Safety is paramount to the success of your business, which is why larger companies dedicate entire departments to protective measures. Small business owners don’t always have that luxury, leaving them to handle unique risks without a massive amount of protective resources. That creates a real challenge, one that can often lead to digital, physical, and even legal issues most are unprepared to handle.
So, what can you do? Before leaving your failsafes and security protocols to the wind, check out these tips to help make protection a top priority at your small business. From simple office rules to management tools, here’s the ultimate safety strategy.
Get Rid of Personal Devices
Step one to your plan of action should be eliminating personal or bring-your-own devices in the workplace. This reduces the risk of weak links in your security plan, helping to keep the lid tight on your operations.
While this isn’t always possible, there are workarounds to achieve the same result. Instead of removing these devices from your place of business, adopt a universal security package for your employees. The usefulness of managing and auditing your entire IT infrastructure’s user access rights with a tool like SolarWinds can’t be understated.
Malware Matters
As tight as security may be on your employee end, the world of the web is a malicious place. Malware protection is a vital safeguard for your business, manning the front lines while data enters and leaves your servers. It’s still important to train employees on security and safety measures, but this set-it-and-forget-it protection is something you can’t do without.
Unique Passwords
While this 90’s rhetoric shouldn’t need restated in 2018, the number of hacks from even seemingly airtight corporations in the past few years suggests that it hasn’t set in just yet. With a single data breach costing upwards of $1 million on average, this is one area of security you literally can’t afford to overlook.
Ensuring every member of your staff uses a strong password is crucial these days. Have them keep the word used unique, add numbers, and make sure they utilize symbols if possible for the best results. Also, it helps to have your employees change their password every six months to a year.
Physical Security
It isn’t something most business owners want to think about, but individuals within your operation can be just as dangerous as those on the outside. While it is important to trust your employees, it never hurts to utilize cameras and locks when possible. Plus, these tools are an excellent means of theft prevention.
Backup Your Data
From contracts to daily sales, today’s businesses record almost everything online. Technical malfunctions happen at the most inconvenient times, which is why backing up your data is essential. Instead of opting for pricey equipment, consider cloud storage as a frugal yet secure alternative. There are numerous cloud storage services available that can help you create “hard” copies of important information.
Insurance
Even if you’re in the earliest stages of operation, business insurance can save you an enormous headache. Depending on what your business entails, you may need varying types of insurance. Public liability, home business, and indemnity are a few popular examples. Regardless of which kind your business needs, protecting yourself in the event of a worst-case scenario is vital.
Other small business insurance needs include:
General liability
Professional liability
Errors and omissions
Owners policy
Workers compensation
Property
Home-based
Product liability
Vehicle
And business interruption
Physical Protection
No, not bodyguards. Physical protection and security come in a wide variety of forms. Each of which is equally as important as the digital ones you’ve set in place. A simple example would be ensuring that your brand is unique to avoid any litigation or legal ramifications.
Another example would be the use of physical documents for contracts and agreements. Aside from creating a professional look, it further protects agreements made between you, your employees, and your clients with a hard copy. Adding arbitration clauses to those contracts is another physical security measure that can prevent legal ramifications down the road.
Finally, physical protection for a small business can be as simple as creating a safe work environment. Working to prevent accidents and encouraging non-discrimination as well as non-harassment policies might not be the first thing on your mind when the word protection comes to mind, but they are just as important as cyber security measures.
Protecting Your Business
Security isn’t something to take lightly in any business venture, but you don’t have to shell out your earnings on an entire department just to make sure your organization is protected. By following the tips and advice above, you can keep every aspect of your small business from digital to physical secure while keeping things affordable.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/computer-1591018_1280.jpg8371280StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2018-11-17 16:00:352018-11-21 14:01:30Getting Started with Small Business Protection
Marketing any business can be a serious challenge. This is especially true if your business is relatively new. After all, trying to take your business from something that no one knows about to something that has a firmly established customer base can be incredibly difficult. In fact, when you’re just starting out, it can seem borderline impossible. And there are plenty of very promising businesses that end up falling at the starting line for this very reason. They end up looking for customers in all of the wrong places and they’re never able to build up the kind of audience that they really need. With that in mind, here are some things that you can do in order to stop that from happening to your business.
Know your demographics
Every business is different, and because of that, every business is going to connect with a different customer base. One of the most common mistakes that a lot of new businesses make is that they try to please everyone and, in doing so, end up not really pleasing anyone. The truth is that you need to figure out what your business’s demographic actually is. Otherwise, you could end up putting a huge amount of effort into a marketing to a group of people who are simply never going to be interested in your business or your product.
