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How Collaborative Tech Can Help Businesses Escape a Growth Rut

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By Kayla Matthews

While the rapid advance of technology is a boon to most business owners, others find it overwhelming, confusing and unnecessary. Adding to the confusion are workers who voice concerns over increasing automation, the increase of threats like viruses and malware, and next-gen systems that are too costly during their initial launch.

To ease the transition for these business owners, IT teams are turning to collaborative technology.

The Rise of Cobots

You’ve been hearing about robots for decades, but what about cobots? Instead of replacing human workers with AI-driven, fully autonomous machines, many business owners are embracing the modern cobot. Instead of working in opposition to your current staff or taking over their jobs entirely, cobots have one clear goal: to work with their human counterparts and strengthen productivity across the board.

It’s a winning situation for everyone involved. The majority of your roster will likely keep their jobs while your company benefits from the heightened productivity and efficiency that is only available through advanced hardware like cobots.

Next-Gen Software

Software solutions are a dime-a-dozen, especially in the business sector. It’s sometimes difficult to separate legitimate apps and utilities from viruses or malware — but there are some highly useful programs available to today’s business owners.

One such program, Encircle, is meant specifically for modern enterprises and highly collaborative environments. According to recent case studies, organizations that use Encircle boast a 65 percent reduction in administration tasks, a 160 percent increase in reporting accuracy, a 250 percent increase in workplace efficiency and more.

There are plenty of applications to choose from, depending on your software needs. Other popular collaboration tools include Skype, SharePoint, Office 365, Yammer, OneDrive and many more.

The Internet of Things

Both the Internet of Things (IoT) and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) are gaining a lot of momentum in the 21st century. While the latter is relevant in industrial professions — like manufacturing, construction, mining and fossil fuel production — the generalized IoT has tremendous potential to transform how business owners run their enterprises in the future.

According to top experts in the field, the IoT has four potential benefits for modern businesses, including:

  • Greater operational efficiency
  • Better customer service and an improved customer experience
  • Decreased risk in everyday operations
  • More business value through new services and programs

Business owners who want to make the most of the IoT will need to collaborate with a knowledgeable and experienced IT team, because the scope of the IoT is too large, complex and involved for one person.

New Marketing Initiatives

The newfound emphasis on collaborative tech is creating some new marketing initiatives, too. Search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) are two methods that draw increased traffic to your website. In this case, SEO ensures your website is accessible via today’s search engines while SEM gives your site a higher rank in any search results.

For even greater effect, business owners turn to social media marketing. Today’s social media portals — including Facebook, LinkedIn and more — are the ideal platforms for testing out new marketing strategies, collaborating with partners and strengthening the overall customer experience.

How Collaborative Tech Benefits Everyone

Although the most obvious benefits of collaborative tech come to those on the frontlines, including IT officials, business owners and the modern workforce, greater collaboration on a professional level ultimately benefits us all.

Today’s customers can demand a level of personalization that wasn’t available five or 10 years ago, and owners can conduct business with their partners through high-definition video conferencing. It truly is a system that trickles down to benefit everyone involved.

 

About the Author: Kayla Matthews writes about communication and workplace productivity on her blog, Productivity Theory. Her work has also appeared on Talent Culture, MakeUseOf, The Muse and Fast Company.

Featured image: Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

The Five Habits You Need to Be a Successful Business Owner

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By Kayla Matthews

Success as a business owner entails developing great habits that promote efficiency and productivity, as well as an ability to fairly and effectively communicate. Acquiring these traits is easier said than done, but entirely possible for a motivated business owner seeking success.

Efficient, professional business owners share several habits and traits that contribute to their success, including:

1. Enthusiasm for Local Partnerships

Business owners should play a strong role when partnering with local establishments, which can build local buzz and attract loyal customers. It’s a good idea to strive for exposure that fosters word of mouth exposure, which is what partnerships can accomplish. For example, a Nielsen report found that consumers are 90 percent more likely to trust a brand recommended by a friend.

Local partnerships and engagement can provide personal recommendations, both by using opportunities to connect with new customers and showing a genuine passion for the local community. Owners seeking to have a more prominent presence locally should work on their habits relating to community involvement, specifically outgoingness and openness to partnerships.

2. Learn When to Move On

Stubbornness is not a good trait for business owners to have, especially when it comes to sticking with a particular business strategy that’s not working for too long. A good business owner works on their habits of prudence, especially if they identify key performance indicators and conclude that a specific strategy is not working well.

