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Defined Direction – What Skills You Should Look to Develop When Entering the Business Landscape

When you started university, you didn’t necessarily know what exactly you wanted to accomplish. With so many roads from which to choose, a clear path is not necessarily visible right away. After a time, however, you concluded that you wanted to get into business after uni. Now that you’re closing in on a graduate diploma of applied finance, or a master’s degree in marketing, or whichever business path you’ve chosen, it’s time to consider the outside world a little more.

Happy businessman

If you do plan on owning and operating your own business after you leave our institution, there are a few different skills that you should look to develop.…

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Small Businesses Need an Online Presence, Too!

When you think of company websites, you may think of online retailers: Amazon, for instance. These giant companies live online – that’s where their customers are, where their products are sold, and where their money comes in. So it’s no surprise that they need websites. But what about a small business? What about your local plumbing company, or a small shop you run with your family? Do you really need a website if you run a business like that?

Online business

Yes, you absolutely do – because in this day and age, even business done in person often starts online.

Small businesses do need websites

When a customer walks through the doors of a local shop and buys something they need, it’s easy to imagine that the entire transaction took place the way it would have forty or fifty years ago.…

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Dream Big: How Small Businesses Become Global Players

In today’s vast world, small businesses are a bridge between the local and the global. They may employ far less employees than multinational corporations but that doesn’t mean that they don’t dream big – or that their potential and activities do not have equal reach.

Dream big

There is no escaping the reality that small businesses are nowadays global players: in June 2015, the US Small Business Administration reported that while US exports’ known value grew by 1.4% from 2012 to 2013, small business export value improved by 4.5%, led by firms with an employee base between 250 and 499 people. This means increased profit and opportunities, but also increased responsibilities for smaller scale enterprises.…

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3 Times When an SMB Needs a Lawyer

Small business owners should build a relationship with a local attorney and have someone they can call if a legal problem arises. The problem that a lot of small businesses face is that they don’t have the finances to hire a lawyer for all of their needs.

Meeting with a business lawyer

A lot of businesses need to pick and choose when it’s appropriate to hire a lawyer.

1. Large-Dollar Contracts

If you’re making a deal of a lifetime, you’ll need a lawyer to make sure that the contract you provide or must sign is legally sound. At the very least, you’ll want a lawyer to read through the contract for you.…

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When Your Business Should Consider Switching to a VPS

There comes a time when a successful small business must look honestly and objectively at whether certain aspects of their infrastructure are indeed helping them to grow. This extends to the activities that occur on the web because a strong online presence is key to maintaining business relationships and a satisfied base of customers, especially for companies selling products through their website.

What is VPS hosting?

E-commerce is more normalized now than ever before, it’s therefore important for companies to ask themselves how they can make the purchasing of their products efficient. One consideration expanding enterprises need to take into account is when to switch from a shared server to a virtual private server, or VPS.…

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How to Create the Right Working Environment for Employees

When it comes to running a business, it is vital that you take steps to ensure the safety and wellbeing of your employees. First off, failure to do this could result in the breach of health and safety regulations, which could result in big issues for your business. Secondly, if you do not provide workers with a safe and comfortable working environment, you could end up losing valuable staff members or even being sued in the event of an injury.

Employee working hard

There are a lot of different ways in which you can improve the working environment for your employees. This will result in a safe and happy workplace and reduced the risk of regulatory breaches.…

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Don’t Forget These Crucial Steps When Starting a Business

No matter how much preparation you do, setting up a business is a trial-and-error endeavour. Its success is unpredictable, and failures big and small could happen anytime. However, the amount of struggle for a start-up entrepreneur may be reduced by keeping in mind the right concepts and carrying out the right steps before launching.

Startup team

Before you take the risk of building your own business, it’s best to equip yourself for the battlefield ahead by knowing what to do first.

Choose your name

Simply deciding on an impactful name for your company does not mean you can scratch this off your to-do list.…

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How the Internet and Smartphone Revolution are Changing Long-Established Industries

There is no doubt that the Information Revolution has had an indelible impact upon our daily lives. This observation is even more true in regards to business operations.

Business gadgets

Specific sectors have been dramatically affected; some for the better and some for the worse. It is estimated that no fewer than 2.32 billion individuals now own smartphones and other mobile devices. This number is expected to increase well beyond 2020.

Thanks to the social media, industries are enjoying the underpriced marketing channels by the name of Facebook, Twitter, and other prominent social media platforms.  This impacted the platforms itself.

Powered by social media, let us look at how handful of industries have been impacted by info-tech advances:

Travel Agents

In the past, a travel agent would act as a middleman between the consumer and holiday-oriented firms.…

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3 Things Business Owners Must Do to Avoid Premises Liability Claims

Most business owners are well aware that they have a duty to provide a safe environment for customers or clients. While slips and falls are the primary concern for business owners, liability extends to other types of injuries, and they can be held responsible for injuries to workers and just about anyone else who lawfully steps onto the property.

Caution wet floor

Along with slips and falls, business owners can also be held liable for:

  • Merchandise or equipment injuring a customer
  • An employee or customer assaulting another customer
  • Hazardous waste running off the business’ property onto a neighboring property

The list of potential risks is extensive, which is why business owners must remain vigilant in minimizing the risks of premises liability claims.…

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5 Ways Online Videos Can Help Your Business

Video has become one of the most powerful ways to communicate with online audiences. More businesses than ever are using this format to sell, educate and promote their products and services. This is a trend that looks set to continue for many years to come and the companies that have embraced online videos are seeing a lot of positive results.

Below are five of the main ways online videos can help your business.

Online video

1. You Can Use Video to Explain What Your Business Does

It’s often difficult to explain to an online audience what a business actually does. However, video is a very easy way to introduce your business, to explain what your business does, to introduce your products and services and much more.…

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