Know your techniques
Different techniques are effective in different ways when it comes to marketing your business. In the same way that different customers connect with different businesses, different marketing techniques are going to be better and worse for different demographics. Whether it’s b2b sales VS b2c, social media marketing vs traditional marketing, or even understanding how the tone of your marketing attracts different customers, if you don’t know which techniques are right for marketing your business, you’re going to end up flailing around, trying everything, and wasting a huge amount of time, effort, and resources without much return.
Know your strengths
It’s amazing how often businesses aren’t able to connect with customers simply because they don’t know how to play to their own strengths. After all, if your business is exactly the same as its competitors, then there’s no real point in it existing at all. Because of that, you need to focus on leaning into what makes your business different. What sets your business apart from all of the others that a customer could choose from? By highlighting and focusing in on your business’s unique selling point, you’re going to be able to attract customers much more quickly and easily.
Of course, understanding these things isn’t going to suddenly make marketing your business into a cakewalk. It’s always going to a challenge and one that you need to dedicate a decent amount of time and resources to. Whether you put together a dedicated marketing team in-house or you outsource it to someone else, making sure that your marketing is getting the time and attention it deserves is essential for making the most out of your business.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/CustomersShoppers.jpg8211200StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2018-11-17 11:00:522018-11-16 18:03:16Are You Looking For Customers In All The Wrong Places?
Negotiation is an art form. It requires interpersonal skills, a masterful control of language, a deep understanding of human emotion, and excellent listening skills. This is perhaps why a small company’s success often hinges on the quality of its salespeople.
Find common ground
The very best salespeople don’t just push for what is best for them and their affiliates. They identify precisely what the other party wants to get out of the negotiations, then finds a way for both parties to leave the negotiations happy.
The only way to do this is by asking questions. Get as much information as possible about the other party and be upfront and sincere about what you hope to get out of the negotiations as well. Coming from a place of openness and honesty will prompt openness and honesty in the other party and the common ground will be found much quicker.
Build eye-catching visuals in presentations
Putting together boring sales presentations is the first way to turn potential customers and clients off. Put together engaging and eye-catching presentations with the presentation software that top companies use to enhance your sales pitches.
Know when to walk away
You can’t win every battle. Sometimes you just have to walk away, dust yourself off, and get ready for the next one. Knowing when to walk away is a skill. You should enter every negotiation with some red lines that you are not willing to compromise on. If these can’t be met, politely end the negotiations and walk away.
Set the first offer
The person that makes the first move sets the anchor around which all further negotiations will be set. It allows you to take control of the negotiations and forces the other party to react to your offer.
Appeal to human emotion
Humans are emotional creatures. We often display patterns of behaviour for no other reason other than the fact that our parents did. We buy the same products our parents did, cook things the same way, and have similar routines.
This can be applied to your sales strategy. If you have an existing business relationship with the company, stress this fact. If your team are very excited to start dealing with the company, show the other party this. A little bit of ego stroking can go a long way. They are humans after all.
Make sales a company-wide initiative
Selling isn’t just carried out by the sales department. Including other departments in negotiations can help close the deal. Maybe your marketing department could run a joint campaign and raise awareness of the other party’s brand? If you have inbound marketing strategies in place that use personalized content, maybe you could generate some content to drive traffic to the other party’s website?
Create a sense of urgency
Closing the deal is one of the hardest parts of the sales process. Even if clients and customers like the product or service, getting them to commit can be challenging.
One of the best ways to overcome this and get them to sign on the dotted line is by creating a sense of urgency in the negotiations. Reiterate that you can only offer this exclusive price if they sign today, otherwise tomorrow the price goes back up to its normal rate. This may be the nudge they need to seal the deal.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/NegotiationSuccess.jpg8001200StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2018-11-16 16:00:022018-11-21 13:51:45The Art of Persuasion: 7 Negotiation Techniques That Won’t Leave You Hanging
It is perhaps inevitable that, at some point, commercial business owners will not see eye-to-eye with their peers.
After all, entrepreneurs are hyper-focused on their business. This tendency is usually positive, but can be problematic when it encounters the same level of hyper-focus from another business owner. Two individuals, with very different – but equally valid – points of view can collide, and the consequences of such disputes can be extremely problematic for both parties.
