In the quest to optimize business expense management, we’ve gathered invaluable insights from ten finance leaders, including CEOs and Presidents. They share their top software picks, from streamlining payments with Bill.com to tracking construction expenses with Buildertrend, to help you keep your company’s finances in check.

• Bill.com: Streamline Payments
• Cube: Automate FP&A Tasks
• Xero: User-Friendly Expense Management
• Oracle NetSuite: Integrated Financial Tools
• Expensify: Simplify Expense Reporting
• Excel: Customizable Financial Modeling
• SAP Concur: Automated Expense Management
• HubSpot Analytics: Marketing Expense Tracking
• QuickBooks: Comprehensive Financial Management
• Buildertrend: Construction Expense Tracking

Bill.com: Streamline Payments

One piece of financial software that has significantly helped manage business expenses is Bill.com. This platform streamlines the process of managing vendor bills and payments, offering an efficient and automated solution for handling accounts payable.

With Bill.com, our firm can easily track invoices, schedule payments, and maintain an accurate record of all transactions. The software integrates seamlessly with our existing accounting systems, reducing manual data entry and minimizing errors. Its user-friendly interface and robust features allow us to focus on strategic financial planning while ensuring timely and accurate payments to our vendors.

Jack Perkins, Founder and CEO, CFO Hub

Cube: Automate FP&A Tasks

I recommend Cube as a robust FP&A (Financial Planning & Analysis) solution that has significantly improved how we manage business expenses, as well as enhanced the efficiency and precision of our financial forecasting, budgeting, and accounting processes.

Cube integrates seamlessly with spreadsheets, which has been a game-changer for our finance team. This integration enables us to make more informed business decisions by automating time-consuming manual tasks and minimizing errors, which is crucial in finance.

With Cube, the complex and tedious activities that are typical in FP&A and accounting, like financial consolidation, are automated. This allows our finance teams to focus more on strategy, planning, and improving corporate performance. As financial professionals, we appreciate being able to continue working within the familiar environment of spreadsheets while also taking advantage of the advanced features offered by a contemporary FP&A tool.

Since Cube is based in Excel, it allows for easy adjustments and facilitates quick analyses or changes in forecast drivers. We did require some external assistance to become fully operational with it, but the benefits have far outweighed this initial hurdle.

Eric Croak, CFP, President, Croak Capital

Xero: User-Friendly Expense Management

One piece of financial software that I see significantly helping in managing business expenses is Xero. Xero is a staple for many, and for good reason.

Personally, and based on much of the feedback I’ve heard over time, Xero is indispensable for several reasons. Its user-friendly interface makes it easy to track expenses, reconcile bank statements, and generate detailed financial reports.

Additionally, Xero’s real-time data sync and integration with various third-party apps streamline processes, such as our bookkeeping methods. This helps in reducing manual entry errors and saving valuable time.

The ability to access financial data from anywhere is also great, as that improves our efficiency and responsiveness to clients’ needs.

Overall, Xero’s comprehensive features and ease of use make it a powerful tool for managing business expenses effectively, for both seasoned finance professionals and newbies alike.

Kim Maine, Chief Numbler, Numble Bookkeeping Services

Oracle NetSuite: Integrated Financial Tools

I’ve been using Oracle NetSuite in my work as a commercial lending expert, and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate its integrated financial management tools. This cloud-based software is incredible! It has real-time tracking of costs, budget creation, and financial report generation, which are absolutely essential for managing complex business operations.

One of the best parts of NetSuite is how it automates many of our financial processes. This automation not only cuts down on errors but also keeps us in line with financial regulations—a big relief for any business. I’m especially fond of the thorough analytics and the customizable dashboards. They really help me make informed decisions that are important for our company’s financial health.

What’s more, the ability to consistently integrate with various financial and banking systems has drastically improved our financial visibility and efficiency. For a pro or a large company like ours, NetSuite’s capability to handle increasing workloads and its advanced features are indispensable for boosting our business performance.

Gary Hemming, Commercial Lending Director, ABC Finance Limited

Expensify: Simplify Expense Reporting

As the founder of Leverage, managing business expenses efficiently is very important to me. One tool that’s made a huge difference for us is Expensify.

Expensify has made expense reporting and tracking so easy. Our team can just snap a photo of their receipts with the app, and it automatically sorts them into categories like meals, transportation, or lodging. This has been a lifesaver, especially when we travel for client meetings or conferences.

What I love about Expensify is how well it integrates with QuickBooks, our accounting software. This means all our expenses are accurately recorded and synced up, making our quarterly reviews a lot smoother. I can quickly pull up detailed reports on our spending and see where we might need to make some adjustments.

We’ve also customized Expensify to fit our specific needs at Leverage. We set up different categories for things like marketing expenses, client entertainment, and operational costs. This helps us keep a close eye on where our money is going.

Another big plus is how Expensify has sped up our reimbursement process. Employees submit their expenses through the app, and I can review and approve them quickly. This has made reimbursements faster and keeps everyone happy.

Rhett Stubbendeck, CEO & Co-Founder, Leverage Planning

Excel: Customizable Financial Modeling

I’ve found Excel to be a real workhorse. It’s incredibly versatile and lets you customize things exactly for your business. You can build models for cash flow, valuations, profit and loss, balance sheets—the whole gamut. While there are definitely other options out there, the beauty of Excel is that you can set it up exactly how you need it. Manually entering expenses by category and income by invoice might sound tedious, but it really helps you understand the big picture—where your money comes from and where it goes.

For things like general ledgers and bookkeeping, I use Wave. But for tracking expenses and seeing how things are trending month to month, Excel allows for easy forecasting and lets you see if you’re hitting your targets. Plus, you can even automate some tasks with queries, making it even more efficient.

Echo Wang, CEO & Co-Founder, EpicBooks

SAP Concur: Automated Expense Management

SAP Concur has revolutionized how businesses handle travel and expense management. Its automated processes take the headache out of tracking receipts and filing reports. Instead of manually entering data, the software captures information from receipts and then automatically matches it to the corresponding expense report. This not only saves time but also reduces errors, ensuring that the financial team can focus on more strategic tasks.

Compliance is another area where SAP Concur shines. It integrates company policies directly into the expense reporting process, flagging any entries that don’t comply with the rules. This minimizes the risk of fraudulent claims and keeps everything in line with organizational standards. Streamlining these processes means that finance advisors can spend less time on administrative work and more time advising their clients or managing financial strategies.

Mary Tung, Founder & CEO, Lido.app

HubSpot Analytics: Marketing Expense Tracking

I’ve found HubSpot’s Marketing Hub to be incredibly useful for managing our marketing expenses. While it’s primarily known as a CRM and marketing platform, its built-in analytics tools have been a game-changer for tracking our digital marketing spend. I love how it breaks down our expenses by campaign, channel, and even individual content pieces. The AI-powered features help us predict ROI on future marketing investments, which is crucial for our budget planning. Plus, its integration with our other tools gives us a holistic view of how our marketing expenses translate into leads and sales.

Ryan Doser, Co-Founder, AI Insider Tips

QuickBooks: Comprehensive Financial Management

We use QuickBooks, and it has been a phenomenal system for us. One thing to note about software usage: take the time to build processes around it and really stick to them.

QuickBooks has capabilities beyond simple accounting, and we use it for bill paying and keeping track of our clients’ expenses. It has paid and unpaid versions, which also makes it great for those early entrepreneurs who are bootstrapping and need to save where their tech stack is concerned.

We have tried a number of different software for managing business expenses, and this is far and away the best. If you have passed it up thinking it is not robust enough, there are also specialists who can set it up to align specifically with your business. Give QuickBooks another look.

Matthew Capala, CEO, Alphametic

Buildertrend: Construction Expense Tracking

For our real estate investment company, we’ve found Buildertrend to be invaluable for managing renovation expenses. This construction management software has a robust financial tracking component that helps us stay on top of costs for each property we’re flipping. I particularly like how it allows us to create detailed budgets for each project and track actual expenses against our estimates in real time. The ability to categorize costs by property and type of work has given us much better insight into where our money is going. Plus, the mobile app makes it easy for our team to submit expenses and update budgets right from the job site.

Adam Seguin, Owner, Myrtle Beach Home Buyers

The post What Financial Software Helps Manage Business Expenses? appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Consider waiting for the M3 release or purchasing discounted older MacBook versions that still meet your business needs.

Microsoft has introduced its Microsoft 365 Copilot, an AI-powered tool that aims to enhance workplace productivity. Business Standard and Business Premium account users can access this next-generation AI technology for $30 per month. Microsoft 365 Copilot promises to streamline work processes, leveraging AI to automate repetitive tasks and provide intelligent suggestions.

Collaboration on “Llama 2,” the AI language model by Meta, involves both Microsoft and Meta. Developers can now access Llama 2 through Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform without any cost. The decision to open-source Llama 2 has sparked discussions due to Meta’s previous access restrictions. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, advocates open-source technology as it fosters innovation by granting more developers access to state-of-the-art tools.

If your business relies heavily on Facebook or Instagram and you’re interested in incorporating more AI functionality for your users, Llama 2 is a valuable development tool worth exploring.

EnKash, a management platform, has unveiled Olympus, a comprehensive digital payments platform designed for startups and traditional businesses. Olympus aims to simplify accounts payable (A/P) and accounts receivable (A/R) processes. EnKash recognizes the need to automate payment systems for small and mid-sized businesses that may lack resources and expertise. Olympus seamlessly integrates with existing accounting and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software.

Explore Olympus to streamline and automate your business’s A/P and A/R processing. EnKash’s solution caters to the growing digital payments landscape, particularly in Asia.

A cautionary story from Wisconsin serves as a reminder of the importance of internal controls and employee vigilance. An employee at a gas station received a call from someone posing as the owner, requesting an advance payment of $3,500 for a $14,000 delivery. Convinced by the call’s legitimacy, the employee, unable to provide the full amount, took $900 in bitcoin from a neighboring restaurant’s safe and made the instructed deposit in Green Bay. Thanks to an observant passerby who noticed a smashed window, authorities traced the call to Mexico and a Wisconsin area code.

Implement internal controls to prevent unauthorized cash transfers. Be cautious of fraudulent calls and educate your employees about potential scams.

Staying informed about the latest tech developments is crucial for small businesses seeking growth and efficiency. In this roundup, we highlighted the importance of waiting for Apple’s anticipated M3 MacBook release, Microsoft’s AI Copilot, Meta and Microsoft’s AI collaboration, EnKash’s Olympus payment platform, and the risks of fraudulent calls. Embrace technology wisely, and it will become a powerful ally in your small business journey.

FAQ

1. When is the expected release date for the M3 MacBook? The M3 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro are rumored to be released by late 2023 at the earliest.

2. How much does Microsoft 365 Copilot cost? Microsoft 365 Copilot is available for $30 per month for Business Standard and Business Premium account users.

3. What is EnKash Olympus? EnKash Olympus is a comprehensive digital payments platform designed to simplify accounts payable and accounts receivable processes for businesses.

4. How can businesses protect themselves from fraudulent calls? Implement internal controls to prevent unauthorized cash transfers and educate employees about potential scams.

5. What precautions should businesses take when considering purchasing a MacBook? Consider waiting for the release of the M3 MacBook or explore discounted older MacBook versions that still meet your business needs.

6. How can small businesses leverage AI technology? Small businesses can benefit from AI technology by automating repetitive tasks, enhancing productivity, and providing intelligent suggestions.

7. Which regions does EnKash primarily cater to? EnKash is based in India and primarily caters to businesses in Asia, tapping into the region’s growing digital payments landscape.

8. How can businesses ensure the security of their payment processes? Implement robust internal controls, such as requiring written approval from multiple parties for cash transfers, to prevent unauthorized transactions.

9. Can businesses integrate EnKash Olympus with existing accounting and ERP software? Yes, EnKash Olympus seamlessly integrates with any business’s existing accounting and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software.

First reported by Forbes.

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The online phenomenon jumped from a predicted range of a respectable, albeit mere 17.8% of the global market, into a 5.5 trillion behemoth of 21% as of 2022 with even higher projections including a 14.7% compound annual growth rate from 2020 to 2027.

Thus tapping into the eCommerce market has never been more accessible and yet, technically never more saturated. However, there are several ways to best target your market and disseminate your product and message to the many potential-adoring fans around the planet.

Beyond choosing a product, getting a domain, and setting up a website there are several key components on each that will lead to a subset of answers. Here are some of the best eCommerce platforms for your startups.

For example depending on your experience level then selling should be moved from platform to platform to set up your online business. Seems straightforward but given varying degrees of internet savvy and business acumen this can greatly vary where you fall on that x,y graph.

Shopify

In recent years Shopify has become the ideal startup site to launch your store into an online market space. It has incredible capabilities and can be tailored toward numerous business ventures and ideas. The web setup is easy and intuitive, which takes much of the guesswork and time out of the process.

Beyond the web drag-and-drop builder, there are opportunities that allow the store owner to connect apps to their store. This can be used to improve functionality and connect new features to the website. Additionally, you can sell digital products, physical products, dropshipping, and more. Even subscription plans are an open market for Shopify.

There are three main plans Lite, Basic, and Advanced totaling $9, $29, and $299 a month. The “Lite” plan allows for increased sales functionality to be run through an existing website or blog. The “Basic” plan allows for a totally new store/site to be built from scratch via the platform. The “Advanced” option allows for cuts in transaction fees, adding more staff accounts (5+), and can serve with improved shipping rate calculations.

Squarespace

Squarespace is a web-building platform that boasts a heavy visual component. There is a wide range of editing tools and software that allow for greater editing power and site impact. Additionally, Squarespace is one of the few platforms integrating CSS editing into the software allowing for unique, custom edits to be built into the site itself. Thus changing the site’s composition greatly.

However, there is currently limited app integration available to Squarespace presently, which makes diversifying your business as well as scaling a major issue on the site. Unlike Shopify however, Squarespace permits more realized capabilities more readily with its lower plans. Allowing more rapid ascension to the site’s full potential.

The pricing plans for Squarespace sit at $16 – Personal, $23 – Business, $27 – Basic Commerce, and $49 – Advanced Commerce respectively. Most features unlock at the Business Level, ($23) except it still maintains a 3% transaction fee.

Wix eCommerce

Another heavy hitter in the site building market, Wix has in recent years, built itself into a reputable eCommerce platform juggling its trademark ease of use and intuitive features with an integrated AI that focuses on optimizing your website.

While currently, there is a limited set of capabilities as far as the range of sellable items, the galleries and image capabilities of Wix match most online platforms. Given the ease of use of the site as well as its optimization features, Wix eCommerce can provide an initial edge to any business not looking to invest or spend the time to ruminate over their web’s design.

To get access to Wix eCommerce you need to upgrade beyond a typical Wix plan into a business-worthy plan, think along the lines of their “Unlimited Plan” – $22, their “Basic Business” Plan – $22, or “Business Unlimited” Plan – $32. There are other plans, but these are the cheapest and easiest for the fledgling business.

BigCommerce

This is the most scalable site constructing service which is why it is one of the best eCommerce platforms for startups. When you ultimately take your business online you need a platform that can allow for that huge growth. This means whether for rapid, short-term acceleration or for a more drawn-out metric of time.

BigCommerce, while less known than others on this list, is that site. BigCommerce is a fully integrated website builder, which means you do not have to worry about plugins as you may on other sites. This allows for the ultimate results in freedom and functional capacity. It does still, of course, offer apps for integrated actions if desired.

Like nearly all of its peers, BigCommerce has four tiers to its plan. The first tier is the simple Standard Plan – $29.95. Similar to Shopify. The next plan is the plus plan – $79.95 per month. After this, the plan is the “Pro Plan” at $299.95 monthly. And then the “Enterprise Plan” which like many others requires contacting BigCommerce for a specified quote. These prices are a little high but fall almost directly in line with Shopify. Plus, they follow a similar tier structure to nearly all other site programs.

Square Online

For the offline store moving toward an online market, Square Online is a natural choice. This site can automatically sync both online and offline orders and inventory. Small business around the world similarly uses their price syncing technologies to once again have a natural ease of transaction and commerce flow.

Of course, it still offers the option of an online store builder. With regards to this, the website designer offers all the typical features. These include blog capabilities, a customizable storefront, and customer service options.

The prices run far simpler and more competitive with three tiers: “Free” – $0, “Plus” – $29, and “Premium” – 79 USD. This is right in the typical sweet spot for this type of site and the free plan can offer the new user familiarity with the basic software and a solid buffer before they decide to up their game with a paid plan.

Branchbob

For many, price and presumed knowledge stand as the main barrier to entry among the considering entrepreneur. That is where Branchbob comes in as another best eCommerce platforms for startups. It is one of the sites on this list that is completely free to use and offers basic, simplistic features that are intuitive and easy to learn and pick up.

Again, no monthly pricing or transaction fee exists. The only billing occurs if you want to increase Branchbob’s features and capabilities. This of course extends to website themes. Overall Branchbob stands as a fundamental transaction site between the business and the customer. It also allows budding businesses with limited capital to break ground in the eCommerce market.

The post Best Platforms to Sell Products for Your eCommerce Startup appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

To avoid stress and disasters at all costs, it makes sense for small businesses to consider incorporating administrative software systems. Certainly, when used right, a system can help you manage critical areas of your business more effectively and efficiently. More importantly, you will be in control of your business operations at all times.

Small organizations and startups invest in administrative software systems to improve processes, predict risks, and boost overall efficiency. Ultimately, this leads to more revenue down the line. So, here are the top 7 administrative software systems you can use to get a better grip on day-to-day activities and take your business to the next level.

1. Scoro

If you need a business management solution that offers all the critical features required to manage various challenges, go for Scoro. It handles projects, tasks, billing, reporting, team collaboration, and more. 

Key Features:

• Customizable KPI dashboards
• Sharing of meeting schedules and team calendar 
• Pre-set templates for quotation and invoicing
• It also includes project, task, and time management

Why Your Business Needs It

Scoro helps streamline the entire work progress. Likewise, you are spared the hassle of investing in various tools. Scoro also offers advanced business intelligence features ideal for easing novice entrepreneurs’ management challenges. 

2. OnPay

An efficient payroll system that’s easy to set up and run is a must for any business with plans to grow. OnPay is a top-rated payroll software and HR platform that makes running payroll a breeze and automates a host of tedious back office tasks. Between a user-friendly interface and knowledgeable support staff, they certainly will have you up and running in no time.

Key Features:

• Full-service payroll from any device
• Handles all tax filings and payments
• Available in all 50 states with no extra fees for multiple pay runs
• Self-service employee portal simplifies HR processes such as new hire onboarding and PTO requests
• Best-in-class integrations with top accounting and  time-tracking software

Why Your Business Needs It

This award-winning payroll software is comparably the best one for small businesses. It can easily integrate with most accounting and time-tracking systems, automates tax filings, and is also one of the only providers with an accuracy guarantee. Moreover, their expert customer service team offers free account migration and support by phone, email, or chat.

3. ProofHub

If you want to go beyond conventional emailing and try a different approach, ProofHub is especially just right for you. It comes with a string of tools that help integrate various project management features in one place. Collaborate seamlessly with the team and keep everyone in the loop while focusing on what’s necessary.

Key Features:

• Easy online team discussions
• Task delegation 
• Also includes project history reporting and tracking
• Highly secure file storage

Why Your Business Needs It

ProofHub is the best software for improving team collaboration and focusing on what’s important for your organization. It offers all the business tools you need to use in one convenient place.

4. WORKetc

If your new business is looking for a robust platform for CRM and project management collaboration, certainly go for WORKetc. This small business software is powering the growth of over 1200 businesses globally. WORKetc also offers the ideal alternative to hassling integrations and expensive web apps. 

