The Quest for Perfect Computer Server for Small Businesses

October 14, 2013

The quest for perfect computer server
Congratulations!! Your hard work in starting a small business has begun to pay off. You started it as a hobby by running it from your laptop on the kitchen table or a garage. The customers like what you are selling and the word is beginning to spread. The sales are growing at a healthy clip and soon you are going to hire your first batch of employees.

As soon as you have more than one employee with their own laptops you will realize the need for sharing data and computer programs. You need reliable way to store and access the data as well as common computer programs between all the employees. This is where the computer server comes in the picture. But, just what is a server?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With:

Warning: Your Computer is being Hacked! How to Protect

October 12, 2013

Warning your computer is being hacked
Every time you turn on your computer connected to internet you are prone to security threat from the hackers who are constantly on the prowl to get sensitive information such as customer personal data, trade secrets or bank account numbers. The news about security breaches and hacking attacks have become daily affair. At times it seems the only way to prevent such attacks is to move to a remote island without any internet connection.

As tempting as this may sound, however, the reality is you cannot live without connecting your computer to internet these days. A more realistic approach is to ensure you are taking steps to shield your computer and network from external threats.

Two primary ways by which you can ensure protection from security threats are prevention and remediation. As you can imagine prevention is always a preferred approach since by the time you have to do remediation it may already be too late. The tools that are used to assess your systems to prevent such attacks fall in 3 categories – security audits, vulnerability assessment and penetration testing.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With:

How to Find the Right Software to Start E-Commerce Store

October 10, 2013

How to find the right software to start online business
E-Commerce has come a long way from its earlier days when it was considered a major undertaking to set up an online shop. Companies used to spend millions of dollars and had to hire expert software developers to build e-commerce website. Nowadays you can buy, or even rent, software that provides all the functionality needed for online e-commerce store out of the box. The biggest decision you have to make is what type of software to purchase and how much customization you should do. For any online e-commerce software shopping cart is the backbone that provides the most critical functionality.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: ,

How to Run a Thriving Kiosk Business

October 4, 2013

How to Run a Thriving Kiosk Business
For aspiring entrepreneurs, the prevalence of large corporations and big-box chains can make starting a business seem like a daunting task. To combat these challenges, many businesspeople are finding great success by starting kiosk businesses instead. With low overhead costs and short-term lease commitments, starting a kiosk business is a great way to jump-start your career. As with all business pursuits, it’s important to know how to run your kiosk business in a way that will make it profitable. With these following five steps, you can create a thriving and profitable kiosk business.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Strategy Tagged With: , ,

5 Simple Techniques to Keep Your Employees Stress Free

September 27, 2013

5 simple techniques to keep your employees stress free
According to NHS, an estimated 10 million days are lost each year as a result of work related stress, depression and anxiety. This is despite businesses spending enormous amount of money on employee health care. Many small business owners feel like there is no end in sight to this vicious cycle of rising healthcare cost for their businesses, increasing stress for their employees and reducing productivity and profit resulting from both.

While the situation may appear dire at times, there are some simple and effective ways by which businesses can help their employees reduce daily stress, and in turn reduce their health care cost and improve business productivity. The key is to take these steps before the situation warrants immediate attention and make them part of your and employees’ daily routine. Below we provide some tips to do just that.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Employees, Management Tagged With: ,

From Seating to Heating: 5 Factors to Consider for Effective Business Meetings

September 23, 2013

5 factors to consider for effective business meetings
Having an effective meeting is as much dependent on people participating in it as it does on the surrounding environment in which the meeting is held. Proper environment can foster healthy dialog and quick decision making. It may sound trivial, but having the right room temperature or proper seating arrangement can sometimes be the difference between having a fruitful meeting versus the one where everyone departs thinking why they had the meeting in the first place and what they accomplished.

So, what factors do you need to take into account when arranging business meetings that are highly effective? Here are 5 important ones we have come across in no particular order:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Management Tagged With: ,

5 Questions You Must Answer before Selling Overseas

September 20, 2013

5 questions you must answer before selling overseas
Globalization has made the world smaller than ever. Even small businesses are looking into exports and international trade to increase their customer base and sales. Technological advances have made it easier to find and serve global customers even for small business owners. This traditionally used to be the purview of large, multinational companies.

While it is easy to set up online shop, deliver orders via UPS and collect money via Paypal there are more nuances to exporting and selling to international customers. You need to answer number of questions before you can embark on that journey. Will your product be subject to special regulation? How will you handle warranty and product returns? Who will collect and pay taxes to foreign countries? Failing to answer these and many other questions can put you in the hot water and impact your business.

Here are 5 questions you can begin with to understand export and international trade:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Sales, Strategy Tagged With:

Preparation is Key to Managing Crisis for Small Business Owners

September 16, 2013

Preparation is key to managing crisis
Wikipedia defines crisis as any event that is, or is expected to lead to, an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, community, or whole society. For small businesses a crisis can wreak havoc if they are have not made adequate preparation in advance. Most small business owners do not really think about or planned for crisis until it is too late. This is unfortunate because with just little advanced planning and preparation they can not only withstand crisis, but come out much stronger from it.

Here are some basic rules of crisis management to consider and to familiarise yourself with in the event that your company is faced with such a situation. The key to managing any crisis situation is advanced planning.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Management Tagged With:

Will your Startup Succeed? Find out with the Investor Test

September 13, 2013

Will your startup succeed
Every new business owner launches his company with the hopes of making it into next Amazon.com.  But how many can tell whether it will even be a fraction of that successful. Knowing ahead of time whether your company will be a grand success or a big bust can save business owner lot of anxious moments in life.

While there is no crystal ball that can provide foolproof prediction concerning your company’s fate, there exists a fairly reliable predictor. It is called the Investor Test, and when properly applied, it can provide an excellent gauge that tells you whether your business model will ultimately succeed. The Investor Test can also provide valuable insight into how to address potential problems or challenges that are likely to arise in the course of launching and establishing your new business.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Strategy Tagged With: ,

Reputation is Everything in the Online World

September 9, 2013

Reputation is everything in the online world
It is said that it takes a long time to build trust and reputation for an individual or a business, but it takes only minutes to destroy it. The advent of Internet and social media has only reinforced this. Trust and reputation are the only things customers go by when doing business online with the ones they have never met in person. That is why your online reputation matters more than ever to your business’ success. Learning how to manage and fix your reputation can go a long way in getting and retaining customers.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Marketing, Technology Tagged With: