketing may not completely replace in-person profile development. However, don’t overlook its cost- and time-saving benefits. Use such advantages to reach a large audience.

 Leveraging Digital and Cloud Tech

Many small companies lack a digital presence. If this describes your company, you can (and should) correct this serious oversight quickly and easily. Likewise, your ability to utilize and harness current digital and cloud technologies, as well as your desire to keep up with your customers’ technologies, will determine your future success. Slack, Teams, and Twitter now. Who knows in three years?

 Boosting Agile Service and Product Delivery

Agile service delivery and product development for customers can help you construct a personal brand with a competitive edge. Create a range of solutions and analyze their influence on various customers to help your small company stand out in any industry.

Prioritizing Employee Coaching and Mentoring

To keep a happy staff and enhance retention, small companies will need to think outside the box. The tendency is to give staff coaching or mentorship, which is significantly more important than a ping-pong table.

Adopting Newer Video Technology

On-demand video will be crucial. In other words, video has become more popular for prospecting, selling, serving, and meeting people globally. Today, video is the new “new” thing, and its popularity will only grow. There are several free platforms.

Building Out Hybrid Office Technology

Employees may pick their best work schedule and whether they work remotely or in person, which is a future trend as security and insecurity are balanced with a healthy home and work environment. Similarly, employers must accept multi-generational personnel with diverse values and life experiences.

Stressing Workplace Mental Health

Mental health in the workplace is important, regardless of the size of the workforce. For example, supply chain constraints, labor shortages, remote work, and the blurring of work-life are increasing employee stress. Above all, changing this tendency will promote engagement, minimize attrition, and raise productivity.

Rethinking Inventory Management Strategy

Supply chain shortages will persist. Raw material and product delivery delays will be longer than projected. Work on this today. Likewise, setting goals and changing your inventory management are crucial. The cost of not having a product is greater. If your firm isn’t directly affected, your consumers are.

Maximum Business Google Usage

This coming year, successful companies will use Google to its utmost. That is, this covers Google My Business, local services, advertisements, and SEO. Accordingly, small company entrepreneurs must learn, use, and comprehend Google lead generation. Try branding yourself. So, create a goal. Master personal and company branding. The corporate brand often hides the owner’s identity, allowing them to avoid being vulnerable and human. Change this now. As an entrepreneur, you can only gain loyalty by being yourself, displaying the human aspect of your company, and promoting you and your staff.

The post Small Business Technology Trends in the New Year appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Change upward will require technology. Using technology strategically will provide you with a competitive advantage.

You don’t have to be a scientist to use technology to expand your business. Just spend less time on useless stuff like TV and more time on things that can help your business. The material in this article is meant to help you start using technology to expand your business.

Here are some strategies to use technology to grow your small business.

1. Communication technology can lend a hand.

Communication is one of the numerous advantages of technology. This perk allows you to communicate more readily with potential clients and partners.

For example, you may utilize top email marketing tools to engage potential customers. There’s no need to go when you can call. Technology improves communication. You may use a video call to see the other person from afar.

2. Use technology to boost marketing.

If handled appropriately, technology may increase your marketing efforts. However, conventional marketing methods will never be as effective as technology-based marketing strategies. Like social media marketing.

A camper repair service, for example, may use a strong social media strategy to quickly contact new consumers and drive them to their website. Even if you lack education or experience, technology can help you write a business strategy. You can construct unique websites utilizing technology-based solutions even if you don’t know anything about web design.

3. Social networking will be useful.

Social networking accelerates business growth. It connects you to so many individuals from your home. Digital marketing is one of the best methods to use social media for business success.

Working with a social media marketing agency allows you to promote your products and services without having to advertise physically. The internet touches almost every country. So anything you share on social media is worldwide. Social media marketing also allows you to select your target demographic.

4. Remote employment saves on resources.

As a small business, you must save time, effort, and money. A remote office is one of the finest methods to do this.

It allows workers to work from home and will enable you to communicate with them without having to meet in person. If an employee is unable to report to your physical office, they can interact with you using remote work tools.

5. Create a website.

You will need a website to promote your services. So, if you want to develop your business faster, get a website.

Building a website is not enough; it must be adaptable and appealing to potential clients. An effective, responsive website will provide your company with a digital presence. It will also provide credible information about your company to anyone seeking it online.

To ensure that your website is both visually appealing and functional, consider partnering with a reputable b2b web design agency that can create a custom website tailored to your business needs and target audience.

6. SEO is your lifeblood.

It’s not enough to develop a website; it must be seen. Increased visibility attracts more customers, resulting in quicker brand growth.

This is only achievable if you optimize your online content for search engines. If you lack the necessary understanding, you may need to engage SEO specialists.

7. Protect your assets.

While technology might help you reach a global audience faster than traditional methods, it also has its drawbacks. For one, your website may be hacked, resulting in data loss or theft, as well as financial damage.

Securing a reliable internet company will help. Create active firewalls for your website and use encrypted passwords.

8. Use cloud storage.

Don’t keep everything on your PC; shift some to the cloud. Cloud storage frees up disk space and might even speed up your machine.

It can also make your data and files available if you need to view them outside of your office or at a remote location. This way, you have all the information you need at your fingertips.

9. Provide better client service.

Technology can help you noticeably improve customer service.

This may be done by offering live chat services where existing and future consumers can speak with you and receive rapid responses. You may also provide toll-free calling so that your customers don’t have to pay.

10. Automate mundane duties.

Automating duties can also help your small business. Customer service is one duty that may be automated.

Automated messages can address many of the questions customers ask. You may also schedule social media postings. And therefore focus on other elements of the business.

11. Video marketing always attracts eyeballs.

Another option is video marketing. But make sure the videos you create are linked to your products and services.

Search engines will give your website a higher ranking if you have connected videos. You may also share these films on social media.

Bonus Advice!

Content marketing is a great approach to promote your company online. You can submit SEO-friendly material to major websites like E-zine. You may also develop backlinks to connect with authoritative websites. If this is too technical for you, you can always employ an SEO specialist.

The post Use Technology to Improve Your Small Business appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

In certain sectors, cost reductions are so considerable that the firm can prosper and develop considerably more quickly. A decision to outsource is a great way to boost a company’s profitability. However, not all operations should be outsourced…even if they could be.

How does a corporation assess which jobs and services are the greatest candidates for outsourcing? How does it determine to what degree should outsourcing take place? Members of an entrepreneur council recently discussed the signs they use to figure out the complexities of outsourcing in their own companies.

1. There is a need for innovation.

Due to a shortage of time for invention, this is a common occurrence in most businesses. Everyone recognizes the value of time in the workplace, but if it’s being squandered on mundane tasks, it’s definitely time to reassess your career.

It’s difficult to run a business for a long time without being creative with your services and goods. Entrepreneurship necessitates innovation. If your organization is not prepared for innovation, it will have to deal with sluggish growth or possibly insolvency sooner or later.

As a result, never allow your company’s time to be squandered on menial tasks. Instead, you may just outsource it to a freelancer for a very low price. It would also make your work easier and less stressful.

2. Capacities have reached their maximum.

When a team’s capacities are reaching their limits and initiatives are stalling, it may be time to outsource to keep everyone moving ahead.

To avoid killing morale, it’s critical to be smart in your approach. Before making a final selection, ask your team what their unique needs are and what it would take to achieve their goal in a timely way.

3. There is a lack of capacity to handle specialized tasks.

When it comes to outsourcing routine tasks, there are two guidelines.

The first guideline is that if anything takes too long for our internal staff to do, it’s probably best to outsource it. Especially if it’s something that happens frequently. For example, answering general phone calls could be outsourced to a company that offers inbound call center solutions rather than interrupting staff who are busy on other projects. To expand on that, it’s probably taking too long since the individual doesn’t have the necessary competence or enjoys doing it.

The second guideline is that if something is extremely specialized, it’s better to outsource it to someone who spends their time engaged in that field. Paid advertisements are an excellent example. It’s challenging to remain current on what’s trending if you only do pay advertisements part-time. But if you do it all day, every day, it’s a lot simpler.

Both are valid reasons to outsource the task.

