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Advantages of VoIP for Small Businesses

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Advantages of VoIP for Small BusinessesYou want to do everything you can to realize and surpass your small business’s potential. Have you thought about implementing a Voice over Internet Protocol phone system? Don’t think this communication is only for larger businesses. Understand how VoIP technology is ideal for companies of every size in practically every industry.

Functionality

You may not realize that you can do more with VoIP than make phone calls. For instance, you can use the technology for teleconferencing, instant messaging email faxing, and video conferencing. With current events impacting business operations in unprecedented ways, having a reliable way to communicate with employees and customers from a distance is more vital than ever. When email, instant, or text messaging just aren’t enough, it can be a comfort to know that you can video chat with your team through a reliable VoIP service. Another great feature of VoIP technology is that you can have faxes and emails sent directly to your email, which can save you a lot of time.

Superior Call Quality

An essential aspect of understanding how to use VoIP it’s worth noting how great the call quality is on VoIP systems. Even the call quality on some smartphones is questionable at times. With VoIP, the technology has advanced to such a degree that it’s surpassed traditional landline call quality.

Security

Besides securing your business’s physical location, your business site, and your customer’s and employee’s sensitive data, have you taken steps to secure your phone calls? If not, you risk someone accessing your phone calls and other data. With VoIP, you can rest easy knowing that your phone calls and data are encrypted with standard protocols.

Portability

A VoIP system isn’t contained in a single device. Instead, VoIP systems depend on an internet connection. The way the technology works is you can use several devices to receive and make phone calls. This means you do not always have to be at the office to handle business. It also means you can easily transfer calls to your team without the caller needing to use a different number. Also, VoIP technology gives you the option of setting your status so people know when you’re available for phone calls, like your status on an instant messaging service.

Call Recording

Have you ever gotten off a phone call and realized that you forgot an essential piece of information or detail? Rather than calling the other person back to see if he or she recalls the detail, which is not always a guarantee, wouldn’t it be better if you could record future conversations so you do not have to worry about that happening again? VoIP’s call recording technology allows you to play back phone conversations, ensuring that you never have to guess a detail or piece of information. Additional advantages of this particular feature including accessing call log data, allowing you to predict when a person is likely to call in the future and how long she or he is likely to keep you on the phone. This lets you schedule your time more efficiently.

Improved Productivity

How many times have you missed a phone call and called the other person back only to have them not answer the phone for one reason or another? With VoIP, you can set it so that your call goes through different devices before going to voicemail. This feature saves everyone time and better ensures the other person answers your call the first time.

Do you feel your small business could benefit from a quality VoIP system? Try one out for yourself to see how you, your employees, and your customers like it.

How To Choose A Niche For Your Writing Business

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article | How To Choose A Niche For Your Writing BusinessIf you run a writing business of any kind or are thinking of starting one, then one of the main things you’re going to need to have in place before you even go any further is to pick your niche.

Many writers struggle with the process of choosing a niche because they think it’s going to be overwhelming and will also limit them in terms of work, but this couldn’t be further from the truth, and in fact, having a niche to fall back in is only going to bring you more opportunities with better clients, so in this post we’re going to share with you just how to choose a niche for your writing business.

Look at your passions and interests:

If you run a business, then of course you’re doing it because you want to make a difference, but you’re also doing it because you want to work on something every day that you’re truly passionate about, and so this should be the very first step when it comes to picking your niche. For example, are you a passionate traveler and love to share your experiences or just write about travel in general? Then you could start a travel writing business, a blog or just aim to work with clients within the travel industry.

Look at your experience:

Although having passion for what you do is great, it’s often not going to be enough in and of itself, so having a look back over your experience is also a good place to start looking. For example, do you have a background the in the building or construction industry where you could write about things like Telehandlers? You may think this isn’t valuable, but this is the beauty of having a niche – as it gives you the edge over the competition.

Look at your skills and talents:

Even if you don’t have a lot of hands-on experience in a specific industry, you may be especially skilled or talented in a certain area, so instead of going for something industry specific when choosing your niche, you could choose a certain type of writing, such as marketing copy, websites, or even ebooks to niche yourself that way.

