Small Business Tips and Ideas - BizSieve.com

How To Protect Your Business With Video Surveillance And Additional Security Measures

You do everything you can to make sure your home is safe from trespassers and lawbreakers, so why wouldn’t you do the same for your business? Implementing effective practices to secure company property and information is vital to running a successful business. It’s an unfortunate reality that companies, both large and small, are vulnerable to theft, vandalism, employee dishonesty and breaches in security that can result in great turmoil and profit loss. From making a sound investment in a video surveillance system to enforcing network security, follow these tips to protect your business against potential crime and subsequent damages.

Invest in a Video Surveillance System

Video surveillance has many benefits in a workplace setting. Installed in all the right places, cameras monitoring the perimeter of a property as well as its interior workings can be a major deterrent to uninvited guests on the premises along with a discouragement to employee criminality. Video surveillance systems have made the ability to oversee all aspects of your business at any given time a simple matter with the use of high resolution cameras, the capability to record and playback, real-time alerts and several other handy features. While visible cameras will prove to provide an obstacle to many would-be offenders, installing hidden cameras as well can aid in catching those who have figured out a way to take advantage of blind spots in the detectable cameras and continue on with their unlawful activity.

Ensure the Property is Well-Lit

Sufficient lighting in and around a property is also crucial to the prevention of crime in a business. Trespassers tend to stay away from areas that will put them in the spotlight and make them readily identifiable. Dark areas and shadowy corners (especially in parking lots and garages) are inviting to lawbreakers, so taking precautions to maximize visibility can reduce possible wrongdoings.

Install Access Control

Another way to ensure 24/7 protection is with the installation of an access control system. These systems can be customized to be as basic or elaborate as a business requires. By keeping a record of who’s entering and exiting the company and/or each area of the building, access control systems allow business owners to decrease security threats and quickly trace any incidents back to the culprit. With access control, all entry points can be remotely regulated, and a business is able to go into lockdown mode in the event of an impending risky situation.

Don’t Neglect Network Security

Safeguarding company information, files and data is just as important as physical security. Cybercrime is becoming increasingly prevalent among businesses that haven’t prepared themselves properly to block hackers and malware. Have a regularly scheduled off-site backup solution for all company computers, reinforce security on file sharing programs, websites, etc. and educate all employees on security efforts and how to keep an eye out for any breaches.

Don’t wait until your business becomes a victim of criminal activity to install a video surveillance system or put these other security measures into action. Protect your company before it suffers a big hit.

About the Author: By Tiffany Olson

Tiffany Olson resides in California and loves to blog about anything related to helping businesses grow and stay protected. When she’s not writing you’ll usually find her traveling, reading, or cooking.

Building Better Business Meeting Etiquette

A business meeting can be held anywhere – in offices, hotels, coffee shops, conference centers, online, etc. There are different types of business meetings and each type of meeting has its unique rules. The unwritten commandments of any meeting are:

a.    Politeness
b.    Respect
c. Empathy
d.   Common sense
e.   Good behavior

If any of these commandments are violated, the meeting can fail. So, to ensure that your meeting is a success, here a basic primer on meeting etiquette:

Virtual Meetings

The meeting organizer must control the meeting. He must ensure that the meeting is brief and yet productive. He also must realize that many participants can slack off during virtual meetings, and therefore he must ensure that every item on the agenda holds the attention.

The organizer should communicate the meeting’s goals to all participants in a prior email. He should set expectations and communicate them to all participants. The attendees also should confirm if they are available on the meeting date and time.

The meeting should start as per schedule and its proceedings should be recorded by an assistant. Attention must be paid to action items and their allocation.

The organizer should send the minutes of the meeting to all the invitees, irrespective of the fact they couldn’t attend. He also should send the minutes to any person who is impacted by any decision made at the meeting.

Company Meetings

Such meetings are formal affairs that require advance preparation. All participants must double-check their data and presentations in advance and make suitable revisions/updates in the days leading up to the meeting.

Participants must arrive on time, follow the seating arrangement and the dress code. They must not carry their mobile devices. Carrying a notebook or diary and pen to such formal business gatherings is a must.

Protocol must be followed and senior colleagues should be allowed to have their say, participants must be brief and to the point while making their presentations. They must address the chair while making a point.

To Sum Up

There are certain unwritten common sense rules of every meeting. Participants should arrive before the meeting begins and be prepared with their items. They should interact with all the participants instead of forming silos and indulging
in small-group conversations.

They must listen attentively and speak only when they are given the floor. However, questions can be posed during the question time allotted after every topic – only relevant questions should be asked. Also, asking the right questions requires making relevant notes using paper and pen.