4. There are no benefits to performing the tasks in-house.

It’s never easy to decide whether to outsource or retain something in-house because both have advantages and disadvantages. Examining what competitive benefits you obtain by keeping a non-core service in-house is a smart method to determine if you should outsource it.

You should probably outsource the work if you don’t get an advantage. Take, for example, an accounting business.

The company needs IT to help to keep its systems up and running. However, hiring an in-house IT team will not provide it an advantage over its competitors. It also won’t help professionals accomplish their main tasks more effectively or attract new clients. As a result, for that company, outsourcing the IT department makes sense.

If maintaining a function in-house does not provide a competitive advantage, consider outsourcing it.

5. Excessive scaling.

Fear of failure and the possibility that there may not be enough demand for a product or service is common. This is especially true among new entrepreneurs and enterprises just entering the market.

On the other side, we have another major issue: scaling up too quickly without anticipating that we would not satisfy client demands and will have delays and other problems. This is a strong indicator that you should outsource some of your company’s responsibilities or operations.

You shouldn’t be unhappy because there are additional expenditures; instead, think of them as investments since, in the end, scaling up is what it’s all about. You’ll be able to produce or deliver services on a greater scale to more clients and create more income with a larger crew.

6. There is a misalignment between tasks of skill and needs.

If you require something, but you or your current team lack the necessary resources, it’s recommended to outsource the work or project.

You don’t want to take on a project that you know you won’t be able to finish. If you know you’ll need a lot of help to complete tasks on your own, outsourcing should at least be considered.

7. There are no stable prices.

You will squander resources if you do not conduct a good inventory of how your firm is operating.

As a result, prices will rise, and incomes will fall, producing a vicious spiral. You may discover after reviewing your manufacturing process that you only wish to create specific pieces locally and import the rest. Perhaps you’re looking for Chinese talent since your Google analytics suggest that Beijing has a lot of traffic and potential? Perhaps your product is not taxed in a bordering nation. Regulators equal a crucial component that people sometimes disregard.

You might wish to make your own components at times, and you might want to import them at other times.

8. Missed deadlines.

Evaluate the deadline of your project. You see you’re still behind on your project. You have a few weeks or months left. There is time. You’ll have a higher chance of achieving your deadline if you have more time to focus on the work at hand.

You might want to consider outsourcing some of it. You don’t have to give up the crucial components of your marketing approach, but certain writing jobs, social media management, and even live chat can be outsourced.

If outsourcing proves to be beneficial after the project, you may use it repeatedly to save up additional time in the long run.

The post Time to Outsource Your Work? Here Are 8 Warning Signs. appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Fortunately, this new-normal society ensures enormous earnings from small resources.

With everything going online and technology taking over, there are limitless ways to earn. But becoming an entrepreneur requires foresight. While you’re still thinking out what your small business should be, someone else is already generating money and building an empire.

Small Risk, High Return

Are you looking to establish a business now? Consider the changing standards and technology developments. It will assist you in choosing one that will benefit you long-term.

Listed below are five small business/entrepreneur ideas to start in the New Year.

1. Reseller Hosting

Nowadays, reseller hosting is quite popular.

Reseller hosting operates like a rental business. Instead of owning and renting an online residence, you rent web server storage space. This gives users access to all web server resources needed for a website. In addition, reseller hosting is less expensive than buying straight from the central hosting service.

Owners may make a lot of money if they rent the place for a long time.

A simple technical understanding of website hosting and a budget to acquire a reseller plan from the parent provider allows you to customize those packages and sell them.

The definitive guide should be your first stop for learning how to resell hosting. This type of company has a lot of potential as you can offer it alongside web design, development, SEO, and other online services.

2. NFT Collectibles

NFTs are non-fungible art tokens that may be used as blockchain digital assets. The average monthly sales for NFT’s value was calculated at $336.6 million USD. This shows the NFT industry’s potential.

If you like visuals and crypto, you might like the NFT startup business. You don’t need to be an expert in all graphic design tools to start with creativity and fundamental abilities.

The blockchain allows you to mint any sort of abstract item, GIF, photo, song, sketch, or anything else. To mint art, you must first code it for blockchains. It will prevent anyone from copying your art. The most common cryptocurrency for selling NFTs is Ethereum. However, there are others.

3. Sustainable Products eCommerce Business

Starting an eco-friendly eCommerce business might be a terrific solution for you.

People are becoming more aware of the need to conserve the environment. The sustainable goods industry is expected to hit $150 billion USD by year’s end. You may earn your share by opening a modest online store.

Introduce notebooks, stainless steel water bottles, cloth totes, travel mugs, biodegradable cutlery, bowls, plates, reusable food bags, and other recycled plastic items. You may quickly create an eCommerce website or launch your business on Amazon, Etsy, or eBay.

4. Affiliation

Affiliate marketing is also a terrific way to generate money.

Affiliate marketing is online marketing. It’s simply helping others promote and sell their products or services in exchange for a cut of the revenue. You can utilize blogs, YouTube videos, social media, and an email list.

The most popular choice is blogging, which produces long-term effects. A website is all you need to become an affiliate marketer. After that, join an affiliate network such as Amazon Associates. Then choose a hobby and start writing about it to make money.

In other words, affiliate marketing has a high return on investment and may be done as a side hustle. The nicest part is that it can be automated.

5. Online Coaching

This is the new normal. The e-learning industry is expected to reach $336.98 billion USD by 2026. For instance, if you are brilliant at something and know everything about it, share your expertise…and get money.

Virtual classrooms are possible using Google Meet, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams. Also, you can make money by teaching skills relating to your industry via your YouTube channel.

Providing mini-classes in any profession or industry is always a good trend. You can train people online in any field, from manufacturing to digital marketing. You can be a relationship coach, a financial coach, a health coach, etc.

How does that work? It’s simple.

Most small business owners can access in-house or online classes for themselves and for their employees. The cost is nominal. Even free sometimes.

So do yourself a favor. Look into continuing education for yourself. Also for your staff. It will help you expand your horizons. Similarly, your employees will become more efficient and more valuable. And maybe even a bit grateful.

Don’t hesitate to offer tuition reimbursement. This can be a key to better employees. The more you know, the more you contribute.

The post 5 Small Business Ideas for the New Year appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The Steady Rise of SMBs

In the beginning, there was apparently no such thing as SMBs, an acronym for “small to midsize businesses.” Some said it was a concept only dimly dreamed of by technical advisors, financial finaglers, and wild-eyed college professors.

So what happened? In all likelihood, someone in an MBA program got the bright idea to initialize a concept. They then took that concept to a thesis advisor, at which point the academic world was turned on its ears as the idea became more solidified.

This may sound like a lot of gibberish to those who do not own or operate a small business, but it should still ring true to anyone who has ever attempted to implement an ill-defined goal only to find that castles in the clouds do not translate well to ROI.

No Small Controversy

The whole matter descended into an embarrassing broil of controversy several years ago.

Social media can be thanked for opening up that particular SMBS can of worms. First Facebook and then Twitter began posting content that questioned the authenticity of SMBs. In fact, the whole thrust of this trolling campaign was that the category of “SMBs” as such didn’t exist at all. Amazingly, there are many groups who still believe that today.

So where do SMBs go when they need practical help and support? How can they obtain the advice and counsel they’re looking for to make a decent living?

How Can SMBs Get the Help They Need?

When the pandemic hit small businesses so hard last year, there was a flood of information on how to survive and even thrive during a disaster. Remember Chernobyl? It’s the same principle. For the small business owner, it simply meant keeping your head down and not giving up. This has always been the strength of the modest American business enterpriser.

For starters, SMBs need help in not seeming out of place when someone mentions the most recent craze. (You don’t want to be the one who responds with the statement that your “data fabric” is cotton, do you?)

Gartner has released its list of the 12 most important strategic technology trends for 2022, divided into three categories: growth, change, and trust. Let’s take a look at some of the ones you might want to pay particular attention to. Here are five technological small business trends that will be important in the New Year.

1. TX Stands for “Total Experience” in Business

This merges all of the Xs into one. The customer experience, the staff experience, and the end-user experience are all merged into a single entity. In Total Experience, each experience’s leader is held equally accountable for the demands of both consumers and staff while working together. The goal is to boost consumer and staff confidence, satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy.

