Agile marketing has been lauded as a must-have for marketing teams and big-name businesses. But startups, small businesses, and even solopreneurs can all benefit from Agile marketing in four crucial areas: improving discipline and communication, growing the business faster through validated learning, adapting to changes (like the COVID-19 pandemic) quickly and successfully, and creating remarkable customer experiences.
Agile boosts discipline and communication
“Discipline” and “process” are two words seldom used by entrepreneurs. Yet, startups and small businesses can grow faster – and more predictably – with some discipline and just the right amount of process. And that’s where Agile’s methodologies come in.
When everyone in your business is running around like Usain Bolt at a Black Friday sales event, they’ll all benefit from Agile’s 15-minute morning meetings to talk about what they did yesterday, what they’re going to get done today, and what’s blocking their progress.
If you’re a solopreneur, answering these questions for yourself is a good way to take stock of each day’s progress and challenges. The Agile term for this 15-minute session is the daily standup.
Weekly planning sessions, and the use of whiteboards for tracking work, can also help entrepreneurs and their teams prioritize and track the progress of critical work, allowing everyone to see at a glance what’s getting done and what’s not. In the Agile world, these techniques are known as Sprint planning and Kanban boards.
Spending a few minutes at the end of each week to look at what’s working and what’s not, and trying new ways of working, also has an Agile name: the retrospective.
Whatever you call these processes, they’ll add discipline and structure to your startup or small business, and they’ll ensure you’re getting the right things done each and every week.
Agile grows your business faster
The two most precious resources of any startup or small business are time and seed capital. How can you maximize these investments? Through an Agile discipline called validated learning.
Many entrepreneurs take the “throw spaghetti against the wall and see what sticks” approach to marketing. But with Agile, you’ll use validated learning to think like a scientist: Who are my best customers? Where do they get their information? Why do they buy from me? What experiment can I run to confirm my best-guess answers to these questions?
Scientists call best-guess answers hypotheses, and you’ll be testing your hypotheses through validated learning.
Rather than throwing $20,000 at Facebook advertising, for example, and hoping it will produce some sales, you’ll run a small test for $500 or $1,000. Only when you know that your advertising is working will you spend your full budget.
How do you decide which experiments to run? I recommend a simple framework called ICE:
I stands for the impact a successful experiment could have on your business.
C stands for your confidence that the experiment will be a success.
E stands for how easy (or hard) it will be to run the experiment or promotion.
Assign a value from 1 to 5 for each experiment along each dimension – I, C, and E – and then calculate the score as the total of the three scores. Run the experiments with the highest scores first.
Agile helps you adapt to change quickly
Every entrepreneur is encouraged to write a business plan. “Where’s your business plan?” asks the banker. Yet, as every entrepreneur knows, business plans and marketing plans quickly become outdated. You can’t update them frequently enough to keep up with the daily pace of your business.
I recommend a different Agile-themed approach: napkin plans. Write your business plan on a napkin (or a single sheet of paper) and update it often.
Napkin plans work because they’re:
Short
Visual
The product of talking to prospects and customers
Updated frequently based on feedback and changing conditions
Agile creates remarkable customer experiences
Rather than buying products, many people today are buying experiences. Think about it. When someone buys an Apple product, whether it’s an iPhone, a Mac, or an Apple Watch, are they really buying the product, or are they buying the Apple experience?
Sure, not everyone loves Apple. That’s OK. But those who do love Apple pay premium prices, buy anything they make, are incredibly loyal, and can’t remark enough about the experiences they have with Apple products.