Below, we have outlined three key areas that tend to create conflict between two business owners, as well as pointing out how you can navigate such a scenario should you experience them over the course of running your own company.
Arguments over advertising
We’ve all seen adverts where businesses state why they are better than a competitor. Sometimes, the competitor in question is hinted at, using familiar language or catchphrases to make it obvious which competitor they are discussing. Occasionally, the reference to a competitor is far less subtle, and a brand will outright explain why they are better than The Other Business.
Let’s be honest, neither is ideal. While this type of advertising is seen as beneficial, drawing a direct comparison against rivals, it’s actually a tad reductive – and can create serious problems when the owner of the competitor sees the advice, and (somewhat understandably) is annoyed by it. To avoid this scenario developing, focus your advertising on your company and its benefits, allowing customers to draw their own conclusions about why your business is the best choice for their needs.
Arguments over land
The dividing line between where one business’ property ends and another begins can often be a source of aggravation between companies. This scenario tends to develop when boundaries between land are not clearly divided, and most companies operate on assumptions and agreement with their fellow business owners – which tends to work well, overall.
However, the issue is thrown into stark relief if you wish to expand your premises. Suddenly, the general handshake agreement of who owns what land becomes problematic, and can lead to arguments between business owners.
To avoid such a scenario, proper planning is everything; always ensure you work with specialists such as Cochran to map out exactly where you have permission to build, so there’s no room for argument from your neighbors in future.
Arguments over exterior frontage
If one entrepreneur works hard to ensure the exterior of their business is in the best possible condition, they will expect others to do the same. After all, the look of every business influences the aesthetics of an entire area. If one business isn’t keeping up with the overall presentation of their area – perhaps their paint is chipped, or their awning is torn – then it can feel like they are letting the side down.
If there is a business in your local area that is missing the mark on exterior presentation, you can make a few friendly suggestions on improvements – but the key word here is friendly. Try to keep in mind the fact that you don’t know what the finances of that businesses are like; they may be well aware of their poor exterior frontage, but don’t have the funds to rectify the issues. Instead, focus on your own business, and hope that customers will be inclined to do the same.
In conclusion
As the points above show, with the right attitude, and effective planning, many disputes can be avoided. By focusing on preventing arguments, you save time, hassle, and stress – and are even able to focus on fostering positive relationships with your fellow business owners.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/pointing-1991215_1280.jpg6211280StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2018-11-16 08:00:132018-11-20 19:25:21Common Disputes Between Business Owners
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Leadership Inspirations – Calm Seas
/in Leadership Inspirations/by Publilius SyrusPublilius Syrus (85 – 43 B.C.)
Latin writer
Getting Started with Small Business Protection
/in Entrepreneurship, Managing Your Business, Risk Management/by StrategyDrivenSafety is paramount to the success of your business, which is why larger companies dedicate entire departments to protective measures. Small business owners don’t always have that luxury, leaving them to handle unique risks without a massive amount of protective resources. That creates a real challenge, one that can often lead to digital, physical, and even legal issues most are unprepared to handle.
So, what can you do? Before leaving your failsafes and security protocols to the wind, check out these tips to help make protection a top priority at your small business. From simple office rules to management tools, here’s the ultimate safety strategy.
Get Rid of Personal Devices
Step one to your plan of action should be eliminating personal or bring-your-own devices in the workplace. This reduces the risk of weak links in your security plan, helping to keep the lid tight on your operations.
While this isn’t always possible, there are workarounds to achieve the same result. Instead of removing these devices from your place of business, adopt a universal security package for your employees. The usefulness of managing and auditing your entire IT infrastructure’s user access rights with a tool like SolarWinds can’t be understated.
Malware Matters
As tight as security may be on your employee end, the world of the web is a malicious place. Malware protection is a vital safeguard for your business, manning the front lines while data enters and leaves your servers. It’s still important to train employees on security and safety measures, but this set-it-and-forget-it protection is something you can’t do without.
Unique Passwords
While this 90’s rhetoric shouldn’t need restated in 2018, the number of hacks from even seemingly airtight corporations in the past few years suggests that it hasn’t set in just yet. With a single data breach costing upwards of $1 million on average, this is one area of security you literally can’t afford to overlook.
Ensuring every member of your staff uses a strong password is crucial these days. Have them keep the word used unique, add numbers, and make sure they utilize symbols if possible for the best results. Also, it helps to have your employees change their password every six months to a year.