2. GAN, a.k.a. Generative Artificial Intelligence

GAN is a machine learning technique that uses machine learning to discover new insights about information or objects without training the model. Additionally, it may generate code, target marketing, identify new goods, and perform other tasks.

3. Hyper-Automation in SMBs

This includes defining tasks that can be computerized and doing them as quickly as feasible, allowing your team to concentrate on more significant challenges or problems you never believed they would be able to handle. According to Gartner, hyper-automation teams should focus on strengthening quality, speeding up decision-making, and objectives for the organization.

4. It’s All About the Data Fabric

The term “fabric” refers to the way we integrate data across platforms and business users. The goal is to make it simple to use the data you already have while also reducing data management requirements.

5. Mesh Network for Cybersecurity

There is no longer such thing as a perimeter, people. Anyone can find your business information anywhere. A cybersecurity mesh architecture, also known as a CSMA, understands this and tries to protect data no matter where it is stored.

Wrapping Up

The list of five above is necessarily incomplete. For example, we could draw at least some attention to the fact that there are other options, such as composable programs and distributed enterprise. Are you interested in learning what they mean for your business? You should be!

Set aside at least an hour or two every business week to study new technologies even if you don’t think they’re immediately applicable to your business. Make notes as you go. You never know when your research might help you gain a competitive edge.

The post Critical Strategic Tech for SMBs in the New Year appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

How Should a Small Business Work With Amazon and eBay?

While these companies will take a portion of what you make, they are a great way to make money and do your best to expand your business. Amazon and eBay offer the ability to sell to people around the country and abroad. Yet, you need to know how to navigate the platforms to get the most out of them. From utilizing sophisticated algorithms to brokering international sales logistics, below are some tips for working with Amazon and eBay as a small business.

Maintain Your Website

While you will utilize the benefits of Amazon and eBay, you should be sure to maintain your website. This is because it should be your long-term goal to increase sales on your own store’s site. Creating a direct-to-consumer business model that keeps your overhead low and your profits higher. You may not be in the position to rely on that just yet, and that’s okay. But while you work with these huge online retail platforms, it’s necessary to maintain your webstore and your presence online.

Expand Online Presence

Even if you have a successful brick-and-mortar business, before you start selling on Amazon and eBay, you should try your best to expand your online presence. There are a variety of ways to do this, and it is essential to try to expand your reach. After you are satisfied with your website and store, you should move on to bolstering your online presence with digital marketing and social media.

Digital marketing provides all kinds of avenues to expand your reach and increase your sales both on your own website and on bigger platforms. First, you should familiarize yourself with search engine optimization, or SEO. This is the concerted effort to make your website and store reach the top of pages on Google and Bing. Using specialized keywords, metadata, hyperlinks, and more, you can make sure that you land higher up on search engines with blogs and other content. 

This alone can generate a lot of revenue, but it also gets the word out. Other ways to promote your business online include:

• Starting an email blast campaign
• Pay-per-click ads
• Video production
• Social media engagement

Social media can provide huge benefits to your online business, both on your own webstore and when you sell on these huge commercial platforms. You should post routinely and come up with a cohesive brand strategy and identity. Paying influencers to promote products is a popular method to get the word out about the brand, a specific product, or service. With a concerted social media strategy, you will be able to expand your online presence and increase sales of your website and in online stores like Amazon.

Be Aware of the Drawbacks

It is difficult to know who takes more fees when you sell on their website. Amazon uses the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) in their calculations, which varies depending on the size of the product. In addition to the FBA, there is a 15 percent commission fee.

On the other hand, eBay has a 35-cent listing fee and a 10 percent fee on the final value. You also must pay a 2.9 percent plus 30-cent processing fee to PayPal. You will also have to pay for the packing and shipping to the customer.

Fees are high for both, but it depends on the size of the product to determine if Amazon or eBay is a better option. In addition to fees, you will have to learn the marketplace and manage your store. When you don’t know how to fix a problem or need to know how to do something in specific, you will have to contact customer support.

International Shipping

Both Amazon and eBay provide the opportunity to sell to customers around the world, but both have their own intricacies. eBay has a larger international market and doesn’t require you to set up multiple accounts. Amazon asks sellers to make separate accounts for the countries they want to sell in, which makes it more work.

Amazon may not help you with the custom issues that arise, prompting your business to seek out the assistance of a private logistics company and importer of record. There are different rules, fees, and regulations for importing different products or selling them to specific countries. If your goal is to ship internationally more effectively, eBay is the better option.

Restrictions

Like international shipping, Amazon has more restrictions and makes you go through more processes than eBay. It should be noted that these stipulations make Amazon a safer marketplace as far as scams go, but if you are already aware that you should receive the money before you send the item you shouldn’t have much to worry about. Still tread lightly and be careful whenever you’re selling on these platforms, especially abroad. Still, eBay is a lot easier to get started on if you are looking to start selling products on these platforms.

It doesn’t matter what business you’re in, if you want to increase online sales using Amazon and eBay can be an effective way to do so. However, you should keep in mind that the goal is always to grow your own marketplace. You don’t want to be bogged down with the fees and regulations forever.

Conclusion

The bigger you get, the more agency you will have to strike deals with packagers and shipping companies. If you have more control, the lower the overhead and the higher the profit. Selling on platforms like Amazon and eBay can be very lucrative, and it can help you get started but it’s always a prudent move to take what you’ve learned and create a bigger business of your own. So, what are you waiting for? It’s time to start making sales online!

The post Working with Amazon and eBay as a Small Business appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Massive 5G Infrastructure Development Trends

Trends may come and go, but solid small business technology is always around. Logistics remain paramount.

It wasn’t all that many years ago that a small enterprise was constantly bedeviled with how and where to file its paperwork. And there was plenty of it. Federal forms. State red tape. Not to mention tax documents! Time cards. Invoices. Shipping manifests. And so on. All this paperwork needed a secure and organized place to be.

Filing clerks ruled their bosses like tyrants. Because if you couldn’t lay your hand on a shipping manifest for a customer, you could lose their business. For good. And the only one who really knew where to find everything was the shipping clerk. If he or she were a good one.

Today? We have the cloud. Where all good little documents and data go. We’re not yet a paperless society. But we’re getting there.

And surprisingly, smaller companies are at the forefront of that because paper costs money. Even the cheapest wood pulp now demands a king’s ransom. So every business person is embracing the cloud. Loving the cloud. Demanding more cloud. And working at better infrastructure to serve the cloud.

Infrastructure Powers Automation, Drones, and Robots

The creators of 5G technology built out the Australian 5G infrastructure even before the outbreak. Verizon announced a large 5G network expansion in October 2020. On the other hand, the same goes for China. Over 380 telecom carriers are investing in 5G, and it is now available in 35 trends countries. But the global market leader is Ericsson.

As another example, Movandi enables long-distance 5G data transport, and Novalume — which helps municipalities manage public lighting and data through a smart city system — are among the promising startups in this field. Nido Robotics, for its part, employs drones to examine the seabed.

Drones may now use 5G to improve navigation and connect to IoT devices. For example, Seadronix uses 5G to power autonomous ships. As a result of this technology, autonomous vessels may travel without human involvement. 5G and 6G will boost smart cities globally and assist the drone business in 2022.

The demand for AI and industrial automation technology will skyrocket in 2022. Labor shortages will worsen even as production and supply return to normal. Automation with AI, robots, and IoT will be the dominant manufacturing management option. Some of the main AI and robotics technology providers include CloudMinds, Bright Machines, Roobo, Vicarious, Preferred Networks, Locus Robotics, Built Robotics, Kindred Systems, and XYZ Robotics (China).

For You: Surround-Reality Will Boom

In 2020, VR and AR were deployed. Today, these technologies pervade many aspects of life, from entertainment to business. Many organizations allow employees to work remotely. AR and VR interact.

Immersive technology allows for a massive revolution in all domains. For example, the use of eye-tracking and facial expression recognition technologies and 5G and broadband internet will become increasingly popular in the New Year. The leaders in AR and VR will include Microsoft, Consagous Inc, Quytech, RealWorld One, Chetu, Gramercy Tech, and others.

Another Emerging Trend: Micromobility

The pandemic delayed the micromobility market at the start of the year, but it picked up speed towards the end.

Electric bikes and scooters are becoming increasingly popular as alternatives to personal and public transportation. The market for private micromobility is predicted to increase by 9%, and the sharing economy by 12%. Major cities have created miles of dedicated cycling routes. The UK government has declared a ban on diesel and gasoline sales after 2030, increasing interest in micromobility.

Startups driving this innovation include Bird, Lime, Dott, Skip, Tier, and Voi. Several Chinese firms have also had great success, including Ofo, Mobike, and Hellobike.

Self-Driving Tech

In 2022, autonomous driving technology will improve significantly.

Honda just announced the mass production of self-driving automobiles. Tesla’s autopilot has learned to identify road signs and traffic signals, as well as govern lane movement and rebuilding. Ford is also in the race, with a self-driving vehicle sharing service expected in 2022.

Customers can expect to buy equipment as early as 2026. Mercedes-Benz, for example, will strive to incorporate autonomous driving technology into new vehicles. GM, too, plans to introduce Super Cruise autopilot to 22 vehicles by 2023. Other businesses, including Lyft and Waymo, are developing self-driving technology to compete. GM invested $1 billion on Cruise, Uber $680 million on Otto, Ford $1 billion on Argo AI, and Intel $15.3 billion on Mobileye.

Looking Forward

While technological advancements will continue in 2022, the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic is sure to shift things during the year. The determinants of technical and business innovation are yet likely to be new behaviors.

The post More Business Tech Trends for the New Year appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

With business flourishing and not enough time in the day to get everything done, every weekday hour is valuable. (Okay, so talking about the newest “Game of Thrones” episode with coworkers isn’t the worst thing.)

Time To Go Mobile With Your Business!

Keep your business running…anywhere.

Imagine being on your way to a meeting with a possible client but not hearing that the meeting was shifted from the coffee shop to a restaurant across town. You’re not only late for the meeting, but you’ve also wasted time traveling across town, which is plainly counterproductive.

On the other hand, a cloud-based phone system, such as a managed hosted PBX, allows enterprises to simplify workplace communications. Access your office from anywhere with a smartphone. With hosted PBX, you can redirect calls from your office phone to your mobile phone, allowing you to take your office phone with you.

A secure web gateway enhances basic phone capabilities. It allows users to operate and customize their PBX phones to meet their specific needs. This not only improves productivity but also allows clients to reach you wherever you are. Streamlining office communications saves time for small firms with three or more phones, let alone locations.

Save On Internal Resources

Working outside the workplace can boost productivity, but what about inside? It can be difficult for a new company to scare up the funds to hire a full-time receptionist.

When you don’t have people accessible to answer calls, hosted PBX’s integrated auto-attendant function takes over. The system may also be set to welcome callers with personalized messages, such as holiday closings, bad weather alerts, and just about any other message you want them to hear. These capabilities, paired with dependable call forwarding, can help your small business increase efficiency.

Millennials and Your Business

Millennials are often criticized, although they make up almost half of the U.S. workforce. However, these young folks have a lot to give. They tend to be creative, tech-savvy, and driven to succeed. Working with these young people is as simple as allowing them to work from home.

With a hosted PBX, your staff can work from anywhere and produce their best work.

Video conferencing can link you to global business contacts. Face-time is vital. Nearly everyone feels that face-to-face encounters are crucial to doing business.

Sadly, not every meeting can be attended in person. Instead, use video conferencing. There are many apps to pick from when conferencing someone into a meeting or video conferencing many individuals. Video conferencing also allows for computer monitor sharing, adding landline callers, and recording and saving sessions.

Online Sharing Tech

Using remote access technology ensures that everybody in your conference is on the same page.

For example, if you’re doing a PowerPoint presentation, let everyone around the room see it on their personal device. Instead of emailing modifications back and forth, create an editable document that everyone can work on simultaneously. Sharing data has never been easier!

Calling a Meeting

Video contact isn’t always feasible. Phone conferences are another reliable option. Most video conferencing programs allow just audio. We can’t constantly be in front of a computer, so phone conferencing is a great alternative.

Hosted phones make audio conferencing easy. Join a phone conference from anywhere, just like being in the office. Forward all calls to your cell phone for conference calls on the move. Use Office365 integration to obtain everyone’s contact details and arrange calls. You can then put your phone in “Do Not Disturb” mode and invite only those you wish to join the call.

UC Technology

UC tech simply means the “unification” of all “communication” platforms in your company. You might want to easily move between applications and devices with your UC Client. With the UC Client, your employees may work independently while maintaining a single company identity and number.

Most smaller companies can handle the one-time expense of bringing in a communications bundling consultant. This is a much better solution to tying everything together than relying on staff to do it “as best they’re able.” The consultant usually starts by reviewing the current communications infrastructure and technology. Then he or she will test each channel, such as email, phones, and texting, for speed and viability.

It’s surprising how inefficient communications can become, even in a small organization, in just a few years. Even after the installation of the latest technology and software! A bundling expert will be able to quickly point out where faulty communications are slowing down sales and confusing staff.

The post Small Business Tech Tips for Growth appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Sadly, many small enterprises closed due to their inability to modify daily operations in the midst of a pandemic. Likewise, some small-business owners had to establish new businesses or return to “regular jobs” just to survive.

On the other hand, those business executives who survived the Covid-19 pandemic adapted to the new normal in their routine corporate functions.

The universe’s only constant is change. Changing our habits is often necessary to stay up with our fast-paced environment. However, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) who are unwilling to adopt new business practices may collapse.

Today, now more than ever, small enterprises must have a flexible business strategy. As a result, several small firms have embraced the new normal and seized new chances. Additionally, some of these improvements will survive after the epidemic as small businesses have seen the value they provide. In the future, small enterprises will likely see four changes.

1. Business Models: Hybrid

Firstly, the hybrid financial model is a pandemic “early adopter.” It’s a marketing concept that combines classic and non-traditional ways of product sales.

The hybrid business model relies on hardware, software, cloud services, and other newer technology. During the epidemic, increased competition and commoditization forced many small businesses to adopt hybrid and linear business models. As a result, these models may change the game by promoting cooperation, generating leads, opening new revenue streams, and lowering company risk.

Many successful large firms previously used hybrid business models. However, the epidemic spurred many small businesses to see their value. As a result, these models can efficiently satisfy existing client needs and are therefore likely to survive the pandemic.

2. Digital Shift

SMBs have gone digital and sold their goods online. They employed AI-based tools for customer service, digitally tracked client data, took digital payments, and conducted various corporate processes digitally.

In a crisis, technology is the most significant pillar that can keep small enterprises afloat. A corporation with advanced technology can react quickly to new ideas.

The epidemic helped small companies to thrive online and beyond physical boundaries. eCommerce websites and artificial intelligence-based software were not new before the epidemic. Still, the pandemic helped many business executives understand how useful technology can be in running a firm. Digital-first enterprises will endure.

3. Partnerships and Collaborations

Collaboration has greatly aided SMBs in surviving the epidemic. Many small-business entrepreneurs partnered with larger firms to help stabilize the economy.

Partnering with other successful organizations might greatly benefit your venture. Associating with a larger group can help a small firm develop rapidly. It can lead to additional resources, leads, brand visibility, and equity.

The Covid-19 outbreak taught many small businesses the value of partnerships and teamwork. Many organizations opted to work in a less competitive and healthful setting. Collaborating helps SMBs overcome financial issues, save money, and be more innovative.

4. New Business Opportunities Emerge

Every obstacle provides fresh chances. In 2020, entrepreneurs applied for 4.3 million new company identification numbers, a 24% increase over 2019. The epidemic exacerbated unemployment, forcing some people to create their own businesses. It provided them time to consider pursuing their dreams.

Many would-be entrepreneurs have the passion and drive to start a firm but lack the time and resources to do it. The epidemic forced some people to create businesses. Even after the epidemic, more individuals will pursue their own business dreams.

Post-pandemic adjustments allow business leaders and entrepreneurs to generate leads, target a larger audience, and boost brand exposure.

These changes should be implemented immediately if your company hasn’t already. Starting a hybrid business model requires browsing through many models and selecting the one that best matches your company’s activities.

Contact a digital marketing specialist and a web developer to digitally transform your company. Businesses must do their homework to properly adapt. Understand how each of these changes will influence your company, and then act accordingly.

