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The Most Efficient Ways That You Can Prepare Your Business for the Worst-Case Scenarios

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StrategyDriven Risk Management Article |Worst-Case Scenario|The Most Efficient Ways That You Can Prepare Your Business for the Worst-Case ScenariosThere are a lot of different methods that can ensure a business remains successful. This can be because of the fact you have done a sufficient amount of market research, and as a result, know the ins and outs of your industry; it can be because you market yourself well and also because of the fact you carry your work out to a high standard. One of the other most important things that a business needs to be in order to succeed is be prepared for worst-case scenarios.

Though this isn’t a pleasant thought, there is no getting around the fact that being ready for the worst possible case scenarios is incredibly important. If you intend on succeeding in the long term, then your business is going to need to prepare for some of the worst possible case scenarios and be able to handle these bad times as and when they come around. You’re going to need to sit down with each of your organisation’s departments and help them to be able to plan for any issues that might arise. This article will provide you with all of the details necessary in order to prepare for the worst-case scenarios that might befall your business.

Be Sure to Put in Place a Disaster Recovery Plan

If you are taking the time to plan for some of the worst-case scenarios that could befall your business, then it is important that you have some kind of disaster recovery plan in place. This is a plan that would essentially lay out all of the steps that would be necessary for your company to carry out if one of these worst-case scenarios were to occur. These scenarios will include but aren’t limited to events such as fires, floods and burglaries; however, there are a huge number of eventualities that could prove to be an issue.

In order to be effective, one of these plans should include a huge array of guidelines that your company should be able to follow when it comes to the likes of document protection, data retrieval and the eventual replacement of damaged items. This is an incredibly helpful step you need to follow as not only will it mean you are aware of worst-case scenarios, but you are in a position to see them through when they occur.

Make Sure Your Company Is Insured

Insurance is an incredibly useful and necessary tool when it comes to preparing for the worst-case scenarios as that way, if something is to happen, then you will be in a position to properly cover everything. You will need to be sure you are reading your insurance terms because these are massively important when it comes to making sure they will cover you for the worst-case scenarios that you have been thinking of. You should take out your insurance with the likes of Cowell James Forge Insurance Group, which is able to provide you with general liability insurance for small businesses. Finally, you should do some planning regarding the insurance needs that your business is going to have before speaking to an agent, as this way, you will be able to understand exactly what you are looking for when purchasing.

Turn to a Business Consultant for Different Planning Assistance

It’s important that you are not worried about consulting with someone else regarding the necessary steps your business should take. In the same way that you would look towards an account for assistance with bookkeeping, a lawyer for issues surrounding the law and a copywriter when you need help bringing your brand to life, speaking with a business consultant is one of the most efficient ways that you can ensure your business is in the strongest position possible when it comes to preparing for the worst-case scenarios. A business consultant can be a fantastic resource for your business, especially because of the fact that the planning they will do for your business will not simply occur over the course of a weekend but will keep getting revised and revisited depending on how your business continues to evolve.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that a lot of different elements come into play when it comes to getting your business up and running and ensuring your success. One of the most important aspects is making sure that you have planned for the worst-case scenarios that could befall your business. These include the likes of fire, flood and burglary. By having some plans in place if these instances are to occur and by having adequate insurance, you should be in a position to cope with these problems.

Top 3 Essential Tips for Writing a Professional Email

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StrategyDriven Business Communications Article |Writing a Professional Email|Top 3 Essential Tips for Writing a Professional EmailOrganizing your thoughts and writing a coherent professional email can be a disaster. Trying to put your thoughts together whilst sounding confident and business-like is not an easy skill to master. If you write professional pieces all the time this may be a skill you want to learn.

What goes into writing a professional email? What should you be particular to keep in mind while you’re typing? Is there anything that you should make sure to include in every email?

These are valid questions. These questions are not always ones that are easily answered. If you’re looking for tips to keep in mind the next time you write a professional email, then we’ve got the right ones for you.

1. Etiquette and Audience

Writing a professional email takes close attention to detail. One of the most important things you can do is be mindful of who your audience is. Keep everything in a tone that is both assertive and accessible.

When writing for a large audience it’s important to remember who will be reading the information you’re explaining. Always double-check that it doesn’t come across as harsh or too much. It is important to write for your general audience.

2. Concise Is Best

When it comes to professional writing you want to make sure that there is a lack of fluff. Don’t bog down your readers with the information they don’t want nor need. Re-read your article several times in order to be sure you’ve included all of the important information.

The attention span of your readers is much shorter than you may think. You only have a couple of seconds to hook them and keep their attention on what you have to say. Re-read through your finished message a couple of times before sending it out.

3. Double Proof Read

Finally, to assert what you want to say make sure it is all correct. Your professional email is being seen by an audience that sees you as being in charge. Everything in the email is a reflection of you.

