Startup Tips

“They” say that if you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail. While this phrase is more intended as a self-motivation tool to make sure you’re mentally ready for whatever craziness comes your way, it also can be used as encouragement to make sure you have backup plans, especially in your work.

Technology is just one aspect of the work environment that can easily fail when ignored. Since so many of today’s workplaces are completely dependent on tech, from phones to computers to the Internet, when one or all of them go down, productivity can plummet in a big way. Malfunctioning or off-line hardware like printers and copiers can potentially disrupt the whole organisation if the right, or perhaps the wrong, piece breaks.

So it makes sense to prepare for the worst and hope for the best as far as where your office tech is concerned. Doing so prepares you for just about anything.

Here are some places to start:

1. Power problems.
   
   While few networks “plug right into the wall” any more, many still are vulnerable if there’s a company-wide power outage. But what can be worse if there is a bump in power, or extra pulse when power comes back on. This has the possibility of overloading delicate equipment or cascading to other components.
   
   Solutions can include emergency back-ups or Uninterrupted Power Supply for your network devices, which have battery backups and keep a constant, safe flow of correct voltage. A new option is to regularly back up to the data cloud, so even if your hardware is compromised, you can retrieve your data from anywhere.

2. Copiers. The best defence against things breaking is anticipating them, which is why it’s smart to include a service contract for ongoing support rather than not knowing what to do when things go wrong, or putting off regular service and maintenance.
   
   Working with a company such as Copy Print Services to arrange regular maintenance will help to ensure it can be utilised for current and future needs and it also saves money by cutting unnecessary costs – as you won’t need to keep replacing or fixing the device.

3. Phones. This isn’t as critical as it used to be when fewer people had their own mobile devices, but some companies with landlines could still be impacted if phone service goes down. 
   
   Possible solutions could be to provide employee with a business phone, or, you can consider switching to a service that lets you make telephone calls – or even video calls – over your Internet browser. These Voice Over IP services are often less expensive than a local telephone utility and can keep your team connected to each other, your clients and your customers from anywhere.

4. The Internet itself.
   
   Sometimes you’re at the mercy of your service provider, and some national ISPs may have system-wide outages due to problems elsewhere in their network that can still affect you. Larger ISPs may also be difficult to work with to provide effective and timely solutions.  Smart companies, however, anticipate these types of problems, and make sure their machines, modems and routers are all up to the challenges.
   
   Possible solutions can include working with a local provider, since they’re more likely to be aware of any outages and work with you to try to solve get you connected quickly. Or consider a local back-up ISP for emergencies. It may not have the speed and bandwidth of a national provider but can be effective if there’s a larger problem. Some people’s cell phones may be able to create small-scale Internet hubs. Doing this over a prolonged period of time may use a bunch of data, but can be a good alternative in case your main Internet connection is down for the count.  

Being so reliant on technology can often prove to be a burden when it fails us, but if you carry out all necessary measures to prevent persistent problems, you should be able to power through.

Your business’s human resources department is responsible for managing the workforce. They are the people who pay everyone, manage conflicts and aim to retain strong employees. Therefore, their work is vital. Without them, the business would not get the best out of the people it hires. At the same time, not every employee gets on with those working in the HR department. This is a problem because you want everyone within the business to be on the same page.

In truth, most businesses have complicated HR departments. It’s easy for things to get messy and tangled when there are so many duties and responsibilities to take care of. It doesn’t have to be this way, however. It’s possible for your business to simplify the way in which the HR department works, and still get the benefits it provides. Huge HR headaches can be made a thing of the past if you cover all the bases discussed below.

Be Clear on the Law

One of the challenges that makes running an HR department so difficult is the legal side of things. When people are not treated properly by the company, they can take legal action. So, it’s the job of your HR department to make sure that this doesn’t happen. They have to be on hand ready to deal with problems in the legal and proper way.

Be clear on the latest employment laws, and make sure that your HR employees are too. They need to distinguish between employees and independent contractors. They also need to ensure that people are being paid on time and in the correct way. Any simple and honest mistakes can lead to big problems for the business.

Ensure HR Staff Have the Right Training

For your HR team, training is vital. You should constantly be looking for ways to expand their skills and knowledge. The better trained they are, the more likely they will be to do their jobs properly and successfully. To start with, it’s important to hire people with the rights kinds of traits and attributes. These skills can then be built on with the help of further training.