Similarly, a savvy business owner adjusts with trends in their industry, instead of stubbornly clinging onto relics of the past. Business owners should be progressive and quick-thinking while embracing the learning experience aspect of failure instead of lingering too long on that failure.

3. Opportunistic Drive

Being opportunistic is another habit you need to be a successful business owner. A great way to work on this habit is to set aside time each week to educate yourself on new technologies, in addition to examining emerging trends in your industry.

Although the day-to-day tasks of a business can drain an owner into focusing on the now instead of future opportunities, savvy business owners always take some time to examine new technologies with the potential to save time, reduce operating costs and take the business to the next level.

4. Willingness to Hear Advice

Even very successful business owners can learn something new by speaking to others, from fellow business owners to younger consumers who may provide insight regarding a specific demographic of which the business owner may be unaware.

Business owners that close themselves off to new knowledge and rely fully on their own experiences are likelier to fall behind in their industry. Embracing advice or a mentor figure, in the form of a local mentor or business advisor, can provide additional perspectives that help aid important business decisions.

5. Boost Your Mental Health

Business owners often have a whirlwind of tasks and obligations, which can cause long-term stress that impacts both physical and mental health. It’s a good idea to develop habits that help in boosting mental health.

Eating breakfast is a habit that many overlook, despite breakfast being great for mental and physical health, resulting in improved concentration, enhanced memory and advanced cognitive abilities. Only 33 to 48 percent of Americans regularly eat breakfast, so business owners should strive to ensure they are part of that group by eating a healthy breakfast.

Help Yourself and Your Business

Business owners that aspire to greater success should work on these five habits, which promote quality exposure for their business, in addition to greater opportunities and a better foundation for mental and physical health. The result will be someone running the business who is equipped to handle anything that comes their way.

 

About the Author: Kayla Matthews writes about communication and workplace productivity on her blog, Productivity Theory. Her work has also appeared on Talent Culture, MakeUseOf, The Muse and Fast Company.

 

Featured image: Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

Six Free Online Courses for Entrepreneurial Success

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By Kayla Matthews

Whether you’re just starting out as an entrepreneur or have been one for years, the learning process never ends. Any opportunity to expand your skills and knowledge base makes you more competitive, adaptable to challenges, inquisitive and more able to stay abreast of developments in your sector.

Fortunately, becoming more educated — particularly focusing on the entrepreneurial realm — doesn’t have to be costly. In fact, all the online courses listed below are free to take.

1. How to Build a Startup

This course covers topics such as how to actively engage your customers and find out what they want from your products, calculating costs, conducting a market opportunity analysis and the various types of business partners.

After taking this start-up class, you should understand the basics of rapidly developing and testing different concepts, while getting guidance from your customers and the marketplace at large.

2. Critical Skills for Entrepreneurs

Maybe you’re in the tough position of wondering whether now is the time to quit your day job and pour everything you’ve got into a new business venture, or it’s better to play it safe.

This course goes over some of the most useful traits for entrepreneurs to have, so you can get prepared for what’s ahead. Furthermore, it discusses common mistakes, giving you the knowledge to hopefully steer clear of the same pitfalls.

3. Global Entrepreneurship

Taught by a professor who works in Malaysia as the dean of engineering at Taylor’s University, but who received training in the United Kingdom as well, this course goes beyond pure lecture material and requires you to interact with classmates for a group project.

The things you’ll learn include money management, defining your vision and mission, effective communications and the essentials of marketing.

Due to the geographical limitations, that could prove challenging at times, but you shouldn’t let that stop you from enrolling and missing out on the pros of online learning.

4. Nuts and Bolts of Business Plans

Did you know the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) makes a significant amount of course material freely available to anyone who wants to learn? This program about business plan basics, originally taught in 2014, is one of them. Inc. magazine ranked it one of the 10 best entrepreneur courses in America.

Also, some of the speakers that contributed to it were judges in MIT’s entrepreneurship competition, which offered a $100,000 prize.

You’ll learn about potential legal issues, business models and financial projections. You also have the option to read a text transcript or watch videos of the course.

Maybe you’ve found some productivity hacks that are useful when launching a startup. By applying those, plus the business plan tips you learn in this course, you could find you’re able to make the most of your time and effort.