Adopt and Adapt

Despite the hurdles, the pandemic provided valuable lessons for entrepreneurs and small company owners. The epidemic taught all companies one thing: flexibility.

SMBs adapted to the new normal in several ways. Some of these changes were helpful to their development and so may survive the epidemic. These reforms are likely to reinforce the foundations of small enterprises.

In the post-pandemic world of small businesses, more changes are coming. Some of these are going to be federally mandated or state-mandated. It’s all up to our lawmakers. However, small business owners should be proactive. They must look ahead to see what needs to be done, and then do it.

The post Small Business Post-Pandemic Adaptations appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Technology has pervaded nearly every aspect of modern life, altering everything from relationships to how we study to how we purchase. Are you, on the other hand, fully utilizing the potential of emerging technology in your professional life?

Technology may help you save time, energy, and money by simplifying and streamlining numerous business processes. You don’t have to be the CEO of a cutting-edge IT firm to realize gains from these devices. Small firms take advantage of cutting-edge technologies to boost income, too. Tech also increases revenue rates. And it enables more hiring.

Innovative technologies help small businesses thrive, whether it’s a flower shop or hardware store. Niche technologies exist for every type of business. No matter the size.

1. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software

Customers are essential to every form of business success. To create wealth, you must generate leads and turn them into paying customers. A customer relationship management (CRM) technology is typically a cloud-based software that allows you to manage your company’s interactions with new leads and current customers.

A CRM tool can help you increase use, boost lead conversion, and cut marketing expenditures. You may choose from a variety of tools, allowing you to find one that best matches your company’s size and kind. For example, Insightly provides a simplified and user-friendly choice for small enterprises. All-in-one systems such as Salesforce and Zoho are also popular.

2. System for Processing Payments

Across all sectors, payment processing is a key company activity. As a business owner, you want to make it as simple as possible for your consumers to pay in a variety of ways. This saves customers time and money while also boosting your business. If a customer can’t pay using their preferred method, they may look for another option.

With a payment processing system, you may prioritize client convenience by accepting a variety of payment methods, such as online payment gateways — such as PayPal and SecurePay — and credit card terminals.

Processing solutions such as Braintree, a cloud-based platform that accepts credit and debit cards, PayPal, Venmo, and digital wallets such as Google Pay and Apple Pay are all excellent choices. Stripe and PaySimple are two other alternative technologies as well.

3. Solution for Cybersecurity

Any company owner should be concerned about cybersecurity. Digital technologies make life simpler in the contemporary world, but they also provide new hazards. You’ll want to secure sensitive corporate information, such as employee Social Security numbers. You must also protect consumer information, such as payment information.

Data security solutions guard against digital attacks on your tech equipment and systems. Security is required for computers, USB drives, servers, networks, and mobile devices. The right security protects your company’s data and money from hacks and threats. Comodo is one cost-effective option that is well-suited to the demands of small businesses.

4. Platform for Project Management Technology

If you want your business to prosper, you’ll need to keep track of numerous project deliverables and deadlines. This guarantees that goods and services are delivered on time, which is crucial for customer satisfaction.

Managing numerous projects, on the other hand, could be difficult, especially when there are a lot of people involved. It’s much more difficult when you have employees that work remotely.

The obvious answer is project management software technology. Tools such as Trello and Asana help you keep track of who is doing what and keep projects on track. These technologies may also be used to allocate particular deliverables to individuals and track task progress. You may use the tools’ messaging capabilities to ask and answer queries, keeping everyone up to speed.

5. Inventory Management Software Technology

Inventory monitoring is definitely one of your top worries if your company sells things. You must ensure that you have enough inventory to fulfill client demand. You should also avoid overstocking, which takes up expensive storage space and may leave you with unsold merchandise that you can’t sell.

Software for inventory management streamlines operations. This technology improves data analytics and reporting. It’s also easier to expand up as a shop if you’ve got a good inventory management system in place.

Finally, inventory management software may help improve customer service by making it simpler to trace things. To help you manage your inventory, look at programs such as LOCATE.

Technologies Terminus

In the end, the type of technology you choose will depend on a number of factors.

These factors will be the most important things on your current horizon. It might be shipping. It might be marketing. Or HR.

In other words, decide on your priorities first. Then go shopping for specific technologies.

The post Small Business Must-Have Technologies appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Obviously, as a business owner, earning income is a primary goal. You won’t be in business for long if you aren’t growing and expanding.

The golden goose, on the other hand, is figuring out how to keep innovating. QR codes will become a popular and effective tool in 2021 for increasing revenue. They are attracting new consumers and strengthening current customer connections.

Nearly half of those polled in the United States and the United Kingdom claimed they had witnessed an increase in QR code usage since the outbreak, so business owners should consider hopping on board. Smart QR codes are one of the most recent innovations we all need to examine carefully.

What is the meaning of a smart QR code?

A smart QR code is one that directs the scanner to a location other than a website.

Let’s be clear: there is nothing wrong with a company employing QR codes to bring customers to their website. A smart QR code, on the other hand, goes a step further by allowing customers to scan it and be sent to a text or online chat interaction with your company.

You can also alter or update the stuff that’s available online. You can make your business easy to work with even before the first encounter using smart QR codes.

Smart QR codes may be used to engage people and earn money.

Consumers prefer text messaging to communicate with businesses, according to a poll of over 1,000 people. Smart QR codes enable businesses to provide clients with the ease of texting just by opening the camera on their smartphone.

Convenient talks with potential consumers might result in increased revenue for your company. Consumers desire convenience and excellent customer service, and smart QR codes fill in the gaps to provide everyone with what they want.

SMBs may face challenges while implementing smart QR codes.

Beginning to employ smart QR codes in your normal business processes, like any new technology, might present some challenges.

• In order to use the data and determine which of their smart QR codes are giving the most value, business owners will need to learn new tools.
  • This will take some time and work, but it has the potential to pay off, just like any other innovation.
• It might be difficult to persuade staff to accept new marketing and communication methods within the company.
  • Focus on the final objective and assist staff in comprehending the value of staying current with technology by allowing them to witness your enthusiasm.
• Some clients may be hesitant to scan a QR code or may not even understand what it is.
  • Managers and staff who are familiar with the technology can assist in calming customers’ fears and explain the benefits of employing smart QR codes.

Over 80% of consumers feel that convenience is far more essential to them now than it was five years ago. It might be tough to implement a new marketing strategy and provide customer service, so take it one step at a time. Start with a few smart QR codes on your office door or on one of your service trucks and see where it takes you.

Parting Shots

The small business owner is always faced with a dilemma when dealing with a new technology that potentially will help their business. Many small businesses are overextended at the bank. They’ve just about maxed out their line of credit and can’t manage to float another loan to purchase new technology. That’s one problem.

Another problem is that not every new thing that comes down the pike is actually going to help increase business. It’s always a gamble.

Risk-averse owners are always going to agonize over whether or not the latest technological bauble will improve things or not. But even the most adventurous small business person is going to have doubts. It’s the nature of the beast.

How to minimize the risk? One way is to find out if your competitors are using the new technology. And how well they’re doing with it? Did they have to hire more staff to handle it? Or reconfigure office space or management teams?

But, in the end, every smaller enterprise is going to have to wade through the flood of new technology that constantly gushes forth. It may well be that the businesses that survive are going to be those that can pick and choose wisely when it comes to new gizmos and gadgets, apps, and algorithms.

The post Using Smart QR Codes in Small Business: A Guide appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

On a daily basis, small businesses rely on technology to help them run. Technological advancements affect small companies in a variety of ways, from laptop computers with internet capabilities to printers, online file storage, and web-based applications.

Depending on the goals, device decisions, and how successfully entrepreneurs and their staff adapt to new systems, technology has the ability to have a beneficial or negative impact on small businesses.

Business Collaboration

Small businesses collaborate closely with their customers to produce products and services that enhance their lives. Small business owners and staff must in turn interact with each other and external vendors to turn a concept into a finished product or service.

E-mail and instant messaging programs opened the path for online cooperation and sharing. E-mail and instant messenger are useful technology benefits for small firms. These platforms allow them to interact rapidly, share information, and receive feedback.

Business Examples

5 pm, Basecamp, and Zoho Projects are examples of web-based project management applications. They allow you to keep track of projects, delegate work, update team members and clients, track time, and share documents in real-time.

This implies that, regardless of a person’s location, small enterprises may get up-to-date information from a single hub.

Workplaces That Are Adaptable

Small company owners and workers may work in the office, from home, on the road, or even from across the nation, thanks to technological advancements.

As a result, technology helps firms acquire a competitive edge in the global economy. For instance, it does this by allowing small business owners to employ people from all over the world.

Customers Are Connected Immediately

Small company owners are no longer required to send surveys to clients and wait weeks for responses. Nor are they required to call customers for feedback.

Additionally, small companies may communicate with their clients via e-mail, blogs, social media, and forums. Smaller company owners take advantage of this real-time connection by soliciting input from clients. They then incorporate it into their operations as soon as possible.

As a result, consumers now demand immediate responses. In the post-pandemic world, there’s no such thing as tomorrow. Immediate gratification is the name of the game. If you can keep a viewer on your website for more than 30 seconds, you’ve almost got a guaranteed sale!

Slow-moving and ponderous procedures don’t impress anyone anymore. Especially potential customers. Red tape may have impressed the Eisenhower generation. But today it’s seen as just what it is — a sure sign of bureaucracy run amok. All the customer wants to hear is “I can get it for you yesterday.”

Shops on the Internet

Crafters, apparel and accessory designers, and painters may now set up online businesses instead of investing in pricey storefronts.

Consumers are flocking to the internet for everything from finding presents to purchasing groceries. Additionally, the diversity of products and services available is increasing the appeal of online shopping.

Businesses with physical locations can open online stores to increase their exposure. As a result, they can reach target consumers outside their immediate surroundings.

Smaller businesses are finding online stores a godsend. As a result, their retailing overhead is almost nonexistent. No rent. No insurance. You handle inventory strictly on-demand. There’s no need for a large in-house staff for sales, service, and customer care.

Talk about starting your business out of your garage! Today you can start a business out of your bedroom.

Employee Education

Offering training to new and seasoned staff as they integrate new technology into their operations is challenging.

Young employees are likely to adapt quickly to new technology. However, senior staff may oppose them or face a learning curve, reducing output momentarily.

As they say, you can’t teach an old dog new algorithms. Or can you?

Actually, it’s very easy to train your seasoned employees on new technologies. Above all, what’s needed is a trainer who is conversant with their mindset and knows how to speak their language. Which is, by and large, still analog.

Small Business Training

Of course, training does not just take place in-house.

There are often informal bull sessions where senior employees get together for coffee outside the workplace. There they work through the problems and their perceptions of problems. It’s a non-threatening environment, with no upper management suits breathing down their necks.

Senior workers are generally most comfortable in informal settings. Away from the office. With something to do with their hands. Why do you think smoking was so popular forty years ago? It gave people something to do with their hands while they thrashed things out!

The post Small Business and New Technology appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The Business of Chicago

One Monday morning, 35 workers of a Chicago business board of directors turned on their computers. They were met by a desiccated head popping up and demanding nearly a quarter-million in Bitcoin. Hackers had shut off their internet access. Their databases had been scrambled and rendered unusable.

This NGO had vital infrastructure but no skilled cybersecurity professionals or even a proper data recovery and business continuity strategy, much like thousands of other ransomware victims whose tales never reach the news.

Company management believed that its data and networks were secure until they experienced that dreadful Monday morning return to work. The company also lacked the financial wherewithal to pay the ransom.

Productivity loss is the biggest price tag paid by ransomware victims. In addition, they suffered the time-consuming job of controlling and cleaning up after the assault.

According to Proofpoint and the Ponemon Institute study, a ransom payment generally amounts to less than 20% of the entire cost of a ransomware attack’s interruption.

The staff at the Chicago organization discovered too late that their data recovery methods did not actually back them up. The organization labored over finding paper documents in order to recreate its records from the ground up.

Businesses In a Bind

Many smaller businesses believe they aren’t vulnerable to ransomware. That is very clearly not the case.

According to the National Cyber Security Alliance, small and midsized firms are the target of the bulk of cyberattacks, with up to 60% of them going out of business within six months of the ransomware assault.

Three Simple Steps to Defeat Hackers

Some may reasonably question, if a $44 billion firm like Accenture can fall prey to ransomware, what hope does a smaller company have?

Everyone requires a reaction plan if no one is immune to an assault. Consider the following three essential steps:

1. Provide cyber awareness training to all staff.

PEBCAC stands for “problem exists between computer and chair” in the world of cybersecurity.

Because email phishing is by far the most common threat vector for ransomware, the first line of defense is to teach all employees not to open unfamiliar attachments or clickbait links — “You’ve just won $1 million!” — and to protect their login credentials, preferably with two-factor authentication.

Some employees, believe it or not, still retain passwords on Post-it Notes stuck to their computer displays. Every employee in today’s networked remote workforce is a member of the security apparatus. Employees play an essential role in data protection. However, they must be given the correct knowledge and training.

2. Update all of your applications.

An inventory of operating systems and software is the first step in any threat assessment.

Updates defend a computer network from known security flaws. Additionally, you must properly maintain and configure every firewall and server to stay safe.

Unfortunately, this seemingly simple task of data governance is a big undertaking. It’s made considerably more difficult by the abundance of endpoints. Think smartphones, industrial systems, IoT devices, and all the equipment used by work-from-home staff.

3. Put backups and recovery strategies to the test.

This is the one step that many companies skip. You shouldn’t.

Pick a day, perhaps a Saturday, when everyone “pretends” to be victimized by a hacker. Test the reliability of your backups and the amount of downtime you can expect to endure should you fall victim to ransomware.

How You Can Recover

To recover from an assault, every firm needs dependable backups and, equally essential, a business continuity strategy. Form a cyber incident response team and conduct penetration testing to ensure the safeguarding of vital infrastructure. Be proactive rather than reactive in your cyber response.

No one is immune to assault. These are merely the beginning of your defenses.

Monitor network traffic in real-time. Otherwise, your organization is extremely susceptible. Mechanisms must be in place to detect and respond to intrusions before you suffer damage. Be aware that 100 percent prevention is neither cost-effective nor practical.

Virus Software

Virus software and firewall hardware have come a long way. However, at the end of the day, the greatest defense is a skilled cybersecurity team.

A monitoring and incident response control center will allow speedy data recovery, reducing downtime for both internal and external cyberattacks. Outsourcing a security operations center may help businesses with limited resources reduce their risk.

Consider the cost of business disruption as the first step in making systems more robust. Governments, utilities, and even IT corporations are all vulnerable to assault. Put a solid data security strategy in place. Without one, it’s not a question of if, but rather when hacking will occur.

Make sure your cloud storage is secure.  It’s imperative that you do so ASAP. Without this safeguard, all sorts of malware, such as ransomware, can run riot through your systems.

The post Small Business Is Vulnerable to Ransomware appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Fact: COP26 landmark is dominating global headlines. Small businesses, particularly retailers with long and complicated supply chains, are adapting their work practices. Putting into place measures to meet “green” targets. Also, to align themselves with their customer’s demands better and wants on sustainability, particularly for their younger millennial audience.

It’s not easy to move towards sustainability. Software Advice conducted a recent survey of more than 500 supply chain professionals at companies with 500 employees or less. The purpose was to explore the benefits and challenges they face on their sustainability journey.

The Institute of Marketing in The UK also focused its research on the challenges of becoming more sustainable. It recently surveyed over 200 UK marketing professionals. 49% of respondents fear the “green-washing” label.

Environment Sustainability

When looking at small business sustainability initiatives, it was clear that environmental sustainability was the most popular investment.

Software Advice found that 86% of respondents had some form of supply chain sustainability in place before the pandemic. Environmental sustainability was the most popular type. Businesses must avoid falling for the “green-washing” trap.

This sustainability measure is the best for businesses. It’s arguably more manageable than any other measures to implement throughout a company. It’s essential for any business’s reputation.

Recently, the Institute of Marketing in the UK also published research. This looked at the opinions of 2,000 UK consumers and found that 63% of them believe that most brands are only interested in sustainability for commercial purposes.

Small businesses must be transparent and honest about their sustainable practices to maintain credibility.