Key Features:

• Effortlessly links timesheets, documents, notes, and contacts to projects
• Helps manage complex project budgets
• All invoice and revenue tasks across departments are captured automatically
• Offers live support, web forms, and email for supporting tickets, also

Why Your Business Needs It

This all-in-one web-based CRM system helps eliminate multiple logins and costly integrations. It keeps all your team members on the same page to discuss and resolve issues without delay. 

5. Timely

Making the optimal use of business time can be of immense value to any business. That’s why you need Timely, the business software that automates time tracking. You get an accurate and confidential record of time spent in various activities such as meetings, emails, video calls, and conferences.

Key Features:

• Accurate and automatic tracking of time spent on business activities
• Access to real-time project dashboards
• Also includes advanced reporting systems 
• Information about capacity and hourly rates

Why Your Business Needs It

Timely can be highly valuable for your small business as it helps streamline the entire time tracking process. The software automatically records everything your team works on. Additionally, it reduces time management overhead noticeably. Indeed, you will notice a significant improvement in reporting and invoicing accuracy.

6. Process Bliss

Your search for a powerful and affordable business management software ends at Process Bliss. It provides one place for building and storing all your company processes and policies. It also offers collaboration features, allowing teams to discuss critical issues with access to status overviews. 

Key Features:

• Centralize all procedures as templates in one place
• You also can automate assignments and collaborate on the same platform
• Helps better management of workflow and data capture
• Know what’s happening instantly with reports and dashboards 

Why Your Business Needs It

Process Bliss is easily one of the best business management software for small businesses. It can scale effortlessly as you grow. This software can help you remain consistent while providing easy tracking.

7. Sage

Sage is a cloud-based software and suite designed to provide an in-depth view into multiple parts of your business, such as finance and HR. Get real-time information about these and other critical areas of business operations for making informed decisions.

Key Features:

• You get a full range of products for managing critical areas of your business
• The software also can help improve customer relationships, services management, payment processing, business intelligence, and others
• Best suited for startups, SMEs, and small enterprises

Why Your Business Needs It

Your business can benefit from integrating this comprehensive and features-rich administrative management software. Because, it offers a complete suite of integrated applications to take care of finance, sales, customer service, and lots more.

Ready to rid yourself of the stress of all the spinning plates? The business management software needs of every company vary depending on the nature, size, workflow, and processes, certainly. But hopefully, with these diverse top systems listed above, your small business finds some administrative software system options to help keep your business running smoothly and efficiently.

The post The Top 7 Administrative Software Systems to Consider for Your Small Business 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.

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Indeed, restrictive processes can have adverse effects on user experience, and this commonly causes misconceptions regarding DRM’s origin and purpose.

Here are four of these misconceptions detailed, explained, and examined.

1. DRM Technology Is Always Conceptually Separate From the Product Itself

Oftentimes, content owners will implement extraneous security services into their products to save time and money. One example could be a video game technology that identifies and punishes hackers for breaching conduct rules. This isn’t universal, however; DRM can also refer to owner-altered/added code within the product. This code, which changes how certain aspects of the product are presented, can be as simple as a user interface change. 

Further, DRM can be integral to the product in that its inherent design is often a linchpin of the product’s public presentation. Streaming services are a good example of this, particularly freemium platforms like Hulu (as it was originally conceived, anyhow). 

While other streaming platforms offered only paid plans, Hulu stood out by integrating DRM to provide a free plan with advertising support. Because Hulu created this uncommon offer at the time, the act positively influenced the public’s perception of the service. By lowering the barrier to entry (i.e., lack of a paywall), Hulu exemplified DRM’s structural importance to a product.

2. DRM Applies Only to the Prevention of Piracy

Digital rights management is often mentioned in relation to cases of breached copyright because piracy prevention is one of its most important applications. Without it, your product can be used, shared, and altered by anyone, anywhere — effectively revoking your ownership status. 

That said, you can use the technology for more than just preventing unauthorized access. DRM can also help you establish your audience. One common method is to allow access to content through a one-time or recurring payment. Without this payment, which helps to fund your content creation efforts, a consumer will not have the right to use the product. 

You can also employ tools to monitor your content’s usage and use the data to direct advertising integration. Video-based platforms like Aux Mode, which developed a SaaS revenue reporting software to make these calculations, can help streamline this monetization process.

3. DRM Methods Are Always Restrictive or Inconvenient

DRM allows you to control your product’s distribution, and as a result, it is often employed for just this reason. Consider a skit that contains imagery banned in a certain country. If you post it, it might get removed from a platform entirely. 

Using digital rights management, you can region-lock the video, protecting your revenue stream and ensuring your future ability to post permitted content. While the ban disadvantages users in certain regions, using DRM in this way ensures continued audience access to your content overall.

It is also important to evaluate the accessibility of alternative products and content sources when considering DRM methods. On a digital media store, for example, paying $5 to watch a movie may seem expensive. A number of streaming services offer many movies for free — and there’s an abundance of options for downloading films illegally. But the latter involves risk, both of potential legal action and the possibility of downloading viruses. If the film is not available anywhere else, paying $5 for security and instant access becomes much more attractive.

4. DRM Implementation Will Only Prevent Growth

Consumers certainly get frustrated when an app they’ve been curious about requires a prohibitive subscription even to try it out. Why should they pay for a month of use when they were never all that married to it in the first place? 

It’s true; this kind of digital rights management implementation can and often does push users away instead of locking them in. But DRM does not inherently repel consumers. If your product has value and uses DRM appropriately, the opposite is likely.

Imagine the same scenario but with the app offering a free 7-day trial. Upon testing it, the user realizes that it does everything they hoped for and more. Suddenly the price doesn’t seem so bad. These new elements (the free trial and benefits realization) are the draw, and the former actively promotes growth through DRM. As long as you employ a balance of restrictive and welcoming methods, your product will ultimately speak for itself.

DRM is a versatile and multifaceted system. Not only can it restrict unauthorized usage, but it also allows creators freedoms that can then benefit the user base. With the control it provides, creators can protect their content and continue to make more. 

Of course, DRM is not perfect. If it were, these misconceptions wouldn’t exist, nor would these important questions be asked. But it is the best defense for digital content owners, who will continue to embrace its advantages for the foreseeable future.

The post 4 Common Misconceptions About Digital Rights Management appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Against this backdrop, app developers are compelled to create a solution that will captivate the user’s attention and prove intuitive and relevant to the user. 

Today, mobile design is a way to meet user expectations and communicate brand messages to app users. Even the smallest UX or UI elements play a role in delivering certain meta-information to the app user. 

A visually appealing and user-centered mobile app design is the result of a well-grounded strategy that the design team adheres to. In this walk-through guide, we will outline the essential stages of mobile app design and explore the dos and don’ts of each.

Stage #1: Concept

In the beginning, the design team outlines the concept of the application and its core architecture, interface, and usability elements. For this, they carefully examine the project’s requirements, documentation, and business strategy, and, if possible, have a sit-down with the client or the project manager to discuss their expectations for the end-product’s UX and UI in greater detail. 

When brainstorming on the design concept, designers also need to take into account the mobile app’s target audience, the technologies it will use or get integrated with, and the intended operating platform. In the end, the team should have a good understanding of the mobile app’s color scheme, look and feel, and user flow, as well as the scope of work lying ahead of them.   

Stage #2: Market and User Research

Next, designers go on to explore what similar mobile apps the market has to offer, paying close attention to the most popular ones. This is done to identify the best and newest UX practices as well as the most common interface elements for the particular app type your design can benefit from.   

Because user research is a more in-depth study, it can be considered optional, especially if deadlines are pressing. However, when your team spares time for it, it will help to tap into the needs, behaviors, and motivations of the app’s target audience. Proceeding from these insights, the team can implement design solutions that will prove truly valuable, allowing the app to stand out due to its relevance.  

Stage #3: Sketches

After refining the initial app concept according to the market and user research results, designers can proceed with creating sketches. These are rough visual representations of the app’s layout and graphic user interfaces, meant to illustrate the initial app idea and drawn freehand on paper or with basic graphic software. 

On the face of it, sketches may seem unnecessary, yet they shape the design team’s vision and help to verify how well they understood the specifications obtained from developers and the product manager. After the app sketches are reviewed and necessary changes are made and approved, the design process becomes more intricate.

Stage #4: Wireframes

Next, the design team focuses on elaborating the functionality and user experience of the app’s layout. You supplement the screen sketches with various user interface elements, like input fields, icons, buttons, progress bars and such, and describe how they will work when users interact with them. If you favor two distinct elements and do not know which will suit your app best, run a quick A/B test on a control group and keep the option preferred by the majority of respondents. 

When working on wireframes, it is advisable to abide by the iOS or Android interface design guidelines: this way you make sure the end-product has the look and feel consistent with the intended operating system. As a rule, wireframes are static and low-fidelity, but with their level of detail and scope, it already requires a digital design tool to build them. 

Stage #5: Mockups

This is when you transform the plain schematic wireframes into a realistic semblance of your future mobile app. For this, the team introduces color, graphics, animation elements, and navigation visuals to the screens and aligns the spacing between screen components. Apart from this, designers standardize fonts and typography and insert labels and texts into the intended places. Nonetheless, mockups remain static and unclickable.  

With mockups, you can finally have a bird’s-eye view of your design and see whether all your decisions played well or if some aspects need improvement. They also allow front-end developers to fairly estimate how long the development will take.  

Stage #6: Prototype

During the final stage, your app design finally becomes an interactive prototype. For this, you need to make elements clickable and connect all the screens and modules together as they are intended to be. As a result, you get a high-fidelity manifestation of the app, which can simulate the user journey and experiences. 

Since the prototype is not tied together with the backend, it is not technically a finished product. Nevertheless, it more than qualifies to be demonstrated to the client or stakeholders. As the prototypes are reviewed, refined, and receive final approval, the design team can hand it over to developers to finalize the project.  

What’s next

Naturally, last-minute improvements and adjustments in the application’s UX or UI will, in all likelihood, be required before the release, but they will be minor if prototypes are detailed and thorough. All in all, the six steps outlined above make up a feasible roadmap to an appealing and user-friendly design for your new mobile app.     

The post Mobile App Design: From Idea to Product Development appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

To be sure, you don’t have to rise to the fame of a Mary Kay Ash or Zig Ziglar to be a sales phenom. Plenty of salespeople across the world land tons of deals, build loyal connections with customers, and solve buyers’ biggest conundrums. You may not know their names, but that doesn’t mean they’re any less successful. 

Here’s the dirty little secret, though: The majority of sales folks aren’t utilizing all the tech at their fingertips. As a result, statistics culled by Forbes suggest that most sales experts sell only 35.2% of the time. The rest of the time, they’re pushing papers, engaged in redundant activities, and not bringing in revenue. 

The bottom line is that even the most prolific seller probably has room for improvement. And there’s no shame in wanting to get better. So why not embrace the technology that can help you rev up your conversations? Or reduce the risk of being ghosted by a top prospect?

Below are four tech stack must-tries to impress your boss and win over resistant buyers.

1. Close deals seamlessly with virtual proposals.

Remember the days of sending your client a proposal, waiting for the client to make adjustments, and going through the process ad infinitum? (Those days might have been as recently as this week, to be honest.) Every time you make your prospect jump through a hoop, no matter how minuscule, you risk losing momentum.

What’s the way to close this gap for good? Leverage proposal and contract processes that automate the system on one platform. PandaDoc, an all-in-one document automation software, notes that requesting proposals the old-fashioned way needlessly extends your close rate. In other words, you waste precious days and weeks trying to get the final go-ahead. Plus, once you’ve built a proposal on paper, how easy is it to change on the fly? In most cases, it’s not easy at all.

The way to fix this issue is to find a software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider like PandaDoc that offers the ability to manage your proposals and eventual contracts in one location. Having documents available to everyone who needs to know—and make changes effortlessly—transforms the proposal experience. It also shortens the sales cycle by reducing buyer barriers to acceptance.

2. Add robust templates to your tech stack.

Have you ever found yourself writing the same email again and again? Sure, you might change a word or two here and there. But the gist and tone remain similar. These are documents and correspondence that you could automate with software.

What’s the value of having dozens of templates? With the right system, you can deploy your templates quickly across omni-channels. Have a prospect who prefers text? No problem. Your template can be revamped to look great on a phone. Dealing with someone who’s a social media user? Send DMs and get noticed.

Not sure you want to invest in more tech software? Even if you just keep a catalog of templates on your centralized knowledge system, you’ll be ahead of the game. As a side note, you don’t have to lose the individual touch. In fact, you should focus on personalization because it’s what 80% of participants in an Epsilon buyer study said they want. Templates can be constructed with “holes.” Fill those “holes” with customized messages and foster connections without losing precious hours re-typing content.

3. Invest in a truly modern customer relationship management (CRM) system.

Why do so many salespeople rave about CRMs like HubSpot and Salesforce? The companies have made it their business to lead the CRM industry. They’re continuously adding new solutions to their platforms, including AI-driven tools.

Feel as if your outdated legacy CRM gets the job done? That may be true. However, it’s worth investigating state-of-the-art CRMs. Sure, it’s understandable to want to hold onto your CRM because you know it. No one likes change. Still, it might not be the right answer anymore.

Newer CRM platforms aren’t just clearinghouses to hold prospect and client information, either. The top ones allow you to analyze customer behaviors, set up regular messaging based on where a customer is in the sales funnel, and perhaps listen socially. Unless you’re 100% sure you have a CRM that truly links your organization’s marketing, communications, service, and sales teams, you’d be wise to investigate what’s on the market.

4. Increase your sales prospecting IQ.

The more intelligent your sales prospecting, the less arduous it is to uncover truly qualified potential clients. AI has helped sales technology become savvier, moving way beyond just grabbing prospects’ personal and business information from the web.

How does sales intelligence work when buoyed by technology like AI and machine learning? For one, sales software can crawl the Internet, looking for potential prospects based on your company’s past purchases and historical information. The software can then deliver target personas to specific sales team members. Even if the sales team has to evaluate the information by hand, everyone will save time.

Sales prospecting software can also help you scrub and update information, much of which will be outdated in about a year’s time. Remember: These are processes you would have to do yourself or ask someone else to do on your behalf. If a program can do it just as well, why not let it?

Prospect.io even suggests that sales prospecting should include a deep dive into data about the sales that turned you down. This way you can get a better understanding of why, and what to do better next time. 

Sales will always be about relationships, and tech can help you finally have the time to build connections. So why wait? Stop spinning your wheels and start generating long-term ties.

The post 4 Types of Sales Tech You Shouldn’t Sleep On appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Thanks to the pandemic, 60% of shuttered small businesses may be gone for good. Tens of thousands more are holding on by a thread. Every small business saved is a bright spot not just for the entrepreneur, but for their employees and the local economy. 

Many struggling small business leaders have reacted by cutting hours or staff. But only with the right tools can a small crew keep the ship sailing. While every small business is different, these five software tools are worth scraping the bottom of the bank account for:

1. Contact Center Software

First things first: How are you going to reach customers when they can’t physically visit your store? 

Phone calls and online outreach are safer options for everyone. Contact center as a service software makes omnichannel communication possible on any budget. Tools that track prior interactions with customers let any rep who answers the phone pick up the baton. 

Other features to keep an eye out for include analytics and customer profiling. Reports can provide an overview of how your employees are interacting with customers and where opportunities lie to build stronger customer relationships. Profiles can also give you insight into who your typical customers are, making it easier to attract more people like them. You can have a guide from fundingwaschools for more info.

2. Social Media Marketing Software

When you know who your customer is, marketing becomes that much easier. The next step is to choose channels and tools that are cost-effective. For small businesses, social media marketing makes getting the word out as easy as clicking “post.”

Before deciding on one, learn which platforms your customers like to use. There’s no point in investing in a Snapchat-specific tool if your users are only on Twitter and Facebook. Try to cover as many relevant platforms as you can in a single tool, which will make your team more efficient. 

3. Project Management Software

You know what’s a waste of money? Trying to track every project your team takes on through clipboards and emails. Letting a single job slip through the cracks can mean future business will be lost.  

If you are still leaving project management up to each employee, it’s time to invest in project management software. Keeping your team’s projects housed in one central location will save everyone time and stress. 

There are dozens of project management software options out there. Figure out which parts of projects are the most difficult for your team: If collaborating remotely is a chore, for example, you might look for a tool with native video conferencing capabilities or Slack integration. No matter your needs, look for a project management program that lists tasks, who is assigned to what, and deadlines. 

4. Accounting and Payroll Software

Especially when money is tight, you need to manage every penny like it’s your last. Investing in payroll services and accounting tools can simplify the financial side of small business ownership. What’s more, smart accounting software can help you take advantage of tax incentives and deductions you might not have known about. 

The good news is, many tools in this space cover multiple bases. Opt for a do-it-all financial hub that covers payroll, invoicing, bookkeeping, and filing taxes. Some of these tools also span HR tasks, such as benefits administration. If you’re ever audited, you’ll be glad you’ve got it all in one place. 

Ask your accountant which tool he or she prefers. Some accounting firms have partnerships with popular providers, which can help you save even more money. 

5. Supply and Inventory Management

These days, not all small businesses sell physical products. Even those that don’t, however, need to stock supplies like paper, ink, and company computers.

No matter what your company does, it has valuable property to keep tabs on. Product SKUs and “property of” labels are only half the picture. Once you’ve tagged everything, you need a tool to ensure nothing is lost or stolen. This software can also help you prioritize damaged or old items in need of replacement. 

When purchasing this tool, think about access permissions and user profiling features. You don’t want to be the only person who can update the system when something is broken. On the other hand, security and theft concerns mean you also want to limit who can delete items from the database. 

As a small business owner, you can’t do it alone. But when money gets tight, you also can’t afford to hire a big business-sized staff to help you out. 

What you can afford are software tools that make everyone more efficient. Choose wisely, and you’ll keep your staff lean without compromising your commitment to your customers. Do that, and you’ll keep your business in the black no matter what happens to the economy. 

The post Struggling? These 5 Tools Can Keep Your Small Business Afloat appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

When looking for a scheduling app, you’ll come across a variety of options. Each one serves a similar purpose but has unique strengths and weaknesses. You’ll have to keep this in mind as you determine which app best fits your needs.

Two of the best scheduling apps on the market are Calendar and Calendly. As industry leaders in the scheduling and online calendar field, they should be the first two options you consider. Today, we’re going to be comparing Calendly to Calendar to help you make the best decision on which scheduling app makes sense for you to use for your business.

This article will dive into both Calendar and Calendly, comparing their features so you can select one for your own use.

Calendar

An industry leading online calendar, this app provides features not just for managing time, but for mastering your scheduling techniques. The ability to do both makes Calendar a powerful and capable tool.

Scheduling Links

Back and forth emails determining meeting times can take up more of your day than you’d like to admit. A much easier way to schedule meetings and interviews is with a scheduling link.

You can set the hours and days you are available in Calendar for an upcoming phone call or meeting. Calendar then provides you a link to send to others. Through that link they can request one of your available time slots, making it much faster and easier to schedule appointments than ever before.

Meeting Suggestions

There are two problems that scheduling links don’t solve on their own: meeting location, if applicable, and group meetings. 

It can take a long time to come up with a meeting location. As a solution to this problem, Calendar makes recommendations for you, so you can spend more time on important projects and less time looking up lunch spots that are equidistant from both parties.

You can’t send a scheduling link to a group of people, as their availability and preference might differ from the rest. So, Calendar also makes time suggestions that work for everyone according to their Calendar accounts.

