Why Good Credit Matters

Even if at this moment, you can’t imagine that you will ever take out a business loan, you may find yourself one day wanting to grow your business. Being able to get a line of credit at a low interest rate can help you expand your company without taxing your revenue stream and build your personal tradelines at the same time.

But even if you never take out a loan, having good credit is important for other reasons. If you buy supplies from vendors, your credit score can impact your payment terms with them. Consider the fact that you are a bit of a risk for the vendor; if you don’t pay your invoice, they’re out that money. If your credit is bad, they’ll be less lenient on you paying before delivery, whereas having good credit can give you a little leeway in terms of when you pay that invoice. The Automated Transaction Delivery atm sales team is only a click away. Accessing a perfect payday loan is easy because you only need to meet a few basic requirements. The most important requirement is a stable source of income. As long as your income is consistent and verifiable, you are almost guaranteed to find a willing lender. Traditional loans may require collateral. You do not need any collateral to get a payday loan. Your stable income is enough proof to the lender that you can repay the borrowed amount. Other requirements include an active checking account and registration as a permanent resident in your state. You should also be above 18 years to get a payday loan. You probably meet these requirements if you have a permanent job. Conventional lenders ask for your credit score when you apply for a personal loan. If you have a poor credit rating, you cannot qualify for a traditional bank loan. However, you can get a payday loan with bad credit as long you can proof your ability to pay it on time. Online lenders will check your credit score but they base their decision on your current financial situation. Past financial mistakes or struggles do not limit you from accessing financial help whenever you need it. Credit card debt relief program options are meant for anyone who has a poor credit score. You already have a lot of debt, and you are now trying to solve those problems while you keep some revolving credit open. Keeping your credit open makes it much easier for you to keep your credit score on the rise, and you could ask the people with the credit card relief program if they have any options for credit score fixing.

5 Ways to Amp Up Your Credit Rating

No matter where your personal credit is right now, it can always be better, right? Here are a few ways you can improve your credit rating over time.

Credit card companies can now charge merchants 1.5 to 4 percent fee for each transaction. As part of the agreement, merchants can legally pass this fee along to consumers. How excited are you to announce a new fee to your customers? Businesses don’t have to take these new regulations lying down, you can get proper advice from a credit card processing for small business, this way you do not have loose anymore clients.

1. Use Credit Smartly

You may think the best thing you can do would be to use cash to pay for business expenses, but actually, you can improve your credit rating by using credit the right way. If you are worried about transfer of your pension from overseas due to credit, The easiest way is to engage a professional transfer agency to transfer UK pension to USA. They transfer your money by keeping in mind about credit availability and also helps to improve it.

Consider opening a business credit card or line of credit to cover monthly expenses. The key is to pay off your balance each month before interest accrues. The perk of a business credit card is racking up rewards (get that next business flight covered through points!), and a line of credit can give you the cash flow to expand operations.

2. Set Up Credit with Your Suppliers

Each time you establish a new relationship with a supplier for your business, ask for a credit line. Not only does this appear on your credit report (points, again, for paying your bills on time), but it also frees up your cash. For example, if you need to order $500 worth of party favors for your event planning business, and you know that your client will pay you in the middle of the month, knowing that you can pay that supplier at the end of the month means you will have the money in hand.

3. Regularly Check Your Credit Reports

These days, there are several places you can get free access to your credit reports, as well as free credit monitoring tools. Make a habit of checking your reports to ensure that there are no discrepancies on them. For example: a mislabeled late payment could ding your credit rating, so if you know you paid your bill on time, reach out to the credit union to file the discrepancy and ask for it to be removed.

4. If You Maintain a Balance, Pay More Than the Minimum

If you find yourself charging a larger amount and unable to pay it off within the month, be aggressive about your payback plan, and always pay more than the minimum required amount.

If you expect this to happen regularly, look for business credit cards with the lowest possible interest rates, or consider a balance transfer with 0% interest if you have access to an offer like this.

5. Be Diligent

Your business (and personal) credit are in your hands: educate yourself about how to build your credit, and constantly stay on top of your score. It’s not difficult to see your credit score rise a few points every month, but you’ve got to be diligent about it!

The post The Importance of Good Credit and 5 Ways to Obtain it appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

So why risk it?

In this article, we’ve listed down four main reasons why your business should start accepting more than just cash payments.

1. Your customers have preferences. Listen to them.

Numerous studies have shown that shoppers prefer using credit cards over cash. A consumer survey by FICO revealed that 83% of consumers aged 25-34 years old use credit cards on a regular basis. And 77% of them are likely to continue using credit cards in the next five years.

This means that more than 3 out of 4 of the age group with the highest purchasing power are likely to try and use their card at your store. Most credit cards offer cash back or flight miles, so it’s not surprising that people want to take advantage of these rewards.

With the credit card processing software available these days, it’s actually easy to provide consumers with the option to use their credit or debit cards. You’ll have a card reader in the palm of your hand for a quick swipe after a purchase. Your customers will be in and out in no time, and with no hassle at all. Some credit card processing software even have inventory tracking built in — which means your customers will never come in wanting something, only to for you to find that it’s out of stock.

2. You can help ease the burden of ballooning ATM fees.

Though it’s not much effort to make a trip to a nearby ATM to withdraw cash before buying something, the recent rise in ATM fees may just cancel out that ease.

According a recent BankRate survey, out-of-network ATM withdrawals recently hit a record high of $4.69 on average per transaction. That’s almost $15 dollars a week if you make three separate withdrawals.

Having alternative payment options will cater to your customers who don’t feel comfortable carrying large sums of cash in their wallets. Put their minds at ease by showing them that you’re open to whatever mode of payment they prefer.

3. Consumers like options. Provide them.

Though cash is still widely used, it is no longer the primary mode of payment across the United States. According to Gallup News, the percentage of Americans who use cash to make most of their purchases dropped by almost 10% last year compared to five years ago. Plus, 12% of Americans stated that they don’t use cash at all for any of their purchases.

Being able to accommodate those who still use cash, as well as those who are moving away from it, will help both the consumers and your business. Have the means to let your customers use their cards if cash isn’t readily available, and vice versa.

4. Offer the luxury of convenience to your customers.

Not only can you increase the number of people who buy at your store by not being cash only, you should also consider opening an online store to reach an even wider audience. According to EuroITGroup, online shopping went up by 45% last year. Statistics from BigCommerce also reveal that 51% of Americans prefer shopping online, which makes online shopping just as popular now as purchasing from a physical store.

More and more people are embracing online shopping. The idea of being able to get what they want without leaving the comfort of their own home is becoming more appealing, especially with the rise of next day or even same day delivery.

Providing your customers with an easy way to acquire your products, proper security, and a good return policy, will make them feel safe and welcome.

Conclusion

With payment preferences varying across the board, you want to give your customers as many options as you can. Don’t isolate any of your customer base. Instead, broaden your business horizons and keep them coming back!

