How to ensure your international expansion is as smooth as possible

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |International Expansion|How to ensure your international expansion is as smooth as possibleBusiness expansion is rarely easy but expanding internationally is something else entirely. Once you’ve reached a certain peak, however, there can be few places to go but up, out and across the sea. If you think your business has reached that domestic plateau and is ready to go international, there are a number of challenges you’ll first need to overcome.

Underestimating the cost

You’re going to want to assess your capital and ensure that everything is in its right place so it is as smooth a process as possible, but you also want to make sure it’s a process you can actually afford. In this case, external help from a corporate finance team who sort international expansion preparation on a frequent basis could be the best opportunity to reduce the chance of anything out of the ordinary occurring.

Language and cultural barriers

While expanding between countries like the US, the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia should be more straightforward, if you want to expand outside the English speaking world then you’re going to need somebody on your team that is at least bi-lingual. Because Google Translate can only get you so far. And that’s before you even get started on the cultural considerations. You need to examine and understand the culture of the country you are wanting to expand into and ensure that your business appreciates by the common cultural barriers that could implement and restrict your business.

Research the local competition

Just because you’re at the top of the food chain in your home country, that doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t have strong competition from more established local players when expanding. Don’t just assume you’re going to touch down on foreign soil and have the same kind of power and influence you do at home. Be cautious, build working relationships with local businesses beforehand and arm yourself with as much local knowledge as possible.

Tax and compliance

Particularly in a post-Brexit world, tax, feed and tariffs can be a massive barrier for younger domestic businesses to overcome when trading overseas. For this, what you really need is somebody on your team who understands the specifics and complexities of local legal requirements in all of the countries you plan to deal in. It might just be a case of ticking the right box but the penalty for ticking the wrong box can be a pretty severe fine.

Hiring locally

Finally, while you might be tempted to “put your best people on it” and send them across to run your new global venture for you, it’s likely they will not be taken seriously by the locals. You’ll need a decent foundational team of locals from the get-go who understand how it works in their country. At least while you’re still learning the ropes. And international business expansion is always going to be a learning experience above all else.

5 Brilliant Ways to Streamline Your Business Processes

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Streamline Your Business|5 Brilliant Ways to Streamline Your Business ProcessesStreamlining a business process means simplifying it. Usually, you can achieve this goal if you remove unnecessary or complicated steps. The introduction of modern IT platforms has made it easy for businesses to thrive.

With streamlined processes and workflows, your business enjoys numerous benefits. Some of these advantages include increased cost efficiency, improved productivity, better communication, low risk, and effective time management.

Here is how you can streamline your business processes for guaranteed growth.

Assess and Rank Existing Process

The first step towards achieving streamlined business processes is assessing the current ones to determine which areas require significant changes. List the functions in your company using simple terms and identify the benefits and the staff involved at each level.

Ranking the processes gives you an overview of the significance of each level of the workflow. You might discover that you have so many interrelated but unnecessary processes. Such information should give you an idea of which tasks to streamline first depending on priority.

Reduce the Paperwork

The amount of paperwork in your organization can tell whether you have simplified business processes or not. Assessing the paper flow is a critical step towards streamlining your business operations. When paperwork piles up, you might experience unwarranted lead times in most of the units.

Reduce the paperwork by removing unnecessary processes. Ask about information added or removed from the paperwork at each stage to establish if it is necessary. Usually, whereas some information – whether taken or removed from the paperwork – is essential, your business can do with lesser copies and a shortened process.

Consider Automating Repetitive Tasks

Repetitive tasks are time-consuming. How do you tell that you have such jobs in your business? Watch out for tasks you perform regularly, and establish if you use several systems to accomplish a single task.

Your goal here is to establish the possibility of saving time by consolidating the repetitive tasks so that you can perform them with a few clicks. For instance, with the best accounting software , you save time when invoicing and sending payment reminders and recurring invoices. Automating repetitive tasks frees up your staff and makes them more productive.

Have an Effective Technology Plan

Technology matters a lot in business nowadays. Updating your available hardware could be all you need to boost the productivity of your employees. You can achieve this by implementing a long-term technology plan based on your business goals and objectives.

The plan should help you determine which aspects will need a few updates to achieve the set business objectives.

Empower the Employees

Setting up the necessary measures to streamline your business processes could be ineffective if you do not have the right team. So, before thinking about how to market yourself effectively or improve productivity on a given level, focus on growing an empowered team.

Usually, the staff you have in your business have complete knowledge of your organization’s processes, so empowering them could help achieve the set business goals.

Whereas it may be difficult to achieve perfection in workflows and processes, adjusting and refining a few aspects can help you position your business at a strong point of success. Therefore, start with a few elements and monitor their impact on your business’s overall performance.