How do you create your own remarkable experiences? You have to know your best customers better than anyone else and go above and beyond satisfying the needs of those customers who will ultimately become your biggest fans. And Agile marketing can help with that.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/board-978179_1280-1.jpg6821280Sharon Kastorianohttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngSharon Kastoriano2020-11-13 07:00:132020-11-13 20:56:474 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Improve Their Business With Agile Marketing
It’s nearing the end of 2020 and many of us are having a bit of a tough time in many ways. The coronavirus and Covid-19 pandemic has been impacting the majority of our lives since March – and for the most of us, this hasn’t been in a particularly positive way. Now, it’s important that we don’t forget the main tragedy to come out of this pandemic – the huge loss of life throughout the world caused by this potentially fatal virus and disease. But that’s also not to say there haven’t been other troubles along the way too. For many of us, the pandemic has caused significant hardship and financial struggle. Why? Well, in order to save lives by slowing the spread of the virus, many governments around the world have implemented measures that have caused businesses of all shapes and sizes to struggle. In order to combat the virus, we need to stay at least two metres away from each other, or, when the R rate has boosted, even had to go into lockdown situations where all non essential businesses have had to close their doors. All of this means less sales. If you can’t have people in your store, you can’t operate. If you can still have your store open, but can only have people in there if they’re stood two metres apart, you have a limited capacity and sales will suffer. This is all doom and gloom, we know. But what can you do to continue making sales during these difficult times as a business owner? Here are a few pieces of advice that could help you to get through this!
Selling Products? Switch to Ecommerce
If your store sells products, now is the time to switch to Ecommerce. Ecommerce stores are allowed to continue operations. Sure, you’ll need to make sure that the staff fulfilling your orders in the warehouse are safe, and if you have your own delivery staff, you’ll need to make sure they’re safe too. But this is an ideal way to be able to continue operations while stores are shut and even while stores are open, but you can’t have all too many people inside. Now, we’re fast approaching two of the biggest shopping seasons of the year so far. These are Black Friday and the Christmas shopping season. So, you’ll want to make the switch as quickly as possible in order to be able to make the money you usually might. So, how do you go about switching to Ecommerce? Here are a few steps that will help you to get it right first time around.
Set Up a Website / Improve Your Website
If you don’t have a website yet, now is the time to create one. If you already have one, but haven’t focused on it all too much in the past, now is the time to improve upon it. Your website is going to be your customers’ and potential customers’ main contact with your store. So you need it to look good and you need to make sure that people can easily navigate their way around it to find what they want. Of course, learning how to code and learning what kind of design works is a long and difficult process. You probably don’t have time for this right now. So, work with the following individuals – a web designer, a web developer and a UX designer. The web designer will make sure that your site looks great. They’ll know what to put where and how to combine everything together to create something that is on brand and beautiful. The web developer will take care of the back end of your site. They’ll make sure that everything actually works. The UX designer is a user experience designer. They’ll ensure that the site makes sense for your users and is easy to use. This reduces the number of people leaving your site. Finally, you should work with all three individuals to make sure that your site is optimised for mobile too. Increasing numbers of people are shopping on their mobile, so you don’t want to miss out on these sales!
Provide Customer Support
Of course, when people buy online, they tend to have more questions than they might in store, as they can’t feel or try out the products themselves before buying. This means it is essential that you have some sort of customer support put in place and that your website lets customers know how to get in touch too. If you don’t have time to deal with customer queries, make sure to hire a customer support agent who can respond to questions via a business email, via a chat box on your website, or even via phone. The more points of contact that customers have for your company, the better, as it allows everyone to use their preferred way of getting in touch!
Selling Essential Services? Manage Your New Workload
If you’re selling essential services and cannot work from home, chances are you’ll be able to continue work as usual. You’ll simply have to follow new safety measures, which will include staying two metres away from others, wearing appropriate additional PPE (such as face masks or face visors) and washing or sanitising your hands regularly. Now, chances are, you may be experiencing an increase in demand. Essential services are in high demand right now and, unlike the majority of the population, you may be experiencing a higher workload. You’ll need to organise and manage this effectively to ensure that you don’t miss anything out or disappoint anyone. Consider using software or apps like JobNimbus to help you with this. It will take care of everything from sales to estimating, scheduling and work orders. It can be tempting to take on more work than you can handle, but avoid this. You want to do a good job, get good reviews and maintain a good reputation. You also don’t want to burn yourself out.
Are Your Staff Able to Work Remotely?
If you’re running a business where staff would usually work in an office, consider whether they would be able to work remotely. Remote working is becoming favoured by business in a wide range of industries. Many have seen that their staff can work just as effectively from home and are opting to continue remote operations permanently, as it saves significantly on commercial property rent and overheads too! Now, a switch to remote working has to be done carefully to ensure that everyone copes with the move well. The steps below could make this process seamless.
Ensure All Staff Can Work Remotely Safely and Comfortably – in offices, you provide your staff with ergonomic furniture and equipment. This keeps them safe and prevents them from experiencing issues such as chronic strain injuries. Apply this same mindset to when they’re working at home. If your staff require, allow them to pick up their chair, footrests, backrests and other essentials from the office to use from their own home.
Make Sure Staff are Trained in New Software – it’s likely that your staff will have to use new software when they start working from home. This can include software like communications software, video call software, time tracking software and more. Don’t simply assume that everyone will figure out how to use it. Instead, hold virtual training that will ensure everyone knows what they’re doing.
Set KPIs – if you are concerned about your staff’s productivity while they’re working from home, you may want to set KPIs. KPI stands for “key performance indicator” and it will be some sort of individual goal that each staff member will need to achieve by a set date. This will indicate whether they are performing as they should. This will ensure that everyone keeps up with their workload and doesn’t slack.
Be Understanding and Flexible – of course, these are very difficult times for some people. So, make sure to be understanding and flexible with your staff. Some may not have ideal working conditions, or may have more responsibilities on their hands during the day, such as extra childcare if schools close, or caring for vulnerable loved ones.Chances are you’re experiencing a lot of changes if you’re running a business right now. But at the end of the day, change may be essential in order to keep things up and running! Hopefully, some of the above advice can help you to experience success with your business in spite of the pandemic. Some of the changes are easier to implement than others, but all are essential for different types of businesses to continue making sales and generating profit. Implement them into your operations sooner rather than later and you should benefit!
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A lot of people are now choosing to start their own businesses, either as a small side venture to make some extra money from, or with a view to running their new companies full time and escaping from employment. Technology makes it easier than ever for people to bring their ideas to market, and to find customers and clients for your new business. If you are someone who likes the idea of becoming your own boss and starting a business, then you may be wondering how you will know if the time is right to take the plunge. Here are four signs that you’re in a good position to start making things happen as an entrepreneur:
1 – You Have a Good Idea
An idea for a new business doesn’t have to be revolutionary to be viable. You don’t necessarily need to be bringing an entirely unique idea to the marketplace. However, you do need to be clear on a business that will provide either products or services that you are in a good position to offer. If you have an idea that you can see good market potential for, or you have skills that you currently use working for another company that you could start up on your own with, then you are in a good position to begin planning how to formally set up your new business and begin looking for your first customers.
2 – You’ve Researched the Practical Side
Starting any kind of commercial venture will require you to understand the tax and regulatory aspects relevant to your location and industry. If you are planning to do business online, particularly internationally, you’ll also need to know how laws around the world such as GDPR will affect how you do things. If you are serious about starting up and have begun to find out what you need to know, then this will stand you in good stead.
You should also know what you need to do to set up an LLC, or incorporated company, and which type of formal business registration is most appropriate to your plans. Starting your company doesn’t need to be difficult, and there are plenty of online resources to help you find out what you need to do, but having taken the step of doing that research is a good sign that you’re ready to move forward with your idea.
3 – The People in Your Life are on Board
If you have a family or other people you support, then it is important that they are supportive of you making moves to start your new venture. Starting a business can be intense, especially if you are going to be keeping your current job while you are first starting up, and so having people around you who believe in what you are trying to do will be a big boon.
4 – You Know the Current Market in the Industry You’re Entering
We live in very unusual times, and so business ideas that may have been excellent just 18 months ago may be poor ideas now – businesses focused around live events or tourism are a good example. If you have kept up with the news in the industry you want to join and are able to tell whether now is a good or bad time to enter, then this shows that you’ll be committed to keeping on top of trends and shifts once you’re in business. You can’t predict everything, but having your ear to the ground and basing your decisions on the best and most recent information already is a good sign that you’re ready to begin operating in a given market.
Are these all things you are already doing? If so, then you could well be ready to begin actioning your plans for your new venture. If not, then it may be a good time to think about starting to lay some more of the groundwork and doing more of the research.
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When looking to finance a car, it can be a challenging time, especially if you are struggling financially. However, it is possible to get the bad credit car loan you need to drive your perfect car, at a cost that benefits you. In this article, we will be providing you with information on how to know if you are eligible for a bad credit car loan.