The post 4 Reasons Your Business Should Not Be Cash Only appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

In this article, we’ll go over the 5 ways you can improve your business’ reputation online.

1. Create a website with a customseo domain so people can find your business online.

Every business should have their own website. It’s your online calling card and should be the first thing people see when they look you up online. This is especially true for consumer electronics companies, where businesses are competing for a limited number of product categories. You can do so much in one place such as list your products, market them using blogs, and sell them by using a payment gateway.

2. Set up your social media channels.

After setting up your website, the next step should be to create a profile on the appropriate social media channels. You can post photos, announcements, discounts, and sell your products on these channels. Most businesses start with Facebook, but there are other social media platforms that are niche-specific, such as LinkedIn, Angie’s List, Pinterest, etc.

It is important to have a social presence because a huge number of social media users make their purchasing decisions based on what they see on social media. By putting your products and your company where potential customers are searching, you are able to reach a larger audience.

3. Register your website on online business listings

If people want to find a business like yours, they will often go to authority business listing sites like Yelp for Business, Google My Business, Better Business Bureau, etc. Once your business is listed, clients can easily find you and see how you compare to other businesses in the same niche or industry. Users can leave reviews for others to see and rate your company based on their experience. And don’t stop at just one listing. Get multiple listings (also called citations) so that your business exudes more credibility, since they verify businesses before they allow them on their site.

4. Optimize your website for SEO purposes.

Now that you are have your own site and are listed on all relevant third party sites, Auckland SEO agency helps you to optimize your presence online – starting with your website. Conduct basic keyword research to discover what terms people are searching for when looking for your type of product. Then, make sure that your website contains these keywords on the appropriate pages for which SEO agency can help you in a better way.

5. Improve customer service and engagement

The most organic and genuine way to improve your online reputation is to talk to your target audience online, just Achieve your desire ranking results. Try affordable seo services. Don’t spam them with sales emails – learn what their problems are, provide the solution, and continue to build your relationship. Find the ones that have had a positive experience and ask them to review your website on social media, business listings, and other review sites. After that, make sure that they continue to have a positive experience with your business. Your overall reputation is something that your customers will always remember whether they are online or offline.

The post How To Improve Your Business’ Online Reputation appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Here are nine ways to apply data analytics to your calls to help improve sales.

1. Use Conversion Analytics to Qualify Leads in Real-Time

You can increase your sales team’s conversion rate with conversation analytics. The bleeding-edge technology analyzes phone conversations and searches for particular phrases, pitch, volume, context, words, and speech rate. As software like Convirza analyzes data, it generates scores such as lead quality, missed opportunity, sales skills, and conversions in real time. Let’s say a caller uses a phrase like “looking to buy” or “wanting to replace”. The software increases the lead quality score upon recognition of those phrases as it suggests that the caller is almost ready to buy.

With conversation analytics, agents can use the scores generated in real time to come up with the necessary steps to close a sale.  

2. Monitor Connect Rates

By definition, connect rate is the number of  calls that met a specified criterion — for example, appointment scheduled or call duration — divided by the total number of calls. The best phone systems should enable you to see the duration of each sales call and number of calls made by each agent through call logging. These applications let you quickly pull up records so you can analyze your connect rate.  

Tracking and analyzing your connect rate is important as it helps you understand how to improve the performance of your sales team. By listening to the calls of agents with low connect rates, you can quickly identify issues that hold them back, and come up with a tailored coaching plan to help improve their performance. You can even listen to calls of agents with high connect rates, and use their performance as examples. It helps to have some form of contact management to help manage the process.

3. Probe Talk to Listen Ratio

In an ideal world, agents would spend more time listening to customers than selling. The reality, however, is that agents often do more talking than listening. On average, sales agents consume up to 75 percent of their calls talking. This leaves customers very little room to convey their concerns or ask questions.

The top sales performers have a talk to listen ratio that’s closer to 40:60. If you want your agents to close more, start by measuring their talk to listen ratio. Software like Gong offers features that enable you to save calls and monitor the talk to listen ratio of your agents. You can also see individual statistics so you can identify the talk to listen ratio of your star performers. Through data analysis, you can train average performers and under performers to replicate the talk time of your top closers.    

Talk to listen ratio of agents according to performance

Source: ThinkGrowth

4. Find Your Average Number of Calls to Close a Deal

Sales experts know that it takes more than one call just to get a favorable response. In fact, it takes an average of eight cold calls just to reach a prospect. The number goes higher as you make additional calls to close a deal. That’s why it’s important to keep track of your activities per lead so you can determine how many calls it takes to close a deal.
CRMs like Salesforce allows your agent to record every interaction with a prospect. More importantly, it comes with tools that lets you generate reports based on customized metrics or fields. You can use these tools to get your team’s average number of calls to close a deal. You can use the number as a target to encourage your agents to make more calls.

5. Study Time Spent Selling     

You can improve the efficiency of your agents by learning how they spend their time. If some of your agents are making more calls but are behind in conversions, it is important to identify the types of calls that they make to see which stages in the sales process consume most of their time. For instance, a few of your agents may be underperforming because they’re struggling to find good quality leads. As a result, they spend a lot of time researching and reaching out to people who are not ready to purchase.

You can get this insight by monitoring your agents’ time spent selling. With the help of tools provided by cloud communications providers such as 8×8, you’ll be able to see the amount of time your agents spend at park life every stage of the sales process. You can then identify points of congestion and come up with coaching strategies to improve the performance of your team.

6. Examine Lead Response Time        

You are 100 times more likely get a hold of the lead if you respond to them within five minutes. If you take 24 hours to respond, your chance to close a sale drops by 60 times. This is why it’s essential for your team to reach the prospect as quickly as possible. The longer you respond, the higher the odds that your competitors will close the sale.

To monitor this metric, you need a lead response time tracker tool that you can integrate with your CRM. With this tool, you can see how long it takes for your team to respond to a lead. If it takes your team several hours to return a call, consider reviewing your workflow to prioritize inbound leads. You can also consider hiring more agents as an investment to improve your performance in this metric. Getting your lead response time down can help you generate more sales as your team puts their attention to people who show interest in your product or service.

Dashboard of a Lead Response Time Tracker

Source: Salesforce

7. Look at Number of Calls Versus Talk Time

Another important metric that you can track to help improve the performance of your sales team is their daily talk time. While your sales agents might be generating more than 100 calls per day, their time and effort may be misplaced. You need to also review their talk time to see whether they’re making the most out of their calls.

You can see agent talk time with the help of analytics tools offered by Nextiva which provide visual data such as number of calls and total talk time for each agent. By measuring their talk time and comparing it with their total daily calls, you can see who’s struggling to reach the right people. For example, an agent recording 80 daily calls but has a talk time of less than two hours may indicate that the person is not logging a lot of minutes per call. This might mean that the agent can’t move past the gatekeepers such as assistants or receptionists. You can use the data to equip the agent with the skills to deal with gatekeepers and reach the decision-makers.

