Mastering Professional Tax Preparation Software

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Each year, nearly 1 in 4 small businesses say tax season is the most stressful time on their calendar. But it doesn’t have to be. Tax season can be a burden for many businesses. Whether you’re a medium-sized business with tax credits to claim and a complex return or a small business with just a […]

What You Need to Know About Working Capital Loans for Small Business

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Payday and office rent are right around the corner, but a few delayed client payments have left your business with a tighter cash flow than expected. Managing day-to-day expenses while waiting for revenue to come in can be challenging, but there are solutions to help you bridge the gap. Working capital loans for businesses may […]

Business Expansion Loans: Types, Requirements & How They Work

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Your business is soaring to new heights. Sales are up and customer orders have increased weekly. This moment is everything you’ve worked toward over the past few years. You have plans to introduce a new product line and expand to a larger location. There’s just one hurdle to overcome — financing. Unfortunately, the company’s bank […]

How Payment Processing Works: Choosing the Best Option

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Technology has changed the landscape of modern business in many ways, but few are as crucial as payment processing. While businesses once could only accept cash, checks, or institute their own forms of credit, modern payment processing has streamlined customer payments and improved efficiency in all kinds of businesses. In this article, we break down […]

Top Technology Improvements To Streamline Business Processes

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Every business has repetitive tasks that are essential to day-to-day operations. Routine can sometimes bog businesses down, leading to bottlenecks and silos that reduce efficiency. Understanding and streamlining business processes is necessary for encouraging productivity and maintaining a competitive edge in an evolving market. There are many ways to streamline business processes. Automation and project […]

How Seasonal Businesses Can Maximize Year-Round Profits

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Seasonal business owners are familiar with the challenges of peak seasons and off-season lulls. However, there are ways to ensure steady business throughout the year. In this article, altbanq explores strategies to maximize profits year-round, even when demand for primary products or services wanes. From smart marketing tactics to diversifying offerings, seasonal businesses can become […]

How to Future-Proof Your Small Business: Expert Tips on Preparing for the Future

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The Covid-19 pandemic was one of the most disruptive events in recent memory. It’s not just the global economy that’s been impacted, but also our personal lives and the way we do business. For small businesses, in particular, the pandemic served as a wake-up call, highlighting the importance of preparing for the future in a constantly-changing world. Economic recession, natural disasters, and other unforeseen events can have a major impact on small businesses. But is there anything you can do to make sure your business is resilient in the face of such challenges?

Recognizing the New Reality

The first step is to recognize the new reality. The world is changing faster than ever before, and businesses need to adapt quickly to stay ahead of the competition. Things that were once taken for granted, such as stable economies and predictable weather patterns, are no longer a given. Ira S. Wolfe, a prominent American author and host of Geeks, Geezers, and Googlization podcast, has called this new era “never normal” because the rules keep changing.

 

“We are going to live in this era of perpetual uncertainty,” Wolfe said in a recent interview, adding that the notion that we can go back to “normal” is dangerous because it gives us a false sense of security.

 

“It sort of gives us the safety or comfort that we can be complacent. We are just going to go back and be able to take a deep breath and relax, and yet we live in a world that is VUCA – volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous.”

Creating a Strategic Plan

Once you recognize the new reality, you need to create a strategic plan. A strategic plan is essential for any business looking to survive and thrive in a changing world. The plan should outline your company’s goals and how you plan to achieve them. It should also include contingencies in case of unexpected events. The plan should be reviewed and updated regularly to reflect changes in the business environment. But the most critical component of any strategic plan is the workforce. Your team needs to be agile and adaptable, able to respond quickly to changes in the market.

 

“More than 60% of a company’s future roles can be filled by current employees, assuming that adequate programs are in place,” wrote Michael Mankins, Eric Garton, and Dan Schwartz in an article for the Harvard Business Review, citing research by Bain & Company on 300 companies around the world.

 

“Reskilling is also cheaper than the “fire and hire” model for filling new business-critical roles. For one thing, the direct costs of severance associated with workforce reductions can be substantial—as can damage to the morale of remaining team members,” they wrote.

 

This view is echoed by Simon Sinek in his best-selling book, “Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t.”  Based on empirical studies, Sinek’s book concludes that leaders who develop a “people first” company culture are more successful at surviving disruptive events like the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

Five Tips To Make Your Brand Standout in a Crowded Market

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In a world where everyone vies for attention, making your brand stand out can be challenging. But with the right tips, you can create a brand that stands head and shoulders above the rest. Here are five simple ways to make your business stand out in a competitive market. 1. Know Your Audience The first […]

Increase Sales with This Proven SEO Strategy

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Many small businesses are turning to search engine optimization (SEO) to generate more revenue. Simply put, SEO is the process of increasing a website’s visibility in search engine result pages such as Google. For example, if somebody is searching for “how to sell online,” the goal of an SEO strategy would be to appear at […]

Four critical skills that every business owner needs

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Many business owners think that they can just get by without knowing the fundamentals of running a company. This is simply not true! There are at least four critical skills that every entrepreneur must know to ensure their company stays afloat. 1 The Four Pillars of Financial Success First and foremost are the four pillars of […]