Business Plus Baby

March 22, 2016

All the tech you need to run a successful home business

If you’ve just quit your office job, and you are thinking about setting up a small business at home, then be sure you know what you are doing. You’re going to need some serious tech to kit out that home office of yours. So, be sure to check out this informative post to make sure that you’ve got everything you need to run a successful home business.

Externally Managed I.T Services

If you’re not that much of a whizz on the computer, then you won’t be able to rely on your own knowledge to fix things should they go wrong. If you don’t trust yourself in moments when problems may arise, then consider outsourcing your I.T services. This is a great idea, especially if you have no idea of what laptop to buy, or what software to use when it comes to managing and running a business. Third-party companies can help by offering you managed services that are suited to your needs. Most I.T businesses will provide around the clock support, too, should something go wrong. Cloud computing is a popular choice for small business owners. This is because it saves them money on expensive hardware, but also provides them with a reliable service.

Powerful Wireless Router

Next up, you’re going to need an exceptional wireless router and a fast broadband connection for your home office. Are you planning on relying on cloud services to keep your business’ I.T services running? If so, then you’re going to need to maintain a constant internet connection to the internet. It is, therefore, important that you don’t scrimp on your broadband package. Make sure you spend a decent amount of money, because that’s the only way you’ll get a service that will enable you to work efficiently from home.

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All-In-One Printer

Next up, you’re going to need an all-in-one printer. Running a business is going to entail a lot of paperwork. So, be sure to have vast supplies of A4, plenty of ink and a printer with all the capabilities you’ll need. It is surprising how often you find yourself needing to scan and upload documents to your computer. You won’t necessarily need a corporate laser printer, but you’ll definitely require the ability to print, copy and scan.

Smartphone

Finally, you’re going to need a smartphone to keep on top of everything. Smartphones are great because they’re always connected and almost always upon your person. Nobody goes anywhere with theirs these days! Make sure you download the Outlook app for your iOS or Android device. This is the best email client as it will sync up nicely with the Outlook application on your computer. By constantly being in sync, you’ll manage your messages far more easily. Also, be sure to make use of Google’s calendar services across your devices. This will help you keep on top of your daily duties and events. Set reminders and alerts, too because your phone will be able to notify you if you’ve forgotten to get something done. A smartphone is a very useful investment if you’re planning to run a small business from home successfully.

Ultimately, if you stick with these bits of tech, then your home office will be the prime place to launch your successful home business from. All the best!

March 22, 2016

WordPress.com vs WordPress.org: Which is best for your blog?

blog-49006_640 WordPress comes in two different varieties: WordPress.com and WordPress.org. But what’s the difference and which is best for your blog?

Let’s start by comparing the two. WordPress.com is a hosted service, which means that you create a blog on WordPress’s servers. It’s fast and easy to set up a new blog and WordPress.com offers attractive templates plus much more including backups, stats and security. You can even get a custom domain, which means you can change the URL of your WordPress blog from, say ‘blogname.wordpress.com’ to ‘blogname.com’. This gives you a more memorable URL to share as you promote your blog as well as helping you to brand your site. WordPress.com is free unless you buy any of the optional additional services they offer.

The alternative is WordPress.org. With WordPress.org you’ll need to buy your own web hosting and install the WordPress software on your web host’s server. This is more difficult than setting up WordPress.com, but there are plenty of online WordPress tutorials to help you or you can pay a web designer or freelancer to do it for you if you prefer. WordPress.org itself is free of charge as it’s open source software, although you may choose to buy some premium (ie paid) plugins.

So why would you choose the extra work of WordPress.org when you can set up a blog in seconds with WordPress.com? Well, with WordPress.org it’s your site so you can make your own rules. With WordPress.com you need to stick to WordPress.com’s terms of service. If you break these then you could lose your blog.