Nextiva’s dashboard

Source: Nextiva

8. Discover the Best Time to Connect

Decision-makers are not the easiest people to reach. They are often on the go or are currently occupied. If your sales team is struggling to get a hold of decision-makers, consider tracking the time of day your agents usually connect with them.

With the help of voice communications platforms such as RingDNA,  you can determine specific hours in the day when your chance of connecting with decision-makers are high. As long as your reps take notes about the outcome of each call, you can use the historical data to create a report and determine the best times of day to connect with decision-makers. Team leaders can use these brief windows to maximize their prospecting efforts.

9. Track Phone Call Lead Source

It’s a dream for many business owners to see which traffic sources are generating inbound sales calls. This dream could be a reality with the help of Infinity Call Tracking and Google Analytics. With Infinity, you can track website visitors as the software assigns a unique phone number to each visitor. Infinity then tracks everything including keywords and traffic sources that led the visitor to your site.

All the data collected is linked to the Google Client ID of the user. When the user calls, Infinity sends all data to Google Analytics so you can see it in real-time. You can use the data to create reports and identify mediums that generated the most number of qualified leads and conversions.

Sample Infinity report generated through Google Analytics

Source: Econsultancy

With call tracking technology, you can analyze which mediums provide the best returns on your investment so you can optimize your campaigns. This can also dramatically improve the performance of your sales team as optimized ad campaigns generate quality leads.

The Bottom Line

With the advent of data analytics, managers and team leaders now have an easier time identifying the metrics that impact the performance of their sales team. By analyzing the behavior of your agents when they are in a call, how fast they respond to inquiries, and which marketing channels generate quality leads, you can improve the performance of your sales team and boost your bottom line.

The post 9 Ways to Apply Analytics to Your Sales Calls and Dramatically Increase Sales appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Nearly 1 in 5 US businesses have gone the paperless route. How can you do the same? In this article, we offer 7 tips that will help make your business completely paper-free.

1. Use a Project Management Tool

Company projects often require the coordination of multiple people working from multiple departments with each department having their own timeline and resources to get things done. Monitoring progress on paper can work, but it is inefficient. You have to print and distribute copies to every person involved, and if project information changes, you need to edit your document and print out additional copies. All of this costs time, energy, and resources

Instead of relying on paper to keep track of your projects, your business can leverage cloud-based project management apps such as Basecamp, Asana, and Trello for the same purposes and more. Project management apps enable you to run a project online with no team member limit.

Here are some of the things you can do with a project management app:

• Assign a specific task to a team member or group of people complete with instructions.
• Provide updates on the task in real time, reducing the need to hold meetings and print reports.
• Create a calendar of their own timelines which can be viewed by members from other departments which helps keep everyone involved on the same page.
• Prioritize specific tasks and set deadlines for every part of a project. This lets members identify which tasks to work on first and how much time they have so that projects can move according to schedule.

With project management applications, you can reduce paper use while improving your project’s efficiency.

2. Adopt Electronic Payroll

Nearly half of small businesses pay an average of $850 per year to fix payroll issues, such as missed payments or tax penalties. Reduce the likelihood of errors and go paperless at the same time by using a reliable payroll software.

Instead of tracking employee hours worked, computing salary, and filing taxes manually, payroll software lets you to automate these tasks while reducing paper use and eliminating human error. In addition, the software can also pay employees via direct deposit, saving your accounting department the hassle of making a trip to the bank every pay day or having to print checks.

Your employees stand to benefit as well. Many electronic payroll software have employee self service features. Employees can log in to access their payroll data online using any device. They can view their personal details, direct deposit information, tax deductions, and pay stubs. This gives employees more privacy and security over their personal details and compensation information.

3. Switch to Google Business Suite

Google offers amazing cloud-based apps that can help you significantly reduce paper consumption, including the following:

• Google Mail & Chat – Use for online communication with employees and customers. No need to print and send memos.
• Google Documents – Scrap paper use by collaborating, storing, and managing files electronically.
• Google Sheets – Save more paper by using Google’s spreadsheet functions for database management, charts, scheduling, audits, and feedback forms.

A personal Google account is free, but most businesses will want to get a G Suite business account, and the pricing starts at $5 per user. Included in the cost is a business email account (e.g. JaneDoe@ABCCompany.com).

Google Suite, which is used by 3 million businesses, enables your employees to access data anywhere with an Internet connection. With G suite, you don’t have to pay for licenses, as you would have to if you used word processing software and email clients. In addition, all of your data are saved on the cloud so you don’t have to worry about backing up your system

4. Digitize Receipts & Invoices

Another way to purge paper from your business is by going digital with receipts and invoices. You can start by offering customers the options to get receipts in digital format. Square’s Point of Sale, for example, allows you to send receipts online or via text. This gives your customer the advantage of saving the transaction record for future reference instead of throwing it in the trash.

While you’re at it, ask your suppliers to issue digital receipts/invoices as well. They can send their invoice to you via email. You can create a dedicated email account for this purpose or store electronic invoices in your accounting software program.

5. Store Data in the Cloud

Research reveals that companies spend around $25,000 to fill file cabinets with documents and another $2,000 annually to maintain and safeguard that information. Your business can do away with such expenses while going paperfree by switching to cloud storage. Cloud-based platforms like Dropbox and Google offer massive storage capabilities with an option to organize your files into separate folders.

Best of all, these cloud-based platforms are free up to a certain storage limit. For instance, Dropbox offers 2GB of free storage per user, which is usually enough for text files and images. You can even earn more space by referring friends, family, and coworkers.

6. Invest in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software

A CRM is powerful software with a broad set of applications that can reduce your company’s reliance on paper to store internal and external documents. 

Popular CRMs in the market offer the following features:

• Storage of customer data and customer interaction
• Storage and management of employee details
• Management of leads
• Assignment of tasks
• Management of vendor and affiliate data
• Project and task management
• Storage of company documents such as contracts and invoices

In addition, you can use your CRM with other apps discussed in this article. For example, you can save the links of Google Documents and Google Sheets on your CRM. You can also attach digital receipts for storage and easier tracking to projects within your CRM. With your data stored online, all you need is an Internet connection, and you can access it anytime from anywhere.

7. Move Your Marketing Strategy Online 

You don’t need to print mountains of paper to reach your customers. According to Harvard Business Review research, online and email marketing are cheaper but just as effective as direct mail marketing campaigns.

Direct mail campaigns can cost as much as $10 per customer when you factor in design and printing costs. In contrast, you can set a daily budget as low as $5 when you advertise on Facebook, and the average cost each time a user clicks on your ad on Google is just $0.58. Several popular email marketing platforms, such as MailChimp, are completely free for a basic account. Plus, both Facebook and Google offer remarketing campaigns where your ads are shown only to users who have previously visited your site. This is a powerful feature that no print ad can offer.

Conclusion

Going paperless is healthy for both the environment and your business. You save trees by eliminating paper consumption. Furthermore, investing in online software and applications such as G suite, CRM, and email marketing keeps your business competitive while driving down operating costs. There’s a lot of incentive for you to take the paperless route now.

