Four Items to Keep Your Small Business Legal and Safe

Always be prepared for the worst

small business safety

With taxes, payroll, inventory and so many other things for a small business owner to juggle, worker safety may not always be at the forefront of your mind. But even if you have just one employee, both the federal government and your state have requirements that it’s important to adhere to.

Whether you manage a staff of several dozen people or strictly utilize contract workers, it’s wise to emphasize safety at your workplace. Not only will promoting safe conditions and practices give you an added layer of protection in the event of an accident (and remember, anything can happen), it also demonstrates to your employees, coworkers and clients that you’re a conscientious business that cares about the people it works with.

Perhaps you’ve never thought about business safety at all, apart from meeting the legal requirements your lawyer alerted you too when you opened your business. Even if you’re in a low-risk office environment, consider adding or updating the following items that are wise for any small business to keep on hand:

Disaster Plan and Supplies

What’s up with the weather lately? Areas of the country that once seemed relatively immune to natural disasters have been caught off guard in recent years, from tornadoes sweeping across the Southeast to a hurricane slamming into New England.

At your next meeting with employees, discuss a plan in the event of a tornado, earthquake or even a power outage. Make sure that your building has at least two ways out — windows that are stuck shut could prevent escape if a primary exit is blocked.

Keep gallons of water, some energy bars, batteries, flashlights, and a radio on hand (cell reception can go out during a major disaster), and make sure that everyone who spends time in your building knows where this is located.

First Aid Kit

If your office is large or has multiple levels, consider this one to be plural. Keep your kits stocked with antibiotic ointment, hot and cold packs, burn cream, bandages, tweezers, alcohol and over-the-counter pain relievers. Even if 99 out of 100 times, your first aid kit is utilized for headaches and paper cuts, you’ll be glad you have it in the event of a real emergency. The ability to stabilize a burn or cut victim until professional help arrives can mean the difference between life and death.

Put it on your calendar to check and restock your first aid kits every three months.

Proper Signage

If there’s ever a fire or a major emergency at your office, it’s possible that first-time customers or visitors could be present. Even if your employees are all well-versed in emergency exits and a disaster plan, those less familiar with your business will instinctively panic.

Are your exit signs well-placed and lit? Check those bulbs.

If your business utilizes machinery, you’re likely well-versed in safety signage that warns people of possible dangers. Office workers, however, get few reminders about the hazards of their job. Consider placing friendly signs in bathrooms and communal areas, reminding employees to stretch and take breaks to prevent repetitive motion injuries to their wrists and back.

Safety Manuals and Training

Most businesses have a safety manual that’s distributed to employees when they begin their jobs. Few ever open and read this. Although the manuals are often designed to meet legal requirements, it’s worth following up with employees during meetings and workshops. An annual safety training refresher course can double as a team-building exercise, and it’s a chance for a business owner to say ‘thank you’ to employees by providing a tasty lunch while they discuss safety protocol at the business.

Even though the chances are (hopefully) slim of an emergency occurring, it’s always best to prepare for the worst. Employees who feel like their safety and health is genuinely considered and cared about by their superiors will be happier and more productive in their jobs.

About the Author: Jay Acker leads a group of producers who create OSHA safety manuals and other training materials for business customers. They make training kits, courseware and safety posters at www.safetyservicescompany.com.

Sometimes You Gotta Make it Alone? The Benefits of Mentoring

It’s a thrill being an entrepreneur – it is a fantastic achievement to be striking out and working for yourself. You want to prove your strength and capability, but often this can mean taking on more than you are equipped to deal with. Maybe you might struggle having so much to do, get bogged down not knowing which ideas to choose, or you simply might not be able to focus on the most important things you need to grow your business.

Newsflash! You don’t have to go it alone – in fact it is better if you don’t!

mentoring
Image by U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Northeast Region

Help is at hand for small businesses in the form of Mentoring, and it can be HUGELY beneficial. Mentoring is a low cost, high quality solution – YOU are the most valuable asset to your business, so strategically enhancing your talents will translate into real results.