If you’re blogging to promote your business then having a WordPress.com blog could give the wrong impression, too. If your clients know that it’s cheap and quick to set up a self-hosted blog then it could look unprofessional to use a hosted blog such as WordPress.com, especially if you haven’t set up a custom domain. If you already have a business website then it’s usually easy to add a blog to it, so it’s worth discussing this with your web designer before you create a blog at WordPress.com.

On the other hand, if you’re just starting out in the wonderful world of blogging, then a WordPress.com blog could be a great choice. You can export your blog’s content from a hosted WordPress site to a self-hosted WordPress site later on if you need to, so this doesn’t need to be a one-off decision.

There are many other advantages to having a self-hosted blog, too. There’s a huge choice of themes and plugins which means you can choose almost any feature you want for your site from design features such as fonts, colors and layouts to functional features such as shopping carts and email sign-up boxes. So there’s plenty of room for your blog to grow, for example if you’d like to sell advertising or information products in future.

New bloggers often get confused about the difference between the two types of WordPress, so I hope that’s helped clear up any confusion!

March 19, 2016

Should you keep running your business?

At some point along any path, most people start to wonder if they’re doing the right thing. It’s not exclusively about morality. People may start having second thoughts about their businesses and financial future.

If you’re a business owner who is struggling with this question in relation to their company, don’t worry too much. You’re not the first and you won’t be the last. Running a business affects every facet of your life, so it’s only natural for you to wonder about alternatives.

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Photo via Visual Hunt

If you’re currently faced with this conundrum, read this guide. It may help you make some decisions.

Why are you have second thoughts?

You should first pinpoint what exactly it is that is making you think about leaving your business. Running your own business can be an extremely stressful job. As the boss, you are responsible for every employee in the company. The reputation of your business becomes your own reputation. Even though you’re the boss of the company, it can sometimes feel like the company is the boss of you.

Perhaps your business is having financial difficulty. Profits aren’t as high as you were expecting and your overhead costs only seem to be growing. Or maybe it’s a simple case of not feeling passionate about the product of service anymore.

Remember the sunk cost fallacy

Many people in this position will throw away their seconds thoughts and remain the owners of their business. This is fine, depending on their reasons. A common reason is that people feel they’ve spent too much time, energy and money on their business decisions to walk away from them now.

This can be an okay reason. But you need to weigh it up against your overall happiness. Making a decision based on time and money you’ve spent prior to the decision is sometimes called the sunk cost fallacy. The ‘sunk cost’ refers to the fact that what you’ve spent cannot be retrieved. The ‘fallacy’ refers to the fact that it’s irrational to allow a ‘sunk cost’ to dictate a decision. If keeping the business could be detrimental to your health or future finances, don’t let sunk costs keep you from fixing that.

Consider your options carefully

If you’re feeling stressed and burned out then your best bet is to take a vacation. Many business owners balk at the idea of taking a vacation. But that mentality is possibly what put you in this position in the first place! Think about it like this: if the alternative is you leaving the company altogether, then some time off doesn’t matter in the long run!

Time off will help you assess your options. Of course, your decision may lean on more financial matters. In which case, you should be informed of the worth of your company. Get advice from business brokers to find out what your company is worth. Selling it could well be a smart financial decision!

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Get a succession plan in order

If these feelings pass, or merely abate, you should get prepared for a possible recurrence in the future. You should be looking for ideal candidates within your company to become either interim owners or complete owners. A strong succession plan will help put you in a more stable position if you ever do feel like leaving the company in the future.

Whatever you do, make sure you think about it very carefully first. Think about what’s right for you.

March 18, 2016

Creating the perfect working environment at home

Working at home is great in everyone else’s eyes. They think that you can get up when you want and walk around in your pyjamas doing nothing all day. Of course, that is a myth because working from home is just as stressful as working from the office. Okay, you get some home comforts, but you also have to stop yourself from clocking off all of the time. The key is to create the perfect at-home work environment. Then, you can be productive without the formality of the office. Ah – that sounds like bliss! hands-woman-laptop-notebook

Get Out Of Your Pyjamas

Please don’t just sit in front of the TV in your pyjamas with your laptop. That isn’t going to accomplish anything because it promotes the wrong attitude. You want to promote a working culture, and that means you have to start by getting dressed. By all means dress casually because you don’t have anyone to impress. Just make sure you don’t dress too casually. That’s how you end up taking two hours breaks and watching a whole season of Game of Thrones!

Set Deadlines

Because you are the boss, there is no one looking over your shoulder or getting on your back. The great thing about that is the freedom, but that is also a curse. If you slack off too much, you won’t do any work. To stop this from happening, you need to set deadlines throughout the day. When you start, write down everything you need to complete and designate them a time slot. With the help of time tracking software, punctuality will become your middle name.

Be Safe

You are the boss, and it is up to you to ensure your safety while you work. You may not think it is an issue, but it is as much as an issue as health and safety in the office. After all, your home is your workplace, so it needs to adhere to the same rules. Start b
y organizing your workspace so that there is little or no clutter. Clutter is messy and can lead to trips and falls. Also, hire appliance testing services to check that the electricity is safe. Finally, create your health and safety manual. All this will help if there is a problem and the insurance company wants to investigate.

Take Regular Breaks

The problem with working in the office is that you are at the mercy of your company’s policies. But, you are the boss at home. Take advantage of this by going for frequent breaks. Breaks are proven to refresh your mind and your body, making you more productive when you return. All you have to do is schedule them so that they don’t clash with your deadlines. A tip: don’t go overboard. Frequent breaks are essential, but too many will ruin your flow. Stick to two or three a day for a maximum of thirty minutes each.

Working from home is a good experience, but only when you get it right. Hopefully, these tips will help you make a smooth transition.

March 17, 2016

Easy ways to use digital tech to make your startup stronger

The digital age is here to stay. Unless something even more convenient and connected comes along, we can expect to see more and more physical businesses taking steps towards the virtual. Even if it’s not a business that uses the online work to sell, there are loads of potential benefits for doing your business on the internet. If you’re thinking of taking the plunge, here are a few ways the virtual side of business can help you.

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Know your customer

One of the areas that has seen the biggest benefit of the virtual world is the sheer amount of data we can compile. Analytics is a huge part of using empirical data to influence real business decisions. The most common form we see analytics taking is in finding demographics. You can use data to understand your customers and visitors on your web pages with things like Google Analytics. From there, targeted marketing and product development becomes easier than ever.

Keeping track of your finances

Knowing your finances and keeping an eye on your cash flow is mandatory for succeeding at business. Yet a physical system for doing so can easily become complicated and unwieldy. With cash flow software, it’s easy to track everything and add or remove variables. Measure every minute change in cash flow without needing to grab a new sheet every time you do.

The website

Every business nowadays needs to have some kind of online presence. Even if your services are delivered entirely offline. The growing generation of customers will want to know about your services and contact details. The less they find, the more likely it is they’ll go to a competitor. Even simple websites can be great assets to your business provided you learn a few tricks first.

Social media

The next step of having any online presence is getting yourself on social media. It might sound like a chore, but Twitter and Facebook marketing are hands down the best thing the internet has brought to businesses. Potential millions are on the other end of your communications. It may take some time, but the fact you can do it entirely for free easily pays you back for that.

Going paperless

One of the benefits using a simple computer system for any business is the amount of clutter and physical space it can clear up. Virtual file management is easy and safe, provided you backup your data. Not only is it environmentally safe but it saves money, too. The space, paper and storage for all that paper costs money. Not to mention the costs of running a printer often and all the supplies for that as well.

Managing projects

If you’re running a team of your own, then you’ll no doubt have projects that need to be split up into tasks. However, it’s easy for miscommunication nor a weak link to put a halt right in the middle of it. With the right project management software, everyone can see everyone’s progress. Communication is easy since people can see the project as a whole and as a manager, you get immediate insight to any difficulties arising.