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Where’s Your Business’s Safety Net?

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StrategyDriven Risk Management Article |Business Safety Net|Where's Your Business's Safety Net?Running a business can often feel as though you’re walking a tightrope. You’ve got to keep your balance and your composure or you could end up falling. However, there’s one big difference between running a business and walking a tightrope: there’s nothing impressive about running a business without a safety net. The reality is that the risks of running any kind of business are so high that having no potential protections in place if something goes wrong is simply irresponsible. With that in mind, here are just a few things to consider when making sure that your business has the safety net it needs.

Insurance

If you’re looking for a way to protect your business in the event that something goes wrong then there are few more obvious and effective things to consider than the right insurance. There are a lot of things to consider when choosing the right insurance for your business. Everything from how much it will cost to what kind of cover you need to the specific risks that your business poses. Click here to find the insurance that’s right for your business. Insurance can be a frustrating cost, especially in the early days, but the value it provides is absolutely worth the money you spend on it.

Investors

Investment is something every business needs. After all, it really doesn’t matter how great your business is, you’re never going to be able to get things off the ground without some form of capital. That’s where investors come in. They can provide the capital that you need and can often help to prop up your business if it requires a little extra nudge. Of course, you need to remember that investors are not just giving you money. If you can’t guarantee that you’re able to provide them with a return on their investment, they’re going to take their money and walk away.

Careful Planning

One of the most common reasons that a lot of businesses fall apart when things go wrong is that they were entirely unprepared for it to happen at all. This is because a lot of new business owners only ever plan for the things that they want. Instead, you should be planning for every possible eventuality. You need to know what your business is going to do if something were to go wrong. Do you have contingencies in place? If not, you need to go back to the planning stage and think more carefully about the areas where your business might be vulnerable.

When your business is doing well it’s often all too easy to assume that things are just going to work out and that you have nothing to worry about. The problem there is that it means that you’re going to be utterly unprepared for the moment that something does go wrong. As counterintuitive as it might feel in the short term, the reality is that it’s far better to have these protections in place and not need them than it is to realise too late how valuable they would actually have been.

Do You Have Relevant Information on Pensions?

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article |Pensions|Do You Have Relevant Information on Pensions?Various studies conducted show that relevant advice availed to individuals on pensions is relatively low. Pension plans are a saving platform for retirement where employers contribute funds towards their employee’s retirement. There are two types of pension plans, which include the defined benefit and the defined contribution plan. The final salary pension is a source of a stable savings plan, a source of income paid to pension holders after retirement. Mis-sold Pensions lead to considerable losses to an individual pension fund. When one has poor financial advice, they transfer their saved money and invest in unstable business ventures. Some companies and individuals offer pension holders services when they want to make claims due to financial losses. The court provides relatively low claims, but it is the most efficient tool as it holds all the parties involved accountable. Private practitioners like lawyers offer quality services, and they charge higher amounts of money on their services. Before committing to any pension plan, ensure that it meets your needs and contributions are not a financial burden. In case a pension holder dies, the family members are given the accrued benefits.

Mis Sold Pension Plans

There are various types of the mis-sold pension plans, including the SIPP, final salary transfers,SASS, and OPS. The self-invested pension plans give the pension holders control over their pension funds, and they are a high-risk investment that may lead to massive losses. They fail to provide enough attention to the service provider on the quality of information delivered. Complaints are made against the pension provider and the recommended financial advisors. In case of a mis-sell, individuals are allowed to make claims, and when approved, one is compensated. The final salary transfers involve employers’ contribution of a certain amount of money towards a pension plan for the employees. It is considered to be a secure saving plan and gives a guaranteed benefit as losing pension funds is a rare occasion. If advised to transfer to another kind of pension plan without your due diligence, you are entitled to make compensation claims. The small self-administered schemes are unregulated, and they are high-risk investments. In any case, a regulated financial officer encourages a transfer to the pension plan; you can directly ask for compensation. The occupational pension schemes are created by employers who enable employees to save for their retirement and are regulated.