Check Your Credit Score
Ensuring your credit score is as stable as possible can aid you in being approved for the credit you need. Often, the greater your credit score is, the better your chances will be of being approved for a loan or car finance. Check your credit report for abnormalities and contact the credit reference agency if any of the information they have on your report is incorrect. Something as seemingly small as the wrong address can negatively impact your credit score. Taking the time to better your credit score can make it easier to drive the car you want in no time.
Look Around for The Best Loan Provider
In addition to checking your credit score, it is important to look at the best loan provider for you. By going either to the dealership or directly to a finance company, you can get the loan types that you need for the car that you want. By getting a quote from multiple suppliers, you can compare deals and find the one that works best for your needs and budget.
Look Into the Car You Want
The type of car that you want can also have a huge impact on your eligibility, particularly if you have poor credit. By choosing the car that you want beforehand and ensuring you know a general estimate of their worth, you can assess how this will fit into your budget. The type of car you choose will impact the monthly repayment amount depending on the loan term and loan provider that you eventually opt for, therefore taking the time to do your research could save you money in the long term.
Improve Your Finances as Much as Possible
To improve your eligibility, you should try to improve your finances as much as possible. By taking the time to pay off your debt and making sure that all the correct information is on your credit report, you can have a better understanding of your eligibility for your chosen loan type. Although it can take time to slowly improve your credit score, this will benefit you in the long term when looking to finance a car.
Whether you are looking to finance a new car or you are looking to finance a slightly older vehicle, there are several poor credit car loans for you to choose from for your dream car.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/classic-car-and-palm-trees-2814781_1280.jpg8531280StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2020-11-11 20:00:492020-11-11 12:37:53Are You Eligible for a Bad Credit Car Loan?
You got what seemed to be an official letter from your bank regarding a problem with your account. It does seem a little fishy but you open the email and follow the instructions listed. Everything seems fine until you try to use your computer again.
Many of your files are locked with a pop-up telling you that you have to pay a fee before you can get access to them again. You’ve become a victim of ransomware.
What is Ransomware? It’s probably the most annoying type of computer malware that you’ll ever have to deal with. Check out this guide to learn the ins and outs of how it works.
What is Ransomware?
Ransomware is a type of computer malware that gets into your files and encrypts them. Once the attacker has blocked you off from using your programs, they’ll demand a fee to unlock them.
Don’t worry, the hackers are generous. They’ll give you instructions on how to pay them so you can get access to your computer again. The amount can be as small as a few hundred dollars or as large as a couple thousand.
How Did I Pick it Up?
There are a few places where you may have picked up the ransomware. The most common point of attack is your email. Hackers will send you an email that looks legit but is actually a scam.
The email will usually include a link for you to click on. If you follow it, your computer’s done for. There are some clever ransomware programs that can get into your computer files without tricking you like this but more often than not, it’s going to be an email.
Types of Ransomware
Encryption is common but it’s not the only method hackers will use to take over your computer. There’s also deletion and locking. Here are a few examples of what each one looks like so you know what you’re dealing with.
Encryption
Encryption is the process of encoding data. If you don’t have the decryption key, you won’t be able to get access to your files. It’s as simple as that.
You can try to brute force your way through it and guess the decryption key. We’ll tell you that getting the correct series of numbers is next to impossible though.
Deletion
Sometimes when you try to get rid of the ransomware you’ll get a threatening pop-up. It will tell you that continuing will result in the total loss of your data.
We suggest going ahead and deleting the files. As long as you have a backup, you should be okay. Keep in mind that deleting the files hardly results in complete ransomware removal most of the time.
Locking
Hackers have created a webpage that will try to trick you into thinking that the cops are after you. Unless you pay the fee they’re asking for, you’ll be sent away.
Anything that asks you for money no matter if it’s a webpage, email, or telemarketer, is a scam. The ransomware might disable your keyboard shortcuts to make getting rid of the webpage difficult but it won’t be impossible.
Are You a Target?
The truth is, everyone is a potential victim of ransomware. The most common victims are colleges. Universities have an IT team to get rid of breeches but it’s not a big one.
