Quick Eco-Friendly Alterations You Can Make To Your Business

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Eco-Friendly|Quick Eco-Friendly Alterations You Can Make To Your BusinessWith finite resources, a polluted sea, and the greenhouse effect looming over, the world needs saving – and fast!

Thankfully some people are starting to adapt and make changes in their lives to support the planet. Moreover, multiple governments worldwide are setting new goals to reach to reduce carbon emissions. With that, businesses are taking a stance to reduce their carbon footprint too. However, while every effort helps, there’s always room for improvement.

If you’re looking for new tips to add to your existing eco-friendly business processes, this post can help give you a few ideas.

Recycle Cooking Oil

Would you believe businesses out there are prepared to purchase and recycle your leftover oil to save it from going to waste?

From vegetable oil to soya bean oil, used cooking oils recycling by GF commodities provides various oils a new life lease. If you’re in the food industry, this is a great way to manage waste and support the environment.

Switch It off

The amount of devices, PCs, lights, and so forth we’re guilty of intentionally and unintentionally leaving on in the workplace is phenomenal.

Wasted energy is bad for the environment, not to mention costly for the business. And so, from now on, if you or any of your employees aren’t using an electronic device at work, or light, for instance, encourage each other to switch it off.

Switching equipment off at work is particularly crucial at the end of the day when workers are likely to keep their PCs on standby or forget to turn off machinery in the factory.

While some laptops, PCs, printers, and other workplace machinery may take a while to power up the following morning, it’s much better than leaving a range of computers on all night to drain power.

Switch To Recycled Paper

If there’s anything mostly all companies are guilty of using too much of, it’s paper! Numerous trees are chopped down for businesses to scribble down food orders, draft architectural designs, and write out to-do lists for the day.

While paper may be necessary, newly processed paper isn’t especially when you can get recycled paper instead! By using recycled paper, your business can help to reduce the number of trees that need to be cut down for paper.

Renewable Energy Sources

Another way to protect the environment is to switch energy providers. Multiple energy providers today are using renewable energy to cater to an environmentally conscious world.

It may be something you haven’t yet thought about, but it’s quick and easy to do. You just need to find a suitable provider and ask to switch!

Your new supplier usually contacts your old supplier for you, so you won’t have to do much else.

The best way to begin making sustainable business changes is to start small and slowly integrate new eco-friendly practices as you go along. In doing so, the pressure to make your company completely green is less disruptive and overwhelming, and much more easy to do.

How Does A Toll-Free Number Work And Why Is It Helpful In Businesses

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | How Does A Toll-Free Number Work And Why Is It Helpful In BusinessesThe first thing that most people think about when they hear the phrase “toll-free number” is the fact that there is no cost associated with having one. There are many reasons why a toll-free number works well and is considered by many as a “must-have” tool. For starters, toll-free services streamline business communications, allowing companies to provide their customers with a way to reach out to them for any reason, and regardless of what type of business relationship is taking place.

In addition, since this is the case, it means that customers don’t have to worry about paying a monthly fee or a yearly service charge just to use this service.

A reliable 800 service provides tons of business and consumer benefits, and here are some of them:

1. Cost-Effective Solution

Most people think about the ease of obtaining a toll-free phone line so many companies use this option as an inexpensive and convenient way to provide their customers with a means of communication. A toll-free number opens up avenues for businesses to reach out and obtain valuable feedback from customers without having to spend so much.

2. Easy To Set Up and Communicate

Aside from being cost-effective, a toll-free number is also easy to set up. That is why your business will benefit financially, as well as your customers. If customers can easily reach you through your toll-free number, they will likely remain loyal to your company because of the ease of communication.

Setting up a toll-free number can be done by a company on their website or by a customer directly through their telephone company. If a toll-free number is being offered, the customer simply needs to contact their provider and ask if they can add the number to their system. When the customer tells their provider that they want a toll-free number, they then take the customer’s information and apply it to the toll-free number.

3. Accessibility

It is possible to call a toll-free number anytime of the day or night. With this option, your customer service representatives can answer customer calls whenever they come, thus providing them with better customer service compared to simply calling them with standard office numbers that incur extra charges.

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | How Does A Toll-Free Number Work And Why Is It Helpful In Businesses4. Track Callers Registered On The System

Since a toll-free number is very easy to set up and maintain, it’s also easy for a company to keep track of who is calling a toll-free number. This is vital to a company’s ability to perform all of their business practices in the best manner possible.