Claims in Mis-Sold Pensions

Some financial advisors recommended by the pension providers give misleading advice, which leads to financial losses. In such situations, individuals are encouraged to make claims through the various platforms available. One can directly involve the courts or the financial service. The provided financial services are cheap, and their decisions can only be challenged in a court of law. The claiming process is slow due to inadequate financing making their services inefficient, and huge claims put pressure on the systems. Private practitioners like companies have experienced personnel who directly engage you in the claiming process by making sure information is available on any proceedings. Individuals can make claims to the pension providers if they lack enough capital to hire the relevant service providers.

Signs of a Mis-Sold Pension

There are stipulated practice codes that require financial advice to offer excellent and relevant financial advice about the available pension plans, including the associated benefits and disadvantages. The pension plan should cover all the individuals’ needs and have high stability to prevent losses. The provided information ensures that decisions made are informed and limit cases of claiming compensation. To identify if the financial advisor has misguided, you have proof showing that the information offered is biased and is not exhaustive on all the products available in the market. Financial losses are substantial proof that results from a lack of enough information on the various business ventures resulting in profits. Financial advisors may advise on transferring stable pension plans to highly risky plans that attract losses if not well managed. Individual research is recommended from the various sources of information and seeking relevant advice from the private financial practitioners on the pertinent pensions which meet a person’s needs without compromising its security.

Pension Transfers

There is a specified period to make any claim of a mis-sold pension plan; if the claim is not completed, then compensation becomes impossible. There are various set financial services that help complainants receive fair judgments and handle the policyholders’ pension complaints. The claiming process takes some time for a solutions agreement, and it does not mean that the complainant will not receive compensation. In case one feels that the pensions they have do not meet their needs, individuals are allowed to make transfers, which eventually suits their needs. Individuals with final salary transfers may wish to shift to defined contribution plans if they are willing to venture into the high-risk plans and make the relevant business decisions to grow their pension funds actively. Transfer from the high-risk pension to the defined plans ensures security and a guaranteed income source in the future when one retires. The significant benefit of pension plans is they are a savings plan, and when the pension holder dies, their immediate family or beneficiary directly receives the benefits from the pension.

Taxation and Time Taken to Make a Claim

In most cases, taxation of the pension funds is not allowed making it an efficient saving plan. The government offers social security to the more senior members of society by providing untaxed amounts of money to cater to their daily needs. The time it takes to access the claim depends on how complex the case is and all parties’ availability to appear in the proceedings. Some cases take years to solve, and others take months for a conclusion to be made. Private practitioners take less time to make relevant claims as they follow a stipulated time frame to ensure their clients are satisfied. The earlier you predict a mis-sell and report the matter, the quicker the solutions are availed to the stakeholders.

In conclusion, a pension plan is a saving plan that mostly pays off when pension holders retire. Relevant financial advice is required in choosing the appropriate pension plan which meets persons` needs. When you realize you have a miss-sell, start to make a claim immediately to use a short time frame to wait for decisions. One can make a pension transfer if their current pension plan is inadequate to their needs. Ensure you have the relevant information when choosing any pension plan.

Things You Need to Consider When Buying a New or Used iPhone.

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article |Buying a IPhone|Things you need to consider when buying a new or used iPhone.When it’s your first time shopping for an iPhone or you want to replace your old iPhone, these are the tips you require to make the right choice. Not only will the new iPhone be your companion, but it will showcase your style until you need a new one.

The best time to buy an iPhone

Most people believe that the best time to buy an iPhone is when Apple announces a new iPhone. That’s not the case since you will pay more on the launch day compared to later prices. This is as a result of discounts offered by retailers on the phones. iPhone barely vary in price when they are rolled over to the next year as a low-cost alternative. For example, the iPhone 7 and 8 prices were reduced by $100 since the iPhone XR and XS launch. Hence, you are sure to get a good deal no matter the iPhone you choose.

When you wait for apple event day, your preferred Phone is likely to get discounted since most retailers try to clear the few units.Meanwhile, some companies offer deals where you can exchange your current iPhone with a new version. However, the sooner you buy a new iPhone, the longer it takes for your iPhone to become dated.

Find out your storage needs.

