So you benchmark your company against others in your industry. Maybe you look at maximizing revenue per full-time employee, increasing first call resolution in your contact center or IT expense as a percent of revenue. How do you compare to your competitors? Is that the right comparison?
Your customers, whether they are consumers or businesses, rarely measure you against others in your industry. Think about it. When you pay your doctor bill, do you compare that process against other doctors, or do you think about being able to pay your credit card bill online? Health care organizations get compared by consumers to their auto insurance company, their bank and their cell phone companies.…
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Maybe you’re working the tradeshow at the industry’s big annual convention for the next four days. Perhaps it’s a long-planned romantic vacation to an exotic resort in the Caribbean. Or maybe you’re just calling it a night and are heading home for the evening. No matter what your situation, there’s likely to be a time when you aren’t at the office, but you need to access something that’s on your office computer.
Happy New Year! Wouldn’t it be great if this year you could buy extra hours on Ebay or Overstock.com? It would also be great to win the lottery but that’s not going to happen (at least not today). While I can’t give you more hours in the day, I can give you some tips for saving time.
Even as we’re starting to see the early stages of an economic recovery, businesses and individuals continue to trudge through the ugly legal fallout of deals-gone-bad. Countless lawsuits have resulted from soured joint ventures, alleged breaches of contract, and plain old disputes over who owed what to whom. These lawsuits can be costly, time-consuming, and counterproductive. Worst of all, they can distract you from what’s truly important: tending to your business’s current needs and helping it survive-and thrive-for the future.
Sitting in front of a computer all day can be a pain in the neck…literally. There are a few simple changes you can make to your office to give your back, neck, eyes and even wrists a break.
Yes, it’s officially holiday season. And yes, festivities are all around. But let’s face it — as business owners, we work on our own calendar. While some parts of the business world are winding down for the year, many of us still have a hectic few weeks ahead of us.
Small businesses know that there is a number of ins and outs of getting started. The first rule, get to know the C.P.A., and perhaps have a attorney who will look over contracts as needed, but the next rule, generating business, needs to be continuously developed.
Staff reductions are typical targets for controlling costs in tough economic times. This can be particularly challenging as you attempt to balance responsible fiscal management with fluctuating sales while maintaining customer expectations for quality, support, and customer service. The answer to this dilemma involves embracing a return to basics, i.e., examining your business processes and understanding the role they play in getting your product or service out the door.