Physical Security
It isn’t something most business owners want to think about, but individuals within your operation can be just as dangerous as those on the outside. While it is important to trust your employees, it never hurts to utilize cameras and locks when possible. Plus, these tools are an excellent means of theft prevention.
Backup Your Data
From contracts to daily sales, today’s businesses record almost everything online. Technical malfunctions happen at the most inconvenient times, which is why backing up your data is essential. Instead of opting for pricey equipment, consider cloud storage as a frugal yet secure alternative. There are numerous cloud storage services available that can help you create “hard” copies of important information.
Insurance
Even if you’re in the earliest stages of operation, business insurance can save you an enormous headache. Depending on what your business entails, you may need varying types of insurance. Public liability, home business, and indemnity are a few popular examples. Regardless of which kind your business needs, protecting yourself in the event of a worst-case scenario is vital.
Other small business insurance needs include:
Physical Protection
No, not bodyguards. Physical protection and security come in a wide variety of forms. Each of which is equally as important as the digital ones you’ve set in place. A simple example would be ensuring that your brand is unique to avoid any litigation or legal ramifications.
Another example would be the use of physical documents for contracts and agreements. Aside from creating a professional look, it further protects agreements made between you, your employees, and your clients with a hard copy. Adding arbitration clauses to those contracts is another physical security measure that can prevent legal ramifications down the road.
Finally, physical protection for a small business can be as simple as creating a safe work environment. Working to prevent accidents and encouraging non-discrimination as well as non-harassment policies might not be the first thing on your mind when the word protection comes to mind, but they are just as important as cyber security measures.
Protecting Your Business
Security isn’t something to take lightly in any business venture, but you don’t have to shell out your earnings on an entire department just to make sure your organization is protected. By following the tips and advice above, you can keep every aspect of your small business from digital to physical secure while keeping things affordable.
Are You Looking For Customers In All The Wrong Places?
/in Marketing & Sales/by StrategyDrivenMarketing any business can be a serious challenge. This is especially true if your business is relatively new. After all, trying to take your business from something that no one knows about to something that has a firmly established customer base can be incredibly difficult. In fact, when you’re just starting out, it can seem borderline impossible. And there are plenty of very promising businesses that end up falling at the starting line for this very reason. They end up looking for customers in all of the wrong places and they’re never able to build up the kind of audience that they really need. With that in mind, here are some things that you can do in order to stop that from happening to your business.
Know your demographics
Every business is different, and because of that, every business is going to connect with a different customer base. One of the most common mistakes that a lot of new businesses make is that they try to please everyone and, in doing so, end up not really pleasing anyone. The truth is that you need to figure out what your business’s demographic actually is. Otherwise, you could end up putting a huge amount of effort into a marketing to a group of people who are simply never going to be interested in your business or your product.
Know your techniques
Different techniques are effective in different ways when it comes to marketing your business. In the same way that different customers connect with different businesses, different marketing techniques are going to be better and worse for different demographics. Whether it’s b2b sales VS b2c, social media marketing vs traditional marketing, or even understanding how the tone of your marketing attracts different customers, if you don’t know which techniques are right for marketing your business, you’re going to end up flailing around, trying everything, and wasting a huge amount of time, effort, and resources without much return.
Know your strengths
It’s amazing how often businesses aren’t able to connect with customers simply because they don’t know how to play to their own strengths. After all, if your business is exactly the same as its competitors, then there’s no real point in it existing at all. Because of that, you need to focus on leaning into what makes your business different. What sets your business apart from all of the others that a customer could choose from? By highlighting and focusing in on your business’s unique selling point, you’re going to be able to attract customers much more quickly and easily.
Of course, understanding these things isn’t going to suddenly make marketing your business into a cakewalk. It’s always going to a challenge and one that you need to dedicate a decent amount of time and resources to. Whether you put together a dedicated marketing team in-house or you outsource it to someone else, making sure that your marketing is getting the time and attention it deserves is essential for making the most out of your business.
The Art of Persuasion: 7 Negotiation Techniques That Won’t Leave You Hanging
/in Marketing & Sales, Practices for Professionals/by StrategyDrivenFind common ground
The very best salespeople don’t just push for what is best for them and their affiliates. They identify precisely what the other party wants to get out of the negotiations, then finds a way for both parties to leave the negotiations happy.
The only way to do this is by asking questions. Get as much information as possible about the other party and be upfront and sincere about what you hope to get out of the negotiations as well. Coming from a place of openness and honesty will prompt openness and honesty in the other party and the common ground will be found much quicker.
