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Taking Being a Business Owner to Heart

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Stress in the workplace can take its toll on your health.

As a small business owner, lowering your stress level is vital to your health.  It is also crucial to your performance and ability to work effectively over the long haul.

Follow along as we look at the effects of being a business owner and what you can do to turn things around.

As Big of a Threat ‘As Smoking or Not Exercising’

This characterization from the University of Maryland Medical Center describes the body of research studies that look at job-related stress.  The threat of job-related stress to health is comparable to smoking or not exercising, it proclaims.

The document also states that nearly half of all American workers say that their jobs are “very stressful.”

While some of the biggest job-related stressors don’t affect business owners, such as having no control over one’s responsibilities, lack of job security, and others – these factors still affect owners in other ways, such as making sure the business has enough work/clients.  Other stressors still apply to business owners, such as too much time away from home and family and pay concerns.

One of the most important effects of stress is that of the heart.

A recent study analyzed data from thousands of responders, and it found that those who believed that stress significantly affected their health had twice the risk of coronary heart disease.

It highlighted some other staggering claims of stress and heart health, including a statistic that women in highly stressful jobs are 40 percent more likely to suffer a heart attack.

All of the data suggests that stress can have a significant impact not only on your heart – but your overall stress. Bottom line, the risks are great.

Ways to Overcome Stress

It might not be possible to completely eliminate stress.  But by paying attention to it inside and outside of your work environment, you can certainly alleviate its effects and help both your career and your health.

Here are some ideas that can help you work on overcoming stress:

• Delegate –  It’s OK to let some of the responsibilities go to ease the burden on yourself.  This is a key step to growing the business as well.  Put together a plan for easing the workload to lessen the stress and improve the efficiency of your business.

• Go over your processes, technology, and how your business runs –  Examine inefficiencies that can be improved upon to eliminate unnecessary time, resources, and steps.

• Don’t underestimate the value of a good support system – Talk to family and friends on a regular basis, and don’t be afraid to ask for help – regardless of the situation.

The issue could be that you have too many priorities, responsibilities, and that the overall workload is simply too much.  It may be time to hire an additional person or find a way to help balance it all.

Take a long, hard look at the situation to see if you can get to the heart of the matter.

Photo credit: under30ceo.com

About the Author: Joyce Morse covers an array of subjects, among which include marketing, small business and social media.

How Do We Get More Social With Our Clients?

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Whether you run a small, mid-sized or large company, how social you are with your customers can go a long way in determining just how successful you are destined to be.

Whether they feel like they can’t properly engage their return on investment (ROI), don’t want to make the time and effort or are essentially ill-informed on how to properly run social media campaigns, there are still many businesses that are missing the boat when it comes to socially engaging consumers.

So, how can you and/or your marketing team (where applicable) get the most out of what social media has to offer moving forward?

Among the tricks of the social trade:

1. Be a good listener – Even if your business is just using social media sporadically, you can pick up a ton of valuable chatter by listening to what is being said about you and your industry in general. If you do not use Facebook, Twitter, Google+ for any other reason, use them to hear the conversations. You can pick up valuable discussions as to what consumers need more and less of, along with what their most used questions and issues are;

2. Be a consistent presence – Like many other things in life, you need to be constantly active in social media to truly benefit from it. Just being a casual social media participant leaves you and your company with several problems. First, you are not there regularly to see and hear what is going on. Secondly, you won’t be viewed as an authority in your industry if you just pop in and out on the social channels. Finally, you miss out on potential sales from those consumers who do not yet have the product or service they need;

3. Be someone who engages – One of a number of reasons consumers are on social media for starters is they come looking for answers and solutions to their questions and problems. With social media, you can respond to them in a real-time fashion, something you can’t do through traditional means like in-person store visits or phone calls. Actively engage consumers that are both present and potential customers with you, showing them you want to be the go-to man or woman for their shopping needs;

4. Be void of spamming – With all the positives that social media can offer you as a business owner, never use it to spam consumers. The spammer is the individual or company that inundates consumers with messages, mostly trying to push a sale down their throats. Some consumers will automatically revolt against this, feeling like you are being too pushy. Use your social media tweets and shares to answer questions, solve problems, along with educating the consumer. The latter can be easily done via links to tutorials and other items you hopefully have on your website;

5. Be human – Finally, make your social media posts fun and entertaining from time to time. Yes, your main goal is to draw people back to your website, but you can’t be about sales and business 100 percent of the time. Show those who view your SM posts that you and your company are just like them, doing this by interjecting some humor into your posts. You should also humanize your entire office team by either getting them to post or talking about them (images are great) from time to time. Being social is just that, putting a social side to your business.

So, how do you as a business owner go about getting the most out of social media in 2013?

Photo credit: dimespring.com

About the Author: With 23 years’ writing experience, Dave Thomas covers social media and business topics, including Internet reputation management.

Don’t Play Games with Your Online Reputation

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When you recently flipped the calendar over to a new year, what were some of your first thoughts?

Did you consider that checking out and potentially repairing your online reputation or that of your company would be top priorities in 2013? If so, do you know how to accomplish such a task?

