Saving Yourself the Trouble: Avoiding the Latest Technology Trends

Guest post by Kate Manning

Many businesses that were able to survive the economic downturn did so by keeping a careful eye on every penny. This cost-cutting mindset seems to be the new norm, especially when it comes to spending money on the latest technology. It doesn’t take an online finance degree to see that products and services that take the place of indispensable business utilities should be invested in, while those technologies that are trendy, but do not help to improve the bottom line should be avoided.

The very first step in using technology is to use it to keep basic business tools, like company websites, maintained. Due to the rapid change in industries and technological advances, top class websites can become obsolete in as little as three years. Keeping them updated does not cost much, but is essential when it comes to projecting the image of a company. Check to see if your company website has a high page rank on Google. If your page rank turns out to be low, you may want to invest in some high quality content. This is not an expensive prospect and provides a company with good visibility. Likewise, if your company is selling products or services online, then it is important that the buying system is easy to use and quick to respond. A 10- to 15-second delay in the appearance of a Web page can result in a 15 percent – 20 percent loss in sales. Since a website is relatively inexpensive to set up and update and gives a company positive returns, every business should invest in building and maintaining a website.

Similarly, if your business does online sales and does not need a brick and mortar location, you should not invest in the construction of a nice office or retail location. There are companies that use technology to give a larger, more professional image of a company to incoming callers by routing calls smoothly to small or home office, eliminating the need for an on-site attendant. They can even give a company’s remote employees an 800 number to make it look like the employee is working out of the office.

These days, it seems like nearly everyone has a smart phone and uses Google Maps and other location identifying services to get around. It's a good idea, if your business has a location, to register with Google Maps so that customers can find your business easily.

Another tool that businesses can use to save costs is Skype for Business. Skype, and other similar setups that offer more than just VoIP calls, generally have big file sharing capabilities, face-to-face video calls, and business control panels where employees can set up accounts and allocate credit. These types of services help to save on travel costs and allow employees to stay connected when they do have to travel, thus improving efficiency.

Cloud computing is another new technology that is cost effective for many businesses. Cloud computing is Internet-based computing that uses shared servers to provide resources, software, and data to computers on demand. Moving disaster recovery to the cloud makes great sense, since it is more affordable for many businesses, as there are no storage and hardware replicating costs involved. Cloud computing also allows companies to do away with any server-management costs and headaches. However, if your company is thinking in terms of utility-billing using the cloud, it is not really any cheaper in the long run, and there may be other disadvantages as well, so just because it is the latest technology trend, does not mean that it is perfect for every business.

Investing wisely in technology requires long term planning. Start by determining which areas your company plans to grow and develop in the coming years. Next, make one person in the organization responsible for tracking IT trends that can help the business, based on the direction the company is headed.

With an explosion of technologies on the horizon, not all are going to be suitable for all types of business. There is no point in investing in technologies that do not bring a return just because everyone else is doing it. After all, when it comes to technology, one size does not fit all.

Kate Manning is a business major who has worked under others and as a self-employed entrepreneur. She currently owns and manages her own business in Washington State.

3 Steps to a Debt-Free Business

This is a guest post by Kenneth Parkar.

When you have a small business, you must follow a budget so that you can avoid falling into debt.  You may also need to get debt consolidation help to become debt-free, but if you have a well-planned business, you can avoid this (and may have a good savings account, too).

There are several ways you can work toward your small business, but also avoid falling into debt.

Step 1: Create a budget.

Having a budget is the first step toward your successful business.  You must create a budget in such a away that you don’t fall into debt, and if you need extra money, you can use your emergency fund.   Frugal living is the best way to make your budget work.  You must save where you can.  Try to create a visible line between your “needs” and “wants.”  This way, you can make your budget work and get better returns from your business.

Step 2: Advertise on a budget.

You may want to know how you can advertise your small business on a budget, but with the help of social media and networking, you can easily do it without spending much.  There are a lot of networking websites that can help you advertise your business, as well as get good advice from your consumers.

Step 3: Have a home-based business.

If you take any space to start up a small business, you need to pay rent.  This takes away a lot of money from your budget, but if you try to operate that same business from home, you can save the money on rent and use it for expanding your business or pay off debt.

These three easy steps can help your business run well, while helping you remain debt free forever.

How to Create the Ideal Home Office

Image courtesy of Office Desk ReviewsNine times out of ten, most business startups are born on the kitchen or dining room table. After only a short time working in such circumstances, you will invariably find yourself looking to setting up a more permanent arrangement, and creating a home office is much easier than you might believe.

Whether there is an interior designer dying to jump out of you or you feel you lack all creativity necessary to design a home office, here are some helpful suggestions you might want to consider. With a little time and patience, you will not only have been able to designate a room, but also have it ready to start working in it.