Most android phones allow you to use microSD cards to add storage; iPhone never has. Thus it would be best if you decided on the capacity that you require. The latest models come with a 64 GB space, which is enough if you won’t store dozens of movies or albums on your phone. If you require 128GB, 256GB, or 312GB, you probably know it since they are mainly used by creative professionals or those with content habits.

Buy sim free

You can shop around and do the math for the best deals. Whatever deal you’re looking at, the same provider will sell a similar SIM-only package, and purchasing your new phone from Apple and adding a monthly payment contract almost always works out cheaper. You’ll have that option, too, if you prefer to pay as you go.If you can find a refurbished old model, the difference could be even more significant. And there are several SIM-only plans on a month-long basis so that you can turn at any time. Only make sure that your tariff explicitly supports the iPhone and includes features such as tethering if required, without additional fees.

However, if you don’t have all the money, when you go to the Apple Store in person and agree to a credit check, Apple provides 20 months of interest-free credit (via Barclays). Buy your phone with cash and shop around for a SIM-only contract without a credit check if your credit score may be an issue.

Consider a refurbished phone.

iPhones are not among the refurbished items offered by Apple, but some, including the large phone stores and networks, do. Read the small print: there will be scratches, scuffs and chips in the lower grades of refurbishment, but it will be completely usable, while the highest grade typically means a handset has been returned almost untouched. You’re going to get a guarantee, and your contractual rights still apply, even though your fair standards are not going to be exactly the same as brand new ones. However, on contract, for networks overpricing refurbished phones. Google to see what refurbishments sell for elsewhere for the same model, then equate the deal to a SIM-only tariff.

Add AppleCare+

When you buy an iPhone from Apple, AppleCare+ is an optional bonus, and you can also buy it from Apple for a brand new iPhone you purchased elsewhere. For iPhone X, XS or XS Max or £ 149 for other current versions, the basic package costs £ 199 and offers a two-year warranty with tech support via chat or phone.

Suppose you are thinking about buying a used iPhone. You should check if a new version of iOS is running or that it can be upgraded to (iOS upgrades are free). Scroll down on Apple’s iOS page to find the devices that are compatible with the version currently featured (which is either out now or about to appear at the time of writing, iOS 12). Don’t buy an iPhone that can’t run this because you’re setting yourself up to discover features that are not available or compatible with other purchases you need.

Conclusion

The iPhone is a fantastic device and everyone wants one, but it’s not cheap, and it is rarely sold. Hence, if you want to buy a iPhone without paying the full price, your best choice might be to purchase a used iPhone.The purchasing of used or refurbished iPhones saves some money, however, trade-offs can come with them. If you’re considering purchasing a used iPhone, along with some suggestions on where to find a deal, here are nine items you need to review before buying.

How to Improve Internet Speed in Your Office

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Internet Speed|How to improve internet speed in your officeOf the recent technological advancement we’ve adapted to, fiber optic broadband and Wi-Fi remain universally beneficial and high in demand. Internet connectivity can become slow and unreliable, causing delays in meeting deadlines and business loss. If you have been a victim of slow internet speeds that have caused massive losses from lost time and missed opportunities, consider improving your Wi-Fi speeds and trying these procedures.

Set up additional Wi-Fi

As business partners, potential customers, and random visitors visit your office for meetings and presentations; they will expect to access your internet. Activities that include document retrieval from emails, zoom meetings with virtual employees, or response to emails require reliable internet connectivity for your business operations to run smoothly.

Since issuing company network passwords to strangers may cause a security breach, consider obtaining a visitor’s Wi-Fi connectivity instead. Keeping your company network private will save you the pain of enduring ransomware attacks on your system that can cost you a lot of money to resolve.

Additionally, with a visitor’s Wi-Fi in place, you can always control the number of bandwidth visitors consume while in your office. Ensuring visitors don’t disrupt formal business operations by streaming videos that take long to download.

Secure your signal

Suppose your Wi-Fi connectivity is open and free for everyone to access. In that case, you are not only overloading your bandwidth but exposing your company to cyber-security threats that may lead to ransomware attacks.

Secure your network by setting a complex password and not easy to guess. If you have a set password that has been in use for a long time, consider changing it from time to time. Complex passwords may be cumbersome to type in your devices, but the momentary inconvenience is worth it to preserve your data and keep it secure.