You can’t force people to take extra training, but you can make it worth their while. Show them the direct consequences that will come about as a result of their training. If people are convinced that by attending a training course, their job will be easier in the future, they’ll jump at the chance. And that’s exactly what you want.

Always Approach Conflicts with Care

Conflicts do arise in the workplace. These don’t necessarily have to be physical fights, although they can happen too. What’s most important is to approach any conflict or problem the business has with care. Without that care and caution, it’s easy to go rushing in and make mistakes. That’s not what you need for your business, so don’t let it come to that.

The team of people you have should know how to mediate between two people. They have to be able to find common ground and build from there. What they should never do is take sides when a conflict is trying to be resolved. Everyone has to feel like they are getting a fair hearing. If disciplinary action does have to be taken, this should be dealt with cautiously too.

Keep Your Employee Databases in Order

All HR departments have databases where employee records are held. These can cover things like absences, payroll, and other employee information companies need to store. If you don’t manage and handle these records and databases properly, your HR department will struggle.

There are managed IT services that you can take advantage of if you want to improve the way you use software. In this modern business landscape, you can’t afford to be lagging behind in this department. Things are changing fast, but your business needs to be a part of that change if it wants to succeed. And the jobs of your HR employees will be much easier as a result.

Focus on the Simple Task of Maintaining Relationships

It’s often the most simple and straightforward things that are most important inside your HR department. Rather than worrying about details and analytics too much, it can help to go back to basics. What this means is focusing on the relationships that are in place. They should be solid and positive. Everyone in the team should work closely and help each other to succeed.

This is not just about maintaining the relationships between those inside and outside the department. It’s also about the HR team helping those working for the business to collaborate better among themselves. The more linked up and collaborative your workforce is, the better it will be for the business’s long-term fortunes. So, try to do the basic things like this well.

If you have recently entered the startup world, congratulations! I assume you have just started a business. When it comes to running a business and starting everything from scratch it can be a big challenge. Of course the first and probably most major worry is the financial aspect. If you have negotiated a loan from the bank or you have been able to rent a space so you can operate out of a location this is one of the trickier aspects. But when it comes to running a business out of your home, there are definite pros and cons when you compare it to working out of a central location.

If you have the luxury of a team working for you, and they are all willing to work from home, this can give you a financial advantage. As you do not need to operate out of a site, saving on building rental costs when it comes to doing this, you need to make sure that your communication methods are excellent. An issue when it comes to communicating with people over multiple sites is that the personal touch is lost. A way of reducing these issues would be to install a VoIP (Voice-over Internet Protocol) system. It is a phone system where you connect to the Internet instead of Connecting to a phone line. So that saves you costs in terms of phone calls, and the system can connect to people’s emails as well as mobiles. So you could send an answer phone message to a person’s email inbox instead of their phone.

Another issue when it comes to working out of your home is the matter of the registered business address. With working out of a residential address, it doesn’t make your business look to professional. A way to overcome this is to get the assistance of a virtual office. They have many benefits for start-up companies, and one is to have a professional mailbox address, and they can forward the mail to you. This gives your business a good impression with clients.

The case for working in an office or out of a location is as strong as the case for working out of your home. If the business is just beginning, financially it may feel like a bit of a strain. But when you are working in a group of people, there is a lot to be said for workplace morale.  This would be virtually non-existent in a home office setting.  As the business would be fragmented.

Financially there are Investments you would need to make to maximize efficiency. Such as investments in equipment like CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems.  Having the right software to collate data can be very useful, especially if you are running a particular style of business with a niche market, such as screen printing. You can find professional screen print software at ShopWorks.

Finally, a business location, whether it is a shop or a small office, does wonders for creating a unified front. It helps to reinforce important things like business ethos. As a business is as much about the workers as it is about the product, having a physical location may be what you need to give your company a sense of cohesion.

When you first started your company, and only had a handful of employees, making sure everyone got their slice of the profits was probably very straightforward. You did a simple bit of maths, made some bank transfers, and from there everything was in order. However, as your business grows and develops, you’re going to have to deal with a more conventional payroll system. To ensure you don’t drive yourself into any costly pitfalls, here are some of the most common mistakes which you need to avoid.

