Owning your own business: It’s part of the American dream, but it can quickly turn into a nightmare with lawsuits, theft or other issues that can cause major financial devastation. Inventory shrinkage is a major issue for small businesses, with Tyco’s security survey revealing that the retail industry was hit with $35.28 billion in theft in 2011. You might not want to think about the many disasters that could befall your business, but one way to keep your business going strong is to look at all of the ways you can protect it.…
As we are approaching the year’s end, businesses scramble to offer the best for customers; this also holds true for restaurants. However, it’s often challenging to increase sales.
But fear not! In this article, you will get 10 ideas on how to improve your restaurant sales before we enter 2014. Here they are:
1. Happy Hour rocks!
Similar to retail stores, restaurants could use a boost during off-peak hours. Typically offered in the late afternoon, Happy Hour can be a great way to introduce new items in your menu, as well as a way to keep your restaurant busy; empty restaurants are turn-offs, in my opinion.…
The IT team is a company’s strong line of defense. It protects a good portion of the company’s assets in terms of information and data, and ensures that all pertinent information that the company keeps is secure from prying eyes and sticky fingers. Aside from protecting the business environment from predatory practices, the IT team also helps ensure the integrity and relevance of current hardware and related services.
Learn how to build the perfect IT team for your business and know which qualifications and characteristics to look for in each member.…
In today’s competitive business environment, often it can be difficult for small businesses to get started. More often than not, they will need to hit the ground running to catch up with local competitors, and make a name for themselves in a very fast-paced market. Every little bit can help you get an edge on the competition, and one of the most valuable things that you can do is hire interns to boost your small business’ productivity.
Interns let you focus on running your business
One of the biggest ways in which interns can help better your business is by handling the minor tasks that would have otherwise required your attention and additional micromanagement.…
Growing a small company today is not hard because the economy has improved significantly since the housing crisis. According to the US Commerce Department, the American economy grew by 2.8% in the third quarter of 2013 spurred by businesses restocking shelves as well as increased demand for new homes. For small business owners, this is a great time to expand to new markets. Here are some great tips that you can use to achieve this goal:
Employ The Right Staff
Expanding your company to a new location means that you require new employees.…
With mobile devices being so ubiquitous these days, shoowrooming–the consumer practice of price-checking on their phones or viewing products in-store only to purchase them online–is more prevalent than ever. According to a survey by Vibes, 44% of consumers say that “they frequently use their smartphone in-store to comparison shop/buy from a competitor.”
As a result, some retailers have resorted to slashing their prices to match whatever’s the lowest price online. This isn’t an ideal strategy, though, because it would likely kill your profits and attract not-so-loyal customers.…
Black hat SEO isn’t something you’ll want to boast about on the average resume, but that’s not to say that we shouldn’t have respect for those who indulge in it. Black hat SEO techniques are inherently extremely successful, so there must be something marketing professionals can learn from the dark side of optimisation. In this article, we’ll zone in on four of the key principles that can help marketers improve their skills and career prospects.
1. Making Money
Black hat tactics tend to be fast and furious: find something that works, exploit it and take the money while the going is good.…
It’s always been my view that there is no such thing as a perfect business. We may all like to believe that we understand the core elements of building a successful business, but it seems to me that there’s always room for improvement.
When thinking about the changes that can be made, I believe that there’s an important balance to be struck. I have seen business owners make hasty modifications, without giving the process due consideration. In these situations, it often seems that there is an awareness that something is going wrong.…
Did you know that more small businesses get started during rough economic times than during prosperous ones? Some of the top-earning businesses today earned the foundations of their wealth during the Great Depression. IBM, General Electric, General Motors, and FedEx are excellent examples of such companies.
Today’s economic recession is no different. The Small Business Administration estimates that there are 27.9 million small businesses in the United States, and that new startups are trending up in 2013. If you’re going joining the entrepreneurial ranks, these three financial strategies will help you keep things running smoothly.…
According to a recent study from the Fox Small Business Center, Houston, Tampa-St. Petersburg, Denver, Seattle and Dallas-Fort Worth are the top five metro areas for business growth. While having a growing business in one of those areas or any other area around the world is an impressive accomplishment, that doesn’t mean growth is free of challenges. On the contrary, rapid growth can mean that a business has to tackle challenges that it never anticipated.
If you read the previous sentence and thought “I wish my business had to deal with those types of challenges,” chances are it’s because your business isn’t growing as quickly as you’d like.…