Event Creation

Calendar uses AI to make event creation faster and better than ever. It learns your tendencies in order to make suggestions that speed up this process in just a few clicks.

Other useful tools include time zone recognition and calendar syncing. You can easily coordinate with people around the globe, and have it all match up with any other online calendar you use.

Calendar Time Analytics

The crown jewel of Calendar is its time analytics tool. The purpose of a calendar is to organize your time and ultimately use it more efficiently. That can be hard to do without the data Calendar provides.

With time analytics, you can see exactly how much time you spend on each activity. This gives you a concrete look at how much time you spend in meetings, traveling, and looking through emails. Just record your activity in Calendar and it will do the math for you, presenting it in captivating, easy to view graphs.

Security

Calendar authenticates each and every calendar in its system. When you have a team, your team can’t see what’s on your personal calendar and you don’t have to share your personal appointments with your team. Your work calendar and personal calendars are 100% secure and separate.

Keeping your personal account secure is one of Calendar’s biggest emphases. Thanks to its continued efforts on security, you can focus on other things. Take comfort in knowing that all your team can see are the time spots on your calendar that are blocked out.

Pricing

Calendar has two packages, one for individuals and another for teams. There are free options for each with only the essential features. Teams cannot exceed 10 members in the basic package, but can reach up to 200 members in the paid version.

Calendar offers discounts for its paid plans when purchased annually. For individuals, the Pro version is $8 a month when purchased annually, or $10 a month otherwise. For teams, the price is $6 per person when paid annually or $8 per person on a monthly basis. 

Calendly

When you rely on meetings, you can feel stressed about fitting everything into your schedule and fulfilling all of your commitments. Calendly takes a load off your shoulders, making it easier to schedule your meetings and fit them all in with zero stress.

Scheduling Links

While Calendar finds its strength in security and time analytics, Calendly prides itself on top-of-the-line scheduling links. This tool helps you create and organize multiple meetings without breaking a sweat.

Calendly gives you a lot of flexibility with your scheduling links, including buffer times to prevent meeting overlap and a meeting cap so you don’t get overwhelmed in a single day. Notifications remind meeting participants of commitments and also prevent last-minute meetings from being scheduled. 

Meeting Flexibility

Not all meetings are created equal. Some will be one-on-one while others will be in groups of various sizes and functions. You’ll need a scheduling tool that can fit every type of meeting, which Calendly can do for you.

Calendly offers four different meeting plans;

1. One-on-one: Lets a single invitee to schedule an appointment
2. Round robin: Automatic meeting distribution based factors such as availability and priority
3. Collective: Allows an invitee to schedule a meeting with multiple team members
4. Group: Multiple invitee hosting for events such as webinars and training

Each works with a specific goal in mind, matching your meeting needs perfectly. Each meeting type has its merit, and it’s nice having a scheduling tool that caters to every possibility.

Pricing

Calendly also offers a basic package that’s free for all users. While limited, it’s a great start for new users. It’s important to note that you can only create one calendar under the basic package, and most of the integrations are unavailable.

Two paid programs are available for extra scheduling power. The Premium package is $8 per month when paid annually or $10 per month per user. This gives you access to two separate calendars as well as numerous integrations and customization options.

The Pro plan is all-inclusive, with every feature made available. Pricing starts at $12 per month when paid annually or $15 per month per user.

Integrations

An online calendar won’t be the only tool you need. There are a multitude of apps and programs to help you operate your business and manage your time. When these apps work together, it makes things that much easier for you.

Calendly realizes this, which is why it has enabled integrations with apps such as Zoom and Salesforce. This takes out the extra steps needed to run your meetings and go through your day. It also connects to your online calendars, so you won’t get dates and times confused and crossed over.

Team Features

Scheduling tools aren’t just meant for the individual; they can also be used by your entire team. Calendly added some additional features to help your team get everything done. 

Team pages make it easy for everyone to be in contact with one another. Other features include centralized billing, scheduling metrics, and reporting. Leaders can use these tools to further manage their teams in various ways. 

Both of these apps have great qualities which will improve how you approach scheduling. Compare and even experiment with both so you can see which fits your needs better. Doing so will optimize your time, and unlock more opportunities for you and your business.

The post Calendar vs. Calendly: Which Scheduling App Makes Sense For You appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

While the ambition, the passion, and the concept are right, the reality that many small enterprises still fail is an ever-looming guillotine. No one gets into business to fail, but the statistics, the current economics, and even the world’s needs can change with the wind, and what might be great today can be vapor tomorrow. 

The Help You Need

That is why a smart small business owner needs some help. And for the savvy entrepreneur, the software is the answer. Small business management software is one of the best tools to own if you want to keep an eye on all aspects of your business correctly. It lets you watch inventory, budgeting, revenue, and even employee effectiveness.

It can include options like extensions to payroll software for small business needs that will help you effectively track your employee’s earnings, taxes, and so forth. It can link you to the best SEO software for small business marketing to get your brand higher on Google and Yahoo searches. And some of these programs are even free with the initial software.

What it means for you is you have a resource, a support system, and a guide that can help you with the intricacies of your business, especially the money aspects, and help you stay on top of things, without being an overbearing micromanager. It does the managing for you. 

Small Business Software That Works for You

Just because you buy the best accounting software for small business finances doesn’t mean you get to let fate take the wheel. You are still the ultimate control engine of your enterprise. And the software is nothing more than a helper. Letting it run the show is tantamount to allowing waves to steer a ship. Eventually, you are going to hit the rocks. You must be at the helm.

In that respect, here is a list of great small business software possibilities, along with other technologies, for your new endeavor:

1. Management Apps

Feature-rich management apps software is designed to improve the customer relations side of your company. While the market is heavily saturated with these programs, there have been many new industry developments. They use automation to trim hours of data entry off your plate and are very easy to use.

2. Integrated Voice Searching

Have you ever used a voice text program? Did it have issues with odd words that don’t usually come up in your native tongue? That is because most are only programmed for common words. Slang, swear words, and unique names give it trouble. When choosing your business’s name, having one a voice search will understand will help with search engines. 

3. Social Media Marketing

There are two ways to market with social media. You can use Facebook Ads, link it to your company page, and make a clickable option for people to get instantly transferred to your site. The other is through Facebook Messenger. Messenger can be used to offer products and discounts and raise awareness for exciting things yet to come. 

4. Square Is Your Friend

Square hit the landscape helping smaller businesses take credit cards instead of losing a potential transaction. Now they have an integrated installment option, allowing customers to pay off larger ticket items over time. The retailer gets paid, the customer gets what they came for, and everybody wins.

5. The Future Is Now

Two letters that will change your entrepreneurial model forever: A.I. Artificial intelligence has been a part of the working world for quite a few years, integrated into the software, giving birth to new concepts in automation, and improving internal operations, almost invisibly. If you didn’t know it was happening, you might be understandably concerned. Don’t be. These “thinking machines” are geared to help, not to hinder. 

6. Remote Options

With the use of automation, A.I., and external shipping, working from home is not only a real option but also the preferred option for many entrepreneurs. They can run their store, have everything shipped to the customer, and do it all from their home office, while in their pajamas. Is it professional? Maybe not. But if there is an issue, like perhaps a worldwide pandemic, it is a nice thing to have.

The Freedom to Choose

One of the best aspects of software is the variety. There are tons of products in every part of your entrepreneurial needs. If you need accounting, there are plenty. If you want an excellent payroll program, walk through your local electronics store. And even better, getting small business software free online is an ever-present opportunity. 

So, what is the best software for small business? It depends on what you know, what you need, and what you can afford. Some programs are fantastic and won’t cost you a dime, although the add-ons can add up. Others can cost a mint but are comprehensive. Figure out what you need, shop around, search online, and be specific. The right choice is out there, just waiting for you to choose it for your endeavor.

The world may have changed, but small businesses haven’t. There is still the dream of being your boss and doing whatever it takes to make that a reality. Resources pop up almost daily that are designed to help. If you are a struggling entrepreneur, you need only to find the one that will give you a leg up and assist with your needs. And it might just give you a way to overtake your competition. 

The post Technologies Small Business Owners Should Consider Using Today appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

These are the essential features a marketplace script should have:

• Customization options
• Scalability
• User experience
• Affordability and
• Mobile accessibility 

Top Marketplace Platforms

1. BigCommerce

Most suitable for small-to-medium sized businesses, BigCommerce’s dashboard is very straightforward and user friendly.

Pros:

• Fully hosted
• Easily accessible
• Unlimited product listings
• Unlimited bandwidth & file 
• Integrations with shipping and POS software
• No transaction fees

Cons:

• You have to pay for 24/7 customer service.
• They are expensive compared to competitors. 
• Customer orders don’t come with tracking information.

2. Shopify

Offering the widest range of apps, add-ons, and plugins for small, medium, and large marketplace platforms, The Top Shopify Developer NZ are always ready to help to build an online store providing  Shopify provides tons of readymade templates for personalization.

Pros:

• A ready to use ecommerce store with cloud hosting
• Access to hundreds of themes and plugins
• Hundreds of templates for selling any type of products
• Built-in payment gateways
• Highly customizable and scalable
• Compatibility with popular third-party integrations

Cons:

• Month-to-month pricing
• Limited customization options
• High price for the enterprise level plans
• Complicated migration

3. Shopygen

Supporting different types of marketplace platforms like B2C and C2C, Shopygen provides turnkey solutions for marketplaces like Uber, Airbnb, and Instacart. They also provide services for customized plugins and themes for other eCommerce software developing platforms like Mgento, Shopify, WooCommerce etc. 

Pros:

• Created using NodeJS technology
• Highly customizable
• No recurring fee
• Cost effective in comparison to its competitors

Cons:

• You will need to get your own hosting and security maintenance.
• If customization is required, the development time is longer than usual.
• It requires an upfront cost. 

4. Magento

Magento’s platform helps to empower retailers and brands with flexible cloud solutions to help companies scale up their business. Magento’s wide range of customizable options makes it a  great platform for merchants who want to innovate and grow with technology.

Pros:

• Integrated checkout, payment and shipping
• Mobile-optimized shopping
• Catalog management
• Instant purchase
• Customization options available

Cons:

• Long development time 
• Higher budget than most of its contemporaries
• Doesn’t have a lot of content creation options
• Magento Commerce support comes with a hefty price

5. WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a free, open-source wordpress shopping cart plugin. It is one of the most chosen eCommerce platforms in the market and runs on about 30% of all stores.

Pros:

• Regularly updated and totally secure
• Highly customizable
• Integrates with many other ecommerce platforms and payment gateways
• Complete support

Cons:

• Not all of the features come with the basic plan
• Expensive external themes, plugins, and hosting
• You are on your own with regards to maintaining hosting to security and backups.

There are many eCommerce softwares available in the market; don’t just limit your choices to SaaS. Of course, managing a self-hosted site is not as easy as a SaaS platform, but you get the complete control when you own the code of your site which is incomparable. Ultimately it depends on your requirements, budget, and how you are going to manage your website.

The post Shopping Cart Software for Multi-Vendor Ecommerce Marketplaces appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

They are clearly still worried about trusting a third party with their valuable data. So what are the
specific fears SMBs have with cloud storage and what can they do about it?

Unauthorized access becomes harder to spot

One of the biggest cloud security worries is the detection of unauthorized access to sensitive files and folders.

When valuable data is stored on on-premise file servers, organizations are assured that it is ‘relatively’ secure from unauthorized access because of the need to be physically present in the office to access these servers. Even with employees and third-party partners using VPNs, the IT team can restrict access to only specific devices, so the data remains relatively secure.

However, when data is stored in the cloud, the chance of unauthorized access is much higher. It makes it really hard for IT teams to detect misuse, thus causing major security concerns. Without the right access controls in place, an attacker using stolen credentials could, in theory, gain access to sensitive files and folders from anywhere in the world using any device.

To counter this fear, 21% of SMBs said they keep their most valuable data stored on on-premise infrastructure because they don’t trust the security in the cloud. Organizations are worried that the information will end up in the wrong hands because they don’t have visibility of who is accessing these files.

Leaving employees stealing data is harder to prevent

It is hard for security teams to stop employees who are leaving your organization from stealing
sensitive data.

With on-premise storage and just a desktop computer, there’s that much more risk of getting noticed (through prying eyes) if someone tries to steal sensitive information. But with data stored in the cloud, it can be accessed from anywhere in the world, using any device. It then becomes much easier for ex-employees to steal information before they leave and harder for IT teams to spot it.

Hybrid storage environments are complex and harder to manage

56% of SMBs say that it’s difficult managing the security of data living in hybrid infrastructures.

This issue is naturally linked to the first two — and one can argue that complex hybrid environments make the other two issues much worse.

Many organizations have hybrid storage environments nowadays— a mix of cloud storage providers and a mix of on-premise servers. While this approach is good for productivity, it makes managing the security of the data stored across multiple environments very challenging.

Each cloud provider manages security differently, and if you don’t actively monitor access to each platform on an ongoing basis, it’s difficult to detect any malicious behavior and stop data theft.

The mentality about sensitive data needs to change

We found that 21% keep their sensitive data on premise because they don’t trust its security in the cloud.

But then, we asked them what constitutes sensitive data, and 74% of them said their corporate credit card data was sensitive, 71% said their employees’ personal information was sensitive, 62% said client contact details were sensitive, and more worryingly, only 53% stated their clients’ data was sensitive!

SMBs need some help understanding what sensitive data it.

More and more companies choose their suppliers based on the strength of their cybersecurity strategy. When it comes to business, it’s very important to demonstrate you have an effective cyber-posture because it can be the difference between winning and losing new clients, as well as retaining old clients.

What can SMBs do about it?

The best way to ensure your data is protected (whether in the cloud or on a mixture of on-premise and cloud) is to invest in technology. It needs to proactively track, audit, and report on all access to files and folders, and alert IT teams on suspicious file activity the moment it occurs.

What you need is a monitoring solution in place that provides a consistent and unique view of the security of your data across all your storage servers (whether on-premise or on a third-party cloud system). You can then rest assured that if someone other than an authorized employee tries to access your data, you’ll be the first to know about it, and you’ll be able to do something about it.

The post Why Do SMBs Believe Their Data is Unsafe in the Cloud? appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

1. Strong Human Resources Management Team

The core of a successful business plan is the people that you surround yourself with. You cannot expect to have success without a high-quality staff. And you cannot expect to work with the best people without a competent human resources management team. As a team you should choose a good program like VoIP for Business for business strategies and communication.

As part of your human resources team, you need to have a professional who is trained to find and hire the best talent to keep your business moving forward. This person will be the face of your company as you bring new people into the fold. A good human resources manager will also be able to effectively craft your company culture so that you retain quality employees. Increasing employee satisfaction will go a long way in supporting success for your organization,
making it important that you have human resources staff in place to make this happen. you can focus on scaling and growing your business by the help of singapore nominee director.

2. Cash Management System

You are only as strong as your cash management. Most businesses that go bankrupt do so simply because they run out of cash and not because they are not equipped to be profitable. There are a number of factors that you need to consider when designing and implementing your cash flow system. How much cash do you need to have on hand? How do you collect payments from clients? How much inventory do you need on hand to operate with a comfortable margin?

How much capital do you need at your disposal in order to grow your business and how will you balance this with your debt? All of these questions need to have an answer if you want to avoid having cash flow issues.

3. Marketing Plan Focused on ROI

Marketing is a critical piece of any business plan. When crafting your general marketing or franchise marketing and promotional initiatives, it is important that you devise a plan that is focused on your return on investment. The last thing that you want to be doing is dumping your money into initiatives that do not pay off for your bottom line. One of the best places to start your analysis of your marketing ROI is through your own company website. Through your site, you can use Google Analytics to learn how people find your business, where they come from, and how much they are willing to engage with what you have to offer. From here, you can craft your marketing plan to reach the right audience while responding to their specific needs.

4. Solid IT Infrastructure

In today’s modern business world, it is imperative that you leverage technology to your full advantage. This means that you cannot slack on putting all of your IT infrastructure in place. Without a solid IT foundation, your business will not be able to keep pace with the competition in a fluid marketplace.

If you do not have the ability and staff to run your technology systems in-house, you can look into contracting out for managed IT services. This will take a significant amount of work and worry off of your plate so that you can focus on the meat of your business. With a managed service, you can take advantage of a staffed IT desk and proactive monitoring of all of your most vital technological systems.

5. Business Plan

The cornerstone of your success lies with your business plan. This formal document serves as a guide as you make tough decisions about your organization. You can customize your plan to meet your specific business needs. Most plans include an executive summary, a list of high-level staffing positions, financial data, marketing initiatives, and more. Not only will this serve as a reminder to you, but it is also a useful piece of information for potential investors.

These five elements will combine to ensure that your business is put in the position to succeed both in the short-term and in the long-term. With all five of these essentials, you will be able to weather a variety of issues and come out on top.

The post 5 Business Essentials That Every Business Owner Needs appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

With the economy beginning to contract, many small businesses may be struggling to find the funds or staff to address evolving cybersecurity concerns. Small businesses already make up 43 percent of cyber crime targets in the U.S., and in 2019, data breaches cost small businesses an average of $200,000, with 60 percent of those attacked going out of business within six months. 

Improving cyber security might cost some money, but it’ll surely be worth keeping your business afloat — and it might even be cheaper than the cost of a data breach. Protecting yourself is often as simple as implementing a few smart policies, and using the right security tools.

Update Your Policies to Address the Realities of Remote Work

If you have employees working remotely during the crisis, you need to implement some policies that acknowledge the unique security risks of working from home. First of all, employees won’t be behind a company firewall, and might not have company security software running on their systems.

Require that employees access company data over a private network — anyone who doesn’t have access to a home network should be required to work onsite, where they can access a secure connection. Public connections, like those in coffee shops or libraries, might not be available anyway, and if they are, they’re not safe — hackers can jump on them to access your data. Clarify that employees shouldn’t save company data to their personal devices, including storage like flash drives, personal cloud storage, or personal email. All of these are insecure places to store data. 

Use the Right Tools

Software solutions are available to give you and your employees the tools you need to stay secure while working in a challenging situation. Employees can use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to access your company’s internal network and even use a virtual desktop there, which provides both storage solutions and an extra layer of security.

Employees will also need endpoint security, including anti-malware protection and firewall protection. Advanced threat protection will include security for endpoints and other network devices and email, as well as malware protection. The best advanced threat protection offers real-time monitoring to catch breaches and other attacks before they do too much damage.

Train Your Employees

Of course, employees will need regular security check-ins to make sure their security features are optimized. However, they’ll also need additional training in cybersecurity, especially as everyone is on-edge and stressed-out at the moment — in other words, employees are more likely than ever before to be in the perfect state of mind to fall for a phishing email or other social engineering tactic. Regular training, even if it’s just videos and online quizzes, will help keep employees on their toes, and will maybe help you single out individuals who need further attention.

Supply Devices

If you can, it’s safest to supply your employees the devices they need to work from home. It’s more fair to the employees, who may otherwise have to use old or underpowered equipment, or scramble to come up with what they need on their own. But it’s not just about fairness — you have much more control over what happens on company devices, and you can, at least in theory, keep employees from using them for personal stuff. This can help keep hackers from compromising your company data, since you don’t know what emails your employees are answering in their downtime, or which questionable websites they might be visiting. Their personal devices could already be compromised.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been dangerous in all kinds of ways, some more predictable than others. Make sure your company is aware of the dangers COVID-19 poses for your cyber security, so you protect yourself on every front.

The post Small Business Cybersecurity in a Post-COVID World appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Using strategic sourcing best practices, you can set the stage for successful contract negotiations and purchases by identifying the supplier who can best meet your needs at the beginning of the procurement lifecycle. Here’s what you need to know:

1) Review Your Processes First, Then Choose a Software Tool

The worst thing you can do when choosing a new software tool for your business is to choose the tool before seeing if it will fit your current processes. If it doesn’t fit, you’ll end up changing your business processes in order to make the tool work. It’s much easier to review your business processes first, assess your needs, and then choose the strategic sourcing tool that best fits those needs. You might still have to change your processes a little, but there’s much less potential for upheaval as everyone in the company scrambles to change their workflow processes all at once.

Your procurement leaders need a strategy in order to implement procurement automation. Many processes in procurement can be automated, and by doing so, you can reduce human error, eliminate redundancies, improve workflow efficiency, and generate the data your procurement leaders need in order to make better business decisions. As procurement goes increasingly digital, be prepared to keep pace.

2) Prioritize Collaboration with Suppliers

Vendors and suppliers need something from you as much as you need something from them. By fostering two-way communication with suppliers and vendors, you can help meet their organizational needs and they can help meet yours. This will increase supplier engagement, enhance expectations, and build value. By keeping the relationships with your suppliers healthy and basing them on trust, mutual benefit, collaboration, and mutual problem-solving, you can build lasting relationships with  suppliers who will make the most difference in boosting your reputation, keeping your costs manageable, and minimizing your risks.

3) Keep Supply Chain Management Policies and Processes Up-to-Date

Go over your supply chain management and procurement policies regularly, and update them as needed. Processes should be as transparent as possible, and policies should make sense. Compliance is easier to win when policies are sensible, clear, and realistic. 

Procurement and supply chain management policies should also incorporate risk-mitigation strategies and procedures. For example, digital contract management tools and policies can mitigate much of the risk associated with contract management, since it makes contracts and their terms easy to reference, keep track of, and keep up-to-date. It’s vital to make sure both parties meet their contractual obligations, or you could be leaving money on the table. 

4) Focus on Total Cost of Ownership

When it comes to sourcing new equipment, you can’t just focus on the purchase price. You also have to consider how much it costs to maintain and operate that equipment — the total cost of ownership. It’s the same as if you were to buy a new car, where the costs of insurance, maintenance, repairs, gas, and taxes can make a car unaffordable even if the purchase price isn’t that high. Consider your costs over the entire lifecycle of procuring, consuming, and even eventually disposing of the service, products, or equipment you’re considering procuring. 

5) Do Your Homework on Suppliers

To strategically choose the best vendors for your company, you need to be willing to do your research on potential suppliers when the procurement process begins and continue to keep tabs on them throughout your relationship. Look into a vendor’s experience and history before you begin a relationship with them. Monitor supplier performance and measure performance objectives, and make sure you have a forum for communication and problem-solving available at all times.

Strategic sourcing best practices can do so much to improve your vendor relationships, mitigate procurement-related risks, strengthen your reputation, and help you meet your business goals. Make strategic sourcing a priority for your organization, so that you can make the most of your supplier relationships, to everyone’s benefit.

The post Up Your Procurement Game with These 5 Strategic Sourcing Best Practices appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

This goes to show that your online presence, particularly your website, is doing more than half the work for you when it comes to lead acquisition.

When you’re starting your company, all you want to do is get a website off the ground and get the word out as quickly as possible.

However, it is easy to make mistakes during the early stages of this process that could end up costing your brand in the long run, especially if you never address those errors later on.

You may already be doing most things right when it comes to your site, but it can only take a few key mistakes to drive prospective customers into the open arms of your competition.

Here are four potential risks to avoid if you want to make sure you’re getting the most out of your website:

Ignoring Mobile

By 2021, there will be an estimated 3.8 billion smartphone users worldwide. This means an increasing number of people will be using their mobile phones to browse the internet.

This requires having a website that is compatible with different screen sizes and mobile operating systems.

If you only make your website accessible on desktop, you are running the risk of alienating a massive portion of potential customers.

Incorporating Corporate Speak

It is easy to fall into the trap of using lots of corporate jargon on your website. You might have the best intentions, however, if your website is crammed with industry jargon, potential customers might be tempted to look elsewhere. Even though you’re marketing to businesses, rather than clients, your website is still going to be looked at by people who want to understand what they are reading, so you may need help from a web design company.

We’re not saying you should dumb things down to a preschool level, but try to make sure you’re using clear and easily comprehensible language.

Focus on making your content understandable to your audience rather than yourself, and have a clear content marketing strategy for the future. If you must use any terms that aren’t considered common knowledge, explain them or provide links with additional information.

Lacking Updates

If you’re a business owner, chances are that you’re leading a hectic life. There are likely multiple roles you have to play within your company, leaving you with not much time or energy at the end of the day.

Updating your website is probably the last thing you want to do, but if you fail to do so, you run the risk of letting it look dated and neglected. That is not a good look when you’re trying to attract new customers.

In case you really don’t have the time to update your site regularly, at least hire an expert like The Web Shop design services to do the design for you.

Adding some content from time to time shows your visitors that you’re actively maintaining the website, which in turn shows that you’re up-to-date on current trends.

Even if you keep the general image of your website the same for a while, and even if you don’t add any significant content, it would be a good idea to update your customer stories on a regular basis.

Adding little notes from satisfied customers from time to time will give your website an extra degree of authenticity.

Failing to Secure the Website Properly

When you’re in a rush to get your business off the ground, you may neglect some website elements that don’t seem major, like your website’s security, but that’s a mistake.

The number of cyberattacks increases every year as technology advances. Just last year there was a 17% increase in data breaches compared to 2018. Not securing your B2B website can put your customers’ data at risk. Not to mention it makes you seem unreliable and unprofessional.

It is imperative that you protect any customer information collected by installing firewalls and encryption technology. It might be tempting to procrastinate on this, but if anything goes wrong, it could cost you dearly.

Make sure to seek the advice of cybersecurity professionals and comply with the latest regulations.

Taking shortcuts when it comes to developing a B2B website can prove costly. It is important to consider all the potential risks involved so that you avoid any problems later on.

The above is by no means an exhaustive list of all the problems you may encounter along the way, but these are a few places to start.

The post Four Risks To Avoid During B2B Web Development appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The typical small business might not seem likely to suffer a break-in. But because small business leaders often have fewer cybersecurity protocols in place, hackers often see them as “low-hanging fruit” opportunities. 

Security information and event management (SIEM) systems have become affordable enough for many small businesses. Despite issues with false positives, modern ones are good at identifying signs of intrusion. In most cases, however, SIEM systems can’t confront threats themselves.

To actually stop threats, businesses are turning to SOAR security. But what, exactly, is SOAR, and why does it make more sense than manual incident response?

What is SOAR?

SOAR is a combination of software programs that work together to stop cyber threats. SOAR stands for “Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response.”

To understand SOAR, it helps to think through some of the challenges that cybersecurity teams face. Three are particularly relevant to SOAR:

1. Monitoring data stored on and transmitted by networks, devices, and third-party software is a massive undertaking. 
2. Every company has more vulnerabilities than it can possibly deal with. As a result, teams prioritize fixing a few glaring ones.
3. Patching vulnerabilities takes time because the process is complex and, in some cases, teams lack the internal expertise.

Some companies address those issues by hiring more staff, but cybersecurity talent is difficult to find and expensive to employ. The obvious solution is to accept that you can’t fix every vulnerability or check every file, and instead focus on stopping threats. 

That’s exactly what SOAR seeks to do. Let’s look at how it works: 

• Security Orchestration

Every company’s network consists of multiple software and hardware components. Security Orchestration makes sure all of these technologies are “talking” to one another. 

• Automation

Only when network technologies communicate can security processes be automated. SOAR systems use a combination of pre-set and customized automations to deal with certain security risks. This reduces response times and the general burden on the IT team.

• Response

SOAR systems’ ability to respond in real time is what makes them uniquely valuable. A lot of cybersecurity solutions can describe the threat, but they can’t actually do anything to stop it. SOAR responds using its programmed automations by, for example, isolating devices or interrupting transfers.

Why Do Companies Use SOAR?

It’s true that a trained information security team can do most or all of what a SOAR system can do. So why would a company invest in one? Three reasons stand out:

1. SOAR Improves Efficiency

The most obvious advantage to SOAR is how much it improves efficiency. The bottom line is, companies that use SOAR stop more security issues in less time. 

A good analogy is email automation. Sure, marketers can type out every email newsletter to every customer. But that takes an awful lot of time and creates opportunities for human error. Like email automation tools do for marketers, security automation systems help IT teams work faster and make fewer mistakes. 

With SOAR, security staff can automate recurring tasks that humans do not need to oversee. These automations are refined over time, progressively reducing the IT team’s workload.

What’s more, SOAR orchestrates systems that may have previously been managed by multiple departments. That further improves efficiency and reduces errors by minimizing cross-team communication. 

2. SOAR Is Flexible

Another plus of SOAR systems is how adaptable they are. Whether you run a small business or a global enterprise — which face different types of threats, and in different proportions — SOAR can improve your security posture. 

You add or remove networks from SOAR as your company’s technology landscape shifts. No matter how many different tools you use, you can analyze and protect them from a single dashboard.

SOAR systems are also flexible in terms of automations. If you discover a certain one is doing more harm than good, you can modify or delete it. And if you realize your team is doing certain tasks repeatedly, you can add new automations. 

Every company has different challenges and goals. Security automation systems cannot be one-size-fits-all. 

3. SOAR Is Affordable

Because SOAR is flexible and boosts productivity, it saves companies money. Not only is hiring security staff expensive, but the average cost of a data breach — including soft costs, such as reputational damage — is nearly $4 million. 

SOAR let businesses do more with their current security staff. And because a SOAR system can prevent certain breaches from happening in the first place, it can pay for itself by stopping even a single attack.

The fact of the matter is, cyberattacks will only increase in regularity and complexity. The best time to implement a SOAR system was when you started storing sensitive data; the second best time is today.

The post What Is SOAR? (And Why You Should Care) appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Digital transformation may pose new challenges to retailers, but it also represents the opportunity to enhance, improve, and streamline your retail operations to meet customer expectations and build long-term relationships. Here are five types of IoT Software designed for retailers to help pave the way for growth and innovation for your retail store with the help of continuity merchant services. 

A Tablet POS System

According to a 2020 report by Deloitte on retail industry trends, convenience continues to be a primary component of customer buying decisions. For many business owners it may make sense to run customer sales through a tablet instead of the traditional desktop. Tablet point of sale systems are easily downloadable and offer the same functionality as desktop POS systems. 

For example, this iPad point of sale system by Lightspeed provides greater mobility than a desktop and facilitates the purchase process by allowing staff to accompany customers on the floor and help them make faster purchases. Using this app eliminates the need for customers to stand in long queues to make a purchase.

The software also comes with an inventory management feature that can allow staff to: 

• Determine product availability. 
• Answer any questions the customer may have regarding the product.
• Make product recommendations. 

Utilizing a tablet POS system allows staff to provide a more convenient and personalized customer experience, which is pivotal for business growth.  

A Human Resource Management Software

As your retail business grows, you’ll need to hire more employees. You will also need to manage your employees in a way that ensures high job satisfaction and growth. One way to ease this burden on yourself is to invest in a human resource management software. For example, GoCo.io is a hiring tool that helps you recruit new hires and manage your staff efficiently. 

This tool also allows you to streamline the hiring process by integrating the best talents into your retail business to improve productivity. GoCo also enables easy onboarding of new employees by introducing them to key aspects of your retail operations. 

It helps you navigate important HR functions such as:

• Arranging for employee insurance.
• Tracking time spent on the job.
• Generating payroll.
• Managing leave and paid time off. 

A Retail Accounting Software

Another useful software for retailers is an accounting tool that allows you to integrate your POS system with the accounting system of your store. If you invest in the iPad POS system by Lightspeed mentioned above, they also have an accounting software that integrates with the iPad system, allowing you to optimize your accounting tasks on your tablet as well. 

A cursory look at Lightspeed Accounting reveals that it can be used to perform the following functions:

• Maintain records of transactions.
• Keep track of taxes and product discounts.
• Generate financial reports on store sales and number of customers.

A Team Communication Software

Communication is vital to running a retail store in a transparent and efficient manner. As a retailer, you’ll need to collaborate with a variety of individuals associated with your business. This includes your managers, on-floor employees, vendors, and more. 

While many retailers rely on messaging platforms such as WhatsApp or email to communicate with other parties, there are other tools that may serve your needs better. Slack, for example, is a team communication platform that serves as an effective hub for co-coordinating with your staff and other third-parties. It enables smooth internal communication and offers a variety of features such as:

• One-on-one chats.
• File sharing.
• Creating channels to manage a team or a project. 
• Connecting via calls. 

A Loyalty Program Software

Integrating loyalty programs into your online and in-store customer experience is imperative to building long-term customer relationships. One such software is Lightspeed Loyalty , which allows your customers to sign up for a point-based loyalty program and benefit from:

• Promotions.
• Coupons.
• One-time deals on special occasions.

This tool can also help you build personalized marketing campaigns based on customer insights. It allows you to connect with shoppers and provide them with relevant offers and product recommendations that complement their shopping habits. The 360-degree functionality of this tool makes it one of the best software for retailers.

In a Nutshell 

From a mobile point of sale system and accounting software to human resource tools and customer relationship management tools, technology presents an abundance of opportunities to retailers to innovate and optimize their business operations and provide their customers with the convenience they desire. 

The post What are the Best Software Solutions For Retailers? appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

In the past five years, more than 14.7 billion records have been lost or stolen due to data breaches.

Deploy Strong Security Technology

Cyber security needs to be a top priority in any business handling sensitive data or personally identifiable data. Traditional security such as firewalls, anti-virus software, and intrusion protection provide a base level of protection, but it’s only the start. A layered security approach using real-time monitoring and alerting is critical.

Less than 5% of the data exposed in breaches over the past five years was encrypted. Encryption done by professional IT support teams dramatically decreases your exposure from both a technical and legal standpoint. Military-grade encryption can prevent the data from being read even if cyber criminals manage to breach your systems and get it, that’s why it’s important to have managed it. If you need a new software to help you manage your data, then consider using this free nosql database.

Breaches can occur when software hasn’t been patched or updated regularly. The breach at Equifax that exposed credit card records happened when attackers exploited a known flaw in the company’s Apache-Struts web application software. The breach happened months after the software manufacturer reported the problem and offered a patch. Equifax hadn’t gotten around to installing it. If they had, the breach likely would never have happened. There are many things that you can check at melodyeotvos.

You need constant monitoring for intrusions and unusual activity.

Train Employees on Security

According to New Jersey IT services, 93% of data breaches begin with phishing attempts. Cyber criminals send legitimate-looking emails in an attempt to obtain login credentials, passwords, and sensitive information. While software solutions can help filter email phishing attempts, employees need to be trained to recognize them to avoid falling victim. You can have the best security systems, but if an employee gives up their login and password, cyber thieves may be able to bypass your security.

Your employees are your weakest links. Cloud-based storage, mobile devices, and more employees mixing company-owned and personal devices for business open up more potential access points. Employees need to know how to detect threats and avoid data leakage by using tools like ExpressVPN when connecting to any unsecured WiFi location. This can even be a threat when working from home while using some TV apps like kodi on firestick without first connecting to a VPN tool to encrypt their connection. Hackers have been known to access home networks this way.

Companies should have clearly defined security policies.

Maintain Strict Compliance

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) governs security protocols and standards for anyone handling credit card information, including use and access. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulates access to personally-identifiable health and medical records.  Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) deals with controls on financial data by corporations.

There may be additional standards within your particular industry. Compliance may include security measures and reporting, but each sets measurable standards for protection, for this, we highly recommend using it consulting services.

Pay Attention To Emerging Regulations

“Security breaches are bad enough, especially if your company handles patient information. Handling of this data is regulated by the federal government, so to avoid them you should trust this data to Medical Coding Solutions help to prevent breaches of sensitive information. New privacy laws are increasing the responsibilities for data protection and increasing the penalties for when breaches happen. In some cases, they mandate pro-active actions you must take to ensure security and actions you must take immediately on discovery of a breach.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) enacted in the European Union impact companies located in the EU as well as companies doing business with EU residents. Several U.S. companies have already been fined for failing to comply with strict regulations on privacy and data protection.

California’s Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) provides additional consumer protection and privacy rights. It takes effect in 2020.

New legislation is being proposed regularly that makes the penalties for non-compliance high and may affect your IT policies, procedures, and staffing.

Conduct Security Audits

According to New Jersey IT support, it’s important to regularly stress tests your systems. At a minimum, you should conduct security audits to make sure you are maintaining your established level of protection. Many companies conduct penetration tests with outside agencies to find weaknesses in their security.

Other companies use security audits in their training by identifying weaknesses and putting their team through the paces to identify and fix security threats while managing the business impact.

Develop A Disaster Response Plan

Every company that handles sensitive data or personally identifiable data needs to have a pre-established data breach response plan as per the experts on managed it services over the world. Roles and responsibilities should be spelled out in case you ever have to manage a breach.

It should include all levels of company management and not just IT professionals. In addition to repairing the damage to your systems, you also need people that will be responsible for managing your company’s reputation and business impacts.

This plan may be part of complying with regulations. It’s part of the GDPR, which has formal procedures you will need to enact within 72 hours of detecting a breach. This includes notifying the appropriate government authorities and informing all of those affected.

The post IT Management Best Practices to Protect Your Business from Data Breaches appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

More than that, Forbes reports that positive employee engagement leads to:

• 21% greater profitability
• 41% reduction in absenteeism
• 59% less turnover
• Employees who feel like they’re really heard are 4.6 times more likely to feel empowered.

Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash

However, we have to weigh all of these positives with a few negatives: 

• 90% of managers understand how important employee engagement is
• 50% of managers know how to address this 
• 13% of employees consider themselves “highly engaged”
• 61% of employees feel burned out on the job
• Disengaged employees cost companies in the United States up to $550 billion a year.

You’re probably thinking, with statistics like this, how can you ever maintain employee engagement at your company? Seeing as how this is the 21st century, the answer is digital focused of course – an employee engagement app. Connecteam is a perfect employee engagement app for small businesses, desk-less and remote employees, and Enterprise companies. 

An employee engagement app allows you to manage engagement in the palm of your hand. In real time, you can change the narrative and be exactly where your employees are through a no-code mobile app. Now, there are some key features the app must include in order for your methods to be effective, we list the seven must-haves in your employee engagement app below. 

7 Must-Haves for Your Employee Engagement App

1. Interface can be customized. 

Branding is a must and that logic applies to your employee engagement app. Why? Because whenever you’re sharing something to boost engagement, branding makes it easy to bring your team together and helps them feel like they’re a genuine part of your company culture. 

Most engagement apps allow you to customize almost every feature – from the color to the logo and so on. Branding your employee engagement app creates a team-oriented environment (the same way a company uniform does) which energizes everyone to work towards achieving the goals of the company.

2. Easy access to updates (news, announcements, etc.) 

In today’s fast paced society, things change in the blink of an eye, therefore communication is key. An employee engagement app is the perfect tool to deliver updates, as it’s possible in the click of a button, all news, policy changes, hirings and firings, promotions, and so on need to be distributed to your employees. 

Most apps allow you to add video, photos, GIFs and more to boost interaction and interest. Additionally, it should be easy for employees to like and comment on the updates you send as this helps promote internal engagement among staff. Whatever you need to share is possible in the tap of a button.