I’ll start this off with the one mistake you need to step around at all costs; missing payroll taxes. In the US, the government collects taxes on a “pay-as-you-go” basis. There are a wide range of state, local, and federal taxes which could apply to your company. If you fail to pay these in full and on time, it can be a massive financial blow to your company. The penalties could bankrupt you completely, and you certainly wouldn’t be the first! As a business owner, a disaster on this scale probably ranks among your worst nightmares, so make sure you’re avoiding it. When you’re more experienced with managing payroll, keeping on top of taxes will be a breeze. To start with, however, you should be using a modern bookkeeping tool or employing a commercial accountant for help.

On the subject of bookkeeping software, another big mistake you need to avoid is neglecting its features. Although they’re steadily becoming easier to use, a lot of business owners may find modern accounting software a little hard to get along with at the start. If you don’t hit the ground running with it, you may end up neglecting all kinds of helpful time-saving features. Automatic scheduling, for example, will ensure that all of your expense reports are emailed to the right people on time. Various email and dashboard notifications can be used to keep you up to date with the peaks and troughs your cash flow goes through. You can even get paper-based QuickBooks compatible checks, too. Take the time to properly integrate your payroll with your accounting tech, and you’ll quickly reap all kinds of great benefits.

Finally, listing an employee as a contractor, or vice versa. Employees and contractors are very different, especially when it comes to declaring taxes and workplace benefits. If you’re in the early stages and your business appears to be somewhat unstable, then hiring contractors may make a lot of sense to you, as the work is only temporary. However, with all these contractors and full-time employees making up your workforce, it can be easy to misclassify workers. During his presidency, Barack Obama pushed through an executive order intended to protect contractors from various labor law abuses. If you’re found to be committing these, the law will be far less forgiving than it was in the early noughties. Worker classification is a legal matter, not a preference. Make sure you’re doing it right!

Avoid these payroll mistakes, and you and your employees will have very little to worry about!

The workplace is an asset to your business. Yet it’s one that often goes underestimated by those who don’t put much thought into it. Many business owners don’t pay as much attention to how the environment affects the staff working in it. They ignore the needs that the workplace must fulfill and the benefits it can provide. However, we’re not going to ignore them. In this article, we’ll address how the workplace can really benefit both your staff and your business.

Safety at all levels

No matter the workplace, it needs to be thoroughly assessed for any risks to the health of the employers. In office buildings, checking elements like asbestos, fire and electrical risks is crucial. If your employees are working at great heights, then you need to consider how to implement things like fall arrest. In any business, ergonomics matters, as well. Nowadays, repetitive strain injury is known to be just as much as a risk in the workplace as any kind of falling accident. Safety needs to be a real priority for any business. This means scheduled risk assessments on every level of the business and proper training of employees. From fire safety to equipment handling.

Productivity

There’s a view in some businesses that productivity is all down to the individual. It’s widely accepted nowadays, however, that this view is just plain false. Nowadays, people realize that it’s the processes of the business that can have the biggest effect on productivity. Naturally, that means the environment can have an effect as well. In the workplace, it’s all about the different kinds of space you can offer. There are few spaces that fit all roles. Instead, you need to think about what people need for an individual job. Do they need privacy so they can focus on their work? Do they need a communal space to work on a group project? A diversity of spaces is what’s needed in most modern job roles. It also promotes that people move around the workplace, which is better for their health. If your workplace is a more static one, you can still improve productivity. For instance, reordering desks and resources to fit a map of the workflow. Removing physical obstructions from one part of the job to the next.

Motivation

It’s not just the physical layout of the space that matters, too. You need to consider how it affects employees mentally. For instance, good lighting isn’t just a safety concern. It’s been well shown that sterile, unnatural lighting is a lot worse for motivation than natural lighting. Communication is a vital part of motivation, as well. That’s why, as economic as it might seem, the cubicle crush form of workspace has fallen out of favor.

More consideration must go into how you’re using your workspace. First, how you mitigate any risks it might pose to your employees. Then how it can help them do their work better and even help them communicate better as a team. We hope the points above help you create the workspace you and your people really need.

Alright, so I can’t say definitively that optimization is the reason for your website’s failure. You might have poorly worded text. You might have broken links. You might have a million cat videos on the front page.