Let’s take a look at some of the benefits:

  • A proven method to share ideas, try new skills and take risks
  • Transfer of knowledge and know-how
  • Learning from the experience and mistakes of experts
  • Coaching on achieving the objectives of your business, both short and long term.
  • Enhanced capacity to translate values and strategies into productive actions
  • Expanding your personal network to help open new doors for your business
  • Increased self-awareness, self-discipline and areas for improvement
  • Increased technical and professional expertise

Mentoring can take many forms. One on one is great for building a very in depth relationship with a mentor. Masterminds and group mentoring have the added benefits of not only making the most of the experience of your mentor, but also promoting diversity of thinking, practice and understanding by sharing ideas and expertise with your peers – the diversity of perspectives that emerges from group mentoring interaction is a powerful motivator!

So let someone else take some of the strain. Find a mentorship program or Mastermind that is right for you and take advantage of the wealth of knowledge and experience of a seasoned professional to achieve big results!

About James T Noble

James makes small businesses bigger. He’s worked with some of the world’s largest brands and companies to market their products and services online – including Disney, Microsoft, 20th Century Fox, Virgin, Coca Cola, MTV and many others. Find out more and read business growth tips at http://www.JamesTNoble.com

Tips to Survive When Your Small Business Is In Financial Crisis

The current economic situation has in one way or another impacted every business in the world. Business owners are struggling to survive the economic downtime. Small business will easily fall prey to the economic down time. To avoid the crippling effects of the financial crisis you need to find some tips and tricks that will help your business to survive.

helping hands

Image by GrowWear

Here are some well-researched tips will help your company to withstand these hardships:

Cut the costs

Cost cutting is the best way to save some money. However, be careful when doing this as an improper decision can be just as damaging as the recession itself. Some small business owners start cutting their labour cost when they encounter crisis. However you have to be practical this may not be advisable as when the sales pick up you don’t have staff to cover it. So cut down on factors that are not essential or have little impact on other functions.

Pay your bills on time

This is the best way to save some money as the late payment charges and other penalties can prove to be crippling. Your credit rating will also be improved thus enabling you to receive financial support from the institutions in the future without difficulty. If you don’t have money on your due date to pay off your bills you can opt for payday loans. These loans provide you with instant cash and are easily repayable on your next payday.

Spend some money on marketing

You may be under the misconception that spending money during an economic down turn is a bad idea but in reality it is a good idea. You need to be more aggressive with your marketing during down turns. Marketing may cost you but it gives you a good return on your investment. If you lack funds to invest on marketing you can get the help from the payday loans.

Review all the costs

You need to review all the costs. This will help you to find where your money is going. Check the costs of fuel, water and energy overheads. You can set some fixed-price contracts on these areas to reduce the costs.

Motivate yourself

It is advisable to motivate yourself in such a way that you can face any kind of problems in bad times. Also motivate your employees to face the challenges. Reading motivational books and magazines will develop a positive attitude which will help you to overcome any type of problem.

If you follow the above tips with a strong desire and a little financial discipline then you can easily survive the financial crisis.

Author Bio: My name is Michelle. I am a tech writer from UK. I am into Finance. Catch me @financeport

Five More Apps Every Small Business Owner Should Have

Small business owners are some of the most hard-working people in the world. Not only do they have to market their products and keep customers happy, but they are often in charge of managing all the little details behind the scenes. The good news for my fellow entrepreneurs is that there are numerous tools available on the internet that can help get things done and keep a business running smoothly.

We put up a blog post back in March that listed five of the best apps for small business owners. Today, I’d like to add to that post with a list of five more apps every small business owner should have. These apps are all cheap and effective.

Box.com

Box.com is an online storage, file syncing and collaboration tool that I consider a must-have for every small business. The most useful feature of Box is its ability to sync your most important files across multiple computers and mobile devices. This eliminates the need to e-mail documents to yourself whenever you want to take them with you on your laptop or smartphone.

Additionally, Box.com can be used to back up important files. Every document that you save in your local Box folder is automatically backed up to the cloud for safekeeping. You can also invite collaborators to your shared folders for easy online collaboration.

Box.com offers a free plan with 2 GB of storage space. You do not need to give them your payment information; just sign up and download the software. Many people are able to get by with the free plan for a long time. If you decide to upgrade, paid plans are all reasonably priced.

Aweber

Aweber is an online newsletter management system. In short, Aweber.com helps you create a database of customer e-mails and send regular newsletters to your subscribers. This tool is useful for both web-based and brick-and-mortar businesses. Newsletters help you keep in touch with customers, build trust and upsell new services.