Participants should not bring any unannounced guests and control their urge to tap the pen on the table or their feet on the floor. Papers must not be rustled every now and then and participants must avoid doodling or unintentionally disturbing the speaker or their neighbors in any which way.

These are all commonsense tips that most office workers and business owners may know. What you have read is not the Bible of business meeting behavior – it is a plain and simple guide that will help you understand a business meeting’s basic expectations and plan accordingly.

About the Author: Evelyn A. Brown is an event planner who lives in Spartanburg, SC. She organizes meetings, conferences, product launch, weddings, and many more. She usually collaborates with EmpowerMint to find the proper venues for the events she handles.

Office Acquisition – The importance of having an agent on board

People tend to consider the role of an estate agent to be somewhat limited in its scope. Many would leave contacting an agent until quite late in the process of acquiring new business premises and wait until they had a clear idea and plan of what they wanted before getting one on board.

What those people don’t realise is that estate agents have a much broader range of skills than just providing a list of properties on their books and arranging viewings. They have connections across the property market and can help from the moment of considering a move to new premises right the way through to taking possession of the keys.

Determining your requirements

With a great deal of experience of dealing with dozens or even hundreds of clients throughout the course of their work, business estate agents have an excellent grip on the kinds of premises that will work for a business and how those needs can be required. Getting in touch with an estate agent as soon as you’re thinking about acquiring an office means they can ask the right kinds of questions and get companies looking at the sorts of properties that would be suitable for your needs sooner than if left to one’s own devices.

Meeting with an agent can help a company seeking an office to think through a number of things. The needs of the business, the likely use of the premises and available finances will help to set the scene for the types of offices that could be within reach and those that can be ruled out from the outset. Considering things such as ownership or lease, tenure and future expansion plans for the company can also assist with future-proofing plans for office space.

Finding the right property

With the company’s requirements and parameters in hand, an estate agent such as Occupa can then go about finding properties that fit the bill. The search conducted by the agent will take into account a number of things such as required space, cost, location and terms of the purchase or lease. By sifting out the properties that don’t meet the company’s vital requirements, the remaining list is a viable set of possibilities that the time-pressed company decision makers can consider.

The estate agent’s role is to do the searching for the company

Choosing a specialist corporate estate agent can also allow businesses to access a range of other supporting services. From seeking finance to purchase properties outright through to office removal firms, agents working in the field will be able to put businesses in contact with the right people to make the process as easy as possible.

Sealing the deal

Once the property has been selected, estate agents can guide the company through making the offer for purchase or lease. Negotiations will be carried out through the agent, so the fuller idea they have of the company’s requirements, limitations and points of flexibility, the better job they can do on the business’s behalf.

The agent can get you to the point where the deal is sealed

When the company’s offer for the office has been accepted, the role of finalising arrangements and agreement can be passed to solicitors. However, everything before that point is something in which the estate agent can have a key role in securing and agreeing.

Conclusion

Rather than just acting as a list service for office properties, estate agents have a valuable role to play in the acquisition of offices right from the first thoughts about taking on new premises. Involve specialist business estate agents at the earliest opportunity to ensure that the best advantage is taken of their unique abilities and inside knowledge on the workings of the corporate property market.

Image Credits: mushon and SalFalko

The Importance Of A Business-To-Business Partnership

The marketplace is a wild place. It’s no secret that the dog-eat-dog climate of working in a competitive industry with a determined company can be highly stressful and call for careful business planning and tactics. This is because with such huge opportunities and outlets for growth many companies are struggling to stay ahead of the curve and be the best at turning a profit. However, in such a financially and structurally diverse ‘jungle’ of a marketplace, sometimes it’s better to travel in a pack rather than be the lone wolf.

For years the business climate and ways of industry practice have been head to head. The cut throat decision making and make or break efforts of a business plan that were once reserved for only the largest multi-national conglomerate corporations has now trickled down into ever a serious competition between small local businesses. No matter what the industry, a company is best to wi
sely pick their friends and enemies. This is why many companies must know the importance of have a proper and productive business-to-business partnership.

What Is A Business To Business Partnership?

A Business To Business Partnership, otherwise referred to as B2B relations, is when two businesses work together to benefit from each other’s services. Often times one or possibly both of the businesses are client based. This means that they provide a good or service to particular individuals. A partnership allows for both companies to be more productive and profitable by gaining what the other has to offer. This can span from deals on each other’s services to joint promotional offers or campaigns.

Joining a business to business partnership is a very beneficial thing, but also a meticulous process that shouldn’t be rushed into. One of the best examples to give in regard
s to what a B2B relationship can be and how it can be organized is the use of many local cities like Austin, Texas, using voucher-based promotions from various companies. For instance one of the more famous programs used by companies all over the world is Groupon. They approach local or national businesses, both service and good based, to buy into their program. The program allows clients and consumers to get a business’ service or good at a discounted percentage, thus driving more traffic to that business while simultaneously promoting Groupon.