Assuming you don’t have those things, optimization is likely to be the reason why you’re struggling for success. You need to make your website as accessible as possible to the majority, and this means optimizing it effectively. As we’re about to find out, isn’t quite as easy as it sounds…

Browser Optimization

The days of using one or two browsers are behind us. These days, there are loads of offerings out there that extend far beyond Microsoft Edge. Internet Explorer has gone, but its failures led to a spike in popularity for competitors like Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. Then, there are browsers like Safari that exist on the Mac, too. If your website only works properly on one browser, you’re limiting its potential. It’s going to take a lot to force someone to switch allegiances for the sake of one website.

Mobile Optimization

If you haven’t heard of anything else on this list, you’ve probably heard of this one. Mobile optimization is all about configuring your site for mobile and tablet use. Without doing this, your website will be hard to navigate for anyone using these devices. A WaaS solution will incorporate this sort of thing as standard; such is the importance of it. Nowadays, you might as well ditch your website entirely if you’re not going to optimize it for mobile.

Search Engine Optimization

This is another aspect for the tech-minded experts out there. Search Engine Optimization (often known as SEO) relates to how your website appears on search engines. If you engage in SEO properly, you’ll benefit from greater visibility on Google. This requires using keywords, meta descriptions and more. It’s not for the faint hearted, so don’t expect to enjoy success if you’re an amateur at it.

Load Time Optimization

The way in which you craft your website will have a big effect on load times. We’re past the days of dial-up, and we’re much less willing to sit around and wait for a site to load. If yours is too slow, people are simply going to click off it. So, think about image optimization and your hosting provider’s effectiveness. It all has an impact on your load times, which need to be as quick as possible.

Video Optimization

This won’t affect every business, but it can cause a nightmare-or-two for some out there. The way in which you host videos and present them is important. If you’re expecting someone to watch a video about your company, they don’t want to sit through ads. They especially don’t want to sit through endless buffering, or a video that fails to load. Patience will run thin quickly, so you need to ensure that videos run smoothly.

Told you it’s complicated! If you can’t optimize your website effectively, you’ll struggle to find success.

Data doesn’t mean just one thing for one business. It encompasses just about all the different ways you can use digital storage to improve how your business does things. Data can help you transform a business into a more efficient machine. It can help you communicate and share important resources across a whole network. It can even offer you the privacy you need to conduct some of your most important business. Here is how you start using data to really add to your business.

How you handle it

Most businesses use IT in some manner. It’s all too easy to think that you can improvise an approach as you go. However, then you start finding yourself piling up on documents and resources that you soon lose control of. For a proper approach to your data, you need to start organizing it as soon as you can. Conduct an audit to find what you need and where it belongs. It’s just as important to find what you don’t need and get rid of it. Make sure that the staff has consistent guidelines on what kind of resource or report belongs where. That way you don’t have to spend half-an-hour looking for that one document down the line.

Using it in your day-to-day

Capture more data of how your business operates. Then you give yourself more opportunity to use it on a daily basis, improving those operations. For example, you might wish to set up an Excel sheet for each employee. Use this sheet and a set of pre-determined KPIs. Then you can set up a culture where employees conduct objective measurements of their productivity. This helps you get together with them to evaluate their workflow and what improvements can be made. By getting the employees to take part in the process themselves, you don’t have to take on the morale damaging action of spying on them. Instead, it’s a democratic process that helps them get involved in their own growth.

Maintaining better relationships

Data can also help you maintain the other group of people that’s of vital importance to the business. We are talking, of course, about your customers. Remembering your customers and their preferences and interests are crucial. Nowadays, you don’t have to rely on the memory of your staff which is all too full of human error. Instead, you can make use of customer relationship management tools. This can help you keep records of every single person who makes use of your business or even contacts you. Records and be updated and shared across a whole network. That way, when a customer returns to do business, you can pull up their file and learn everything you need to know about them.

Sharing assets instantly

That sharing of records is a quality that should be reflected in all the data through your business. But how you do it depends on your needs. There are two options that most businesses will consider. One is the installation of physical data centers in the business. The other is the use of Cloud computing software. Data centers allow the business a lot more control on how they handle their data. It also adds a level of physical security to make sure that unauthorized access isn’t allowed. However, Cloud systems take up a lot less space. It acts as a remote backup for any data, too. Most important for a lot of people, you can scale it up alongside your business. This is in opposition to data centers, which can’t change storage size once they’re installed.