Look at what’s profitable:

If you’re running a business – no matter what industry it’s in, you need to be making money in it, otherwise it’s not even a business, so this should be a priority when it comes to choosing your niche. As much as having passion, skills, and experience is a great thing, you also need to be realistic and look for the places in the market where good money can be made, so when picking your niche, you should really be considering all of these things to make sure you can tick at least something off in each area and be able to identify a niche that works overall.

We hope you found this post helpful and that now it won’t feel so crazy overwhelming to go and pick a niche for yourself to run your business with. Picking a niche doesn’t mean you’re going to be stuck with it forever, but it’s something you should definitely identify to start with.

Closing a Limited Company: A Guide

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article |Closing a Limited Company|Closing a Limited Company: A Guide Making the choice to close a business is never a simple or easy process, but that process is made much, much harder if you do not know what is coming your way. There is more than one way to close a limited company as it depends on whether the company can settle its debts within a reasonable timeframe. If the company can repay its creditors, there are two options: company dissolution or solvent liquidation.

However, if a company is not able to repay its debts and/or has liabilities that are greater than assets, this is known as an insolvent company. These companies must close either by a compulsory or voluntary liquidation. Liquidation is the selling of the company’s assets so that the proceeds can be used either to repay creditors or shared among shareholders.

This guide aims to outline the options available when closing a limited company.

Closing an insolvent limited company

Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation (CVL)

An insolvent company is an option for companies that are in a lot of debt, which they will struggle to repay. They may also be concerned that creditors may sue them if they do not declare insolvency. Companies that are insolvent but do not prioritize repaying their creditors could find themselves under scrutiny from the Insolvency Service. A CVL can not only prevent these issues but can also enable directors to claim redundancy. A redundancy pay-out could go towards repaying some creditors or paying other professionals involved in the insolvency process.

If you think that your company is insolvent, you need to stop trading immediately so you can protect your creditors. Your shareholders need to vote in favor of a winding-up resolution (with at least 75% in favor).

The next stage is to put together a repayment proposal outlining how you intend to repay creditors. If the creditors vote to accept it, they can appoint an insolvency practitioner. The practitioner will take control of the sale of the company’s assets so that the proceeds can be used to pay creditors.

It is always best to seek professional advice when it comes to business finances and legalities to ensure you acting lawfully and in the best interests of your shareholders, creditors, and employees. If you would like further information about a Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation, visit https://antonybatty.com/company-liquidation/creditors-voluntary-liquidation.

Compulsory liquidation

The other form of company liquidation is compulsory, i.e., enforced closure. Compulsory liquidation can be initiated by the company, a director, or by creditors. A creditor can petition the court for a company’s winding up if they are owed £750 or more. A winding-up petition needs to be submitted to the court to kick the process off. In some cases, directors of the company may be investigated to ensure that there was no fraudulent activity or misconduct, which led to insolvency.

Closing a limited solvent company

Members’ Voluntary Liquidation (MVL)

Members’ Voluntary Liquidation is an option when a company has naturally come to the end of its life, or when the owner or director of the business wishes to move on or retire, and there is no one else to continue running the business.

To start the MVL process, a Declaration of Solvency needs to be signed. This confirms that the company is financially solvent before it closes. When this has been done, the shareholders need to vote and pass the resolution, assuming at least 75% are in support of it.
At this point, a licensed insolvency practitioner (IP) needs to be appointed to manage the process. This could include the sale of company assets, paying creditors, and distributing any remaining funds amongst shareholders.

Company dissolution

Another option is to dissolve a company, but it must be a solvent company. It is a lower-cost option involving removing the company from the Companies House register. Before applying for company dissolution, several steps need to be taken.

The company needs to cease trading 3 months before it is removed from Companies House, close the payroll, repay all creditors and ensure all statutory liabilities have been met, such as National Insurance and tax.

The creditors also need to be informed that the company will be dissolving. This is an important step, as if not done correctly, a creditor could apply to have the company reinstated at a later date.

When these steps have been taken, a DS01 form needs to be sent to Companies House with an £8 fee. This can be done by post or online.