It makes it easy to slip in unnoticed. Certain businesses are also vulnerable because they’re likely to pay the fee the attacker is asking for.
Think about it, if you run a medical office, you need to get access to charts to do your job. Not to mention that you don’t want your patient’s information at the mercy of a hacker. You have no choice but to cave.
How to Protect Yourself
Now that you know a little bit about ransomware, let’s teach you how to protect yourself. We’ll start with the most basic rule. Watch what emails you open!
Don’t Open Fishy Emails
We will say that hackers are intelligent. Many of the emails they send look like legit ones. There are always ways to tell if the email is fake but many don’t realize it until it’s too late.
Whatever you do, if the email includes a link, think before you click. If the email includes an attachment, scan it with an antivirus program before you download it.
Backup Your Computer
Keep backups of all your computer files. This way, you can restore your data to the way it was before the virus attacked. Granted, according to https://netdepot.com/can-ransomware-infect-backups/, ransomware might be able to infect those as well.
Be Careful with Your Personal Information
Your personal information should be a carefully guarded secret. If an email asks you to respond to them using your social security number or your mother’s maiden name, you should question it.
We’ll tell you that almost no legit company will ask for something like that. Not in the first email anyway. Question everything.
Should You Give in and Pay?
Most people will tell you no. As much as you need or want to gain access to your files again, don’t pay the ransom. All that does is encourage them to go after some other poor unexpectant victim.
It’s also important to note that you might not even get your files back after you pay the fee. Some hackers will take your money and never give you the decryption key. Try every means possible to get rid of the malware before you pay a cent.
Be Prepared for a Ransomware Attack
What is ransomware? One of the most annoying branches of malware that you’ll ever have to deal with. The hackers encrypt your data and hold it ransom until you pay a fee to get the decryption key. The good news is that it’s not too hard to avoid the problem.
As long as you’re wary about the types of emails you open and the links that you click, you may never run into ransomware. That doesn’t mean you won’t stumble across other forms of malware though. Check out our blog daily for more ways to detect and get rid of viruses.
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4 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Improve Their Business With Agile Marketing
/in Marketing & Sales/by Jim EwelAgile boosts discipline and communication
“Discipline” and “process” are two words seldom used by entrepreneurs. Yet, startups and small businesses can grow faster – and more predictably – with some discipline and just the right amount of process. And that’s where Agile’s methodologies come in.
When everyone in your business is running around like Usain Bolt at a Black Friday sales event, they’ll all benefit from Agile’s 15-minute morning meetings to talk about what they did yesterday, what they’re going to get done today, and what’s blocking their progress.
If you’re a solopreneur, answering these questions for yourself is a good way to take stock of each day’s progress and challenges. The Agile term for this 15-minute session is the daily standup.
Weekly planning sessions, and the use of whiteboards for tracking work, can also help entrepreneurs and their teams prioritize and track the progress of critical work, allowing everyone to see at a glance what’s getting done and what’s not. In the Agile world, these techniques are known as Sprint planning and Kanban boards.
Spending a few minutes at the end of each week to look at what’s working and what’s not, and trying new ways of working, also has an Agile name: the retrospective.
Whatever you call these processes, they’ll add discipline and structure to your startup or small business, and they’ll ensure you’re getting the right things done each and every week.
Agile grows your business faster
The two most precious resources of any startup or small business are time and seed capital. How can you maximize these investments? Through an Agile discipline called validated learning.
Many entrepreneurs take the “throw spaghetti against the wall and see what sticks” approach to marketing. But with Agile, you’ll use validated learning to think like a scientist: Who are my best customers? Where do they get their information? Why do they buy from me? What experiment can I run to confirm my best-guess answers to these questions?
Scientists call best-guess answers hypotheses, and you’ll be testing your hypotheses through validated learning.
Rather than throwing $20,000 at Facebook advertising, for example, and hoping it will produce some sales, you’ll run a small test for $500 or $1,000. Only when you know that your advertising is working will you spend your full budget.
How do you decide which experiments to run? I recommend a simple framework called ICE:
Assign a value from 1 to 5 for each experiment along each dimension – I, C, and E – and then calculate the score as the total of the three scores. Run the experiments with the highest scores first.