5. Used To Advertise

A toll-free number can be used for advertising for your company. For instance, special toll-free numbers can be customized to mark your brand in customers’ minds, such as 1-800-HELP for a rehabilitation facility. This allows people to call in and get the information that they need about your company, including a toll-free number and other important details.

6. Increase Business Revenue

As you can see, there are many advantages that can be had from the use of a toll-free number. By offering a good option to consumers, many find that they are able to save a great deal of money, as well as increase their businesses’ revenue, which helps them stay competitive and remain successful.

Increase your business revenue by building customer trust and rapport through your open communication via your toll-free number. The higher the trust rate and credibility you have, the more likely customers will stick with your brand. Because customers get to reach you for free, they can call you anytime if they have concerns. They know that your line is always open to discuss problems with purchases or using the product, giving them excellent customer service.

Here’s how offering a toll-free number can increase your business revenue:

  • Customers can follow up orders without paying extra, which increases your customer service score.
  • Follow-up customers’ orders and complaints without having to explain yourself whenever you call because you’re already using a known number represented by your company.

Conclusion

Having a toll-free number is a good idea when you want to streamline business communications, as well as provide customers with an avenue to express their concerns or ask questions about your products and services, while saving you money at the same time. It’s easy to setup and can improve your image as a company with the known toll-free number you have.

By offering a toll-free number, they don’t have to worry paying extra every time they need to call you, thus improving your customer service. Because customers are happy, they would want to use your products and services even more, and stay with you than going elsewhere.

The Advantages Of Outsourced IT Support For Small Businesses

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | The Advantages Of Outsourced IT Support For Small BusinessesToday’s digital landscape means businesses need a robust IT infrastructure to operate. From producing goods to storing customer details, almost every aspect of your business involves technology. With so much depending on your IT systems, it’s essential to have access to IT support services. For small businesses, there are plenty of advantages associated with outsourcing your IT needs, including:

1. Reduced Costs

Hiring your own IT staff is a costly endeavour. Accessing the range of expertise you’ll need often means hiring multiple people. However, you won’t need around-the-clock IT support, so hiring your own team simply isn’t necessary. When you outsource your IT support, you can access assistance quickly and easily, without paying full-time staff. With outsourced IT managed services, for example, you’ll can ensure your systems are secure, functional and up to date for a fraction of the cost of hiring your own team.

2. Wide Range of Knowledge

The IT industry is growing all the time and there are an endless number of specialities. You may need help from a software programmer to build a bespoke CRM, for example, and a cybersecurity expert to assist you in keeping your business secure. Similarly, you may require a network architect to create a new infrastructure for your company but a cloud engineer to migrate your systems.

Fortunately, outsourcing your requirements enables you to access the range of expertise you’ll need. At imprezait.co.uk, for example, more than 30 staff work tirelessly to support, protect and enable businesses. Their combined specialties ensure clients benefit from expertise across the whole IT sector. Whether you’re a B2C start-up, a growing B2B business or a medium-sized firm that’s ready to expand, you can access the custom services you need when you outsource your IT support requirements.

3. Results Driven

IT support companies are inherently results driven, which is good news for their clients. When your IT infrastructure is working optimally, you’ll require their assistance less. This means it’s in their interest to keep your systems fully functional and up to date when you’re receiving IT managed services.

Furthermore, IT companies are well aware that their reputation depends on their performance. When it comes to compliance and security, their business success is dependent on the quality of the service they provide to you. In short, you can be confident that outsourcing your IT support will ensure you get top quality service, providing you choose the right company.

Selecting the Right IT Support Provider

Before you can choose an IT support provider, it’s important to determine exactly what type of support you need. Often, this will depend on the systems you’re using and the nature of your business. However, you’ll want to consider your future growth plans too. If you want to grow your business, you’ll want to work with an IT firm that can provide scalable support solutions.

Don’t assume all IT support companies are the same. Talk to potential providers about your business goals and ask how they can help you to achieve them. By doing so, you’ll find an IT partner that is focused on enhancing your short and long-term success.