A subscription to Aweber costs $19 a month for up to 500 subscribers. After that, you can upgrade for an extra $10 a month for larger e-mail lists. Although small business owners may be reluctant to take on additional payments, I am fully convinced that Aweber pays for itself if used to its full potential.

A Virtual Office

A virtual office allows you to take advantage of a legitimate office space without spending money on expensive real estate. Virtual offices provide working space, conference rooms, internet access, a business mailing address, phone assistants and the opportunity to work alongside other small business owners.

The prices for virtual offices vary greatly depending on your needs. You can get a virtual phone line for a few dollars a month or spend a couple hundred a month for your own office space. Just run a Google search for virtual offices in your city to learn more.

The greatest benefit of a virtual office is that it lends additional credibility to your business. You can set up a professional mailing address, meet with clients in an office setting and host conferences in large meeting rooms. This is a must-have for the small business on a budget.

LibreOffice

LibreOffice is similar to Microsoft Office except it is completely free. LibreOffice is 100% free to download and use. It supports Microsoft Office file extensions and comes with a word processor, spreadsheet tool, presentation tool, Photoshop-style image editor, database tool and an equation editor.

If you’re in dire need of an office suite similar to Microsoft Office but don’t have the funds to make the purchase, LibreOffice is the answer. You can learn more and download it at LibreOffice.org.

Monitter

Monitter is an awesome tool if your small business has a presence on Twitter. This free tool allows you to monitor specific keywords on Twitter related to your business. You can look for generic terms related to your business or for your business name specifically.

Best of all, Monitter.com can narrow down searches to a geographic location. This comes in handy if your business has a common name and you don’t want to see Twitter results from other companies located around the world. You can try it out at Monitter.com.

About the Author: Wes Burns is an internet marketer and online entrepreneur. He is currently working on an online file storage site that provides reviews, tech news and tips for the online storage industry.

Three Tips for Small Business Owners

There was a time when you couldn’t start a business without putting your credit on the line with a business loan. Today, all you really need is a two hundred dollar laptop or used smartphone and an internet connection. Here are a few principles to keep in mind before you get started:

A Word on Cost, Risk and Planning

Something to bear in mind when it comes to the concept of cost and risk: the more something costs you in terms of time, money and effort, the more planning you should put into it, the more research. When you pay for web hosting, for instance, you need to do you homework and make sure that you’re going with the right web host for your business. On the other hand, sending an email to a graphic designer for a quote takes about one minute, so you don’t need to spend all day researching graphic designers to make that choice.

The more something costs, the more planning it should involve. Maintain this rule of thumb in order to manage risk and to avoid getting hung up on the small stuff.

Plan to Fail

Big ideas are the only ones worth having anymore. You need to be the best at whatever it is you do, and that means thinking big. Making a modest profit on iPods on eBay isn’t going to work, because the people who already dominate that market will just cut their prices lower when you come in to compete with them. They have the access to greater bulk quantities of goods that they can sell for cheaper, so simply selling commodities won’t cut it, someone will always be able to undersell you in that area.

Big ideas are the ones with potential to fail. When you decide to be the very best shoe repairer in your city, when you decide to create a new kind of light bulb, these are the kind of ideas that will allow you to dominate that field if you succeed, but that always have the potential for failure.

Luckily, every failure is a chance to learn, to grow, and to try again. We don’t like the idea of failure, but anything that doesn’t kill us or bankrupt us is a failure that we can afford to risk, and more importantly, nobody ever succeeded without risking failure. Some of the most successful business people failed dozens of times and tried their hands at dozens of things before finding the niche where they truly excelled.

Selling the Story

What you’re really selling at the end of the day is not a better hair dryer, it’s not a nicer pair of athletic shoes, it’s a story. Your customers want to experience something through your product or service, some kind of adventure or competitive edge. Even someone who buys an energy drink isn’t buying caffeine, they’re buying an extra couple of hours partying or they’re buying greater productivity at work.
Stop thinking of your product or service in terms of commodity and start thinking of it in terms of the story.

About the Author: Charles Moore has the credit of writing articles on home organization and solution. He is also a regular contributor to Movingtips.org.