3. Private and group chat. 

With the ease of instant messaging, the same is possible on your employee engagement app because sometimes face-to-face communication just isn’t possible. Sending a private or group chat is more personal, doesn’t get lost in the email chain and doesn’t waste time like phone calls do.

The ability to instantly send a message turns your app into a one-stop shop for communication. It becomes that much easier for employees to ask each other questions, whether it’s about a project collaboration or the best route to work since the main road is closed. Employees can congratulate one another on birthdays, anniversaries, employee of the month winners, milestones achieved and more. If employees are scattered around the globe, they can chat via video and are just plugged at all times so everyone is always on the same page. 

Photo by Yura Fresh on Unsplash

4. Feedback! 

Are you only asking for feedback during an annual review? Then chances are, you’re missing out on some serious engagement with your employees. Involve your employees more – ask them for their opinion about what color to repaint the office, which new product name they like best, what’s their job satisfaction, what were their feelings on the latest company outing and so on. No one said feedback only had to be about job performance. 

When you involve your employees on company decisions, and no they don’t need to be groundbreaking decision, they feel more connected to the company culture and will be far more engaged and productive. An employee engagement app keeps your hand on the pulse of what an employee is thinking and feeling – ask them about their overall happiness and about specific matters like policies or projects – use the survey feature, or suggestion box feature, to be in tune with what your employees needs and wants are.

5. Incentives.

Having incentives in the workplace is a great way to motivate your employees, promote teamwork, boost morale, and encourages better customer service. There’s a reason people sign up for rewards programs at Starbucks or Target, we all love free things. And free things in the workplace are no different. 

Use the employee engagement app to offer incentives, such as: 

• Gifts – coffee mug, movie tickets or Netflix subscription, etc. 
• Discounts on company swag
• Company outings or trips
• Badges for completing training modules

Incentives can serve as a daily driver for your employees and just like that, the app becomes another part of the daily routine. And if that’s not enough, 89% of employees who work at companies that support well-being initiatives are far more likely to recommend their company to friends, family and the general public as a good place to work.

6. Professional skill development. 

When training is done and professional skills grow because of digital training, you’re already a step ahead. This kind of interactive learning helps your employees retain more information rather than reading through a manual.

Create modules that push employees to test their knowledge (actually include a quiz or fun multiple choice options) and look into activities to boost training (like a virtual scavenger hunt). Include videos and helpful photos to build skills and training – it’s a lot cheaper, saves a ton of time and lets employees complete training at their own pace. 

7. Actionable data. 

As an admin, you have a clear picture of what’s happening with your employee engagement app. See who is reading your message and for those who aren’t, send a push notification. Know which surveys get the most response and which don’t. Learn what your employees are happy about and what they want more of. Everything is right there for you to digest and to take action on.

Employe engagement is a must if you want to be successful and we know that’s more of a rhetorical statement. We’ve gone through the facts and statistics, listed the best employee engagement app in the market, and have included a list of seven must-have features – it’s up to you now. Choose the right app for your employees and business, only then can you take employee engagement to the next level. 

The post 7 Must-Haves for Your Employee Engagement App appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Below are hints to assist you in how much you’ll need to finance your app project.

Setting up a budget for specific costs

Unless you have a specific development team who has a chart breakdown, it’s best to create your own. App costs can range from $10,000 for offline standalone apps to $500,000 or more for enterprise apps. Hence, your budget should be flexible for the type of app you want. You might want to allocate about 60 percent for development and quality assurance (QA) and 15 percent for project management. Set aside about 15 percent for user interfaces (UI) and user experiences (UX) and 10 percent for business analytics.

Allocating enough money for labor costs, coding and UI/UX

Your materials and labor costs are primary expenses with app development. Labor rates can vary depending on the development team you hire. If you can, find developers and designers under the same parent company to lower costs. Ensure they are familiar with the app preference you want and that they work on that type of UI/UX. Depending on your app features, your labor costs might be high and you might have a large team. You may need business analysts, backend developers and UI/UX engineers. You will also have a project manager, mobile developers and a QA engineer. Projected costs might range from $2,000 – $60,000. Once you have your app set up, you might want to use Apica Systems to make sure it is running smoothly.

Including project management and business analysis costs

To help with market analysis, research and documentation, you’ll need about $1,200 – $11,000. You also have to determine if your app will run on iOS, Android or both. Consider where your target audience is when making your choice. With your project management, set aside $1,200 – $12,000 depending on your app features. Your PM can help with account management, business analysis, QA and concepts. They’re also there to assist with digital project management and design.

Adding in expenses for maintenance and updates and specific app related costs

Another area to set aside money is for covering maintenance and updates. Depending on if you use iOS or Android, maintenance might run anywhere from $10,000 – $14,000 every year. There are additional costs you should factor in.

These might include:

• Server components that will work with your mobile app through APIs. These might cost between $6,500 – $30,000.

• Any features you offer with the app like navigation, OCR, QR codes or integrated payments. These can run about $3,000 for a single feature.

• Analytics that you include to gauge revenue, user payments, user characteristics or user actions. These can add on another $2,500.

• Adding in third-party chats from software development kits (SDKs). These can cost $2,500. If you use custom chat modules, these might run $15,000 or higher.

While app costs can vary, having a budget can help. Hire the best developers and designers and look for ways to calculate app design costs. That way you can allocate money where you need it to ensure the success of your app project.

The post How Much Does it Cost to Create an App? appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

This quest eventually resulted in the emergence of the Lean methodology. Now, continuous integration (CI) is the methodology that’s emerging as a champion among DevOps teams. The method encompasses developers working on a small piece of code and pushing them to market as deliverable as soon as they’re complete.

What Is Continuous Integration?

Historically, programmers toiled away in seclusion, working on large chunks of code and adding their work to the central repository once they’ve completed their task. The method made it much more challenging to merge substantial changes into the main program. Even worse, the code typically contained many bugs that weren’t apparent until the programmer merged the new work with the main project.

In the broadest definition, CI is the routine integration of small changes in code into a primary repository. Using the method, developers test code early, frequently and often.

Continuous integration does not eliminate bugs. However, it does help programmers find them remarkably faster. Also, with a CI pipeline in place, developers can produce deliverables quickly.

Making the Case for Continuous Integration

Using continuous integration methodology, software developers endlessly process, test and upload changes and code additions. Programmers save their work in a central repository that’s accessible to all team members. This way, all personnel have access to the latest version of code. By centralizing the storing and sharing of code, software development firms reduce the common errors that occur when many team members work on different versions of the same product.

Continuous integration is the first half of the continuous delivery cycle. By combining continuous integration with continuous delivery (CD) programmers streamline overall workflow, enabling them to deliver high-quality updates and programs faster. Enterprises that deploy both continuous integration and continuous delivery enjoy notable improvements in performance.

The CI/CD pipeline enables developers to quickly create business solutions that empower employees to meet corporate goals. The methodology ensures the release of reliable, top-notch software. Furthermore, the CI/CD pipeline reduces costs, labor, errors, outages and downtime.

Companies that deploy continuous integration and delivery can leverage the increased functionality of the method to deliver enhanced products and services. Resultantly, these firms gain an advantage in a highly competitive market.

Continuous Integration in Action

On a typical day at a software development firm that leverages the CI/CD pipeline, a developer might write a new feature or fix a bug, then push the updated code to the centralized repository. The repository would then run an automated integration test and notify stakeholders if there are any bugs or other quality concerns. As Jeremiah Small, Director of Engineering at Soliant Consulting, points out, “This empowers the development team to identify and fix bugs more quickly, because the changes tend to be more incremental and less complex than they would be with less frequent integration.”

After the review, and a final sign off by programmers, the code would move to the central repository. Meanwhile, feature development and bug fixes will continue. This process will repeat several times a day.

The CI/CD pipeline is especially beneficial for large teams. The method makes the most of many programmers working on small tasks. The difference is that all changes remain in sync. CI/CD methodology delivers on the concept of large teams working together to achieve a common goal.

Continuous integration/continuous delivery is an effective method for creating both internal and external resources. Companies of all sizes can benefit by embracing the philosophy.

A CI/CD pipeline can give any firm the ability to move nimbly and quickly while delivering high-quality goods and services. Today, continuous integration and continuous delivery are the latest tools that forward-thinking leaders use to outdo the competition.

The post Why So Many Businesses Are Implementing Continuous Integration appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Enter microlearning – a new way of learning that brings the employee education approach into the 21^st century.

What Is Microlearning?

While day-long classroom-style lectures and lengthy PowerPoint presentations worked in the past, microlearning is a new form of employee education that accommodates the generational shift in the workforce and the decrease in attention span due to how quickly we can gather information. It is defined as a teaching technique that delivers content in small bursts, presenting only the most important information in a way that is comprehensible and easily retainable.

Why Does Your Company Need It?

As technology continues to be a driver in our culture, the way individuals have grown accustomed to sourcing information has changed. As a result, so has the workplace culture. We turn to quick searches on the Internet, and within a few seconds, find the answers we are looking for. It’s time to integrate that instant gratification mindset into the way we work with employees.

Not to mention, the U.S. workforce is made up of 35 percent of Millennials, making them the largest generation that is a part of our country’s labor force. This group of tech-savvy individuals is leading this company culture shift. As they steer our companies into an unprecedented future, it’s our responsibility to adapt and adopt their style of learning. It will all come down to finding new ways to keep them engaged in their employee education as they set the framework for their success.

How Does It Work?

The concept of microlearning is simple. It consists of short, interactive videos – maximum 10-15 minutes each – focusing on specific goals that are relevant to an employees’ day-to-day tasks. With microlearning, the quick spurts of information can be immediately applied rather than going unused and eventually forgotten. By sharing pertinent information just in time, rather than just in case, companies can increase employee performance at an exceptional rate.

Is It Really Successful?

This form of education has proven to produce rapid results when training employees. Take Alorica as an example – the largest customer service provider in North America.

While managing millions of customer prescriptions for a major retail pharmacy provider, Alorica experienced a decline in prescription fulfillment compliance, which is a huge issue. In search of a new learning strategy to mitigate the problem, Alorica championed the concept of microlearning. Brief, animated videos set on clear-cut goals assisted agents with understanding the importance of customer verification, and in turn helped close a gap to not only meet, but exceed client expectations. I am 59 and have been taking Cialis (generic) with great success. And it works already after 30 minutes. I pay for 30 pieces only $ 64.55 which I consider a good price.

Results showed that pilot sites using the method greatly outperformed sites using traditional retraining methods. About two months into the program, the pharmacy provider saw a 62 percent improvement in compliance; where agents were retaining up to 20 percent more information.

Authored By:

Irene Tan, Learning & Development Sr. Director at Alorica

Irene Tan is a Learning & Development Sr. Director at Alorica. With more than 15 years of experience, she has held various roles within the Company in Operations, Human Resources and Training. Prior to Alorica, Irene was a Global HR Senior Leader at Dunham-Bush, Inc., where she oversaw the holding group of the company along with eight regional offices worldwide. Previously, Irene was one of the pioneers of PeopleSupport, Inc. (now Teleperformance), where she grew an Operations team of nearly 1,000 employees across multiple sites and helped launch the company’s first center in Latin America.

The post How Updating Training Protocol can Lead to Increased Employee Engagement appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Advancements in Big Data – or the analysis of customer behaviors online and off – and automation technology are making it easier than ever before for marketers to connect and engage with their audiences. By following the customer journey more closely, and in real-time, marketers can deliver better options that are personalized and relevant. Understand the basics of a customer profile is just the starting point; marketers must understand the nuances of that customer during the buying journey.

To accomplish this, marketing teams need to leverage a variety of technology solutions along with streamlined workflow management. Speed is the name of the game and the strategies below will help you get there.

Chatbots

Offering Insurance Carrier Automation Solutions to customers is important but often costly when it comes to manpower. Using chatbot technology, though, cuts costs while helping customers find quick answers.

Chatbot technology analyzes patterns and word choices of consumers to help find immediate solutions. Chatbots can provide links, give answers to frequently asked questions and even file support tickets if more action is needed. Instead of consumers searching for an email address, then waiting a day or two for a response, chatbots can give immediate answers to common questions.

Consumers like transparency, so when chatbots are implemented, it’s best to let people know that they are interacting with an automated system right off the bat. Chatbot software like SecondEgo communicates with website visitors in real-time. The software uses artificial intelligence to get smarter over time based on data you provide and how people interact with it.

Real-Time Decision Making

Marketers are always looking for ways to speed up the data analysis time so decisions can be made quickly. Data analysis is only part of the picture. Streamlining communication and automating workflows free up team members to focus on optimizing campaigns. The faster marketing teams can make adjustments to campaigns the more revenue they can generate with lower expenses.

Project management solutions like Wrike allow marketing teams to create systematic workflows that speed up communications between team members on specific tasks and create a shared knowledge base for quickly accessing information. Wrike even uses artificial intelligence to automate repeatable tasks that intelligently suggest next steps and notify managers if there’s a possible project delay.

Suggested Items

Having brands suggest items you may like is nothing new – consider the “you may also like” product suggestions that Amazon has been offering post-sale for over a decade. What’s changing is the ability to suggest items across several sites and channels through secure computer software platforms. The right tracking and AI platform can follow customers from one online location to another, and remind them of what they liked on your brand’s site or social media platform. This type of tracking and marketing can also tell you what people are doing after they leave your site, like heading to competitor sites or looking up reviews on your brand.

When marketers better understand consumer behavior, they can better deliver personalized messaging that results in higher return. Big Data and AI benefit both brands and customers by providing custom information.

The post How Big Data and Automation are Giving Marketers Real-Time Solutions appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEC has also launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Cities

Major cities in the U.S., such as Boston, have already started planning for internet of things implementation. Everything ranging from street lights and parking meters, to sewage grates and sprinkler systems will be connected to the internet and interlinked. These will be huge breakthroughs in terms of saving energy and money. – Karl Kangur, MRR Media

2. Healthcare

Our healthcare system is slow, inefficient, and sometimes prone to error, yet it relies on many things that could be effectively automated and improved with technology. Telemedicine will be big, and so will additional technology to support operations such as record keeping, sharing reports across multiple locations, and dispensing antiviral medications. – Jessica Gonzalez, InCharged

3. Smart Body Analyzers

I could see these making a much bigger impact in 2018. Advances in devices that monitor oxygen levels, blood pressure, EKG, and temperature and are connected directly with all of your doctors could alter how we approach wellness check-ups moving forward. – Adrien Schmidt, OpenBouquet

4. Home Appliances

I think the more people understand this, the more it will have an impact on their home life. From their heaters adapting to the external temperatures, to their lights reacting to them entering the room, to their alarm clocks syncing to traffic. The IoT is going to completely change how everyone lives at home. – Colbey Pfund, LFNT Distribution

5. Video Doorbells

In the age of getting almost anything delivered to your door in only two days, it gives consumers additional peace of mind knowing who is at the door before opening — even allowing you to speak to someone at your door remotely. Video evidence also goes a long way in helping police prosecute package thieves. Plus, they are much easier to install than home security cameras. – Shawn Schulze, Names.org

6. Data Centers

We run several data centers in the U.S. and Canada. One of the most interesting IoT developments from our perspective will be the intersection of smart devices and augmented reality. Integrating IoT monitoring devices throughout the data center will allow operations and support teams to visualize the status of servers, network devices, and other infrastructure using augmented reality interfaces. – Justin Blanchard, ServerMania Inc.

7. Schools

I think schools will work on ways to create a more connected network between students, teachers and parents. This would change the learning experience and how homework and research is conducted away from the classroom. It may even make learning and school more interesting and engaging. – Angela Ruth, Calendar

8. Blockchain Technology

Blockchain adds a layer of security to digital transactions. As our smart home devices become more integrated into our daily lives, privacy becomes a concern, and especially who owns our data. Blockchain will allow IoT device owners to be in charge of their data. They could monetize and sell it in exchange for digital currency or choose to keep it private. – Jared Atchison, WPForms

9. Large Retailers

I think large retailers may use IoT to create large digital shopping malls that completely replace brick-and-mortar ones, where people can shop virtually and use augmented reality and their personal data from their own devices to enjoy a personalized experience.- Zach Binder, Bell + Ivy

10. Security

With growing adoption of IoT devices and ability to use them to buy things, IoT security has to be one of the next big things in order to provide consumers the peace of mind they need so as to share their health or payment information.- Zohar Steinberg, token payments

The post What’s Next: 10 Potential Applications for IoT Technologies appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What’s a basic tech skill that small business owners must have to oversee day-to-day operations?

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEC has also launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Public Cloud Navigation

The on-demand servers available from public cloud platforms can host websites, business applications, collaboration and communication tools, analytics, data and a lot more. A basic understanding of what the cloud is and how to deploy and manage cloud servers can help small business owners access infrastructure that was once only available to much larger companies at an affordable price. – Justin Blanchard, ServerMania Inc.

The post 12 Basic Tech Skills You Need to Master to Run a Business appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. YEC has also launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Keep the Customer Front and Center

AI and chatbots can be used to improve service levels … or destroy them. So make sure you keep the customer front and center. Will your customer be delighted by this solution or enraged? Remember that if you give a customer a bad answer, you risk losing them forever. We recommend taking it slowly. If you deploy a chatbot, make sure it has the option to transfer the customer to a human agent. – Jonathan Steiman, Peak Support

2. Test Them Out Internally

Before making them available to the public, try using them on an internal basis to test how they work and better understand where they could provide a benefit to your operations. It’s important everyone get to use them first, so they feel comfortable with the idea. – Serenity Gibbons, Calendar.com

3. Have a Clear Objective

Make sure you have a clear objective in mind. AI and chatbots can be utilized in several ways, so understanding what you wish to get out of them plays a crucial role in their development. If you are using chatbots for lead generation, make sure it does just that. Your chatbot should engage users and ask the right questions to receive the crucial information you need to complete your objective. – Duran Inci, Optimum7

4. Be Conversational

Chatbots are the best of texting and email combined. If you want people to interact with your bot you need to be conversational, which means asking lots of questions, providing short answers that give value and most importantly, not spamming them. When planning out your chatbot experience, you want your bot to act more like a friend or family member, and not like a car salesman. – Bryan Kesler, CPA Exam Guide

5. Have Chatbots Take the Lead

Instead of hiding your chatbot icon in the bottom right of your site, let visitors know it’s ready to help with a welcome message. Ask questions to your customers directly related to their visit. Design questions that offer support and lead customers to actions such as, “have you ever worked with an SEO company in the past?” or “what are you looking to improve on your website?” for an SEO site. – Kristopher Jones, LSEO.com

6. Account for AI Learning Time

A major point to keep in mind when implementing AI or chatbots into your company is that AI takes time to learn speech patterns in order to respond accordingly. With so much AI tech now available, it seems building your own software may save money, but using an existing platform will save you the time it takes to get through the inevitable learning curve the software needs to work correctly. – Jason Criddle, Jason Criddle and Associates

7. Have a Good Script

You need to have a good script. Think of all possible questions and answers, and then flow chart the entire experience. There is no harm in trying this out, but you need to dedicate the time in setting up a good chat system with a lot of possible questions and answers. Then you need time to keep adding information. – Peter Boyd, PaperStreet Web Design

8. Anticipate the Unanticipated

You are going to provide a lot of value for your customers, but it isn’t without additional employee cost. Ask yourself if you’re ready to handle the increased workload that will be generated by creating a new channel for customers to seek help and suggest feedback. Consider potential unintended consequences of any changes in how your app seeks to help its users. – Tim Chaves, ZipBooks Accounting Software

9. Link Them to Your Apps for Fast Assistance

I recently instituted chatbots, and I was able to link it to my company’s Slack so that messages to the bot show up where I’m reviewing all other notifications. Doing this for yourself can give you the freedom to see when customers are contacting you, and give you the freedom to hop in and replace the bot without a delay or confusing transition. – Adam Steele, Loganix

10. Understand Their Limitations

Even though AI is advancing quickly, it still doesn’t take the place of personalized customer service. Chatbots are good for certain tasks, such as helping website visitors find what they’re looking for. But don’t expect too much from them, and make sure you also give people an easy way to get more detailed help if they need it. – Shawn Porat, Scorely

The post 10 Things to Consider When Automating Your Customer Support Services appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Host employee training

You want to train your employees – that’s how they learn what is expected of them. An employee training on cyber security is a must and will give you the chance to explain the importance of protecting computer systems from theft and damage. Informed employees are the best employees – this is why more and more companies are cultivating work culture through motivation and leadership.