Agile helps you adapt to change quickly
Every entrepreneur is encouraged to write a business plan. “Where’s your business plan?” asks the banker. Yet, as every entrepreneur knows, business plans and marketing plans quickly become outdated. You can’t update them frequently enough to keep up with the daily pace of your business.
I recommend a different Agile-themed approach: napkin plans. Write your business plan on a napkin (or a single sheet of paper) and update it often.
Napkin plans work because they’re:
Agile creates remarkable customer experiences
Rather than buying products, many people today are buying experiences. Think about it. When someone buys an Apple product, whether it’s an iPhone, a Mac, or an Apple Watch, are they really buying the product, or are they buying the Apple experience?
Sure, not everyone loves Apple. That’s OK. But those who do love Apple pay premium prices, buy anything they make, are incredibly loyal, and can’t remark enough about the experiences they have with Apple products.
How do you create your own remarkable experiences? You have to know your best customers better than anyone else and go above and beyond satisfying the needs of those customers who will ultimately become your biggest fans. And Agile marketing can help with that.
About the Author
Making as Many Sales as You Possibly Can During Difficult Times
/in Marketing & Sales/by StrategyDrivenSelling Products? Switch to Ecommerce
If your store sells products, now is the time to switch to Ecommerce. Ecommerce stores are allowed to continue operations. Sure, you’ll need to make sure that the staff fulfilling your orders in the warehouse are safe, and if you have your own delivery staff, you’ll need to make sure they’re safe too. But this is an ideal way to be able to continue operations while stores are shut and even while stores are open, but you can’t have all too many people inside. Now, we’re fast approaching two of the biggest shopping seasons of the year so far. These are Black Friday and the Christmas shopping season. So, you’ll want to make the switch as quickly as possible in order to be able to make the money you usually might. So, how do you go about switching to Ecommerce? Here are a few steps that will help you to get it right first time around.
Set Up a Website / Improve Your Website
If you don’t have a website yet, now is the time to create one. If you already have one, but haven’t focused on it all too much in the past, now is the time to improve upon it. Your website is going to be your customers’ and potential customers’ main contact with your store. So you need it to look good and you need to make sure that people can easily navigate their way around it to find what they want. Of course, learning how to code and learning what kind of design works is a long and difficult process. You probably don’t have time for this right now. So, work with the following individuals – a web designer, a web developer and a UX designer. The web designer will make sure that your site looks great. They’ll know what to put where and how to combine everything together to create something that is on brand and beautiful. The web developer will take care of the back end of your site. They’ll make sure that everything actually works. The UX designer is a user experience designer. They’ll ensure that the site makes sense for your users and is easy to use. This reduces the number of people leaving your site. Finally, you should work with all three individuals to make sure that your site is optimised for mobile too. Increasing numbers of people are shopping on their mobile, so you don’t want to miss out on these sales!
Provide Customer Support
Of course, when people buy online, they tend to have more questions than they might in store, as they can’t feel or try out the products themselves before buying. This means it is essential that you have some sort of customer support put in place and that your website lets customers know how to get in touch too. If you don’t have time to deal with customer queries, make sure to hire a customer support agent who can respond to questions via a business email, via a chat box on your website, or even via phone. The more points of contact that customers have for your company, the better, as it allows everyone to use their preferred way of getting in touch!
Selling Essential Services? Manage Your New Workload
If you’re selling essential services and cannot work from home, chances are you’ll be able to continue work as usual. You’ll simply have to follow new safety measures, which will include staying two metres away from others, wearing appropriate additional PPE (such as face masks or face visors) and washing or sanitising your hands regularly. Now, chances are, you may be experiencing an increase in demand. Essential services are in high demand right now and, unlike the majority of the population, you may be experiencing a higher workload. You’ll need to organise and manage this effectively to ensure that you don’t miss anything out or disappoint anyone. Consider using software or apps like JobNimbus to help you with this. It will take care of everything from sales to estimating, scheduling and work orders. It can be tempting to take on more work than you can handle, but avoid this. You want to do a good job, get good reviews and maintain a good reputation. You also don’t want to burn yourself out.
Are Your Staff Able to Work Remotely?