When privacy is everything

Sometimes, the sharing of data needs to go outside those running and operating in the business. A lof of the most important of business processes are done remotely, now. Things like mergers, joint ventures and board communications. But this means there’s a lot of room for unauthorized access to important conversations and drafts of documents. Which is why it’s important you rely on services where privacy is crucial. Digital data rooms like SecureDocs, for instance. Data rooms allow for the complete privacy and control of documents accessible by only those few who are authorized to see them. It also helps everyone with access see every single click and edit to the data inside, creating a much more accountable environment.

Securing your data

Security, as you may image, is important to data. Not just to the kind of hyper-sensitive data mentioned above. Your business relies on it and the wrong hands getting access can lead to a lot of trouble. It can lead to your business methods being made public and financial details stolen. Regarding customer data, having it taken can even land you in some serious legal hot water. So you need to take multiple approaches to securing your data. Teach your staff about password security and logging out when leaving devices alone. Use things like antiviruses and firewalls to eliminate threats. Use encryption on your data as well as your network access points.

Ensuring continuity

The threat of the external wrongdoer isn’t the only one threatening your data. Nowadays, businesses are so reliant on their IT that losing it for an hour can be a catastrophic emergency. Which means you need to make sure that it doesn’t happen. First, using a diversity of internet connections and a power generator can help back up your access to that data. Then you should ensure that you have backups of the data as well. Cloud storage and more than one physical storage should be enough to make sure that you never lose data for good. Continuity is an important part of being a reliable business. If you can’t extend it to your IT and your data, then you’re at risk of losing it at any time.

The more you use data correctly, the more efficient and productive a business you can have. It helps you protect and improve those processes that help you make money and grow. We hope the points above give you just a few ideas of how a proper approach to data can benefit you.

As you’ve probably already learned, social media is crucial for businesses in today’s landscape. Your following on social networks reflects on your business in many ways. A greater social media presence gives your company recognition and respect. It can also help gain customers and create profit.

The problem is, many companies just don’t use social media correctly. Having a Facebook account is useless if you don’t know how to engage your audience. Doing nothing on social media is even worse. Improving your social media operations is simple and makes a huge difference. Here are some methods that can help.

Get On More Networks

Sometimes more is better. Most companies have Facebook and Twitter accounts, but they shouldn’t stop there. Getting your name out on more channels allows you to reach diverse audiences. There are plenty of networks available, all fulfilling unique purposes.

Instagram and LinkedIn are two of the other most popular social media sites for businesses. Instagram allows you to post visual content, which interests many people more than plain text. LinkedIn is designed for professional usage- it’s ideal for developing contacts or recruiting employees.

New social media services are coming around all the time. Recently, SnapChat has gained a lot of usage for businesses. It allows you to send out pictures and videos to followers instantly. Making use of the newest social media can help you keep in touch with a modern audience.

Drive Up Followers

On social media, your followers are everything. You need to build up an audience to see your content, or what’s the use in posting at all?

There are many ways to drive up your following. Some companies follow users who post about interests related to their business. This often gets them a follow back. Getting ‘Likes’ is also important to get your posts noticed. Some companies even buy automatic Instagram likes.

The more followers and likes you have, the more people will take an interest. Visitors will see you as a business worth looking into if many are already following you. It helps bolster your audience further and attracts customers.

Post Regularly

Having a large following is one thing- but it’s important you keep them engaged. Social media often involves making quick and regular posts which will keep your business in people’s minds. If you go inactive, your audience may start unfollowing you.

Posting often doesn’t have to be time-consuming. There are various social media management tools to schedule and publish posts. You can create short pieces of content in advance and make sure they get posted all throughout the week.

Put Out Great Content

Your content should also pique people’s interest. Dull posts asking people to look at your business won’t get you anywhere. You need to catch your audience’s attention.

One way to do this is set up a business blog. For instance, if you’re a clothing retailer, you might want to blog about your best Fall fashion tips. Circulating this on social media can bring people to your company site and even make them buy from you.

Don’t just stick to content about your business, either. Posting humorous posts can keep your followers entertained. You can also engage with them by partaking in discussions and asking questions.

Perhaps you haven’t heard. But, in all likelihood, you have. Forex trading can be an extraordinarily lucrative pursuit. But understand that “lucrative” doesn’t mean “easy”. It can make you a lot of money, but the odds are wildly stacked against you. The vast majority of forex traders lose money, after all.