As long as your old passwords remain intact, former employees, business partners, or random visitors can have access unless you secure it afresh. Though it may appear harmless, it is better to avoid any unforeseen risks.

Delete applications that slow-down bandwidth

Since your bandwidth is mainly limited, overloading it will cause slow internet speeds and an overall productivity reduction. To mitigate this, restrict applications that consume large amounts of bandwidth and delete others immediately after using them. Dissuade employees from streaming HD videos at work and regulate the internet for personal use to prevent slow speeds.

It would be prudent for you to know how much bandwidth your office requires to pick a plan that aligns with the workload. Furthermore, consider accounting for future business growth when selecting your bandwidth to cater for expansion and growth requirements.

Position your router correctly

Most entrepreneurs place their router on shelves where they are out of sight, stashed together with big office files and other office merchandise, to ensure the office appears tidy. Doing so blocks the router from receiving signals, but nearby technology can also cause interference.

Unfortunately, this is a big mistake and the worst place to position your router—experiment by looking for a strategic position with the most transparent signal and accessible to more employees.

Try placing the router close to where internet connectivity is required the most, such as near boardrooms. You can also try positioning it closer to the top to access better coverage. While many find it convenient to place it on the low surface, it may obstruct office furniture or people present in the room. Positioning it on high surfaces ensures less interference is very beneficial for signal access.

Boost your signal

Alleviate signal barriers by investing in a signal booster that weakens router signals by strategically positioning them. Proper placement of the booster will ensure the signal is transmitted and received to the entire office where the router is unable to reach.

Change the channel

When multiple routers have access to a single channel, it may cause overcrowding leading to internet interruption. Channels that have no congestion work better and therefore strive to examine and utilize them for better output and productivity.

Upgrade your router technology

If, after trying simple tricks like repositioning your router, boosting your signal, and changing the channel don’t seem to work, it may be time for a new and faster router to improve performance. Many new devices support multiple inputs and outputs and have additional capabilities to enhance productivity.

If you invest in a new router, make sure to invest in a better and faster computer to complement each other, save you time, and help meet set targets. Financial constraints shouldn’t be a deterrent in upgrading. A new router is beneficial to handle current technology as you prepare to upgrade the rest of your office.

Prioritize regular updates of both hardware and software, which will eventually reflect higher profits and a satisfactory customer experience.

Frequently inspect your devices for viruses.

A virus invasion can cause havoc on your computer sweeping away essential documents and bringing office operations to a screeching halt. Viruses such as spyware can operate in the background consuming large portions of your internet connectivity, significantly slowing down speed and efficiency.

Plug computers directly into the modem

For your Wi-Fi to maintain high speeds, consider plugging devices directly into the internet. For instance, using an Ethernet connection is more beneficial than a wired connection. To get maximum benefits and maintain faster speeds, consider upgrading your Ethernet cable as well.

Additionally, transferring files between computers with Ethernet connectivity is faster and better than using a Wi-Fi connection.

Distance from access points

If your location is very far from the router or access point is an apparent cause of slow internet speed. To solve this, move closer to the router, and if the router is located in a separate room, try working from that room and see if it fixes your challenge. Additionally, try moving the router to a different position that is higher where network obstruction is minimal or a central location where everyone will be able to access the internet without issues.

Are CEOs Really Necessary Anymore?

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StrategyDriven Editorial Perspective Article |CEOs|Are CEOs Really Necessary Anymore?It seems like a ridiculous question to ask, somewhat like wondering whether cars really need drivers. Just imagine all the things a driver does every second in order to reach a specific destination: taking in vast amounts of inputs about current conditions of the vehicle’s motion, receiving thousands of changing data points from all the visual clues about lanes, traffic, signs, pedestrians and all the other moving vehicles in the vicinity, then comparing all this information to a previously set route, and making all the complex choices necessary to arrive safely.

You could almost think about that driver as being on the receiving end of a firehose of data, sorting out the most important patterns, and then turning all of that into a best course of action — the very definition of Intelligence. And that’s why we’ve come so close to going from data that one human can process, to Big Data, which requires dozens of sensors to process.