Proofread what you’re saying to the best of your abilities. Running it through spell check or other services may help you to find any errors that might be remaining.

Before sending your email out with a mass email service be sure that everything is correct. By writing an email you have one chance to convey all of your thoughts clearly.

These Professional Email Tips Will Help You With Your Next Message

Writing a professional email can be difficult. You want to make sure that it says you mean business. What you don’t need with a professional email is for it to sound too laid back.

With these tips, you’ll be able to click send with assurance. Take away some of the stress that comes along with struggling to compose an email. Write the messages that show other co-workers you know what you’re talking about.

For any further help with that perfect email or business in general, our blogs are here. We can provide you with the support you need when you need it.

The 10-Step Guide to Starting a Laser Engraving Business

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StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article |Laser Engraving|The 10-Step Guide to Starting a Laser Engraving BusinessLaser engraving allows individuals to create a wide array of beautiful projects that can be sold for profit. Many people these days want to own their own business. Starting a laser engraving business offers a sound method for protecting a person’s financial future. With this ten-step guide, individuals will know what they should do to start their business and see great success.

How Does a Laser Engraver Work?

Laser engraving is a process that uses a high-powered laser to vaporize materials and permanently engrave them with specific designs. These machines are simple to use and offer superior results. Those who would like to learn more about laser engraving machines should visit bosslaser.com.

10-Step Guide to Starting a Laser Engraving Business

Being aware of the steps involved in starting a laser engraving business is essential. When individuals are aware of the steps, they will be able to be successful at starting a business. The following are the ten steps involved in starting a laser engraving business.

1. Write the Business Plan

Having a business plan to put into action is important for any business. Business plans help owners focus on the important aspects of building their business, including determining who their customer base is and what types of products they will create.

2. Name the Business

Choosing the right name for a business is important when starting a laser engraving business. It is wise for individuals to check their state’s business website to determine if the name is available so it can be registered.

3. Form a Legal Entity

The next step in the process of opening a business is to form a legal entity. There are four types to choose from, and these include Limited Liability Company, partnership, corporation, and sole proprietorship.

4. Select the Location of the Business

A laser engraving business can operate out of the owner’s home, at a mall kiosk, and in small shops. Choosing the location of the business is an important step.

5. Apply for Any Business Licenses and Permits

A laser engraving business does not require any specific licenses, but there may be state permits that are required. Individuals will need to apply for a sales tax permit and an Employer Identification Number.

StrategyDriven's 45 Minute Business Accelerators eBook

6. Obtain Financing

A person who wants to start a business will need to obtain financing to purchase the startup items they need to run their business. With financing, individuals can purchase a laser engraving machine and supplies.

7. Open a Bank Account for the Business

Having a bank account that is dedicated to the business is important. Keeping personal and business bank accounts separate will help owners avoid confusion.

8. Draw Up a Marketing Plan

Marketing a business is highly important for ensuring the business begins to thrive. Having a strong marketing plan in place from the beginning will help individuals prepare for gaining new customers.

9. Get Business Insurance

Having business insurance is highly important. Even if the business has no other employees, liability insurance is a must. It is wise for business owners to talk with an insurance professional to learn about their options for coverage.

10. Hire Employees

Depending on the size of the laser engraving business, owners will need to consider hiring employees to help them run their business and create inventory for customers.

Get Started Right Away

Now is an ideal time for individuals to start their own businesses. A laser engraving business is an easy option for those who like creating beautiful products and want to see great success with customers.

Improving and Streamlining Various Areas of Your Business

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Streamlining Business|Improving and Streamlining Various Areas of Your BusinessLife can often be complicated when you wish it wasn’t. This is true for everyone, but if you find yourself behind the wheel of a business, complications are just going to be part of your daily routine. However, that doesn’t mean that everything has to be quite so, and there will be times when you can actually avoid this.

Tuning into which areas these are can allow you to start working on streamlining them into a more effective and manageable strategy, improving it for everyone involved. With so many different areas of your business to oversee, you can’t be directly involved in all of them. That being said, you are in a position to improve them from the ground up—allowing your employees to work even more effectively than they already do. Read on to find out how you can improve various areas of your business.

Perform a Content Audit

When you start your business, you do your best with what you have in terms of tools, experience, and knowledge. As the company progresses, you naturally improve within your position and gain insights that allow you to do your job more effectively. However, when you look back at the decisions that you might have made earlier on in your business, you might find that it doesn’t quite align with the current direction of your business and any mental changes that you’ve made since then. While these changes might also be visible to the external observer, your website might still contain all the content that you produced prior to this change—creating a clash.

