Small and medium-sized businesses largely rely on their standing amongst their audience, which means their reputations are critically important to preserve. Unsurprisingly, one of the fastest ways to damage—if not eliminate—their reputation amongst the public is to suffer a cybersecurity event. Let’s examine some statistics, and consider what you need to do to keep your business from becoming one.
When it comes to your business, you want to achieve at least some level of satisfaction. Still, you should always strive to improve certain parts of your operations, like customer service or the services you provide in general. That said, let’s consider when you might think, “Enough is enough,” and when complacency might turn sour.
There are challenges that go with running any business. Some of the most common come from unhappy employees. If you understand some of the most common complaints that today’s worker may make, you can proactively ward against them and create a happier and more productive workplace. Let’s take a look at five of the most common employee complaints in today’s workplace and what you can do about them.
It isn’t uncommon for businesses to engage in actions that seem to directly contradict their own best interests. This is called self-sabotage, and it can be a costly and extremely debilitating phenomenon for a business. Let’s go through some of the actions that may be holding your business back, even if you don’t realize it.
In business, organizations that are able to automate processes have a leg up on organizations that rely on humans to do everything. Not only does it cost a lot less to run a business that has automated processes, it also helps improve organizational focus and efficiency by streamlining processes and removing the moving parts that can sometimes hinder operational progress. That’s not to say that there aren’t some places that a business can greatly benefit from a human touch. Let’s take a look at both sides of the argument.
If you want your business to grow, then you’re going to have to get used to dealing with complex problems that require complex solutions. You can implement technology to make solving these challenges easier, but at the same time, you want to be careful that the solutions you implement are not going to get in the way of productivity. Today, we want to discuss good old-fashioned bureaucracy, and how while you might not want to build it into your strategy, it will probably happen anyway.
With margins getting thinner for everyone, a lot of businesses have begun to outsource their human resources initiatives or cut them entirely. Unfortunately, for the business that has to slash their HR budget, situations can arise where issues turn into problems and if there is no one actively doing the HR job.
To meet compliance requirements for technology an organization will need to understand the regulations they operate under. New entrepreneurs may find it startling when they realize that they have a lot more people/organizations to answer to than they thought. This week, we aren’t going to go through individual regulations, but how IT generally fits into compliance and how not staying up to date can cost your business dearly.
Cyberattacks are a major issue for everyone and especially for businesses. In fact, if you don’t have a solid handle on the actions you take, your IT may be more exposed than you think. We thought we would go through a few really simple actions you can take to enhance your security posture.
Remote and hybrid work arrangements may have been greeted years ago with some amount of hesitancy, but it’s here to stay—at least in some capacity. Let’s go over what you need to know in order to take full advantage of the benefits brought about by remote and hybrid workplace flexibility.
No business can be successful without collaboration. As such, businesses invest heavily in tools which facilitate effective collaboration for their employees. Let’s take a look at some of the variables that can contribute to an effective collaboration strategy, as well as how you can promote collaboration in the workplace.
When you run a business you have so many variables to balance and so little time to do so that technology inevitably becomes an essential cog in your ability to manage everything. Unfortunately, technology isn’t cheap and the technology that you think you need may not be a viable purchase this year. Today, we thought it would be good to identify three strategies that can help you save money, while also getting the benefits that technology brings.
Businesses have always attempted to optimize productivity for their employees in a variety of ways, but there are certain distractions that will always persist–especially in today’s incredibly connected world. One of these distractions is social media, and it creates the illusion of productivity when, in reality, it’s really not helping much.
Considering the circumstances of the past couple years, it’s no surprise that many businesses have turned their attention towards creating a long-term plan for a remote workforce. There are many considerations that must be brought front and center to create such a remote work policy, many of which require a focused examination of technology and the practices associated with it. Let’s take a closer look at what you might want to think about when crafting your remote work policies.
When it comes to your business, what do you prioritize? Do you focus more on security, or do you focus more on the business continuity side of things? The reality here is that both are of critical importance. Unfortunately, however, it seems that many executives feel like the current circumstances surrounding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have led them to prioritize one over the other.
Have you ever felt the anxiety of missing out on something for no real logical reason? This fear, also known as the “fear of missing out,” (or FOMO) is applicable not just in social situations, but in the business and professional world as well. The concept might seem rather juvenile in nature, but it is a very real thing that can influence your actions… and not always in a positive way.
There is immense value in knowing what you provide to your customers and understanding that inside-out. However, knowing what you provide will only get you so far. Understanding why you do what you do can make all the difference in standing out from the rest of the businesses in your industry.
