Business Plus Baby

If you are the owner of a relatively small business it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you are immune from data breaches caused by cyber attacks. However suffering a cyber attack is the single biggest threat to your business. In fact research has shown that 9 out of 10 data breaches involve small businesses.

A data breach can be catastrophic for small business owners as there are so many legalities connected to the storage of data. Fines and penalties if a breach occurs can be substantial. If valuable data is breached your reputation as a trusted businesses is likely to be damaged.  

It doesn’t matter how small or large your business is, you will at some point gather personal information from employees and customers. This could be in the form of addresses, ethnicity, health records, criminal records and sexulaity. Obviously some of this information is sensitive in nature and if breached could be used in a discriminatory way. For this reason there are many laws relating to protecting the data.

Data protection laws apply to all kinds of businesses and vary depending on where in the world you live. If you store personal data the laws apply whether you are a sole trader or large limited company.

Your responsibilities as a small business owner

All data that your business gathers and stores must be done in a transparent way ie the individual from whom you are collecting data must be informed clearly of who you are, what the data is to be used for and whether it will be shared with other parties external to your business.

The data you collect must be accurate and individuals should be given the opportunity to correct any discrepancies. The data must not be excessive and suitable for the purpose intended.  

Ensure that the data is only stored for a stipulated length of time, following which the data should be securely deleted or destroyed.

All data must be stored securely and storage methods must be current and effective. You could consider practice management solutions by outsourcing storage in a safe and secure manner. Ensure any software relating to cyber security is up to date.

To backup how your business manages data protection, consider developing policies and procedures relating to the safe storage of data and how the business adheres to data protection acts and regulations.

How to avoid a data protection breach

Breaches can occur in a number of ways. Staff can cause breaches either maliciously or unintentionally, so it essential to restrict access to information relating to personal data. Staff should be well trained on how to manage data security and contracts and terms of employment should have a section relating to data breaches.

Your computer systems are vulnerable to being hacked which could result in a breach of data protection. To deter a cyber security breach you should ensure that your security software is sufficient to cope with any threats. Passwords should be restricted to only a small number of people and should be changed frequently. Become aware of phishing emails, which often contain malicious spyware. Avoid opening any email that looks suspicious and delete them immediately.

Invest in the best cyber security you can afford, as in the long run, it will be worth the expenditure.  

Image: typographyimages

The hiring process starts with a stack of applications that you have to start cutting down. In the initial stages, it’s easy. You get rid of anybody that doesn’t have relevant experience or the right qualifications or anybody that made careless mistakes like spelling errors. Hopefully, you’ve put a big dent in it and now you can start looking at things like extra qualifications and experience, hobbies, and other achievements. Once you’ve got your shortlist of candidates, it’s time to start interviewing. If you’re lucky, there will be one candidate that stands out above the rest and your decision will be easy. If you’re unlucky, you’ll have two equally qualified candidates that you just can’t decide between. When you’re stuck in that position, there are a few questions that can help you to decide.

image: ryanmorrison

Do They Come Recommended?

A personal recommendation from another company or a recruitment agency goes a long way if you’re stuck between two candidates. That’s why it’s a good idea to use a company like Extra Personnel Recruitment Agency to send you applicants when you’ve got a position open. You can already be sure that they’re reliable and hardworking candidates because the recruitment company can vouch for them. References are important as well, especially if you know their old boss. On a written reference, some of the candidate’s shortcomings might be left out but if you call up their old boss and ask for an honest picture of the employee and how they work, you can get a much better idea of whether they’re right for your company.

Would They Get On With Their Coworkers?

Obviously, a person qualifications and experience for a given job should come first, but if you’ve got two equally qualified people, you can separate them based on which would fit in with the company better. It’s important that employees have a good working relationship if they’re going to be efficient so if you’ve got one candidate that you don’t think has that much in common with the rest of their staff, it might be best to go another way. They don’t need to be best friends with everybody but somebody who you think might clash with other staff members is worth avoiding.

Why Do They Want To Work For You?

Most interviewers ask this question because it’s an important one. If you’ve got one applicant that wants to join your company because the salary is better and they hate their old job, they’re not going to be that enthusiastic about the company. But if you’ve got an applicant that is excited about your company and what it does, they’re far more likely to be a motivated employee that puts a lot of effort into improving and advancing the company, rather than just coming in, doing their work and leaving. It’s this passion that drives successful businesses so it should always be a priority when trying to decide between two candidates.

How Often Do They Change Jobs?

When you hire an employee, you’re making an investment in that person. You have to spend time and money training them and if they leave after a few months, that leaves you in exactly the same position as you are now. That’s why it’s a good idea to look at how many different jobs they’ve had recently, if it’s a lot, that’s an indication that they’ll quickly become bored and move to another position if it comes up. You want to hire somebody that is loyal and will stay with the company for years to come. However, you shouldn’t just write off somebody straight away if they’ve jumped around a lot, you should ask them why. It might be that none of the previous jobs challenged them enough, in which case, you can keep them there by stretching them and offering them new projects. But if they’ve been moving a lot for higher salaries, or because they had clashes with bosses, that’s a warning sign and you should steer clear.

How Do They Work Best?