Social Sustainability

Social sustainability in retail supply chains is on the rise. However, there’s much to be done. Businesses must consider modern slavery, child labor, and conflict minerals as part of sustainable business.

Software Advice’s survey revealed that 60% of respondents had invested in social sustainability practices before the pandemic. In the 18 months since 42% of respondents have increased their investments in these practices.

Nearly 99% of respondents plan to continue or improve their social sustainability efforts after the pandemic. Only four respondents plan to discontinue current efforts.

Economic Sustainability

Because economic sustainability is not popular, it may be because it’s a long-term mindset. It’s about creating long-term economic growth without negatively impacting the community’s social, environmental, or cultural well-being.

These are also long-term investments. Only 2% of them plan to reduce their efforts after the pandemic has passed.

Cost savings and a better brand reputation were the top benefits. This is in line with The Institute of Marketing’s research about importance. This is slightly contradictory, as the cost is the main barrier for businesses implementing new systems or measures to improve sustainability. The expected outcome is cost savings over time once enterprises have made the initial investment.

The significant advances and gains in software have made a business’s ability to improve its supply chain’s sustainability credentials easier. Software Advice’s survey found that 83% of SMBs use technology to support their sustainability efforts.

Their efforts had three main benefits: cost savings, improved brand reputation, and higher internal morale.

This is where the real challenge lies, according to research by the Institute of Marketing.

Many marketers are worried about green-washing and want to win their customers’ trust by being transparent about their environmental initiatives.

Educate Your Customer Base

Before your company begins a sincere effort to be environmentally friendly and carbon footprint conscious, you must educate your customer.

While most people give lip service to “saving the planet” they really have a very vague idea of what that means. Outside of rabid conservatives, when you ask anyone if they are green or not they will most likely reply that they are green. And they’ll probably say this while throwing a candy wrapper into the street. Or while draining a plastic bottle of Evian, crumpling it. And tossing it into a stream.

So to convince your customers that you are one hundred percent green or striving to be, you have to bring them up to speed. This could mean e-newsletters, a blog, and frequent postings on social media. All about how your company is using green technology to “save the planet.”

This is actually a win-win situation. Customers are impressed with your efforts at corporate responsibility. Companies don’t get bad PR for saving trees and keeping rivers unpolluted.

The post We’re Going Green. Is it Sustainable? appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What Is a Ghost Kitchen?

A ghost kitchen is an alternative to a brick-and-mortar or traditional restaurant. It is also a name for commercial kitchens that are built for delivery. Since the space is designed for reaching online customers, it needs less staff to maintain operations.

What Are The Advantages?

It allows food creators to run their entire restaurant, without having the full expenses of staff, real estate, and storefronts. This type of “dark kitchen” enables entrepreneurs, restaurateurs, and local chains to offer their food without the expense of maintaining a public dining area.

What Are The Financial Advantages?

This is an operation built for profitability. A ghost kitchen helps entrepreneurs cut costs on labor and overhead. In addition, it uses a single-point tablet to monitor costs and profits.

Owners can see all the financial data from a single point, instead of sweating over physical invoices and worrying about logistics. An additional benefit is lower food wastage. By reducing food wastage, owners are able to reach more customers, manage expenses, and pass these savings on to consumers.

Understanding The Trends

This type of virtual kitchen is rising in popularity. They are less expensive and more cost-effective than running a traditional restaurant. This new form of kitchen has grown 300% faster than dine-in, since 2014.

In the wake of the global pandemic, diners are opting for delivery over dining in. Building a web presence, using a ghost kitchen, and focusing on delivery are strategies that help restaurateurs ‘future-proof’ their business.

According to industry statistics, as of 2021, every 6 in 10 adults claim that they’re more likely to order delivery than dine-in. People are increasingly relying on third-party delivery. Restaurants are organizing delivery fleets.

Food delivery direct to consumers is the name of the game. Contactless ordering and delivery are here to stay. Savvy entrepreneurs are using these trends to make informed decisions.

Getting Familiar With The Options

Whether you’re a food truck owner, a restaurant owner, or a budding entrepreneur, it helps to familiarize yourself with the options for dark kitchens. Each one has perks and challenges.

Commissary Kitchens

This is a great way to keep your overhead low and avoid the costs of owning a facility. You can open up a new kitchen with minimal expenses or commitment. Most often, you’ll need to schedule a time to use the kitchen, and may need to share the space.

You’ll be using a shared space with basic equipment. If you need more space to prepare orders or store ingredients, you can access these. This kind of flexibility makes a commissary kitchen an attractive way to get up and running.

Commercial Kitchens

In a commercial kitchen, you have your own dedicated space to prepare orders. You don’t need to share the space, schedule time, or negotiate for expansion. You have your own private space to cook and prepare food.

Pop-Up Kitchens

These are temporary kitchens, attached to a traditional restaurant, food truck, or kiosk. These pop-ups are also called incubator kitchens. Instead of building an entirely new facility, these kitchens help provide space for delivery orders. This can be an attractive way to streamline delivery, maximize staff, and minimize order inefficiencies.

Kitchen Pods

This refers to transportable containers such as shipping containers. These kitchens enable restaurateurs to cook anywhere and reach customers directly. Kitchen pods often have poor ventilation, no windows, and a smaller amount of usable space. These drawbacks can make it challenging to effectively prepare large orders.

Evaluating Your Best Options For The Future

As you evaluate your options for reaching customers, consider how to leverage the trends to feature your unique strengths. If you are just starting out, future-proof your business by focusing on delivery, data, and subscription delivery.

You may want to offer special occasion dining, individual tasting menus, or diet-specific options to appeal to your target market. Here are a few of the top considerations:

• Technology Insights

  With delivery efficiency as your primary aim, work with a ghost kitchen that is fully equipped with proprietary software. Instead of relying on apps or hard-copy invoices, you’ll have all the insights in one place. With better data, you will be able to streamline operations for maximum efficiency.

• Rapid Delivery

  What do you really want to do? You want to focus on your food creativity and production. You do not want to spend your weekends and nights focused on logistics and delivery. Working with a logistics partner makes it possible to get each order to the right delivery driver. Faster delivery means happier customers.

• Facility Management

  When you make great food, you need to know that cleaning, maintenance, and security is handled. With all the worries and concerns about food safety, it helps to work with a facility management team. They handle all the basics, so you can focus on what you love doing.

• Slash Labor Costs

  By starting with a delivery-first approach, you’ll spend a lot less on labor. According to industry statistics, a typical physical location spends about 30% of sales revenue on labor costs. When you run your food business with a fully functional ghost kitchen, you won’t need staff at the front, servers, or receptionists. Many chefs and entrepreneurs find that they can run their restaurant operations with minimal staff, such as 3-5 people.

• Maximize Profits

  A ghost kitchen enables creative people to get started with much lower capital. Instead of needing $1M to open, you may be able to get things up and running with as little as $30K.

Restaurants are notoriously a low-margin industry. However, with these exciting developments, it’s easier for entrepreneurs to get started, slash labor costs, and deliver top-quality food to customers.

Wrapping It Up

If you’ve been dreaming about expanding your food truck to multiple locations, opening a new restaurant, or creating a hot new food trend — ghost kitchens will help you achieve your culinary dreams.

The post Ghost Kitchens: The Best Way to Reach Your Customers appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Imagine that you sent private romantic texts to someone you were interested in. Now imagine that you’re on trial for fraud and a former company executive reads aloud the private message you sent. In recent times, prosecutors have subpoenaed millions of private text messages to incriminate people.

What about text messages that highlight our most intimate moments?

For journalists, whistleblowers, and political dissidents talking to sources, secure messaging is crucial.

A conversation doesn’t have to be harmful to a government. You don’t even need to share anything highly-publicized to be at risk.

In addition to being subject to law enforcement subpoenas, private chats often pop up in social groups. People post them on social media. Reporters publish them. They even end up in civil trials.

The heart of the viral New York Times story “Who Is The Bad Art Friend?” is gossipy group chats, emails, and documents unearthed during legal discovery.