For this reason and more, it might be a good time to perform a content audit in order to create a more consistent and streamlined website. This also gives you a good opportunity to update your website and modernize it, in order to bring it up to speed with the kind of professionality that you believe best represents your company. This is the hub that your customers will visit in order to find every piece of information that they could want to know about your business, so you want it to be the best that it could possibly be. An older-looking website might be enough to turn away customers, as they may not believe the information to be relevant if the web design is any indication. Furthermore, it gives you a chance to link in your social media pages to create a cohesive online experience.

Train Your Staff

Coming up with ways to improve your business can make you feel as though you’re working by yourself in order to achieve these results, especially if you don’t have anyone to bounce ideas off of. Fortunately, your business is a venture where you have plenty of help thanks to your employees, who make the running of your operations possible. Though you may not feel as though the connection that you have with these people is as strong as it could be due to the possibility that they could look for work elsewhere, this simply gives you more incentive to provide them with a reason to stay.

One such reason that you could provide is an opportunity for training, which can allow your staff to become more qualified—in turn giving them a sense of future when thinking about their career with you. This could also benefit you and your business by ultimately giving you a more qualified workforce who will be more prepared to deal with the various challenges that come your way, which can put you in a much stronger and more confident position going forward. Additionally, taking strides to make your workplace one in which your staff can be happy and fulfilled might help to make them more productive as they’ll care more about what they do.

Provide Flexible Working Possibilities

After the initial hit of the coronavirus pandemic, many businesses had to adapt to the situation and allow their staff to work from home. Though this led to many inconvenient hurdles in contrast to what you might have been used to at the time, it also led to a large degree of convenience and flexibility that might have been appreciated by you and your staff. While there will be times when you would rather that everybody is present in the workspace (and depending on your business this might be every day), giving your staff flexible working options is a prospect that can add a great deal to their work/home life balance.

Furthermore, advertising this as a perk of working with you can do a great deal to attract new employees, as it’s a feature that a lot of people might be looking for in a new job.

Can You Legally Be Fired Due to Being Unvaccinated?

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StrategyDriven Editorial Perspective Article |Vaccine Mandate|Can You Legally Be Fired Due to Being Unvaccinated?Since the pandemic, vaccines have become easily available and are a way to fight the spread. However, not everyone is willing to get the vaccine, and there are those who are willing but do not want to be required to be vaccinated as a condition of their employment. To encourage more people to be vaccinated, the President has issued a mandate for federal workers. As of November 2021, however, this mandate is being challenged in court, so the repercussions for those who choose to avoid being vaccinated may be unclear.

What to Do If You’re Fired

Anyone who is fired for not being vaccinated against COVID-19 will want to speak with one of their local employment law attorneys to get advice about their situation. As the pandemic is still in motion and the laws and mandates are being challenged, the answer to whether someone can legally be fired due to being unvaccinated is not only unclear but changing. It’s crucial for anyone who is fired to speak with an attorney to get the most up-to-date information that may pertain to their situation, as well as the help needed to challenge being fired unlawfully.

The Current Mandate and Its Applications

The mandate issued by the President on September 9, 2021, requires vaccinations for all federal workers. This includes government employees as well as anyone employed by a company that contracts with the government. The mandate could potentially apply to state workers in a number of states, and there are some exceptions to those who must be vaccinated under the mandate. The exceptions include those who work from home or work exclusively outdoors.

Challenges to the Mandate

As of November 2021, 10 states have challenged the mandate in court. This essentially pauses the mandate while it goes through the courts. The main idea behind the challenges is that there are concerns that the mandate would lead to healthcare workers retiring, quitting, or being fired instead of being vaccinated, which would cause issues with many rural hospitals. These states are already experiencing worker shortages in the healthcare field, so the worry is that this will put additional strain on a field already struggling due to the pandemic.

Can You Be Fired Because of the Mandate?

The mandate does provide options for those who don’t want to be vaccinated, but they will be required to test weekly to continue working. Those who do not want to be vaccinated and who do not want to test weekly can be fired because of the mandate. However, while the mandate is being challenged, it is not in effect. Those who are unvaccinated do not have to worry yet about being fired but will want to remain updated on the challenges and their outcome to know what may happen in the future.

The mandates and laws surrounding the pandemic are fast-moving due to the speed needed to help reduce infections and prevent more deaths. Mandates like the federal mandate are aimed at getting as many people vaccinated as possible, but could cause some unvaccinated individuals to lose their job in the future. If you are unvaccinated and fired as a result, it’s important to speak with a lawyer. As the situation changes, the potential for an employee to be fired can change, and employment lawyers will have the most up-to-date information available to help you see what options you might have.

Disclaimer: The views presented in this article are those of the author and do not represent those of StrategyDriven, its principals, partners, and employees. This article is for information purposes only and does not provide legal advice. You should seek legal advice from a qualified, licensed attorney with respect to any particular issue or problem commensurate with your circumstances.