A notice should be placed in your local newspaper announcing that the company will be closing, with a formal confirmation of the closure three months after that.

Reasons to Hire a Financial Coach for Your Startup Business

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StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article | Reasons to Hire a Financial Coach for Your Startup Business

In today’s market and economy, starting a new business can be an exciting but risky thing to do, especially since many starting businesses are sprouting almost everywhere. Fortunately, there are financial coaches who can help you establish your business, not just in terms of finances, but also in fixing issues related to personal development and business growth.

Financial coaches also know your business’ field and its best interest, which are required for you to develop and grow your business. Hiring a financial coach can give you advantages over your competitors and will give you a great headstart in dominating the market.

What Is a Financial Coach?

To emphasize what a financial coach is and what they bring on the table, a financial coach is someone capable of helping you handle and learn necessary money management skills. Of course, that is only skimming the top as financial coaches have a lot of tricks up their sleeves that are important in growing a business.

Their specialty in money-making and managing skills is a great help if you are having difficulties managing your money or business in general. Whether you are making a mess out of financing in your startup business or are struggling with debt, a financial coach can help you alleviate your immediate or recurring problems. They can help you make decisions that will make your business go in the right direction.

Simply put, a financial coach’s primary goal is to empower your critical thinking and money management skills in both a personal or business setting. Here are some great benefits you will get when hiring a financial coach.

Learning How to Set Goals

Ask yourself: what do you want to achieve with your business the next year or more? If you don’t have a clear answer to that question, you will have a hard time formulating a plan and taking the right steps. For many small and startup business owners, it can be hard to develop realistic, practical, and measurable goals, especially in terms of financing. That is why it is beneficial to hire a financial coach business expert.

Financial coaches, especially those who have knowledge in business, can collaborate with you to set realistic goals that can be attained in practice. They stand by the acronym SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely. With these values in mind, formulating financial goals that can be attained through practical means will be easy.

Sustainable Support

Financial coaches do not only support you through your journey, but they also see you through the end of your goals.

There are two common scenarios once a new company experiences little significant success: they either stabilize without much growth or implode because of the demand and workload. Financial coaches make sure that your business can handle its finances while growing smoothly and steadily.

Financing Insight

Of course, financial coaches will not be called such if they don’t help you with your finances. As a business owner, you are responsible for a lot of things, including finances. That said, it will be a struggle for you to balance these things. With a financial coach, you will worry less about your finances.

One of the things financial coaches are good at is creating a significant financial picture. In simpler terms, this is a visualization of your business money flow, gains, losses, and potential currently and in the future. This will teach you to monitor your gains, allocate your profits to the right place, and monitor the flow of cash while they advise you on what things you should do and prioritize.

Understanding in Market Trends

Since financial advisors are experts when it comes to financial matters, expect that they have excellent and a deep understanding of market trends. Having a financial advisor on your side means that he/she will help you to get the right information as to how to run your business according to what’s in demand or the current trend in the market.

Also, given a financial advisor’s knowledge and skills, he/she can comprehensively answer all of your financial questions. This will help you understand how to conquer the market by taking advantage of the current trends.

Takeaway

Whether you are looking for financial help or only looking to learn new insights and money management skills, or even looking for support and guidance, a financial coach can help you with that, along with critical thinking, prioritization, and decision making. Not only that, but the lessons you’ll learn with your financial coach can be helpful to your company in the future. As a business owner, your focus should be on improving your business and yourself as a whole.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Lauren CordellLauren Cordell is a writer with a passion for business and finance. She likes to write just about anything related to growing business and making money. When not busy working, Lauren spends her time reading her favorite novels.

Figuring Out the Best Way to Get Your Business Insured

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StrategyDriven Risk Management Article | Figuring Out the Best Way to Get Your Business Insured

40 percent of businesses don’t reopen after a disaster. That’s the bad news.

The worst news? We’re in the middle of a disaster. The COVID-19 pandemic is taking the economy to the cleaners and leaving many small businesses on their death bed.

The good news? As a business owner, there are steps you can take to protect your business from foreseen and unforeseen disasters. One such step is to purchase adequate commercial insurance.