Private chats implicated several Bollywood actors in a recent scandal involving drugs. Law enforcement officers used WhatsApp messages to prove their innocence. Sen. Ted Cruz’s plans for fleeing Texas during a power outage to travel to Cancun, Mexico, became famous. Turns out that a member of his wife’s group chat leaked portions of a private conversation. Then, of course, there are various hacking tools that governments and private entities can use to gain access to your smartphone data.

Many people send text messages they aren’t proud of, have a private conversation go public, or be targeted because they attended a protest. Taking precautions may help, but they won’t guarantee your safety.

Alexis Hancock, director of engineering for the non-profit digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation, succinctly makes the point: “Nothing makes a ghost.”

Find out where leaks are happening.

Apple devices feature default end-to-end encrypted chat software. Although end-to-end encryption is the best method for secure messaging, there are still some ways that these chats could land in court. The growing list of people who found this out the hard way includes ten prime ministers, three presidents, and a king.

Access to your smartphone and the ability to unlock it allows you to see all messages in the various chat apps. Sometimes, law enforcement can force someone to unlock their phone.

Chats require at least two people. As a result, the other person may hand over the conversation to a law enforcement agency. It’s possible that your private discussions could be stolen. This is especially dangerous when backups live in a place where third parties have access.

Remember that cloud backup can be a good thing.

For Apple devices, you can turn iCloud backups on to make iMessage chats more secure. Apple automatically saves all messages to the cloud so that you can transfer them over to a new device. These messages get encrypted. However, Apple holds a key that law enforcement can request directly.

If you’re concerned, disable iCloud backups of messages and delete all previous backups.

The same applies to cloud-based backups to which you don’t hold the encryption key. You can keep them on to prevent sensitive messages from being saved to your account.

You should immediately delete messages after the recipient has read them. iCloud backups run only once per day, so it’s best to delete them as soon as possible.

Of course, the other person may still have a record of your conversation. You can choose to have your message history deleted automatically after 30 days or after one year. Try going to Settings – Messages – Message History.

Signal is one tool that allows you to delete text messages automatically.

Signal is a popular, secure messaging platform that uses end-to-end encryption. It’s designed to preserve as little metadata as possible about your communications.

One of Signal’s most valuable features is the Disappearing Messages setting. You can choose to have messages deleted immediately or hours or days after sending. While there is always a time window in which recipients can see them for quick copy-paste or a quick screenshot, this reduces the trail if it’s accessed later.

Other apps provide ephemeral messaging and social media options. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that messages get deleted forever. For example, you can save Instagram stories even if they are no longer publicly available.

Remember the old saying: “One can keep a secret but two cannot.” It’s always best to share your most intimate thoughts and emotions with your pillow and nobody else.

Even married couples should be wary of exchanging private messages concerning anything outside their own relationship. Otherwise, things can get awfully messy and embarrassing if it comes to divorce.

The post Keep Private Text Messages Secure appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Here’s the issue, though: Not all tech is worth your investment. Sure, some tech looks dazzling on the surface, but what if it’s not right for your company? In that case, you’re just throwing money down a digital hole. That’s hardly good for your bottom line.

5 Ways to Choose the Best Tech Solutions

So how do you decide between all those business cloud services, data management software, AI-empowered systems, and more? Take your time and execute some simple planning steps. 

1. Choose tools that will shrink your tech stack.

Do your team members constantly move between programs, losing momentum while manually transporting and searching data? You’re hardly alone. According to Anthem Business Software, the average small company relies on up to 10 different tech tools to accomplish tasks. That’s a lot of logins and probably tons of duplication of effort, too.

Rather than bring one more product (and corresponding logins) into your tech toolkit, search for innovations to help you consolidate your workflows. For instance, a budget-friendly CRM that takes the place of several of your current systems will make life easier on your staff. At the same time, it will reduce the likelihood of human error by removing the need for constant copy-and-paste actions. 

Key Takeaway: A jam-packed tech stack can water down your ability to wow customers and pivot fast. Consolidating tech can give your organization a serious efficiency boost.

2. Consult your growth plans. 

You have key objectives for the future of your organization. Lay them out like a roadmap before diving into any kind of digital transformation project. Even if they’re not presented as formal business plans, they’ll help you see where you want to go. This allows you to begin looking for tech solutions that will help you reach the goalposts you set up along the way.

An example of this might be to grow your customer base by 50% within a year. With more customers, you’ll inevitably need a strong way to support them and turn them into fans. As Gallup figures show, loyal shoppers can be expected to buy 23% more than other shoppers. In this situation, you would want to explore tech to help you provide exceptional service such as AI chatbots, support software, and maybe even a more robust e-commerce platform. 

Key Takeaway: Your growth goals are unique. Make certain any tech you bring into the fold helps you achieve your most ambitious aims.

3. Invest in tech trends with potential.

It can be tempting to put dollars toward the brightest, newest tech solutions available. Even if your stronger competitor uses a specific technology, you don’t have to follow suit. Some tech is trendy but destined for the “fad” heap. Or, it may simply be a dead-end for what you need. 

A good rule of thumb to follow as a business leader is to look, pause, and consider before you leap. Moving all your information to the wrong system could result in more than just temporary headaches. Untethering from a bad tech choice can be tricky depending upon the other systems or workflows it affects. How can you avoid this problem? Put tech tools through mini test runs with limited employees and data if you can.

Key Takeaway: Don’t be taken in by flash and early reviews. Google Glass was once heralded as a genius invention but landed in the failure zone.

4. Ask employees about gaps in their processes.

Your workers know more about what they do on a day-to-day basis than you ever could. Tap into their needs by asking them about their most nagging friction points. What irritates them most? What stops them from being as proficient as they’d like? Where do they feel task-related pinches throughout the day?

After you know which problems haunt your team, you can begin working with them to find the right tech solutions. Let’s say that your human resources department complains about having to answer 401(k) questions all the time. You might empower them to look into alternate 401(k) providers that give better access and education to customers. It might seem like a small fix but could eliminate a clear pain point for your people.

Key Takeaway: Never assume that you know the tech that’s best for your crew. Instead, bring them into any major tech adoption decisions early in the planning stages.

5. Consider custom-built tech solutions.

With new tech products emerging every season, you may think that there’s an answer for every problem. But that may not be the case. Your organization could operate in a way that others—including competitors in the same space—do not.

True, building a tech product from the ground up can be pricey. At the same time, it depends upon what the product is. Working with a partner to create a specialized mobile app for your brand might pay for itself in improved customer engagement and sales. So if you can’t find exactly what you need, stay open-minded about inventing it yourself in-house or with a tech development company. 

Key Takeaway: Though there’s plenty of products for sale, there’s still tech to be developed. Your company might just find itself in need of something that hasn’t been constructed yet.

One thing’s for certain: You can’t afford to let your tech become outdated. Start the process to modernize your tech toolbox now. As a result, you’ll position your company to remain on the leading edge and power your way into the future.

The post How to Search For The Best Tech Solutions For Your Company appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

8 Tips to Find Investors for Your Business

There are multiple ways to find investors for your business.  The one (or several) you choose is really up to your and your business structure.  These are just a few ideas to inspire you while you seek funding to keep your business thriving and growing.

1. Crowdfunding Platforms

Crowdfunding allows you to get online funding via centralized financial platforms. Millions of people invest in startups through crowdfunding platforms. They serve as the meeting point of entrepreneurs and investors. Here are some of the types of crowdfunding platforms:

Equity Crowdfunding

Investors buy a stake in your business with hopes of getting a cut of the profits if the venture picks up well. It is risky as the investors may lose their equity stakes if the company falls.

Reward-Based Crowdfunding

Under this type of funding, you will ask investors to contribute little cash in exchange for a reward once your business is running. For instance, if you are launching a sneaker company, you can promise to give each contributor who pledges $500 a free sneaker when the shoes debut 12 months from now. When the shoe launches, the retail price will be $ 800; hence, you save the investor money through an affordable price tag.

Donation Crowdfunding

Donors contribute any amount of money they wish to your venture. They do not expect you to reimburse the money once the business breaks even. Donation crowdfunding is primarily used for non-profit and charitable ventures. A prime example of this funding is GoFundMe. You can also opt to use a church management software if you need to facilitate long-term crowdfunding for a non-profit organization. This is a multi-platform tool that not only keeps track of charitable donations, but also allows you to retain investor/donator information for future fundraising events.