Services Your Business Should Be Using

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Business Services|Services Your Business Should Be UsingRunning a business isn’t easy. Especially during times like these. Right now, companies are doing everything they can to stay afloat and keep their head above the water. Of course, when we first start out in business, we tend to run everything ourselves. We bear the bulk of the weight of business operations on our own shoulders and take care of operations independently. But as time goes on, chances are, you’ll find that you need a little help to keep expanding and advancing and to provide the best products, services and customer support as possible. Generally, this means taking on part time or full time employed staff. Of course, this isn’t where things end though. The vast majority of businesses need a little extra help from third party or outsourced services that can make all the difference to their operations. The perks of these services is that you don’t necessarily have to create an in-house team, which means more financial commitment and responsibility. Instead, you can often just use these independent parties as and when you need them. Here are just a few that you might want to take into consideration!

Consulting Services

No matter what industry you are operating in and no matter what products or services you’re selling, chances are, you can benefit from consulting services operating in your area of expertise. You can find business expansion consultants, financial consultants, a CARF Consultant, customer experience consultants, market research consultants and all other sorts of consultants. Make sure to use their services. They can give you the insight you need to make sure that your business is always running as it should be. This can also give you confidence in your actions too!

Property Maintenance

First, let’s focus on maintaining your commercial premises. Whether you run a traditional brick and mortar store or an office space, you’re going to have to invest in maintaining this space on a regular basis. Why? Well, if you rent the space, you don’t want it to become run down, as you can lose your deposit when you eventually decide to move out of it. If you own the space, you want to maintain its value. On top of this, you need to make sure that the space is clean, safe and pleasant fro your staff to spend time in. This can improve happiness levels, ensure that you are running everything in a compliant manner and maximise productivity. This is where a property management company can come in pretty handy. These individuals tend to cover every area of your business’ operations, ensuring everything runs as smoothly as possible.

Property maintenance companies can often provide cleaners to ensure that your business is clean. They can provide removal services if any animals die on the property’s land. They can grit your carparks in the winter. They can provide electrical maintenance, plumbing maintenance and other professionals who can generally ensure that everything is running as it should be. Make sure to browse a variety of options in your local area and to select the one with the most positive reviews and recommendations.

PAC Testing

Another extremely important service you need to be using is PAC testing services. Nowadays, it’s highly likely that a significant proportion of your staff are using technology and gadgets to get on with their work. The most popular tend to include computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones. When these are used as part of their day to day work, it becomes of the utmost importance that you have all of this equipment and these electrics tested regularly. This will make sure that they aren’t a risk to your staff and that nobody becomes hurt as a result of their use. The best way to do this is generally through a PAC test, which will ensure that everything is safe and ready to use. These tests should be carried out regularly by qualified testers.

IT Services

IT support is one of the most important services your business needs to make use of nowadays. Why? Well, as we briefly highlighted above, the vast majority of businesses nowadays are online. They have websites online. They take sales online. They process orders online. They communicate with customers online. Plus, business operations such as emailing, video calls and other internal communications take place online too. The problem? Cybercriminals are aware of this and are seeing many small businesses as easy targets for infiltration. Sure, major companies may have more money or data to lose. But they also have some of the best cybersecurity in the world. Smaller businesses or often not so well set up to defend themselves against attack, so cybercriminals tend to have more success with them. You need to make sure that you avoid data breaches to maintain your reputation and to comply with data compliance laws. You also need to avoid infiltration wherever possible to maintain operations and maximise productivity. This is where IT services come in. The vaedt majority of businesses use IT services to help maintain their tech and keep everything up and running in the safest and most effective way possible. Having an IT company at hand can also ensure that if your team ever have any problems with their software or hardware, they can simply get in touch with the IT services you’ve signed up for and get all the advice they need to resolve their problems and to get back to work. when they experience any issues and the IT company can quickly resolve them, getting employees back to work and productive as quickly as possible. IT services can also provide protection against hackers, helping your business to avoid security breaches.

These are just a few suggestions that can make all the difference when it comes to running your business. Each of the above services can really help your business to tick over smoothly safely and in a compliant and profitable way. Invest in them to benefit from them sooner rather than later!

Why is it Important to Have the Right Tools as a Business? 

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Why is it Important to Have the Right Tools as a Business? How long has your business been established for? Have you been operating for a few years or are you one of the almost six million SMEs that have recently set up on their own?

Whether you’re new to being in charge or you’ve been at it for a while, it’s important that you have the right tools in place in order to do the job effectively. This applies to all industries and roles, from office jobs to manual positions on construction sites.