5. Business Ethics for the Real World

In your entrepreneurial career, there will almost certainly be times when you encounter ethical dilemmas. They might involve doing personal business on company time, or even taking home a box of pens for your family’s use because you’re sure no one at the office will miss them.

This course, offered by Santa Clara University, goes into the impact of ethics on the business world and how to identify ethical issues when they arise. You’ll also discover how to analyze complex ethical choices and determine your responsibilities associated with them.

6. Thinking and Acting Like an Entrepreneur

If you study the habits of entrepreneurs you find most inspiring, they probably have some undeniable characteristics that set them apart in a crowd.

When you enroll in this course, you’ll learn more about the decision-making process successful entrepreneurs use, explore whether an entrepreneurial mindset is something you’re born with or can develop and profile entrepreneurs’ personality types.

No matter if you’re a new entrepreneur and want to get started on the right track, or have been in business for a while and are interested in improving your practices, these courses are worth checking out in the interest of continual education.

Although these are all free online courses, many offer a certificate you can pay for if you’d like physical proof of course completion to frame and put on your wall.

Happy learning!

 

About the Author: Kayla Matthews writes about communication and workplace productivity on her blog, Productivity Theory. Her work has also appeared on Talent Culture, MakeUseOf, The Muse and Fast Company.

Featured image: by Cathryn Lavery on Unsplash

How a Password Manager Can Increase Your Work Productivity

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By Kayla Matthews

Whether you’re logging into your email or a time-tracking interface, it requires remembering passwords. However, with all the other things you might have on your mind, the act of remembering a password — or several — could throw you off track.

Using a password manager is an easy way to maximize your output at work. It offers the following benefits.

It Could Stop You from Getting Into a Bad Headspace

For most of us, unforeseen circumstances like sitting in a traffic jam or waking up late due to a malfunctioning alarm cause feelings of disappointment and anger.

These incidents also often make people start judging themselves and wondering what they should have done to avoid the undesirable situations. When that happens, focusing on work isn’t easy — especially if the unfortunate event involves a forgotten password.

A study carried out by Centrify, an identity management company, found that 33 percent of respondents admitted to suffering from “password rage,” which could include screaming, yelling or crying in response to forgotten login credentials. Fortunately, a password manager remembers them for you, ensuring that a failure to retain them in your mind doesn’t derail your day.

It Saves Your Brainpower for More Important Things

When you can’t remember a password, a service provider may prompt you to answer a secret question to verify your identity. Although some of them are straightforward, such as your mother’s maiden name, others may not be so easy to recall. If asked which street you lived on in first grade, you may not know the answer right away.

Intel surveyed individuals and found that between personal and work-related accounts, the average person has 27 unique passwords. The same study showed that 37 percent of people forget at least one of their passwords every week. Instead of trying to remember which password you used for a particular site or answering a security question correctly, you could use a password manager and free up your thought processes for things that matter more.

It Could Keep Your Data Secure

Data breaches cost U.S. companies trillions of dollars annually. That’s in part because many employees don’t use passwords that are sufficiently secure, or they change passwords frequently enough.

With that in mind, many companies are moving toward doing away with passwords altogether and using other identity verification methods such as text messages and biometrics.

Some password managers automatically generate hard-to-guess passwords for you. Similarly, there are others that automatically change all passwords regularly. Both of these precautions could prevent you from becoming a data breach victim.

Doing damage control after such an incident certainly hinders your output as you scramble to recover files and maybe even salvage your reputation, so it’s best to use a password manager to avoid becoming a target.

Now, let’s look at a few password managers that are worth checking out:

  1. LastPass

Marketed as an ideal password manager for businesses and teams, LastPass offers a free version, and the Premium plan is just $2 per month. It works in your browser and on devices. Simply create a master password to unlock your “vault,” then let the service store the passwords you use in it. Watch for dialog messages on your screen from LastPass that ask if you want to store a password. It couldn’t be easier!

  1. Dashlane

This free password manager (the premium version is $3.33 per month on an annual plan) automatically changes one or a dozen passwords for you with one click. There’s also an interface that tells you the safety level of a particular credential. If Dashlane flags it as weak, that’s a good indicator you should probably beef it up.

Check out the digital wallet feature to facilitate faster online shopping when buying office supplies for work, too. It securely stores credit card details, so you don’t have to reach for your wallet.

