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Ideas For Keeping Your Small Business Protected Online

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Entrepreneurship | Cybersecurity | Risk Management | Ideas For Keeping Your Small Business Protected Online These days you’re likely doing a lot of business and performing your tasks online. While the Internet can be an extremely beneficial way to run your company, it also comes with its downsides.

One cause for concern is being vulnerable to hackers and those who wish to sabotage your files and business. The following ideas are going to help you learn and understand what you can be doing better at your workplace to protect your small business online. This is one subject matter you want to take seriously and attend to if you wish to keep your company free from any unfortunate situations that will be difficult to clean up later on.

Educate Yourself and Be Current

One idea for keeping your small business protected online is to educate yourself on the topic. Be current about knowing what anti-virus programs to use, what backups to perform and when and getting to know your computers better so you can make sure they’re consistently running smoothly. The more you know about IT maintenance, the less of a chance there will be that your business will fall victim to hackers and wrongdoers. You put yourself at risk for negative consequences when you choose not to learn more about online security and what you can be doing better to improve it at your workplace.

Hire Help

Another great idea is to hire help and pay for the professionals to assist you on the matter such as using a Managed IT service. The reality is there’s a lot of information in this area you’re not going to know and will need assistance with if you want to make sure your business is protected online. You likely have other pressing matters and initiatives to attend to and can’t always be in the know about what’s new in the IT world. Invest in using a third party to help you make sure you’re doing all you can to keep yourselves safe on the Internet.

Use Strong Passwords

Never underestimate the advantages of using strong passwords to protect your computers and files. Keep your small business protected online by committing to using passwords that would make it difficult for someone else to hack into your information. Create ones that are challenging and complex, but also update your current passwords often so that it makes it harder for someone else to guess it or compromise your data.

Provide Best Practices to Your Employees

It’s not only your job to make sure your business is protected online, but also that of your employees. However, they may not be aware of how important this matter is or how to go about doing so unless you inform them. Provide best practices your employees can use to make sure their laptops and files are secure. For example, educate them about not clicking suspicious looking links, following through and complying with computer updates and who to ask or turn to should they have online security questions.

How to Start a Team Building Events Company

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StrategyDriven Business Startup Article | How to Start a Team Building Events CompanyWhile most business owners are aware of the fact that their employees play a huge part in the company’s overall success, it has really only been in the past decade or so that business owners have come to appreciate that to its fullest. Not only do you need a staff of properly trained, experienced, and knowledgeable employees, but they also need to work well as a team. If there is a lack of communication or conflict between staff and departments, the entire company suffers, as does the bottom line.

This is where team building activities and events have really taken center stage, as they are the perfect way to bring everyone together and start to open up lines of communication and build trust with one another. This has also sparked the creation of team building events companies, who are the ones that put these events together and host them.

If you’ve been watching this trend and feel like now is the time to get in the ring and open your own team building events company, then here are some tips that can help you get started.

Create a Business Plan

Just like with any business the best place to start is with a plan. Within this plan, you want to outline the basic concept of your company, outline the business’s goals, describe what actions and plans you will take in order to reach your goals, who your target market is, what services and products you will offer, the financials, and how many employees you’ll need.

Invest in Engaging Games, Activities, and Rides

In order to be successful with your team building events company, you’re going to need to stand out from the competition, as this is an industry that is growing fast. One of the best ways to stand out is to offer your clients the best of the best when it comes to engaging games, activities, and rides. Clients need to be able to take a look at your offerings and feel as though you’ll knock it out of the park where employee engagement is concerned.

Take a look at the options available through Galaxy Multi Rides via https://galaxymultirides.com/ as great examples. You can invest in any one of these games and rides and know that displaying them on your company website will draw attention.

Ensure You Have a Digital Presence

This leads us to the next tip which is to ensure you have a robust and engaging digital presence right from the start. This means a professional looking website that operates smoothly and a presence on all the top social networks. Digital platforms will provide you with a way to interact and engage with the public, fill them in on new and exciting offerings and promotions, share useful information, and start to build name recognition.

Remember Any Business Takes Time to Grow

Even with following each of these tips, it’s important to remind yourself that your team building events company will take time to build and grow. This is natural and just part of being an entrepreneur.