However, that is not the only discounted voucher-based program here in town. There are several different ones; Bellie, GoodyBag, Go Local. All of these offer their own rates and charges for setting up a discount voucher deal. This is where an individual business has to make sure the plan they choose benefits them most. Questions like “Is it cost-efficient?” and &ldquo
;What’s the prospected turn around of this investment” come into play because no business can profit in a partnership where they give more than they receive. Shopping around for the right B2B relationship is a major part of the decision, because in such a fast paced ‘shark tank’ of a businesses climate there is little room and time for a mistake of a partnership to form.

Contracting Business To Business Partnerships

We’ve all seen the in various scenarios the importance of having a paper trail. Contractual agreements are great legal evidence of an agreement made and hold up strongly if legal action should be taken. Having a proper contractual agreement between businesses in a B2B relationship is vital because it ensure that both companies will uphold their end of the agreement. This way there will be no question as to the duration of the partnership, the cost of the agreement on each end, and even the quality of service or good being received. Since both parties set out to benefit in a partnership it is in their best interest to uphold their end of the deal so that ethically, as well as legally, the other will do the same.

Taking legal action on a failed or insufficient partnership is always a scenario that is frowned upon. With all the effort that goes into orchestrating and designing a business to business partnership it is a shame to see it go to waste of a company’s failure to provide or uphold. However, these instances do happen and having a properly outlined and clearly stated contract signed and acknowledged by both parties is the easiest way to terminate or amend the situation without a long drawn out process that can jeopardize business.

Business to Business partnerships can be great and beneficial to a company at any level. If the proper steps are taken to make sure the agreement will be in a positive and efficient nature then both parties could definitely see their investment turn positive. With so many overlapping services and necessities that are provided amongst business competitors, B2B relations almost make sense when you’re looking to keep your company’s head above water. It is important to understand the weight of a contractual agreement should you enter one.

About the Author: Zach C. writes for Colley and Colley, LLP, a personal injury law firm in Austin, Texas.

4 Online Business Ideas for the Artist

4 Online Business Ideas for the Artist

There are several ways that you can utilize the Internet to help you sell your artwork. In fact, some of these options will enable you to take your designs and have them turned into a wide variety of different products, including temporary tattoos and iPhone cases. Because of this, it is important for all artists to embrace the Internet as a sales tool if they want to make enough money to quit their day job.

It is also a good idea to diversify your sales efforts by getting your artwork listed on a wide variety of websites. The following are some ways for an artist to increase their sales by use of the internet.

1. Temporary Tattoo Retailer

Getting custom pieces of art converted into a temporary tattoo has become a very popular option for people who want to change their look for a night out on the town. Creative and unique designs, such as a fake tattoo sleeve or a necklace, are great ways to get your art work noticed. Due to this, it is definitely a good idea to consider connecting with an online temporary tattoo retailer to have some of your art converted into this format.

Additionally, you could get some of these tattoos made for yourself, and they could become inexpensive giveaway pieces at art fairs to generate more interest in the rest of your work.

2. Print on Demand Sites

Consumers love having multiple options, and utilizing a print on demand site such as Zazzle or CafePress will give them the opportunity to put your artwork on a diverse selection of different items, including postcards, iPhone cases, t-shirts and calendars. Therefore, it is a good idea for artists to list their pieces on these sites in order to increase awareness and capture various demographic groups. As an added bonus, you do not need to take care of any of the customer interaction with these sites, so you can simply sit back and make some extra money.

3. Open an Online Store

Every artist should have a website that enables consumers and art lovers to peruse their latest offerings. However, it is also important to include a shopping cart feature so that people can make a purchase instantly from the site without having to take any additional steps. Keep in mind that encouraging impulse purchases in this manner is one of the best ways to increase your profit margin.

4. Etsy and eBay

Etsy is well-known to art lovers because all of the items available have been created by hand. Additionally, many consumers prefer to get artwork via eBay because they have the perception that they will get cheaper price via the popular online auction site. Because of this, it makes sense to open a store on both of these websites.

As you can see, there are many different ways to take advantage of the Internet in order to spread awareness of your work. Keep in mind that it is also worthwhile to operate a Facebook page or another social media page for your artwork to help keep all of your fans up to date about your latest projects.

Lisa Coleman shares some successful ways that an artist can utilize their talent online to help support their artistic career. From selling your paintings to designing a fake tattoo sleeve, artists are finding the Internet a great way to promote and support their creativity and work.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/duhdenise/4995660536/