But what makes having the right tools so important? Here’s a look at some of the main reasons to make sure you and your team are fully equipped.

Safety is vital

No matter what sector you work in, the health and safety of you and your employees is a key consideration. While meeting requirements, such as having a fire marshal and getting your team to carry out safety training, is likely to be top of the list, it’s important that you make sure that you’re providing the right tools too.

By working out what tools are needed early on, you can protect staff from workplace hazards and potential injuries that can happen when the wrong instrument is used for the task. For instance, if you’re managing a building site, you’ll need to make sure that fully functioning drills and drill bits are to hand. Old drills that have seen better days will need to be replaced in order to keep workers safe and complete the job.

Cost-effective planning

Planning out the tools you and your team need can seem like a significant expense at first, especially if you’re just starting out. However, by investing in good-quality machinery and tools early on, you are more likely to save money as you won’t need to replace faulty hand tools or second-hand computers shortly after paying for them.

So, if you need to buy a cement mixer for your building work or you’ve hired a graphic designer and need the very latest software and hardware, investing in new machines and computers now will mean you won’t need to think about updating them for a while. It’s worth keeping track of the tools and machinery you invest in so that you know when they might need a service, check, or to be replaced completely.

Boost productivity

Workers can’t do their job well if they don’t have the right tools. If they do have everything to hand, they can work efficiently and be more productive. Providing full socket sets for the mechanics on your team, for example, means that they are more likely to be able to easily replace tyres, getting through more jobs than if they had limited resources.

Maintain your reputation

The wrong tools or missing parts can also be time consuming and, in the worst cases, detrimental. For instance, if you run a handyman company and you and your team are working on a big project, the customer isn’t likely to be happy if their bannister can’t be completed due to a lack of good-quality handheld tools. This can impact on your business and your reputation.

Whether you’re just starting up or you’ve been established for a long time, take the time to assess what tools are required. Do any need replacing? What machinery would benefit the business? This will be time well spent.

Choosing the Best Managed IT Services for Your Business

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Choosing the Best Managed IT Services for Your BusinessNavigating information technology has become an inescapable part of every modern business, whether it is the size of an industry titan in Silicon Valley, an unassuming mom and pop shop, or anything in between. Some type of IT support is necessary, and if your business doesn’t have the luxury of on-site, tech-savvy support, you may have to outsource for managed IT services.

With a dense saturation of providers to choose from, here are the most important things to consider when seeking managed IT support for your business.

Do They Provide Sufficient Security?

Technologically oriented crime has increased at a staggering rate. Reports of industry giants suffering breaches show up frequently. To keep from being

impacted, you need to consider the standard of security your type of business requires both for your company’s safety and for your clients, vendors, and anyone else whose data you collect.

Can the provider be trusted with your company’s sensitive financial and personal information? Will they effectively encrypt your company’s network to ensure effective activity privacy and monitoring? Do they have a history of failing their customers in terms of data leaks, or are they vigilant in maintaining your protection?

Once you have found a provider that sufficiently meets these criteria, you’re one step closer to having quality managed IT support.

Are They Timely?

Tech emergencies can happen in an instant, and they can create havoc on your production and your systems quickly. In those moments, your company needs an IT service that can resolve the issue in a prompt and efficient manner.

When evaluating companies, ask yourself: Are they available at all hours of the day, every day of the year? If your services may be rendered at any given moment, so too should theirs. No company is immune from technological issues, hiccups, or potential digital attacks. Relying on the expertise of IT technicians whose services are available to you the moment you report an issue is of the utmost importance.

Although there is never a good time for a system glitch, technology often fails the people who use it at the most inopportune moments. Having an IT support team on standby who can resolve issues efficiently is key to maintaining a smooth business practice.

Are They Competent?

Pick the very best of the best that you can afford as a business proprietor. The experts on whom you depend should be exactly that: experts.

The distinction between an amateur who treats your network like a test lab and a storied professional with a distinguished background in providing service to multiple clients seems obvious. However, if you are in the market for an IT provider, take the extra time to weed out the average from the elite. Your business may have oddly specific needs or a wide range of general needs, and it is essential that whomever you outsource your technological dilemmas to is thoroughly equipped and licensed to address these problems.

Do They Meet Your Standards?

You wouldn’t risk providing subpar or thoughtless work to the clients who have employed your services. Therefore, you shouldn’t settle for anything provided by a managed IT support team that wouldn’t meet your highest expectations. Your company deserves tech support that upholds the same standards that you do.

Once you have answered these questions, evaluated the options, and taken the time to vet a reliable provider, your business can grow without your time and attention being divided. You have a secure, efficient, and competent network of experts, and you may now tend to the vital needs of your business without fear of a crash or breach.