Monthly Archives: May 2020

Common Technology Mistakes Small Businesses Make

Running a small business can be tough. You have to watch out for your competition and stay relevant in today’s ever-changing economy. Technology is increasingly becoming more and more a part of business operations. You may have to swiftly incorporate new technologies. You are inundated with the task of running your small business, eliminating any extra time it may take researching these new technologies and how to properly implement them. Because of this, your small business is prone to making some technological errors. Here are some common mistakes that your small business can avoid.

Insufficient Digital Security

This is a major mistake that can cost you a lot in the long term. Not having sufficient digital security puts your small business at risk for hackers and cybercriminals that can steal sensitive information and potentially hold it for ransom. Not only can this cost you money, but it can also cost your business its reputation among customers, clients and company partners. Luckily there is a way to remedy this. By using IT consulting for small businesses, you can better protect your company and its sensitive information.

Using Technology That Is Outdated

Using outdated technology is a surefire way to reduce productivity and welcome costly IT issues. It is important for your small business to stay up to date on the latest hardware technology as it will help reduce costs in the long run. Keeping a PC longer than its normal lifecycle of three to four years could result in you spending more on repairs and IT support than on a new system.

Not Backing Up Data

Backing up data is a major key. Many companies store their data electronically, which is fine, but what happens when that also becomes compromised and lost? This is why having a physical hard drive or cloud-based back up of files is so important. You can do it manually or you can implement a backup program that backs up your files automatically.

Not Utilizing Social Media

Social media has become an integral part of a lot of people’s lives, including those of your customers, clients and company partners. Stop avoiding it. Use social media. It is the best place for marketing strategies and brand exposure. It is also an excellent place to connect with your customers and clients on a personal level. They see your company as less as a brick-and-mortar place and more as a company run by people.

Inadequate Basic Technology Training

It’s estimated that office staff understands less than 20 percent of the available features in the software application they use, according to Tech Republic. Your employees do not have to be tech whizzes, but having sufficient technology training can prevent your small business from falling prey to cyber-attacks. It could also be very costly to constantly call on your IT support for simple technology problems. Your employees knowing more about the things their software can do can improve productivity and is more cost-effective in the long-run.

Best Ways of Looking After Your Health as You Get Older

There are so many things that you need to plan and prepare for as you get older, and one of the key things is to look at what it takes to take care of your health and well-being. Growing old is a scary concept for a lot of people, but it is also something you need to make sure you work on as much as possible. There are a lot of considerations when you get older, and one of the big ones is that you need to make sure you look after your health.

Trying to take care of yourself and making the best changes to promote self-care and positive health is really important when you get older. This is something too many people seem to overlook, and there are a lot of issues with working on this moving forward. Try to consider what it takes to achieve this right now, and this is something you have to make sure you get right. Here are some of the best ways of being able to look after your health as you get older.

Improve Mental Health

Mental health is one of the biggest concerns for those who are aging, and it is important to make sure you take steps to help keep your mental health and well-being on track. Luckily, there are plenty of awesome techniques you can use to help you with this. For example, there are lots of benefits to playing word games, and these can go a long way toward helping you strengthen and improve your mental health. Reading is another great way of staying sharp and keeping things ticking over in your mind as much as possible. Try to do things that are going to help improve your mind and keep things sharp, and this is something you need to work on right now.

 

Protect Yourself with Insurance

When you are older, you need to be a little more concerned about your health and well-being, and this is something that has to be sorted as much as possible. You are going to be more susceptible to illness and injury when you get older, so the more you can do to guard against this and protect yourself, the better. This is why you should check out Medicare Nationwide to see what you can get as the best possible outcome for you by way of health insurance.

 

Try to Exercise as Much as You Can

You should also be looking to try to exercise as much as you possibly can, and this is something that you are going to need to get right moving forward. As an elderly person, you are a little restricted when it comes to keeping fit, but you can still make cardio a priority. Going for walks is really important when it comes to trying to keep fit and exercise as much as possible these days. You can do a lot to come up with ideas that will help you look after yourself as an older person. You need to give plenty of thought to your physical and mental well-being, and try to promote self-care as much as possible, right now. Do what you can to focus on improving your health when you get older and use the ideas on here to help you achieve this.

Addressing The Question Of How You Get Paid As A Freelancer

When you first start running a business from the home or for yourself, then you’re going to be faced with all sorts of little challenges. One of those that can make some freelancers surprisingly awkward is the question of how you get paid. Here, we’re going to look at how to set up a payment system that works for you and how to get over any of the doubts standing between you and the money you’re owed.

Setting your rates

First of all, you need to make sure that you can’t be negotiated at any price that fits the client. To make sure that your work is always worth doing, you must set a fixed price (or price range) that you’re willing to offer. For selling products, this is slightly easier. You might have a harder time figuring out how much to sell your services for, but there are sites that can help you find average rates, and, from there, you can decide whether your services are above average and by how much.

 

Detail precisely how you will get paid

To make sure that there’s pussyfooting around with the bill and that you’re not constantly waiting for money that you’re owed, you need to standardize your method of getting paid from the start. Some freelancers are satisfied to wait for a little with an invoice system. Meanwhile, you might use a virtual point of sale or prefer to start work only after a PayPal payment has come through. There are advantages to each method to consider. What’s important is that you’re very clear with clients and customers how they must pay from the start.

 

Don’t feel bad about chasing up what you’re owed

If you use a system such as invoicing, or you let your clients and customers pay after the service/product is delivered online, then you should anticipate that some will be late in paying. To prevent this, you can set a date in which they have to pay and start charging them late fees if they fail to. Invoice processing software can help give you reminders of when you should start going after them, too. Some people will have genuine and good reasons to be a little late and you can forgive late fees at your discretion, but don’t feel bad about reaching out to ask for late payment.

 

Get it in writing

How common is it that a client will decline to pay entirely, even arguing that they don’t have to? Not very often, but it can be such a stressful event that you wouldn’t want it to ever happen to you more than once. As such, if you’re delivering services that your client pays for after the fact, make sure they sign a contract that outlines what they can expect and what they have to pay. If they don’t sign it, don’t do the work.

It can feel a little awkward, at the start, to ask people directly to pay you money. However, it’s a feeling you will get used to and you need to defend your right to get paid for all work you do fervently. Formalizing and standardizing the process will help that.