How 21st-Century Solutions Could Save Your Business

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Owning a business nowadays can be a struggle. It can cause stress, worry and be a financial burden. Today we are going to be looking at how you can alleviate some of those daily stresses just by updating some of the ways you do things.

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | How 21st-Century Solutions Could Save Your Business

Outsource

Trying to do everything yourself is something every entrepreneur is guilty of. The result is always the same, exhaustion and burn out which results in a very moody boss.

The solution to this has been made ever more available, especially over the last 10 years. Outsourcing no longer has to be an outside consultant, prancing his way around your offices telling you what you should do.

It is now a fantastic option when it comes to adapting to survive. The key to succeeding in business is simple, it’s all about cash flow. So you can save some money, that’s perfect, right?

You can have your leading expenses outsourced and have all of your IT solutions dealt with from an outside company. You can even have a company operate a customer service solution for you. These companies are great and over the space of twelve months, they can save you an average of around 60% on what you would generally be spending on a salary.

Cloud

The cloud has become one of the most valuable tools we can use as business people. It can offer so many solutions.

Most people still think of the cloud as just a space for storage. In reality, it is so much more. Nowadays we can have cloud-based bespoke customer management systems that we can access on an international level. We have access to cloud-based accounting systems that allow us to manage international finances all in one place. We even have companies like SimplyClouds that will allow us all in one license service on our software.

Turning to the cloud can not just help you as a business, as far as 21st-century solutions go, you should be utilizing it at every turn. It will allow you to operate from anywhere in the world, at any time.

Should you be looking to expand, all of your data is in one place and easy to duplicate to a second or even third location.

Social Media

Gone are the days of expensive, bank-breaking advertizing campaigns. You now have the power of social media at your fingertips.

Social media is so much more important than you think. If we go back 20 years, it would cost huge rates just to reach a few thousand people. Now, with a little bit of knowledge and the right campaign, we can hit millions overnight.

Companies have built their reputation built on nothing more than Facebook videos, vines, and Youtube videos. The perfect thing about these videos, they not only cost nothing, given the right amount of hits, but the videos also start to bring in revenue for you.

Although it is a tough market to hit, you should consider approaching a social media mogul who can push your campaign. One thing you should not do is ignore the power of social media, it could be your winning move.

How To Run A More Successful Business

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | How To Run A More Successful BusinessIt’s important that you’re always trying to improve if you want to run a more successful business. You may be getting by as it stands today but this type of approach isn’t what’s going to help you grow and reach your full potential in the long run.

It’s important to take matters into your own hands and figure out ways for how you can set and achieve your goals in a timely manner. You’ll find your job that much more rewarding when you’re able to overcome obstacles you’re facing and reach new heights. Avoid wondering what could be, and instead focus on putting the following ideas into action so you can experience future success at your business.

Deliver on Your Promise

One way to deliver on your promise is to have a strategy in place that you can execute on time and time again. Always provide great service and never let your reputation or quality of work and products come into question. For example, check out how one company came up with a winning formula for solving problems related to designing Silicone wound care products for their customers. The more consistently you deliver on your promise the more business you’re going to be able to retain and win over.

Hire Leaders

Your company will experience greater success when you have leaders in place who are supporting you with your endeavors. As you expand your company over the years, you’re not going to be able to execute on all you want to do by yourself. You’ll need individuals in influential roles who can help you move the needle in a forward and positive direction and ensure that your company becomes a leader in your industry.

Organize Your Finances

Run a more successful business by understanding your financial situation and what money you have going out and coming in each month. Know where the majority of your profits are stemming from and take time to recognize and cut unnecessary spending. You’ll find that your company performs a lot better when you’re making wise financial decisions and avoiding making assumptions when it comes to your books and record keeping.

Take Calculated Risks

Another way to run a more successful business includes being willing to take calculated risks when the situation calls for it. Sitting back waiting for opportunities to come to you will likely leave you feeling defeated and frustrated at the end of the day. So, it’s important to step up and take initiative, and to figure out ways for how you can outsmart your competitors and innovate your products or services to show you’re committed to evolving over time and not settling for a mediocre business.

Conclusion

Your business will become more successful when you’re willing to fix problem areas and focus on the right types of projects. Use these tips as a starting point for coming up with a winning formula that will make a real difference in your performance and customer satisfaction scores. Be sure to track your progress so you can see exactly which modifications are bringing you the greatest rewards.