This sounds easy and straightforward, but it’s not. You must find out the best way to get your business insured; otherwise, you could end up underinsuring or even over-insuring your company.

Continue reading to learn how to go about insuring your business.

Identify and Assess Your Risks

Every business faces a wide range of risks.

Some risks affect all kinds of businesses regardless of their industry or niche, and others only affect certain types of businesses. For example, owners of medical practices face malpractice risk. Restaurants don’t face this kind of risk.

However, both businesses do face a fire risk. An electric fault can result in a fire that razes down the buildings that house both businesses.

As such, the first step to insuring your business adequately is to identify all the risks it faces. You can do this on your own or you can hire a risk assessment professional to help you.

If you’re hiring a professional, ensure they’ve got enough industry-specific experience. If you own a logging business, for example, an industry risk specialist is in a better position to identify logging insurance risks than a risk pro who specializes in the retail industry.

After identifying all your risks, assess their threat-level. Which risks pose a more imminent threat? Which ones are less likely to affect your business?

Next, what amount of damage is every risk likely to cause?

With a proper risk assessment, you’ll know the amount of coverage you need to protect your business.

Determine the Kind of Insurance Policies You Need

Wouldn’t it be awesome if insurance policies offered a blanket policy that covers all the risks your business faces?

Well, some large insurance companies offer customized policies, but it would rarely be a blanket policy. Also, there’s the general liability insurance policy that covers most of the risks your business faces, but it’s barely adequate on its own.

Yet, a common mistake small business owners make is purchasing general liability insurance and stopping there. Don’t make this mistake.

There are several other types of business insurance policies you should buy, depending on the nature of your business. Here are some of those policies:

Property Insurance

If you run a brick and mortar store and you own the building, purchase property insurance.

Your building faces a number of risks that can result in extensive damage. Fires and natural disasters, such as floods and windstorms, can destroy the building, forcing you to abandon it until repairs are made.

A property insurance cover will compensate you for the damage and other losses.

If you run a home-based business, you might want to add on to your homeowners’ insurance policy, so that it covers your commercial activities as well.

Business Interruption Insurance

You don’t need to look beyond the coronavirus to see how a disaster can disrupt your business operations.

During such times, business interruption insurance is your ally. Depending on the terms of coverage, the insurer should compensate you for the losses you make during the interruption period.

Workers’ Compensation Insurance

Do you have more than 3 employees?

In most states, that’s the requirement for purchasing workers’ compensation insurance. When an employee gets injured on the job, you won’t worry about compensating them for their medical expenses and other losses. Your workers’ comp provider will do that.

Cybersecurity Insurance

If your business has digitized some or all of its operations, it’s imperative to buy cybersecurity insurance.

43 percent of online attacks now target small businesses like yours, which means your risk level is high. A cybersecurity insurance policy will protect your business from the effects of an attack, including business interruption and data loss.

Other types of insurance you might need include product liability insurance and commercial vehicle insurance.

Find the Best Insurance Provider

You’ve probably heard horror stories of insurance companies that refuse to settle claims. If you don’t do your homework when looking for an insurance provider, you might end up telling such stories.

You want to work with a legitimate, reputable insurance company.

Read up online reviews about a specific insurance carrier before giving them your money. What are past and current clients saying about their service quality? Do they take forever to settle valid claims?

Also, you want to work with an insurance company that provides most, if not all, of the insurance policies your business needs. This way, you’ll be in a better position to negotiate for discounts when renewing your policies.

Consider Self-Insurance

Large corporations don’t typically purchase insurance from other companies. They self-insure, simply because they can afford to cover their risks from their deep wallets.

Self-insurance isn’t just for big companies, though. Even small businesses can develop a self-insurance plan, as long as you know how to go about it.

One effective way is to set up a captive insurance company. This is just like any other insurance firm, only that it is wholly owned by your parent business. You have complete control over its operations.

Get Your Business Insured the Right Way

Getting your business insured adequately can be a costly task, especially if you’re a small business running on a tight budget. However, it’s the right thing to do. Even a minor disaster can bring your business to its knees when you don’t have insurance.

With this guide, you now have the information you need to insure your business the right way.

Keep reading our blog for more business tips and advice.