Installing A Business Phone System

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Telephone systems|Installing A Business Phone SystemYou can bet your bottom dollar that there are barely any businesses in the UK that do not use digital methods and platforms throughout their practises and procedures. It is simply remarkable to look at how business has developed. This relates to companies as a whole and their general practises. Everyday life in the office is a lot different compared to what it used to be. And, one of the main reasons for this is because of the surge in technology. From marketing to standard data entry – the methods of doing so have changed drastically. One area that has experienced a significant shift is the telephone systems businesses utilise. In this blog post, we will discover everything you need to know about telephone systems today and getting the right one installed.

Telephone systems are indispensable for all businesses. After all, they are needed in order to take orders, to answer customer queries, to refer people to different departments, to contact different departments for information, to order new stock, and so on and so forth. Telephone systems are integral tools in the successful communication and day to day running of any company. However, telephone systems are not what they once were. This means that if you take advantage of telephone engineers in your area then you can take your business to the next level with state of the art technology.

Many years ago a company’s telephone system simply revolved around one phone per every desk. In some advanced companies they may be connected to the receptionist. But this was it. Nowadays things could not be more different. The number of lines, extensions, and other tools available are colossal. Telephone systems no longer stand alone; they are more an integrated tool in the IT department of your business. This is because the most recent systems are actually as much based on computers as they are telephones.

This does not simply relate to the different features the telephones boast, but it also relates to the fact that telephone systems can now be hosted on the internet as well. This means that companies can run all of their phone calls and alike through a desktop computer for example. Why would people do this? Well, in some circumstances this can be a lot cheaper. Another reason is because computers offer a lot more space for saving phone calls and other data.

The features that are available are truly remarkable as well. Read this on how to leave a voicemail without calling and you will find out about one of the many incredible features we are referring to. This enables you to send a voicemail directly to a potential customer’s phone box, rathering than calling them. Customers hate cold calls and they will usually ignore them, and any voicemail that comes with it, and so this is a great way to get around it.

This integration between computers and telephone systems represents the heightened need for companies to have contact with top telephone engineers in your area. You need to have professionals readily available should anything falter with your system. Moreover, you need to seek top quality telephone engineers in the first place in order to reduce the chances of anything unfortunate happening. You simply need to look out for engineers who can offer you on the spot assistance and aid, and those who also have a credible and glistening reputation as well.

How to find the right company for installation

There is no denying the monumental role communication plays in the world of business. Your company’s telephone system is integral to this. Nonetheless, you should not make the mistake that many have before you by thinking that buying a good business telephone system will merely rely on the hardware. Of course it is imperative that you buy a high quality telephone system made by a reputable brand. Nevertheless, finding the right telephone system suppliers in your area is just as important. After all, you need to ensure the system is installed properly. Moreover, it needs to be programmed and tailor made in order to suit your business specifically. And not only that, once everything is up and running you will require an aftercare and maintenance option. At the end of the day, you need the company to be on hand should any problems occur.

First and foremost you need to begin your search by embarking in a bit of research. Ask around and find out what your friends and owners of other businesses are using. They will be able to advise you as to whether the company is a reputable one and whether they live up to their claims or not. Couple this with a quick search of reviews online as well. This will give you a well-rounded view as to whether companies are genuine and of a high quality. Once you have a list of credible businesses you can then begin to narrow down your search for telephone system suppliers in your area further.

When determining the worth of a company you will begin by establishing what they can offer you in terms of different telephone systems and the installation process. Assess all of the different service packages that are available in order to ensure there is one you are happy with. After you have done this you can then work on how this is going to be integrated into your business; how many lines you need, how many extensions you need, what features are going to be of use to you, and so on and so forth. It is recommended that you ask the installers to give you a quick demonstration of the telephone system before they leave so that you are not left to your own devices.

However, whilst the initial installation may be important, it is actually the aftercare that is even more imperative. You need to be certain that the company can fix any problems immediately. If they can do so remotely and if they have an emergency back-up plan in place then this is extremely beneficial. After all, every minute the phone lines are down more and more customers are being lost. Make sure you have a thorough understanding of the troubleshooting and repair service they boast. At the end of the day, telephones are like any other gadget, and thus they have the possibility to break from time to time. You need to be prepared for this.

The telephone system suppliers you select are just as important as the hardware, if not more so. Make sure you pay a lot of attention to finding the best telephone system suppliers in your area so that you do not experience any issues in the future.

To conclude, telephone systems are crucial to all businesses today. However, they are not the same as they once were. The possibilities they possess have enhanced dramatically and phone systems are now very much related with computers and internet technology. Therefore you need a great telephone engineer company at hand to ensure everything runs optimally at all times. We hope that the advice that has been provided in this article will assist you when it comes to getting your telephone system right at your business.