Post simple online safety tips in view

Take some time to post actionable online safety tips in the break room, on the doors to the restrooms and in the company newsletter. These tips will act as reminders to make smart choices to maintain cyber security. One of the most important steps in setting up a business is taking steps to make sure your business not only gets off the ground, but that it has a solid foundation and well-trained employees to keep it alive and thriving.

Create complex passwords

You’ve probably heard this tip before, but you need to create strong passwords for your critical accounts – unique passwords are the best way to ensure your information stays safe to avoid widespread corporate hacks. If you reuse your passwords for multiple accounts, a hacker can utilize the leaked data from one attack to login to the other accounts. If you can’t keep track of your passwords, use a password manager to help you store the passwords for the various accounts.

Invest in VPN software

Once your logins are safer, it’s time to make sure that your connections are secure. Never underestimate the importance of secure Virtual Private Network (VPN). This software provides online safety so you can login from any location with complete anonymity. Choose a company with great security, high upload and download speeds, and 24-hour customer service. Check out the various software available with the help of the Internet and read about the company to learn more about what they offer. An expressvpn review can inform you of what a good VPN software company will do for you.

Use a firewall

Protect yourself with a secure network, but go ahead and use a firewall too. A firewall is an electronic barrier that blocks unauthorized access to your devices and computers. It’s sometimes included with comprehensive security software. The use of a firewall ensures that all devices connected to your network are secured – even security cameras and smart thermostats. It’s important to secure there devices; many of them are not equipped with any security measures, so hackers have a point of entry to your entire network if you fail to use a firewall.

A culture of privacy in the workplace is ideal – your employees need to know and understand what privacy means to your organization. Give your employees the tools they need to make sure privacy is both achieved and maintained and you will empower them to do their part to keep your business safe.

The post 5 Ways to Encourage Cyber Security in the Workplace appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Using an email marketing platform will greatly improve your results, as well. However, more and more organizations are adding Salesforce to their email marketing assets to win far more conversions than with just a single platform.

Using Salesforce to Improve Your Email Marketing Platform’s Results

Email marketing platforms, such as GetResponse, will still be in charge of automating the next email message in a chain, but you can use Forms integrated  to send much more customized emails based on where they are in the sales funnel, information you have about them and actions they’ve taken such as purchase history.

The combination of these platforms will also give your marketing and sales team a far more comprehensive view of how your leads behave. This, too, will make it easier to improve everything from your actual emails to the offers you use to nurture these leads. If you have no experience in marketing then you can contact Conversant Media for professional assistance.

2 Ways to Use Field Change Triggers During Your Email Campaigns

Fortunately, this is actually very easy to do when you use Salesforce. Any time a change is made to a value field on the lead or contact form, you can use automation to begin an email nurturing process that targets recipients based on these changes.

Here are two examples to show you how easy this can be.

1. Bringing Cold Leads Back to Life

Often, a lead will give you every indication that they are on their way to converting and then – all of a sudden – fall off the face of the earth.

Reviving these cold leads is difficult when all you have is your traditional email marketing platform, but when you combine it with Salesforce, you can easily reroute these recipients right back to a “Nurture” status. Then, use the Field Changed trigger to begin nurturing them anew.

Just be sure you give these leads some breathing room before sending them the first email in this new sequence. For example, if they went cold on you right after a trial service offer, give them five days before sending out the email.

Also, that new message should be educational in nature. Even after waiting five days, it is too soon to try again for the conversion if a lead has been unresponsive.

What happens if the lead still is not opening the email?

Do not cut your losses quite yet. Give them about 10 days and then send an email that will reconfirm your mindshare and position as a thought leader. Again, it should be educational, so something about industry trends would be the perfect choice.

You may still not get the conversion, but by reestablishing yourself with the recipient, you will be top-of-mind when they do decide to purchase.

Now, for those leads who do click, send them a nurturing email for a webinar or some other offer that requires a substantial investment of their time. A deeper commitment will bring them closer to converting.

 2. Load an Upsell Campaign for Qualified Customers

Upsells are vital to increasing profitability over time. With Salesforce, you can establish a threshold for when a subscriber becomes a “Power User.” When that happens, an email goes out to your marketing team to let them know about this opportunity.

An upsell email is then sent to this recipient with all the relevant details about this new offer. An account manager is also notified to follow up with this user in the near future over the phone if they do not place an upgraded order.

Getting the Most Out of Your Email Campaigns Is Easy with Salesforce

These are just two examples of how you can use Salesforce as a force multiplier to improve your email marketing campaign. While a high-quality email automation platform is still as important as ever, Salesforce can increase your ROI further by helping you better target your recipients with less work.

The post How Email Marketing Platforms Combine with Salesforce to Boost Sales appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Their press release reads, “While Bright LED screens or safety regulations can pose limitations with traditional lasers, the Kensington Ultimate Presenter is optimized for use in conference rooms with TVs, online meetings with remote participants, and large auditoriums with multiple presentation screens for greater user flexibility. Kensington has removed the laser from the pointing feature to help address the growing need for a presentation tool that can be used where laser devices are not allowed as well as for online meetings where remote participants can see the pointer onscreen when using web meeting tools. The presenter is also adaptable and customizable to the user, with its companion software KensingtonWorks ^TM  for assigning different features to the top button. New customization features include mouse click, pen and magnifier, to improve upon the user experience.” See the full details here.

The post Kensington Announces Ultimate Presenter with Virtual Pointer appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

In our digital age, it might be hard to keep up with all the advances in technology. So if you don’t know what are chatbots is, you’re probably not alone. Let’s begin with defining that term. Essentially, a chatbot is simply a type of computer program that engages in conversation with people, either through text messages or audibly. Popular chatbots include IBM’s Watson, LiveChat, and LivePerson, to name just a few. But even if you don’t own one of these devices, you have probably interacted with a chatbot without even knowing it. Many companies currently implement this technology, particularly for information gathering tasks or customer service purposes.

Given the global nature of our modern world, as well as the fact that chatbots are already a commonly used form of artificial intelligence, it will probably come as no surprise that one of the most sought-after products in this field is the multilingual chatbot. The technology is still in its infancy, and it’s easy to understand why. Programming a chatbot with the capability of simultaneously translating language is extremely complicated and time-consuming. There are rare examples of multilingual chatbots on the market today – such as Language I/O® Chat, a product designed to be a customer support tool – but they are few and far between. However, the day will certainly come when a variety of multilingual chatbots are available to businesses. After all, there are several situations where these programs would be useful.

Users typically access chatbots in messenger apps and communications platforms like WeChat, Facebook Messenger, iMessage, Kik, Slack, and Skype. Users type or ask a question, and the chatbot responds with the right information. Just as important as the ability to understand the context of a user’s question or command is the ability to “learn” from that interaction so it can offer more personalized information the next time. For example, if you ask a chatbot for recommendations for a local restaurant, it will analyze volumes of data so it can be proactive in suggesting restaurants that match your preferences the next time you’re out and about.

Next-Gen Marketing

Chatbots are relatively new to the marketing technology scene, and their arrival could not come at a better time. Traditional digital advertising tactics that provide only one-way interactions – from brand to customer – are becoming less effective. Brands push messaging, offers or services to users, but that should just be step one. Moving beyond the one-time interaction and creating an avenue for back-and-forth engagement is the key to building long-term customer relationships.

Conversational bots enable you to communicate the value of your brand to a vast audience, but do so via one-on-one conversations that make users feel like you’re tailoring those interactions to their individual likes and needs. They feel empowered by having command of ongoing interactions that more closely resemble two-way conversations. They can conduct research, ask questions, make a purchase, request help and share experiences with friends.

Email may still be King of the Marketing Hill, but chatbots are proving to be much more effective at getting your brand and messaging in front of customers, and more importantly, getting them to engage with you.

According to MailChip’s February 2017 report on Email Stats^[1], the open rate of email campaigns range from 16% to 27%. In contrast, chatbots deployed on messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger boast an open rate over 90%. Even better, the user typically opens and reads a message within five minutes. Think about how you interact with email compared to messaging clients. It’s a good bet you don’t open every single email as soon as it hits your inbox. But when you receive a notification from Facebook Messenger, chances are you read and respond within a few minutes.

Another key difference between email and chatbots is how users consume a message. Emails show all messaging in one window, and frequently include links to web sites that force you to leave the email app. Chatbots show only a bit of information at a time, so the interaction more closely resembles an exchange you have with a friend in your network. The ability for a chatbot to engage with your customers in “conversational commerce” is a key reason why chatbots have a higher stickiness factor than email.

Behind the Curtain

Of course, most small businesses do not have the massive budgets or teams of software engineers necessary to develop their own chatbots. All good AI implementations require the the ever-growing volumes of customer information businesses collect, and investment in technologies that enable the AI to analyze all that data. Additionally, chatbots requires effective natural language processing and neural networks to “understand” and process the context of a user’s question or command.

That’s where partnering with a company like Botworx can help. We have developed a bot platform that allows brands to use chatbots and messaging services not just for customer service and retention, but for acquiring customers. The platform features full lifecycle management and analytics, an AI-powered natural language engine and industry-leading commerce, trust and security features.

Before you create and launch a chatbot, the first step is to determine why you want to use it in the first place. For instance, do you want to attract new customers, improve engagement with current customers, improve customer service levels? All of the above? Don’t start building a bot until you know what purpose(s) it will serve.

The next step is to decide whether you want to build and maintain the chatbot in-house, or partner with a developer.

Just like an e-commerce web site, a chatbot is built on two main components: the user interface on the front end, and the data collection and analysis on the back end. The user interface needs to be simple to use and provide a compelling experience that keeps the user engaged. That’s only possible if the artificial intelligence technology on the back end enables the chatbot to not just provide immediate answers to a user’s question today, but also analyze data on all interactions over time. This enables the chatbot to “learn” to anticipate the information a user will want or need and offer it up on a more proactive basis.

Keep in mind that enabling conversational commerce is just as much as marketing challenge as a technical one. Building loyalty with customers is not as simple as rolling out a new chatbot. You must earn their trust, and that takes more work than convincing a customer to continue interacting with your chatbot after the novelty factor wears off. This requires time and constant effort, but the payoff will be well worth it. The chatbot gives you greater power to acquire customers, engage them with compelling content that’s relevant to them, and monetize those engagements.

^[1] Average Email Campaign Stats of MailChimp Customers by Industry, MailChimp. February 1, 2017

The post Chatbots Are Not Just for the Big Brands appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

So where should you focus your technology integration?

Above all else, focus on revenues.

Ideally, as a business owner, you should spend most of your time on production (of your goods or services) or marketing. Everything else is extraneous and eats into your profits, and if you really want to do a good profit, learning about useful strategies for this like Earnandgo, which is highly influencer network and could really make a difference in the way you make money online.

So take a hard look on where you’re spending your time and resources. Identify the tasks that, if automated, could free you up to do what you do best, which will of course equate to higher revenues.

If you’re looking for some inspiration, check out these three powerful and trusted software services that, if used properly, can equate to more cash for your company.

#1: ClickMeeting

Webinars are an undeniable force for driving sales in today’s world.

The near feverish clamoring that consumers have for video content only adds fuel to the growing application and use of webinar technology by a myriad of established brands.

Since webinars are so effective at helping to educate consumers and convert them into full-fledged customers, webinar providers like ClickMeeting are an excellent resource to help a business pull in some extra cash.

ClickMeeting recently released a free eBook  which outlines numerous ways that a business can leverage webinar technology to drive sales; the perfect guide for anyone looking to leverage the monetary benefits of this technique.

ClickMeeting’s platform provides users with an assortment of features that assist brands in appearing professional, engaging audiences, and collecting the insights needed to attain better results with each subsequent broadcast.

With a ton of presentation tools, customized invitations, webinar recording options, in-depth analytics, and a host of other prosperous elements, this is an ideal platform for leveraging your thought leadership into an additional revenue stream.

#2: Famebit

Famebit, recently acquired by Google, is an influencer marketing platform where marketers can acquire some of the most impactful social authorities for a campaign.

You don’t need to just run a traditional influencer campaign with these folks. As ClickMeeting points out in the eBook, you can also gather these experts for a guest speaking webinar:

“Many businesses or entrepreneurs pay big bucks to get an expert to teach their audience what the business offers and how to grow an area of business or succeed with a product.”

Using this platform, however, you are likely to pay far less than through direct outreach efforts. And considering that influencer marketing delivers a higher ROI than most other tactics, it’s safe to assume that you will earn your money back and then some.

To get started, users simply need to create a campaign in which they select the platforms they wish to target; options include YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, and Twitter.

Next, choose the type of content your brand desires – review, unboxing, tutorial, etc. – set up your campaign details, choose your audience specs and budget, and submit for influencers so influencers can start bidding.

This tool is easy to use and can help your business prosper in a multitude of ways.

#3: Affiliate Window

Affiliate marketing programs are an excellent source of income for blogs, and brands that are struggling to make ends meet.

Affiliate Window is one of the most popular affiliate networks and touts more than 1,600 brands across 11 global territories and an ocean of products to promote.

When combined with webinar technologies, ClickMeeting has found this marriage to be a powerful force:

“If you’re an affiliate offering a product or a service provided by someone else, offer it in a sales webinar – without sounding like you’re pitching, of course. Take the role of a recommendation genius and apply it in a webinar setting, and you’ve got the easiest money-making machine in the world!”

The tool features a robust analytics platform that allows affiliates to view real-time reports featuring click rates, commission earned, and other vital data points.

In 2016 alone, Affiliate Window claims to have generated over $6.7 billion for its clients – this equates to a pretty decent chunk of change for the advertisers as well.

These tools are excellent additions to any entrepreneur’s toolkit as each possesses its own unique revenue-generating capabilities. If you need more inspiration for how to use technology to generate webinars, the eBook is chalk-full of additional ideas.

The post 3 Services that Help Generate Income for Your Brand appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

In tech, it’s often said that the big no longer eat the small — the fast eat the slow. Being quick and nimble is key in today’s tech landscape. However, it’s essential for entrepreneurs to ensure that their products are ready to bring to market before doing so.

INVESTMENT BANKER PROBLEMS

My company, FactGem, was born out of personal frustration from juggling hundreds of Excel spreadsheets. In 2011, I started what would later become FactGem with the simple acknowledgment that I was an investment banker with a problem. I had just completed a more than $100 million, multi-year transaction for a Fortune 200, new, world headquarters project. I ended the transaction with hundreds of Excel models and realized that I needed a better way to extract insight for my customers and investors. I wanted Bloomberg for data— a place where I could log in and extract insights with speed.

IN GOOD COMPANY

The journey from conception to launch was a long and winding road and it was necessary for it to be a timely process. I remember sitting on my then-boyfriend’s couch talking about my challenge. Being a successful tech investor, he told me that the technology itself would be next to impossible to build.

With this news, my Midwestern roots and work ethic took over and I decided that I was going to solve this problem. I knew that others had to have the same challenges as me and I was unwilling to let it go. As it turns out, many companies out there did have the same problem that I did – they could get their data into one place but could not easily connect it and extract insight. They were stuck dealing with IT departments who wouldn’t make the data easily accessible and once business leaders finally received the data, they couldn’t make sense of it.

THREE KEYS TO BULLETPROOF TECH

For other entrepreneurs who have identified a common challenge that they are passionate about solving, keep the following tips in mind as you begin your journey:

• Build a team that understands the pain points of your end users. It wasn’t until 2013 that FactGem hired our CTO and started the true development process. Our top engineer who came from the intelligence space, understood the challenges of integrating big data and being able to change the data model in real time to fit the logic of the business itself. The technology of the last 30 years has forced companies to fit their business logic around the data which makes getting to meaningful insight rather tricky. It has been a long road and the tech is as hard as my now husband said it would be.

• Work hard. Try new things. Ask for customer feedback. FactGem is “Rated E” for Everyone. We offer a solution that enables the business analyst, data scientist, marketer or executive to use their knowledge to connect data quickly and extract insight without spending time writing code to get through an integration. Our “ah-ha” moment came only through customer interaction and feedback. We realized that the professionals who needed business insights were often being held hostage by IT departments who were hoarding data and not dedicating the necessary time and money to the integration process. The executives who needed to make decisions quickly couldn’t get what they wanted. Trial and error and customer feedback helped us test and develop a product that effectively addresses common challenges.

• Don’t rush launching and accept that tech is always going to evolve. After a year into working for a Fortune 500 retailer, we have learned a great deal. Our product offering is clear. We understand the need for continued enhancements to our data science stack and are working with major BI vendors to build connectors to make those tools useful to our customers. At this point, we felt ready to launch our application. Tech advancements will happen but ensuring your product is in a state that will welcome enhancements will lead to more success.

Gartner anticipates that the BI market will reach $18 billion this year – FactGem is going to make that investment worthwhile for companies everywhere. Instead of getting to a few insights with just a selection of data, FactGem’s Data Fabric will instantly connect all data within a business. Waiting until 2017 to bring our product to market not only ensured that the tech is sound but ensured that there was a market need.

As you begin the process of becoming a tech entrepreneur, remember to not only surround yourself with passionate individuals but ones who challenge you, your ideas and plans. Listen to the customer and be disciplined about what your product does and who you are serving. These things alone can’t guarantee success, but their absence will certainly prevent it.

The post How to Ensure that your Tech is Bulletproof Before Launching appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Now, with this influx of credit card breaches, however, hackers are dedicating a lot of time for small profits on the dark web. Researchers estimate U.S.-based credit card data can be sold for $5-$30 depending on the data. Why so little? It’s basically supply-and-demand fundamentals. Data breaches become more prevalent and, thus, the market for stolen credit cards is flooded… therefore driving the price down.

Carding web security threat in which attackers use multiple, parallel attempts to authorize stolen credit card credentials. Carding is performed by bots, software used to perform automated operations over the Internet. The objective of carding is to identify which card numbers or details can be used to perform purchases.

Besides the damage caused to card owners, a carding attack can negatively affect businesses whose websites are used to authorize stolen credit cards. Carding typically results in chargebacks – these are disputed transactions that result in a merchant reversing the transaction and refunding the purchaser’s money. Carding forums used to share stolen credit card data, and discuss techniques for obtaining credit card data, validating it and using it for criminal activity

Chargebacks can happen for legitimate reasons (for example an erroneous purchase or a clerical error), but are very often the result of fraud techniques like carding. Every chargeback hurts a business’s reputation with credit card processors. Carding executed against a website can lead to poor merchant history and chargeback penalties.