Bad things happen. If your business fails to plan for the worst, when something terrible does happen, you could be looking at disaster. If you have a comprehensive continuity plan in place, however, you have a fighting chance. Let’s discuss some of the elements you absolutely need to address when making your business’ continuity plan.
There are some periods in history referred to as “great,” many of which were devastating in scope. We are currently living through a period that is becoming known as The Great Resignation. People are leaving their jobs in droves without having other employment opportunities lined up. As you can imagine, this is creating significant challenges for many businesses. Let’s take a closer look at what The Great Resignation really is and why it’s important to understand for a small business.
When you started your business, you had a specific goal in mind. You wanted to prove something, to create something worth sharing with the world. We all have goals and aspirations, but it’s not always clear what the best path toward those goals is. Using a simple framework, you can maximize your odds of success and set great goals that you are much more likely to achieve long-term.
From an employee’s perspective, one of the most frustrating issues that could be present in the workplace is leadership that proves to be inconsistent. This lack of managerial consistency can wind up causing some serious problems and is often demonstrated through a variety of repeated behaviors.
Software is a major part of doing business nowadays. Not only do you depend on it to manage core functions of your business, that software can be purchased in multiple different methods. When choosing management software, your business needs to choose one that fits your needs, returns long-term benefits, and provides a platform that will help you build your company. Let’s go through some considerations you’ll need to consider when choosing management software.
In business, building a strategy that produces results is the goal. If you are looking, you can find all types of stories about entrepreneurs changing the tried-and-true methods and finding abrupt (and sometimes sustainable) success. These stories may even have you questioning the way that you do business, especially if things aren’t going terribly well. Rest assured, that the best thing that can happen is to build processes that promote consistency.
“It’s time to do some spring cleaning! It’s been put off long enough!”
It’s easy to let things pile up to deal with them at a later time, especially when you are on strict timelines and only have so many resources. That’s why my desk can look like a disorganized disaster some of the time (but in my defense, it cleans up very well when it needs to).
Do you know what drives me crazy? It’s the fact that, of all the lists of things you can do to improve your business and boost your productivity and optimize something or other… it seems there's not much to be said about how your employees factor in.
To build anything great on a budget or a timeline, you need to have good coordination. At the helm of these projects is the project manager. A job that is extraordinarily stressful and often equally thankless. After all, most customers take the positive resolution to any order for granted. This month, we will take a look at project management and the tools that are used by them to produce the best results possible.
Have you ever wondered how colleges and universities function at a technological level? With so many students, you might start to think about how these institutions secure data, ensure timely completion of degrees, and closely monitor student retention efforts, all in addition to the normal IT operations that you would see at any business.
In a sense, your business relies on its vendors to provide the goods and services needed to make your organization function. Think about your Internet service provider. They provide you with a service that connects you to important assets. The software your business utilizes is also provided by vendors, and work probably can’t get done without it. Therefore, it’s natural that you will want a good relationship with vendors… provided they are actually decent vendors themselves.
Meetings rarely go as planned. The issue is that meetings generally aren’t planned as well as they can be, meaning that they run the risk of going on longer than necessary. If you find your meetings could be managed more efficiently, then read on; we’ll discuss three tips that you can use to improve the quality of your meetings.
How does your business fare with employee engagement? Do you find your employees have trouble staying on-task, or they simply aren’t interested in the work they do? This is more common than you might think, and you can help them improve the quality of their work with certain kinds of technology.
Technology is an easy thing to take for granted, especially in an office that has countless solutions that are utilized on a regular basis. It doesn’t matter if you’re a small retail establishment, a large organization with multiple offices, or a factory to produce consumer items. Today, we’ll look at the various ways your business is changed for the better thanks to the use of technology.
The endgame for most businesses is to improve what they do and increase their profitability. While this might mean selling more products, getting more customers or clients, or a myriad of other metrics, the driving force behind your business’s operations--your employees--are crucial toward this goal.
You might wish that your employees know more about IT and its inner workings, and you’re not alone. SMBs often suffer from a lack of IT talent, and they might try to supplement this lack of proficiency by training employees on how to do basic computer tasks required to work effectively. Thankfully, you don’t have to rely on just your knowledge and that of your employees when it comes to maintaining your technology.