Even if they’re equally qualified, it doesn’t mean they’re going to be equally as effective in your company. Every business has its own way of working and they’re all different. You need to ask the applicants how they work best and see whether this fits into your business practices. For example, if you use a lot of group spaces and collaborative projects and have a fairly fluid office, you don’t want to hire somebody who works best alone, sat in a cubicle. Equally, if your employees are fairly independent in their work, you don’t want to hire somebody that needs to bounce ideas of other people and pool skills to get things done. Ask a little about how things used to be done at their old job and whether they liked it that way or not, then you can get an idea of whether they would adapt well to the new work environment if you hired them.

Are They Adaptable?

image: geralt

When you’re making big changes to your company, it’s sometimes necessary to shift employees around a bit and have them take on different roles. While both candidates might be equally qualified for the position that you’re offering right now, you should be looking for the one that is most adaptable. If you look at the skills and experience they have outside of the proposed position, you might be able to separate the two. For example, if you’re offering a sales job but one candidate has some good marketing experience as well, they’re adaptable in future. If you lose somebody from marketing and you need somebody to pick up the extra work, they can fill in. If you hire an employee that has a fairly narrow set of skills, you’ll struggle to know what to do with them if you restructure the company and start moving people around.

Choosing between two equally qualified candidates is always hard but by asking these questions, you can work out which will bring more value to the company.

As the owner of a business, you have to be realistic. You have to realize that things aren’t always going to go swimmingly, and sometimes you’ll face problems. The secret to success is being prepared for any issues, meaning you can fix them quickly, and reduce their negative impact on your business.

Keeping that in mind, let’s talk about worst-case scenarios. What are some of the worst things that can happen to your business, and how can you prepare for them?

Image: Karl-Ludwig Poggemann

Computer Crashes

A very common ‘worst-case scenario’ for modern businesses is that your computer breaks down or crashes. This becomes a huge problem when you consider all the important data files on this device. If you haven’t got a plan in place, then these files will be lost forever, causing a major setback for your business. On the contrary, many IT companies can help you put a plan in place. All it takes is a simple backup/data recovery solution, and you’ve got a safety net. Essentially, this solution just backs up your data to different devices – or places, like the cloud – so you don’t have everything only in one place. If your computer crashes, all the data is safely found elsewhere, causing no problems!

Lack Of Customers

Naturally, a big problem for a business is not having many customers. This means you don’t have a lot of people spending money on your products/services, so you aren’t generating any income. Most businesses should have a business plan in place to help bring in customers. But, if this fails, you need to have a plan B waiting in the wings. Consider short-term solutions to try and bring in a loyal customer base, like cutting the price of your products/services. Offering special deals will entice more people in, then they’ll grow to love the service your business offers, and you can build a loyal customer base from this.

Not Enough Money

You may think that not having enough money is similar to not having enough customers. It can be because customers bring in revenue, and a lack of customers equals a lack of revenue. However, imagine you get plenty of customers, but you have loads of business expenses to take care of too. Even though your sales figures are great, you don’t have enough money to pay for everything, and you start to owe money to lots of different companies. The easy solution is to find ways of getting more money, while also trying to reduce overheads. Starting a crowdfunding scheme is a good idea to try and raise money for your business without being in debt to anyone. Also, make a list of all your business expenses and see which ones are essential and useful. Go through the ‘useful’ list and see which ones you can maybe cut out or spend less money on.

A worst-case scenario doesn’t have to be terrible if you’re prepared for it. Hopefully, you’ve seen these three examples and can now prepare for them to ensure they don’t harm you if they happen. Business success is all about learning how to get out of the low points as quickly as possible, rather than staying in a bad situation for too long.

A lot of people are thinking of starting their own small business, and a lot of thought goes into all the areas they’re going to need to control. Things like the payroll, how many employees you can take on, whether or not you can pay for overtime etc. are all big parts of the business plan. However, they’re not the only financial considerations we should take on.

In the same way we often miss out on completing tasks because we run out of time, we can lose a lot of money on the little known costs of running our own businesses. So before you start up (or decide you need to be a bit more cost effective in your operations!), take a look at this list to see where you’re going wrong.

image: lukas

Office Equipment

So you know you have to pay for the right to use the office space, and you’ve got the wifi and the electricity all hooked up. Great, you’ve completed the basics! Of course you’re going to have to fork out for some computers, a water cooler, and a printer, but the outgoing cash flow doesn’t stop there either.

If anything breaks down, you’re going to have to pay for repairs. Similarly, if an upgrade is available, you’re likely going to have to pay for them too. Owning a computer is an investment at work, and you’re going to have to keep spending money to keep the technology working. Efficiency comes at a price after all.

Paying for a Bathroom

The bathroom is something we need to run efficiently as people, and that means there’s no option over not having one in your workplace. You probably just think a basic room with a couple of toilets and sinks in will be enough to keep everyone going for the day. However, there’s a lot of things you’re going to have to pay for to make sure the toilet is kept clean and tidy, and doesn’t become a hazard to your company.

First of all, you’re going to need soap to wash hands with, and then something to dry your hands off on afterwards. Electronics and water don’t mix well after all! Of course, you can debate hand dryers vs paper towels as much as you like, but getting something installed that’s going to keep on working will be cheaper than having to restock on tissues every month.

Losing Business

It’s not something anybody in business actually likes to think about, but there’s always a chance you’re going to lose profits out of your company, and you’ll have to end up covering these. Anything from lost inventory to a failed sale can mean a serious downturn, and it’s something you’re going to have to account for in your business plan.

There’s a lot of costs in business, and some can be more significant than others. Make sure you’re accounting for any that can apply to you, and always look after the areas in which cash flow could be involved.