8 Tips Every Small Business Should Practice

As a business owner, we should always take opportunities to reevaluate our business and determine where we might be able to do better. I wanted to share some tips to help you ensure success.

• Improving your business is an ongoing effort, and paying attention to the details of your company can help you reach success.
• Regularly updating your software helps protect your business from potential online security breaches.
• Organizing your documents helps you to access what you need quickly, which comes in handy during tax season.

For a business to succeed, it must constantly adjust in accordance with the marketplace, doubling down on what works and eliminating what doesn’t. Even if your business already has it covered, it never hurts to do a checkup. It’s important to see where you’re lacking and develop a plan to address those gaps. Here are eight best practices for small businesses to stay on the path to success.

Update software and secure networks.

Outdated software is one of the most common reasons a business’s network remains vulnerable to a cyberattack. It’s a simple fix to make sure you’re running the latest version of all your software and, if you aren’t, bringing it up to date. Doing so could prevent your business from suffering a devastating cyberattack.

Software companies regularly patch their products to defend against new threats and mitigate previous shortcomings. Ignoring these patches puts you at great risk of falling victim to preventable scenarios.

Unify your branding and marketing efforts.

In the modern digital environment, there are many channels through which businesses can reach their audience. It’s critical to ensure your brand and marketing efforts are unified and coherent across these channels while remaining optimized to each specific platform. Disjointed marketing efforts, or those that focus heavily on one channel while neglecting others, are destined to fail in a hyperconnected world.

Increase your legal and regulatory awareness.

Regulation is often the bane of a small business’s existence, as you need to stay on top of all the changes in the legal landscape of business and your industry. Although it can be a pain to navigate the byzantine world of legalese and red tape, few aspects of running a business are as important as ensuring compliance with the law.

In order to make smart decisions for your business, you need to know about existing laws on the books as well as pending legislation that might change the rules. Entrepreneurs need to remain aware of the rules at not just the federal level, but also the state and local levels. When you’re considering what a law or regulation means to your business, it’s never a bad idea to consult an attorney.

Organize your records.

A well-run business must maintain a lot of documentation, but that info doesn’t do you much good if it is disorganized and difficult to access.

You might even consider adopting technology to make your archives easier to manage. There are plenty of software solutions that help digitize paper records and automate the record-keeping process, making it easier than ever to stay on top of your filing system. These records are especially important during tax season and in dealings with the government, but they also help illuminate your regular operations.

Reaffirm your mission statement.

Your mission statement should be the foundation and guiding light of your business. It should cut to the heart of your goals and ambition, serving as a pathfinder for your team. Often, however, businesses allow their mission statement to languish unchanged, even as the company is transforming and growing.

There’s no time like the start of the year to reaffirm your company’s overarching mission and examine your goals of how to continuously serve your target customers. Make sure you and your staff both know why this company exists in the first place; this will give your team a clear objective, and the rest just comes down to planning and execution.

Reward your team.

It’s important for your team to feel appreciated. Recognition for their work and effort can improve your company culture and is also an incentive for them to produce quality work. Their achievements being overlooked can make employees feel undervalued, which can lead to low retention rates for your company. When you reward or recognize your team for their work, they are more likely to feel appreciated and work hard.

Give feedback.

Communication is the key to any relationship, including your relationship with your employees. Open, ongoing feedback is one of the few ways your team can determine how well they are performing. That clarity helps employees produce the work you need. When your staff is aware of your expectations, you can create a successful working environment. Feedback is one of the wheels that keep your business moving forward; keeping an open line of communication puts everyone on the same page.

Hold regular team meetings.

When your business is progressing, it’s easy for employees to get siloed into their own work and departments. Dedicating time for you and your staff to meet during the week fosters team-building and camaraderie. This could also be a great time to get an idea of where everyone is with their work and bounce ideas off one another. When your employees have a sense of what everyone is working on, it’s an opportunity to gather more insight and help each other reach their goals.

Calm Computing has many different services to help your business team thrive. If you or anyone you know needs assistance with their technology, please let us know as we are ready to help.