Keep These 7 Office Moving and Building Tips in Mind for Your Business

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Keep These 7 Office Moving and Building Tips in Mind for Your BusinessHave you made the decision to build a new office for your business?

Want to make sure you have an easy time moving? Then choosing a business moving company is the perfect solution for you.

An office move can be a difficult thing if you don’t know how to do it right, but it can be especially difficult if you’re building a brand new office yourself. It’s important that you give both your new building design as well as the moving process a lot of thought to ensure you and your employees have a smooth transition.

Luckily, we’re here to help. Below are the 7 top office moving and building tips that you should keep in mind when moving your business.

1. Take Time For Planning the Move

Before moving to a new building or office, it’s important that you do as much planning as possible beforehand. You need to make sure that you’re not only planning the new office design but that you’re also thinking thoroughly about the moving process.

It’s a good idea to use a checklist and to make a list of everything you need to move to the new location whether that includes office furniture, equipment, files, or inventory. You should also create a thorough timeline that will help guide you as the moving day approaches.

2. Hire Professional Movers

While you may think you’ll be able to handle an office move on your own, it’s usually best to get professional help instead. Be sure to look at reviews online and do your research to find great movers for the job.

Hiring professional movers is often well worth the money you’ll spend and can help move into your new space much more efficiently and effortlessly. Professionals will have the skills and expertise to make a move much less stressful for you.

This also ensures that you don’t miss a beat with your everyday activities.

3. Do Some Serious Labeling

While it may seem like a small thing, doing some serious labeling on your moving boxes is one thing that will make your move much easier to handle. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to find a specific item and having to dig through a lot of different boxes to find what you’re looking for.

Labeling your boxes will make it much easier for you to find what you’re looking for once you arrive at your new building. Doing so can help make setting up your new office a much simpler process.

Be sure you label things thoroughly when packing up your current office and your move will be easier than you may expect.

4. Get Rid of Unneeded Items

When you’re building a new office or you’re moving to different office space, it’s a great time to get rid of some of your old supplies and equipment. You should consider getting rid of anything you don’t need anymore.

Chances are that your office has some furniture around that has seen better days and could stand to be replaced or some equipment that you simply don’t use often enough. Instead of taking this stuff with you to your new space, it may be time to sell or donate them.

5. Secure Your Job Site

It’s important that you secure your equipment and materials before moving. Theft can be a serious problem for a job site and you’ll need to take measures to protect against it. Be sure that you take all of the necessary precautions when building a new office.

Particularly if you’re working with valuable materials such as copper, you need to have a plan for protecting it against thieves. Using portable storage containers can help prevent theft on job sites and will help ensure that the construction of your building goes on without a hitch.

6. Take Measurements

Whether you’re building a new building or you’re moving to a new rental space, take accurate measurements when relocating. You need to do the groundwork necessary to ensure you’ll have enough space for everything.

You’ll want to measure the furniture and equipment you’re taking with you and compare your current office space to your new one. By taking the necessary measurements of the space and planning out the layout thoroughly, you’ll avoid having space problems later on.

7. Optimize the Layout for Productivity

When moving into a new space, you should also make sure you think critically about its layout. Chances are you’ll want to alter it from what you currently have.

Most of all, you should be aiming to create a layout that helps foster productivity and efficiency and helps make daily tasks easier to accomplish.

Positioning equipment, supplies, and employees either closer together or further apart can have a big impact on your office. Be sure to think about the layout carefully to ensure you’re creating an office that meets your needs.

Making the Most of These Office Moving Tips

If you’re going through an office move or building a new office building then you need to do your due diligence and plan carefully. By using the office moving tips above, you’ll have the best chance of having a smooth transition to your new space.

Looking for more office and business tips? Explore our blog!

Streamline Your Business Technology In 4 Easy Steps

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Investing in the right technology is essential for any business, but it only benefits your company if you do it correctly. Overcomplicating their IT systems is one of the more common mistakes that businesses make and it leads to a lot of wasted money and confusing processes which harm productivity. But if you can streamline your business technology, you’ll find that it works far more effectively and you’ll save some money at the same time. Here’s how you can streamline your business technology in 4 easy steps.