So what’s to stop the POS malware trend from turning into the potentially devastating threat of POS ransomware? If retailers don’t protect themselves properly, this isn’t much of a stretch. Malware takes months to siphon credit card data from infected systems. Rather than gain access to a national chain’s POS to exfiltrate credit cards, cyber criminals could deploy ransomware that shuts down the POS systems… effectively bringing the business and all revenue to a screeching halt. This would likely prompt stores to pay the ransom right away, allowing the threat actors to profit within minutes. And with the impressive success of the global WannaCry outbreak, cybercriminals are taking notice of what works.

It’s no secret that major retailers and small businesses alike need to protect against malware and, now, ransomware threats to protect their customers’ data, as well as their brand and reputation. If customers lose trust, business suffers. So what can retailers do better to prevent these attacks from occurring, let alone reoccurring, in the first place?

How Can Retailers Protect Themselves?

Start by deploying a managed firewall across all locations, which can be done quickly and easily. These firewalls monitor payment card processing activity to ensure that malware is not entering and sensitive data is not exiting the network. The most important feature to look out for when selecting a firewall is the ability to control outbound network traffic—that way stores can prevent payment data from being sent to suspect sites and countries.

The latest string of breaches, however, reiterates that multi-location retail security requires a new approach, beyond the absolute minimums of maintaining PCI compliance and implementing a managed firewall. For a comprehensive toolbelt to stop cyber criminals before they do real damage, retailers should consider implementing the following technologies:

• File integrity monitoring (to tell you when files have changed that weren’t supposed to change)
• Unified threat management appliances (used to integrate security features such as firewall, gateway antivirus, and intrusion detection)
• Security information and event management, ideally with dormant malware hunting capabilities (used to centrally collect, store, and analyze log data and other data from various systems to provide a single point of view from which to be alerted to potential issues)
• Managed detection and response (brings advanced threat detection and response specifically to the POS systems to reduce malware detection gap and incident response times)
• Next-generation endpoint security solutions (used to stop attacks on the endpoint computers and servers before they can wreak havoc on other systems)

Merchants should also remember that being compliant may not be (and is usually not) the same thing as being secure. It’s one thing to do basically the bare minimum to meet compliance mandates, but it’s completely another thing to do IT security properly. Properly locked down systems take a willingness to bring in experts that have ‘been there, done that’ and know how to lock payment terminals down to where they can only operate as payment terminals and not as general use computers. While there are many tools available to help with many required tasks, the basic concept of proper security starts with an understanding that doing it right takes time, patience, and yes, at times, it will take money.

Netsurion, for example, offers managed security services to help highly distributed businesses achieve enterprise-level security. With its managed network security, these businesses can defend payment and other critical data from cyberthreats with 24/7 firewall uptime monitoring. PCI compliance support relieves the stress with on-on-one merchant support and an intuitive management portal. In addition, Netsurion subsidiary EventTracker’s security information and event management (SIEM) technology has made SIEM-at-the-Edge a reality. It is an advanced threat detection tool with log analysis, awareness, detection, and incident response that is effective and affordable.

EMV Implementation was Active During Breach

Regarding the most recent breach discussed above, it’s important to note that all of this brand’s stores did have EMV-capable credit card terminals. But not all banks have provided their customers with chip-enabled cards just yet, leaving those customers that used magnetic stripe cards more vulnerable to counterfeit fraud.

To minimize the damage hackers inflict on retail companies and their customers, retailers not only need to bolster network security, but the entire payments industry must work together to further the EMV migration and adoption of point-to-point encryption technology.

Lessons Learned

Hackers are after something– credit cards, personally identifiable information, bank credentials, or anything else that they can use to steal or sell for money. It is difficult and expensive for retailers, especially smaller ones or branch locations, to hire and retain an IT security team to combat these threats. For optimal success, security, and growth, advanced tools, including SIEM, should ideally be outsourced to a managed security firm that specializes in this type of service, which includes having expert threat researchers that are constantly looking for new activity that could point to a hacker trying to steal data from your systems. These tips should enable retailers to expand their businesses while keeping their customers’ data secure and loyalty strong.

The post POS Malware, Ransomware Threats are on the Rise. How Can Retailers Protect Themselves? appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

You may think that there is just no way you’ll ever get rid of all that paper and that going paperless isn’t for the type of business you run.

But this is 2017, and going paperless isn’t such a big deal as it once was. Numerous apps and gadgets make the transition easier and if you put just a little bit of effort into it, you too will be able to enjoy all the benefits of a paperless business.

EVALUATE YOUR CURRENT SITUATION

Firstly, do a thorough check of the paper that flows through your office and make adjustments. In every office there is a ton of unnecessary paper that just flows around. Make sure you:

• Opt out of any unnecessary mailing lists
• Switch to paying your bills electronically
• Reuse any paper that is already out and about and recycle anything that you can’t use

Though getting rid of a single piece of paper may not seem important, every small step in the right direction counts.

In order to make any real progress, you’ll have to be ruthless. Though it may seem that it is absolutely necessary to hold onto that specific bill or a note, but more often than not, it’s not true.

There is a simple rule to follow when throwing away stuff: when in doubt, get rid of it! At the beginning it does seem scary, but you’ll soon realize how satisfying it feels to de-clog your professional life.

A GOOD SCANNER IS YOUR BEST FRIEND

Once you’ve sorted things out, you will have to transfer all the relevant leftover paper data into an electronic version. This means you will have to invest in a scanner. If you regularly scan double-sided documents, a double side document scanner can offer speed, convenience, and efficiency.

Luckily, scanners nowadays are no longer expensive, nor do they take much space. An investment in a small, quick scanner that provides you with solid images won’t cost you too much. There are also scanners which are integrated with planning apps and digital filing cabinets, which is always useful!

Another necessary step you’ll have to take is to digitalize your signature. If you are running any kind of serious business, often times you have to sign a receipt, a delivery list, or any number of documents that regularly pass through an office.

Sign your signature clearly and scan it. That way, you’ll get a digital version of your signature so you’ll no longer have to print things out to sign them.

MAKE THE BEST OF AVAILABLE APPS

You will also have to think about how to manage your documentation. Cloud document management systems, like the versatile FolderIt, will allow you to share the documents among the employees, approve documents or workflows, set up notifications and reminders, search your documentation and much, much more.

Not only that, but if you opt for a cloud based solution, you will also be able to access all of your files remotely from any device that has internet access. You will no longer be confined to a single work space and you and your team will be able to do serious work wherever you are.

Don’t be afraid to utilize more than one app. Smart use of available technology will get you much further than just plainly managing your documents.

Apps will help you:

• Be productive and stay on track
• Collaborate more easily and with less paperwork
• Plan, strategize and organize
• Make networking easier
• Manage e-mails and much more

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A SOLID BACKUP

The good thing about paper is that it was palpable. Even if something got lost in the filing, 9 out of 10 times you were able to find it with a thorough search expedition.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the case with the electronic documentation. A dead hard drive will take your data to the grave with it. So make sure that everything that is important has a solid backup.

This also means you should inquire with your cloud service provider how protected your data is and what is their recovery policy if anything goes wrong (and if recovery is included in the price or will you have to pay extra).

DIGITAL NOTEPADS

You and your team will no longer be able to write down notes by hand. No more carrying around pens and pads, and scribbling down things in meetings.

Instead, you’ll have to utilize touch screen laptop, smartphones and tablets.

If investing in tablets for every member of your team is just too expensive for you, designate a person in every meeting that will take notes for everyone and distribute them to team members afterwards.

GOING PAPERLESS IS A TEAM EFFORT

One thing worth mentioning is that going paperless is not only about installing the apps and getting the necessary gadgets. It is about changing the work culture and a strong team effort. Everyone in the team will have to be up for making a change. This means that each and every member of your team will have to think twice before deciding to print out a document or writing down something instead of using a digital planner.

Experience has shown that the biggest problems small and medium businesses have when switching to a paperless work mode is not the lack of necessary tools or equipment, but the uncooperative workers who are deeply set in the way they’ve worked so far.

Getting everyone aboard and really standing behind the idea of a paperless office is crucial for success.

Explain to your teammates that the benefits are clear. They will be able to work faster and more efficient. A lot of money will be saved in the end while at the same time less clutter will be created and the work environment will be nicer. Searching for specific data or documentation will be faster and easier. And in the end, it all has a special plus of being positive for the environment (which also means that you can advertise your company as eco-friendly)!

So don’t be afraid to take the leap! It’s guaranteed you’ll be happy with the results of a paperless work environment.

The post It’s 2017 – Time To Go Paperless In Your Office appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

But we live in modern times now, and the spreadsheet, while it still has its place, is slowly becoming passé for many functions.

If you’re still relying on spreadsheets to organize data, manage finances, and keep on top of customer contacts, try these better solutions instead.

1. Invest in Accounting Software

Business schools still teach accounting using spreadsheets, and while understanding formulas may be necessary for MBA students, it’s not required for you as a busy entrepreneur. Spreadsheets become unwieldy after a certain point, and they can’t do even half of what good accounting software can.

For example, platforms like QuickBooks let you invoice clients and receive payments, sync your bank account info with your accounting system, and generate reports without spending hours in a spreadsheet.

2. Manage Customer Data

Staying on top of who your customers are, what they’re buying, and your communications with them requires more than a spreadsheet. In days gone by, you’d simply have contact details in a spreadsheet, but today, customer relationship management platforms like Insightly let you do so much more than that.

Need to find an email to a client? It’s right there in your contact file. Want to assign a follow-up call to your sales rep? Some CRM platforms have project management features baked in. Thanks to today’s CRM technology, we’ve moved away from passive customer contact to more active and integrative software, and that’s good news for all.

3. Create a Better Content Calendar

As blogging and social media have taken a more important role in marketing campaigns, we’ve seen a move toward using content calendars to organize efforts across different media. Spreadsheets have come in handy, though they require a lot of legwork to set up and manage.

A better way to get visibility into the calendar view of your content and social media is content calendar software. Brands like CoSchedule have developed sophisticated platforms that integrate with tools like WordPress and social media, and that give you the big picture view of the types of content you have scheduled.

4. Manage Projects Smarter

If you work with a team and use a spreadsheet to stay on top of assignments, you know that doing so usually requires more energy than it’s worth. You’ve got multiple people accessing the spreadsheet, and sometimes people can delete the wrong entries or not see notes they need to complete a project.

Project management platforms like Asana let you assign tasks to team member, communicate on projects, share files, and set deadlines. Nothing slips through the cracks!

We must give props to spreadsheets. After all, they lay the foundation for the technology that followed. But when there is a better solution, why not use it? Today’s software industry is chock full of innovative solutions that can make your life and your work much, much easier.

The post 4 Innovative Ways to Organize Data (NOT Using Spreadsheets!) appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Greater Investment in Leading Database Technologies

Unless you have buried yourself in huge volumes of old data for the past few years, you already know that more businesses are now committing more investments to fast-growing database technologies like NoSQL and Hadoop. Top-tier companies and middle-sized enterprises alike are pumping more and more money into these database technologies.

Based on a technology that uses distributed file systems to enable running of computing jobs on multiple servers, the use of Hadoop has increased significantly in the last couple of years. Businesses now have an opportunity to say it loud with this new-generation database technology. The surge is even greater on NoSQL, a system that offers scalable substitution to the traditional relational database systems. In the past year alone, venture funding for Hadoop companies rose by 50%. At this rate, you can expect even more.

Greater Market for Big Data

What has fuelled the recent interest and intensive investment in more reliable databases? For an entrepreneur who is still considering his options, it is worth asking this question. Until the early 2000’s, the big data market seemed dull and less commercialised. Databases were simply for references and backups. Many businesses did not consider it necessary to analyse and store some information sources. Take, for instance, log data and sensor data. Very few people thought useful insight could stem from such data. A couple of years down the line, companies are beating each other off in building databases and other software systems to harness and analyse such data. What has changed? An experienced dba consultant will admit to you that the average entrepreneur has learnt and now appreciate the importance of information.

A run for their money

Several other people have realised the importance of reliable databases, not just businesses. Today, many enterprising firms are finding their way into the already competitive database technology market. Take, for instance, Splice Machine. In the recent past, it has introduced new database designs suitable for solving every day emerging computing problems. This database is based on SQL usage, which is a common formula for query databases. If you are to have a closer look at their models, you won’t be wrong to say that they are giving dominant giants like Oracle a run for their money.

There is a tremendous shift in the IT industry and many innovators are sailing in to capitalise on this. According to Splice Machine, they are in the industry to provide solutions to businesses with a surging need for huge databases. However, that’s not all. They aim to enable businesses to run databases on more affordable commodity servers. Already, the velocity and volume of data streaming into many companies’ servers is more than what can be handled by the currently available relational database management systems.

Why Invest in Reliable Databases?

The fact that the database technology industry is getting more competitive can only mean one thing; it is bound to get even better. Besides the common players like Microsoft, IBM, and Oracle, many other service providers will step in to develop systems that offer better solutions to the ever-present computing systems. If past businesses have benefited from investment in databases before, there is much more to gain including but not limited to:

Advanced Planning of Marketing Campaigns

Already, businesses are taking advantage of big data from their databases to revolutionize their marketing strategies. With detailed information on customers, it is possible to segment them based on their interests. This goes a long way in targeting the right customers.

Enhanced Product Development

Thanks to latest-generation databases, it is now easier to collect more data on product reviews. With customers being more open and willing to share their experiences with products and services, nothing can prove better for businesses than harnessing such information and using it for product redevelopment. Businesses can therefore modify their products based on appropriate analysis of the concerns voiced by customers. Only reliable databases can guarantee easy access to such information.

Easier Exploration

For any business to succeed, it must strive to gain access to new markets with each passing day. However successful an enterprise is, it will not remain profitable unless it explores new markets. With a reliable database,getting the response of customers from various areas is easy. Based on the results, a company can easily decide whether to move into a new area or modify their product further before penetrating some markets. Today, in-memory databases help in collecting tones of data from different customers across various platforms.

Enhanced Communication to Customers

Staying in touch with customers is one effective way of promoting relations and enhancing the growth of brands. With customers’ information, you will be able to stay in touch through wishes, reminders, and routine promotions. Coupled with analysis tools, it is easier for an enterprise to establish what most of their consumers are browsing and their likes, thereby communicating to them on various platforms based on their needs. The result is effective communication strategies which if employed perfectly can result in extensive brand awareness. In the end, you will become more vocal about your enterprise.

Conclusion

Essential data generated from huge databases have the power to make bigger changes in the market. If used extensively alongside business analytics, entrepreneurs can expect to reap big from reliable databases. If you have never given the idea of investing in huge, reliable database a second thought, now is the time!

The post Why it is the Right Time for Entrepreneurs to Invest in Reliable Databases appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Are you setting them up for success? With these four tips and tools, you can improve workflows and make your team more productive.

1. Take the Project Management Out of Email

Project management is a huge time suck. You have to break down large jobs into small tasks and then dole them out to the respective team members. That’s not the hard part. What’s more difficult is tracking deadlines, who’s finished what, and the progress completed.

There are several free tools to manage projects for IT teams in small businesses.

One great platform is Trello. Trello is a project management app accessible on both the computer and on mobile devices. No matter where your team members are, they can access updates about specific projects, see deadlines, find the tasks assigned specifically to them, and get moving. Under each project you can use lists to track each team member’s progression, and assign individual tasks to the person responsible.

Asana is another project management tool ideal for team members. This tool has its own mobile app so team members can log in anywhere, anytime. There is a small learning curve, which shouldn’t be a hindrance for your IT team. Once you get your projects up and running, it’s easy to use.

2. Collaborate Virtually

These days, there’s no reason IT teams need to come together in a conference room to hash out projects that need completing. Save your team hours on drive times by collaborating virtually.

GoToMeeting is a great collaboration tool for bringing geographically diverse teams together online. Send each team member the login link and when you expect them to be on screen, and away you go. You can share your screen, connect on video for a face-to-face feel, or even mute teams if they need to keep working while listening to your message.

Skype is another great tool for connecting virtually. This offers the same features (albeit a little less robust) as GoToMeeting, without the price tag.

3. Share the Big Picture

IT teams tend to focus on problem solving. It’s rare they’re in the trenches with the overall strategy of the business, and that could be a lost opportunity. By looping them in via your customer relationship management (CRM) tool, you can show the importance of their work in keeping the customers happy and dollars flowing into the business.

Insightly is commonly used by small businesses to manage customer concerns with IT departments. Customer relationships teams connect directly with the people in the IT department who can resolve issues with checking out online, problems with the website, or other IT related difficulties. The IT department can see the conversation and have full insight into what the customer needs fixed. This saves hours eliminating the middleman and getting customers’ needs resolved quickly.

4. Allow Virtual Work

Today’s workforce should be less centered on when and where the person is working but whether the employee is getting the job done. This is especially true in the world of IT.

Most IT jobs can be done virtually, which means you can offer your team a tremendous perk by allowing them to work anywhere. Still, as a business, you want to track what’s happening and how many hours your team is spending on IT tasks.

Toggl is a free tool that can help you see the breakdown in hours for your IT team. Using this tool can help you get deeper insight into your IT member’s day than if he was in your office working. It tracks time spent on specific tasks so you can see exactly what’s draining his hours and assess where he could be better utilized in the company.

Time Savings Starts With Tools

Technology today continues to advance in a way that allows you to spend less time on administrative tasks and more time getting work done. By using these tools in your business, you set your team up to be more productive and more effective without working overtime.

The post 4 Time-Saving Tricks to Manage IT Teams appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

As flexible as this model is, there are still some challenges. The biggest one? Keeping teams on the same page when they lack daily face-to-face interaction. Here are a few tips, tricks, and tools to keep remote teams productively organized and working efficiently.

Project Management

Step number one to getting your team more organized is to get yourself more organized.

If your project management is taking place in your (and your team’s) inbox, you’re in trouble. Emails can easily get accidentally deleted, buried, and ignored. No matter how organized your inbox might feel, your team’s email might not be as well put together. It’s easy for a task to get lost in the shuffle and ignored.

When you have multiple people working on pieces of a project, you’re juggling due dates and assignments. When you need to bring someone new into the mix, you have to start from scratch explaining all of the project details. This takes time and you risk forgetting important details, which could lead to communication breakdown.

To speed things along while at the same time keeping everyone on track with what’s happening, you need a project management tool.

Basecamp is one of the first web-based project management tools. It has seen several iterations over its existence, evolving each time to meet today’s remote work styles. In it, you can set up several different projects, assign tasks to other users (even if they don’t have their own Basecamp account), assign due dates, track conversations, upload files and more. It keeps everything for the project central in one place so you remain organized and efficient.

Basecamp comes with a price tag. The more projects you have, the more expensive it gets. Many small businesses prefer to use one of the free, but very robust, project management tools available.

Trello is perhaps the most simple of the free ones, yet also the most powerful. This drag-and-drop tool lets you create boards for projects, cards for tasks and lists to keep it all organized. It takes a little bit of creativity to set it up for your specific work project, but once you’re going, it’s easy to track who is doing what and when items are due.

Communication Software

Another way to take communication out of the inbox and into a more organized location is with communication software.

Slack is one of the most popular choices for communicating via text with large groups of people. This free chat tool incorporates popular social media communication tools into an internal company communication tool. For example, you can use the @ sign to comment to a specific person. Or, you can use hashtags to organize your conversations. It’s fast to learn and easy to use.

Customer Relationship Management

When was the last time you reached out to your customer? Who was the last point-of-contact with your customer from your company? Do you have a lot of leads sitting in the pipeline waiting to be nurtured without anyone from your company taking charge and reaching out?

A customer relationship management (CRM) tool tracks all of this and more.

If you have remote sales teams, a CRM is invaluable. It lets hungry salesmen know when there’s a hot lead ready to buy. It also ensures a smooth experience for your customer, which helps brand your business as one that’s put together, organized and on the ball.