  1. LogMeOnce

LogMeOnce offers two-factor authentication, including granting you access to websites with a selfie photo, fingerprint or PIN. However, if you still prefer passwords, it works with those too.

Additionally, the service — which has a free tier with paid options — offers anti-theft tools. That means if you leave your laptop at the office and are worried about the nighttime cleaners or other unauthorized users taking a peek, it’s possible to log out of accounts or incorporate a new password remotely.

The LogMeOnce interface has a “productivity dock,” as well. After browsing the options and discovering the ones you like best, add them to the dock and launch them with one click.

Improve Your Workflow with a Password Manager

As you can see, there’s no reason to repeatedly deal with the frustration and lost time that often results when you forget a password. By researching the available tools and choosing one that works best for your needs, you can maintain a task-oriented attitude and stop worrying about login details.


 

SOURCES

http://www.informationsecuritybuzz.com/news/a-third-of-us-admit-to-password-rage/

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/intel-world-password-day-true-key-app/

https://optimalidm.com/resources/blog/password-free-world/

https://www.lastpass.com/

https://www.dashlane.com/

https://www.logmeonce.com/

 

About the Author: Kayla Matthews writes about communication and workplace productivity on her blog, Productivity Theory. Her work has also appeared on Talent Culture, MakeUseOf, The Muse and Fast Company.

Featured image: by Jon Moore on Unsplash

How to Create and Control Your Business Budget

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By Kayla Matthews

Striking out with your first startup? Been in business for a few years but still stumped by budgeting? You’re not alone. Budgeting doesn’t come naturally to many business owners, but you can develop the skills needed to create and manage your business budget.

Many scenarios require a business budget to ensure company success and direction. Matching business expenses, both anticipated and real, to revenue helps you determine if you possess enough money to put into operations, expansion and income generation, among other needs. New startups should research their market to replace a history of financial reporting while being realistic about their goals and ambitions. Businesses will use their budget to direct company growth toward income, profit and spending over the future months and years.

Without a budget plan in place, businesses risk going into debt or not spending enough of their financial resources to grow a business to compete in the market.

Starting and Maintaining Your Business Budget

Think of your company budget as a roadmap for your business. A business plan outlines directions and goals, but your budget also informs the end goals of your company. Here are five ways to create and control your business budget:

1. Make a List and Check It Twice

Base your budget off of realistic profit you desire to produce in the coming year. Don’t fret over accuracy too much because budgets focus on realistic forecasts and forward-thinking. Start with a list and build your budget from there.

Pull out your most recent business financial statements. Look at the current profit brought in since it drives other estimates for capital expenditures, expenses and costs. Consider outside factors such as the loss of a major client or a downturn in the economy in your estimates. Don’t forget your operating costs: rent, utilities, research, insurance, taxes and travel. As you would in a personal budget, create an emergency business fund or plan to seek out a loan should the need arise.

2. Don’t Be Afraid to Shop Around

Staying on top of your long-term success means continually looking for what’s best for your company and its budget. Why waste money on suppliers that deliver little but issue a hefty invoice every month? Why continue to use lead generation tools that fail to produce results?

Don’t be afraid to shop around for the tools, suppliers and services that best accommodate your company and its success. You may even consider seeking outside capital to grow your business in order to expand your resources using external finances. No matter where you invest, it’s important you get the most out of your money without wasting it.

3. Make a Budget Spreadsheet

Spreadsheets feel intimidating but remain the classic business budget tool for a reason. When opening or operating a business, use a spreadsheet to calculate estimates regarding revenue percentage and total amounts you’ll need to direct to raw materials and other resources. Do the same with your taxes, insurance and operating costs, for example.

Templates will help you plug in the right information to make conservative estimates, and you should pull out your budget spreadsheet every month for review. You’ll track business outcomes against the estimates as you move along in the following months to monitor whether your business is profitable and achieving goals.

4. Show Restraint, Not Rigidity

It’s better to go under budget than over budget in most opinions. Conduct restraint in your budget over rigidity. Going too under repeatedly sets up your business for stagnancy. Invest in new technology or other resources that will help grow your business.

When you go over budget, review areas to cut costs. Focus reduction strategies first on analyzing profit margins on services and products offered. Direct investments primarily in your most profitable services and products. You don’t need to cut positions needlessly, either. Implement a telecommute plan or reduce the workweek for applicable positions to conserve costs and keep employees. Stay on top of tracking your business expenses.