StrategyDriven | Managing Your Business | Streamline Your Business Technology In 4 Easy Steps

Understand Your Current System

Before you can start making any changes, you need to understand your current system. You might be thinking that you already understand all of the technology that your business uses, but chances are, you don’t. You need to speak with your employees and understand how they are using technology day to day, and how it improves their ability to work productively. You also need to look through a breakdown of everything that you’re paying for and ask yourself what benefit each piece of software or hardware brings to the business. If you can’t work out how something benefits the business, why are you spending money on it? Once you have a good idea of where you stand, you can start finding ways to streamline things.

Identify Your Needs

Often, businesses overcomplicate their technology because they do not consider their needs when purchasing software. Instead, they are drawn in by marketing and they buy things on the promise that it will improve their business, even if they don’t really need it. It’s important that you use a needs based approach and think about the problems in your business that need to be solved, then invest in software to meet those needs. If you do it that way, you will be able to make technology investments that improve your business and stop wasting money on things that you don’t need.

Invest In Cloud Solutions

Keeping all of your systems updated is important, but when you overcomplicate things, it can be difficult to stay on top of it all. But if you invest in the right cloud computing services, you can have them manage all of your systems and keep them updated, rather than handling it in-house. That makes things a lot simpler for you, but you still get the benefit of using the latest technology.

Integrate Software

The best way to simplify your business technology is to integrate your software. When you are buying new software, you should always look for applications that work seamlessly with the software that you already have in place. Trying to use multiple programs that don’t work well together will really slow things down for your employees. But if you can integrate everything properly, it will all work perfectly and you should see an increase in productivity. Trying to manage integration can be tough, especially if you don’t really know what you’re doing, so it is best to call in an IT consulting company to implement everything for you.

Follow these steps and you can successfully streamline your business technology and save yourself a lot of time and money.

A Guide: How to Stop Wasting Money in Business

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | A Guide: How to Stop Wasting Money in BusinessTurning over a profit isn’t the only important task that you face as a business owner. You also need to consolidate this money that you make, which is why you need to avoiding wasting it at all costs.

It’s going to mean making use of all resources afforded to you, it’s going to mean making smarter investment choices, and it’s going to mean honing in on your mistakes — it’ll all be worth it in the end, though, when you’ve got a heap of cash to invest into the growth of your business.

To unearth all the things you can do to stop wasting so much money in business, be sure to read on.

Minimize your tax bill

Nobody likes the tax man, but unfortunately, he’s never going to go away. There are, however, ways to minimize the bill slapped on your desk every year.

To minimize your tax bill, you should:

  • Keep a track of your business expenses (receipts, invoices, vehicle mileage, etc.) and then seek to claim for them
  • Tap into the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA)
  • Research and make use of tax reliefs (such as the creative industry relief)
  • Pay your tax bill as early as you can

Invest in good website design

Marketing, especially digital marketing, is essential in the world of business. By not running advertising campaigns, quite simply, you won’t spread your company’s message or attract new customers.

As important as marketing campaigns are, however, they need not cost you an awful lot. More to the point, they need not cost you as much as you are no doubt currently shelling out on them. When you choose to invest your money on good website design instead of advertising, you’ll be sure to find yourself saving thousands in the long run. This is because you’ll have a platform that can act as a constant source of important information; your website can spread your message at all times, meaning you won’t have to constantly spend your money on spreading it yourself.

To ensure that your website does everything a marketing campaign can do and more, you have to align yourself with a web design company like Plego Technologies. They will make sure that your website works well in both a practical and aesthetic sense.

Turn off and unplug your devices

Even when they’re not being used, if they’re still plugged in and turned on, the various devices that you use in your office could be costing you an arm and a leg. They will be using up what is known as ‘vampire energy,’ which means they will be draining your electricity bill for no reason whatsoever.

Before you leave your office of an evening, you and your employees have to go around and make sure everything is turned off and unplugged. Other important forms of action you should be taking in this instance include:

  • Tweaking your power settings so as to ensure your devices shut themselves down or go into hibernation mode whenever they’re not being used
  • Resolving to never leave your desktop computers and laptops on their screen savers — believe it or not, doing this is worse than leaving your monitors and screens to go black
  • Never forgetting the peripherals (your printer and speakers, for instance), as they can suck up a lot of ‘vampire energy’ too

Take the above advice, stop wasting so much money, and put the cash you save to good use!