The post 7 Ways to Make Your Business Completely Paper-Free appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The good news is that it is easier to obtain financing for an established business than it is for startups. However, there are many stable companies that neglect the importance of additional funding and choose not to grow, either because they are satisfied with their current success or they don’t know how to invest the additional capital.

To help, below are six reasons why a successful company should get additional financing:

1. Expand Inventory

A growing business needs to expand inventory to keep up with increased demand from customers. If you have demand that is larger than your supply of inventory, you can use financing to purchase more inventory and meet that consumer demand. This helps reduce the risk of not fulfilling your customers’ needs and leaving money on the table.

It is also good to take advantage of the buying seasons, such as Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, and a seasonal inventory expansion is sometimes necessary. Further, you can expand your inventory to increase your product lines. Offering various types of products and items that can cater to different kinds of customers is can be good for your business.

2. Invest in Marketing

Marketing sustains a business and helps a company increase its sales and customer retention. In fact, most successful companies invest in marketing and continue to do so regardless of size. From marketing campaigns, to social media advertising, to connecting with influencers, marketing can take your business to the next level.

You typically have to invest in marketing upfront in order to see a return later. This is why you need financing to help fund your marketing initiatives. It is an investment that can provide your business with long term benefits, which include strengthening your business reputation, increasing your customer base, and bettering your sales with existing customers.

3. Build Your Dream Team

Building your dream team takes a lot of effort and requires an upfront financial investment. However, you can take your business a long way if you are able hire the right people. A growing business needs individuals with different skillsets to sustain its progress, and this could be a lot of work to just put on a few individuals.

To build a winning team, you have to identify what skills your business needs, then find the right people with that skillset who share your passion and vision. This requires working capital for salary and wages as well as taxes and healthcare. Also, before an employee can become a productive member of the team, you have to train them. It is therefore a good idea to use financing to fund the initial hires since it requires upfront capital before you see a return.

4. Acquire New Equipment

Every growing business needs to invest in its productivity. This includes acquiring new assets, building new facilities, and updating technology. If your business uses equipment for its day-to-day operations, it is important to ensure that its up-to-date, efficient, and reliable. Outdated machinery may cause inefficiencies and cost you more money in the long run.

Your successful company will benefit if you invest more funds in acquiring new equipment with greater productivity. After all, new equipment encourages growth. While the amount of money needed to acquire new equipment may be significant, it will typically pay for itself over time. Often, a good way to acquire new equipment is by leasing it, financing it through a dealer, or using an equipment financing company.

5. Buy Commercial Real Estate

As your business grows, so does your need for a bigger space. If you are leasing a property for your business, it’s about time to consider buying your own commercial property. If you plan to stay in the same location for more than 7 years, investing in your own commercial real estate might be a better option than leasing.

The money that you spend for a lease is an expense with no chance of a return on investment. However, when you buy your own property, you can pay down your company’s equity and then either sell the property or rent it out later. If you decide to sell, you will recoup your initial investment and possibly earn a return that increases your company’s cash flow, or it can serve as an additional income if you lease it out.

6. Refinance Business Debt

Additional financing is also important if you have existing business loans that you want to consolidate or refinance. If you are looking to increase your company’s growth, refinancing business loans is a critical step, especially when you’re struggling with your monthly payments. A refinance is a good way to help you get better loan terms.

When finding a lender to refinance your existing business loans, make sure that you compare their rates and terms and choose the one that will work to your company’s advantage. Do your research and read about in-depth comparisons for different lenders. Be wary about every small detail, especially when it comes to qualification requirements, interest rates and costs, repayment terms, and how long it takes to fund the loan.

Bottom Line

A successful and growing business needs financing to funds its growth. Additional working capital is necessary for companies that are planning to expand their business operations. You should not let growth opportunities come to pass just because you think your company is already successful and stable enough.

The post 6 Reasons To Get Additional Financing For Your Successful Business appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What You Should Outsource:

1. Hiring

Recruiting high-caliber talent may look easy on paper but in reality, it is a particularly daunting task. Star employees are often occupied and well-compensated. If someone happens to be available, expect stiff competition from other companies.

A third party recruitment agency saves you time and money. They’ve put in the legwork so they already know who’s qualified and who’s available. In addition, most agencies are paid on a commission basis. You get the talent first before parting with your investment.

2. Bookkeeping and Payroll

Hiring an internal bookkeeper might not be enough to keep your finances on track especially if your company is growing. Outsourcing this operation takes a lot off your plate, freeing you to focus on what you do best. Established payroll firms have the latest technologies and best practices as part of their arsenal. You will not only get your accounting expedited but you can also expect it to be virtually risk-free.

3. Social Media

While you should not outsource your brand identity, engaging your market via social media is a time consuming endeavor. Outsourcing this task to an agency or a freelancer with social media expertise should keep your followers engaged while giving a boost to your brand’s online presence.

4. Secretarial Tasks

Appointment setting, encoding, lead generating, and other administrative functions can be outsourced to a qualified remote assistant or contractor. It is a cost-efficient move that can help streamline daily operations.

What You Should Not Outsource:

1. Core Functions

The first step in identifying what to outsource is determining your core competencies. These are the functions that enable your company to deliver a unique value to your market. You never want to outsource these activities for the following reasons:

• Your company fails to learn from experience.

When you outsource a core competency, you get a short-term relief at the cost of missing a good opportunity to grow and develop your expertise.

• It does not contribute to the team’s morale.

If another agency delivers the goods for you, your team will not feel a sense of accomplishment. You may shower the team with money but studies have shown that employees with a sense of purpose are more productive and have higher retention rates.  

• Your company becomes isolated.

Business is all about forging connections. If you outsource your unique service, the third party contractor is the one building connections with your client, not you. The highly competitive nature of business might eventually tempt your contractor to go after your client.

2. Customer Service

While many businesses currently outsource their customer service, it isn’t always the best move for your business. If done correctly, outsourcing your customer service can bring tons of value to your business. If done incorrectly, poor experiences between your customers and your outsourced support can lead to bad reviews and bad word of mouth for your business.

An alternative to outsourcing your customer service is chatbots. Chatbots are able to provide a consistent customer service experience and handle basic support tasks. You can also quickly give additional tasks to chatbots that might otherwise take a while to train an outsourced team to do. Using a chatbot platform can enable you to build your own chatbot for your business.

3. Content Creation

While many suggest outsourcing content creation for cost-efficiency, it is a good idea to keep this function in-house. Nobody knows your business like you and your team do so you want to push content that reflects your identity, whether you blog about a learning experience with an irate customer or post a photo of your team’s quirky side.

Experienced remote assistants may help you craft your message but the voice must come from within. You want your audience to be receptive to your brand’s unique identity. Churning recycled content may look like a step toward that goal but it’s actually two steps back.

