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Reducing core personnel costs

December 14, 2011 By

With today’s economic difficulties many businesses run the risk of going under as their staff costs are too great. In order to save your business and keep afloat, it’s better to reduce personnel costs where possible.

To do this, you have to choose personnel who, though they perform an important role, aren’t central to the business’ success. The IT department is one area that a lot of businesses no longer have – instead they outsource IT support and development to a specialist agency.  Following the example given in a recent interview with David Lichtenstein it is better to outsource some services that can be managed by outsiders as long as there is no detrimental effect to the business.

While it’s great to be able to call your IT team in house and have them sort out your technical issues immediately, this is still possible to achieve with an agency.  Remote access means that your IT support agency will be able to login to your computer remotely, diagnose what is going wrong or causing the problem, and fix it without moving from their desk.  It’s instant and you’ll be able to carry on with your work straightaway.

IT departments don’t just sort out emergency problems, of course. In most businesses they are the eyes and ears for advances in technology and can advise what systems should be brought in and put into place. They are then responsible for installation and maintenance of these systems.  Their knowledge of your business enables them to choose the best packages for your business.

Going with an agency won’t cause you any disadvantage, however, because you will soon realise that a specialist IT agency works with many different companies and can share the knowledge that they have from working across different sectors. They will most likely recommend a system that you’ve never even heard of, but they have experience of through a different client.

Contracting an agency to manage your IT requirements will incur costs, of course. But you will save in the long run as you will not need to pay IT staff holiday or sick pay, or pension contributions.

Filed Under: Business Capital Tagged With: , , , , ,

Bankruptcy Scruples

December 13, 2011 By

I am hoping that you never have to think about what to do when your business is officially bankrupt, but sometimes with the best will in the world circumstances conspire against us and these things happen. The best way to come out of a situation like this with your head held high is to be honest and co-operate fully with the process. Bankruptcy is very stressful for everyone and you are likely to feel responsible for the people around you who you are affecting such as your family and employees. Do your best to treat everyone fairly and maintain their respect. Don’t go mad and do anything silly like feed your businesses vital documents into the office shredders! Stay calm and deal with each issue as best you can.

In order to avoid a situation like this in the first place the best thing you can do is stay on top of your company finances. Maintaining a realistic picture or where you are up to on a monthly if not weekly basis will allow you to plan ahead for difficult times and avoid debt spiralling out of control. File and notate financial information in your records as promptly as you can and use the shredder confetti cut setting to thoroughly destroy pertinent information afterwards. If things are not looking good then seek professional advice at the earliest opportunity at put plans in place to combat the problems.

Bankruptcy is usually the final stage of a long process of trying to save a business from ruin and unfortunately in today’s financial climate it is happening more and more often. Do your best to quit while you are ahead if at all possible and don’t be afraid to admit defeat if the worst happens. It is not the end of the world and you can move on.

Filed Under: Small Business Tagged With: , , ,

Starting out in Forex trading

December 13, 2011 By

If you want to have a go at Forex trading, there’s a genuinely very easy and risk-free way to start.

But first – what it’s all about?

Well Forex simply refers to the words foreign and exchange or exchanges – in other words, it’s a short cut for foreign exchange or foreign exchange trading.

Like most other forms of trading, it can be very lucrative or extremely costly depending on how you go about it, how lucky you are, the amount of safeguards you build in and the extent to which you hedge your bets.

Of course, you’ve probably done some Forex trading already simply by virtue of the fact that you’ve visited a foreign country and changed some cash – thereby gaining or losing financially depending on how the exchanges moved between the two currencies while you were away. But this was probably quite a small gain or loss.

Forex trading involves “betting” on the way those exchanges will go over a given period of time.

Even with relatively small amounts of money, you can speculate on the margins between currencies – i.e. via leveraging. Let’s say you bet on the Euro to strengthen against the dollar and place your trade at £10 for each US Cent it moves. You then win or lose accordingly to what actually happens thereafter. The trade will usually have a closing date which you can choose to roll-over or exit previously should you wish to.

With leverage, your returns can be huge – but so can your losses. The good news is that you can put stop-loses sin place so that if the exchanges move radically against you, you have an automatic cut off point to limit your loss.

Some companies, like Everest Forex, for example, even offer you free cash to start trading with – so there can be literally no risk in just trying your hand at Forex trading.

This article was written by David – he often blogs about trading and sites like Everest Forex, where he can acquire up-to-date news.

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How to choose antivirus software

December 12, 2011 By

One of the things a business today cannot afford to be without is good antivirus software, but there’s a wealth of choice out there, and unless you’re into your technology, it might be a bit bewildering.

An easy option is to see if your internet service provider has free downloads of anti-virus software or internet security.  Look at the website and check out the help section or call the helpline. You need to choose to download as it will not happen automatically. Once you’ve downloaded it, follow the instructions to install and you’ll probably have to restart the computer before it starts working. Choosing your ISP internet security is a simple option as you don’t need to do any research.

However, you can also shop around for different internet security software.  Either go down to a PC or Mac store, or look around online.  Compare prices and see what level of protection each package offers.  If you buy a new computer, the store will often offer antivirus products free of charge for the first year.

For a business, you have to get the full package of protection – anti-spyware, spam filter, firewall and anti-virus.  You’ll need something heavier weight than you would at home, for example.

Don’t forget about the business mobile phones when considering antivirus. With today’s smartphones, you can do as much on them as you do on your pc, so they’re just as likely to be infected with viruses. Mobile antivirus is just as important as getting protection for computers.

Once you’ve downloaded your antivirus software, you might find that your computer goes too slowly – give it a chance to work through the system, but if it’s too slow uninstall it and try a different programme.

You can often get antivirus software as a trial to start with, for 30-90 days.  If you’re happy with it, you can stick with it, otherwise uninstall and try a different one.

Filed Under: Small Business Tagged With: , , , , ,