3 Things That You Should Consider Outsourcing

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As a business owner, there are many decisions that you have to make, and one of them is whether you outsource or not. Whilst some people are outsourcing converts – and get most of their work done by external companies – others are a little more skeptical, and would prefer to have control over every part of their business in-house. Whilst this is understandable, there are a range of benefits of outsourcing, and if you’re not utilizing it in your business, then you could be missing out on saving money, and having the job done, well… better by somebody else.

We’ve put together a list of 3 things that you should consider outsourcing in your business.

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Entrepreneurship | Outsourcing | 3 Things That You Should Consider Outsourcing
 
1. Your social media management

Social media seems like something that would be easy to manage yourself, because all you have to do is post out a few updates every now and again, to make sure that you’re drawing people in across the various platforms. However, getting social media right is actually a lot more complex than that, and outsourcing it means that you’ll be able to benefit due to those professionals that know the algorithms, and what works. On top of this, it’s actually harder than you think to come up with a few things a week to post, especially when you’ve got to think up those ideas that will cause a good reaction. Leave it to the professionals!

2. Your IT security

OK, so pretty much every business out there uses IT in some way, and we all enjoy the benefits that it brings us. After all, are there any people out there who aren’t checking their emails at least 50 times a day now? As people – and business owners – we are IT obsessed, but security is a complex and difficult thing to manage. Even if you’ve got somebody in-house to deal with issues such as networking monitoring, the truth is that most external cybersecurity companies are a lot more advanced, which means that you’ll be facing less problems in the long-run. It will probably be cheaper than hiring somebody in-house, too.

3. Your admin

When it comes to admin, there is arguably nothing more boring than dealing with these things. Whilst you want to be getting on with that good stuff, it’s pretty annoying that your phone is constantly ringing, and that you’re being bombarded with emails left, right, and center. There’s nothing that you can do about this though, right? You’ll be pleased to hear that you can get a virtual reception, where people answer your phone calls, and even deal with your mail, for you. This is ideal for those who can’t afford full-time admin staff, and it’s great if you just want to get rid of some of the pressure of office life.

So, if you want to take those first steps into the world of outsourcing, then consider handing over these 3 things to the professionals. You’ll be glad that you did when you’re saving yourself a lot of time, and money, in the process!

5 Simple Solutions That Will Make Your Business Bloom

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article | Managing Your Business | 5 Simple Solutions That Will Make Your Business BloomWe all know that starting a business is a big deal. It’s something that will change your life, your career, and even your bank balance. But, to get there, and to make that happen, you need to create a killer plan to get you there. And while we’re not going to delve into the basics on creating a business plan in this post, we are doing to consider five things that you can do, or use, or turn to, to support and encourage your growth. Whether you know that you need more website visitors, more time to work on your business, or you just need to make your first sale, you may find that one or more of these five points will help you to do exactly that.

1. Get To Know Your Audience Better

The very first thing that you’ll want to do here, is to make sure that you know your audience incredibly well. Because the more you know your audience and you understand their needs, it will be easier for you to create a product or service that they need to have in their lives.

2. Solidify Your Strategy

The next thing that you’ll want to do here is to make sure that you have a solid social media marketing plan in place. Because if you want more visitors, or to grow an email list, or to make more sales, you need to harness all of the tools you have. And social media can be vital for this. So creating a set plan or having a clearer vision on what you’re trying to achieve, will help you to get those results.

StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article | Managing Your Business | 5 Simple Solutions That Will Make Your Business Bloom3. Outsource

Then next thing that might help your business to blossom, is to consider outsourcing some of the areas of the business that you’re not all that experienced with. Maybe you’re not great at finance or IT? Then why spend your time on it? Instead, you might want to read more about this here so that you can see if doing so will benefit you. Because if you can free up time, and get more work done, it’s definitely worthwhile.

4. Line Everything Up

But then also, if you know that you need to boost your business, you have to be really objective and look at your daily tasks. At what you’re focusing on and prioritizing. Because if your actions do not match your business goals – there’s your missing link. But when you align your actions to your goals, you’ll start to see better results.

5. Bring In Experts

And finally, if you’re thinking about hiring, or when you do, you’re going to find that it really works in your favor for you to hire people that have a certain level of expertise in their area. Sometimes, it’s easy to believe that you ought to hire novices, or trainees, or just cheap labor – but really, what will they bring to your business? Experts can really add value. And it’s smart to hire people that challenge you or that are more knowledgeable than you.