Which Room is Best To Designate for Your Home Office?

The intended purpose of your home office will dictate the answer to this question. If you are a freelancer who rarely, if ever, sees clients, having an office in the back of the house is suggested. The rear tends to offer more peace, as the rooms are off the street and face other bedrooms. Also, neighbors who know you work from home might have a tendency to bother you more if they see the office light on. Working from home requires not only tranquility, but also discipline not to answer the door or the telephone every single time it rings.

Conversely, if you have a steady stream of clients meandering in and out, having a home office that's closer to the front entrance is more desirable. You will want to avoid those who are not family and friends traipsing through your house.

Sharing Your Office with the Family Room or Another Room

Sometimes, although it's not ideal, a home office has to share its space with either a guest bedroom or the family room. Again, while it's not ideal, it is truly workable. It will require more creativity and patience on everyone's part, but it can be done. If separating your home office from the rest of the family is a must, there are many creative ways to do this that won't be tacky. If you like antiques or Asian-inspired furniture, both will carry decorative screens that you can use as an elegant divider between your family room and your new home office.

Big Space or Small Space, You Can Work With It!

Although you might assume that the bigger the space you have to work with, the better, but this is not always the case. You will get more out of your room if you use the space efficiently, rather than attempt to jam pack it with useless furniture. Larger rooms require more and bigger furniture, whether you need it or not, and smaller rooms require you to be more creative so you don't feel consumed by your furnishings. If you are a minimalist, it might not be a bad idea to share your home office with the guest bedroom after all. Look around the room, take measurements, and make realistic assessments about what you have available to you. This will help you figure out what goes where, what accessories can compliment your furniture, etc. If you feel like you need help with any of this, here's a link that will help get the brain storming.

Furniture, Décor, and Colors

Being mindful of your budget of course, it's time to go shopping. Deciding what desk to get needn't be an agonizing thing at all. Be true to your personality. If you are a person who prefers clean lines, don't go for a desk that would be comfortable living with the Queen Mother. If you like Mission furniture, by all means, get a desk that represents this practical and yet unadorned style. If there is room, add a tasteful credenza or filing cabinet.

Glass corner computer desks are a popular choice because they need little room, they fit in small spaces, and buying one won't break the bank. A helpful tip: If you are short on space, but need a filing cabinet, buying one that easily rolls into your closet when it's not in use is a handy way to deal with space issues.

Many people live in fear of color on their walls. Then there are those who are controlled by the entire psychology behind color. Although some live by these rigid rules, ignorance is bliss! If you want orange on your walls, paint them orange. If your mood says red, go with red. If you are inclined to like one color over another, all the psychology in the world won't make a certain color better over another. Your love for it will be more than enough inspiration every time you look at your walls.

Paintings and other artwork are great to adorn your freshly painted walls. They not only help fill wall space, but they will also help cheer you up and offer something to focus on when you need a little lift. Whether it's a Chagall or a lesser-known artist, such as your best friend or your son's work, whatever gets you going should be on your walls.

Focus on Me! No, Focus on Me!

Every room needs a place to focus on when you walk in it. Interior designers are adept at this and know how to get every passer-by to focus on the same thing with relative ease. You, too, can do this. It's fairly easy, pick one thing that you'd like to be the main focus for people as they walk in and highlight it.

Your office desk is the obvious one. You can achieve this by clustering artwork around your desk or have something spectacular above your desk. If you have a hutch, perhaps to the left or right of the desk can hang your Chagall or your son's latest framed art. If you want to take the focus of your desk, adding a brightly colored area rug either to the floor as a wall hanging can easily do the trick.

How Many Pieces of Flair Does Your Office Have?

You're almost done designing your brand new home office, but offices needn't be wholly utilitarian to be functional. Indeed a printer/scanner/fax and phone are required, but so also are photos of your family, ones of that heart-stopping trip to Yosemite or that aerial shot of you propelling from an airplane. In other words, even in the most limited space can you make the most of it.

Most office desks come equipped with drawers for your supplies and smaller peripherals, which leaves plenty of surface space to decorate an otherwise boring printer. If you prefer task lighting to overhead lighting, a decorative lamp or track or spot lighting serve both a practical as well an aesthetic purpose.

Now that you've designed and decorated your office, working in it should be easy, right?

About the Author - Formerly an auditor, after years of sitting behind a desk, Lloyd Burrell knows what works and what doesn't. He has extensive experience giving advice to those setting up offices, both home and corporate. Bush furniture desks, L-shaped computer desks, computer desks with a hutch, and Sauder desks are just some of the models Lloyd has reviewed. Born and raised in England, Lloyd Burrell lives on the West Coast of France with his wife Emmanuelle and two kids.