4. Termination

George Clooney’s character in the movie Up in the Air may give the appearance that termination management by a third party is common practice nowadays. However, it is not. Robert Pagliarini of CBS News writes “ultimately a manager (and potential leader) needs to be able to meet face to face with their employees and deliver both good and bad news.” A number of HR functions can be delegated but dismissals should be done internally with respect.  

In Conclusion

Peter Drucker challenged business owners when he said “do what you do best and outsource the rest!”  Outsourcing remains a hotly debated topic but this article should help you distinguish the tasks that can be delegated from the tasks that should remain in-house.

The post 4 Tasks You Should Outsource For Your Business [+ 4 You Shouldn’t] appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

For entrepreneur seeking loans, an SBA loan sounds appealing. The SBA, or the Small Business Administration, is a taxpayer-funded, government-run center to assist, develop and grow small businesses nationwide. The SBA offers a range of loans for small business owners. But is taking out an SBA loan the best idea for your startup?

SBA Loan Requirements

The SBA itself does not offer loans. Rather, it partners with banks, credit unions, community development organizations and similar groups to offer loans. The difference between SBA loans and traditional small business loans offered through the same lender is that with SBA loans, the SBA guarantees part of the repayment. This takes some of the burden off of the lender and encourages them to take more risks with the entrepreneurs seeking their help.

Time to Take Out a Business Loan. Once you have implemented these tips and found an option you like, you should research the business loan requirements and finally apply. Good luck, and don’t let bad credit stop you from starting your business.

There are many types of SBA loans, each with their own requirements. In general, SBA loans require the following:

1. Personal background check: The lender will most likely conduct a personal background check, even if you own a corporation. This is to ensure that there is nothing in your personal history that warns them you won’t repay the loan or act irresponsibly with the money. Background checks include where you have lived, other names you may have used, criminal background checks, education record, etc.
2. Resume: Some lenders will request a copy of your resume. They may verify previous employment.
3. Business plan: All lenders require a formal, written business plan before they’ll even consider your loan request. They want to know the details of what they are potentially investing in, so have your business plan, including estimated budget, prepared before applying for a loan.
4. Credit report: Lenders will check your personal credit history, so it’s a good idea to run your own credit history report before meeting with the loan officer.
5. Business credit report: Businesses, like people, have a credit history. Banks will check into your business’ credit history before considering SBA loans, if your business has at least some track record.
6. Income tax returns: You’ll be required to submit both personal and business tax returns for the past three years before applying for an SBA loan.
7. Financial statements: Many lenders require that anyone with 20% or more stake in a business submit their financial statements as part of the loan package.
8. Collateral: Many lenders require you to pledge some form of collateral, so decide in advance what this might be.
9. Legal documents: Legal documents that will accompany your loan package include the articles of incorporation for your company, licenses and registration, franchise agreements, and any other documents pertaining to your business.

You should also be prepared to answer questions such as:

• Why do you want a loan?
• How will the loan be used?
• What other business debts do you have?
• Who else is on your management team?

Is an SBA Loan Right for a Startup?

SBA loans are a mixed blessing. For some startups, they are a great options. Many entrepreneurs find that traditional loans aren’t available to them. They may have poor credit, past business failures, or other problems. SBA loans may be open to them even when other doors are closed.

Women and minority-owned businesses may find SBA loans easier to acquire. Because the SBA is a government-run agency, the government sets the lending policies, and they tend to favor small businesses owned by minorities. If you are in this category, and you meet the other lending requirements specified by the SBA, you may find that an SBA loan is good choice for your startup.

Individuals with bad credit ratings who struggle to find a lender willing to consider their application may find a more willing listener with the SBA-inspired loans. Although a credit score of 680 and higher is necessary or recommended for several SBA loan categories, some consider a credit score of 660 or less.

Individual lenders who work with SBA loans may also be more open to dealing with individuals with poor credit histories if they are willing to offer additional collateral or other information to guarantee the loan.

Try an SBA Loan: Find Your Lender

If you meet the extensive criteria outlined for an SBA loan, it may be a good option for your business. Entrepreneurs who wish to expand or who need capital to see them through a tight period can find no better friend than the banks and lenders who partner with the SBA to offer loans.

The post Are SBA Loans the Best for Your Startup? appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

1. Improve Employee Relations Within Your Team

Having the option of talking to your fellow employees can really bump up the feeling of being included in your team. There’s no need to feel alienated when you have access to communication with people you work with. Building that sort of rapport leads to happier employees who feel like they’re really part of something that is making a difference, which then brings them to be more productive. People who like each other will find working together far easier than two people who have no connection with each other, so establishing better relations among your employees is definitely something that is worth spending money on.

2. Get Everyone on the Same Page

Using a business messaging app ensures that everyone is on the same page, and we mean everyone! When working with your team members, especially those who are off-site, it’s important to relay the information they need to know in a way that’s easily tracked. This can be done through group chat sessions where everyone who needs to know something new gets the information instantly.

The “easily tracked” part comes from the nature of instant messages wherein you are capable of going back to previous messages sent, keeping all conversations on record so you know exactly what was said, by whom, and when!

3. Save Time, Space, and Money

A messaging app eliminates the need to make any long-distance phone calls, allowing you to communicate with whomever you need to talk to in real time at a fraction of the cost! It also reduces the necessity for long, arduous meetings, saving you time as well as money needed to travel from one place to the other just to meet with clients or team members. Long email threads are also a thing of the past with business messaging apps, saving you precious server space.

4. Stay Connected Wherever You Are

If you have a team that mostly works remotely, it’s important that everyone stays in touch to really have the feeling of being part of a team. Business messaging apps make it easy for your employees, no matter how far around the world they are, to stay in touch with you, and for you to keep tabs on them. This is one of the most popular reasons why business owners reach for business messaging apps. It helps everyone stay connected, bridging the gap of time and space and making sure that all your employees are working exactly the way you want them to.

5. Keep Organized

Some business messaging apps have handy built-in features that help you track how things are going with your team. One of the most popular messaging apps, Slack, has to-do lists you can use to check the progress of important tasks. This is great for people who love to check off things on lists to get a real sense of accomplishment! You can also pin messages to different channels so that everyone can keep easy reference of reminders and assignments. This helps everyone keep on top of everything that needs to be done, so there’s no possibility of forgetting to complete a task. Business messaging apps help you take charge of your work processes and stay organized!

6. Be Safe

Unlike traditional messenger apps, business messaging apps have extra security measures installed to keep your data protected from possible breaches. You can rest assured knowing that your company’s secrets are kept as they should be–secret, and that you are paying for excellent service that keeps your communication lines with your colleagues safe on all levels.

Bottom Line

Ultimately, getting a messaging app made for business will cost you a bit of money, but it’s an investment that will boost morale and productivity, keep everyone up-to-date on what’s going on within the company, and save you time and resources. Not only that, but you also get the ability to stay in touch with colleagues from all over the planet, keep organized with built-in features, and maintain security. That’s more than enough reason to look into it, and with so many options, you’re bound to find a messaging app that will fit your needs.