How to Minimize Business Disruption When Upgrading Tech

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | How to Minimize Business Disruption When Upgrading TechWith technology moving at such a rapid rate these days, you can’t afford to allow your hardware and software to become old and stale. However, when you do get round to upgrading your technology, it is all too easy for it to cause business disruptions. In turn, these can be problematic by costing you potential sales and even causing your clients to look elsewhere. So, you want to make a special effort to minimize disruption as much as possible, and here are some of the ways that you can do so.

Hire the Right Tech Team

While your business relies on technology to operate effectively, this doesn’t mean that you are an expert in the field. Therefore, you need to have the best team behind you, whether through in-house staff or an outsource agency like Iconic IT. Whoever you choose to put your trust in, they need to be reliable and competent. If you are hiring someone, you need to check their references closely. If you are relying on an outsourced agency, you should get a personal recommendation if possible or review their case studies closely.

Plan and Test

When you first decide to upgrade your tech systems, this is where you need to make a plan involving how long this is going to take and when you can do it to minimize business disruption. You need to work out whether you should inform your clients to let them know about the impending disruption. Within your timetable, you also need to set aside some hours for testing. After all, you don’t want to get the system up and running, only to find that it didn’t work as well as you expected. This is the time that you can use to iron out any issues and sort them out before the big launch.

Keep Security in Mind

Online security has never been more important, and you don’t want to risk your systems going down as a result of not taking the proper precautions. While your old systems may have been protected, you need the same to be said of your newer technology too. To grant you extra peace of mind, it may be worth hiring someone to test your systems out. Some businesses even find it useful to hire ‘friendly hackers’ who attempt to hack into their systems to make sure everything is watertight.

Prepare for Future Upgrades

While it may present a challenge, you should do your best to invest in technology that it is as ‘futureproof’ as possible. While your new bit of kit may be useful now, is this still going to be the case in the next six months. If you are not sure, look at the direction of the company and how well they have done in keeping their products fresh and innovative. You do not want to waste a lot of cash upgrading to a technology that is going to become obsolete in the very near future!

Business Owners: Are You Guilty Of Negligence?…

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If you’ve recently started a business, I’m sure you’re quickly discovering just how much goes into making it a success. Your big idea is just the start of it. From there, you need to think about your HR, marketing, IT infrastructure and a whole host of other factors. With so much going on, it’s essential to make sure you don’t neglect anything important. Here are some things that you simply can’t afford to neglect…

Office Data Backup

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Entrepreneurship | Business Owners: Are You Guilty Of Negligence?...
Photo courtesy of Torkild Retvedt via flickr

Office data backup is something that you’ll hopefully never have to use, but you’ll be glad you have it if and when the need arises. Backing up your office data is a great insurance policy against the unexpected. Files can be wiped from your servers, sabotaged by a disgruntled employee, or some kind of freak disaster could damage the servers beyond repair. By regularly backing up all your company’s important data, you’ll be able to get the company up and running again soon afterwards. Despite the massive importance of backing up, a lot of small businesses manage to overlook it completely. If you haven’t already, take a look at your options and set up a dependable system for backing up your files.

The Employee Handbook

Neglecting this part of your business is usually a side-effect of rapid growth. In the early days of your business, when there’s only you and a few employees, any kind of solid HR policies aren’t really that necessary. However, when your business starts to grow and develop as an organization, you’ll need to take on a lot more staff. This means you’re going to need some solid rules in place. A good employee handbook will introduce new recruits to the company’s core values, mission and culture, will tell them what’s expected of them, but most importantly, it will tell them what’s permissible and what’s not. By taking the time to draft an employee handbook, you’ll protect yourself from all kinds of costly litigation and disputes. Whether you do it all on your own steam or reach out to an employment law firm like Ellis Whittam, an employee handbook is an absolute must. Just a few printed words can make all the difference to your company’s future!

A Good CRM

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Entrepreneurship | Business Owners: Are You Guilty Of Negligence?...

CRMs, short for customer relationship management platforms, are great tools for managing your company’s interactions with both current and prospective customers. With one of these in place, your company will enjoy better workflow, will be able to automate various tasks, increase the number of sales leads you’re getting and generally increase productivity. Although these auxiliary programs were once considered a luxury, an increasing number of firms are using them, and they’re quickly becoming something of an essential resource for any modern business. Despite what you may have been led to believe, CRMs aren’t exclusive to big businesses anymore, and the packages on the market are getting more and more cost-effective all the time.

As you move forward with your business, make sure you’re not neglecting any of these and holding your firm back from what it can achieve!