That may seem like an odd way to start an article about developing a trading business. It’s not that I want you to be discouraged. On the contrary; if you want to start a forex trading business, then my aim is to help. Which is exactly why I’m giving you that particular piece of bad news. It’s important that you don’t go into this with any false assumptions about this being easy. Most forex traders are going to fail. But that doesn’t mean you will.

Have no doubt: If you want to start a forex trading business, then this is the article for you!

How would a trading business work, exactly?

When people think of forex trading, they don’t often think about it as a business. They imagine one person at home on their computer. That person will call all the shots in their own investments. They’ll get all the riches, and they’ll absorb all the losses. If people imagine it as a business at all, they see it as a sole trader sort of thing.

But a forex trading company? People often have a hard time imagining such a thing. After all, don’t formal businesses have to produce something? Forex trading doesn’t seem like a business pursuit in that sense. But financial experts in a room together making decisions collectively can work out better than solo trading. Having a particular goal for all that money can also help with the business drive.

One of the best things about this way of approaching it is that trading allows for a lot of flexibility. Small businesses are having a hard time getting enough money together to afford an office. But the barrier of entry here is pretty low. It can be a bunch of friends in a room together with their laptops. It can be people communicating with each other from their own homes. A computer and an Internet connection are all you need.

Get some experience first

With this in mind, it’s no surprise that starting a trading company has become a more popular and realistic goal for many. But, if you’re like me, then you know several people who want to start a business in an industry they know nothing about. They hear it’s lucrative and that’s all they care about.

Here’s some quick, friendly, but brutal advice: learn how it works or you’ll get eaten alive. You cannot afford to get into this pursuit if you haven’t actually stepped foot in the waters of forex trading. There are programs out there that will let you learn forex trading with great effect. Start reading loads of financial and economic news. Google trading tips if you have to. Then start getting some real experience by trading in small amounts for a while. If you don’t have experience, it’s going to be very hard for you to get this sort of business off the ground. Speaking of which…

On the hunt for capital

You gotta spend money to make money, right? There’s no way that can’t be true when it comes to forex trading. But a lot of people underestimate the amount of money that you need to make any waves here. You may have heard stories about people turning an investment of just a dollar or two into piles of riches. Here’s your ticket back to planet Earth: that won’t happen here. To make big profits in forex trading, you need to start accounts with sizeable investments. I’m talking thousands.

The sort of money I’m talking about here, of course, is capital. We’re looking at this pursuit from a business perspective, right? You’re probably no stranger to the ways in which a startup can receive capital. But it may seem a bit more confusing when it comes to a trading business. That’s why you need to develop a long-term business plan comprised of more than “get rich or die trying”.

What is all that money actually going to go towards? Are you going to offer any sort of service to other people? Are you going to put that money into investments to help other small businesses? The best way to raise capital for this sort of business is to have a goal that’s more than a simple chase for profit. The same goes for any type of business.

Technology has now made it possible to work with people from all over the world at virtually anytime and anyplace. However, cultural variations across the globe that range from the more obvious regional distinctions, such as language, to blatantly differing national perspectives on productivity and the work ethic, (not to mention the often mystifying non-verbal communication within any given society), are all challenges that must be met head on by any smart business leader. These days, with an Internet connection and video conferencing software, anyone can communicate instantaneously with a client or customer anywhere they may be. This is not enough to ensure success; it’s like buying a gym membership but never stepping through its doors.

Businesses attempting to expand their client base into new countries will often be faced with the above (and other) challenges. Something as seemingly innocuous as declining an offer of tea in a place such as Bahrain can end up being seen as extremely disrespectful. In order to avoid such cultural pitfalls, additional training for one’s staff is highly encouraged. The following are different ways you can prepare your staff when reaching out to new clients in foreign locales.

Verify Client Legitimacy

Unfortunately, there are scams being played out all over the world, therefore verifying that a client is truly legitimate is crucial. Wasting staff hours on a client who chooses not to pay for rendered services or products can eat into profit margins significantly. Keep in mind common sense practices, such as not sending products to a new client without payment verification. Many fraudulent entities will use credit card information to pay for a product, which will then be disputed later. The sale is then lost along with the product as well.  (This sort of issue can often arise with over-the-phone bill payments.)

How to Remedy these Issues

• Requiring half-payment up front, with the other half being submitted upon completion of product delivery or service, is a viable option. Many companies require this when a business relationship is first created. Once trust is gained the business can then return to their default payment terms, usually after a few months of successful interaction.
• Ask for references and actually go to the trouble of verifying them, (rather than taking a client’s word for his or her trustworthiness).
• Many companies have testimonials on their website; search out the names listed and attempt to contact these people. (Keep in mind that testimonials are often fabricated or utilized without the knowledge or approval of those supposedly quoted.)

Get Travel Documents in Order

For many foreign locales, it is a preference (if not culturally obligatory) to meet face-to-face a few times a year rather than just communicating virtually. Any staff working with such an international client would be well served in putting together any necessary travel documents in preparation for visiting said client’s native land. (This normally takes some time and legwork to set up, but there are ways that the process can be expedited.) If a business owner feels the need to a send an employee overseas to interact with a client for a longer duration, say for a few months or more, then a business visa will also need to be procured. (Note that one can pay fees to streamline this process in certain circumstances.)

Other Aspects to Keep in Check

• Record a budget of all passport expenses incurred since these costs can normally be covered by one’s employer.
• Check into what inoculations are mandated for a trip overseas. Some countries require certain shots to be administered prior to being admitted into the country. (This is yet another expense for sending staff overseas, but it is one that is absolutely necessary.)
• For those employees who already have a passport, they should confirm that the passport is indeed valid for entry into a client’s home country. For instance, some countries will not accept a passport if it is due to expire within 6 months to a year.
• If shipping your products internationally it might be wise to find an ecommerce logistics partner that has experience shipping internationally. These companies might also have shipping relationships already established that can drive down costs even more.

Train Your Employees on Cultural Business Norms

There are many behavioral norms that differ immensely from culture to culture. A great example is that of South American business people who, for example, might have a much looser definition of timeliness when it comes to arriving for a scheduled meeting. In contrast a German business person values punctuality greatly so being on time can make or break a budding relationship. It can be really helpful to allocate the time and expense for sending staff to a business etiquette seminar in order to familiarize them with the social mores of those from countries with whom they intend to conduct business. Something as seemingly easy as accepting a business card with two hands and a bow in Japan can mean the difference between an affront and a well-received gesture. Be mindful of certain foreign clients as they can sometimes be uncomfortably direct to the point of seeming rude. This may be an aspect of their own traditions, they may simply not yet be competent with English, or it can be due to the way in which we at home conduct business, which can be alien to others.

Clients can easily ascertain if your staff has sincerely attempted to educate themselves on their home country’s cultural norms. Most will greatly appreciate this as they know, from personal experience, that learning cultural differences is no walk in the park. Note that any staff you hire who are either from a country with which the company does business (or has knowledge about the way business is conducted there) can be a great resource.

Be Prepared to Negotiate but Know When to Stand Your Ground

There are many cultures, particularly Asian ones, that never accept the first offer or price in what turns out to be a negotiation, (whether or not you intended it to be so going into a transaction).  It is obviously helpful to engage competent negotiators when dealing with international clients- Arming the salesperson or client manager with effective tools can pay off in a big way for your company. It is necessary to educate your staff as to what the profit margins are so they can know at what point the company must withdraw prior to exceeding a profitable price point.

All that being said, it is a fact of life that your company will lose a client when you cannot agree on a price for products or services. Take to heart that the attempt to expand internationally at the cost of profit margins can be quite dangerous for the life of a company.

Business Documents and Proposals

There are contracts that are not enforceable in certain countries that may very well be so in the U.S. Fortunately there are lawyers all over the world who can write an ironclad agreement in their home country. Clarifying certain language is vital and the lawyer should be able to help you with that as well. The U.S. has a favorable exchange rate in many countries, so hiring legal help there can be quite cost effective. (Do not risk thousands of dollars to save a few bucks on having a contract written up by someone who is not qualified to do so.) It is also vital to ensure that all documents that are to be presented in a foreign country for business, legal, academic, or personal purposes secure a certified translation as needed. The aforementioned RushPassport.com has the capability to facilitate this quickly and conveniently.