If you’re running a business where staff would usually work in an office, consider whether they would be able to work remotely. Remote working is becoming favoured by business in a wide range of industries. Many have seen that their staff can work just as effectively from home and are opting to continue remote operations permanently, as it saves significantly on commercial property rent and overheads too! Now, a switch to remote working has to be done carefully to ensure that everyone copes with the move well. The steps below could make this process seamless.
4 Signs You’re Ready to Start Your Own Company
/in Starting Your Business/by StrategyDriven1 – You Have a Good Idea
An idea for a new business doesn’t have to be revolutionary to be viable. You don’t necessarily need to be bringing an entirely unique idea to the marketplace. However, you do need to be clear on a business that will provide either products or services that you are in a good position to offer. If you have an idea that you can see good market potential for, or you have skills that you currently use working for another company that you could start up on your own with, then you are in a good position to begin planning how to formally set up your new business and begin looking for your first customers.
2 – You’ve Researched the Practical Side
Starting any kind of commercial venture will require you to understand the tax and regulatory aspects relevant to your location and industry. If you are planning to do business online, particularly internationally, you’ll also need to know how laws around the world such as GDPR will affect how you do things. If you are serious about starting up and have begun to find out what you need to know, then this will stand you in good stead.
You should also know what you need to do to set up an LLC, or incorporated company, and which type of formal business registration is most appropriate to your plans. Starting your company doesn’t need to be difficult, and there are plenty of online resources to help you find out what you need to do, but having taken the step of doing that research is a good sign that you’re ready to move forward with your idea.
3 – The People in Your Life are on Board
If you have a family or other people you support, then it is important that they are supportive of you making moves to start your new venture. Starting a business can be intense, especially if you are going to be keeping your current job while you are first starting up, and so having people around you who believe in what you are trying to do will be a big boon.
4 – You Know the Current Market in the Industry You’re Entering
We live in very unusual times, and so business ideas that may have been excellent just 18 months ago may be poor ideas now – businesses focused around live events or tourism are a good example. If you have kept up with the news in the industry you want to join and are able to tell whether now is a good or bad time to enter, then this shows that you’ll be committed to keeping on top of trends and shifts once you’re in business. You can’t predict everything, but having your ear to the ground and basing your decisions on the best and most recent information already is a good sign that you’re ready to begin operating in a given market.
Are these all things you are already doing? If so, then you could well be ready to begin actioning your plans for your new venture. If not, then it may be a good time to think about starting to lay some more of the groundwork and doing more of the research.
Are You Eligible for a Bad Credit Car Loan?
/in Managing Your Finances/by StrategyDrivenCheck Your Credit Score
Ensuring your credit score is as stable as possible can aid you in being approved for the credit you need. Often, the greater your credit score is, the better your chances will be of being approved for a loan or car finance. Check your credit report for abnormalities and contact the credit reference agency if any of the information they have on your report is incorrect. Something as seemingly small as the wrong address can negatively impact your credit score. Taking the time to better your credit score can make it easier to drive the car you want in no time.
Look Around for The Best Loan Provider
In addition to checking your credit score, it is important to look at the best loan provider for you. By going either to the dealership or directly to a finance company, you can get the loan types that you need for the car that you want. By getting a quote from multiple suppliers, you can compare deals and find the one that works best for your needs and budget.
Look Into the Car You Want
The type of car that you want can also have a huge impact on your eligibility, particularly if you have poor credit. By choosing the car that you want beforehand and ensuring you know a general estimate of their worth, you can assess how this will fit into your budget. The type of car you choose will impact the monthly repayment amount depending on the loan term and loan provider that you eventually opt for, therefore taking the time to do your research could save you money in the long term.
Improve Your Finances as Much as Possible
To improve your eligibility, you should try to improve your finances as much as possible. By taking the time to pay off your debt and making sure that all the correct information is on your credit report, you can have a better understanding of your eligibility for your chosen loan type. Although it can take time to slowly improve your credit score, this will benefit you in the long term when looking to finance a car.
Whether you are looking to finance a new car or you are looking to finance a slightly older vehicle, there are several poor credit car loans for you to choose from for your dream car.
What Is Ransomware? A Guide on the Key Things to Know
/in Risk Management/by StrategyDrivenMany of your files are locked with a pop-up telling you that you have to pay a fee before you can get access to them again. You’ve become a victim of ransomware.