Build eye-catching visuals in presentations
Putting together boring sales presentations is the first way to turn potential customers and clients off. Put together engaging and eye-catching presentations with the presentation software that top companies use to enhance your sales pitches.
Know when to walk away
You can’t win every battle. Sometimes you just have to walk away, dust yourself off, and get ready for the next one. Knowing when to walk away is a skill. You should enter every negotiation with some red lines that you are not willing to compromise on. If these can’t be met, politely end the negotiations and walk away.
Set the first offer
The person that makes the first move sets the anchor around which all further negotiations will be set. It allows you to take control of the negotiations and forces the other party to react to your offer.
Appeal to human emotion
Humans are emotional creatures. We often display patterns of behaviour for no other reason other than the fact that our parents did. We buy the same products our parents did, cook things the same way, and have similar routines.
This can be applied to your sales strategy. If you have an existing business relationship with the company, stress this fact. If your team are very excited to start dealing with the company, show the other party this. A little bit of ego stroking can go a long way. They are humans after all.
Make sales a company-wide initiative
Selling isn’t just carried out by the sales department. Including other departments in negotiations can help close the deal. Maybe your marketing department could run a joint campaign and raise awareness of the other party’s brand? If you have inbound marketing strategies in place that use personalized content, maybe you could generate some content to drive traffic to the other party’s website?
Create a sense of urgency
Closing the deal is one of the hardest parts of the sales process. Even if clients and customers like the product or service, getting them to commit can be challenging.
One of the best ways to overcome this and get them to sign on the dotted line is by creating a sense of urgency in the negotiations. Reiterate that you can only offer this exclusive price if they sign today, otherwise tomorrow the price goes back up to its normal rate. This may be the nudge they need to seal the deal.
Common Disputes Between Business Owners
/in Entrepreneurship/by StrategyDrivenIt is perhaps inevitable that, at some point, commercial business owners will not see eye-to-eye with their peers.
After all, entrepreneurs are hyper-focused on their business. This tendency is usually positive, but can be problematic when it encounters the same level of hyper-focus from another business owner. Two individuals, with very different – but equally valid – points of view can collide, and the consequences of such disputes can be extremely problematic for both parties.
Below, we have outlined three key areas that tend to create conflict between two business owners, as well as pointing out how you can navigate such a scenario should you experience them over the course of running your own company.
Arguments over advertising
We’ve all seen adverts where businesses state why they are better than a competitor. Sometimes, the competitor in question is hinted at, using familiar language or catchphrases to make it obvious which competitor they are discussing. Occasionally, the reference to a competitor is far less subtle, and a brand will outright explain why they are better than The Other Business.
Let’s be honest, neither is ideal. While this type of advertising is seen as beneficial, drawing a direct comparison against rivals, it’s actually a tad reductive – and can create serious problems when the owner of the competitor sees the advice, and (somewhat understandably) is annoyed by it. To avoid this scenario developing, focus your advertising on your company and its benefits, allowing customers to draw their own conclusions about why your business is the best choice for their needs.
Arguments over land
The dividing line between where one business’ property ends and another begins can often be a source of aggravation between companies. This scenario tends to develop when boundaries between land are not clearly divided, and most companies operate on assumptions and agreement with their fellow business owners – which tends to work well, overall.
However, the issue is thrown into stark relief if you wish to expand your premises. Suddenly, the general handshake agreement of who owns what land becomes problematic, and can lead to arguments between business owners.
To avoid such a scenario, proper planning is everything; always ensure you work with specialists such as Cochran to map out exactly where you have permission to build, so there’s no room for argument from your neighbors in future.
Arguments over exterior frontage
If one entrepreneur works hard to ensure the exterior of their business is in the best possible condition, they will expect others to do the same. After all, the look of every business influences the aesthetics of an entire area. If one business isn’t keeping up with the overall presentation of their area – perhaps their paint is chipped, or their awning is torn – then it can feel like they are letting the side down.
If there is a business in your local area that is missing the mark on exterior presentation, you can make a few friendly suggestions on improvements – but the key word here is friendly. Try to keep in mind the fact that you don’t know what the finances of that businesses are like; they may be well aware of their poor exterior frontage, but don’t have the funds to rectify the issues. Instead, focus on your own business, and hope that customers will be inclined to do the same.
In conclusion
As the points above show, with the right attitude, and effective planning, many disputes can be avoided. By focusing on preventing arguments, you save time, hassle, and stress – and are even able to focus on fostering positive relationships with your fellow business owners.