Archives for April 2013

Do Small Businesses Need Social Media Policies?

Social media policies for small business

Most companies now use at least some level of social media to promote their business. Assuming your company uses this method of promotion, it is important to ensure that your online message is professional and consistent.

Large companies create detailed social media policies to make clear to staff exactly how their businesses can and should contribute to these online platforms. This ensures that the company creates the correct impression across all of their online presence – from blog posts to Twitter “tweets.”

Given the high visibility and spontaneous nature of social media, it is fair to say that creating a social media policy is equally important for a smaller business, to ensure that costly mistakes are not made when interacting with customers online.

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Tax Season Opens Security Risks for Small Businesses

Tax Season Opens Security Risks for Small Businesses
According to a nationwide survey conducted by the National Cybersecurity Alliance, 73 percent of small businesses rely on trusted Internet connections and 77 percent report that information security is of the utmost importance. Despite this, over 87 percent of small businesses are unprepared for data breaches that may occur online or through other, traditional methods.

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Small Business Owners – Do you have Long-term Saving Plan?

Long term saving plan for small business owners
If you are like most small business owners you don’t pay enough attention to saving for the long-term. After all, when you can invest money in your own business and get higher return than saving at a bank why wouldn’t you reinvest in your business instead of saving it. Many business owners do not even keep their personal and business finances separate. Their accounts and expenses are intertwined moving money from personal to business and vice versa all the time.

This could be a big mistake. As much as you would like to invest your money back in the business this can create number of issues potentially not only impacting you, but your family too. First of all, if something goes wrong with the business you could lose it all with no rainy day fund to tap into. The tax authorities will also come down hard in audits if you cannot show how your personal and business finances are kept separate.
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Too Much, Too Fast – Lessons from JC Penney Failure for Small Business

Too much too fast - lessons from JC Penney failure - 2
By now, most in the business community have heard about the ouster of Ron Johnson as CEO of JC Penney after only 17 months on the job. This was a stunning reversal of fortune for Ron Johnson who was regarded as retail Guru based on his accomplishments in transforming Target to “Cheap Chick” retailer and hugely successful launch of Apple Stores. When he was hired at JC Penney he was viewed as a savior who would rescue JC Penney from the downfall it was experiencing for several years.

However, things have not turned out to be that way. In 17 months JC Penney has been in complete turmoil. Sales in 2012 declined 25% compared to prior year representing a staggering $4.3 Billion in lost sales. In 2012 it recorded loss of $1 Billion. No other company has seen such a precipitous loss of value in this short time. So, what went wrong and what lessons can small business owner learn from this?
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Beware of These 5 Traps when Hiring in Small Business

5 traps to watch for when hiring in small business
There are few decisions as important as hiring employees when running a small business. Hiring the right person can take your business to new heights. On the contrary, it doesn’t take long for the business to go in the ditch if a wrong person comes onboard. After all, all businesses, large and small, are largely dependent on their employees to keep them going. The owner or the manager alone cannot take care of everything.

Attrition remains a big problem for all small businesses. It is not surprising to find replacement of the entire workforce within a year. Many small business owners feel as if they are in the constant hiring mode – advertising, interviewing and onboarding employees. How can you expect to do rigorous job when you are always in the hiring mode? However, taking right steps early on and spending extra effort in finding and retaining good employees can pay off in reduced attrition rate, taking care of the nipping the problem from the bud. In an earlier post, I discussed 5 things small business owners must do when hiring. Here we will look at the corollary. What are the traps small business owners should avoid to ensure they don’t end up with bad apples in their employee crew?
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