International business is obviously here to stay but it does take hard work to master one’s dealings in multiple countries. Managing the details that are within you and your staff’s power, when it comes to this new paradigm, is integral for success. Garnering enough clients worldwide can help a business turn its brand into one that is recognized globally and this can ultimately result in an impressively bolstered bottom line.

If you run a business, then it’s clear you want to make money. We know it’s not all about that, that it can be about a cause, about people and many other things. But money is important. It’s how we keep the lights on and sustain our future. Which means that you need to think more about that future. You need to think about how you’re contributing it every step of the way. Both in your personal life and your business.

Know your situation

To be able to do anything about the future, you have to know everything about your present situation. In your personal finances, consider putting a budget together. Budgets aren’t just about looking at how much you’re spending on a day-to-day basis. They’re about putting money aside. That money is what’s going to help you deal with any problems like debt, as well giving you the basis to keep investing. It’s important to be saving money in your personal finances to use personally. That way business finances you save can be used only for the business.

Diversify your investments

A lot of people might think that a business is enough investing for one person to contend with. However, those people need to keep in mind the saying about all your eggs in one basket. The money left over from your personal savings should be going in multiple directions. For one, you might want to start contributing to your retirement as soon as possible. Then you might want to look at market trading. To a lot of people, market trading involves a lot of effort and close scrutiny. But there are tools like the Brit Method which take a lot of that effort out of your hands. Automated systems and mutual funds can help you invest without having to spend all your time on it.

Be smarter with business costs

Your personal money is going to go towards other investments. Your extra business money needs to be going into your opportunities to expand. The more you expand, the more that business will be worth to your future. Expanding a business isn’t easy or cheap. So you need to start preparing for it now by finding ways to be smarter with the costs of your business. This doesn’t mean stripping it down to the bare bones. It might mean calling up service and utility providers and negotiating your agreement with them to a better deal. Or it may mean allowing employees to work remotely so you don’t have to spend as much on the office space. Once you start finding the opportunities to save, you’ll soon develop a knack for being a lot more savvy with your money.

Being smart with your money isn’t something you can do without a little effort. You need to always be aware of how the situation stands and what changes could affect it. You need to manage multiple strands of investment for the best chances of returns. You must always keep an eye out on savings. Once you start doing these, it’ll be easier and easier to find more opportunities to keep more of your money for the future.

Take a look at a lot of the SEO advice on the web these days, and there is still a lot of focus on content. Create excellent content, they say, and everything will fall into place. And while there is a smidgen of truth here, in the vast majority of cases, great content isn’t enough.

The fact is that creating fantastic posts and content for your site is a good starting point. But to say it will solve all your search and traffic problems is misleading, to say the least. Let’s take a look at why your content alone isn’t good enough to improve your website’s performance.

What makes great content?

Before we begin, let’s talk about the content that you think is awesome. You might have enjoyed writing it. You might even love reading it. But the acid test of success is whether anyone else likes it. You need all your content to be at least two of four things. Entertaining, relevant to your audience, helpful, and unique. If you can tick off all four at the same time, yes; your content probably is excellent.

Who is seeing it?

The next thing to consider about your content is its relevance to your industry. Are you using the right keywords with the right frequency to signal to the likes of Google that you should rank at number one? There will be technical SEO issues to sort out, too. Can Google’s bots index your site, and categorize it correctly? And, something that is becoming more important than ever before do Google’s customers like your content? Let’s take a closer look at that now.

Who is linking to it?

Google uses links to your content as user feedback. So, it follows that the more people that link to your content, the more signals Google sees. Not all links are created equal, either. A link from a highly respected industry figure is a lot more potent than a rookie website owner, for example. But how do you go about getting links? Well, you can always go down the DIY route, although it can cost you a lot in time. You might be better off using a white label link building service or contacting an SEO agency that specializes in links. Don’t underestimate the power of great links – and always be on the search for better link sources.

Who is sharing it?

The above strategies will help your content rank high in the search engines. But there is another route to consider – sharing. If you can provide your audience with awesome content, they will happily spread it around like wildfire. They will post it on their social media, email it to friends and colleagues, and with a little luck you could end up going viral. Not only will this lead to more website visitors, but Google is starting to take an active interest in social shares. So, it will also have a positive effect on your rankings.

So, there you have it. Four potential problems solved on the subject of poor performing content. Create it, optimize it, and share it – you will experience a lot more success.