The post 6 Ways Business Messaging Apps Benefit Your Business appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Though this answer seems simple on the surface, there are a lot of details that can make or break your customer relationships. A poor customer experience not only sends a customer running to the nearest competitor, but it can even spread a bad name for you across social media – because after all, who doesn’t turn to Facebook to vent about a stressful experience? Here we’ve assembled some of the top ways to build strong relationships with your customers so that you can create a loyal clientele and a positive company image.

Train Your Employees

Are your employees friendly and helpful, with excellent communication skills and a knack for problem solving? Are they experts on all your products and services? Do they have a good working knowledge of all your policies and procedures so that they don’t accidentally mislead customers? Thoroughly training salespeople and/or customer service representatives is the first place to start if you’re aiming to build better customer relationships.

Your employees are the face of your company; respectful representatives will help create an approachability that facilitates these connections. Additionally, your employees’ knowledge and experience lets your customers know that they can trust your expertise. Keep your employees apprised of every change in your products and procedures so that they can convey the most up-to-date information. You may even want to implement regular training sessions to discuss communication techniques so that employees are constantly improving their relationship skills.

Listen to Complaints

One of the biggest strains on a relationship occurs when one party spends too much time talking and not enough time listening. This is true across the board, but it’s especially meaningful when you’re dealing with customer relationships. Your customers want to know that you take their concerns seriously. By sympathetically listening to their needs and complaints, you advance the trust that’s so critical to all company-customer relationships.

When a customer approaches you with a grievance, start by listening attentively. But don’t just listen – assure your customer that appropriate action will be taken to remedy the problem. If their issue is significant, offer a discount on a future purchase or some other kind of “peace offering” to smooth things over, then follow up a couple weeks later to ensure that they are satisfied with how you resolved their problem.

Stay in Touch by Using a CRM

Customer Relationship Management systems (or CRM’s for short) are another handy tool in your relationship-building tool belt. A CRM can help you keep track of your customers, their information, and any communication you’ve had with them. This helps you stay organized so that if you do reach out with a phone call, you’re not repeating any information they’ve heard before.

A CRM also keeps your employees on the same page, as they each log communications in the database for better coordination. This prevents any mix-up that could cause a customer to be overlooked or bombarded with phone calls. Timing your communication is a critical aspect of fostering customer relationships, so implement a CRM to ensure that your phone calls are prompt but not excessive.

Reward Loyal Customers

Do you have customers that purchase from you regularly? Show them how much you appreciate their business by offering them a reward for their loyalty. Relationships need to be nurtured; you can’t simply woo your customer to get them in the door and then cease all efforts on your part. Continue to win them by giving them valuable incentives to remain with your company.

There are many ways to reward customer loyalty. Some companies make use of point systems (i.e., if you spend X dollars you earn points that earn you free or discounted products), while others go the more straightforward route of charging a flat-fee VIP program that gives members exclusive benefits. Whatever method you choose, be sure that the rewards you offer are valuable to your customers but are still profitable enough that they don’t put you into negative numbers.

Fostering healthy, lasting relationships with your customers is no easy task. It takes continual maintenance and attention. However, the effort you put into keeping open lines of communication will pay off in the long run, as your satisfied customers turn into brand promoters and loyal, lifelong customers.

The post How to Build Better Relationships with Your Customers appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Many people believe that excess inventory is less costly than running out of a product. However, keeping too much of a slow-moving item can increase your company’s overhead costs and erode your profitability.

On the other hand, too little inventory means failing to meet and maximize the demand for your products. This will impact your top-line negatively. You also risk customer wrath, or even worse — the loss of your customer’s lifetime business with your company. This eats up your salespeople’s time, energy, and morale. Now they must deal with agitated clients and unmet sales targets.

Remember that your customer service is closely tied to your organization’s capability of fulfilling your customer’s requirements efficiently and correctly.

How do you create an inventory system that can result in a win-win-win situation for your customers, your warehousing department, and your salespeople? One of the most important keys to good inventory management is data.

In this article, we’ll go through the six ways you can use data to always have the optimal level of inventory.

6 Ways to Prevent Running Out of Inventory

1. Use historical sales data to predict purchasing trends.

Sales reports can summarize each SKU’s offtake on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. You can then use this information to make decent projections of the quantity you need. Employees also know when you need certain items.

Take note of seasonality, as well as expected highs and lows. Do you experience spikes during month-end? Is there a certain day of the week when your customers usually replenish their stocks? How much additional sales does the holiday rush contribute to your product line? After the season, when should you start trimming down your order quantities?

Historical sales data will also reveal which items are your bestsellers. These are the items that make the bulk of your sales. Make sure you keep a close eye on these items. Review and order them more frequently, if needed.

2. Use software to keep track of real-time inventory levels.

Keeping track of the current inventory that you have on hand will help you decide whether or not it is time to place a new order. It’s important to have a point person to review your inventory levels for each item regularly. That way, you can take prompt action especially during unexpected surges in demand.

If you have a big portfolio of items, manually counting each item every day would be an incredibly time-consuming task. Likewise, it’s prone to human error.

To minimize these potential problems, it’s a good idea to have inventory management software to help you keep track. All-in-one POS software systems have a range of features that can make the process easier for small business owners.

Of course, you still need to check your inventory record versus your actual quantities. Do this periodically to avoid and address discrepancies between the two.

3. Keep lead time in mind when calculating when and how much to reorder.

Different suppliers have varying order-to-delivery lead times. Lead time is the number of days/weeks/months from when an order is placed to when the item reaches your warehouse.

If a particular vendor has a long lead time, make sure that you take this into consideration when replenishing your inventory. Keep in mind that it’s important to negotiate for a shorter lead time. Do this in order to minimize the amount of inventory you need to keep in your warehouse.

If you are a manufacturer, there is also the production lead time to add to the equation. This is simply the number of days it takes to produce your item in your factory (or third-party manufacturer).

4. Set a minimum inventory level to know when it’s time to reorder.

You need to reorder your items when they reach the minimum inventory level so that you do not run out of inventory.

When determining your minimum inventory level, it should not be some magic number that you just pulled out of a hat. Rather, it should be based on your projected sales quantity for a certain number of days. It definitely should not be less than your supplier and production lead time combined.

An illustration might help. If you sell 300 pieces of your product every 30 days, that means your average daily sales is 10 pieces per day. Assuming your supplier lead time is 15 days, then your minimum stock level should be at least 150 pieces (10 pieces x 15 days).

If you are a manufacturer and it takes 5 days to produce your finished product, then you have to add 50 pieces (10 pieces x 5 days), for a total of 200 pieces minimum stock level.

5. Include market trends and projected brand performance into your equation.

Take note of your industry’s outlook and factor in expected growth and decline in your ordering and inventory management.

Are you going to launch a marketing campaign and you’re bullish about your brand’s increased sales? Make sure that your inventory level is enough to meet the spike in demand.