For too many business owners, today’s Internet age can be both a boon and a bust. If it is the latter, the repercussions can be quite impactful.

Stop for a minute and review this last year, especially your interactions with both employees (where applicable) and customers. Did you have any run-ins with either? Is it possible they may have taken to the Internet to besmirch the reputation of you and/or your company? Has any of your personal information gotten online, now potentially putting you in a bad light with current and potential customers?

As you can see, there can be many bases to cover as a business owner. Most importantly, it just takes one slip up online for you and your business to suffer the consequences from.

With the New Year here, setting aside time to Google your name and that of your company just makes sense. In fact, it should be required as mandatory planning going forward from here on out.

When you research your name and your company’s, should you find negative comments related to one or both, there are some actions to take. They include:

* Decide how to manage problem – When you find negative online comments that can be cutting into your ability to do business, there are essentially two options, handle the matter yourself or seek outside help. For those who select the second option, know what you are getting in return for your money. There are various consultants and companies out there who will take the time to help in rebuilding your online reputation, but check them out first. Make sure the consultant or company has a proven track record, spells out all the details of what you will get for your money, and does not have any issues with groups such as the Better Business Bureau (BBB);

* Accentuate the positive – Whether you yourself or someone else takes on the challenge of improving your online reputation, be pro-active. T he reason you got into this situation in the first place is that negative details about you and/or your business rose up the search engine meter. As a result, consumers now may have a negative opinion of you or the company. In order to change that, you need to pump out things such as customer testimonials, blog posts, press releases, and anything else that speaks highly of you and the business. As you do that, the negative stuff will be relegated to a lower position on the search engines, meaning it will not be as easy to find;

* Clean up your act – Finally, make sure any personal data about you or your business is properly suited for the Internet. Keep in mind that there are people search databases out there that can tell the world an awful lot about you. Such material can provide individuals with things like your home address and phone number, court records, income and more. In order to get that information removed from sites such as Intelius, you need to deploy Intelius removal. By monitoring such information, you can make sure it does not show up on other venues, potentially putting you or your business in a bad position.

As you go forward in 2013, keep in mind the importance of monitoring and controlling your online information.

In the event you do not, your reputation could come out on the losing end in this game.

Photo credit: marketingpilgrim.com

About the Author: Dave Thomas covers small business topics for various websites.

Should a Business Owner Seek a Prenuptial from Soon-to-be Spouse?

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Nothing says love like having your soon-to-be spouse sign off on a prenuptial agreement prior to walking down the aisle, yes?

While it may sound rather crude to ask for such a concession with the one you’re looking to share your life with, it does make business sense for many people that have worked for years to see their business plan template come to fruition.

Still, there is oftentimes apprehension on the part of the man or woman running a business to ask their loved one to essentially sign off on the fact that you are not 100 percent sure this is a union made for life.

The bottom line is a prenuptial deal protects the business owner from gold diggers, those individuals that see a walk down the aisle as the way to make some good cash, albeit while pretending to be in love with the person they said “I Do” to.

Precise numbers for the divorce rate in the U.S. differ, given that not all states gather marital data, and along with the fact the numbers can vary quite dramatically due to the methods and sources in place to gather them.

That being said, if a wedding is in your offing, there are some things to consider as you review the pros and cons of a prenuptial deal with your significant other:

  • A prenuptial is not hard to put together – The prenuptial arrangement can be written out by an attorney for a nominal fee. Keep in mind that a number of pre-nuptials will permit the spouse to get a portion of assets earning during the period of marriage, others will make it so that all of the business assets are strictly for the business owner and not regarded as community property;
  • A prenuptial can involve business partners – In the event you are partners with one or more people, a prenuptial is possible in order to provide your partner/s with control over decision making for the business in the event you become divorced or die;
  • Perhaps you prefer a post-nuptial deal – In the event you and/or your soon-to-be spouse are hesitating on a prenuptial, a post-nuptial deal is also an option. The post-nuptial is simply an agreement that two people enter into and sign after the marriage. Keep in mind, however, that a post-nuptial stands a better chance of being challenged in the courts than a prenuptial;
  • Spouses working for the business can lead to payments – If your new spouse begins working for your business and you two part company down the road, you could find them entitled to a substantial portion of the business when you divorce. There are ways to pay off the spouse if it comes to a divorce, including via shares of cash, stocks and retirement funds to name a few. There is also the option of a property settlement note, a long-term payout (including interest) that involves the figure you owe your former spouse for the value of their share of the company;
  • Sell the business and split the profits – Some couples end up going this route since they could not agree to a prenuptial deal. If your former spouse essentially had no involvement in forming and running your business during your time together, this can be a financially difficult way to say goodbye to them.

So, still interested in considering asking your future husband or bride to put their John Hancock on such paperwork?

Yes, it can be a very tense discussion to have prior to a wedding, but it could also be one that you will look back on and appreciate in the event Mr. or Mrs. Right turns out to be wrong.

Photo credit: novylaw.com

Dave Thomas, who discusses subjects such as business incorporation services, writes extensively for San Diego-based Business.com.