Beyond sales teams, a CRM can help other departments do their jobs better. For example, marketing departments often times tap into a CRM to do customer research and come up with new campaigns. By having a CRM in place, remote teams don’t have to wait on someone else to respond to an email. Instead, the information they need is at their disposal.

Insightly is one of the most robust small business CRMs. In it, you can pull quick reports to send to other departments, see at a glance who has connected with hot leads and how long it’s been since someone reached out to a customer, review notes about each customer and more. It also has built-in project management tools, which can simplify communication between customer information and tasks.  It keeps every client relationship organized so everyone, regardless of distance, can know what’s happening and how they can better serve your customers.

Video Meeting Software

Even in the constantly connected world we live in and the wealth of communication tools available, distance can lead to disconnect. It’s times like these that it’s beneficial to suit up and sit “face-to-face” for meetings.

There are several video meeting tools to facilitate the reconnection.

If you’re meeting with a small group of people, a quick video call on Skype can suffice. Skype is free and allows you to share your screen and/or share your webcam.

For larger teams, you might want a more robust meeting point online. GoToMeeting is a popular choice because it too has quite a few capabilities. For example, you can share presentations, cameras, allow participants to raise their hand to speak, encourage conversation in the chat box without worry of people talking over each other. GoToMeeting was built for remote teams, while Skype was originally built for more basic face-to-face connections.

Either tool will work. The goal is to get your eyes peering into the eyes of your team so you can reestablish that connection and rekindle the fire in everyone’s belly, even from afar.

Setting Your Team Up for Success

It’s not easy to manage a team of people across a wide distance. Set yourself up for success with a project management tool and CRM. Then, keep the connection strong by using video meeting software to shorten the distance and maintain that face-to-face interaction. Doing this will keep your team engaged and focused, helping you see bigger results from your remote workers.

The post All Around The World: Keeping Remote Teams Organized appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

How can a small business use open source software to stay ahead of their competition?

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

1. Customize It to Your Needs 

Proprietary software can be restrictive in evolving industries. Open source software gives small businesses access to affordable software that can grow with their company and can be customized to their specific needs. Because the money made off of open source software is support driven, the programmers are unbiased, less expensive, and easier to work with.

– Hillary Hobson, Highest Cash Offer

2. Get Products on the Market Faster 

Cloud infrastructure and open source software give businesses a head start, allowing them to prototype, test, and get products to market faster and with less expense. Of course, their competitors have access to the same tools, so it’s the quality of the ideas and their execution that really matters — cloud and open source facilitate the journey from idea to product.

– Justin Blanchard, ServerMania Inc.

3. Give Developers Specific Feedback 

If you embrace the culture of “make it work while you work,” which is essentially what makes open source so beneficial, providing developers with feedback and suggestions allows you to almost design the software specifically for your business. It means that with a few tweaks, an unpopular piece of software can become the next Google Docs.

– Cody McLain, SupportNinja

4. Enhance Deliverables to Clients 

One of the best uses of open source software when it comes to enhancing client deliverables is Google Charts. Providing robust visuals, like graphs and bar charts, will not only maximize the value of your services but will also help you stay ahead of the competition. Whenever possible, you should use open source software to take your product or service to the next level of quality.

– Kristopher Jones, LSEO.com

5. Don’t Reinvent the Wheel 

We’re focused on delivering a great product, and open source software lets us focus on solving the problems that matter to us rather than reinventing the wheel in every aspect of our software. Using open source software also allows us to tap into a huge community of developers that are advancing the software we use every day, which ensures we stay on top of the curve.

– Jayna Cooke, EVENTup

6. Leverage Existing APIs 

There are some incredible open source platforms out there that developers can customize to speed up development time and tailor existing workflows. Don’t just rely on open source software; build on it using the APIs of other apps or tools that you use. There’s no limit to what you can create to automate workflows and improve processes by leveraging and streamlining what’s already available.

– Marcela De Vivo, Gryffin

7. Build Customized Solutions on the Cheap 

Open source software means a lot of things, and one of these things is a mass amount of freelance services. Instead of going directly to expensive providers, coders and designers, there is always going to be a better and cheaper option. A perfect example of this is WordPress. Take the time to explore your options when using open source solutions and put your money to its best use.

– Zac Johnson, Blogger

8. Leverage It as a Marketing Tool 

Many companies release some of their in-house code to the community. Becoming an active open source contributor can be a powerful promotional tool. It helps promote the company among technical users, shows a willingness to contribute to the community, and showcases the company’s technical prowess. You can think of it as a form of content marketing that uses code rather than text or video.

– Vik Patel, Future Hosting

9. Empower Your Users 

Not everyone understands the beauty of open source software. Instead, our SaaS business gets a lot of feature requests, integration questions and frustrated “Why can’t your software do this?” questions. Empower your users to create what they need and they’ll feel like partners in your product.

– Jared Brown, Hubstaff Talent

The post 9 Smart Ways for Small Businesses to Use Open Source Software appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

One such company that is trying to help businesses with this very endeavor is Xero. In this interview, we talk to Russ Fujioka, Xero’s President for the Americas region. He provides us with some vital financial tips and advice that are useful to all entrepreneurs.

Xero

Xero is a New Zealand-based company that was founded in 2006. Since then, it has been one of the fastest growing Software as a Service companies in the world. They are leaders in the New Zealand, Australian, and United Kingdom cloud accounting markets. Over 1,400 employees are located in 20 offices across the globe. Forbes even identified them as the World’s Most Innovative Growth Company in both 2014 and 2015.

The business was started because they wanted to change the game for small businesses. Their cloud-based accounting software helps people do their accounting anytime, from anywhere. It enables millions of small businesses to thrive by using better tools, information, and connections.

Russ Fujioka’s Financial Tips for Small Businesses

One of the more important aspects of running a business is keeping your finances in order. And we find Russ Fujioka’s advice incredibly valuable:

1. Invest in Technology

Many small business owners either feel strapped for cash or think they are not technologically savvy. Because of this, they might avoid making an investment in software that can actually help their business. Russ stresses that when you purchase software like the kind Xero offers, it takes an entrepreneur’s attention away from everyday details and allows them to re-focus their attention on taking action that will grow their business. Xero software automates financials which frees up time for small business owners.

2. Get an Accountant, Bookkeeper, or CPA

Not all entrepreneurs are skilled at accounting or keeping their finances in order so don’t be afraid to outsource those jobs. Accountants, bookkeepers and CPAs are trained to deal with money, and so you should seriously consider hiring one of these people long term. Then, you can put your efforts into other business-growing activities.

3. Don’t Do It Alone

Sometimes small business owners feel as if they need to know it all – and do it all – by themselves. But Russ points out that there are many people out there who can mentor and give advice along the way. In fact, he suggests that you assemble a team of trusted advisors made up either of professionals and/or friends who have different experiences that you do. Their assistance can greatly benefit you and your company.

The Takeaway

The ultimate goal of technology should be to help businesses alleviate mundane tasks. Too many people work too many hours that don’t actually lead to their businesses growing and thriving. Follow Russ’s financial tips by putting some thought into how you can invest in technology to make your business the best it can be. Investment in technology is the key to your business’s growth..

The post Financial Tips & Advice from Russ Fujioka of Xero appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

No business wants to have to break the news to their customers that their personal information has been compromised due to a security breach. Use these tips for top-notch security to ensure your business never has to make that painful announcement.

Keep Passwords Strong and Difficult to Guess

Strong passwords are the first line of defense. If you’re worried about being able to remember passwords, create a naming convention. Start a word that’s easy to remember, and spell it with a combination of letters, numbers, and special characters. Then, attach something, either at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end, that reminds you what the account is for. For example, you could use FAC for Facebook, GMA for Gmail, etc. Avoid using things easy to guess, like pet names and birthdates.

For a Star Wars fan, “skyw4!kerFAC” would make a strong Facebook password that’s easy to remember.

A naming convention should make your passwords easy to remember (or work out), so you won’t need to write them down. Don’t use the same password for everything – that makes it really easy for hackers to take over accounts and wreak more havoc.

Use Secure Servers

Host your website on a secure server. You may have to pay extra for security certificates, but that HTTPS will help you. In 2014, Google announced secure sites will get a small ranking boost. If your business takes online payments of any kind, SSL is highly critical.

Keep Firewalls and Antivirus Running

Make sure you have firewalls and antivirus software on all computers in your network, and any others remote workers may be using, to keep data on your local machines safe. These should always be running since your computer is “always on” the Internet, and these should always be kept up to date. Run scans on a regular basis to remove viruses and other malware hackers could use to access your data.

Check Permissions on All Applications You Use

Keep employees in line with the right permissions on everything you use. This way, only the people who need access to sensitive information have it. Don’t share files with more people than you have to. While your employees are likely trustworthy, you never know when a disgruntled employee may leak private information online.

Back up Data on Physical Drives

Always have copies of data on physical drives – whether they are external hard drives, CD/DVD-ROM, or flash drives. Even if the data isn’t breached, there’s always a possibility the hard drive will fail – as all of them eventually do. This way, you’ll be able to load your data onto a new machine and keep working.

Consider a Cybercrime Insurance Policy

If your business deals with a lot of risky information, or you just want extra peace of mind, you could invest in a cybercrime insurance policy. These policies can be quite pricey, depending on the level of coverage you want. However, they will help recoup some of the costs in the event there is a data breach. This can also assist with regaining customer trust after a data breach.

No plan is ever 100% fool-proof to protect your business data, but implementing these strategies can go a long way toward prevention. It’s also a good idea to only collect data your business needs, and to use a privacy policy so employees can follow best practices. Security is one of those things that is much better to be proactive, rather than reactive.

The post Is Your CRM Data Safe From Hackers? appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

While you’re out there getting things done, your staff might be anywhere, working from home, traveling, at a conference, or meeting customers across town. Most businesses are far more mobile than ever.

One great thing about Insightly is that you can take your CRM wherever you—and your tablet or phone—need to be. Snagging first place in GetApp’s ranking of the top CRM solutions for Q1 2016, the Insightly mobile app lets you to take your info, insights, contacts and calendars with you no matter where you’re headed.

Never Miss a Beat with Instant Sync

Keep up to date while out and about with the Insightly app’s ability to instantly sync your changes, updates and more to your home (Web) CRM. Manage your team’s day-to-day agenda by scheduling events, and adding or assigning tasks, in Insightly calendar.

You can also add comments to any notes you take while away from “home,” such as voice recordings, pictures from your device or camera, or just plain old text. With information that instantly syncs, you can be sure all users are working off the latest information.

Real-time information means your whole staff is apprised, even if the customer forgets something and calls back immediately. The next rep can pick up right where the last call left off, and the customer won’t waste time repeating the story to multiple CSRs.

Dynamic Contact, Lead and Customer Management

Stay on the pulse of what’s happening with your customers day-to-day with mobile contact management. The Insightly mobile app lets you scan business cards to create contacts and leads, set direct relationships between records by “linking” them and see opportunity values for each customer or prospect. Make a call from within your app and a note is automatically attached to the contact, creating a call log.

No more fumbling around for a contact’s cell number because you forgot to punch his digits in and his business card is back at the office. No more forgetting which customer that new lead is connected to and why it’s even relevant to your business. No more hearing, “You guys just called me about this an hour ago,” from the other end of that now awkward touch base call. You’ve got all the contact management essentials with you, accessible and updateable at a moment’s notice.

Sales and customer satisfaction often hang on how fast you respond. Fast, reliable answers are an important element in a competitive market. Instead of stuck-in-traffic excuses, your customers hear, “How can I help you?” Access builds the trust you need to nurture relationships and keep the interest of your customers.

Everything You Need at your Fingertips

Available for tablets and phones, the Insightly app supports Android and iOS users alike, so there’s no reason you can’t be a step ahead. App users have access to project management and event scheduling, notification setting and social network integration, as well as the ever-useful power to search your CRM for the right info right when you need it. The Insightly mobile app also comes in five different languages, in case something other than English floats your boat.

Let’s face it—you are busy. And staying connected and organized is hard if you don’t have the right tools to make it happen. The right CRM for you will be available whenever and wherever you are. It’s just that simple.

The post This Mobile CRM Keeps You Connected On-The-Go! appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The Quest of an Unlikely Entrepreneur

This first interview tells the inspirational story of Fred Magnanimi, the owner of the jewelry company Luca + Danni. As we learn in the audio, Fred went on a quest to save the family business after his brother died from cancer – even though Fred had previously sworn off the family business and took a career in investment banking. In addition to inspiration, you’ll learn some tips and strategies for how you can transform a business that uses dated methods into one that is capitalizing on the latest trends and technology.

Click to read Reinventing the Family Business to Find Success in a New Era

The Importance of Online Reviews

In our next interview, we take a trip to SXSW 2016 where Ramon learned about a new company that can help small businesses manage their online reviews. ReviewTrackers is a software platform that gathers customer reviews from all the major review websites into one dashboard, where you can monitor what people are saying, respond to comments, track analytics, and encourage more reviews. Founder Chris Campbell also shares two tips for managing customer reviews that every small business owner needs to hear.

Click to read Why ReviewTrackers Says Asking for Customer Review Is Critical

Building the Best Small Business Team

In our final interview, Ramon has a chat with Erin Walter of Nuphoriq, a Chicago-based marketing company that focuses exclusively on catering companies. As Erin explains, Nuphoriq is a company that was first and foremost built around its team, and after years in business, Erin still attributes the success of the company to her team. In the audio interview, Erin explains why having a great team is essential, and from her experience, we extrapolate 3 team-building tips for small business owners.

Click to read 3 Team-Building Tips to Create an Active and Innovative Team

This selection of recently published Smart Hustle interviews demonstrates how we can lean on other small business owners for both inspiration and information. To join forces with other small business owners around the country, make sure to join the Smart Hustle Community and subscribe to the newsletter to stay informed about the latest Smart Hustle interviews and articles.

The post Smart Hustle Recap: 3 Informational and Inspirational Smart Hustle Interviews appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Gleanster and Yesmail Interactive conducted a survey that found that close to 80 percent of brands do not have sufficient data to launch an effective marketing campaign. The basic information can be easily accessed from numerous sources – but getting to know the customers well is harder than it has ever been. In order to increase conversion rates, one must have a clear understanding about who the customers are and what drives them. When a business makes the decision to put more effort towards better understanding their customers, they are following one of many marketing best practices for small businesses. This is a big step in the right direction.

Ready to make that step? Here are some ways to use customer data for a better customer experience and smarter marketing.

Leverage social media.

Everyone wants to know how to become the smartest Internet marketer out there, yet only 38 percent of marketers utilize data from social media that could help them better target their audience. Having a social media account is a must for businesses that can use it to interact with the current and prospective customers. Social networks provide insights into customer’s likes, habits, and what they are really buying. Customers often have complaints about a product or service and by resolving those issues through social media, business can learn more about customers’ likes and dislikes.

Leverage new technology.

Technology has progressing at an astounding rate over the last decade. From the smart phone boom has come entirely new communication channels like social media and huge businesses like Facebook. It’s these new channels that gives consumers more power over how they interact with brands and businesses more ways to communicate what makes them better than their competition. As businesses look for the next technology boom to leverage there’s one that stands alone as probably the most potentially impactful to people’s everyday lives. 3D technology has the potential of changing how people see and interact with the world around them.

3D and augmented reality technologies are making a big splash at every technology conference across the world and for good reason. The social and business implications of a completely immersive experience are mind blowing. Businesses went from understanding very little about their customers, beyond basic demographic and psycho-graphic profiles, to knowing who influences them and what their likes and dislikes are in just a few years. With these technologies people can interact with businesses in entirely new ways.

With brands brining more immersive experiences to their customers, the customer affinity becomes more tightly woven with the brand. This leads to better marketing and longer customer relationships.

New technology has always given us pause when consumers and businesses first started using them but over time they become part of our everyday lives. Society feels more comfortable with the human interaction with technology while business become more adept at leveraging it. While social media is today’s top connection point between consumers and brands, the future holds a much more connected experience with technologies like 3D and augmented reality. It will be up the businesses to be early adopters to come out ahead.

How do you get to know your customers better?

The post Leveraging Technology for Smarter Marketing and a Better User Experience appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Intel Small Business Advantage Features

To learn more about Intel Small Business Advantage, I recently interviewed Chad Constant, Director of Business Client Marketing at Intel Corporation. With over 17 years’ experience working at Intel, Chad is particularly excited about this latest offering for small business owners.

According to Chad, Intel Small Business Advantage has been developed to help small businesses better connect with their employees while better understanding the security and health of their computers and devices. It includes:

• A built-in chat feature for inter-office communications.
• File sharing and screen sharing to assist with employee collaboration.
• An array of security features including data backup, a PC health center and a software monitor.

As you can see, some of these features will help you boost the productivity of your business by simplifying collaboration and communication through a single platform. Other features will boost your business security. For example, there is a feature that allows you to turn off the USB access ports throughout the business, and a central backup system that will protect your files if something happens to an employee’s computer or device.

An added benefit is that Intel Small Business Advantage is designed to work on any device that you are carrying. It is mobile compatible, so you can download the companion apps for Android, Apple and Google devices to access the system.

Want to learn more about Intel Small Business Advantage? Grab a cup of coffee and sit back while listening to my short 8-minute interview where Chad Constant explains more about the new software.

Many small business owners love the technological solutions that are available today, but they are sick of having to go to different applications for all their main business functions, like chatting, file sharing, and data security. If you are looking for a simple solution that just sits on your desktop and helps you run your business more productively, Intel Small Business Advantage may be the solution for you.

The post Intel Small Business Advantage: A One-Stop Solution to Boost Productivity and Security (Interview with Intel’s Chad Constant) appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The study was a survey of 3,210 small and medium sized businesses with between 10 and 999 employees from 11 countries around the world. The survey asked respondents about their companies’ usage of digital technology and how it impacts the business.

Many survey sites lure with the promise that you can make a lot of money on their websites. They sometimes speak of several hundred euros a day, which you can easily generate on the side. But does that really correspond to reality? The answer is: mostly not . Nevertheless, paid surveys can be interesting for some people, especially to make a little money on the Internet without knowledge or previous knowledge. In addition to completing surveys, more and more sites are offering other methods of making money – for example, by watching advertisements or testing video games. It can be even more attractive to test products for which companies are willing to pay significantly higher amounts than for filling out a survey. Product tests are therefore usually much more profitable than online surveys, which is why we also offer you this service on our website. Go through produkttester to know more about the Earning money with surveys (online).

Among the findings, arguably the most important was the link between digital technology usage and growth. One third of all SMBs (and 45 percent of SMBs with between 500-999 employees) say they are “well under way in applying technology to connect people, devices and businesses” – and these companies also saw revenue growth of ten percent or more in the last year. The most popular digital technology in use is collaborative software (used by at least 50.6 percent of SMBs) followed by CRM (38 percent) and business analytics software (37 percent).

Other findings include:

• Over 39 percent of SMBs agree that “active participation in the digital economy will be essential to our company’s survival in the next three to five years.”
• Varying by region, between 52.5 and 60.2 of SMBs say that digital technology helps them streamline operations and improve productivity.
• Despite depending on digital technology, between 35 and 45 percent of SMBs are concerned that their company relies too much on data to make business decisions.Visit testerheld.de to know more.

Overall, the study shows that small and medium sized businesses are embracing digital technology and reaping the benefits in terms of business growth. If your business hasn’t made the switch yet, 2016 is the perfect year to hop aboard this important trend. If you’re not sure where to start, you can begin by exploring this list of the top 50 digital technology tools for small business owners.

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