6. Know your warehouse’s capacity and partner with a third-party logistics (3PL) company, if needed.

As your business grows, you will need to order more stocks of your products or raw materials. However if your warehouse capacity is limited, the lack of space might be a challenge for you.

If investing in additional warehouse or personnel is not yet feasible for your company, a fantastic practical option is working with a third party logistics (3PL) company. These companies offer order fulfillment services that can help you save time, energy, and money.

Inventory Management Formula

This is a proven ordering formula. It can work for any kind of business, with some minor tweaks based on your SKU types and industry.

• Total Days = The number of days you want to keep in inventory + supplier and production lead time + buffer days for a possible increase in offtake or unexpected delays.
• Order Quantity = (Average sales per day x total days) – inventory on hand.

Keep in mind that the above formula does not take into account the following:

• Customer order to delivery lead time.
• Shelf life of SKU’s or raw materials.
• Minimum order quantity (MOQ).
• Bulk discounts from suppliers.
• Box, pallet, and finished products sizes and weight.

Bottom Line

When you run out of inventory, you disappoint your customers and give your competitors the chance to snatch them from you.

Keep in mind that some upset clients will never come back to do business with your company ever again. As a result, make it your goal to have a healthy inventory level at all times.

The post How to Make Sure You Never Run Out of Inventory appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Point being: You need to have a great website made by the best Dallas web design company or anywhere else where you prefer. But building a website can be a costly, difficult process if you don’t know what you’re doing, and it’s very easy to wind up with a design you’re unhappy with.

That’s why we’ve put together this simple outline of the basic steps of getting your website off and running. Here are some thing you’ll need to take care of, in the rough order that you’ll probably need to do them.

Finding a domain name

This can be the easiest part of creating the website, or one of the hardest, depending on whether or not the name you’re looking for has already been taken, and whether it has any solid variants.  If neither of those things are an issue, then the process is no more complicated that picking a domain name provider that works for you–from GoDaddy.com to NameCheap.com–and buying it. Usually you can choose to re-up your purchase once every year or every two years.

If many of the names you wanted are taken however, there is another track you can take. The first is to not get a “.com”, but to get something like a “.biz” or a “.org”. Many organizations do this to get the domain name they wanted while only having to change the last portion of the url, and it’s likely to be the most effective way to deal with this issue. Beyond that, you’ll simply have to get creative with your domain until you find one that fits.

Finding a web host

What exactly is a web host? Many people confuse a domain provider with a web host, and while they sometimes overlap, that’s usually not the case.

It’s probably best to explain it like this: The domain name is the name of your storefront. Your online storefront is your website, and the web host is the plot of land your storefront sits on. If this is all sounding confusing, don’t worry. Many web-building platforms now offer to host your site on their servers, or will have an easy way to have your site hosted on someone else’s.

Since you’ll most likely be going this route (it’s the most affordable/easiest for small business), let’s talk about some standard website building platforms.

Choosing a web-building platform

This is arguably the most important part of the process. There are many different platforms available for building a website, and many more people willing to make one for you. How do you pick the best one for your needs?

Well, first things first. No matter whether or not you have someone build your website or you take care of it from scratch, you should be able to easily change basic features on your website without involving someone else. Too often small business owners have someone build their website, only to realize they need to call the programmer every time they want to make a small change because the back-end is a mess, or they just don’t have the basic web skills to make it happen.

If you choose to have someone build your website, don’t be tempted to pick someone who designs decent websites mainly because they are cheap. Many “decent” sites can be a nightmare behind the scenes, and the second most important thing besides an attractive storefront is making sure the back is easy to navigate.

Designing the Website

Once you have your platform picked, now comes the hard work of designing an attractive storefront. This means taking care of everything to the basic design and visual aspects of the site, to how the pages layout, to even creating your logo. Depending on the complexity and how you’re creating the website, it can take anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months to get it in a position where it’s user-friendly and ready to go. With the increase in popularity of websites nowadays, more and more businesses are striving to find that expert Website Design Agency that will be able to provide them with a professional-looking website that is sure to catch the attention of clients both old and new. There are lots of different websites popping up the internet and with the demand steadily increasing; competition among all the website design agencies is fierce.

Driving Traffic to the Website

After you’ve done the hard work of getting your website is up and running, it’s time to get people to actually SEE it. There are plenty of ways to do this but the general version is that you’ll be using either organic or paid means to drive traffic.

Some good, low-cost options for driving traffic include advertising/growing social communities, using the google ad network, doing content marketing (i.e. creating your own blogs or other content and promoting it) as well as networking/linking with other complimentary businesses (for instance, if you run a motel, do a cross promotion with a local eatery to encourage your guests to go to and vice versa). You should design a traffic plan that matches the needs of your business, as not all methods will have success depending on what you are.

After all of this, your small business website should be ready for prime-time. If you’re looking for more information on how to drive traffic, take a look at some of our other articles specifically on driving your website traffic.

The post Building a Website from Scratch – 5 Things You Should Know appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

How you sell has changed too. Where once you were limited to just what brick-and-mortar stores sold in your area, you now have virtually unlimited options to choose from online. And having to know how to code a website is no longer a barrier to selling products online: sites like Shopify help you not only sell on your website and on social media. You can use a tiny card swiper affixed to your phone rather than wrangle with a giant merchant card processing device. Technology is making it more affordable — not to mention easier — to sell these days. It has become easy to become a Reseller for big brands as well.

So much has changed for the better in terms of how to sell your products, but if you’re still using outdated techniques, you may be struggling to succeed. So let’s look at how you can master becoming a modern day sales nomad.

Have a Command Center for Sales

For years, online sellers struggled with merchant services that were add-ons to regular websites, and they were always a bit difficult to manage. Now that we have tools like Shopify, the ecommerce selling process has gotten so much easier.

Not only can you custom design a website that actually looks professional (with zero design skills), you can also accept credit and debit card payments, look at detailed sales reports, and manage inventory. Everything you need, from managing returns to calculating shipping, is baked into one easy-to-use platform.

Read Your Customers’ Minds

Another way sales have become easier is the amount of data we now have access to regarding our customers. Those sales reports, along with website analytics, and behavior marketing trends, tell you exactly what your customers are doing, which helps you predict their next move.

Let’s say you send promotional emails to customers every week, and you notice a high number of people clicking the link to your newest watch design landing page. This could compel you to mark that watch down to boost sales of it.

Or your website analytics tell you that many people are visiting a particular product’s page, but when they see you’re out of the black option, they leave. Clearly you need to reorder the black option of that product!

Paying attention to what your customers are doing can help you position your products in a way that will boost sales.

Creating Relationships with Customers is Easier than Ever

No longer do you have to jot down notes on your customers so you can pretend to remember their preferences. Customer relationship software — or CRM — lets you record customer data such as contact info, product preferences, and even social media profiles.

It also helps you track leads so nothing falls through the cracks. Some CRM platforms let you assign tasks to your sales team and track milestones so that every lead is maximized.