What is Ransomware? It’s probably the most annoying type of computer malware that you’ll ever have to deal with. Check out this guide to learn the ins and outs of how it works.
What is Ransomware?
Ransomware is a type of computer malware that gets into your files and encrypts them. Once the attacker has blocked you off from using your programs, they’ll demand a fee to unlock them.
Don’t worry, the hackers are generous. They’ll give you instructions on how to pay them so you can get access to your computer again. The amount can be as small as a few hundred dollars or as large as a couple thousand.
How Did I Pick it Up?
There are a few places where you may have picked up the ransomware. The most common point of attack is your email. Hackers will send you an email that looks legit but is actually a scam.
The email will usually include a link for you to click on. If you follow it, your computer’s done for. There are some clever ransomware programs that can get into your computer files without tricking you like this but more often than not, it’s going to be an email.
Types of Ransomware
Encryption is common but it’s not the only method hackers will use to take over your computer. There’s also deletion and locking. Here are a few examples of what each one looks like so you know what you’re dealing with.
Encryption
Encryption is the process of encoding data. If you don’t have the decryption key, you won’t be able to get access to your files. It’s as simple as that.
You can try to brute force your way through it and guess the decryption key. We’ll tell you that getting the correct series of numbers is next to impossible though.
Deletion
Sometimes when you try to get rid of the ransomware you’ll get a threatening pop-up. It will tell you that continuing will result in the total loss of your data.
We suggest going ahead and deleting the files. As long as you have a backup, you should be okay. Keep in mind that deleting the files hardly results in complete ransomware removal most of the time.
Locking
Hackers have created a webpage that will try to trick you into thinking that the cops are after you. Unless you pay the fee they’re asking for, you’ll be sent away.
Anything that asks you for money no matter if it’s a webpage, email, or telemarketer, is a scam. The ransomware might disable your keyboard shortcuts to make getting rid of the webpage difficult but it won’t be impossible.
Are You a Target?
The truth is, everyone is a potential victim of ransomware. The most common victims are colleges. Universities have an IT team to get rid of breeches but it’s not a big one.
It makes it easy to slip in unnoticed. Certain businesses are also vulnerable because they’re likely to pay the fee the attacker is asking for.
Think about it, if you run a medical office, you need to get access to charts to do your job. Not to mention that you don’t want your patient’s information at the mercy of a hacker. You have no choice but to cave.
How to Protect Yourself
Now that you know a little bit about ransomware, let’s teach you how to protect yourself. We’ll start with the most basic rule. Watch what emails you open!
Don’t Open Fishy Emails
We will say that hackers are intelligent. Many of the emails they send look like legit ones. There are always ways to tell if the email is fake but many don’t realize it until it’s too late.
Whatever you do, if the email includes a link, think before you click. If the email includes an attachment, scan it with an antivirus program before you download it.
Backup Your Computer
Keep backups of all your computer files. This way, you can restore your data to the way it was before the virus attacked. Granted, according to https://netdepot.com/can-ransomware-infect-backups/, ransomware might be able to infect those as well.
Be Careful with Your Personal Information
Your personal information should be a carefully guarded secret. If an email asks you to respond to them using your social security number or your mother’s maiden name, you should question it.
We’ll tell you that almost no legit company will ask for something like that. Not in the first email anyway. Question everything.
Should You Give in and Pay?
Most people will tell you no. As much as you need or want to gain access to your files again, don’t pay the ransom. All that does is encourage them to go after some other poor unexpectant victim.
It’s also important to note that you might not even get your files back after you pay the fee. Some hackers will take your money and never give you the decryption key. Try every means possible to get rid of the malware before you pay a cent.
Be Prepared for a Ransomware Attack
What is ransomware? One of the most annoying branches of malware that you’ll ever have to deal with. The hackers encrypt your data and hold it ransom until you pay a fee to get the decryption key. The good news is that it’s not too hard to avoid the problem.
As long as you’re wary about the types of emails you open and the links that you click, you may never run into ransomware. That doesn’t mean you won’t stumble across other forms of malware though. Check out our blog daily for more ways to detect and get rid of viruses.