Who manages the relationships that your organization has with its various vendors? Do you have someone who specifically handles this role, or is it pushed onto your already-full schedule? If this is something that takes up a significant portion of your day, vendor management (though necessary) can become a detriment. Thankfully, there is a better way to handle your vendor relationships, and it doesn’t involve stretching yourself thin.
How many emails does your organization receive every day? Chances are that you can’t find time in your day-to-day operations to maintain and manage your email solution as well as you’d like, and in a world where threats to your organization’s network lurk around every corner, you can never be too careful. How can you make sure that you’re taking proper care of your business’s email infrastructure, without sacrificing the time and manpower required to do so?
Downtime is something that no business wants to imagine, but it’s something that is practically inevitable if you don’t prepare for it. You’ll be forced to wonder how long it will take to get back in business, but how this problem occurred is also important to discuss. Understanding how IT downtime occurs within your organization is the first step toward making sure that it can’t happen again.
Businesses exist to make money. Regardless of what that money is intended for, be it to sustain someone’s lifestyle or to bankroll a cause, a business will cease to be without an incoming cash flow. Unfortunately, unpaid invoices can make that cash flow stutter and slow to a trickle, and many businesses experience this problem as billed money doesn’t come in.
The Star Wars saga has many recurring themes - the struggle between desire and destiny, good and evil, impulse and discipline. However, a theme that particularly stands out throughout the series is the examination of the relationship between student and teacher. This theme is similar to the relationship that an IT provider should strive to have with their clients.
Technology has provided humanity with the ability to make stupendous advances in the way we live our lives. However, it has also given rise to a wasteful society that neglects old technology, tossing it to the side in favor of the latest and greatest gadgets. As you can imagine, considering the rate at which modern technology advances, this trend has proven especially difficult to break, and it’s having extremely negative effects on the environment.
You pay your employees to come to the office and perform their daily duties, but how much of that time is actually being spent working? Every wasted minute cuts into your daily profits, which can waste countless minutes. If you want to get the most out of your team, there are several technology strategies that the modern business can take advantage of to maximize productivity.
Have you ever wondered where some of the top talent in the world comes from? Not everyone knows how to find the best vendor for their needs, but with our IT service called vendor management, we find fixes to problems which lie outside our area of expertise. Despite what you might think, you may not be entirely unfamiliar with vendor management. In fact, you use it for several everyday services as it is.
Sometimes it seems like the Internet is plotting against you, and nothing is safe, ever. Even if you don't have any thugs waiting to steal your data, there are hackers - thieves - who will steal it anyway, waiting to take it when you least expect it. One of the most secure ways to protect your company's digital assets is to enact a "zero trust" policy for your network.
Nobody likes it when something is overly complicated, and IT is no different. Keeping your operations simple can reduce the cost of doing business, minimize the error margin, and bring more people into the loop. Your IT infrastructure is the heart that pumps the life blood of your organization, and if you keep it simple, you'll find that most common business issues can be resolved much more quickly and efficiently.
When trying to raise money for a big startup or product release, it can often be outside of your budget. One solution is crowdfunding, or taking your endeavors public in order to inspire others to donate money to your cause. Unfortunately (or fortunately - take your pick), not many of these campaigns succeed.
You can't run a business and make money without spending money on risky activities, like advertising campaigns where there's no guaranteed return on investment. Did you know that it's possible to make money by investing in risk management? For all of you Cautious Carls out there, this might be a more preferred way to grow your bottom line.
Do you have pets at home? You might find it painful to leave them behind when you head to the office. You might find yourself wishing that you could bring them to your workplace with you. Well, why not? We're hearing about more companies that have implemented a pet policy that lets them bring their furry friends to the office with them.
Every business has to start somewhere. Starting a new business can be the most exhilarating (and often terrifying) endeavor a person can undertake. Technology can play a extremely important role to get your business venture off the ground quickly.
It's no secret that employees love working from home. In fact, in a recent survey, 25% of employees admitted that they would accept a reduction in salary for the opportunity to work from home. This statistic may sound odd, but it makes perfect sense when you understand how much money working from home saves both employees and employers alike.
Technology is showing up in unexpected places these days, like kitchen appliances being connected to smartphones and wearable tech enveloping people's bodies. These fun technology trends make life easier, and it is advantageous to get in early on these trends. Technology is also showing up in new and unexpected places in the business sector. Are you up on these tech trends?
It's a rare occasion that a company grows to have as much prowess over multiple industries as Google has. Since their launch in 1998, their mission has been "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." By launching products and services centered on this purpose, Google has grown to set the world's standard of information and how it's managed. What can your business learn from them?