Another way to build relationships with customers is by interacting with them on social media. Having an active LinkedIn profile (or any other social profile) and connecting with your leads and customers gives you the opportunity to build dialogue with them, as well as support them by sharing their content and commenting on it. You can effectively build a relationship with your target audience without ever meeting them face-to-face.

Mobile: Being There When It Counts

One of the best selling tools for brick-and-mortar businesses these days is mobile marketing, specifically push notifications. If a customer is within half a mile of your shop, for example, you can push a coupon to pop up on her phone, compelling her to stop in and take advantage of it.

Push notifications also serve as regular reminders so that customers don’t forget about you! Coupons, gentle nudges, and reminders about events keep customers engaged and visiting your store on a more regular basis.

Part of being a modern day sales nomad is understanding that the sales environment has changed. Consumers won’t stand for pushy salespeople or selfish agendas. They want brands that care about their needs and that will cater to them. Be willing to adapt to better appeal to today’s customer, and you’ll become an ace at selling in today’s savvy and tech-driven market.

The post How to Become a Modern Day Sales Nomad appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What is VoIP

voice over ip line is a technology which enables you to make phone calls over the internet as opposed to using traditional phone lines. Rather than having to worry about long distance charges and other hefty costs, many VoIP services enable you to make cheap phone calls for either pennies on the dollar, or a low flat rate. A few other helpful features provided by these voice services include voicemail, call waiting, call forwarding, a web based control panel, voicemail received as email, and much more.

One of the primary requirements for VoIP systems are a high speed internet connection such as Cable, DSL, T1, or even satellite connections. Aside from that, you might need an adapter, but that’s about it.

Assess your business needs

Unlike landlines and traditional phone services which require you to fit a standard mold, VoIP systems are engineered to work around your needs. Below is just a brief sampling of the configuration options you can choose from when purchasing VoIP services.

Freelancers

If you’re a freelancer working at home, your VoIP connection will likely share a digital line with your internet connection. Business phone lines should always have a dedicated internet connection or else calls might become garbled when people are streaming media, playing games, or just browsing the web on their computers. If you live in a rural area, you should look into whether the connection relies on the internet or goes straight to the phone provider. While a direct connection is likely to be more expensive, the quality is going to be noticeably better.

Startups

When you’re in the startup stages, doing more with less often is one of the biggest challenges you can face in your day to day operations. With VoIP systems, if you’re just starting out, you might want to consider only using software phones (e.g. apps for mobile devices or calling through the computer), or you can also purchase a couple of standard household phones and connect them to your system. Just remember that you should have at least one line for each phone along with an extra for customers who are placed on hold.

Businesses

In addition to the previously mentioned features and functionality, a key staple of business VoIP systems is the prescience of a PBX (Private Branch Exchange) system. With a PBX, your business is able to route calls from a central receptionist and make it possible for multiple people to use the same phone lines (helpful if you have ten employees or so and only five lines). Additionally, the systems enable employees to forward calls to other extensions and place customers on hold as needed.

How VoIP compares to alternatives

As per some of the VoIP providers calling via internet is much cheaper and easier Compared to landlines, VoIP systems are noticeably cheaper than comparative landline packages. For example, some estimates put the cost of five VoIP lines (with call waiting, caller ID, call forwarding) at $232.92/month while a similar configuration from a traditional landline provider can cost $467.20 a month. On average you can expect VoIP services to cost between $30 to $60 a month depending on the features along with taxes.  

Budget Friendly VoIP Options

The great thing about VoIP technologies today are that there’s a variety of options to fit virtually any budget out there. Most providers price subscriptions on a per-line basis at an average cost of $30 to $60 a month after taxes and fees are added. VoIP phone headsets can run from $50 on the low end to a few hundred dollars depending on the features you require.  There’s no installation costs associated with these services since they’re an additional layer on top of your internet connection.

If you’re looking to use VoIP for freelance operations or as a solopreneur, a good starter option for you is to setup Google Voice. The main reason for this is mainly because it enables you to easily add a second number to your mobile devices. You can even take calls through your laptop or tablet if the need ever arises. Google Voice is free to use however it’s not designed to replace your existing phone service. Rather it’s designed to enable you to take calls via existing connections.

Scaling to Your Needs

As mentioned earlier, VoIP systems are engineered to fit your needs rather than the other way around. With this in mind, you can start small with a couple of lines and scale up as needed. Most services use simple per-line pricing so you’ll never have to worry again about unexpected costs.

The post How to Setup VoIP on a Budget – Internet Telephony appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

But what if your business still uses a lot of outdated tools and machines that prevent your employees from doing their job faster and easier?

Below are some outdated office supplies that you should get rid of in today’s highly connected business landscape and our suggested useful alternatives for your consideration.

Fax machines

Ever heard of emails? Sending files nowadays is ideally done virtually. Not only are emails more reliable, you are also able to retain the quality of the files that you are sending. However, some clients still prefer to receive documents through a fax machine.

If you need to do so, you might want to consider using fax cover sheet templates to make your document more presentable and send it through an online fax service instead so you won’t need to use an actual machine.

CDs and USBs

Apart from occupying physical space and having a high chance of getting lost in your sea of other CDs and USBs, these two storage devices are not the most reliable when it comes to storing large files for a long period of time. Ever opened your USB after a long time and found out that it is corrupted with no way of retrieving your important files? Nowadays, there’s a lot of storage solutions available online such as Google Drive and Dropbox – and they provide a pretty large  virtual space, too! The next time you want to store something or share files with someone else, try uploading your files online and just send the link to your colleague. It makes retrieving your files in the future easier as well.

Post-its

Still using actual post-its for reminders and task lists? Why not try online sticky notes that you can access online anytime, anywhere? You can easily cross out tasks done after accomplishing them even when you are using a different computer or device. The best thing? You’ll help save a lot of trees in the process!

Landlines

In today’s evolving business landscape, accomplishing daily tasks sometimes require you to pick up the phone and get in touch with someone from the other side of the globe. While you can still do this using old school landlines, it is sometimes unreliable and can cost you a lot of money.

Why not use cloud-based phone services or VoIP systems which can work anywhere as long as you have an internet connection? Apart from saving you some bucks, VoIP phone systems allow you to make and take calls from anywhere in the world.

Manual clock-in machine

Do you still use manual clock-in attendance machines that require your employees to put in an actual time card for it to stamp their time-in and time-out? We hope not. This is a tedious method of taking note of your employees’ attendance records as you have to go through each attendance card one by one at the end of each month. As an alternative, you can use time and attendance software which can give you better insight into your team and help you track the days and hours they are working.

Bottom Line

One of the most important factors that enables high employee productivity is a conducive and work-friendly office space. Fortunately, technology has paved the way for the creation of a lot of tools and solutions that make many job functions faster and easier.

You might just have to invest in some of them – however, it will be worth it in the long run as you’ll get better efficiency rates from your team as a result.

The post 5 Outdated Office Supplies and Their Alternatives appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.