With increasingly vast bodies of knowledge about experiences, one can see how business Intelligence, with enough computing power, became Artificial Intelligence. And, so, before too long, the taxi you’re about to hail in Phoenix, shows up; Poof! No driver necessary.

Which brings us back to those folks in the corporate driver’s seat — the CEO. Doesn’t much of a CEO’s job consist of being on the receiving end of ever-increasing floods of data that can now be gleaned in real time from inputs around the globe? The tick of every sale quickly contributes to a pattern revealing how the marketplace is receiving our products at every given moment. Supply chains are linked to these inputs, as is every other variable the CEO needs to be concerned about, from available corporate resources to stock price.

And as AI begins to make choices based on mining Big Data, the role of the CEO as patchcord between data input and decision output seems destined to become smaller and smaller until, at some point, an organization is going to run autonomously. As futurist Ray Kurzweil observed in 2005, in the near future, machine intelligence is going to exceed human intelligence. He named that moment, the Singularity. Will there be a moment when the Singularity arrives in the C-suite? It seems inevitable.

AI or Human Agency?

Or maybe not. Maybe great organizations are not really machines, like some automobiles or even spacecraft, that can complete their journeys without human intervention. To find out, it may be worthwhile to make some sharp distinctions between what Big Data driving AI can do, and what it cannot. BDAI (for short) is excellent at making sense out of the current state. It’s also pretty good at making predictions about trajectories, given no black swan or other -unforeseen circumstances. So BDAI is pretty useful for management to be able to see where we are and where we might be headed.

But, what about agency, or intentionality, or what today we generally call strategy? If we have enough past information of competitive successes and failures, BDAI is capable of helping leaders develop options. In some instances, in a large consumer products organization, for example, it is not difficult to imagine letting BDAI decide the optimal number of versions of a toothpaste brand, which will maximize performance in the marketplace, and even continue to optimize those decisions over time.

Yet, what happens when there is a genuine disruption in a marketplace, when new inventions shuffle the whole deck? If BDAI had been in place at Olympus Camera on the day that Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone, would the company’s management information system have warned leadership that the pocket camera industry, at that moment, was entering an irreversible swoon?

CEO’s Role- Wisdom and Innovation

Finally, we come to the two basic responsibilities that a CEO can perform that, as yet, BD and AI together cannot. The first is to make wise decisions over time that express a coherent vision. The second is to lead innovation. Famously, Steve Jobs had no interest in market research when imagining where Apple needed to go next. He thought in broad terms about what human beings might do with powerful new tools, and went about creating them. Sometimes, it took a while for people to get what Jobs was giving them, but eventually, he re-ordered the world.

Same for Elon Musk. Musk’s long arc in guiding Tesla from highly-ignored sports car, which financed the luxury Model S, which, in turn, made possible the 3, is now crushing an entire global industry. And, underneath it all, still not widely-perceived, is that Musk is also transforming the global electrical grid with a complete infrastructure of vast battery capacity.

Jobs, Musk and other disruptive founders built their organizations to maximize the value-creating potential of their visions. Those organizations are no less than the living, breathing manifestations of their founders’ identities and are as unique as the founders themselves.

After the Founder

Once the founders have departed, subsequent leaders, in order to maximize the quality of their decision-making, will always need to be aware of the identity that still pulses at the heart of their organizations. Without this essential understanding, the dangers are ever-present that the easy persuasiveness of Big Data, married to the seemingly incontrovertible direction supplied by Artificial Intelligence will, eventually, lead even the most successful organization astray.

So, are CEOs really necessary anymore? Yes, if they realize that their main job is to ensure that the identity of their institutions provides the center of gravity around which Big Data and AI are reliably deployed. Otherwise, companies are in peril of becoming driverless, autonomous vehicles, subject to an uncertain future fraught with potentially lethal hazards.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Gerald SindellGerald Sindell is a partner of The Identity Dynamics Institute. He was the CEO of two New York publishing companies, Tudor and Knightsbridge. He has been instrumental in developing enterprise operating systems for EOS Worldwide, Accenture, and The Balanced Scorecard Institute.