5. There’s an App for That

When it comes to managing expenses, there’s an app for that, too. Many aspects of conducting business are now automated, and budgeting is no exception.

Many budgeting apps focus on various areas of spending, from clocking hours for employees to allowing receipts to be scanned for tax purposes or reimbursement. Examples of helpful apps include LearnVest (tracking goals), DollarBird (includes past and present income) and Level Money (subtracts reoccurring expenses to show what’s left to spend). For those getting started, apps help business owners separate their personal and business lives.

Budgeting feels intimidating for many business owners. To build and maintain an effective budget, companies must see budgeting as a roadmap to future success with forecasts to weather the sunny and stormy business days.

Stay realistic, but don’t be too rigid with your budget. The ultimate goal of your budget is to keep your business running with an eye to the future for competition and growth.

 

About the Author: Kayla Matthews writes about communication and workplace productivity on her blog, Productivity Theory. Her work has also appeared on Talent Culture, MakeUseOf, The Muse and Fast Company.

Featured image: Photo by Fabian Blank on Unsplash

Should You Grow Your Solo Business? 5 Things to Consider

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By Kayla Matthews 

When looking ahead to 2018, solo entrepreneurs may wonder if they should take the next steps to grow their business. Alternatively, they can stay where they are for now.

Several aspects should dictate the final decision, including these five important considerations.

1. More Fiscal Responsibility

As business continues to grow, there are more financial figures and data to analyze. Whereas a small business’ finances can undergo analysis mostly in-house, businesses that start to eclipse sales in the $5 million range find that keeping track of finances gets more difficult, requiring the use of an accountant —or several.

Well beyond tax time, growing businesses may need to hire accountants and financial professionals to ensure that growth and maximized profits are continuing. Solo entrepreneurs likely lack the financial experience at a certain point to confidently manage finances and resources for a larger business.

2. Good Hiring Is Vital

As a small business grows, gauging the performance of individual employees becomes a more difficult task. The number of employees will grow alongside the growing responsibilities of a budding business, making the hiring process more important than ever. As a business leader making the transition to a larger business, the increasing responsibility on your plate makes monitoring the effectiveness of every employee unrealistic.

As a result, it’s more important than ever to hire quality employees who work together and keep each other in check. Further, if you hire trustworthy managers who can monitor employee performance, you can have a solid structure in place without sacrificing too much of your own time. The people you hire defines the culture of a company. As a company grows and more employees become involved, hiring the right people is vital to success.

3. Customer Service Concerns

A growing business also means more customers. An increase in customers can translate to an increase in profits, but also an increase in demand for customer service. An increase in sales ramps up all aspects of production, which for a newly growing business can translate to certain products and services being subpar for consumers. Customer service is important for addressing customer dissatisfaction, with poor customer service resulting in a lack of growth.

A growing business will find that an uptick in resources and budget for customer service is necessary to curtail the imminent growing pains they will experience.

4. Moving Your Office

Moving locations is common for a new business, with one in five small businesses reporting they plan on moving to a new office space in 2017. Especially when moving from a home office to a commercial building, there are costs involving general liability insurance and commercial property insurance that the budget should regard.

Also, moving to a new location that’s far away from the current location can result in some employees departing or requesting additional compensation. Moving is a part of a growing business, though you should prepare for its fiscal and employee-based impact.

5. Use Data, Market Analysis and Economic Analysis

Growing businesses tend to overvalue their sales when evaluating whether to take the next step in growth. Although great sales numbers are certainly a positive, you should evaluate your industry and niche as a whole before deciding to take the next step.

Specifically, it’s important to evaluate market studies, economic analysis and other factors beyond your control that can dictate whether or not growth at present makes sense. Growing a business is one thing, though growing a business alongside a growing industry is another.

It may very well be time to grow your solo business, taking the next step by expanding your staff and resources.

It’s also possible that substantial growth would be better planned in another year or two.

You should consider the five aspects above when deciding whether to take the next step.

Have you grown your business? What else would you consider important?

 

 

About the Author: Kayla Matthews writes about communication and workplace productivity on her blog, Productivity Theory. Her work has also appeared on Talent Culture, MakeUseOf, The Muse and Fast Company.

Photo by Daniel Hjalmarsson on Unsplash